Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Judges 6:36
And Gideon said unto God, If thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said,
36. as thou hast spoken ] The words are meant to refer to Jdg 6:14-16.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
36 40. The divine impulse has seized Gideon, he has called out his men, he is ready to attack; but here he seems to be still at home, hesitating and waiting to be convinced. In order of time these verses are parallel, not subsequent, to Jdg 6:11-24; and indeed, after the revelation of the Angel, it is strange that Gideon should have demanded a second sign. Instead of ‘Jehovah’ and ‘the Angel of Jehovah’ the name ‘Elohim’ (God) is used here; the narrative from which these verses come was a work of the Elohist school; to the same narrative we may assign Jdg 6:7-10 ; Jdg 6:25-33 ; Jdg 6:35 a (?) in this ch.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The caution of Gideon, desirous of being assured that he really had a promise from God, does not imply doubts as to Gods faithfulness or power to fulfill His promise. Of such doubts there is not a trace in Gideons character. He is a worthy example of faith Heb 11:32.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Jdg 6:36-40
I will put a fleece of wool in the floor.
Gideons request
1. Impossible though it may be to acquit Gideon of unreasonableness, in demanding farther proofs of the certainty wherewith he might rely on the presence and blessing of the Lord on his perilous undertaking, we cannot deny that he displayed at the same time a becoming and praiseworthy concern lest he should be deserted of Him.
2. Again, in the kind and condescending manner in which it pleased the Lord to accommodate Himself to Gideons infirmity, and to allow him to put Him to the proof, may we not recognise a pleasing evidence that such concern as that to which we have referred–such solicitude and nervous apprehension lest there be some mistake on his part–is far from being displeasing to Him. Oh, what a tender, sympathising, long-suffering, easy-to-be-entreated High Priest is He with whom we have to do! Instead of upbraiding Gideon with his unbelief in spite of all that had passed, He bears with him (oh, with what marvellous condescension, and slowness of wrath!) and at once yields His assent to the proposal. Well says good Bishop Hall, in his meditations on this passage: What tasks is God content to be set by our infirmity!
3. From this incident in the life of Gideon we may also learn this lesson: that every believer needs fresh supplies of grace and strength for every new turn in the affairs of his soul, and for every new phase in the spiritual conflict. Whoever thinks of finding fault with a man, on the ground of a defect in faith, because he goes so often to the throne of grace, or because he comes boldly to obtain mercy to pardon, and grace to help? Nay, rather would he not justly expose himself to the charge of ignorance and presumption, if, on the pretext or plea that he has already received the promise, as thy days, so shall thy strength be, he should go forth to do battle with his spiritual adversaries without repairing afresh to the fountain of all spiritual blessing, and asking as Gideon asked? (W. W. Duncan, M. A.)
The miracle of the dew and the fleece
The state of Gideons mind, if we may judge from these words, seems to have been that of the man who cried, Lord I believe; help Thou mine unbelief. He had already experienced the power of God to be on his side, by the touching of the rock and the consuming of the sacrifice. He had been already assured of the favour of God towards him, by the declaration of the angel–The Lord is with thee. Yet he seeks further assurance. We must, not, however, too hastily condemn Gideon in this matter. The assurances which he had before received had given him strength equal to his day. In that strength he had already thrown down the altar of Baal, and cut down the grove that was by it, and this at the risk of his life. But here he is called to new duties; we cannot, therefore, wonder at his seeking new assurances. So fights the soldier of the Cross the good fight of faith, against the world, the flesh, and the devil, under the banner of the Captain of his salvation. The world wonders to see him so continually going to his God in prayer, for fresh tokens of His favour; but they do not know as he does the necessity for such renewed applications. Many a shameful defeat would be spared Israel if they were more careful to assure themselves of Gods presence and blessing in what they undertake, even if they sought again and again for the tokens. It would prevent many mistakes, for instance, with regard to what are termed providences. How apt are we to interpret them in such a manner as to suit the secret inclinations of our own minds! The Christian finds, frequently, that a deceived heart hath turned him aside in this matter. Such a circumstance, he says, is certainly an opening in providence; when, if the truth were known, it is an opening which he has himself made to gratify his wishes, and not an opening made by God in the course of His providence. Let me prove, I pray thee, yet once more with the fleece. In pursuing our subject we may notice–
1. The condescension of God in the performance of this twofold miracle. Gideons doubts and fears prevail, and he goes to God for courage and confirmation, and he obtains them. He asks still further, and he still obtains. What doctrine does it teach? It tells us that The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and of great goodness. The bruised reed He will not break, and the smoking flax He will not quench.
2. Some spiritual uses to which this miracle maybe applied.
(1) We may learn from this emblem that God is a sovereign God, and giveth none account of His matters. We behold some nations scourged with famine, pestilence, and the sword, while others are enjoying plenty, health, and peace. We see vast parts of the globe in an unenlightened state, as it respects the knowledge of salvation; while others, like our own favoured land, are living in the full blaze of gospel day. What shall we say to these things? Why is there dew on one nation and drought on another? Are we better than they? No, in no wise. God is showing that He will do whatsoever it pleaseth Him. Just and true are all Thy ways, O God, Thou King of saints!
(2) We may view the miracle, in the next place, as an emblem of the state of the Jewish nation. The contrast between the wet fleece and the dry was not more striking than the contrast between Israel in her state of national prosperity under the favour of God and in her after-state of degradation when that favour was withdrawn. And how awfully striking when the same contrast is marked in her spiritual state! The miracle sets before our minds the time when the nations were lying in the darkness of idolatry, and dry, as it respected any knowledge of God, like the earth round Gideons fleece.
