When we encounter Gideon in the sixth chapter of Judges, he is hiding his meager harvest from the Midianites. He seems almost timid as an angel of the Lord begins a discussion with him and refers to him as mighty warrior. I’m fairly certain that Gideon had no military background and certainly would have not been thought of as a mighty warrior by anyone – especially himself. And yet, God sees us primarily as who we are going to be, rather than who we are today. The angel was making a prophetic declaration over Gideon, calling out God’s plan for this man by calling him a mighty warrior. We also would do well to call out goodness and greatness in one another instead of pointing out all the flaws and failings that we see. We can do so because we know that the Spirit of God is within every believer and it is his plan to make each of us both good and great in his Son.
The second thing the angel said to him was to “go in the strength that he had” and deliver Israel from the hands of Midian. The Lord new Gideon’s resources and capacity better than Gideon did. He will never send us to do what we have no capacity to do because he has already designed us for that very thing (Ps.139:13-16). We may be unaware of our ability but God is not. The Lord promised that he would resource Gideon for the mission by saying “Am I not sending you?” If the Lord assigns us, he will also resource us to complete the assignment. In the Lord, we are never on our own when we are walking in his will.
But, let’s be honest. Most of us don’t feel that way when we face a crisis, a hardship, or a challenge. Most of us feel just as Gideon felt when he responded, “How can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family” (Jud.6:15). The Lord replied, “I will be with you and you will strike down all the Midianites together.” Remember that Gideon was not sure that the man speaking to him was an angel. He, perhaps, sensed that the man was a prophet speaking on behalf of the Lord, but it was a strange conversation all the same. At that point, Gideon asked a very honest thing – “give me a sign so that I can know it is really you (the Lord) talking to me.”
I think that he was not only being honest but also wise. God was asking him to step out into a life-changing assignment – even a life threatening assignment. In all likelihood, he had never heard from the Lord before, or at least rarely, so he was asking for confirmation. Asking for confirmation, is not doubting God, but is recognition that the voice we are hearing may not be from him or that our discernment may be faulty. It is one way to test the spirits (1 Jn.4:1). So, Gideon asked for a sign. The angel wasn’t offended. He told Gideon to place a young goat and some unleavened bread on a rock as an offering to the Lord. The angel then touched it with the tip of his staff and it was consumed by fire just as the angel disappeared.
Gideon’s response was a normal response in the face of a supernatural experience. He was afraid and thought that he might die because he had seen the angel of the Lord face to face. But the Lord spoke to him and told him not to be afraid. He first heard the voice of God through an angel and then directly so that he could begin to recognize and trust the voice. We have to go through a similar process. We will often hear from the Lord through another person first – a word of knowledge, a prophetic word, a teaching that we know was from the Lord just for us, etc. Eventually we will begin to hear his voice internally. We have to hear from the Lord often enough that we recognize his voice as sheep recognizing the voice of the shepherd. Then we can respond with confidence that the Lord has shared his heart or wisdom with us.
That same evening, while the voice of the Lord was still fresh in Gideon’s mind, the Lord told Gideon to tear down his father’s altar to Baal and to cut down his Asherah pole and then to offer a proper sacrifice to God on an altar Gideon built using the wood from the Asherah pole for fire. The text says, “So Gideon took ten of his servants and did as the Lord told him. But because he was afraid of his family and of the men of his town, he did it at night…” (Jud.6:27). Fear comes up three times in the story of Gideon so we know he was not a fearless, faith-filled warrior but a common man trying to serve God. Yet, in the face of fear he moved ahead in obedience.
There will be times that our flesh will be afraid but our spirit will move ahead in faith, choosing to trust God rather than to obey our emotions. Feeling fear does not disqualify us if we do not give into the fear. God also gives us time to grow in faith, which will proportionately diminish our fears. God did not rebuke Gideon for destroying his father’s idols at night. It was a next step in being used in even greater ways by the Lord. Our faith is also a series of next steps. If it fails, shake it off and move ahead. Ask for boldness as the first century church often did in their prayers. Determine not to give into fear next time.
We simply need to understand that fear comes in many ways and will probably always be with us. The fear of man, the fear of rejection, the fear of disappointment, the fear of failure, etc. will raise up its head against us. It resides in the flesh but it is also a spirit. We will have to learn to ignore the feeling, rebuke the spirit, and move ahead in obedience. In the process, God will be with us and will remind us, as he did Gideon, “Do not be afraid.”
IN our next blog, we will look at Gideon and the fleece.
