One man who benefited from understanding the will of God was Gideon(cutter). At the time, Israel was not being faithful to God. In fact, the nation had done such evil in his sight that he had given them into the hands of the Midianites. Things were so bad in Israel that the people were hiding in caves and fortresses. The Midianites (those who caused strife) were absolutely brutal: every harvest time, they would sweep through the nation and steal everything that wasn’t nailed down. Again and again, the Israelites lost their sheep, donkeys, food supplies, and everything else.
In Judges 6: 11-16, God decided to change all that. His intervention would have huge implications for Israel and one man in particular.
Then the Angel of the Lord came and sat under the oak that was in Oprah, which belonged to Joash (given by the Lord) the Abiezrite (my father is help) his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the wine press in order to save it from the Midianites.
The Angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, the Lord is with you, oh valiant warrior.
Then Gideon said to him, oh my Lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all his miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt? But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.
The Lord looked at him and said, go in this your strength and deliver Israel from the hand of Midian. Have I not sent you?
He said to him, oh Lord, how shall I deliver Israel? Behold, my family is the least in Manasseh, and I’m the youngest in my father’s house.
But the Lord said to him, surely I’ll be with you, and you shall defeat Midian as one man.
God elevates his persona above our personality.
We see two things taking place with Gideon: firstly, the initial conversation that he has with the Angel of the Lord, and secondly, we note the careful nature of his eventual response.
Gideon has issues of a personal and national nature. He is worried about the nation, is concerned that their capacity to flow with God is diminished, and is angry enough to feel abandoned by the Lord. On a personal level he feels inadequate, insecure and lacking in confidence. We can learn much from his initial conversation with the Angel of the Lord.
Angel: the Lord is with you, oh valiant warrior.
Gideon really? Where is the evidence? Why is all this happening? Where are all the miracles? God has abandoned us into the hand of midian!
Gideon has not picked up at all on the fact that this is a personal calling. I am with you! Is always the very essence of our ministry call. It is highly personal. I have experienced many times when God has not been with the people where he sent me to speak. However, he is with me, and therefore I must position myself in his favor so that his purpose can be achieved through my obedience. Gideon missed that initial point.
God is not interested in answering our questions about the past; he is focused on what is coming next. It was his will that Gideon deliver the Israelites into freedom, despite the young man’s protests.
Instead of responding to Gideon ‘s questions, the Lord looked at him. There is usually a moment when we are not getting the message when the Lord is silent. The Lord speaks 1000 words. It brings us into line with this purpose.
Sometimes the Lord reminds us of who we should be in how we should live in our present situation. When Peter denied the Lord for the third time, a rooster crowed. Jesus turned and looked at Peter, and he remembered-Luke 22: 59-61.
Notice that heaven ignores our negativity. The Lord’s just continued as though Gideon had not spoken.
Angel: go in this your strength and deliver Israel from the hand of midian. Have I not sent you?
The calling of God always elevates his persona above our own personality. He comes to give us himself, I am is with us. Our destiny is always transformed by his identity at work within us. When the Lord declares his intentionality within our call, it causes our inadequacies and insecurities to surface. They must rise up so that he can empower us to deal with them as part of our training.
Gideon: oh Lord, how shall I deliver Israel? Behold, my family is the least in Manasseh, and I am the youngest in my father’s house.
In other words, there are surely better people than myself for you to choose. My household has no seniority or authority in our tribe, and I am the low man in my families hierarchy. I’m the youngest of the worst.
The antidote to our past is our future.
If we are going to be successful in serving the Lord then, our I am statement must become the same as God’s I am statement to us. Double minded people are unstable and have poor expectations of God. Part of our training is to learn to receive under pressure. Knowing God’s intentionality is vital. Again, notice that God ignores the response we make when it is incompatible with his perception. The Lord ignores excuses and stays focused on what he is doing.
Angel: surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat midian as one man.
Our weakness, when turned over to God, can become a place of strength as he inhabits our lives with his intention. All our initial conversations with the Lord will go in the same direction. He chooses us because of what he wants to be for us. His appointment and anointing become our Commission and authority. His power shows up best in weak people(2 5 Corinthians 12: 9-10) so that no one will confuse our victory with our ability. The very thing that we think disqualifies us from serving God is, in fact, exactly why he chooses us.
Gideon perceives the intention of God and comprehends that it will revolve around God’s favor.
So Gideon said to him, if now I have found favor in your sight, then show me a sign that it is you who speak with me. Please do not depart from here, until I come back to you, and bring out my offering and lay it before you. And he said, I will remain until you return.
