Give me a sign

Judges 6

Have you ever not believed one of your friends when they told you a story? Maybe it was something way too hard to believe and you asked for them to prove it. You say, “I don’t believe you, prove it.” Sometimes it is hard to believe when something seems so far fetched. 

In this chapter we read about a new judge in town, Gideon. 

Gideon

Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord (this should sound familiar if you have been reading along). The Midianites were the ones who have oppressed Israel. The state of is Israel was so bad that they would hide in caves from the Midianites. They were not able to harvest their crops outside because the Midianites would come and ravish their fields and make it so they could not even have any donkeys or oxen. 

Israel was in a bad place and they cried out to God and he heard their request. He was going to use Gideon. The name Gideon means “Hacker.” Gideon was confronted by the Lord while he was working. The Lord told Gideon what was going to happen and Gideon somewhat did not understand. He said, “Why is God allowing this trouble to happen to Israel?” As the Lord just listened he still had a plan for Gideon

Signs

Gideon asked to see a sign, and fire consumed Gideon’s little lunch and the Lord vanished from his site. Gideon was asked to complete a task of tearing down the altar of Baal in his area. He did and the town mob decided they did not like it. Nothing happened to Gideon but all of a sudden the Holy Spirit was upon him and he took charge to lead Israel against Midian. He blew the horn and gathered the troops but before he goes out to battle he asked the Lord for another sign.

He asked if the wool fleece that was laying on the ground would be filled with dew but the ground would be dry then he would know that God was with him and this war thing would work out. The next morning Gideon awakes and finds the fleece covered in dew while the ground was bone dry. Instead of being amazed, Gideon asked for another sign. 

If the fleece would be bone dry but the ground be covered in dew, then he would go out in battle with Israel against Midian. He woke up the next morning to find at his amazement that the ground was covered in dew but the fleece was bone dry. God did his little requests all three times that Gideon and his lack of faith self asked. 

What does it take for you to go out? Gideon first complained about his circumstance by saying if God is for me than why is the world the way it is. People ask that question all the time, “Why is the world the way it is if God is so good?” As they ask the question they do not realize that God has a big plan and that there is sin in the world. Israel was in that place because they fell away from God and sometimes he humbles us to get our attention. Sometimes things are going bad because there are bad people in the world. One day Jesus Christ will come again but this time it will be to reclaim the world and to judge it. 

Do you ask for signs? Gideon asked 3 times for proof that he was to do what God had asked. Thomas asked to see the pierced Christ in order to believe that he rose again. We ask for security, safety, well-being all the time. God has given us a great sign which is Jesus who died on the cross and rose again for us. He has given us the Bible to serve as a reminder of his GREAT promises everyday. We become timid and ask for proof if we should take a step of faith in go for the Lord. The Bible tells us in Ephesians 6:16 to take up our shield of faith and we know that Hebrews 1:1 tells us that faith is the assurance of things hoped for and the conviction of things not seen. We have faith that God is real and we know that he works and moves and is active in our daily lives because he loves us.