<P> Gideon is regarded as a saint by the Eastern Orthodox / Eastern Catholic and Latin Rite Catholic Churches . He is also commemorated, together with the other righteous figures of the Old Testament, on the Sunday before Christmas (Fourth Sunday of Advent). He is commemorated as one of the Saints of the Armenian Apostolic Church on July 30 . He is commemorated in the Roman Martyrology of the Latin Rite on September 26 . </P> <P> In the Protestant Reformation, the Gideon narrative was employed in polemics against the Catholic clergy . Hans von Rüte's Gideon (1540) parallels the removal of saints' relics from churches to Gideon's destruction of Baal's altar . </P> <P> Gideons International is an American organization dedicated to Christian evangelism, founded in 1899, dedicated to the distribution of free Bibles . The organization's logo represents a two - handled pitcher and torch, symbolizing the implements used by Gideon to scare the Midianite army . </P> <P> Much like the 300 Spartans at Thermopylae, Gideon has become symbolic of military success of a small elite force against overwhelming numerical odds . The 12th - century Prefatio de Almaria invokes "the strength of Samson and the sword of Gideon" in the context of the Reconquista of Almería led by Ponce Giraldo de Cabrera (1147). Benedikt Gletting (16th century) invokes the "Sword of Gideon" in a call for a pious and confident defense of the Old Swiss Confederacy against the threat of the Franco - Ottoman alliance . The Gideon narrative was invoked by Covenanter commander Archibald Strachan prior to Battle of Carbisdale (1650). The Gideon Force was a small British - led special force in the East African Campaign during World War II . </P>

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