First Steps on the Path of Faith (Judges 6:25-40)

Gideon had met the Lord of heaven, the Angel of the Lord, in a marvellous manner as he worked at the harvest secretly for fear of the Midianite invaders. We are not told if Gideon wondered how long God would take to get him involved in the role he had planned for him as the deliverer of his people. Nor are we told if he thought about which areas of life God would want him to deal with first. So Gideon may have been surprised at what happened to him.

The time (v. 25)

We can see in verse 29 that the Lord commanded him to get involved right away. Perhaps Gideon had gone to bed expecting a good night’s rest. Instead he discovered that God was speaking to him. We are not told how God did this; perhaps it was through a dream. Yet since he had met the Lord earlier that day, Gideon would know what he sounded like, and he had no doubt now that the Lord was speaking to him.

This, of course, raises the question for us as to when we should begin serving the Lord openly. Perhaps like Gideon we have had our own personal encounter with the God of grace and maybe we are waiting for some kind of guidance as to when we should let other people know that we have come to know him. Here we have the answer to such a question, and the answer is as soon as possible. This is the answer that is found throughout the Bible, whether in the Old or in the New Testaments.

The task (vv. 25-27)

The task that the Lord gave to Gideon was to show to his family and neighbours that he now served God. His father had become an ardent devotee of the religion of the Canaanites and had created a sanctuary on his land for pagan worship. Perhaps he was even functioning as a community priest. The shrine would have been built in a prominent location, so Gideon was asked to do something that people would notice very quickly.

Gideon responded by arranging for the task to be done during the night when others would be asleep. He did it in darkness because his faith was affected by fear of how his family and neighbours would respond. His actions tell us that true faith in God can exist side by side with a sense of fear of others. What can we say about this response?

First, we can say that it is inconsistent. Faith in God and fear of man are not in harmony with one another. In Gideon’s case, it looks as if trepidation was part of his character. If that was the case, then we can see that the heavenly Surgeon was at work to remove this defect from his servant’s outlook. And the best remedy for this problem was for Gideon to do something that would inform everyone that he was now a new man. Gideon found it difficult to do, but God said to him, ‘Do what I ask you.’ Fear of man will become a snare if it is not dealt with right away. So if we are feeling this fear, we should deal with it by doing what the Bible asks us to do.

Second, we can say that Gideon’s response, because it was affected by fear of man, became illogical. He did not want anyone to know he had destroyed the altar of Baal, yet he chose ten men to help him do it. It was inevitable that from them the story would come out. Yet God did not ask him to enlist the help of those men, but since he did then his exploits would become known. We should not be too surprised that a new believer like Gideon should resort to earthly wisdom in order to try and find a way of bringing about what God commands. I suspect he took the men along as protection in case he was caught in the act. Gideon needed to learn that all he needed was God to protect him. There was no need for Gideon to add his own suggestions to the simple, straightforward command of God. And we should not resort to similar ruses in order to bring about what God requires of us. Instead we should always just do what he tells us to do.

The command that Gideon was given to do was to remove the altar of Baal and replace it with an altar to the Lord. It is likely that a great deal of power would have been needed to pull down the altar to Baal, which may have been the reason why Gideon was told to take the two bulls with him – he only needed one of them for a sacrifice. So God provided him with the information that he needed as to how he could tear down the false altar, and the details were not hard to understand. Just use the strength of the bull. Similarly God tells us what he wants us to do with regard to obedience, and when we follow his instruction we will find that the imposing structure comes toppling down.

When it came to building the replacement altar, Gideon was not allowed to erect it in a style chosen by himself. Instead he was told to lay out the stones in due order (v. 26). This is a reference to the instructions given by God regarding the erection of altars in the Book of Leviticus. Gideon here was told by God that the path of progress is always according to his Word. The difference between the altars of Baal and altars that God required probably would have been known, and even if it were not, Gideon would have had to find out. There was only one place to find out, and that was in the Word of God. We know that the same requirement is made of us – do what God says we should do in his Word.

This was the second altar that Gideon had built. In 6:24, he had erected one beside the spot where he had met the Angel of the Lord, and it could have been possible for him to have his private worship there and not let anyone else know about it. But that was not all that God wanted from him. In addition God wanted Gideon to do something that would show to others that his God was more important and more powerful than the false gods that others worshipped, even among his own family. It is easy to have the equivalent of Gideon’s private altar, but God does not want our faith to be only private.

