JUDGES CHAPTER 6, “The Calling Of Gideon”

By

Jim Bomkamp

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1.      INTRODUCTION

 

1.1.                     In our last study, we looked at chapter 5 of Judges and the victory Song of Deborah and Barak after their incredible victory over king Jabin the king of Canaan which we studied previously in chapter 4.

 

1.2.                     In our study today, we are going to look at chapter 6 and the calling of Gideon.

 

1.2.1.  There is more written about Gideon in the book of Judges than any other of the judges of Israel.  Three chapters and 100 verses tell us the story of how God worked in Gideon’s life and used him.

 

1.2.2.  It is interesting as you look at the judges that the Lord raised up in the book of Judges because every one of them had a character flaw or weakness, and when we look at each of the judges we see that instead of these judges being used because of their being exceptional people in every sense, qualified to lead God’s people, rather it was the case that the Lord worked in spite of their weaknesses and limitations.

 

1.2.3.  We will see that Gideon was actually a very cowardly man, and that it was only because of the Lord’s graciousness and mercy that the Lord chose to meet Gideon where he was at and encourage his weak faith, granting him the many reassurances he requested of the Lord. 

 

1.2.4.  As was the case with all of the judges however, Gideon had just a little faith and that little faith was enough for the Lord to use him as a judge and deliverer of his people.

 

1.2.4.1.      Again, we Christians can take heart that the Lord uses that faith that we have in our lives, even when it also is very weak.  Jesus never quenches that little faith that we have but rather fans it to flame, just as was prophesied of Jesus by Isaiah in Isaiah 42:1-3 (then quoted in Matthew 12:20), “1 “Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold; My chosen one in whom My soul delights. I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the nations. 2 “He will not cry out or raise His voice, Nor make His voice heard in the street. 3 “A bruised reed He will not break And a dimly burning wick He will not extinguish; He will faithfully bring forth justice.”

 

1.2.5.  Gideon is an example to us in our day, being from a similar world where most are not following and obeying the Lord.  Even though Gideon had just a little bit of faith, with that faith he was willing to go against the flow of the world around him, step out in obedience to the Lord, and take a bold stand for the Lord as a deliver and judge.

 

1.2.6.  Today, we are going to look at how the Lord called and raised up Gideon to be a judge and deliverer of His people.

 

1.2.7.  We will see in these chapters telling the story of Gideon what happens to a man when he has a genuine encounter with the Lord and is simply willing to walk not by his sight, but by faith in the revealed word of God. 

 

2.       VS 6:1-5  - “1 Then the sons of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord; and the Lord gave them into the hands of Midian seven years. 2 The power of Midian prevailed against Israel. Because of Midian the sons of Israel made for themselves the dens which were in the mountains and the caves and the strongholds. 3 For it was when Israel had sown, that the Midianites would come up with the Amalekites and the sons of the east and go against them. 4 So they would camp against them and destroy the produce of the earth as far as Gaza, and leave no sustenance in Israel as well as no sheep, ox, or donkey. 5 For they would come up with their livestock and their tents, they would come in like locusts for number, both they and their camels were innumerable; and they came into the land to devastate it.” –  After the death of Deborah, we see here in these verses that the children of Israel again went into their cycle of falling away from the Lord and then the Lord sending an oppressor against them

 

2.1.                     For the fourth time in the book of Judges, we see in these verses that the children of Israel fall away from the Lord into apostasy and began to worship the pagan deities of the nations around them.

 

2.2.                     Again we also see that the Lord was faithful to the Israelites during the time of the Judges to raise up an oppressor against them whenever they rebelled and turned away from the Lord. 

 

2.2.1.  Isn’t it a blessing in our lives as believers that when we take our eyes off of the Lord and turn away from the Lord that He uses trials and tribulations in our lives in order to get our attention.  If everything went well in our lives as Christians all of the time, then we would fall into sin and never be able to get up out of it.  But the Lord in His grace and love chastens or disciplines us through those trials and tribulations that we go through so that we can realize the folly and futility of living in sin.

