And Gideon said to God, If thou wilt save Israel by my hand, as thou hast said,
Gideon has sounded the trumpet and gathered the tribes. Yet before he marches he goes back to God for proof. He asks God to soak a fleece of wool on the threshing floor with dew while the ground around it stays dry. Two questions follow. Was this faith or unbelief? And what did the wet fleece and dry ground mean?
God had already told Gideon that He would use him. The words "as you have said" show Gideon knew it. That is why writers treat the opening "if" as a step backwards.
Perhaps his spirit was overawed when he saw the huge pagan army massing in front of him. For a moment his courage failed, and his heart longed for a fresh sign from the Lord. "Then Gideon said to God, If You will save Israel by my hand, as You have said" — alas, the poor heart can place its unbelieving "if" right in front of the word of God who cannot lie.
Other writers judge the same act more kindly. Gideon wants a sign he can see, and God met that same desire in others without complaint.
The boldness of faith, even when it seems to need confirmatory signs, never offends our gracious God. When He promised all blessing to Abraham, and that he would inherit the land of Canaan, Abraham asks, "How am I to know that I shall possess it?" Is God offended that His word is not enough? Ah, no, but He gives the wonderful night vision of the furnace and the flaming torch.
Commentators differ on how much blame Gideon deserves. None of them says God withheld the answer.
What Gideon gets back is not correction but kindness.
But oh, the matchless grace of God! His love that never reproaches! His tender thoughtfulness! He graciously meets the weakness of His poor servant... What condescending grace! Instead of harshly rebuking Gideon's unbelieving "if," He confirms his wavering faith with evidence beyond measure.
Writers also read the picture as a map of God's dealings with His people. The wool sits in the middle of the open floor, just as one nation sits among many.
The fleece in the middle of the ground is the type of Israel in the middle of the nations. The dew is the symbol of divine grace and mercy. It is the Lord who forsakes and who refreshes Israel. Israel today is like the fleece without the dew, while the ground, the Gentiles, have the grace of God. But before long the dew will fall upon Israel again and the time of their blessing and fullness will come.
On the second night the fleece stayed dry and the floor was wet. Writers read that sign the same way, but for a different time.
When the dew is seen upon the floor and not the fleece, it suggests the blessing that has come to the Gentiles during the period of Israel's rejection. We might say the present time.
One writer sees the wet fleece on dry ground as a portrait of one Man in a world that had nothing for God.
In Himself He was always that. In God's eyes He was beautiful beyond compare, and every thought, word and action was completely delightful to His Father. He was indeed like the fleece wet with the dew of heaven, in the middle of the barren dryness — the moral desert of Sahara — that ruled on every side.
Another writer turns the picture into a prayer for ourselves: to carry a character the world cannot produce.
Are we prepared to say to God, "Let the dew be upon the fleece; let us be saturated, baptised, entirely marked by what the earth does not have"? That is Christ. Only as our hearts and minds feed on Him will we bear the heavenly character and stand out from what belongs to the earth.
Many treat this chapter as permission to ask God for a visible sign before making a decision. One writer answers that.
But let believers remember that the Spirit of God lives in us. We can depend on God's Word together with the leading of the Spirit. So we need no confirming signs — only real communion with the Lord and faith in His Word.
- Dew asked. Gideon puts an "if" in front of a promise God had already spoken. The heart wants something it can see, not just God's bare word.
- Dew given. God does not rebuke the "if". He answers it twice, giving weak faith more evidence than Gideon asked for.
- Dew on the fleece. Wet wool on a dry floor pictures grace and mercy resting on Israel among the nations.
- Dew on the ground. The reversed sign pictures blessing reaching the nations while Israel is set aside. That is the present time. Israel's refreshing is still to come.
- Dew in us. Christ is the true fleece, wet with heaven in a dry world. Believers now have the Spirit and the Word. So the call is to soak in Him, not to look for signs.
behold, I put a fleece of wool on the threshing-floor; if dew shall be on the fleece only, and it be dry upon all the ground, then shall I know that thou wilt save Israel by my hand, as thou hast said.