(3) But, in order to make some practical use of the subject, we will consider it as an emblem of a congregation under the preaching of the gospel. It need hardly be observed that the Divine blessing upon the ordinances is often compared to the dew of heaven. Thus, speaking of the quickening and enlivening effect of His Word upon the heart when blessed by the Holy Ghost, the Lord says, in Deu 32:1-52, My doctrine shall drop as the rain; My speech shall distil as the dew. The metaphor is simple and sublime. As the dew distils silently, and almost imperceptibly, into the plants on which it falls, so shall Gods Word and doctrine, under the Spirits influence, descend upon the soul. As the dew insinuates itself into the plant, giving it fresh life and vigour, so shall Gods Word accomplish the thing whereunto He sends it, giving renewed life to the soul. This figure will appear still more apt, and strong, and beautiful, if you consider that in eastern countries, where the rain is scarce, the dew, as the only substitute, is invaluable. With these ideas attached to the Word, take our text as setting forth an emblem of the state of a congregation, sitting under the sound of the gospel. Is this the house of God? Are we at this moment preaching to you the truth as it is in Jesus? Then the dew is now falling, and it is indeed a time of refreshing. Will it fall upon that careless soul that is as unconcerned about salvation as if none were necessary? Will it fall upon the soul of him who actually disregards the offer of salvation through a righteousness not his own? Will it fall on the soul of the poor thoughtless trifler? Miracle of grace! but not too great to expect from almighty power, nor from almighty love. And therefore we will pause, and secretly pray the God of power and mercy to do this now; that while the dew is descending some drops may fall on these sinners, carrying conviction to their consciences and conversion to their hearts. But we ask, also, where is the dry and empty fleece? Oh, how quickly may we find it in any congregation! We may find it in those seats where there has been no prayer, but only the form of prayer; we may find it in those pews where there is no attention to the preached Word nor any desire after the salvation which it holds forth. In short, wherever carelessness and indifference prevail, there we shall find the dry and empty fleece. Oh, let not this opportunity pass without a prayer for grace. It is said respecting the answer to Gideons prayer, The Lord did it that night. Ask, then, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. (F. Elwin.)
Dewy and dry fleeces
I. The circumstance recorded is highly honourable to the character of Gideon. It shows that there was in him that caution and waiting, for the want of which how many a man has mistaken his mission, and instead of doing the work of the Lord, has made a wreck both of himself and his own work! If Thou wilt save Israel by my hand. A full consciousness that Israel needs saving; but an indisposition to feel that such an honour could be conferred on him; such is a good index to the character of a man–a disposition to test ourselves. Am I fit? Am I capable? Can God use me? Am I he whom God will choose to do this work? Yes, I think we do well to apply tests to ourselves and to our position; to our religious life, and to our relation to God by our religious life. Do you not believe that there is an influence that covers a man with blessings? Do you not believe that there is a conduct which attracts to itself blessing? Hence the image is constantly occurring in Scripture between moisture and drought (Jer 17:5-8; Psa 1:3). He shall be like a tree. There is the test–a tree, moistened by unseen springs, whose leaves are green even in the parched land and not inhabited. See David in the court of Saul. A dewy fleece in the midst of a land of drought. See Daniel at the courts of Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar. While all the uproar goes on, there the blasphemy, and the tokens of a coming doom; Daniel and his companions are in waiting on the Lord; without wine they are brave; their spirits are fresh, and they are ready for the service of God–a dewy fleece in a dry place. Who are the happy? I do not ask who are the successful, because I find often the happy are the unsuccessful. Setting all the worlds calculations on one side, Behold, says James, we call them happy which endure. Whence, then, is the spring supplied which will never dry? The calm, the contented, and the hallowed blessedness of the holy heart. How often we find wealth is a dry fleece, while poverty is a dewy one! True, there is nothing in wealth to curse especially, but then there is nothing in wealth to bless especially; because of wealth, it is not that the dew refuses to fall, but the dew will not fall because wealth is there–only proving that wealth needs something more before it can be regarded as really a blessing; and poverty must be forgotten of God, and cut off from the dew before that state can be regarded as a curse.
II. Thus, then, we justify the Gideon test. Upon the heart and the home the dew will fall and remain. Thou askest, Am I a child of God? You shall know by the dew. Have I religion? You shall know by the dew. Walk forth in the morning–the sweet morning, when the bright drops sparkle on the hedgerows, and behold the twinkling thorn, the rose, the tree, the floor of grass, such shall be your words, and such your mind, your action–the dew shall be on your fleece!
III. I shall attempt to illustrate this a little further. For I say the world will insist on applying its test to us; the world will watch for the dew on our fleece. When I was a boy it was my privilege to know a very holy man. He had been in the beginning of things a poor man; but how sacredly, how steadily, he served God! He worked in a shop where proverbially all were Sabbath-breakers. He would not break the Sabbath. The master could do as he liked with all his men–it was a kind of old-world tyranny. He would not break the Sabbath. He led a sweet, sacred, holy life. His master was a swearer in the midst of a gang of unholy men. His conversation became the gospel of Christ. By a steady course he was able to provide for his widowed mother; he was able to provide for his sister. And he died, but his work lasted; the dew has not all evaporated yet; the shop is in ruins; his master was long since a bankrupt, and his whole family is in ruins too. The name of the one man is fragrant, all else is gone–it was a dewy fleece in a land of drought. Thus gratitude in the heart, thus holiness in the life, are dew. You shall know them by the dew upon the fleece. (E. Paxton Hood.)