Then Gideon went in and prepared a young goat and unleavened bread from an ephah of flour; he put the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot, and brought them out to him under the oak and presented them-judges 6: 17-19.
This action costs Gideon a lot. We tend to forget that his family was poor: killing a goat cost them dearly. With the Midianites stealing everything again and again, this goat was an important part of their family wealth. Gideon’s sacrifice reveals something about his faith: he believed that this was God. When someone is destitute, they don’t give away their food unless they’re very sure. Gideon seemed certain that this was God. He wanted to make an offering as a part of his response to the call. The meal would have taken a considerable time to prepare and serve. All this time his heart is beating to the call he had received.
When God speaks, an action is required from us to demonstrate that we have heard and received the call. That response must initially cost us something. David said, I will not offer to the Lord, that which cost me nothing- 1 chronicles 21: 24. In a time of famine and despair we must sacrifice towards our deliverance. We are required to take actions in line with our future, not our present.
The Angel of God said to him, take the meat and the unleavened bread and lay them on this rock, and pour out the broth. And he did so.
Then the Angel of the Lord put out the end of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened bread; And fire sprang up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread. Then the Angel of the Lord vanished from his sight.
When Gideon saw that he was the Angel of the Lord, he said, alas, oh Lord God! For now I have seen the Angel of the Lord face to face.
The Lord said to him, peace to you, do not fear; You shall not die.
Then Gideon built an altar there to the Lord and named it the Lord is peace. To this day it is still in Oprah of the Abiezrites.
Fire burst from the rock and consumed the offering, prompting Gideon to experience the fear of the Lord and be concerned about his own mortality. This should be a critical part of mentoring anyone into the ministry. The fear of the Lord must be passed down from generation to generation. If people learn the fear of the Lord at the beginning, they’ll be less arrogant and more teachable in their own development.
Gideon needs reassurance and receives it. He builds an altar of remembrance to this, his first encounter with the Angel of the Lord. Alter building is hard work. No one seeing fire come out of our rock is in doubt that they have just encountered the almighty and have been called by him. Gideon knew the will of God. On the same day, he heard God’s voice again giving him further directions:
Now on the same night the Lord said to him, take your father’s bull and a second bull 7 years old, and pull down the altar of baal which belongs to your father, and cut down the asherah that is beside it; and build an altar to the Lord your God on the top of this stronghold in an orderly manner, and take a second bull and offer a burnt offering with the wood of asherah which you shall cut down.
Then Gideon took men of his servants and did as the Lord had spoken to him; and because he was too afraid of his father’s household and the men of the city to do it by day, he did it by night.
When the men of the city arose early in the morning, behold, the altar of baal Was torn down, and the asherah which was beside it was cut down, and the second bull was offered on the altar which had been built. They said to one another, who did this thing? And when they searched about and inquired, they said, Gideon the son of Joash did this thing. Then the men of the city said to Joash, bring out your son, that he may die, for he has torn down the altar of baal, and indeed, he has cut down the asherah which was beside it.
But Joash said to all who stood against him, will you contend for baal, or will you deliver him? Whoever will plead for him shall be put to death by morning. If he is a God, let him contend for himself, because someone has torn down his altar. Therefore on that day, he named him Jerubbaal, that is to say, let baal contend against him, because he has torn down his altar-judges 6: 25-32.
Again, no one would go and pull down the local demonic stronghold without knowing it was God who had told them to do so. Furthermore, Gideon wouldn’t have killed his father’s two best bulls unless he was very confident that he was walking in the will of God. Gideon even convinced a group of men to help him; this is more proof that he completely trusted God.
When we are called to extra local ministry we must ensure that our home base is securely in the hands and will of God. Overcoming what is against us at home is a sure sign that our anointing will increase as we go out to battle elsewhere. Consistency is drawn from our militancy on the battlefield and our intimacy at home. Gideon obeyed the voice of God because he knew it was the will of God.
The whole neighborhood was angered by gideon’s actions. The townspeople had awakened that morning and had gone to the high place to say their morning prayers. Imagine your surprise if, this Sunday morning, your church was gone! Instead, there was a pile of ashes, blood, skin, and bone. The smell must have been horrendous. After some quick investigating, it became apparent that Gideon was to blame, and off the mob went to kill the man who had overthrown Baal. Only his father, Joash saved Gideon from being torn to pieces.
Still, Gideon was convinced that he was in the will of God. After surviving the mob’s anger, he blew a trumpet and sent messengers across Israel.
