Judges 6:36, &c. And Gideon said unto God, &c.— This request, no doubt, was made to God in prayer, and was rather for the confirmation of their faith who joined Gideon, than from any incredulity or doubt in himself. The first miracle was certainly striking; but, in order to obviate any objection drawn from the quality inherent in wool to imbibe moisture, Gideon humbly requests that the miracle may be reversed; and the wool being dry, notwithstanding the ground round about it was wetted by a copious dew, contrary to its known quality of imbibing moisture, was such a miracle as his confederates could not resist.
REFLECTIONS.—The harvest being ready for reaping, we have here, as during the preceding years,
1. An inroad made by the confederate hosts of Midian, Amalek, and the Arabians, who, confident of success, were come to collect the spoil. Thus emboldened by success, the sinner usually advances, till God, from the pinnacle of his felicity, hurls him down into the depths of misery.
2. God stirs up Gideon to oppose them; the spirit of the Lord came upon him, or clothed him; a spirit of unusual courage roused him with zeal to bestir himself. He blows the trumpet, invites all volunteers to his standard; and those who would have stoned him yesterday, are to-day the first to follow his orders. Of Manasseh chiefly he composed his army, though Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali also generously lent their assistance. Note; (1.) In a common cause, we should be ready to share the danger with our brethren. (2.) In the men of Abiezer, we see what changes God can work. Thus has Divine Grace, often at a stroke, changed persecutors into preachers, and the most abandoned into converts of truth and holiness. (3.) When God gives us a spirit of grace and courage, however strong our corruptions within, or spiritual enemies without, he will subdue them under our feet.
3. Gideon hereupon, for the confirmation of his own faith, or rather, perhaps, for the encouragement of those who were with him, asks of God a sign, to assure him of victory over the numerous hosts of the Midianites. God consents to it: Gideon lays the fleece on the floor, and on the morrow, according to his own proposal, the fleece is filled with water, and the ground dry around it. Note; It is a blessed token for good in a minister's labours, when his own soul, like Gideon's fleece, is replenished with the dew of divine grace.—Once more he presumes to ask, ashamed of his own boldness, and begging pardon for his request: let the sign be inverted; the fleece dry, the floor wet. God consents, and it is done; thus silencing every doubt of the certainty of his success.