Natures laws
Gideon owned the sovereignty and the power of God. So must we. In the matter of salvation we deal with Omnipotence. The God of grace is the Sovereign Ruler of the universe, Gideon believed in the omnipotence of God. He rested upon His promises. But he wanted a confirmation of his faith in these promises. He seemed to cast his eyes to heaven, and say in language which has often found response in the hearts of tried believers, Shew me a token for good; that they which hate me may see it, and be ashamed; because Thou, Lord, hast holpen me, and comforted me. Or, like one struggling to master his doubts and fears, on finding that he could not overcome the natural infidelity of his depraved heart, he turned to the stronghold whence alone help could come, and prayed, Lord, I believe, help Thou mine unbelief. The Lord did help his unbelief, by granting him the twofold miracle for which he prayed. It was a fine instance of childlike confidence in this mighty man of valour that as soon as his faith began to waver he at once told the Lord. Half of our difficulties in the Christian course would be got over, and got over quickly too, if we would but unbosom our souls to the Lord, and tell Him our difficulties as soon as they arise. Now, the token vouchsafed to Gideon was peculiar in its nature. He was led, doubtless acting under the influence of the Holy Spirit, to ask of God a sign, and to choose a sign himself. In infinite condescension, God was pleased to accede to his petition. He suspended the ordinary laws of nature, and whether the fleece of wool was to be wet or dry, according to the prayer of this man of God, we are told, God did so that night. The grand doctrine to be deduced from this narrative is, that in confirmation of His promises, and in appearing on behalf of His people, the Lord suspended the ordinary laws of nature.
I. Observe, first, that it was none other than the Lord Jesus Christ Himself who thus answered Gideons prayer. God, to whom Gideon prayed in Jdg 6:36, is the same who looked upon him, and spake to him in verse14. He was the angel of the covenant, who said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent thee? Gideon prayed to this same Lord, that He would grant him a sign that He would save Israel by his hand, As He had said. The answer to Gideons prayer–the twofold miracle which was wrought–proved the proper Deity of Christ. It proved that the government of all things was indeed upon His shoulder.
II. now, it is over the laws of nature that Christ reigneth, for the good of His Church in all ages. We know not how little, nor how much, other worlds are affected by the redemption of Christs people in this world. It may be that inhabitants of other spheres and of other systems are learning the wisdom and the goodness and the love of God in the book of mans salvation. Angels study it, the highest orders of intelligence make it their theme of praise, and why not beings in untold worlds which fill up the immensity of space? But be this as it may, all the laws of the universe are under the rule of the Lord Jesus for the good of His people. There is no law but the will of God. To deify law is to undeify God. So to enthrone nature as to make her reign is to dethrone Jehovah, who alone does reign God over all, blessed for evermore. Time would fail us to dwell upon the many instances of the suspension of the laws of nature recorded in the Word of God. We will adduce but a few remarkable examples.
1. Observe the suspension of the laws of physical nature for the good of the people of God. Although heaven and earth should seem to oppose the fulfilment of His Word, although physical impossibilities may raise up a barrier the top of which no eye of sense can scale, yet the eye of faith soars above all nature, up to natures God, and rests calmly and peaceably upon His enthroned promise (Isa 43:2).
2. We might go on and educe instances of the like suspension of the laws of animal nature, in carrying out the purposes of Jehovah on behalf of His people. Birds of the air, the fish of the sea, and the beasts of the earth, have all obeyed other influences than the laws of their nature, in doing the will of their Creator. The instinct which they possess, is just that law which God sustains in them. Unclean and carnivorous birds forget their own natures, and spread their wings, and, as angels of mercy, visit the prophet in the wilderness, and daily spread his table. The fish devours not Jonah, but, at the word of the Lord, safely lands him on dry ground. The lions, too, become the harmless and the friendly companions of Daniel, and not a hair of his head is injured in their den.
1. Gideons need of a confirmation of his faith. The only question with this mighty man of valour was, Is the Lord indeed with me? Is He on my side? Can I possibly have made any mistake? I do not doubt the Lords power. If He will, He can save Israel by my hand. But am I certain that I have not put too favourable an interpretation upon His promises? I will ask a sign of the Lord. He did so, and you know with what result. Are you as anxious as was Gideon to learn the Lords will, and to insure His blessing in your undertakings? Do you make your daily callings a matter of prayer? Do you pause in your worldly business, and inquire with deep anxiety, Is the Lord with me?
2. You see the nature of that proof which the Lord gave to Gideon that His promises were sure: the dew was given and withheld according to the sign proposed. We may regard the dew as a striking and beautiful emblem of the Holy Spirit. (G. A. Rogers, M. A.)
Gideons signs
Like other Israelites, he is strongly persuaded that God appears and speaks to men through nature; and he craves a sign in the natural world which is of Gods making and upholding. Now, to us the sign Gideon asked may appear rude, uncouth, and without any moral significance. A fleece which is to be wet one morning while the threshing-floor is dry, and dry next morning while the threshing-floor is wet, supplies the means of testing the Divine presence and approval. Further, it may be alleged that the phenonema admit of natural explanation. But this is the meaning: Gideon providing the fleece, indentifies himself with it. It is his fleece, and if Gods dew drenches it, that will imply that Gods power shall enter Gideons soul and abide in it, even though Israel be dry as the dusty floor. The thought is at once simple and profound, childlike and Hebrew-like, and carefully we must observe that it is a nature-sign, not a mere portent, Gideon looks for. It is not whether God can do a certain seemingly impossible thing. That would not help Gideon. But the dew represents to his mind the vigour he needs, the vigour Israel needs if he should fail; and in reversing the sign, Let the dew be on the ground and the fleece be dry, he seems to provide a hope even in prospect of his own failure or death. Gideons appeal is for a revelation of the Divine in the same sphere as the lightning, storm and rain, in which Deborah found a triumphant proof of Jehovahs presence; yet there is a notable contrast. We are reminded of the still small voice Elijah heard as he stood in the cave-mouth after the rending wind and the earthquake and the lightning. We remember also the image of Hosea, I will be as the dew unto Israel. There is a question in the Book of Job–Hath the rain a father, or who hath begotten the drops of dew? The faith of Gideon makes answer, Thou, O Most High, dost give the dews of heaven. The silent distillation of the dew is profoundly symbolic of the spiritual economy and those energies that are not of this noisy world, but silent and Divine. (R. A. Watson, M. A.)
