God needs to prove Himself?

Scripture Read: Judges 6:36-40 Then Gideon said to God, “If You will deliver Israel through me, as You have spoken, 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.” 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. 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.” ⁴⁰ God did so that night; for it was dry only on the fleece, and dew was on all the ground.

Application: Here we come to the section of the story of Gideon that causes so many believers problems. The idea of Gideon making God prove himself through signs is contrary to what we think is right. We’ll see that perhaps the “fleece” approach to your walk with God is not what God desires first. At the same time though, we need to be fair to both Gideon and the Scriptures. First, let’s summarize what’s going on here. Gideon has been commissioned by God to take on a task that would make any sane man nervous if not paralyzed. Gideon has not been raised in an environment where the evidence of the living God was obvious. This society was full of idolatry and the stories of the God of his fathers were exactly that … stories. So Gideon, to ascertain if what he was receiving was truly from God, chose to ask God to prove that He is God. He sets up a very precise and clear test. He places a woolen fleece on the ground and asks God that tomorrow the fleece will be moist, but the ground will be dry. That is exactly what he finds the next morning, and so he approaches God again and asks Him to reverse the test. Tomorrow morning the fleece will be dry but the ground will be wet. The next day it was exactly that way. So was Gideon wrong? Was he offending God by requiring a test? Should we follow his example?  These are all very good questions, yet all very different, so let’s take them one at a time.

First, we should never go beyond what the Scripture states. Nowhere in this section or anywhere else does God condemn what Gideon does. So we should not try to be the judge when God Himself chose to remain silent on this issue.  Second, it is important that we notice the spirit of Gideon when he approaches the Lord for the 2^nd test. He beseeches the Lord for mercy and patience before he makes his request. This shows us that Gideon understood that he was doing something that would not normally be done to God, but due to his lack of faith he felt the need to still ask. He does ask, but he asks with the plea that God will tolerate his lack of faith. Another issue that brings light to God’s attitude towards Gideon is that He has chosen to allow Gideon to be placed into Chapter 11 of the book of Hebrews, which we call the “Hall of faith”:

Hebrews 11:32 How much more do I need to say? It would take too long to recount the stories of the faith of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and all the prophets.

To be included in this chapter, with names of saints that trusted God in great ways, states a lot of where Gideon is his faith. God never takes a person in a vacuum; he always deals with each one of us right where we are which includes the context of our life. Gideon had not had much of a reason or training to grow in faith toward God. So God, being God, extends patience and mercy; we should do no less. There is more from this section that we will learn, but let us spend some time meditating today where our faith is with God right now.

Meditation Questions: Where are you in your Faith right now? If God asked you to do something that seemed impossible, what would it take for you to do it? When was the last time you took a step of faith? Was it big or small in your eyes? Why do you say this? What do you think it would take for your Faith to be greater? How do the Scriptures show how God grows Faith?  What does this show you?