Testing God and Gideon's Fleece in Judges
The biblical account of Gideon's fleece, found in Judges 6, describes a unique instance where a leader sought miraculous confirmation of God's will through a specific, repeated sign [1]. Gideon, the fifth judge of Israel, was called by God to deliver Israel from the oppression of the Midianites and Amalekites [2, 3]. Despite having already received a direct call and a sign from an angel (Judges 6:17-24), Gideon requested further assurance [9].
Gideon's request for the fleece miracle occurred after the Spirit of the Lord "clothed" him with zeal and might, prompting him to blow a trumpet and gather an army against the Midianites [7, 8]. On the eve of this perilous enterprise, Gideon sought to fortify his mind with a fresh assurance of his divine call [6]. He proposed a test to God: "Behold, I will put a fleece of wool on the floor. If there is dew on the fleece alone, and all the ground is dry, then I shall know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said" (Judges 6:37 ESV). The next morning, this indeed happened, and Gideon wrung out a bowl full of water from the fleece [11].
However, Gideon was not yet fully satisfied. He made a second, even bolder request: "Don’t let your anger be kindled against me, and I will speak but this once. Please let me make a trial just this once with the fleece. Let it now be dry only on the fleece, and on all the ground let there be dew" (Judges 6:39 ESV) [1]. God again indulged Gideon's request, reversing the miracle: the fleece remained dry while the surrounding ground was covered with dew [1]. John Gill notes that Gideon was conscious of the presumption and boldness in repeating his request, acknowledging it had the appearance of diffidence and distrust after the initial sign [5]. However, Gill suggests Gideon's motivation was not solely for himself but perhaps also for others, and he promised to ask for no more such favors [5].
The episode of Gideon's fleece is often discussed in the context of "testing God." The Old Testament frequently warns against testing God, as seen in passages like Deuteronomy 6:16, which states, "You shall not put the LORD your God to the test." This prohibition typically refers to demanding signs out of unbelief or rebellion, or challenging God's faithfulness and power. However, Gideon's situation is distinct. He had already received a divine commission and a miraculous sign [9]. His requests for the fleece were not a challenge to God's authority but rather an expression of his own uncertainty and reluctance, which God graciously accommodated [9].
Commentators often highlight God's patience and condescension in responding to Gideon's repeated requests. Jamieson, Fausset & Brown describe the miracle of the fleece as "a very remarkable one," especially considering the copious dews common in the region [6]. The Tyndale House commentary on Jude notes that the fleece incident was not to confirm God's intention to use Gideon, which had already been established, but rather an "indulgence in responding to the reluctant hero’s uncertainty" [9]. This perspective suggests that God, in His mercy, met Gideon where he was in his faith journey, providing the assurance needed for the daunting task ahead.
The broader context of Judges reveals a period where Israel repeatedly fell into idolatry and suffered oppression, only to be delivered by judges raised up by God [3, 10]. The purpose of these trials, as stated in Judges 3:4, was "for testing Israel, to find out if they would obey the commandments of the LORD" [4]. Gideon's personal testing, though different in nature, ultimately served to strengthen his faith and prepare him for his role in delivering Israel from the Midianites [6].
Sources
- Judges “Gideon said to God, “Don’t let your anger be kindled against me, and I will speak but this once. Please let me make a trial just this once with the fleece. Let it now be dry only on the fleece, and on all the ground let there be dew.” -- Judges 6:39”
- Smith's Bible Dictionary “Smith's Bible Dictionary: Gideon — (he that cuts down), youngest son of Joash of the Abiezrites, an undistinguished family who lived at Ophrah, a town probably on the west of Jordan, (Judges 6:15) in the territory of Manasseh, near Shechem. He was the fifth recorded judge of Israel, and for many reasons the greatest of them all. When we first hear of him he was grown up and had sons, (Judges 6:11; 8:20) and from the apostrophe of the angel, ch. (Judges 6:12) we may conclude that he had already distinguished himself in war against the roving bands of nomadic robbers who had oppressed Israel for”
- Easton's Bible Dictionary “Easton's Bible Dictionary: Gideon — Called also Jerubbaal (Judg. 6:29, 32), was the first of the judges whose history is circumstantially narrated (Judg. 6-8). His calling is the commencement of the second period in the history of the judges. After the victory gained by Deborah and Barak over Jabin, Israel once more sank into idolatry, and the Midianites (q.v.) and Amalekites, with other "children of the east," crossed the Jordan each year for seven successive years for the purpose of plundering and desolating the land. Gideon received a direct call from God to undertake the task of delivering”
- Judges “Judges 3:4 (NASB) — They were for testing Israel, to find out if they would obey the commandments of the LORD, which He had commanded their fathers through Moses.”