The dew and the fleece
1. Just before the occurrence of the facts narrated in this passage Gideon had received his call from God. Former judges, Othniel, Ehud, and Barak, had been moved by the Spirit of God to their work of delivering Israel from the oppressor. But to Gideon alone a theophany was vouchsafed in order to intimate that the God, who had visibly manifested Himself to the patriarchs, was the same Jehovah ready to save their descendants if only they would penitently return to the covenant.
2. God permitted His people to be brought so low in order that affliction might drive them to prayer, and that thus their extremity might become His opportunity. Such was the result in the gracious ways of His providence.
3. Next, God called Gideon by two revelations. The first, by a visible manifestation of the angel of Jehovah. Next, in a dream of the night, Jehovah commanded him to throw down his fathers altar to Baal.
4. As in the first manifestation Jehovah acknowledged Gideon, so in this second one He required Gideon to acknowledge Jehovah. Gideon accordingly, with ten men of his servants, overthrew Baals altar, and cut down the Asherah pillar by it in the night; for he durst not do it by day through fear of his fathers household and the men of the city. But God does not reject the first sincere efforts of His children to do His will, though attended with timidity (Joh 3:2; Joh 19:38). Gideon did not by secrecy effect his purpose of escaping detection.
5. Then followed the gathering together of the enemy to the plain of Jezreel: And the Spirit of Jehovah clothed Gideon as with a coat of mail. At his trumpet-call his own clan, recognising the champion and deliverer of Israel in him who, as an iconoclast, braved Baals revenge with impunity, was the first to rally around him. The neighbouring tribes, Manasseh, Zebulun, and Naphtali, next obeyed his summons by heralds. But still there were renmants of doubt and fear in Gideon, though he was very different in respect to faith from what be was when the Angel of Jehovah first appeared to him.
6. But before setting out on his perilous enterprise with the assembled army, Gideon desired a further sign from God to assure him of success. His prayer for a sign did not betoken want of faith, but weakness of faith. The flesh strove against the willing spirit, and so created misgivings and fears. The sign which Gideon asked, and which the Lord vouchsafed, was one especially significant. The dew was in the Holy Land a leading source of fertility (Gen 27:28; Deu 33:13). Thus dew naturally became the image of spiritual influences. The type may be viewed in a threefold relation.
I. the dew in relation to Gideons enterprise. To Gideon in his fears the filling of the fleece with dew from heaven whilst the earth around was dry, intimated that, whereas Israel was heretofore, through apostasy, as dry spiritually as the heathen around (comp. the dry places, Mat 12:43), Jehovah was now about to fill Gideon and His nation with His reviving grace. The reversing of the sign at Gideons request, and the dryness of the fleece whilst the dew rested on the earth around, assured him that Jehovah could, and would, manifest His power even amidst the weakness and helplessness of His people in the face of the nations which were flourishing all around. The army was reduced to three hundred. The poor and weak one should overturn the rich and mighty.
II. The dew in relation to Israel past, present, and future. The type has a deeply interesting relation to Israel, the elect nation.
1. First, in the past, the fleece filled with dew whilst the ground around was utterly dry, answers to Israel filled with heavenly blessings from the Lord, whilst the Gentile world was a moral wilderness, dry and unwatered by the dews of His grace. It was not because of Israels merits, but because of Gods gratuitous choice, that the nation was singled out to be the Paradise of Jehovah cut off from the spiritual waste: just as the dew is not of mans procuring, but of Gods bestowing. Had Abraham, the forefather of the nation, been left to himself he would have continued an idolater like all his neighbhours in Ur of the Chaldees, a city dedicated to moon-worship (Jos 24:2-3). There was much imperfection in him, and Isaac, and Jacob. Jacobs sons, excepting Joseph and perhaps Benjamin, were far worse. Yet God remembered His own covenant of grace, and preserved Israel in Egypt as a separate people unto Himself in the land of Goshen, like a fleece full of heavenly dew in the midst of a dry and parched land.
2. The dew representing the present state of Israel. The fleece remaining dry, whilst all the ground around was saturated with the refreshing dew, represents Israel in a state forming a sad contrast to the former image and what it represents. Israel has now for ages been spiritually dry, without any of the dews of heavenly blessing which descends from Jehovah, the God of the covenant. And what makes her case the sadder is, she is singular in her state. For the gospel of the grace of God in Christ Jesus is making many a spiritual desert throughout the Gentile world to become a garden of the Lord, blooming with the life-giving dews of the Spirit poured down from on high.
3. The dew representing the future of Israel. The relation of the type to the future of Israel. As the fleece was full of dew at first, and all the earth dry: and next, the fleece was dry, and all the earth wet; so the blessed time is coming when the fleece shall be again full of dew, and all the earth, through its instrumentality, shall be filled with the dew of the Lord (Mic 5:7; Jer 3:17; Psa 72:6; Psa 72:8).
III. The dew in relation to the Church of Christ and its professing members. Lastly, the type has a profitable lesson to teach us in its relation to the Christian Church and its professing members.
