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. Judges 6:38-40
Gideon awakes in the morning and finds God’s answer. God placed enough dew in the fleece to fill an entire bowl of water. Gideon
received his sign – God will save Israel by Gideon’s hand. There is a problem, however. There always is when one asks God for
confirmation beyond His recorded word. What if the sign was a coincidence (showing one doesn’t believe God is in absolute control) or what if we mis-interpreted what we saw? So Gideon does what people who call on God to give them signs do. He asks for another sign to confirm the first sign.
Let not your anger burn against me; let me speak just once more Gideon knows what he is doing is wrong because he asks God not to be angry with him. God spoke to Gideon and told him what he was going to do. Then God responded to Gideon’s request for a sign confirming what He said was true. Now he goes back to God for even more confirmation. The word anger has to do with one’s nostrils – Gideon was afraid God would snort in disgust over Gideon’s reluctance to believe.
Please let me test just once more with the fleece Gideon asks permission to test or prove God’s promise one more time.
Please let it be dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground let there be dew. This time Gideon reverses the conditions he asks to be met. If God’s answer the previous night was just an act of nature,
reversing the conditions should be sure proof.
And God did so that night Unbelievably God responds and answers Gideon’s request once again. We see God’s longsuffering as he puts up with the frailties of those who follow Him but have not learned to trust Him fully. (Gideon is really not doubting his own capabilities, he doubts God’s promises.)
It was dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground there was dew. God meets Gideon’s conditions. Confirmation is provided again. Despite the overwhelming superiority of the Midianites and despite Gideon’s lack of experience as a military leader, God will deliver Israel through fearful Gideon.
What can we learn? It is interesting that when people think of Gideon, their mind almost always turns to the incident of the fleece. In reality this is one of the least important parts of his story. The reason we focus on it is most of us struggle with the same problem Gideon had. We don’t trust that God is really speaking to us and we want to be sure a passage or a command applies to us. So we look at the story of the fleece and ask if it is proper for us to do the same thing. Nowhere in scripture are we given this method as God’s way of learning God’s will. What God emphasizes is believing Him and trusting what He says in His word.
In that regard we think of the time when God called Moses out of Midian to confront Pharoah and demand he let Israel go. Moses
has a similar reaction to Gideon. He was not sure about doing what God was telling Him. In his case, however, God’s command to Moses was clear, Moses just was afraid to do what God instructed. God responded to a few of Moses’s objections up until Moses told God to get someone else. Then God became angry (what Gideon feared). What do we learn from that? If we are seeking confirmation of God’s will but we do not want to obey, even if it is clear – God is never pleased. If our heart is to obey God, no matter what, then God works with us to calm our fear and to assure us of His presence as we obey Him. So the question we must ask ourselves is “are we willing to obey?”.