MESSAGE - Gideon's Second Fleece
Ron Ferguson
This is a message about the testing of faith, which is taking God at His word. This sermon is longer than average. It is centred on the Judge of Israel, Gideon.
Judges 6 v 7 “Now it came about when the sons of Israel cried to the LORD on account of Midian, Judg 6:8 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 Judg 6:9 and 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, Judg 6:10 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 book of Judges is a see-saw or a submarine. A see-saw goes up and then comes down. To go up again needs effort to push with your feet off the ground. The book is like a submarine because most of the time is spent down under the water. Sometimes it surfaces. In Israel's history it behaved like a see-saw and experienced the submarine effect. There were 13 judges in all with Samuel being the last judge.
The spiritual state of the nation was up and down, and it took effort to get back up again; and like the submarine, it was mainly down. It took effort to get the nation back again, the effort of turning from sin to the living God. Joshua led the people into Canaan and they followed, mainly obedient to the Lord, but when Joshua died, the people very quickly turned to idolatry because they were unsuccessful in removing the heathen, and sordid people from the land. Consequently, they adopted the wicked practices of the pagan people in full idolatrous worship.
God judged Israel by allowing enemies to raid the land, and cause much havoc and sorrow and bondage. Then the people came to their senses and cried to the Lord for deliverance. God harkened to them and sent a deliverer to the nation, or better still, He raised up a deliverer from among the people. The deliver was known as a judge. The judge won victory and the land was at peace, but as soon as the judge died, the land reverted again to idolatry. It was a never ending cycle they played out for 400 years. Did Israel ever learn its lesson? No, it never did. The key phrase for those 400 years was, “Every man did that which was right in his own eyes,” and therefore, not what was right in God’s eyes.
In the verses we just read, the land was being oppressed by Midian and the people cried out to God. The only time they sought the Lord was in difficult times, like people today when it is tough. Then they forget God when it is smoother sailing and the storm has gone. God heard them in our chapter, and verse 8 is God’s response – He sent a prophet to challenge them, and he began his message to them with a reminder of their history when God delivered them. To understand the state of affairs at that very time, let us read these verses - Judges 6 v 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, Judg 6:2 and 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.”
Things were so bad that the Israelites were living in caves and between rocks to escape from the Midianites. They continually failed to learn. Sometimes we may sin and sin quite badly even as Christians, but praise God, most learn from that and don’t readily reoffend, but Israel seemed incapable of not reoffending. However God had the matter in hand, and was going to raise up yet another judge, and this is the record of that -
Judges 6 v 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. Judg 6:12 The angel of the LORD appeared to him and said to him, “The LORD is with you, O valiant warrior.” Judg 6:13 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.”
Gideon seemed not to understand why Israel was in trouble. He was a reticent man but was to be valiant in the hands of God. This young man who was threshing wheat was doing so trying to hide the fact from the Midianites, but he was confused. How could anyone call him, “O valiant warrior”? he knew he was not the slightest bit a warrior . . . and valiant (courageous, fearless)? No way was he valiant. He knew that. It went against all reason. Verse 13 lets us see Gideon’s mind. He asked one of the most logical questions a man could ask, “If God is with us, then why is this happening to us?” Why are we in trouble? Where is God in all this when I met tragedy face to face? Why has God allowed this? The human experience seeks reason out of bad happenings, and adversity. Gideon could not make sense out of it. He had seen no miracle, and believed God had abandoned him.
God had much to teach him. He had to understand his people, Israel, to understand God’s actions. He had to understand what failure was and what it reaped. It is clearly outlined in Judges chapter 2 but I will confine that to a few verses - Judges 2 v 11 “Then the sons of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served the Baals, Judg 2:12 and they forsook the LORD, the God of their fathers who had brought them out of the land of Egypt, and followed other gods from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed themselves down to them. Thus they provoked the LORD to anger. Judg 2:13 They forsook the LORD and served Baal and the Ashtaroth, Judg 2:14 and the anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He gave them into the hands of plunderers who plundered them, and He sold them into the hands of their enemies around them, so that they could no longer stand before their enemies.” That was failure, Gideon! And why? The Lord forsook them because they served Baal. Gideon asked, “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 . . .”
He seems to think the Lord has abandoned them, but that they are still entitled to miracles - deliverance without personal responsibility, and he asks why this has happened to Israel. Surely he knew that the nation was sinful and reaps what it has sown. It is not God who has failed them. They failed their God. They stepped away from God, not the other way. They closed the door to miracles by their lives. They lived in sin, and then questioned why God is not working for them. It was a terrible situation where the blame comes on to God for the people's own behaviour.