- Judges (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Judges 6:38: And Gideon said unto God,.... In the same way as before, and on the morning when he had been favoured with the sight of the above miracle: let not thine anger be hot against me, and I will speak but this once; he was conscious to himself that it showed great presumption and boldness in him to repeat his request, and that it had the appearance of great diffidence and distrust in him, after he had been indulged with such a sign to confirm his faith; but as it was not so much on his own account as others, and promising to ask no more favours of this kind, he hoped his ”
- Judges (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on Judges 6:34: the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon--Called in this sudden emergency into the public service of his country, he was supernaturally endowed with wisdom and energy commensurate with the magnitude of the danger and the difficulties of his position. His summons to war was enthusiastically obeyed by all the neighboring tribes. On the eve of a perilous enterprise, he sought to fortify his mind with a fresh assurance of a divine call to the responsible office. The miracle of the fleece was a very remarkable one--especially, considering the copious dews th”
- Judges (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Judges 6:33: But the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon,.... Not the spirit of prophecy, as Maimonides (x), who calls this spirit the first degree of prophecy, but a spirit of fortitude and courage, as the Targum; the Spirit of God filled him, or, as in the Hebrew text, "clothed" (y) him with zeal, strength, and might, moved and animated him to engage with this great body of people come into the land, to ravage and waste it, and to attempt the deliverance of Israel from their bondage: and he blew a trumpet; as an alarm of war, and as a token to as many as heard to resort to him”
- Judges (Nonconformist/Puritan) “Matthew Henry on Judges 6:33: Here we have, I. The descent which the enemies of Israel made upon them, Jdg 6:33. A vast number of Midianites, Amalekites, and Arabians, got together, and came over Jordan, none either caring or daring to guard that important and advantageous pass against them, and they made their headquarters in the valley of Jezreel, in the heart of Manasseh's tribe, not far from Gideon's city. Some think that the notice they had of Gideon's destroying Baal's altar brought them over, and that they came to plead for Baal and to make that a pretence for quarrelling with Israel; b”
- Jude (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on Jude 6:36: 6:36-40 The fleece incident was not a confirmation of God’s intention to use Gideon (which had already been established, 6:17-24), but God’s indulgence in responding to the reluctant hero’s uncertainty.”
- Judges (Lutheran) “Keil & Delitzsch on Judges 6 (introduction): 2. The Times of Gideon and His Family, and of the Judges Tola and Jair - Judges 6-10:5 In this second stage of the period of the judges, which did not extend over an entire century (only ninety-five years), Israel was only punished for its apostasy from the Lord, it is true, with a seven years' oppression by the Midianites; but the misery which these enemies, who allied themselves with Amalekites and other Arabian hordes, brought upon both land and people, so far surpassed the pressure of the previous chastisements, that the Israelites were obliged ”
- Judges (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Judges 6:36: Behold, I will put a fleece of wool on the floor,.... On the floor where he was threshing, where the angel first appeared to him, and which lay exposed to the open air, so that the dew might easily fall upon it: and if the dew be on the fleece only; the dew that falls from heaven in the night, when he proposed it should lie on the floor till morning: and it be dry upon all the earth beside; meaning not upon all the world, nor even upon all the land of Israel, but upon all the floor about the fleece: then shall I know that thou wilt save Israel by my hand, as thou ”