Beginning of the End - Ellen G. White

condition of Israel and how to break the oppressor's yoke.
How the Lord Called Gideon
Suddenly the "Angel of the Lord" appeared and spoke to him
with the words, "The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor."
"O my lord," was his answer, "if the Lord is with us, why then
has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which
our fathers told us about? ... The Lord has forsaken us and delivered
us into the hands of the Midianites."
The Messenger of heaven replied, "Go in this might of yours,
and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not
sent you?"
Gideon wanted some sign that the one now speaking to him
was the Covenant Angel, who had performed mighty miracles for
Israel in the past. Hurrying to his tent, from what little he had
Gideon prepared a kid and unleavened bread, which he brought out
and set before Him. But the Angel told him, "Take the meat and the
unleavened bread and lay them on this rock, and pour out the broth."
Gideon did this, and then the sign he was looking for was given--
with the staff in His hand, the Angel touched the meat and the
unleavened bread, and a flame bursting from the rock consumed the
sacrifice. Then the Angel vanished.
Gideon's father, Joash, who had participated in the apostasy of
490