No King in Israel (15)

The practice of “putting out a fleece” is not widespread among evangelicals these days, at least as far as I know. You’re probably familiar with the phrase though. We might call it the superstitious interpretation of events as divine guidance in an area where God has already revealed his will.

So you ask for a specific bit of circumstantial evidence, and if the thing you have prayed for happens, you interpret it as God’s direction to move forward with your plans. “Lord, if it rains tomorrow, then I will know you want me to go to Bible College even though my parents want me to go to university.” “Lord, if the phone rings in the next five minutes, I’ll know I should leave my husband.” That sort of thing.

This chapter is where some Christians get the mistaken notion that the fleece trick might actually work. It worked for Gideon.

II. Twelve Judges in Chronological Order (continued)

5. Gideon (continued)

Judges 6:33-35 — Encamped in Jezreel

“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.”

The Valley of Jezreel

The Valley of Jezreel is a natural spot for armies to gather for war. Mount Gilboa, where Saul died in battle with the Philistines, overlooks it. Jehu killed Joram there. Shallum struck down Jehu’s great-great-grandson at the southern tip of the Valley of Jezreel. Tel Megiddo is there, where Pharaoh Neco killed Josiah in battle, which some call Armageddon.

The place has plenty of bloody history and, if you believe the majority of popular eschatologists, a bloody future. The Midianites and their allies made their camp in the Valley of Jezreel.

Clothed in the Spirit

“The Spirit of the Lord clothed Gideon”, says my ESV. The KJV has “came upon”, but the ESV is actually more literal. The same thing happened to Amasai, chief of David’s thirty men, when he blessed David under the Holy Spirit’s direction. Likewise, Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest was clothed in the Spirit when he condemned Joash for idolatry.

The word means to entirely cover or wrap, as when one puts on a robe. It’s the same word used for the “coats of skin” the Lord made for Adam and Eve after the fall of mankind and the goatskins Rebekah put on her son’s arms to fool her husband into believing Jacob was Esau. With these other examples in mind, rather than imagining Gideon glowed or showed other obvious signs of the supernatural at work, I simply take it to mean that he sounded the trumpet and sent out messengers to call Israel to war entirely under the Spirit’s direction and with his authority. In this case, Israel responded.

Judges 6:36-40 — Fleeced

“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.”

Putting Out a Fleece

To the best of my recollection, I have never put out a fleece, though I’ve entertained the thought once or twice. I certainly know of some who believe they have received divine guidance through the “answers” to such requests. Yet, when invited to throw himself from the pinnacle of the temple to see if the Father would fulfill the promises of Psalm 91, Jesus rebuked Satan with the words, “You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.” Doesn’t that seem to caution against seeking miracles the Lord has not offered to provide?

Jesus was paraphrasing Deuteronomy 6:16, which references the way the children of Israel tested the Lord in Exodus 17. At Massah, the Israelites cried out for water and grumbled against Moses. They asked, “Is the Lord among us or not?” This was a blatant sign of unbelief. God had promised to bring them into Canaan. He had brought them out of Egypt, working ten wonders on their oppressors while preserving Israel through it all. He had just delivered them from the Egyptians through the miracle at the Red Sea, and they had just eaten manna that fell from heaven. The evidence of the Lord’s presence with them and his ability and desire to care for them was everywhere, and yet they insisted on having these things demonstrated to them yet again.

Testing the Lord

It seems to me Gideon is doing something similar here in asking for a miraculous sign that God is with him. He actually has the temerity to specify the sort of sign he wants to see.

Let’s have a look at what Gideon was working with at this point. God had commissioned him to save Israel. He had assured him that he was with him in the present and promised to be with him in the future. He had told him he would successfully destroy the Midianites. He had accepted his sacrifice with the sign of miraculous fire, and promised him that despite seeing the angel of the Lord, he would not die. He had defended Gideon against the people of the town who wanted to execute him for defiling Baal’s altar. Finally, we just read that the Spirit of God had come upon him and rallied the northern tribes of Israel to his cause.

Surely all this would be adequate confirmation of God’s intentions and his ability to carry them out, no? Well, no, apparently not. Gideon wanted more. Amazingly, instead of rebuking him for it, God provided a miraculous sign on Gideon’s terms not once but twice. This is pure grace, and God has not promised us positive results if we try the same trick. Asking for another sign was not evidence of faith, but of lack of confidence in God’s promises.

A Model for Christian Prayer?

We can probably understand Gideon’s fear and need for further reassurance in a measure, but I cannot see how it serves as a model for Christian behavior in prayer. Compared to Gideon, we have many more precious promises in the written word in which we can (and ought to) put our confidence.