The armies of Midian are camped in the valley, and Gideon is about to lead Israel out against them. First he asks God for a sign overnight: wool laid on the threshing floor, wet with dew while the ground around it stays dry.
God had already promised to save Israel by Gideon's hand. So his "if" stands in front of a word that needed no proving. One writer sees here the instinct of every human heart:
How remarkable! And yet we need not be surprised if we know anything of our own hearts. Anything for the poor human heart except the bare word of the living God. A sign, a token, something the eye can see. The word of God is not enough for unbelieving nature.
Commentators differ on the request. Some call it distrust; others say God is never offended when faith asks for confirmation. Both agree on how He answered:
But oh, the matchless grace of God! His love that never scolds! His tender thoughtfulness! He graciously meets the weakness of His poor servant... What grace, that He should stoop so low! He does not rebuke Gideon's unbelieving "if." Instead He confirms his wavering faith with more evidence than Gideon asked for.
Another writer sets Gideon beside Abraham:
The boldness of faith, even when it seems to need confirming signs, never offends our gracious God. God promised Abraham every blessing, and that he would inherit the land of Canaan. Abraham asks, "How am I to know that I shall possess it?" Is God offended that His word is not enough? No — He gives the wonderful night vision of the furnace and the flaming torch.
Dew carried a settled meaning in Israel's life and language:
Dew was the familiar sign of God's favour. It was largely the source of the land's fertility. Without it the land would have been parched and barren. Isaac uses this figure when he pronounces the blessing on Jacob. Moses repeats it in his closing blessing on the tribes. Elijah shows God's judgment on the land by declaring that no dew would fall... All refreshing, for Israel or for the Church, comes by the Holy Spirit. The divine dew is His blessed influence, bringing refreshing and help. Just as the land bears no fruit without dew, nothing grows where the Spirit's work is hindered.
A fleece is the wool cut off a sheep. That matched the nation's condition under Midian:
And how the people had been sheared, we might say, by the Midianites, until nothing was left but the fleece, a remnant.
Writers have also read the fleece and the ground as a sketch of a longer history:
The fleece in the middle of the ground is a picture of Israel in the middle of the nations. The dew is the symbol of divine grace and mercy. It is the Lord who forsakes and who refreshes Israel. Israel today is like the fleece without the dew, while the ground, the Gentiles, has the grace of God. But before long the dew will fall on Israel again, and the time of their blessing and fullness will come.
One writer looks at the wet fleece and sees more than a sign for Gideon:
His first sign was a fleece of wool soaked with dew, while everything around it was dry. Is this not a picture of the Lord Jesus in this world? Everything in this world (apart from God acting by His Spirit) was dry and lifeless as far as God was concerned.
One writer turns Gideon's request into a prayer for the reader:
Gideon's request was that the fleece should be soaked with what the earth knew nothing of... Are we prepared to say to God: "Let the dew be on the fleece; let us be soaked, baptized, entirely marked out by what the earth does not have?" That is Christ, surely. Only as our hearts and minds feed on Him will we carry the heavenly character and stand out from what is of the earth... Your own efforts will always be fruitless. You cannot perform a miracle. Only the power of God can bring this about.
This passage is often used as a method for finding God's will:
Today some Christians use this history as an excuse. They expect a material sign from God about what His will may be in a given matter. But let believers remember that we have the Spirit of God living in us. We can fully depend on God's Word together with the leading of the Spirit. So we need no confirming signs — only genuine communion with the Lord and faith in His Word.
- Doubt. Gideon's "if" stands in front of a promise God had already made. The human heart wants something the eye can see, not the bare word of God.
- Grace. God meets weak faith with kindness and gives more proof than Gideon asked for.
- Dew. Dew is the familiar sign of God's favour and stands for the Spirit's refreshing. Where it is withheld, the land is barren.
- Israel. The sheared fleece on the floor pictures Israel among the nations — dry now, but the dew of God's favour will fall on them again.
- Christ. The fleece soaked with dew in a dry world pictures the Lord Jesus. The believer's prayer is to be marked out by that same heavenly character.