 

2.3.                     J. Vernon McGee has written about how that critics once discounted the events of the book of Judges because the events didn’t seem to follow what was believed to have occurred during the history of this time, however that archeologists and scholarly men like Burney, Moulton, Breasted, and Garstang have proven that these very events could actually have occurred just as scripture indicates that they occurred.  McGee writes the following about the work of these men, “Now we know that at this particular time in history Egypt was weak, very weak.  It had been a world power, but it was weak because the pharaohs who were in office were weak men.  Also there were internal problems and troubles.  As a result, this nation was losing its grip upon its colonies.  The nomadic tribes to the east of the Dead Sea and to the south of the Dead Sea began to push in.  They pushed in because there was a drought in their land.  They had experienced it there for several years.  So these nomadic tribes of the desert began to encroach upon the territory of Israel.  The Midianites and the Amalekites were among the Bedouins of the desert who came into the land.”

 

2.4.                     We know today that these Bedouin Midianites comprised at this time a huge mass of people who were disorganized and roaming like gypsies across the land.  They were a thorn in the sides of the sons of Israel at this time because they would disappear off into “who knows where” but then always return right before the harvest time and rob all of the produce and livestock of the children of Israel.   For seven years the Midianites had pulled this same trick on Israel and thus had pushed the sons of Israel into a situation of utter desperation. 

 

2.5.                     We see here that many of the sons of Israel had actually left their houses and fields and begun living in the surrounding caves where they would have some place of protection where they could hide from these Midianites. 

 

2.6.                     There seemed to be no possible way for the sons of Israel to stop such a huge and unpredictable hoard as these Midianites.  The children of Israel thought that they were forever going to be at the mercy of the Midianites.  They had forgotten or not been told of the great things that the Lord had done on behalf of His people in delivering them in the past, and they looked only at their own resources to deliver them, not realizing that in time past it was the Lord who had fought their battles and thus they had won all of the battles they had fought. 

 

3.     VS 6:6-10  - “6 So Israel was brought very low because of Midian, and the sons of Israel cried to the Lord. 7 Now it came about when the sons of Israel cried to the Lord on account of Midian, 8 that the Lord sent a prophet to the sons of Israel, and he said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘It was I who brought you up from Egypt and brought you out from the house of slavery. 9 ‘I delivered you from the hands of the Egyptians and from the hands of all your oppressors, and dispossessed them before you and gave you their land, 10 and I said to you, “I am the Lord your God; you shall not fear the gods of the Amorites in whose land you live. But you have not obeyed Me.” ’ ”” -  The sons of Israel cried out to the Lord because of their oppressors, and the Lord sent a prophet to them to rebuke them for their rebellion and sin against the Lord in falling away into apostasy

 

3.1.                     We see here in these verses that the Lord in His mercy and grace did not require the children of Israel to confess and repent of their sins before He heeded their crying out to Him, and He began to entreat them and remove their oppressor.  If it were the case that the Lord did not work in our lives in restoring us until we first had completely dealt with the sin in our lives, then no one would ever be restored to the Lord.  The Lord chose to have compassion upon the sons of Israel on this day.  He met them where they were at when they finally came to that place of brokenness before Him and cried out to Him.

 

3.2.                     The prophet had a word from the Lord for the sons of Israel and thus he spoke to them saying, “Thus says the Lord.” 

 

3.3.                     The word from the Lord that the prophet had for the children of Israel was to inform or remind them of the fact that it was the Lord who had in the past always delivered them.

 

3.3.1.  The Lord delivered them in a mighty way from Egypt and slavery.

 

3.3.2.  The Lord had in fact delivered them from all of their oppressors in history past. 

 

3.3.3.  The Lord had disposed the nations in the land of Canaan, as well as those on the wilderness side of Canaan, thus the various tribes could have their territories allotted to them.

