Where Gideon's men drank from the spring

There's nothing like a cool drink on a hot day!

Unless you're Gideon, and the way your army of 10,000 men drank from the spring means that all but 300 of them have to go home. 

Gideon was nervous about going to battle against the joined forces of the Midianites, Amalekites, and other eastern armies (120,000 soldiers), and he wanted as many men in his army as possible. Completely understandable. 

(the view from the opposite mountain)

But God wanted to show that He was the victor.

So he whittled down Gideon's army bit by bit, until this final test, here, at Ein Harod (not Herod).

This is the actual place where Gideon's men drank (Judges 6-8). The water comes up from the cave. While a fence blocks the entrance of humans, you can see where it comes out. 

The water is so clear that you can see the bottom.

Today, this place is a national park where people can come and play in the springs, camp, and enjoy the beauty of the Jezreel Valley.

Gideon's army would have camped on top of the mountain and came down to drink at the spring.

After visiting this site, I watched Sergio and Rhoda's video about this place. At the end, they point out something really cool: the water in this spring comes an underground water resevoir underneath the ancient cities of Nablus and Jenin in the West Bank. Gideon's hometown of Ophrah (not Oprah, haha) is in the same area.

They also found a photo of this place from over a 100 years ago, and it gives a better idea of how 10,000 men could have gathered and drank from here:

They also noted the lack of trees in the photo... so all of the ones present in today's time (photo above) have grown in the last century. WOW!

And, in case you were wondering... no, I didn't drink from the springs, haha. :)