Judges 6:33-40 – Some time later, all the Midianites, Amalekites, and other easterners joined together, came over, and set up camp in the Jezreel Valley. Then the Lord’s spirit came over Gideon, and he sounded the horn and summoned the Abiezrites to follow him. He sent messengers into all of Manasseh, and they were also summoned to follow him. Then he sent messengers into Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali too, and they marched up to meet them.
But then Gideon said to God, “To see if you really intend to rescue Israel through me as you have declared, I’m now putting a wool fleece on the threshing floor. If there is dew only on the fleece but all the ground is dry, then I’ll know that you are going to rescue Israel through me, as you have declared.” And that is what happened. When he got up early the next morning and squeezed the fleece, he wrung out enough dew from the fleece to fill a bowl with water.
Then Gideon said to God, “Don’t be angry with me, but let me speak just one more time. Please let me make just one more test with the fleece: now let only the fleece be dry and let dew be on all the ground.” And God did so that night. Only the fleece was dry, but there was dew on all the ground.
I’ll just come right out and say it; I’m not all that impressed with Gideon in this story. I know that the reality is that Gideon ends up serving a pivotal role as one of only a dozen judges of Israel in the time preceding monarchy (Saul, David, Solomon, etc). He ends up being a faithful servant, but not until after this famous exchange with God where he basically asks God to “prove” that his instructions are indeed from a divine source. I also realize that part of my aversion to Gideon here is that he seems to defy a principle that I had entrenched in my thinking by my early Christian teachers. That teaching comes come Deuteronomy 6:16, where it states, “do not test the Lord Your God.” Jesus cements this principle into what will become part of central Christian teachings when he quotes Deuteronomy in Matthew 4. Gideon, at least in my estimation, is in fact putting God to the test. Further, these multiple tests that Gideon puts God through is after God had already given him plenty of proof that God was calling him (for more on this, read Judges 6:11-32). I do need to confess that I wrestled with leaving Gideon out of this series on Old Testament figures because I just don’t like what Gideon did.
However, my objections to Gideon seemed to be dismissed by this story as God willingly submits to the test not just once (because Gideon seems not to be convinced the first time) but twice. God doesn’t even seemed much bothered that Gideon keeps asking for more proof. This raises a very important question for me that does deserve some reflection. Is it okay to “put out fleeces” as Gideon did when we are faced with whether or not we have received an authentic instruction from God? This story has been used to support that very practice by many people of faith.
Here’s my short answer – “putting out fleeces” is not a faithful practice for people who claim to follow God. I believe this story is told the way it is to precisely evoke the negative reaction that I have to it. Gideon’s testing of God is meant to be both a negative example of faith AND a story about how patient and faithful God is even when we are not. Gideon seems to already know that what he is asking God to do is unfaithful when he says to God, “, “Don’t be angry with me, but let me speak just one more time. Please let me make just one more test with the fleece.” I read that and my in-my-head reaction is, “Gideon, you know this is not okay, so why are you asking anyway.”
I know I’m too hard on Gideon. I will even confess that I shouldn’t be given the fact that I have been unfaithful to my professed faith in God in ways that are way more condemnable than Gideon’s action here in this story. But here’s my point. It is my belief that if we could somehow summon Gideon himself to appear right now and offer his perspective, Gideon also would say that what he did should not be imitated. I believe Gideon, like Jesus, would quote Deuteronomy and advise us not to “put God to the test.”
I believe Gideon would also say that too many of us test God all the time though we might not do it as overtly as he did. As I imagine Gideon pointing that out, I would be convicted in that instant. I have been guilty of putting conditions on my service to God. I have waited for confirmations of God’s directions even though I would have said that was not what I was doing. And as I recall some of my “negotiating” prayers with God, they sometimes sound all too much like Gideon’s tests. I know I am not the only one who is guilty of such things.
The good news for me (and all of us) is that, like Gideon, God has been extremely patient and gracious with me in spite of all my ridiculousness. God has also continued to use me to serve people of faith though I am routinely found wanting. I pray that you have had or will have the same experience.
Questions: How do you feel about “putting out fleeces?” Are there ways in which you have “put God to the test?”
Prayer: God, please forgive us for the ways in which we test your patience and grace. Forgive our failures to obey immediately when we’ve known what You wanted us to do. Thank you for your love and mercy in spite of all that. Help us as we turn toward obedience and trust. Amen.
Prayer Focus: Pray for Baby Ben, who is an infant who, right in this moment, is undergoing a heart transplant. Pray also for the heartbroken family of the donor of this precious heart.
Song: The God of Gideon – The Foresters
As I stated before, Gideon does go on to serve God in mighty ways. This song tells the story of the battle of Midian (Judges 7) which is an amazing story of Gideon’s strong trust and obedience.
Weekday Word w/ Eric 
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