Gideon struggled with faith. Faith is taking God at His word and acting on it. Human weakness held him back. Human weakness finds excuses, and so did Gideon when the Lord told him to go to deliver Israel - Judges 6 v 15 “and 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,” Judg 6:16 but the LORD said to him, “Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat Midian as one man.” Judg 6:17 Gideon said to Him, “If now I have found favour in Your sight, then show me a sign that it is You who speaks with me.”
A sign is reassurance. He wanted it all laid out before him. Some people struggle with faith. Gideon did. Being faithless is often a matter of sight. When we look at our own limitations and failures we see defeat. Looking to God and at His strength, sees victory. Gideon asked if he could prepare an offering for the Lord. The angel granted permission in verse 18. This angel was the Son of God. It is a theophany, an appearance of God to man. When the offering was prepared, it was the Lord who touched it and it instantly consumed the offering, verse 21. This was Gideon’s response in verse 22 - Judges 6 v 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,” Judg 6:23 and the LORD said to him, “Peace to you, do not fear. You shall not die.”
Gideon had learnt firstly that God was the God of fire and power, and he proceeded to built an altar in honour of the Lord who had given him His peace in verse 23 - Judges 6 v 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.” He was learning a valuable lesson – peace. Peace to the soul. Peace in conflict and peace in doubt. His faith needed props but to learn peace in one’s soul is a great lesson in doubt and uneasiness.
Now you would think that the fire from God sealed the whole matter of trust, but not so for Gideon. God took the next step in building Gideon’s trust - Judges 6 v 25 “Now the same night it came about that 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, Judg 6:26 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.” Judg 6:27 Then Gideon took ten men of his servants and did as the LORD had spoken to him and it came about, because he was too afraid of his father’s household, and the men of the city, to do it by day, that he did it by night.”
It would seem this Baal centre was a large one and that Gideon’s father was a leader in this idolatry. That challenge was not just a family matter but would involve his whole town. For Gideon this would have been quite a big step of faith. That would take some courage, but Gideon did it, and it caused a lot of trouble, but you will have to read that for yourself later on, not now. Through that experience Gideon grew, for faith adds on to faith. From faith to faith is a definite growth in trusting the God of the universe. It follows the steps of Abraham.
This was the Lord’s call to obedience. It would be in the face of entrenched idolatry. The Lord called Gideon from the heart of pagan worship in His grace. He wanted destruction of the old associations of Gideon, before Gideon could enter the service of the Lord. This is the forsaking of the old values even though Gideon would not have been a worshipper of Baal. God wants separation and a walk in a new life if that life is to be blessed by Him.
The old order of the kingdom of darkness is destroyed, and on top of that the new structure is built. Out of the old comes the new. The Lord trampled over the forces of darkness and evil at Calvary, tearing them down, and on top of that has established His own kingdom, the kingdom of light and victory. The Lord is victorious, who has conquered evil triumphing over it openly and exposing the realm of darkness (find that verse). Gideon’s altar that rose on the victory and the sacrificed bull, sealed the deed and the victory. The offering of the Lord is like that bull, sacrificed in display of the victory of God.
Gideon was still a hesitant man, afraid of open declaration for the Lord, so he did the Lord’s bidding at night. This was all a learning process for him. Each step of obedience was each plank in the ladder that rose higher to God to make this man a valiant warrior for God. We all need planks of obedience and steps that teach us the faith life.
Now we come to an important verse - Judges 6 v 34 “so the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon and he blew a trumpet, and the Abiezrites were called together to follow him.” Nothing is ever accomplished for God without the power of the Holy Spirit and this was Gideon's next step in his progress. Do you think Gideon was ready to go out in faith with the Lord? He had witnessed the miracles of the Lord, and the Holy Spirit was with him. Well this is what happened - Judges 6 v 36 Then Gideon said to God, “If You will deliver Israel through me as You have spoken, Judg 6:37 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,” Judg 6:38 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.
God spoke to Gideon first by fire in a miracle, and now by water in a miracle. The Lord had been propping up this man’s faith by signs but it was difficult for God’s servant. He had a weakness in trust. The task of delivering Israel seemed too overwhelming for him. Of course it was too hard for him! It was impossible for any man. That is what Gideon had to learn. He had to accept by faith that it was not him, BUT God. God through him, and God His strength. Even so, Gideon just could not get there. This is what he did - Judges 6 v 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,” Judg 6:40 and God did so that night for it was dry only on the fleece, and dew was on all the ground.
