Need a SIGN like Gideon's FLEECE ? .... Judges 6

Placing a fleece before The LORD....

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The Importance of Gideon's Fleeces

When Gideon put forth fleeces asking The LORD for confirmation of His+ will, many men's lives were at stake, as well as their defenseless wives and children.

   

Israel's oppressors, the Midianites, were ruthless towards the Israelites.  The Israelites were hiding out, living in caves ( 6:2-6 ). It seems this fear was based in reality,  substantiated by the treatment the people of Israel had been receiving. [ Chapter 7 points out that great fear also.]

Any Other Examples ?

We know, though, that The LORD did NOT honor OTHER folks who asked , " How can this be?"  ... such as Zachariah who was struck dumb because he did not believe the Word of the LORD to him via Gabriel. 

Part of growing requires TRUST... a foundational, personal security ... that HE+ will do it,  that HE+ will perform exactly what HE+ says HE+ will do... and whatever HE+ requires us to do, HE+ WILL ALSO PERFORM! 

Why Did the Fleeces "Work" for Gideon ?

Gideon seemed to be a man after GOD'S own heart, like David was. And, Gideon was so very, very humble and little in his own eyes, endearing himself unto The LORD.  

Also,  Gideon had asked earlier for a sign that he himself had found grace in The LORD'S eyes in verse 19, and The LORD honored that request .

The Key to Answered Prayer

The key to everything that happened in Judges 6 , included putting forth the fleeces 2 times, is found in verse 6:34. 

[ Courtesy of Biblegateway.com ]

  ³⁴ But the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet; and Abiezer was gathered after him.  

Even more striking is the Hebrew of  verse 34 of Judges 6:  

" And the SPIRIT of JEHOVAH clothed GIDEON ( with HIMSELF ) " … 

The "with HIMSELF" is understood in the verse, according to JP Green’s Interlinear.

Needing a SIGN for Confirmation

of The LORD'S Will ? 

We are always desiring The LORD to give us a CERTAIN AND SURE sign of confirmation, if we need to do something. The more major the decision, the more we yearn for certainty about it, right?  

The problem is: signs are easily duplicated by satan to a doubting heart, and mankind is easily duped. 

There IS a way to know The LORD'S Will, however, and The LORD shows us how to do this in Judges 6. 

However, Gideon’s 2 fleeces, as miraculous as they were, ARE NOT THE MAIN message in Judges 6 that The LORD wants us to see ! 

Two Main Points 
--- not fleeces --- 
in Judges 6 

The First:  OBEDIENCE 

One of the MAIN points of this chapter reveals the utter obedience no matter the cost , on Gideon's part.  

Gideon must have determined inwardly to obey WHAT THE LORD TOLD HIM TO DO . 

And, Gideon obeyed The Word with his whole heart, even unto death,  and The LORD knew it... hence the blessings that followed.   

The Second:  REMOVING SIN

The OTHER main point was that SIN had to be knocked down, shredded asunder, and burnt as an offering unto The LORD (vs 26 ) before... yes, before... any deliverance would be forthcoming. 

In order to do that, Gideon had to go against his own father's household and the men of his own community !  In order to shred the enslavement to sin in his own father's household, Gideon  had to lay his own security and well-being on the altar  too.

Do we realize HOW HARD that was, since he was the youngest, least-in-authority son of his father?  In addition to that... he used his father's bullock for a sacrifice ! Without asking Dad !

Do we take into account that Gideon likely jeopardized his entire family's lives by angry towns-folks when he destroyed the grove and altar / pillar of Asherah ? Israel was involved in idol worship and its accompanying immorality. 

 THIS IS THE TRUE LESSON  of this passage...   

SIN must be forcibly and determinedly removed  .... before The LORD will grant any victory..... and indeed, any request.

Yes, ( yawn, ho-hum, ) we "know"  we must remove sin...  

... but we fail to realize when our troubles pile up and our requests are going awry that HE+ sees something in our midst that is dis-pleasing to HIM+. 

Something that is stifling our growth. 

Something that is hindering our nearness to HIM+. 

   

HE+ wants THAT “something” removed. And furthermore, HE+ will not budge until we remove it.

It is STILL TRUE... 

 "No good thing will HE+ withhold 

from those who walk uprightly,"  

  

GIDEON WON GOD'S APPROVAL !

GOD showed HIS great good approval to Gideon and granted him his requests because Gideon FACED CERTAIN DEATH in order to obey GOD. 

Gideon worked immediately and effectively to remove the sin in their midst,  which could have cost Gideon his life.

This is why it is SO IMPORTANT to read the Scriptures.  Men are fallible but The WORD of The LORD is not, and it usually explains itself , if we will just let it reign over the thoughts of man.

If we could simply still our own thoughts and WAIT upon the blessed HOLY SPIRIT,  HE+ will reveal the real message of  Scriptures to us.

Instead of being enraptured by putting out fleeces, then, our focus should be to REMOVE the sinful things from our midst that we have drifted into, in order to fight against sin within our own lives. 

Then  --- and only then ---  would we be able to hear and know ... and yes, even ABLE to follow ... the Will of The LORD for our lives. 

 We do not need fleeces; we need repentance.

Deep, utter, cleansing repentance of our motives and priorities... our double-mindedness... our sneaking ways of serving Self.

 No, we do not need fleeces.  

We need oneness with GOD. 

We need to walk in ONENESS with The LORD JESUS… so closely that our hearts throb in unity with HIS+ heart , in unity with His+ Will.

His+ thoughts replacing our thoughts. 

His+ desires, our desires.

His+ concerns, ours.