1. The fleece represents not only Israel, but Israels Antitype, Jesus; and secondarily, His people who are one with Him. Originally He had from everlasting the fulness of the Godhead (Col 1:19). The fleece was full, but the ground around had no dew from heaven. Then at His crucifixion the Church might say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost (Eze 37:11); just as the fleece was dried whilst the earth around was saturated with dew. But at His resurrection not only did He live again, but becomes the Lord of life to us. Meantime the effect of Christs presence as a dew in the soul is He shall grow as the lily, and cast forth His roots as Lebanon (Hos 14:5). Prayer will fill the fleece with the heavenly dew. Moreover, there is great danger of losing the dew.
2. The dry place amidst the dew-covered ground is a symbol of the sad state of many a one who remains spiritually dead and lifeless, whilst dews of heavenly blessing are descending on every side. (A. R. Fausset, M. A.)
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Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 36. If thou wilt save Israel] Gideon was very bold, and God was very condescending. But probably the request itself was suggested by the Divine Spirit.
ON the miracle of the fleece, dew, and dry ground, Origen, in his eighth homily on the book of Judges, has many curious and interesting thoughts, I shall insert the substance of the whole: –
The fleece is the Jewish nation. The fleece covered with dew, while all around is dry, the Jewish nation favoured with the law and the prophets. The fleece dry, the Jewish nation cast off for rejecting the Gospel. All around watered, the Gospel preached to the Gentiles. and they converted to God. The fleece on the threshing-floor, the Jewish people in the land of Judea, winnowed, purged, and fanned by the Gospel. The dew wrung out into the bowl, the doctrines of Christianity, extracted from the Jewish writings, shadowed forth by Christ’s pouring water into a basin, and washing the disciples’ feet. The pious father concludes that he has now wrung this water out of the fleece of the book of Judges, as he hopes by and by to do out of the fleece of the book of Kings, and out of the fleece of the book of Isaiah or Jeremiah; and he has received it into the basin of his heart, and there conceived its true sense; and is desirous to wash the feet of his brethren, that they may be able to walk in the way of the preparation of the Gospel of peace. – ORIGEN, Op. vol. ii., p. 475, edit. Benedict.
All this to some will doubtless appear trifling; but it is not too much to say that scarcely any pious mind can consider the homily of this excellent man without drinking into a measure of the same spirit, so much sincerity, deep piety, and unction, appear throughout the whole: yet as I do not follow such practices, I cannot recommend them. Of dealers in such small wares, we have many that imitate Benjamin Keach, but few that come nigh to Origen.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Gideon said this in way of humble supplication, partly for the strengthening of his own faith, and partly for the greater encouragement of his soldiers in this great and strange attempt.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And Gideon said unto God,…. Not to a prophet of God who was there, of whom he asked the following signs to be done, as Ben Gersom, but to God in prayer, as Abarbinel:
if thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said; not that he doubted of it, but was willing to have a confirmation of his faith; and perhaps his view was more for the encouragement of those that were with him than himself, that he desired the following signs; and though he had had one before, that was to show that he was truly an angel that spoke to him, and not to ascertain the salvation that should be wrought by him; though that might be concluded from his being an angel that spoke to him, and assured him of it.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Gideons Signs Jdg. 6:36-40
36 And Gideon said unto God, If thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said,
37 Behold, I will put a fleece of wool in the floor; and if the dew be on the fleece only, and it be dry upon all the earth beside, then shall I know that thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said.
38 And it was so: for he rose up early on the morrow, and thrust the fleece together, and wringed the dew out of the fleece, a bowl full of water.
39 And Gideon said unto God, Let not thine anger be hot against me, and I will speak but this once: let me prove, I pray thee, but this once with the fleece; let it now be dry only upon the fleece, and upon all the ground let there be dew.
40 And God did so that night: for it was dry upon the fleece only, and there was dew on all the ground.
22.
Why wish for so many signs? Jdg. 6:36-40
It was the weakness of his flesh which prompted him to ask for so many signs. God had already answered Gideons request to receive his present. At that time an angel of the Lord touched the flesh and the unleavened cakes which he presented. Fire came up out of the rock and consumed the flesh and cakes. He had then received courage to tear down the altar of Baal. As he entered into the fuller task of driving the Midianites from the land, he asked for additional assurance that God was with him. When he put the fleece out and asked that there be water on the fleece only and none on the ground, he may have thought all the water was soaked up by the fleece. When he put the fleece out the second time, he asked God to leave the fleece dry and have water around. The second sign would have seemed more unnatural, thus requiring what would have been considered more definitely a supernatural act on the part of God. God did not fail Gideon, and he received the assurance he wanted before he went into the battle.
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(36) If thou wilt save Israel.This diffidence and hesitation show the seriousness of the crisis. Gideon saw that by human strength alone he would be utterly helpless to repel the countless hosts of the marauders. He had already shown his faith, but now he needed fresh encouragement in his dangerous task.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
THE SIGN OF THE FLEECE, Jdg 6:36-40.
Having assembled the thousands of Manasseh, Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, Gideon prays for one more sign from heaven, not so much for strengthening his own faith, (though that may have wavered again when he saw the vast host of the enemy in the plains below,) as for inspiring with confidence and holy heroism the hearts of those who rallied to his standard.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘ And Gideon said to God, “If you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said.” ’
Gideon is about to ask another sign. Note that the request is made to ‘God’, not Yahweh, and thus continues through the section. There is a hint here that the request was seen as not strictly pleasing, for Gideon had admitted that Yahweh had said that He would save Israel by his hand. There should therefore be no need to require a further sign from the covenant God, from Yahweh. So this was a personal thing between Gideon and God. It was nothing to do with the covenant.