 

3.4.                     The children of Israel had cried out to the Lord for having abandoning them, however the prophet of the Lord reminded them that the Lord does not leave His people, if there is a separation between God and His people it is because they have left Him.

 

3.4.1.  It is amazing today how many people blame the Lord for the troubles that they have brought upon their own lives.  The Lord didn’t cause these troubles, they kicked Him out of their life and so as a gentleman He granted them their wish and left.

 

3.5.                     The prophet of the Lord reminded the sons of Israel how that they had rebelled against the Lord in their turning away from Him and the law of His covenant with them.  They had worshipped and gone after other gods and this was the worst thing that they could have done.

 

4.     VS 6:11-13  - “11 Then the angel of the Lord came and sat under the oak that was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite as his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the wine press in order to save it from the Midianites. 12 The angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, “The Lord is with you, O valiant warrior. 13 Then Gideon said to him, “O my lord, 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, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.””” -  The life changing encounter:  The angel of the Lord appears to this man Gideon the son of Joash the Abiezrite

 

4.1.                     The ‘angel of the Lord’ here is the Lord.  In those places where we see the words ‘the angel of the Lord’ in the Old Testament accounts it is believed that this is an appearance of the Lord Himself in angelic and/or human form.  It is Jesus Christ Himself described in these events in the scriptures. 

 

4.1.1.  In the Old Testament, if the creature is spoken of as ‘an angel of the Lord’ then this tells us that it is a created being that is being referenced.

 

4.2.                     In the history of the church, there has been passed down the myth that this man Gideon was a great man of faith.  However, everything about this story about him proves otherwise. 

 

4.2.1.  Normally, wheat was beaten out in an open area or on a hill where the wind would blow away the chaff leaving that which was usable.  However, because of the Midianites we see here that Gideon was at the bottom of the hill, where winepresses were built, and he was hiding in a wine press beating out the wheat there for fear that some Midianites might come and attack him and take away his wheat. 

 

4.2.2.  Gideon immediately began to argue with the Lord when the Lord appeared to him telling him that the Lord is with him and that he is a ‘mighty warrior.’  He actually blames the Lord for the troubles that Israel has had, not realizing that it was not the Lord that moved away from them, but it was they who had moved away from the Lord.

 

4.2.3.  We will see in our story how that Gideon’s asking for multiple reassurances that the Lord has spoken and called him as a deliverer of the sons of Israel speaks volumes about the weakness of his faith.

 

4.3.                     J. Vernon McGee has written that the Lord revealed a great sense of humor here by appearing to this cowardly Gideon hiding out in the wine press beating out his wheat, and then calling him a ‘mighty warrior.’  However, I don’t think that it was really humor that was involved here in the Lord saying these things.  I think rather it is the fact that when the Lord looks at any of our lives that He sees us not as what we presently are, but rather by what He is going to make of us.  In other words, the Lord looks at us and sees our potential and what He plans to do through our lives when we finally allow Him to work.  When He works in and then through our lives we will all become ‘mighty warriors’ for Him. 

 

4.3.1.  O Christian, I want to ask you today, “Do you see yourself as a ‘mighty warrior’ for Christ?”  Well, I believe that the Lord sees you this way.  If you will allow Him to do the work He wants to do through your life, you will become a ‘mighty warrior’ just as God was able to do through the life of Gideon!

 

4.4.                     When the Lord tells Gideon that He is with him and that Gideon is a ‘mighty warrior,’ Gideon asks the Lord how He could be with ‘us’ then why have all of the bad things have happened to us lately, especially those things that have happened at the hands of the Midainites their oppressors?  However, the Lord didn’t tell Gideon that He was with Israel, He told Gideon that He was with him.