Then, there will be no desire to put out fleeces because there simply will be no need to do so.  

  

THIS is the true lesson of Gideon in Judges 6.

Let us pray: 

O LORD JESUS CHRIST!  I call THEE+ "LORD, LORD," but I set my own priorities.  

Forgive me, LORD, and renew a right spirit within me. I turn over to THEE+ my plans, my desires, and yes, even my daily concerns.  

Turn my heart to do Thy+ Will, O CHRIST.  Make  me ONE WITH THEE+, precious SAVIOR.  

Then, LORD, I will know that I please THEE+... THOU+ joy of my heart. 

In the Name of THE FATHER

WHO created me;

HIS Beloved SON+

WHO+ saves me;

And the blessed HOLY SPIRIT, 

WHO sanctifies me. 

Amen.

  

Holy Week-One With The Cross~Difference Between Duty & Oneness

Holy Week ~ ~ ~ One with the Cross
For the Year of Our LORD, 3.20.2008

~or~


The Difference Between Duty and Oneness

Peace comes when you perform your duty thoroughly. The requirement is duty. You will be held accountable if that duty is NOT performed. Duty can become heavy and tedious, if the inner heart is not yielded. Duty is accomplished because you are afraid of the consequences if you don’t do it right. This is the case in paying taxes, paying bills, going to some jobs, and alas, in being in some marriages.



Joy comes when you WANT to perform that duty out of Oneness, out of a union that agreement engenders.. If you approve what the government does, then paying taxes feels good. If you agree whole-heartedly that nothing should be free, then paying bills seems sensible. If you enjoy your job and get great satisfaction from it, then you would rather be on your job than anywhere else. It gives you identity and helps define who you are, to others and to yourself. It gives you meaning for life. Then, that brings you joy.


Alas, though, if a marriage is performed out of duty instead of a loving Oneness, you may reap a quiet existence … if your partner is willing to accept duty as a replacement for Oneness. Joy may eventually develop… if your partner is willing to accept the terms of that kind of agreement.

But if your partner is NOT willing to replace Oneness with duty, then sadness will be your bed-partner. A heart hurt down at the deepest level is hard to be healed. To the partner accustomed to Oneness, duty is a bitter replacement. He/she won’t want it. Then, all past love becomes screened through the eyes of duty, and even that joy becomes tainted with sorrow. A lack of trust develops.

If the duty-partner refuses to deal with the necessity of returning to his first heart-felt Oneness, the union may limp along… after all, who can find fault with one who fulfills one’s duty? … but there will be a raw, unhealed sore festering in the marriage. The Oneness has been broken in the deepest recesses of the heart although not perhaps at the surface level. That unhealed place will funnel constant sorrow into the union.

It is like that with The LORD, too. HE+ calls us to Oneness with HIM+… a Oneness issuing from a heart of love which WORKS BOTH WAYS. As much as HE+ loves us… do we love HIM+ back that much? Are we performing duties but our hearts are fixated on ourselves instead of HIM+ ?

Are we fixated on what HE+ can give us instead of the closeness that HE+ wants? What do we want out of a marriage? Do we want gifts or closeness? Do we want areas of “no trespassing” signs in our marriage or do we want an openness of heart… in order to become One ?

Becoming one is what brings the joy in our first love; we realize we are not alone in heart. In order to have that oneness, we must agree to be honest and open in our hearts with one another. If a rough area is seen, then we agree to lovingly lay it bare. With each other, we work together on that part, through prayer, until it becomes clean in the eyes of The LORD. Then we have oneness with our partner and Oneness with The LORD.

If there is a “no trespassing” sign up in some area of our heart, that will hurt the other partner and break the fellowship, the unity, the oneness. It is imperative that the closed off areas be brought to the Light of CHRIST by the one who has the “no trespassing” sign up in his heart. No-one can do it for him. No-one can make him willing to touch that sign and remove the wall, the barriers… if he is not willing to have it removed. It is required, however, or the marriage roadbed will be full of potholes lurking around every bend and hidden in the shadows.

When we are at One with CHRIST JESUS, it works the same way. The “no trespassing” signs must be removed from our hearts towards CHRIST. HE+ will lovingly help us to bring these areas to HIM+ and commit them unto HIM+. If we yield the “no trespassing” areas unto His+ loving hands, HE+ will clean them out and make us whole again… more whole than we were before! We will go to new heights being One with CHRIST and our whole life will take on more meaning than ever before.

Now sometimes, in a marriage, duty masquerades as love. There will certainly be an argument if that mask is discovered! The duty-partner feels terribly offended that his duty is not seen as love. But in essence, duty is often used to hide the “no trespassing” sign.

We do that with The LORD, too. More’s the pity. Discipline and duty and even church participation are good works to do for HIM+, but they are not to be used to mask our “no trespassing” signs. They are not a substitute for ardent, passionate love of Our SAVIOR.

HE+ knows the difference.

We do too.

Worse, HE+ knows that we know the difference. What hurts is this: we are okay with the separation between HIM+ and us. HE+ is not.

So, His+ great heart grieves until we deal with those “no trespassing” areas which keep HIM+ out of parts of our hearts. And we, well, we have much less Life than HE+ intended.

Yes, it will feel like the cross. But, it will bring Oneness with HIM+. That Oneness will bring the Abundant Life that is promised in Scriptures. There is no other way to get abundant Life.

Let us go on with CHRIST. Let us take down the “no trespassing… this is mine!” signs. Let us become One with CHRIST. Then… and only then… will HE+ show us how to become One with each other.

In the Name of The FATHER, The SON+, and The HOLY SPIRIT.
Amen.
+ + +