Give Me A Sign

When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior. Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?” (Judges 6:12, 14, NIV 1984).

My Musings – “The angel of the Lord” is most commonly understood to be a pre-incarnation appearance of Jesus. Of course, neither Gideon nor the author of Judges would have known this. But by the description in the text and how Gideon interacted with Him, it is clear they understood Him to be more than mortal. Not to say that there was not some degree of skepticism, “give me a sign that it is really you talking to me.” (Judges 6:17, NIV 1984). Or as we might say, who are you really?

After Gideon prepared a young goat for his honored guest, “the angel of God said to him, ‘Take the meat and the unleavened bread, place them on this rock, and pour out the broth.’ And Gideon did so. With the tip of the staff that was in his hand, the angel of the Lord touched the meat and the unleavened bread. Fire flared from the rock, consuming the meat and the bread. And the angel of the Lord disappeared…Gideon [then] realized that it was the angel of the Lord.” (Judges 6:20-22, NIV 1984). Yep, more than a mere mortal.

But some doubt still remained. “‘But Lord,’ Gideon asked, ‘how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.'” (Judges 6:15, NIV 1984). Least in his family and from the weakest clan in what was only a half-tribe. Perhaps reason for a little doubt, even though he was told that “the Lord is with you” and “am I not sending you?“

But he also had some doubt in his visitor. “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 said.” (Judges 6:36-37, NIV 1984). Apparently, “as you said” was not enough for Gideon, just as it is often not enough for us. Nevertheless, God was patient with Gideon and when he “rose early the next day; he squeezed the fleece and wrung out the dew— [there was] a bowlful of water.” (Judges 6:38, NIV 1984).

Surely that was enough to convince Gideon, right? Not quite. “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. This time make the fleece dry, and the ground covered with dew.’ That night God did so. Only the fleece was dry; all the ground was covered with dew.” (Judges 6:39-40, NIV 1984). After that, Gideon was convinced.

My Advice – “Believe me [Jesus] when I say…or at least believe on the evidence.” (John 14:11, NIV 1984). What He said, and what He did. “[They] are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” (John 20:31, NIV 1984). Gideon said, “then I will know.” The Apostle John said, “that you may believe.” Through His word, God has left mankind with no excuse for not knowing or believing.