30 More Days... Day 8

Judg. 6:12 And the Angel of the LORD appeared to him, and said to him, “The LORD is with you, you mighty man of valor!”
Judg. 6:13 Gideon said to Him, “O my lord, if the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the LORD has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.”
Judg. 6:17 Then he said to Him, “If now I have found favor in Your sight, then show me a sign that it is You who talk with me.
Judg. 6:22 Now Gideon perceived that He was the Angel of the LORD. So Gideon said, “Alas, O Lord GOD! For I have seen the Angel of the LORD face to face.”
Judg. 6:36 So Gideon said to God, “If You will save Israel by my hand as You have said—
Judg. 6:37 look, I shall 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 shall know that You will save Israel by my hand, as You have said.”
Judg. 6:38 And it was so. When he rose early the next morning and squeezed the fleece together, he wrung the dew out of the fleece, a bowlful of water.
Judg. 6:39 Then Gideon said to God, “Do not be angry with me, but let me speak just once more: Let me test, I pray, just once more with the fleece; let it now be dry only on the fleece, but on all the ground let there be dew.”
Judg. 6:40 And God did so that night. It was dry on the fleece only, but there was dew on all the ground.

This is probably not considered to be Gideon’s finest hour. It fact, many think that Gideon’s request for a sign showed a terrible lack of faith. As we read the text of the chapter, we see that besides God appearing to Gideon (Gideon suspects that this is God) and receiving a sign as God accepts Gideon’s sacrifice that then, Gideon goes on to lay out the, now famous, fleece, 2 times at the end of the chapter. In this, he requests God’s confirmation that He will really do what He said at first.

In fact, as I was thinking about this prayer, there were various scriptures and stories that came to mind in line with the idea that asking for signs was probably not the greatest show of faith and trust in God. There are places like Matthew 12 & 16 where the pharisees come to Jesus and demand a sign. Jesus answers and says,

"A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a miraculous sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.”

But truly such a sign was given. Or, there is John 2 where Jesus is asked for a sign of His authority to clear the temple, and He tells them if the temple is destroyed that He will rebuild it in 3 days. There is also the story of Thomas as he refuses to believe that Jesus is risen until he sees and touches the wounds of Christ. However, when he sees and believes Jesus proclaims,

“...blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."

Now, here we have Gideon. He asks for a sign. He asks not to know God’s will, but for confirmation of God’s will.

Gideon, not unlike many of us, had grown up being taught the stories of how God brought the children of Israel out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. But right now God’s hand is far from outstretched in favor toward Israel, or in disfavor against their enemies. Israel feels anything but the mighty hand of God over them caring for them and providing for them. In fact, we see that under the Midianites they have become impoverished. Now, the Angel of the Lord appears to him and says, “the Lord is with you...” Gideon harrumphs saying, if God is with us then where are all the miracles, the provision that our fathers knew and saw? We have been forsaken.

How many times have any of us thought back to the miracles of the Bible, the miraculous works of God in the Old Testament or the early church and wondered if God is really with us, and if so then where.... If we are honest with ourselves it is probably not so uncommon. We long to see “a burning bush type sign... but anything would be fine”. It is not that he does not believe. He confesses that God truly brought them out of Egypt but now he believes as well that God has forsaken Israel.

As the conversation continues, Gideon senses that he is speaking with God. He asks for a sign that he is being spoken to, and then full realization as the offering is miraculously ignited and consumed. He knows it is from God and moves forward cautiously in what God has revealed. He tears down the altar of Baal by night. It doesn’t go so well and he finds himself threatened with death, until, very un-supernaturally, his own dad steps in and protects him from the rest of the angry town.

His first foray into the will of God has not perhaps been the smashing success that he had envisioned. Now faced with the second, somewhat larger, task of defeating the Midianites he again calls out to God with his fleece for a sign. God answers, and Gideon prays God not be angry with him as he asks for the fleece sign once again before getting to work.

It is interesting that in Chapter 7 God gives Gideon one more sign to calm his fears. He gives it even though Gideon did not ask for it (though God knew that he needed it).

Was Gideon amiss in asking for a sign? Did he exhibit a terrible lack of faith? Should we ask for signs in prayer? Nowhere in this passage do we see Gideon rebuffed or rebuked by God. In fact, in Hebrews 11 he is first on the list of people also named, though the author didn’t have time to speak about their faith. A kind of “honorable mention”, if you will.

What we do see is a man struggling with experience and faith. He is struggling with the seen and the unseen. He desires to believe and yet is still struggling with assurance. He is not a skeptic. He is afraid. We all go through periods like this where we don’t know what we should do, how we should do it or may even question if it was really God speaking at all. If we are going through periods like this then I can think of nothing better that we can do than to seek God in prayer and wait upon Him. It is so good to know that we can be honest with God and seek Him. He understands who we are, and that He is so very patient with us.

Signs can be deceptive things and scripture does give warnings and rebukes at times for those that seek signs in defiance. However, signs are also useful and God often gives signs to His people. Sometimes He waits for His people to ask and other times He volunteers signs. The apostles and early church prayed for God to stretch out His hands to do signs and wonders that the gospel would be proclaimed. God gave signs to Moses so that the people of Israel and Pharaoh would know that God had sent him. We have signs given throughout scripture that are a picture to us of Jesus and salvation or confirmation or God’s Word.

So what about Gideon’s prayer? He asks for a sign. God grants the request. The point is that God knows us. He knows our strengths and weaknesses. He knows the state of our heart (better than we do). He helps us in and through those things that are hard for us and calls us to rely on Him for those things in which we might have some ability. He calls us to rely on Him in each and every situation. Gideon might take some time to “increase his faith”, but the disciples prayed for nothing less.

It is interesting then that once God answered Gideon we see no real hint of hesitation in carrying out God’s will. He sounds the trumpet. He gathers an army. The army is no real match for the Midianites, yet God tells him to release anyone that fears. He obeys. Many go home. We see no protest. God further whittles down the army. Gideon obeys. Again no protest is seen or heard. Then, on the eve of the battle, we see Gideon, even though fearful, ready to go into battle as God has commanded. God gives us an insight into Gideon. He is fearful, but he is also ready. Even then, God is ready to calm his fears and give him a sign to strengthen him.

Do we need to be careful with sign prayers? I believe we do. Do we need to take care that we do not demand or try to manipulate God? He is the King of kings! Does He care about and condescend to our weaknesses. He does! Does He call us to faith? Yes! Is the purpose of our prayer to know Him more intimately and ultimately to see His glory? Is their a readiness to obey God? Then let us pray to Him in purity and honesty of heart.

Prayer Request
*Nathan and Dawn Detweiler - please pray for this couple as they complete deputation and plan to join us in Maribor, tentatively in March 2009. Pray for provision of the rest of their support (prayer, financial). Pray for details that they will need to wrap up prior to coming and to also know what all those things might entail. Pray for their residency(visa) process to go smoothly and that they would be able to gather and submit papers in a timely manner. Pray for them as they prepare to leave family and move far away from those closest to them, and that they would adjust well and smoothly to life here their first term overseas.