Gideon Requests Two Signs From The LORD- Judges 6:33-40 (Part 5)

In Deuteronomy 26:9 Moses says, “And he brought us into this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey.” Israel had been given a great inheritance, however, at this time in Israel’s history things had changed. Israel has sinned and done evil in the sight of the LORD so He is disciplining His people.

The discipline that Israel is experiencing did not result in a famine, or drought, or a locust invasion as the LORD sometimes does. In this case, God allows their enemies to enter into this ‘land flowing with milk and honey’ like ‘locusts in number’ leaving it a barren wasteland. During this discipline we can assume that God would provide the conditions needed for a bountiful harvest but every year these enemies would ‘come against them’, ‘devour their produce’, and ‘leave no sustenance’.

Judges 6:3-5 speaks of how bad this was, “Whenever the Israelites planted crops, the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the East would come up against them. They would encamp against them and devour the produce of the land, as far as Gaza, and leave no sustenance in Israel and no sheep or ox or donkey. For they would come up with their livestock and their tents; they would come like locusts in number- both they and their camels could not be counted- so that they laid waste the land as they came in.”

Now let us read our text today in Judges 6:33-40,

Now all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the East came together, and they crossed the Jordan and encamped in the Valley of Jezreel. But the Spirit of the Lord clothed Gideon, and he sounded the trumpet, and the Abiezrites were called out to follow him. And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh, and they too were called out to follow him. And he sent messengers to Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, and they went up to meet them.

Then Gideon said to God, “If you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said, 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.” 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. 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.” And God did so that night; and it was dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground there was dew.

Usually farmers would be happy when God had provided good conditions for a bountiful crop and the time of harvest had come. However, at this time Israel had no reason to celebrate because they knew that their enemies were coming.

Because of these things Israel had finally began to cry out to the LORD for help. (6:6) The first thing that God did was to send a prophet to His people. (6:7-10) The second thing God did was to raise up Gideon as a judge. (11-24) Honestly, the people did not yet know that God was doing this for them because God was raising up the most unlikely and unexpected Judge. (6:15)

Because they were unaware of what God was doing their attitude may have been a lot like Gideon’s when he confessed to the angel of the LORD that God had forsaken His people. (6:13) If Gideon was feeling this way then you can imagine that the Israelites might have been saying the same thing when they had prayed but then saw their enemies coming into the land, “Now all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the East came together, and they crossed the Jordan and encamped in the Valley of Jezreel.” (6:33)

When this happened, if they did not respond in faith, Israel would quickly become discouraged and begin to grumble and complain. Worse yet, they may turn away from God and return to worshiping Baal and Ashteroth. It is not hard to imagine this happening when we consider Judges 6:28 where we see the towns people still worshiping these gods. This is why it is important for God’s people live by faith and not by sight. (2 Corinthians 5:7)

With every passing year Israel’s enemies would become more powerful, more aggressive, and arrive with a greater sense of entitlement. Over these seven years they are getting stronger and more prosperous while Israel is becoming weaker and more impoverished. The Puritans used to say, “It is easier to stop a boulder at the top of a mountain then to try to stop it when it is rolling half way down.” Similarly, the Midianites have been rolling over Israel for the last seven years and it would appear that they have all of the momentum and there is little Israel can do to stop it.

Because of these things we can understand why Gideon is apprehensive about what God is calling him to do. Gideon did not consider himself qualified, saying, “Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Mannesseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.” (15) To this objection the LORD replies, “But I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man.” (16)

As we come to Judges 6:33-35 we see that God begins to fulfill this promise that he made to Gideon. We read, “Now all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the East came together, and they crossed the Jordan and encamped in the Valley of Jezreel. But the Spirit of the Lord clothed Gideon, and he sounded the trumpet, and the Abiezrites were called out to follow him. And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh, and they too were called out to follow him. And he sent messengers to Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, and they went up to meet them.”

Israel’s enemies had crossed the Jordan were they encamped at the Valley of Jezreel. In the past when this happened Israel would scatter and flee from the enemy. (6:2,11). This time, however, the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon and began to unite the hearts of Israel against their enemies.

Our text emphasizes that all of this was being coordinated by the Spirit of the LORD. Gideon does not see this happening and sound the trumpet of his own zeal and volition. No, our text testifies that it was the Spirit of the LORD that was doing this, “But the Spirit of the Lord clothed Gideon, and he sounded the trumpet…”. (6:34) We all need to be filled with the Spirit and not depend upon graceless zeal.

Notice the emphasis of the conjunction ‘But’. The enemy is in the land and Israel was not capable of doing anything, ‘But’ the Spirit of the LORD clothes Gideon. The necessity of the Person and work of the Holy Spirit is not optional for God’s people. The Spirit is necessary from the beginning (justification) to the end (sanctification) of the Christian life. (Philippians 1:6)

One positive way of considering what Gideon does in realizes in verses 36-40 is to see that Gideon realizes this. When Gideon asks the LORD for a sign he says twice in v. 36-37, “If you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said…”. These words emphasizes that Gideon understood that the only way Israel could be liberated was if the LORD delivered them. Any attempt apart from Him would be an exercise in futility. Worse, if they did have success apart from dependence upon Him they would boast pridefully. (7:2; 1 Cor.4:7).

In our text we see that the Spirit clothes Gideon for this task. Similarly, in Isaiah 59:16-21 we discover that there would be a day in the future when the LORD would clothe Himself to save His people. The LORD does this because, “He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no one to intercede; then His own arm brought Him salvation, and His righteousness upheld Him.” (Isaiah 59:16)

Then we read in Isaiah 59:17-20, “He put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on His head; He put on garments of vengeance for clothing, and wrapped Himself in zeal as a cloak. According to their deeds, so will He repay, wrath to His adversaries, repayment to His enemies; to the coastlands He will render repayment. So they shall fear the name of the Lord from the west, and His glory from the rising of the sun; for He will come like a rushing stream, which the wind (His Spirit) of the Lord drives. And a Redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who turn from transgression,” declares the Lord.”