But God was patient, for this was no hardened warrior, this was a young man in the making who through most of his manhood had known only times of oppression (and whose brothers had been murdered by these very raiders when resisting). The writer may have had in mind Deu 6:16, compare Exo 17:7, where ‘Yahweh’ was not to be put to the test.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Jdg 6:36, &c. And Gideon said unto God, &c. This request, no doubt, was made to God in prayer, and was rather for the confirmation of their faith who joined Gideon, than from any incredulity or doubt in himself. The first miracle was certainly striking; but, in order to obviate any objection drawn from the quality inherent in wool to imbibe moisture, Gideon humbly requests that the miracle may be reversed; and the wool being dry, notwithstanding the ground round about it was wetted by a copious dew, contrary to its known quality of imbibing moisture, was such a miracle as his confederates could not resist.
REFLECTIONS.The harvest being ready for reaping, we have here, as during the preceding years,
1. An inroad made by the confederate hosts of Midian, Amalek, and the Arabians, who, confident of success, were come to collect the spoil. Thus emboldened by success, the sinner usually advances, till God, from the pinnacle of his felicity, hurls him down into the depths of misery.
2. God stirs up Gideon to oppose them; the spirit of the Lord came upon him, or clothed him; a spirit of unusual courage roused him with zeal to bestir himself. He blows the trumpet, invites all volunteers to his standard; and those who would have stoned him yesterday, are to-day the first to follow his orders. Of Manasseh chiefly he composed his army, though Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali also generously lent their assistance. Note; (1.) In a common cause, we should be ready to share the danger with our brethren. (2.) In the men of Abiezer, we see what changes God can work. Thus has Divine Grace, often at a stroke, changed persecutors into preachers, and the most abandoned into converts of truth and holiness. (3.) When God gives us a spirit of grace and courage, however strong our corruptions within, or spiritual enemies without, he will subdue them under our feet.
3. Gideon hereupon, for the confirmation of his own faith, or rather, perhaps, for the encouragement of those who were with him, asks of God a sign, to assure him of victory over the numerous hosts of the Midianites. God consents to it: Gideon lays the fleece on the floor, and on the morrow, according to his own proposal, the fleece is filled with water, and the ground dry around it. Note; It is a blessed token for good in a minister’s labours, when his own soul, like Gideon’s fleece, is replenished with the dew of divine grace.Once more he presumes to ask, ashamed of his own boldness, and begging pardon for his request: let the sign be inverted; the fleece dry, the floor wet. God consents, and it is done; thus silencing every doubt of the certainty of his success.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
DISCOURSE: 266
GIDEONS FLEECE
Jdg 6:36-40. And Gideon said unto God, If thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said, behold, I will put a fleece of wool in the floor; and if the dew be on the fleece only, and it be dry upon all the earth beside, then shall I know that thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said. And it was so: for he rose up early on the morrow, and thrust the fleece together, and wringed the dew out of the fleece, a bowl full of water. And Gideon said unto God, Let not thine anger be hot against me, and I will speak but this once: let me prove, I pray thee, but this once with the fleece; let it now be dry only upon the fleece, and upon all the ground let there be dew. And God did so that night: for it was dry upon the fleece only, and there was dew on all the ground.
IT is a comfort to know, that, however afflicted and apparently desperate our state may be in this world, there is no just ground for despondency. God can never want instruments for effecting our deliverance; or fail in effecting it, however weak and inadequate those instruments may be.
We can scarcely conceive a more hopeless condition than that to which the nation of Israel was reduced at this time by the Midianites and Amalekites and the children of the east. These enemies came up with their cattle and their tents, and they came as grasshoppers for multitude; for both they and their cattle were without number; and annually, for seven years, they entered into the land to destroy it; whilst the children of Israel hid themselves in dens and caves and strong-holds in the mountains, destitute of any sustenance [Note: ver. 26.], and incapable of resisting their invaders.
But, in this extremity, God was pleased to visit them in mercy, and to raise up for them a deliverer, even Gideon, whilst he was threshing out some wheat, to hide it from the Midianites [Note: ver. 11, 12.]. To satisfy the mind of Gideon, who pleaded his utter incapacity for the office devolved upon him, God gave him a sign: he accepted an offering of a kid, prepared as for food with unleavened cakes, and caused fire to rise up out of the rock, on which the flesh and cakes were placed, to consume them: and then departed out of his sight [Note: ver. 1721. It is clear that the Angel was no other than Jehovah himself. See ver. 14 and ver. 2224.]. But still, though further encouraged by the success of his endeavour to destroy idolatry in his fathers house [Note: ver. 2532.] and by the willingness which several of the tribes manifested to enlist under his banners, he yet needed to have his faith strengthened; and for that end, he desired a further sign from the Lord, that so he might be assured that the promise made to him should be fulfilled.
In this circumstance we see displayed before our eyes,
I.
The weakness of man
Gideon could not give full credit to the word of God
[It had been declared to him by the Lord, Thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent thee [Note: ver. 14.]? On his expressing a doubt how this could possibly be effected by so weak an instrument as he, God had confirmed his word, as with an oath, Surely I will be with thee; and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man [Note: ver. 15, 16.]. To remove all doubt from his mind, a sign had been given him, similar to that which had been given at the consecration of Aaron to the priestly office [Note: Lev 9:24.]. Yet still he wanted fresh signs, to convince him that God would indeed fulfil his word; and even prescribed to God the signs that should be given, desiring that a fleece might be wet with dew, whilst all was dry around; and again, that the fleece might be dry, whilst on all around it the dew should rest.]
Do we not see in this the weakness of all mankind?