 

5.     VS 6:14-16  - “14 The Lord looked at him and said, “Go in this your strength and deliver Israel from the hand of Midian. Have I not sent you?” 15 He said to Him, “O Lord, how shall I deliver Israel? Behold, my family is the least in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father’s house.” 16 But the Lord said to him, “Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat Midian as one man.”” -  The Lord seeks to encourage Gideon to deliver Israel reassuring Gideon that He has indeed sent him

 

5.1.                     We see here that the one who was introduced to us as ‘the angel of the Lord’ is now spoken of as ‘the Lord.’

 

5.2.                     Evidently, the Lord at this time strengthened Gideon through His Spirit as He tells Gideon to go in his strength.  He surely wouldn’t be telling Gideon to go by the power of fleshly strength, confidence, or will power. 

 

5.3.                     In the Old Testament, we see that the Spirit of the Lord came upon prophets, judges, and kings at times, and in those times gave them supernatural enabling to perform the tasks that the Lord had called them to perform.  However, unlike New Testament times the Spirit of the Lord in the Old Testament did not come upon every one of God’s people, nor did He remain upon people throughout their life, and, the Spirit’s coming upon the lives of God’s people in the Old Testament times did not necessarily produce a regenerated character as happens to believers when they accept Christ into their heart and life in the New Testament era.

 

5.4.                     Gideon objects to the Lord’s having chosen him to be a deliverer of Israel because of his own insignificance, and when we look closely at this man Gideon we see that there really was no earthly reason why the Lord should have chosen or called him to be a deliverer of His people, after all:

 

5.4.1.  Gideon was from the tribe of Manasseh, and when we look at the Old Testament we notice that there were no great men or women of God who came from this tribe.  They were sort of a dud for the Lord, so to speak.

 

5.4.2.  Gideon speaks of his family as being ‘the least’ in the tribe of Manasseh.  Gideon felt that his family was a very insignificant family in the tribe of Manasseh.  We ourselves might wonder at how insignificant Gideon’s family is however when we read later that he had 10 servants.  However, at least in Gideon’s mind they were the least family in the tribe.

 

5.4.3.  Gideon himself was the youngest of his father’s sons.  In the Jewish culture, the eldest son always received the greatest inheritance and became the leader of the family at the death of the father.  Gideon was the youngest son. 

 

5.5.                     It is very interesting and awesome to see in the scriptures how that the Lord in almost every case chose His leaders from among those who were insignificant in the valuation of this world. 

 

5.5.1.  We have already seen this same trait in the previous judges, with perhaps the exception of Othniel, however even with Othniel the only thing he seemed to have going for him was some faith and the fact he was related to Caleb.  

 

5.5.2.  We see this trait in God’s leaders throughout the New Testament as well. 

 

5.5.2.1.      Jesus chose for His leaders 12 men who were to say the least, “average guys,” not the ones that the world would have looked to or acknowledged as being leaders or great men.

 

5.5.2.2.      In 1 Cor. 1:26-29, the apostle Paul wrote about the fact that among the early church that there were not many who were looked up to by the world as being wise, mighty, or even noble, “26 For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; 27 but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, 28 and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, 29 so that no man may boast before God.”

 

5.5.2.2.1.           Notice that Paul says that the reason that the Lord chooses men and women of insignificance from the world’s perspective is so that no person would be able to boast before God.  The Lord always makes sure that He gets all of the glory for the great things He does in our lives.

 

6.     VS 6:17-24  - “17 So Gideon said to Him, “If now I have found favor in Your sight, then show me a sign that it is You who speak with me. 18 “Please do not depart from here, until I come back to You, and bring out my offering and lay it before You.” And He said, “I will remain until you return.” 19 Then Gideon went in and prepared a young goat and unleavened bread from an ephah of flour; he put the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot, and brought them out to him under the oak and presented them. 20 The angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened bread and lay them on this rock, and pour out the broth.” And he did so. 21 Then the angel of the Lord put out the end of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened bread; and fire sprang up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread. Then the angel of the Lord vanished from his sight. 22 When Gideon saw that he was the angel of the Lord, he said, “Alas, O Lord God! For now I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face.” 23 The Lord said to him, “Peace to you, do not fear; you shall not die.” 24 Then Gideon built an altar there to the Lord and named it The Lord is Peace. To this day it is still in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.” -  Gideon asks the Lord to show him a sign that it is the Lord who is speaking to him

 

6.1.                     We see here in these verses that after the Lord tells Gideon that he is a mighty warrior and that the Lord will go with him and use him as a deliverer, that Gideon immediately asks for a sign that it is the Lord who is speaking to him.  This is yet another indication of the weakness of the faith of this man, Gideon.