The triumph (vv. 28-32)

As expected, Gideon’s attempt at secrecy was a spectacular flop. It was not long before the men of the town wanted to exact punishment, which is a reminder that people of the world do not like their gods to be revealed as powerless. (In passing, we can note that one of the best places to see the powerlessness of false gods is museums – in them, we don’t only see the crude idols of wood and stone that once were treated as divine, but we also see the evidences of all kinds of ideas and practices that attempted to nullify God, and they all failed.) Yet if there is one thing that will bring the people of the world together, it will be to try and prevent any progress in the kingdom of God.

The God of all grace, however, had decided to give to his fearing servant Gideon a marvellous blessing in what looks like the conversion of his father. Joash had the insight to work out that a god who could not stop a fearful man like Gideon was not worth worshipping. So even Gideon’s faltering attempts at obedience were rewarded by God. Who can say what reward the Lord will give to us when we engage in obedience to the Lord? After all, he delights to show his loving-kindness and tender mercy. But what would have happened to Joash if Gideon had not done what the Lord had told him to do?

The Lord also disappointed the fears of Gideon in another way when he allowed the father to give Gideon a name connected to the exploit he tried to do with secrecy. Gideon’s action caused Baal to be treated as a joke by the public. After all, what kind of god would like to be reminded that he was powerless against Gideon? But the true God arranged for Gideon to be known as the man whom Baal could not contend with. Christians can make a great impact by their obedience.

The test (vv. 33-35)

The enemies of Israel came in their self-confident annual harvest visit to rob and crush the Israelites. They thought nothing had changed in Israel and things would be easy. Yet the Lord had returned to his people and the Holy Spirit came upon Gideon in powerful way. The Lord had made him into a leader that people would follow. He had kept his promise that Gideon would become a mighty man of valour.

Despite those clear evidences that God was using him, Gideon asked God twice to give a sign that he would defeat the Midianites. The obvious question that comes from this is whether or not Gideon was right to do so. A common observation is that the requests for those signs were not evidence of strong faith in God’s promises at that moment. Yet we have to acknowledge that the author of the book does not condemn Gideon for this request.

First, we need to see what this incident was not. This situation is not one of Gideon at a crossroads unsure of which direction to take, which is how some people misuse his method. His request indicates that he knows what direction he will take because he mentions God’s promises to help him. I think the fact that he mentions his awareness of God’s intention should cause us to be careful in condemning Gideon for his request even as we should be careful and not abuse it by assuming it allows us to ask God for signs. The signs he asked for were against nature. He did not ask for a sign that could be classified as possible such as saying that if a wealthy person supports my mission then I will proceed with it. Or if someone is looking for a spouse, it is asked that the person be standing at a bus stop just as the requester walks by.

For some reason Gideon is unsure even although he has been empowered by the Spirit and has raised an army. It looks to me as if he is unsure that the time has come for God to give the victory. After all, his army has not been trained to fight such a powerful enemy. So we can deduce that Gideon asked for these signs because he was being careful. If he gets the timing wrong, the blood of all these men will be on his hands. 

I would also say that we should look carefully at the signs he asked God to perform. There are at least two details we need to consider. One is that he asked God to do something that only God can do (reverse the way that nature usually acts) and he asked God to do something that, as far as we know, he had not been asked to do before.

Gideon was also expecting an answer from God. This points to his request connected to the fleece to be an expression of faith rather than unbelief. His request was motivated by carefulness as to timing and concern for the men under his command. He was already showing qualities of leadership. But he still had to discover that God’s ways of proceeding has more surprises for him to learn.

I suppose the question can be asked, ‘Has God given us signs that should cause us to serve him?’ It depends on what level we are asking. Baptism is a sign that our families should be devoted to God. The Lord’s Supper is a sign that he wants us to witness for him publicly. The Lord’s Day is a sign that Jesus is alive from the dead. The resurrection of Jesus is a sign that the judgement day is coming. The Bible is a sign that God wants us to behave in certain ways. We should be thankful that we don’t need to resort to fleeces to know about the power of God.