[Abraham repeatedly resorted to a base subterfuge in denying his wife, because he could not trust in God for his protection from Pharaoh [Note: Gen 12:12-13.], and Abimelech [Note: Gen 20:13.]. Sarah, too, though commended for her faith, could not believe that, at her advanced period of life, she should bear to Abraham a son [Note: Gen 18:11-12.]. When Moses was commissioned to bring Israel out of Egypt, no less than three successive signs were given to him, for the conviction of his own mind, and of the minds of those to whom he was sent: his rod was turned into a serpent, and restored from a living serpent to a rod again; his hand was rendered both leprous, and whole again; and the water which he poured out was converted into blood [Note: Exo 4:1-9.]. David also, under circumstances of great trial, found doubts arise in his mind; but confessed, upon reflection, This is mine infirmity [Note: Psa 77:7-10.]. And who amongst us has not, on many occasions, staggered at the promises through unbelief? The disciples themselves, when a storm arose, were fearful that they should perish, notwithstanding their Lord and Master was embarked with them in the vessel [Note: Mar 4:38.]: and the intrepid Peters heart began to fail him, when walking on the sea, because the wind became more boisterous than when he first descended from the ship [Note: Mat 14:28-31.]. So, in seasons of trial, we have found it exceeding difficult to place such confidence in God, as to dismiss all fear, and commit our cause to him without any anxiety about the issue of it. We can know but little of the workings of our own hearts, if we have not discovered, that there is in us an evil heart of unbelief, and that to place perfect confidence in God is the highest of all attainments. To say under such accumulated trials as Job sustained, Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him [Note: Job 13:15.], is little short of absolute perfection.]
But this weakness of Gideon was the means of displaying,
II.
The condescension of God
God, instead of being offended with his servant, acceded to his request
[A fellow-creature, who had given such solemn promises, would have been quite indignant at finding his veracity called in question. How offensive was the request, If thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, and do as thou hast said, behold, I will put a fleece of wool in the floor; and if the dew be on the fleece only, and it be dry upon all the earth beside, then shall I know that thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said. Nor did even this suffice: no: he must prove God a second time by reversing this request, before he can believe that God will do as he has said. Yet, astonishing to behold! God, instead of being offended with him, gives him the satisfaction he desires, and accommodates himself to the wishes of his yet doubting servant.
A similar instance of condescension we behold in Jesus towards his unbelieving disciple. All the disciples had seen our Lord, except Thomas; and all bare the most decided testimony to his resurrection. But Thomas would not believe: no: the testimony of all his brethren was of no avail: he would not even believe his own eyes, if he should see his Lord: he would not believe, unless he should put his fingers into the print of the nails made in the hands and feet of his Lord, and thrust his hand into the side that had been pierced by the spear. How justly might he have been left to the perverseness of his own mind, and to all the bitter consequences of his unbelief! But no: the Saviour appears to him also, and gives him the very evidence he desired.]
And the same condescension may we also expect
[It is true, we are not authorized to specify the terms on which we will credit the divine testimony, or to expect any visible signs in confirmation of Gods word: yet are we not a whit less assured of his condescension and grace, than Gideon and Thomas were. We shall find, in his very covenant which he has made with us, the very same condescension to our weakness, and the very same desire to satisfy our minds: for he has confirmed his covenant with an oath, that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have the stronger consolation [Note: Heb 6:17-18.]. And, if we look at the promises, we shall find that they are made in a way purposely to counteract and sustain the weakness of our minds. Mark the repetitions: Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness [Note: Isa 41:10.]. Fear not, thou worm Jacob: thou shalt thresh the mountains [Note: Isa 41:14-16.]. Mark his answers to the objections arising in our minds: Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered? Yes; thus saith the Lord: The captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children [Note: Isa 49:24-25.]. We see, then, that at this day God is the same as in the days of old; and that still, as formerly, he will not break the bruised reed, nor quench the smoking flax, till he bring forth judgment unto victory [Note: Mat 12:20.].]
In all this, however, we discern,
III.
The efficacy of prayer
It was prayer that prevailed in the instance before us
[Gideon, with much humility and tenderness of spirit, besought the Lord; even as the Prophet Isaiah afterwards did in behalf of Hezekiah. God promised to Hezekiah that his disorder should be healed, and that he should on the third day go up to the house of the Lord. A sign was then offered to him, and a choice was given him in relation to it: and he, thinking it a much harder thing for the shadow on the sun-dial to go back, than to advance, ten degrees, fixed upon that which he conceived to be the more difficult: and the Prophet Isaiah, who in Gods name had offered him the sign, cried unto the Lord; and he brought the shadow ten degrees backward, by which it had gone down in the dial of Ahaz [Note: 2Ki 20:8-11.].]
To us, also, will God vouchsafe his mercies, in answer to our prayers
[We are told that the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. And in this respect Elijah is held forth to us as an example: for he, though a man subject to like passions as we are, prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain; and the earth brought forth her fruit [Note: Jam 5:16-18.]. Thus also shall it be with us, under circumstances of peculiar trial. I mean not to say, that we shall have any miraculous answers to our prayers; for the age of miracles is past: but I must say, that, even in relation to temporal matters, our prayers shall not go forth in vain; and, in reference to spiritual mercies, they shall descend almost in visible answers on our souls. Let us suppose the whole neighbourhood where we dwell, to be in a state of barrenness, so far as it respects the blessings of salvation: if a man cry earnestly to God, the dew of his blessing shall descend upon him in the richest abundance; (a whole bowl-full shall, if I may so speak, be wrung out from his contracted fleece:) on the other hand, if Gods judgments are poured forth on all around him, a merciful exemption shall be given to him; even as it is said, A thousand shall fall beside thee, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee [Note: Psa 91:7.]. No man can conceive to what an extent God will magnify his condescension and grace towards an humble suppliant, till he has himself besought the Lord, and obtained an answer of peace unto his soul. We may ask what we will, and it shall be done unto us.]