 

6.2.                     Gideon asks the Lord to wait there if he has found favor in the Lord’s sight, and then Gideon goes and prepares quite an elaborate meal for the Lord.  An ephah of flour was about 35 pounds worth and would make enough bread for a week.  Plus, he went and prepared a meal from a young goat. 

 

6.3.                     We see again the grace and mercy of the Lord in that He yields to Gideon’s requests for reassurances (in the form of signs) that the Lord is who He said He is and that He is going to do the things that He says He will do.

 

6.4.                     To show that it was the Lord who was speaking to Gideon, and that this sacrifice to the Lord was accepted by the Lord, the Lord immediately devoured the bread and meat in a flame of fire.

 

6.5.                     Next, Gideon is afraid that he will die since he has seen the Lord face to face.  This of course was the way the Jews viewed what would happen if a person saw the Lord face to face, he would die.  However, the Lord encourages Gideon that he will not die now that he has seen the Lord.

 

6.6.                     Finally, we see that because of the Lord showing Gideon His favor, that Gideon built an altar of worship to the Lord, one that still stood when this book was written.

 

7.     VS 6:25-28  - “25 Now on the same night the Lord said to him, “Take your father’s bull and a second bull seven years old, and pull down the altar of Baal which belongs to your father, and cut down the Asherah that is beside it; 26 and build an altar to the Lord your God on the top of this stronghold in an orderly manner, and take a second bull and offer a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah which you shall cut down.” 27 Then Gideon took ten men of his servants and did as the Lord had spoken to him; and because he was too afraid of his father’s household and the men of the city to do it by day, he did it by night. 28 When the men of the city arose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was torn down, and the Asherah which was beside it was cut down, and the second bull was offered on the altar which had been built.” -  The Lord told Gideon to pull down the altar of Baal which his father had at his house, cut down the Ashera by it, and build an altar unto the Lord, and Gideon did so, but by night

 

7.1.                     We see here in these verses that the Lord called Gideon to begin to walk by faith and to serve Him, however there were a couple of things that had to be done first, and these are things that must always be done before the Lord can begin to use a person’s life:

 

7.1.1.  You cannot serve the Lord until you first tear down the altars to the false gods that are in your life.

 

7.1.1.1.      Gideon couldn’t go and begin to walk by faith and serve the Lord when the altar of Baal and the Ashera was set up at his house.  He first had to tear down these altars before He could serve the Lord.

 

7.1.1.2.      We as people cannot come to the Lord by simply adding faith in Him to the life that we are living in sin and rebellion against God.  We first have to repent of placing other things ahead of the Lord in our life, repent of all of our idols of worship to the things that we put ahead of obedience to the Lord.

 

7.1.2.  Before you begin to serve the Lord effectively out in the world, you first have to begin to serve the Lord right at home.

 

7.1.2.1.      Gideon couldn’t be an effective deliverer of God’s people while the altar to Baal and the Ashera stood at his house.  He first had to take a stand for the Lord right at his own house and be a witness for the Lord to his father and his whole household, and pull down those altars.

 

7.1.2.2.      If a person cannot serve the Lord and be a witness right before his own family and friends, then he has no hope of being a witness and effectively used in people’s lives out in the world.  God wants every person to begin at home to serve Him.

