GIDEON’S FLEECE AND FAITH
Text: Judges 6:33-7:7
33 Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the children of the east were gathered together, and went over, and pitched in the valley of Jezreel.
34 But the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet; and Abiezer was gathered after him.
35 And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh; who also was gathered after him: and he sent messengers unto Asher, and unto Zebulun, and unto Naphtali; and they came up to meet them.
36 And Gideon said unto God, If thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said,
37 Behold, I will put a fleece of wool in the floor; and if the dew be on the fleece only, and it be dry upon all the earth beside, then shall I know that thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said.
38 And it was so: for he rose up early on the morrow, and thrust the fleece together, and wringed the dew out of the fleece, a bowl full of water.
39 And Gideon said unto God, Let not thine anger be hot against me, and I will speak but this once: let me prove, I pray thee, but this once with the fleece; let it now be dry only upon the fleece, and upon all the ground let there be dew.
40 And God did so that night: for it was dry upon the fleece only, and there was dew on all the ground.
7 Then Jerubbaal, who is Gideon, and all the people that were with him, rose up early, and pitched beside the well of Harod: so that the host of the Midianites were on the north side of them, by the hill of Moreh, in the valley.
2 And the Lord said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me.
3 Now therefore go to, proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, Whosoever is fearful and afraid, let him return and depart early from mount Gilead. And there returned of the people twenty and two thousand; and there remained ten thousand.
4 And the Lord said unto Gideon, The people are yet too many; bring them down unto the water, and I will try them for thee there: and it shall be, that of whom I say unto thee, This shall go with thee, the same shall go with thee; and of whomsoever I say unto thee, This shall not go with thee, the same shall not go.
5 So he brought down the people unto the water: and the Lord said unto Gideon, Every one that lappeth of the water with his tongue, as a dog lappeth, him shalt thou set by himself; likewise every one that boweth down upon his knees to drink.
6 And the number of them that lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, were three hundred men: but all the rest of the people bowed down upon their knees to drink water.
7 And the Lord said unto Gideon, By the three hundred men that lapped will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into thine hand: and let all the other people go every man unto his place.
1. Gideon’s Fleece Tests (6:36-40)
1) Gideon
God’s Word (6:36-37)
David Jeremiah – If the Word of God has spoken clearly, you need no further word.
2) Gideon doubted God’s will (6:36)
- God told Gideon what he was going to do. Gideon needed to remove the word “if.” Gideon wasn’t walking in faith. He was wobbling in doubt.
3) Gideon
God’s way (6:37, 39)
Warren Wiersbe – Putting out a fleece isn’t only an evidence of our unbelief, but it’s also an evidence of our pride. God has to do what I tell Him to do before I’ll do what He has told me to do.
2. Gideon’s Faith Tested (7:1-7)
1) The confidence test (7:1-2)
- Gideon doesn’t need more army; Gideon needs more of God.
God reduces our resources so that we depend more and more on Him.
Why would God thin out the ranks of Gideon’s army? Because when God does the winning, the army can’t claim the
God tests Gideon. He wants to know where his confidence is. In his army? In God?
2) The cull tests
- God will cull the army from 32,000 to 10,000 and then to 300 by culling them out in two ways: He culls out the
- In the final analysis God chose to cull the army to a much smaller size so that when the victory comes no one claims the credit for victory but God.
3) The conviction test
- Moses assured the Jews that if they would obey God, one soldier could put to flight a thousand and two soldiers could chase 10,000.
Can you imagine what God could do with 300? He could put to flight a few million. But in this case, He only has to deal with 135,000.
v. 7 – …by the three hundred men that lapped will I
- That was God’s promise to Gideon. Would Gideon’s convictions show that he trusts God?
v. 8 – Gideon sends 9700 men away.
What lesson will the army and Gideon learn? Little is much when God is in it.
Warren Wiersbe - God tests our faith for at least two reasons: first, to show us whether our faith is real or counterfeit, and second, to strengthen our faith for the tasks He’s set before us.