This week and unusual biblical event from the book of Judges chapter 6 through 8. The person and event is Gideon. He was an Old Testament leader, prophet, and the fifth judge of Israel. Gideon is best known for his military triumph over the Midianites. He gained a great victory with only 300 men a famous fleece test to confirm God’s will, and his later downfall when he invariably lead Israel into ideology. Once again, a simple reminder that his life story is recorded in the book of Judges, chapters 6–8. I was attracted to this event because it’s not very often your read about somebody of the faith challenging God. One that does come to my mind is the Bible Book of Job. Job question God about his immense suffering and the apparent injustice of a righteous man being punished while the wicked prosper. I have read on in that story God rebuked Job for questioning his justice and speaking about divine matters without understanding. Because of his friends accusations and their divisive attitude, Job had accused God of acting arbitrarily and unjustly. To correct this God confronted Job highlighting his ultimate wisdom and sovereignty over the universe, and not realizing his place. Job repented for speaking so ignorantly, ultimately God defended Job against his friends saying that Job spoke more accurately about him than they did.

Gideon had a bit different approach than Job had. Reading in chapter 6 of judges down through verse 40, you will see the conversation that took place between Gideon and God. Basically to keep things a little bit simple Gideon had been called out to defend his people, and God had picked him to be the leader, but Gideon said to God if you are truly going to use me to rescue Israel, as you promised, prove it to me in this way. So Gideon innocently challenged God to prove that it was actually him calling out to him. Gideon told him I’ll put a fleece on the threshing floor tonight if the fleece is wet with dew in the morning, but the ground is dry then I will know you’re going to help me rescue Israel as you promised. Gideon checked the fleece in the morning. He was able to rung out a whole bowl full of water, but then Gideon turns around and says to God please don’t be angry with me, but let me make one more request. Let me use the fleece for one more test. This time let the fleece remain dry while the ground around it is wet with dew and so that night God did as Gideon asked, and the fleece was dry in the morning, but the ground was covered would dew. This interaction between God and Gideon caught my attention and I wanted to read more about it and try to understand it. So let’s look at some of the things that took place here in these chapters 6 through eight. There was a call to leadership. The people had turned away from God and they were seriously oppressed by the Midianites who kept stealing their crops and livestock and had been doing so for about seven years. It was then that an angel came to Gideon calling him to be a man of mighty valor. We talked about the fleece earlier, Gideon tested God using that sheep’s fleece first it was to be wet but the ground was dry and then reverse it both of which happened. To ensure God would receive the glory for the impending battle, Gideon’s army was reduced down from 32,000 to just 300 men and the next thing in the story, of course is the victory using only horns, torches in clay jars, Gideon’s tiny army surrounded the Midanites camp at night, the resulting confusion caused their soldiers to turn on each other, and it secured a miraculous victory. But as always, the people behaved just like a lot of us do today, once the crisis was over and passed they went right back to living the way they had before. Gideon lived a long life had 70 sons and Judged Israel for 40 years. His life was kind of a complex mix of deep faith, human doubt, and the danger of compromising with false worship.

So I will wrapped this up by sharing with you that the main point of the story of Gideon is that God’s power is perfected in human weakness. We see that a true victory comes from trusting God rather than relying on human strength and numbers, demonstrating that with God, even the most unlikely and fearful individuals can accomplish extraordinary things. What are some of the things that we might take from his story and carry with us as we travel along the way today? There are several core lessons that we can take with us. Overcoming fear and doubt, the angel finds Gideon hiding in fear, but God still refers to him as a mighty man of valor while he’s hiding in fear. God sees people for what they can become through his strength rather than their current limitations. And I think all of us are guilty of this next thing, self-reliance, we always believe we can do it best, but to ensure that the Israelites knew their victory came from God above… God whittled Gideon’s army down to just 300 men which meant that the pending victory against the Midianites could not be credited to human might or strategy.

There is one other important lesson to take from this blog today. Talk to God… God will listen, God always listens to his people. Place your trust in God and know from whom your salvation comes.

Life is Good

jk