 

7.1.2.3.      I know also that it is the case that it is hardest to be a good witness for Christ to the people of your very own family, as well as your closest friends.  They know the person you have been all of your life prior to having Christ come into your life, and they therefore can see more clearly than any when any hypocrisy creeps up in your life, and therefore, in those moments when you really aren’t walking in faith and obedience to the Lord, they immediately question the validity of your relationship with the Lord.

 

7.1.2.3.1.           However, this is where the Lord wants us to begin to serve Him and be a witness for Him, right in front of our very family and closest friends.   

 

7.2.                     Gideon didn’t have enough faith to go and pull down the altar to Baal in broad daylight, however he had enough faith to do this at night.  Again, as we have seen throughout the book of Judges, the Lord doesn’t require us to have a huge amount of faith before He begins to use us.  He will use that little faith that we have and then continually build that faith until eventually it becomes a big amount of faith.

 

7.2.1.  Throughout chapters 6 through 8 we see Gideon’s faith increasing with each new step of obedience to the Lord that he takes.

 

8.     VS 6:29-32  - “29 They said to one another, “Who did this thing?” And when they searched about and inquired, they said, “Gideon the son of Joash did this thing.” 30 Then the men of the city said to Joash, “Bring out your son, that he may die, for he has torn down the altar of Baal, and indeed, he has cut down the Asherah which was beside it.” 31 But Joash said to all who stood against him, “Will you contend for Baal, or will you deliver him? Whoever will plead for him shall be put to death by morning. If he is a god, let him contend for himself, because someone has torn down his altar.” 32 Therefore on that day he named him Jerubbaal, that is to say, “Let Baal contend against him,” because he had torn down his altar.” -  Gideon’s father defends him against the men of the city when they discover that Gideon is the one who pulled down the altar of Baal and cut down the Ashera

 

8.1.                     An amazing thing happens here with Gideon’s father.  When Gideon’s father realizes that his son has in faith been so courageous as to pull down the altar to Baal and the Ashera at his house and build an altar to the Lord on the site, Gideon’s father has his conscience and faith strengthened to also take a stand for the Lord. 

 

8.1.1.  O if we Christians could just hold onto the fact that if we will walk closely to the Lord and be obedient to Him, that our family and closest friends will also most clearly see the reality of our faith, for they know how we used to act, and God will do a mighty work in their lives through that witness in our lives.

 

8.1.1.1.      Unfortunately, most Christians concentrate more upon preaching to their lost family members than just being a faithful witness to the Lord and letting their life itself shine for Christ and speak volumes to their family.

 

8.1.1.1.1.           By pushing when doors to share haven’t been opened up by the Lord, you just do more harm than good and can push people away from the Lord and yourself.

 

8.2.                     Joash, Gideon’s father, has an argument in defense of his son that the prophets, such as Jeremiah, would later pick up.  Joash questions the men of the city about why if Baal is a god that he cannot defend or protect himself?  Why must they defend and protect Baal if he is such a powerful deity?

 

9.     VS 6:33-35  - “33 Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the sons of the east assembled themselves; and they crossed over and camped in the valley of Jezreel. 34 So the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon; and he blew a trumpet, and the Abiezrites were called together to follow him. 35 He sent messengers throughout Manasseh, and they also were called together to follow him; and he sent messengers to Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, and they came up to meet them.” -  The Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon and he blew a trumpet to call together the Abiezrites and sent messengers to bring together Manasseh, Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali

 

9.1.                     We see in these verses that because Gideon stepped out in faith and obedience and pulled down this altar of Baal his father had put up, and then built an altar to the Lord in its place, that now Gideon’s confidence is emboldened by the Lord and he calls the tribes of Israel together to go to war.  Gideon blows the battle horn.

 

9.2.                     The people of God had been waiting for a leader to rise up among them, someone who was willing to be courageous for the Lord and step out and make a difference for the Lord, and thus they are encouraged to come together as the Lord’s people to go up against their oppressor, the Midianites.

