"Now all the Midianites, Amalekites and other eastern peoples joined forces and crossed over the Jordan and camped in the Valley of Jezreel." (Judges 6:33) This is no small force. Israel's foes are formidable. The Midianites are powerful enough to have made the Israelites pay tribute to them for seven years and now, realizing the Israelites are about to revolt, they come out with their allies to stomp down harder than ever on the nation.
Gideon calls soldiers to join him to face down the enemy army. "Then the Spirit of the Lord came on Gideon, and he blew a trumpet, summoning the Abiezrites to follow him. He sent messengers throughout Manasseh, calling them to arms, and also into Asher, Zebulun and Naphtali, so that they too went up to meet him." (Judges 6:34-35) Gideon calls the Abiezrites first because they are probably the clan to which he belongs. We learned earlier in Judges 6 that Gideon is of the tribe of Manasseh. The Abiezrites were descendants of Manasseh. It's natural that Gideon would call soldiers first from his own clan because they would be the closest in proximity to him and because they would be most likely to support him. As soon as he gathers supporters from his own clan he starts calling men from other regions of the nation.
Gideon is about to go to war. Men's lives are at stake. The safety of the men's families is at stake. The freedom and perhaps even the continued existence of the nation is at stake. Gideon needs a sign from the Lord, and understandably so. "Gideon said to God, 'If You will save Israel by my hand as you have promised---look, I will place a wool fleece on the threshing floor. If there is dew only on the fleece and all the ground is dry, then I will know that You will save Israel by my hand, as You have said.' And that is what happened. Gideon rose early the next day; he squeezed the fleece and wrung out the dew---a bowlful of water." (Judges 6:36-38)
Gideon asks for a sign that contradicts that laws of nature; he asks for dew to fall only on a specific item within the vicinity of a threshing floor. You'll recall that earlier in our chapter we said that threshing floors tended to be out in the open on hilltops. They were not in sheltered places where a person might rationalize this miracle by saying, "Well, the dew was only able to land on the fleece because of the layout of the terrain.". Threshing floors were not located where anything could block them because they were located where the wind could blow chaff away while the grain was being threshed. There's no way the dew could naturally have fallen on the fleece without also falling on the whole threshing floor. Gideon requests this particular sign because it can only occur supernaturally.
Bless his heart, the task ahead of him is so great and his awareness of his human weakness is so strong that he asks for one more sign. I don't think it's because he doubts the Lord can give victory to Israel. I think it's because he's still worried he's not the right man to lead Israel's army. He knows the angel of the Lord called him a "mighty warrior" but he doesn't feel like a mighty warrior. He knows the Lord could have (and in his opinion should have) chosen a man with more bravery, more influence, more status, more age and wisdom, and more experience. I believe what Gideon is doing is giving the Lord one more chance to choose someone else. "Then Gideon said to God, 'Do not be angry with me. Let me make just one more request. Allow me one more test with the fleece, but this time make the fleece dry and let the ground be covered with dew.' That night God did so. Only the fleece was dry; all the ground was covered with dew." (Judges 6:39-40)
I love the way Gideon says something like, "Please be patient with me, Lord. I'm so sorry but I just need one more sign. Please forgive me for that." The Lord has no words of criticism for Gideon at all. Gideon feels bad about having to ask for this final sign but there's no evidence that the Lord finds fault with him. There's no indication that the Lord is impatient or angry. Instead I think He feels very loving and compassionate toward him. Just as a father teaching his kid how to ride a bike is patient about when his child is ready to have the training wheels taken off, the Lord is patient about giving Gideon the support he needs to feel ready to lead the troops.
Sometimes I think we're more critical of ourselves than we ought to be. We feel bad about asking for reassurance from the Lord but I think that's because we expect more of ourselves than we should. We think we should never experience any fear when answering our calling. We think we should never struggle with doubts or discouragement as we walk through this fallen world. But the Lord who created us knows we are but dust, as the psalmist says (Psalm 103:14) and He knows how frail these mortal bodies and minds are. He knows we are going to need extra encouragement from time to time, especially when we're facing the bigger tasks in life. He knows we may doubt (as Gideon did) whether we're the right person to do a particular thing and that we might need our calling confirmed to us. So I must respectfully disagree with the scholars who find fault with Gideon in today's passage. If the Lord doesn't find fault with his need for extra signs, we are hardly in a position to do so. And perhaps the Lord's gentle treatment of Gideon will help us be less critical of ourselves when we need a word of encouragement.
No comments:
Post a Comment