How does Judges 6:36 connect to other instances of seeking signs in Scripture? The Setting: Gideon’s Request for a Sign (Judges 6:36–40) “Gideon said to God, ‘If You are going to save Israel by my hand, as You have said, behold, I am laying a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew only on the fleece and all the ground is dry, then I will know that You will deliver Israel by my hand, as You have said.’ … And God did so that night” (Judges 6:36-38). • Gideon is asking for confirmation, not revelation; God has already spoken (Judges 6:14, 16). • The request is repeated in reverse (vv. 39-40), showing God’s patience with a hesitant servant. Old-Testament Echoes: Other Faithful Requests for Confirming Signs • Moses: three signs—the staff to a serpent, the leprous hand, and water to blood (Exodus 4:1-9). • Jonathan: the Philistine sentry’s response as a sign to attack (1 Samuel 14:8-10). • Samuel: thunder and rain at wheat harvest to authenticate his words (1 Samuel 12:16-18). • Hezekiah: the shadow moving backward ten steps to verify healing and victory (2 Kings 20:8-11). Shared thread: God-initiated missions accompanied by God-granted signs bolster obedient faith. Contrasting Examples: When Signs Expose Unbelief • Israel at Kadesh: the twelve-spy report was meant to encourage, but the people demanded further proof and rebelled (Numbers 14:11). • King Ahaz: offered any sign but refused out of feigned piety (Isaiah 7:10-13). • Pharaoh: witnessed repeated signs yet hardened his heart (Exodus 7–11). • Gideon differs—he obeys after the sign (Judges 7:1-3), whereas these examples resist God’s revealed will. New-Testament Parallels • Pharisees and Sadducees: “Show us a sign from heaven” (Matthew 16:1-4). Jesus rebukes them, citing Jonah as the only sign they will receive. • Thomas: demands physical evidence, receives it, then worships (John 20:24-29). • Early church: God grants signs to confirm apostolic preaching (Hebrews 2:3-4; Acts 14:3). Common Threads That Unite These Accounts • God’s Word comes first; the sign, when given, confirms what is already spoken. • Signs are gracious accommodations to human weakness, not substitutes for faith. • Where hearts are hardened, more signs do not produce obedience (Exodus 8:15; Luke 16:31). • Genuine seekers like Gideon or Thomas move from doubt to decisive action after receiving confirmation. Lessons Drawn from Gideon’s Fleece and Its Companions • Scripture records literal, historical events where God intervenes in verifiable ways. • It is legitimate to seek reassurance when embarking on tasks clearly commanded by God, as long as the request springs from a desire to obey. • Presumption or unbelief turns the desire for a sign into a demand that God prove Himself again (Matthew 12:38-39). • Ultimately, the greatest sign has been given in the resurrection of Jesus Christ (Acts 17:31). For believers today, the written Word and the risen Lord supply sufficient assurance to step forward in faith, just as Gideon did once the fleece was wet. |
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