 

9.3.                     Now having blow the battle horn in order to draw the sons of Israel together to go to war, I think that suddenly Gideon found himself more scared than he had ever been in his life before.  His fear leads him then to ask for further reassurances from the Lord that He is in fact going to be with him and give him victory in battle over the Midianites.

 

10.            VS 6:36-40  - “36 Then Gideon said to God, “If You will deliver Israel through me, as You have spoken, 37 behold, I will put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece only, and it is dry on all the ground, then I will know that You will deliver Israel through me, as You have spoken.” 38 And it was so. When he arose early the next morning and squeezed the fleece, he drained the dew from the fleece, a bowl full of water. 39 Then Gideon said to God, “Do not let Your anger burn against me that I may speak once more; please let me make a test once more with the fleece, let it now be dry only on the fleece, and let there be dew on all the ground.” 40 God did so that night; for it was dry only on the fleece, and dew was on all the ground.” -  Gideon asks the Lord to give him another reassurance that it is in fact Him who has told him to go and to attack the Midianites and deliver the Israelites from them

 

10.1.                As was mentioned at the outset of this study, every detail of this story of Gideon in chapters 6 through 8 reveals that Gideon was a man who had little faith and was a coward.  We saw that the Lord had already revealed to Gideon that He was the One who was speaking to him by burning up his offering.  Yet, again Gideon asks for further assurances in the form of a fleece for a sign.

 

10.2.                Gideon I believe conceived the concept of asking for a double sign from the beginning.  He figured that if one morning there was dew only on the fleece and then the next morning their was dew on everything but the fleece that this would prove that the Lord had in fact performed a miracle.

 

10.3.                This story of Gideon asking for the signs to be performed on this fleece brings up the whole subject of how to determine the Lord’s will in situations for our lives.  Many times Christians today read this story of Gideon and come to the conclusion that the asking for a sign in the way that Gideon did with this fleece is the way they should proceed in determining the Lord’s will for their lives.  However, I believe that a Christian should not put out any sort of a fleece when determining the Lord’s will in his life.  The Lord tells us in His word the ways that we are to proceed when determining His will for our lives.

 

10.4.                Reasons not to use the “putting out a fleece” means for determining God ‘s will:

 

10.4.1.                     The Lord tells us that if we lack wisdom that we are to ask for it, and He promises that if we do ask Him by faith for wisdom that He will give it to us (James 1:5-6).

 

10.4.2.                     It forces God to act “now” in revealing His will to you. 

 

10.4.2.1. In other words, it puts the Lord to the test, which is something that we are commanded not to do (Deut. 6:16).

 

10.4.3.                     You don’t learn anything from doing it. 

 

10.4.3.1. It is always a learning and enriching experience when you go about determining the Lord’s will in an area of your life.

 

10.4.3.2. Waiting upon the Lord is very healthy for us as Christians actually, and it causes our hearts to be purified.

 

10.4.4.                     It places you in a further dilemma rather than removing doubt about God’s will for you. 

 

10.4.4.1. You ask yourself questions like:  “Now did God really answer or not?”

 

10.4.5.                     We have a better source for determining God’s will than they had in the Old Testament:  the indwelling Spirit. 

 

10.4.5.1. The Holy Spirit is the Christian’s “paraclete” or counselor and advocate, and He is to be the One who guides our thoughts when we are determining the Lord’s will for our life.

 

11.            CONCLUSION:

 

11.1.                The story of Gideon should encourage us in the fact that the Lord uses people who have flaws in their character, and that He doesn’t require great faith in order to use us.  He will use that little bit of faith we have if we yield ourselves to Him in obedience. 

 

11.2.                The Lord wants us to first tear down the false idols in our lives, just like the altar to Baal that Gideon pulled down in his father’s front yard, and then He wants us to begin at home to live out our faith and be a witness for Christ.

 

11.3.                Don’t put the Lord to the test in determining His will in your life.  Ask the Lord for wisdom and learn to look to and wait upon the Lord to lead you concerning His will for your life.

  

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