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Last week, in “Managing False Gods: The Time Before the Kings, Part 8”, we saw that the way to tell the True God from a false god is that the One True God will NEVER let you down!
Perhaps one of the most well-known parts of Gideon's story is the fact that he asked for a sign. The story of him setting out a piece of wool and asking God to make it be wet, while the rest of the ground was dry, is so familiar that an English idiom is even based on this story: “Putting out the fleece”! A less familiar part of the story, however, is that the fleece wasn't the first sign Gideon asked for, nor would it be the last!
The first sign Gideon asked for actually took place at the time he was first visited by the angel of the Lord. Gideon tried to convince the angel that he wasn't the right man for the job (see Judges 6:15). Of course, this type of reasoning does little -- if anything! -- to sway God's mind, and Gideon's case was no different: "Yet the Lord said to him, 'I will certainly be with you, and you will defeat Midian as one man.'” (Judges 6:16 NASB)
Isn't it so like God to respond like this? "But you don't need to worry about a thing! I will be with you!"
It would appear, however, that Gideon wasn't exactly convinced: “If now I have found favor in Your sight, then perform for me a sign that it is You speaking with me." (Judges 6:17 NASB).
There are places in the Bible where God initiated the sign rather than it being asked for. In Exodus 3, when Moses is trying in vain to convince God he is the wrong person for the job of leading Israel out of Egypt, we see God offering a sign: "And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.” (Exodus 3:12 NASB). In Gideon's case, however, Gideon was all about telling God what he expected of Him: "Please do not depart from here until I come back to You, and bring out my offering and lay it before You.” (Judges 6:18 NASB).
How many times haven't we all done the same? God sends us sign after sign, but because they aren't the ones we ask for, we tend to overlook that they are of God! I wonder sometimes if God gets impatient when we ask for a defined sign, even though He has likely already sent us 3 or 4 signs that we didn't recognize. In Gideon's case, however, He didn't seem impatient at all. The angel waited until Gideon had prepared the food, then he asked him to put it on a specified rock, and then the angel touched it with his staff, bringing up fire from the rock that consumed the offering (See Judges 6:21). Only then did Gideon believe that he had actually been visited by an angel of the Lord: “Oh, Lord God! For I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face!” (Judges 6:22 NASB).
That's a pretty significant sign, if you ask me. However, either Gideon had a pretty short memory, or it wasn't significant enough to carry out the rest of God's orders without question, for fast-forward to Vs. 33, and we see Gideon asking for another sign, the sign of the fleece.
To his credit, Gideon had been obeying God. After the first sign, he went and tore down the altar of Baal without question (See vs. 28-32), and then we see that he went out and amassed an army (See vs. 34). Nonetheless, Gideon is apparently still plagued with doubt.
We are all familiar with the next sign requested by Gideon. He put out a fleece, asking God that it be wet in the morning while the ground around it was dry. The results? The wool was dripping wet in the morning. So wet that he was able to wring out an entire bowl of water; but the ground was perfectly dry (See vs. 36-38).
Shouldn't that have been enough?
Apparently not, for Gideon said: "Do not let Your anger burn against me, so that I may speak only one more time; please let me put You to the test only one more time with the fleece: let it now be dry only on the fleece, and let there be dew on all the ground.” (Judges 6:39 NASB). And in the morning, the fleece was perfectly dry, while the ground was dripping wet.
Yes, God was patient with Gideon, and He is always patient with me as well, for I have been in Gideon's position many time. Nonetheless, wouldn't it make Him happy if for once we just believed God instead of always asking for a sign? After Jesus' resurrection He appeared to all of His disciples except for Thomas, but Thomas wouldn't believe what his friends told him. In fact, he boldly stated that he wouldn't believe Jesus was alive unless he put his hands in Jesus' scars (See John 20). And Jesus' response resounds through the ages, serving as a wake-up call for all of us supposed followers: "Because you have seen Me, have you now believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.'" (John 20:29 NASB).
The take away on this story, friends, is that it's okay to ask God for a sign. He is patient, He understands our need to be sure. However, how much happier it would make Him ... How much more blessed we would be! ... if we would just believe without needing the sign!
Prayer: Father God, help us to learn to trust You … WITHOUT needing a sign!
Gideon does eventually go to battle; but not before God reduces his army to nothing... Join us in two weeks for, "What Do You Mean, Too Many??? The Time Before the Kings, Part 10"!
In His love,
Lyn
Lynona Gordon Chaffart
Author, Moderator, Acting Director, Answers2Prayer Ministries
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