Judges 6: 33-then all the Midianites in the Amalekites and the sons of the east assembled themselves; and they crossed over and camped in the valley of this as real. So, the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon; and he blew a trumpet, and the Abiezrites we’re called together to follow him He sent messengers Through Manasseh, and they also were called together to follow him; and he sent messengers to Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, and they came up to meet them.
At Every encounter, Gideon shows himself to be a man of integrity and obedience to the will of the Lord.
Gideon blew that trumpet because he was totally convinced of the will of God. If he had not known, he would have never acted. He was utterly confident in what God wanted to do. When we don’t know what the will of God is, we don’t do anything. Inertia sets in as we wait for something to come to us. Gideon, on the other hand, was focused and moving ahead. He wouldn’t have sent people across Israel if he didn’t know the will of God.
So, therefore, the fleece he laid out before God had nothing to do with guidance. When we do not know the will of God, we don’t make large gestures for fear of being embarrassed. He sent messengers out together to the tribes for a fight. The Spirit of God had come upon him, and he had proclamations to other tribes.
The fleece was not about Gideon seeking guidance from God. He needed reassurance that he was the man to lead the fight.
Judges 6: 36-then Gideon said to God, if you will deliver Israel through me, as you have spoken, behold, I’ll put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece only, and it is dry on all the ground, then I will know that you will deliver Israel through me, as you have spoken. And it was so. When he arose early the next morning and squeezed the fleece, he drained the dew from the fleece, a bowl of full water. Then Gideon said to God, do not let your anger burn against me that I may speak once more; please let me make a test once more with the fleece, let it now be dry only on the fleece, and let there be dew on all the ground. God did so that night; for it was dry only on the fleece and dew was on the ground.
Why would someone who had acted so confidently in the will God need a fleece to double check? The fleece had nothing to do with finding God’s will and everything to do with his own poor self-image. Gideon wasn’t seeking guidance; He was asking for reassurance. He knew the war had to be fought, but he wanted to be sure that he was the one to lead it. Is it really me? He asked God. Reassurance is a key part of God’s intention for us. When he commits us to impossible situations, he knows that it will throw us into a crisis of self-confidence. The Lord had to ensure that Gideon was not only in the center of his will but that he was also strengthened and encouraged to fight the way God intended. One person walking with God is always in the majority. That person will require reassurance from the lord.
Gideon wanted to be sure that he was the one to carry out God’s will. He was convinced and determined to do God’s will, but he wanted reassurance that God was with him. What did God do? He accommodated Gideon’s weakness and insecurity. God knows who we are; He has no illusions about our nature or abilities.
The fleece was a one time event, and we shouldn’t be crafting entire theologies around it. Putting out a fleece isn’t a divinely ordained way to get guidance; it was simply God’s reassurance to one man who needed it. Sometimes, I think we use fleeces to rationalize away the requirements of obeying God. We shouldn’t use them as a spiritual sounding excuse for laziness or ignorance.
Gideons issue wasn’t about knowing the word of God; It was about being reassured that he was the one to fulfill it. God continued to stretch Gideon in this regard. In judges 7, he sent away 99% of the army Gideon had gathered. In verse 9-15, we read how God again reinforced Gideon self-confidence:
Now the same night it came about that the Lord said to him, arise, go down against the camp, for I have given it into your hands. But if you are afraid to go down, go with purah your servant down to the camp, and you will hear what they say: and afterward your hands will be strengthened that you may go down against the camp. So, he went with purah his servant down to the outpost of the army that was in the camp.
Now the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the sons of the east were lying in the valley as numerous as Lucas; and their camels were without number, as numerous as the sand of the seashore. When Gideon came, behold, a man was relating a dream to his friend. And he said, behold, I had a dream; A loaf of barley bread was tumbling into the camp of Midian, and it came to the tent and struck it so that it fell, and turned it upside down so that the tent lay flat.
His friend replied, this is nothing less than the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel; God has given Midian and all the kingdom into his hands. When Gideon heard the account of the dream and its interpretation, he bowed in worship. He returned to the camp of Israel and said arise, for the Lord has given the camp of medium into your hands.
10s of thousands of midnight soldiers were camped over several miles, and Gideon miraculously ended up next to the one tent where one of those soldiers had a strange dream. Only God could be so confident that he would send a vastly outnumbered general into the enemy’s camp for prophetic reassurance. The man’s dream of a barley loaf smashing them to pieces was interpreted by another enemy soldier as being a sign that Gideon sword was going to destroy all of them. Gideon was so staggered, so encouraged by the dream and its interpretation, that he started shouting worship to God in the middle of the enemy’s base. I’d be running away as fast as I could; Gideon was kneeling in praise.
It is this abundant confidence in the will of God that we are called to possess.