Judges 6:11-12: Gideon

Gideon, The Most Reluctant Warlord

Judges 6:11-12
11 NOW THE ANGEL OF THE LORD CAME AND SAT UNDER THE OAK AT OPHRAH, WHICH BELONGED TO JOASH THE ABIEZRITE, AS HIS SON GIDEON WAS BEATING OUT WHEAT IN THE WINE PRESS, TO HIDE IT FROM THE MIDIANITES. 12 THE ANGEL OF THE LORD APPEARED TO HIM AND SAID TO HIM, “THE LORD IS WITH YOU, YOU MIGHTY WARRIOR.”

Gideon the Dusty
The book of Judges chronicles the tale of Israel just after they settle in Canaan. They are a disunified band of tribes that constantly forgets God, and due to their disunity and lack of faith, they are constantly under threat from outside forces (and themselves). During this part of the story, the Midianites have been terrorizing Israel and destroying their crops. As always, I recommend you read all of Judges 6-8 for context.

Gideon the Warrior
Here we find Gideon, hiding in a winepress (a confined space) threshing his wheat. I don’t know much about wheat threshing, but from what I gather (pun intended), you have to remove the unwanted parts of the wheat to get to the good stuff. This creates a ton of waste and probably dust. So that would mean that Gideon is suffocating in dust and buried in chaff because he’s hiding in fear. Then, the angel shows up and calls him a mighty warrior. God has a higher calling on our lives and a glorious identity for us, even if we don’t know it or show it yet.

Gideon’s Questions
How does Gideon respond? He first questions whether God is good. Why has God let this happen? Why hasn’t He delivered Israel? The angel could have said, “well, because y’all stopped following God, just like He said would happen.” The angel could have pointed out that Gideon’s father was the owner of town’s idolatry pole. Instead, he answers like he answers us sometimes. “Because God is going to use you to deliver Israel.” Sometimes, when we see injustice in the world and ask why, God’s answer is because he wants to use us to stop it. Whatever is burdening your heart may be your calling rather than a reason to doubt God.

Then he questions whether he has the status to lead the Israelites into battle. How can a timid man from an unimportant sub-tribe (who are the Abiezrites, anyway?) get all of Israel to follow him? God answers like He answers us. He’ll be with Gideon. Whatever we’re facing, God’s presence with us, Emmanuel, can give the leadership skills, courage, or whatever we may need to accomplish God’s purposes.

Finally, he questions whether God is really calling him, and the angel indulges him by spontaneously setting an offering ablaze. Gideon realizes he’s seeing God (or at least his messenger) and realizes he should die in God’s presence. The angel assures him of his safety. God is really patient with Gideon. God is really patient with us.

Timidity to Triumph to Timidity to Triumph
Now that Gideon is on board, God asks him to cut down the Asherah pole and other pagan items that his father owns and apparently are used by his town. Gideon obeys, but out of fear, does it at night. When the town finds out, his dad comes to his aid, and all of the sudden the timid, suffocating wheat thresher is catapulted into the spotlight as one who contends with foreign gods. The Spirit is on him, giving him the ability to gather an army out of several tribes. It’s time to fight the Midianites.

But Gideon gets scared again. He asks God to give him a sign by placing a fleece on the threshing floor and wants God to make the fleece wet with dew in the morning but not the floor. God does it. But Gideon probably realizes that the absorbent fleece was going to be wetter than the hard floor naturally anyways. Recognizing his mistake, he asks God to contradict the natural laws of absorbency and make the floor wet and not the fleece. Again, God is patient.

Gideon finally trusts God so much that he cuts his large army down to 300 people (at God’s request). But then Gideon gets timid again and doesn’t want to fight until he overhears that one of the Midianites has had a dream that Gideon will be victorious. Now Gideon has courage, attacks, and is victorious.

Gideon’s Rise and Fall
The story should have ended there, but now Gideon is drunk on his own power (or rather God’s power). Even though he has liberated Israel, he feels compelled to chase what’s left of the Midianites. In doing so, he runs across some Israelites that refuse to help him. Now he threatens to kill them, too. Long story short, he catches and kills the Midianites and then kills a bunch of Israelites. Now, he is no longer serving God’s purpose of delivering Israel.

Then, the Israelites want to make Gideon king. He says something that seems pious. He says, “God’s the hero, not me.” But then his actions betray him. He gathers up everyone’s gold and makes a golden priestly garment that the text says causes the Israelites to commit idolatry. Perhaps this means he starts acting as a priest, or that he is letting Israel worship him. Then he gets tons of wives (something a king would do and a forbidden action for kings in Deuteronomy). Then he names one of his sons Abimelech, which means “the king is my father.” So much for not wanting to be a king. Gideon dies, and then things get really messy for his family.

Takeaway
We can be as scared as we want, but if we’ll trust God will use us. God also lets us voice our timidity and insecurity to Him. God is patient with us. But Gideon’s reluctance was better than his pride and overconfidence in the end. A leader who uses his God-given gifts to gain glory for himself and forget where his gifts come from is far more destructive than a reluctant follower of God. Trust God, but when God shows up, we can’t start thinking that we deserve any of the credit.