What now shall I further say to you? This only would I add
Let your faith in Gods blessed word be firm and uniform
[Think not of difficulties: There is nothing too hard for the Lord. Were your enemies as numerous as the Midianites, and you had nothing wherewith to combat them but a pitcher and a lamp, they should all fall before you. Only be strong in faith: and you shall find, that all things are possible to him that believeth.]
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
It is probable that those requests of Gideon were more for the confirmation of the faith of his companions, than for his own; similar to those questions which John the Baptist sent to Jesus. For they are proposed with such humbleness of soul, that they do not carry with them those marks of doubt that otherwise might be expected. Mat 11:2-3 , compared with Joh 1:29-34 . Reader! do not overlook the gracious condescension of our most gracious and indulgent God, either way, and in any direction, as shall best satisfy the doubts and scruples of his people; by a dry fleece, or a moist fleece, the Lord will answer the prayers of his people. That is a very precious scripture to this purpose, Isa 45:11 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Jdg 6:36 And Gideon said unto God, If thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said,
Ver. 36. And Gideon said unto God. ] These signs he desired of God, not out of infidelity, but in all humility, for his further confirmation in faith and obedience.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
God. See note on Jdg 6:12.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
If thou wilt: Jdg 6:14, Jdg 6:17-20, Exo 4:1-9, 2Ki 20:9, Psa 103:13, Psa 103:14, Mat 16:1
Reciprocal: Gen 15:8 – General Gen 24:15 – before Exo 3:12 – token 1Sa 10:9 – and all those signs 1Sa 14:9 – they Isa 7:11 – a sign Mic 5:7 – as a dew Luk 1:18 – Whereby
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
6:36 And Gideon said unto God, {p} If thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said,
(p) This request proceeds not from infidelity, but that he might be confirmed in his calling.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Gideon’s desire for encouragement 6:36-40
The Lord graciously answered Gideon’s request for additional signs that God was with him. Gideon did not need to request these signs; God had already promised to help him (Jdg 6:14; Jdg 6:16) and had given him a sign (Jdg 6:21). Notwithstanding, Gideon’s faith needed some added support, and God provided this without reproof (cf. Jas 1:5).
"The remarkable thing is that God responds to his tests. He is more anxious to deliver Israel than to quibble with this man’s semipagan notions of deity." [Note: Block, Judges . . ., p. 273.]
"Gideon’s fleece is not a sign of faith. It is the opposite. It is not a search for God’s will. It is a desperate grasp for security by one who knows clearly what that will is but who is reluctant to do it." [Note: Idem, "Gideon: A Rough Vessel," The Standard 77:2 (February 1987):25. See idem, Judges . . ., p. 307.]
Perhaps Gideon used a woolen fleece simply because it was handy. He asked God to cause the dew to settle on the fleece that night but not on the surrounding ground. In the morning he discovered that is what God had done. Gideon may have concluded that he had asked the wrong thing since wool attracts dew. In any case he asked God to let the dew fall on the ground but not on the fleece the next night. God did this too. Thus, this double demonstration, that God was indeed with him, and would grant him victory as He had promised, strengthened Gideon’s faith.
Some students of this story have seen a deeper meaning in these signs than is immediately apparent.
"Dew in the Scriptures is a symbol of the beneficent power of God, which quickens, revives, and invigorates the objects of nature, when they have been parched by the burning heat of the sun’s rays. The first sign was to be a pledge to him of the visible, tangible blessing of the Lord upon His people, the proof that He would grant them power over their mighty foes by whom Israel was then oppressed. The woollen fleece represented the nation of Israel in its condition at this time, when God had given power to the foe that was devastating its land, and had withdrawn His blessing from Israel. The moistening of the fleece with the dew of heaven whilst the land all round continued dry, was a sign that the Lord God would once more give strength to His people from on high, and withdraw it from the nations of the earth. Hence the second sign acquires the more general signification, ’that the Lord manifested himself even in the weakness and forsaken condition of his people, while the nations were flourishing all around’ (O. v. Gerl.) . . . ." [Note: Keil and Delitzsch, pp. 339-40.]
Did God intend the dew, the fleece, and the ground to represent these things? Whether He did or not, it is clear that these two miraculous demonstrations of God’s presence and power strengthened Gideon’s faith. Gideon was now ready to lead the Israelites against their foes.
"The manipulation of dew would be a powerful way for the real deity to stand up and be counted since both Baal and the Lord had claimed the right to provide this moisture so critical to survival in the land. On a threshing floor before the soldiers of Israel God used the manipulation of dew to confirm His power and presence at the expense of Baal." [Note: John A. Beck, "Gideon, Dew, and the Narrative-Geographical Shaping of Judges 6:33-40," Bibliotheca Sacra 165:657 (January-March 2008):28-38.]
Note four things that God used to prepare Gideon in this chapter. First, Gideon met the preincarnate Christ. Second, he committed himself to following Yahweh. Third, he obeyed the Lord by taking a public stand for Him, relying on His promises. Fourth, the Holy Spirit gave Gideon supernatural power. When the people God calls to Himself respond positively by committing themselves to Him and standing up for Him, He strengthens their faith so He can use them in greater ways. His ability can overcome the inability of His servants if they rely on His promises, even though their faith may be weak.
"All the judges except Abimelech countered a foreign threat, but only in the case of Gideon is there an extensive personal interaction between the judge and the Lord. This observation suggests that the narrative provides more than simply a victory account for future generations of Israel’s defeat of Midian. While it is true that Samson offered up a few quick prayers, only in the case of Gideon is there a focus on the judge’s faith and his coming to grips with the Lord’s call on his life." [Note: Tanner, p. 156.]