Gideon wanted the second fleece. Why? A reserved faith that a person might have, needed propping up, more than it would in other people. Consider the Roman centurion whose son was ill. He told the Lord – just speak the word . . . We would say, “That is faith unseen”. Consider Peter here also – “Nevertheless at Your word I will let down the nets”. That was faith in action. It was not dwelling on the impossibility of fish at that time of day (which was true), but on the character of the One who asked the nets be let down. Gideon had to learn the character of God and the faithfulness of God. He had to know who God was, not what his own limitations were, and what his own logical argumentations were. Faith dismisses limitations and arguments. Faith is based on the character of the One who will perform. Faith anchors to the Rock of ages and nothing will dislodge that anchor.
The fleece was another test of faith, but this time Gideon asks for a sign which is an advancement in his faith. God handled him gently. Gideon was one who advanced through evidence. He obeyed even if scared, but he needed God’s signposts along the road as he went. The reason for the second fleece was still more assurance needed. His was a weaker walk by faith but I believe he loved the Lord and his desire was complete surrender. Faith was weak. Many of us are like that, and God uses fleeces for us. The whole learning experience for Gideon produced a valiant warrior.
When God said in verse 6 v 16 but the LORD said to him, “Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat Midian as one man,” his was faith that needed support. If he had taken God at His word, what would that have been based on? Well, it would have been “the promises of God”. Faith is taking God’s promises as those He gives you. Trust is holding to those promises through storm and calm. The second fleece won the victory in faith for Gideon, which in turn won the victory for the nation.
We are going to pop into chapter 7 for a while. In 7 verses 1-7 the Lord reduces Gideon’s army from 32 000 to just 300, but the Lord guided him step by step in that selection. Wow! That will test faith! It was as if his faith could only go from one step to the next. He had that faith and trust in the Lord. For Gideon just a step at a time.
He needed a lot of assurances along the way as in these verses - Judges 7 v 9 Now the same night it came about that the LORD said to him, “Arise, go down against the camp, for I have given it into your hands. Judg 7:10 “But if you are afraid to go down, go with Purah your servant down to the camp, Judg 7:11 and you will hear what they say; and afterward your hands will be strengthened that you may go down against the camp. “So he went with Purah his servant down to the outposts of the army that was in the camp.
He had to take his servant, for his faith did not match the solo journey. God must have unsettled him with just 300 men reduced from 32 000. This was to be a test of faith for him but it did come after a lot of proof that God had provided along the way. The faith walk is a walk of growing experiences and each step makes the way stronger. God’s faithfulness in the past with experiences makes the faith more trusting in the ongoing walk. Gideon had many small experiences and his faith grew step by step. It must have been frightening for him to tear down his father’s Baal but had the Lord given him 300 men at the beginning to conquer Midian, he would have freaked out. Step by step, God had been preparing him. To have gone into the battle with 32 000 would have been a lot easier on faith, but God actually said that Israel would have attributed victory to their numbers (7 v 2). God wanted the result to have been through 100% faith.
I think Gideon had a real dependence on God. That was never a question. He knew God was with him and all that, but to step out in a challenging faith was where assurances were needed.
God said to him in Judges 7 v 9 Now the same night it came about that the LORD said to him, “Arise, go down against the camp for I have given it into your hands. And at that stage faith could have grasped the challenge, and the 300 could have gone forth to take that victory, even that night. Even then, God told him to go to the camp but take his servant if he was afraid by himself. He took his servant. Gideon was indeed the man who needed the second fleece, and he needed it often. However even here Gideon needed an assurance – he was led to the camp before the battle to hear the fear expressed by the enemy. (and you will hear what they say and afterward your hands will be strengthened that you may go down against the camp.) The journey to the Midian camp was the “top up” needed and he returned with full faith and confidence and after that very night he went forth boldly to claim the victory.
Judges 7 v 15 "It came about when Gideon heard the account of the dream and its interpretation, that he bowed in worship". – we can not separate faith and worship. Each one – faith and worship holds our walk in balance. Worship came because Gideon was a man of dependence and learned to be in the presence of God. We will not know faith and trust outside the presence of the Lord.
In closing, what do we do about a weak faith? I do not stand here as one who knows. When we need to let matters rest with God, I sometimes pull the whole thing apart and get miserable about it. It ought not to be. I will leave these pointers with us:-
(1). An important verse – “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Let the bible do its work. Take God at His word.
(2). Do not forget the victories in faith in the past. God’s past faithfulness means His future faithfulness.
(3). Don’t neglect examples from men of faith. Read biographies. George Mueller was a great man of faith.
ronaldf@aapt.net.au
