THE night after Gideon had seen the angel of the Lord, God spoke to him again. There was much for him to do, and now that He knew God in His love and grace, he could serve Him acceptably. So it is with the Christian, until he has found out that there is no good in himself, but that all comes from God, until he has learned to love Him and praise Him, he cannot serve Him as he should. When we have come to that, then it will be our delight to seek to do God’s will, and those around us will soon see it. Gideon must show these idolatrous people around him that he loved and served the true God, and he must begin at home. God said to him “Take thy father’s young bullock . . . and throw down the altar of Baal which thy father hath, and cut down the grove that is by it; and build an altar unto the Lord, thy God upon the top of this rock, in the ordered place, and take the second bullock, and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the grove which thou shalt cut down.”
Gideon, with ten of his servants, did as he had been commanded; and during the night, (because he feared his father’s household and the men of the city) he pulled down Baal’s altar, cut the wood of the grove and offered the bullock in sacrifice to God. When the people rose, next day, they wondered, and asked one another “Who hath done this thing?” and soon heard that Gideon, the son of Joash had done it. They were very angry and told Joash to bring out his son that they might kill him.
Many times Satan has tried to destroy God’s people, and has often succeeded; many martyrs have suffered for the name of Christ, and because they would not worship idols. They knew it was better to obey God and die, than to disobey Him and live. For such God will have very great rewards in heaven. Nowadays Satan, the enemy of our souls, has other means and ways of showing his hatred of God and of those who love Him. He has scorn and ridicule for those who wish to be faithful. Shall we fear it? Ah! no, but let us remember that if we suffer with Him, we shall also reign with Him.
But God did not allow Gideon to die. He had work for him to do, and He helped him to do it, and did not let his enemies hurt him. Joash, instead of being angry, saw that Baal was but an idol, else it could defend itself, so he answered those who stood against him, “Will ye plead for Baal? Will ye save him? he that will plead for him, let him be put to death ... .. “If he is a god, let him plead for himself, because one hath cast down his altar.” On that day he called Gideon “Jerubbaal” saying: “Let Baal plead against him, because he has thrown down his altar.”
All the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the east were now gathered together at Jezreel. And the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet, and called together a great many soldiers to fight with him against Israel’s enemies. But before he began to fight, he asked of God a sign that He would do as He promised. Gideon’s faith was not very great yet, we see, but God, in love, bore with him and did as was asked. “I will put a fleece of wool on the floor,” Gideon said, “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 my hand as Thou hast said.”
And it was so, when Gideon rose early next morning, he found the fleece very wet and after wringing it, he had a bowl full of water from it; but there was no dew upon the ground.
We know that the moisture in the air, which we cannot see by day, becomes cool at night, and turns to dew. But why was the fleece alone wet, and everything else dry? Because God had heard the prayer of Gideon and He wished to show him that He can do all things, and to teach him to trust in Him.
The next night, Gideon asked God to let him try the fleece again. He said: “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.” God again attended to Gideon, and the next morning, all the ground was wet with dew and the wool alone was dry. Surely Gideon could not again doubt the Lord, and well he might go on now in God’s might and fight against the enemy.
God has given us also, plenty of proofs of His love and care, and mistrust of Him, dishonors Him. For “He that spared not His on Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also, freely give us all things.” Rom. 8:3232He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? (Romans 8:32).
ML 03/17/1912