Gideon
Gideon, also called Jerubbaal or Jerubbesheth, was a judge of Israel who, with God's help, defeated the Midianites and delivered Israel from oppression.
Gideon was a judge of Israel called by God to deliver the people from the oppression of the Midianites (Judges 6–8). Initially hesitant—testing God with the famous 'fleece' sign—he obeyed and destroyed his father's altar to Baal, earning the nickname Jerubbaal. God dramatically reduced his army from 32,000 to 300 men to ensure that the victory would be recognized as divine rather than human (Judges 7). His three hundred warriors routed the Midianite camp with torches, jars, and trumpets. Though he declined kingship ('the Lord will rule over you,' Judges 8:23), he later created an ephod that became a snare for Israel. He fathered seventy sons; his son Abimelech's subsequent violence illustrates the danger of ambition in leadership.