July 11th Read Judg 6:25–40 Jdg 6:36-40 ESV Then Gideon said to God, "If you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said, (37) behold, I am laying a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece alone, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said." (38) And it was so. When he rose early next morning and squeezed the fleece, he wrung enough dew from the fleece to fill a bowl with water. (39) Then Gideon said to God, "Let not your anger burn against me; let me speak just once more. Please let me test just once more with the fleece. Please let it be dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground let there be dew." (40) And God did so that night; and it was dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground there was dew. You often see this passage misused beyond belief. It will be used to justify many practices which simply aren’t right. If you ever use the phrase, “throwing out the fleece” know that you cannot do this to justify your unbelief or seeking a sign from God. When Gideon does this he already has a promise from God. He needs a little encouragement. We know that Gideon is a weak person. Already we saw him confess it himself. In today’s reading we see how he destroyed the altars at night because he was afraid of the people. But a promise from God the Lord he indeed has. When was the last time you saw someone referencing this account as a justification for their actions do so on the basis of a promise made by God to them? Never would be my guess. But let’s go back to earlier in verses 25ff. It is simply awesome his father’s argument against the villagers who wanted to kill Gideon because he tore down the pagan altars. “You don’t get revenge on Gideon for this. If they are gods let them get revenge themselves!” In any case, Gideon gets rid of the false gods. We too need to get rid of those things in our lives that we are turning to for comfort, hope and strength. Whatever it is that is getting you through the day or the night, if it isn’t Jesus, it has to go. Jesus promises to have our prayers answered. He has promised everything that we are so anxious about, our Father in heaven knows what we need and will provide it. He says though seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and then these things will be added to you. How do we do that? Simply, we go to church. We hear the good news of Jesus Christ, his death for ours, his blood as our atoning sacrifice, a propitiation for our sin, his victory over sin, death and the devil at church, in our private devotions and in our discussions with fellow Christians. It’s not hard to put aside these false gods of ours. Our neighbors, friends, family and even our own flesh will call for our heads at times. Let these gods get revenge for themselves. We have a promise from God. We have signs from God these promises are true, baptism and the Lord’s Supper. These signs deliver the promised goods and seal them to us so we too can be certain in our weakness. Lord Jesus Christ, may we use such signs which you yourself have already provide so our faith in your promises be strengthened. Amen.
Posted on: Thu, 11 Jul 2013 10:53:34 +0000
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