Then when they returned to Him, confessed their sins, and put away their idols, He would choose good and wise men to be their judges. He would then go with their armies to battle, defeat their enemies, and deliver them. At one time the armies of Midian afflicted Israel for seven years. At harvest time they would come "as grasshoppers for multitude," and take from Israel "all the increase of the earth." During these attacks the people fled to the dens, and caves, and strongholds of the mountains. Then Israel cried to the Lord for help, and He raised up Gideon to deliver them. One day an angel appeared to him, as he was threshing grain in secret for fear of the invaders. And the angel told him that he was chosen to "save Israel from the hand of the Midianites." Gideon then prepared food and brought it to the angel. He also asked for a sign that he might know that the words spoken by the angel came from the Lord. So instead of eating the food, the angel said to Gideon, "Take the flesh and the unleavened cakes, and lay them upon this rock, and pour out the broth." When Gideon had done as he was told, the angel touched the food with the rod in his hand, and fire came out of the rock and burned it. Then the angel disappeared, and Gideon knew that it was the Lord who had spoken to him. And the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon, and he made a call for soldiers. But before he dared take command of the army that gathered, he asked for other signs that he might be sure that God had really chosen him and would go with him. So one night he spread a fleece of wool on the floor, and asked the Lord that if He had chosen him to lead Israel, to let dew fall on the fleece, and the rest of the floor be dry. And in the morning he found it so. The next night he asked that the dew might fall on the floor and dampen it, and the fleece remain dry. This also was done. Then Gideon knew that the Lord had called him to lead the armies of Israel. Gideon's army numbered only thirty-two thousand men, but their enemies were "like grasshoppers for multitude." Yet the Lord told Gideon that his army was too large. The Lord would show all Israel that He would deliver them if they would trust him. So Gideon was told to let all who were fearful go back to their homes. As a result, twenty-two thousand men returned, leaving only ten thousand. Yet _these_ were too many. The army must be so small that every one would know that it was God alone who gave the victory. So at the command of the Lord they were led to a brook to drink. Those who kneeled down and drank were sent home. But there were three hundred men whose thoughts were only on the work before them. They dipped up the water in their hands, and drank as they went on, with their faces toward the enemy.