Signs


Judges 6:33–40
33 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. 34 But the Spirit of the Lord clothed Gideon, and he sounded the trumpet, and the Abiezrites were called out to follow him. 35 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.36 Then Gideon said to God, “If you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said, 37 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.” 38 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. 39 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.” 40 And God did so that night; and it was dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground there was dew.
In the verses just prior to these we witness Gideon’s father demanding that if Baal was god then he could come along and prove himself by dealing with Gideon’s removal of his altars. Nothing happens and thus Baal is proved to be a false god. Now, as the situation with Midian grows even worse and the hour of decision draws near, Gideon’s faith was less than heroic. He makes the same request of the Lord Almighty. If You are really there, really going to help us, prove it to me.

As Midian moves into Israel to once again steal all of the crops and resources, the Spirit of the Lord clothed Gideon. This is a familiar concept to Christians as we also speak of being clothed in the righteousness of Christ or in the full armor of God. What we see here for Gideon is that the Lord comes and empowers him for the task at hand. But, Gideon allows his doubt to rule the day and asks God for a sign. I have heard these ideas taught both ways; never ask God for a sign because He isn’t here to prove Himself to you OR the Scriptures are filled with God giving signs to the people so that they might know of His might and power. What we find in Gideon is a man who is giving voice to his fears and doubts. I think that is where this idea might get its negative rap. God has already proved himself to Gideon by the display of power during their conversation in the winepress as Gideon hides his threshing activities from the Midianites. But, now that the hour of battle has arrived, Gideon’s heart melts with fear. So, he goes back to God and says “prove it to me.”

The miracle of the fleece is a pretty simple one but the two outcomes are certainly against all the laws of the physical world that we know. God is the only One able to control dew. What is shocking to me is that Gideon is allowed by God to go for two rounds. If I were God I might have grown impatient with Gideon after the first round and told him to try a little faith. This is why I am not God for He patiently grants Gideon another test and graciously fulfills Gideon’s request a second time. Throughout the ministry of Jesus, we find that He provides dozens of recorded miracles and the Greek word for miracle is “sign”. (I say dozens of recorded miracles for the Gospel of John tells us that there were too many miracles to record! So the number is probably more like hundreds.) Those signs were proof of His claim to be the Son of God. But many chose not to believe what they saw with their own eyes. So signs aren’t always effective. Gideon was willing to be convinced.

I tend to hold this concept fairly loosely and I don’t remember a time when I have asked God for a sign during my adult life. I believe He has graciously granted me a few but most of them appear in hindsight. And I certainly wouldn’t recommend that you base your faith on daily tests of the Lord’s faithfulness or personal directions. He is not a puppet on a string. I believe that should a person live their faith based on signs, they might eventually become addicted to the signs and not love God Himself. That’s just a supposition. It is my experience that God will guide us and provide direction without our suggested “signs” of His faithfulness.

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