Judges 6:36-40--The Sign of the Fleece

Judges 6:36-40
English Standard Version
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The Sign of the Fleece
36 Then Gideon said to God, “If you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said, 37 behold, I am laying a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece alone, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said.” 38 And it was so. When he rose early next morning and squeezed the fleece, he wrung enough dew from the fleece to fill a bowl with water. 39 Then Gideon said to God, “Let not your anger burn against me; let me speak just once more. Please let me test just once more with the fleece. Please let it be dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground let there be dew.” 40 And God did so that night; and it was dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground there was dew.

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Now Gideon has already tested the LORD by bringing Him and offering that the LORD consumed on the make-shift altar that was there, but now, Gideon wants to test the LORD again because he's hoping the LORD will send someone else to lead the troops that have just been rallied.  He tore down the altar of Baal in the middle of the night hoping no one would know he did it, but they knew anyways.  He blew the trumpet to sound the need to gather for war, but then hoped that someone else would lead the people into battle.  This idea of "putting out the fleece" is not something that Gideon should have needed to do because he had the Word of the LORD (Jesus spoke directly to him) and gave him a clear command as well as a clear promise.  Gideon is still thinking that this battle will be won or lost based off of his own strength and the strength of the soldiers that respond to the call, but the LORD will work on him in the next few passages to adjust his perspective so that he is ready to give all the honor and glory to the LORD and respond to him in worship.

This is a story that most of you probably know.  Gideon first asks that if God will really save Israel as He has said He would.  With that in mind, I think asking for these signs is kind of laughable in that no one's mind would be changed by such a sign if they really believed that God's power was limited....("Well, maybe He can control the weather, but I'm still not sure that He's strong enough to save us").  The only thing that Gideon would have been looking for here is that if God was not powerful enough to do something small, then God would definitely not be able to accomplish something larger.  So this is to put God to the test, not to put Gideon's faith to the test, and we're commanded directly in Scripture (in the book of Deuteronomy which Jesus quotes during his temptation in the wilderness) not to put the LORD your God to the test.

The first sign that Gideon chooses to test the LORD is that he asks that if he puts a fleece on the threshing floor (where he had originally heard from the LORD) and that the fleece was wet, but the ground was dry, then he would know the LORD's will.  Gideon put out the fleece that evening and the next day it was exactly as Gideon had requested, but after thinking about it, he though that wasn't really the sign he should have aske for, because that's kind of how things naturally work--the fleece would naturally absorb the dew from around it (though not all the ground around it would be completely dry), but Gideon asked for permission to put the fleece out one more time.  This time he asked for the exact opposite to happen that the fleece would be dry and the ground would be soaking wet with dew, but the fleece would not have gathered any of the dew.  That would definitely be a miracle if that happened because fleece does not sit in a puddle of dew and not get any of the dew on or in it.  The LORD permitted Gideon this additional sign (this would not be the last time that Gideon would ask for a sign) and it was exactly as Gideon had asked for.

Gideon was all out of tactics to stall, and now it was time to obey the command that the LORD had given to him.  The men of Israel have been called to battle and now Gideon knows that he is supposed to be the one to lead them, though he is timid to say the least.  I think it's pretty fair to say that Gideon lacks courage and is putting his faith in what he can see instead of the promises of the LORD and what the LORD has done for His people in that past that should make Gideon certain that what the LORD says will certainly happen, even if it sounds and looks impossible.  In fact, that is exactly how the LORD likes to operate so that it is clear that He is the only one who could do what He has done, and He gets all the glory and honor for it, for He is a God whose name is Jealous and He will not share His glory with anyone else nor with any other beings that claim to be gods or goddesses.  The people will know that salvation belongs to and comes from the LORD alone.

This is the song we will sing in worship that is described in the book of Revelation 7:9-10


Revelation 7:9-10
English Standard Version

A Great Multitude from Every Nation
9 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”