The result of God doing this is spoken of in Isaiah 59:21, “‘And as for me, this is my covenant with them’, says the Lord: ‘My Spirit that is upon you, and my words that I have put in your mouth, shall not depart out of your mouth, or out of the mouth of your offspring, or out of the mouth of your children's offspring,’ says the Lord, ‘from this time forth and forevermore.’”

Therefore, because of what Jesus Christ and His redemptive work all believers can now enjoy great blessings that Gideon did not get to experience. We have a New Covenant, the Holy Spirit dwells within a believer, He gives us the ability to hear, receive, and abide in His Word. Gideon, who did not get to enjoy these New Covenant realities as we do. Therefore, he asks the LORD for a sign to build up his faith. (v.36-40)

When the enemies of Israel enter the land the Spirit of the LORD comes upon Gideon and we read these words in verses 34-35, “...and he sounded the trumpet, and the Abiezrites were called out to follow him. And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh, and they too were called out to follow him. And he sent messengers to Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, and they went up to meet them.”

The initial call went out to those who were closest to Gideon, “...and the Abiezrites were called out to follow him.” (34) The Abiezrites were were the ones who wanted to kill Gideon when he obeyed the LORD in destroying the idolatrous places of worship. (30) Because of this, it might be that some of them would be apprehensive about following Gideon thinking that this would be the moment when Baal would contend with ‘Jerubbaal’ (‘Let Baal contend against him’) for what he had done to his altar. (28-32) If this is the case, those who responded would have to do this in faith.

After this initial call was given messengers were sent out to Manasseh, Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali. As they responded to this call we are told that they ‘went up to meet the Midianites’ in battle. (35) In all of this the LORD is proving to be faithful in everything that He had told Gideon. (16) However, it may be that Gideon did not recognize the LORD’s hand in these things because he asks the LORD for a sign. Observation: Sometimes we are blind to what the LORD is doing around us. This is why we need to receive and respond in faith to the Word of God.

In Verses 36-40 we read these words, “Then Gideon said to God, “If you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said, 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.” 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. 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.” And God did so that night; and it was dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground there was dew.”

We might ask, “Should Gideon be commended for what he is doing?”. There is a sense in which he can be commended for this. Let me explain, do you remember in Judges 1:1-3 we read these words, “After the death of Joshua, the people of Israel inquired of the Lord, ‘Who shall go up first for us against the Canaanites, to fight against them?’”

We commended Israel for praying like this. God honored their prayer by answering it, saying, “The Lord said, “Judah shall go up; behold, I have given the land into his hand.” Israel has a few ways they could have responded. First, they can immediately obey the word of the LORD. Secondly, they could choose not to obey His Word. Third, they can respond with their own plan. Israel does the later. They turn to Simeon and say, “Come up with me into the territory allotted to me, that we may fight against the Canaanites. And I likewise will go with you into the territory allotted to you.”

Since Judah and Simeon had some success we tend to be pragmatic and conclude that they did nothing wrong. However, Judah was given clear instructions but they did not have the faith to obey it fully. What should they have done? Well, if they lacked the faith to obey they should have prayed again and asked for clarity, for faith, and for confirmation that the LORD would be with them. God would have honored this prayer and supplied what they needed. (James 1:5; James 4:2-3) Instead they were not commended by the LORD when all was said and done. (Judges 2:1-5)

In this moment Gideon finds himself in a similar situation. He considers his calling and the enemy that he is facing and he realizes that his faith is weak. Gideon could make the same mistake that Israel did but he doesn’t. Instead he prays, saying, “If you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said…give me confirmation through this sign.” Let me make three observations.

• First, Last week we noticed how God is drawing close to Gideon during this time. (6:14) Now we see Gideon drawing close to the LORD in prayer to confirm His Word.

• Second, notice that Gideon admits that he knows what he has been told by the LORD. He prays, saying, “If you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said...”. Unlike Israel in Judges 1:1-3, Gideon remembers God’s word and desires to obey it. His faith is weak so he prays for a sign.

• Third, notice the humility and focus that Gideon has in this moment when he says, “If you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said…” Gideon is not thinking only about himself; rather, he wants Israel to be saved from their enemies. James told us that there are times when we pray for things so we can spend it on ourselves but this is not what James is doing here. (James 4:3) Later Gideon, as a successful Judge, refuses to be made Israel’s king. God can give grace to people who are humble in these ways.

Having mentioned the positive nature of this request by Gideon let us consider the danger of such a request. In verses 39-40 we read, “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.’”

In these words we see two reasons to be cautious. First, Gideon knew that a request like this can lead to the anger of God if our motive is not right. If humble faith is not present in the request we ought to be concerned. Gideon says, “Let not your anger burn against me…”.

Secondly, notice that Gideon also knew that there was a limit to the amount of times that he could request this of God. Gideon says, “...let me speak just once more. Please let me test just once more…”. Even from the very beginning Gideon know that he would have to stop praying and simply obey. God is gracious to help our weak faith but we ought not expect it to take to long if we are seeking these things sincerely and honestly. Gideon did not presume upon the graciousness of God and he was content to ask for two signs. If we were to continue to read we would see that after this second request Gideon acted obediently. In responding in obedience the LORD graciously gives Gideon another sign to strengthen his faith before the battle. (Judges 7:9-11)