Judges 6:33-40
In the previous five studies we saw how God confirmed to Gideon how He was going to use him for His purposes.
- Judges 6:12, When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.”
- Judges 6:14, The Lord turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?”
- Judges 6:16, The Lord answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites together.”
We also saw how God confirmed to Gideon who He was by what He did. First by the angel of the Lord consuming the meal Gideon had prepared for him.
- Judges 6:21-22, 21 With the tip of the staff that was in his hand, the angel of the Lord touched the meat and the unleavened bread. Fire flared from the rock, consuming the meat and the bread. And the angel of the Lord disappeared.
Then by using his father Joash to defend him from the hostile mob who wanted to put him to death for destroying Baal’s altar and cutting down the Asherah pole.
- Judges 6:30-32, 30 The men of the town demanded of Joash, “Bring out your son. He must die, because he has broken down Baal’s altar and cut down the Asherah pole beside it.” 31 But Joash replied to the hostile crowd around him, “Are you going to plead Baal’s cause? Are you trying to save him? Whoever fights for him shall be put to death by morning! If Baal really is a god, he can defend himself when someone breaks down his altar.”
Judges 6:33-35
33 Now all the Midianites, Amalekites and other eastern peoples joined forces and crossed over the Jordan and camped in the Valley of Jezreel. 34 Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet, summoning the Abiezrites to follow him. 35 He sent messengers throughout Manasseh, calling them to arms, and also into Asher, Zebulun and Naphtali, so that they too went up to meet them.
For many it would be easy to believe that because of the previous five ways God spoke and confirmed His purpose to use Gideon, he would easily have the trusted in God and certainly had the courage to summon the armies of the five other clans of Israel as he did. However, as verse thirty-four clearly states it was God’s divine anointing over Gideon to fulfill His purposes in Gideon’s life that gave Gideon the courage to act.
As for many born again believers in Christ trusting in God and acting in obedience, it is not a matter of our wills or determination, but should be God’s divine anointing in us that He uses to validate His calling and purpose in our lives. The Spirit-Filled Life study Bible gives us the excellent explanation of verse thirty-four, “Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon”. “Literally, the Spirit of the Lord clothed Himself with Gideon. The Spirit empowered this divinely appointed leader and acted through him to accomplish the Lord’s saving act on behalf of His people.”
However, many times God’s anointing of His servants is not enough to act and fulfill His purposes by those whom He has called and anointed. This is what we clearly see with Gideon in verses 36 to 38.
Judges 6:36-38
36 Gideon said to God, “If you will save Israel by my hand as you have promised— 37 look, I will place a wool fleece on the threshing floor. If there is dew only on the fleece and all the ground is dry, then I will know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you said.” 38 And that is what happened. Gideon rose early the next day; he squeezed the fleece and wrung out the dew — a bowlful of water. 39 Then Gideon said to God, “Do not be angry with me. Let me make just one more request. Allow me one more test with the fleece. This time make the fleece dry and the ground covered with dew.” 40 That night God did so. Only the fleece was dry; all the ground was covered with dew.
First of all, we need to read ahead to understand the context of the situation that Gideon was experiencing. In Judges 8:10, we read that the armies of “the Midianites, Amalekites and other eastern peoples” that Gideon was confronting numbered at least 135,000. In Judges 7:3b, Gideon’s army was only 32,000. Judges 7:12 tells us that, “The Midianites, the Amalekites and all the other eastern peoples had settled in the valley, thick as locusts. Their camels could no more be counted than the sand on the seashore.” Gideon was greatly outnumbered which might be the reason why Gideon waited at least two days while seeking a confirmation from God to determine if he was really the one who God wanted to lead armies of Israel into battle. We saw this tendency of “practical” doubt with Gideon in the previous verses.
- Judges 6:13, “But sir,” Gideon replied, “if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our fathers told us about when they said, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and put us into the hand of Midian.
- Judges 6:15, “But Lord,” Gideon asked, “how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”
In addition, an important word of caution must be understood here concerning “putting out the fleece” which “means asking God to guide us in a decision by fulfilling some condition that we lay down”. This “putting out the fleece” is common among many evangelicals. Warren Wiersbe in his commentary concerning these two verses states the following regarding Judges 6:36-38. “Who are we to tell God what conditions He must meet, especially when He has already spoken to us in His Word? “Putting out the fleece” is not only an evidence of our unbelief, but it’s also an evidence of our pride. God has to do what I tell Him to do before I’ll do what He tells me to do!” “Christians are either overcome because of their unbelief or overcomers because of their faith in God.”
Judges 7:1-9
7 Early in the morning, Jerub-Baal (that is, Gideon) and all his men camped at the spring of Harod. The camp of Midian was north of them in the valley near the hill of Moreh. 2 The Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many men for me to deliver Midian into their hands. In order that Israel may not boast against me that her own strength has saved her, 3 announce now to the people, ‘Anyone who trembles with fear may turn back and leave Mount Gilead.'” So twenty-two thousand men left, while ten thousand remained. 4 But the Lord said to Gideon, “There are still too many men. Take them down to the water, and I will sift them for you there. If I say, ‘This one shall go with you,’ he shall go; but if I say, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ he shall not go.” 5 So Gideon took the men down to the water. There the Lord told him, “Separate those who lap the water with their tongues like a dog from those who kneel down to drink.” 6 Three hundred men lapped with their hands to their mouths. All the rest got down on their knees to drink. 7 The Lord said to Gideon, “With the three hundred men that lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hands. Let all the other men go, each to his own place.” 8a So Gideon sent the rest of the Israelites to their tents but kept the three hundred, who took over the provisions and trumpets of the others.
In this portion of scripture, we read how God spoke to Gideon to do something which we see goes against all human logic or reason but was a test of Gideon’s trust, faith and obedience in God.
As we previously read in the beginning of this study, God had already told Gideon what He was going to do and how He was going to use Gideon to do it. “God tests our faith for at least two reasons: first, to show us whether our faith is real or counterfeit, and second, to strengthen our faith for the tasks He’s set before us.” – Wiersbe.
In this next portion of scripture, we read the two things that God asks Gideon to do to bring the army to a number that conformed to what God needed to accomplish for His purposes. Verse two clearly gives us God’s reasons for diminishing the size of Israel’s army. 2 “The Lord said to Gideon, “You have too many men for me to deliver Midian into their hands. In order that Israel may not boast against me that her own strength has saved her,”. The key point to notice in this verse is not how many men Gideon was going to take into battle but it was how many men God needed to accomplish His purposes, “…too many men for me to deliver Midian into their hands…”.
Wiersbe states the following concerning verse two. “Pride after the battle robs God of glory, and fear during the battle robs God’s soldiers of courage and power. Fear has a way of spreading, and one timid soldier can do more damage than a whole company of enemy soldiers. Fear and faith can’t live together very long in the same heart. Either fear will conquer faith and we’ll quit, or faith will conquer fear and we’ll triumph.”
From a military point of view, under these circumstances, reducing the size of his army might have seemed totally illogical to Gideon, however by this time he had learned to trust in what God told him and have faith to act on it.
It is when we trust in God and His Word and act in obedience, we experience God’s miraculous provisions far beyond anything we can imagine.
Isaiah 55:8-9, 8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, “declares the Lord. 9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Pastor John
