We tend to want some sign to confirm what we believe God has said to us. Gideon asked for several; such was his lack of confidence in himself and God’s ability to do far above & beyond what Gideon could ever ask or imagine. The angel of the Lord called him what he would become by the grace of God, a "mighty hero, a man of great valor."

The angel of the Lord is used here as descriptive of a Theophany, God appearing in what seems a human form, much like Joshua saw outside Jericho. Gideon asks for a sign, not really knowing Who he was talking to. Food is brought, meat and bread, and set on a rock before the angel of the Lord. The angel touches the food with the end of its staff and flame flared up from the rock consuming the food. Then the angel disappeared!

Gideon was terrified having seen the “angel of the Lord face-to-face”, believing he was doomed to have seen the face of God. But God speaks to him, “Do not be afraid. You will not die.” God does not call a person to a mission and then destroy the one He called.

Remember Isaac, the son of promise? God provided a ram to be offered in Isaac’s place. God sent His one and only Son to take the full-bore death our sin deserved so that we might not only live but be united to Him and have His Life be lived out in us!

Gideon’s father had built an altar on a hill to the pagan god Baal and an Asherah pole (Baal’s female consort). It shows just how far Israel had strayed from God’s Word. God tells Gideon to take a prized bull from the herd, tear down the pagan altar, cut down the pole and use it as firewood. God has Gideon build an altar to Him on the same hilltop and to sacrifice the bull. Gideon does all this under the cover of night; he’s scared of his father’s household & the people of the town.

Sure enough, they come to get Gideon, but his father, Joash, defends him saying, “Let Baal defend himself if he can, if he’s truly a god.” This should have shown Gideon that if God could change his father’s mind, he could do anything. But the work of God is either done by the Power of God, or not at all.

As three pagan armies join in league against Israel, the Spirit of the Lord then takes control of Gideon! It is never by human might or human power that God's work is done. It's by the Spirit of God alone! Gideon blew the ram’s horn to gather Israel to battle…AND THEY CAME!!!

Still, Gideon is riddled with doubt. That happens everything we take inventory of what we think we have in order to do see IF we can do what God asks of us. When our eyes are on us, faith shrinks in size like an atrophied muscle. When our eyes are on the Lord, Whose power and wisdom are infinite, our faith becomes “buff”!

Gideon asks God for two more signs. He lays out a sheep’s fleece asking that the fleece be wet with dew and the ground around it dry. He then asks for the opposite: fleece dry and ground wet. God does both. That shows God’s patience with our penchant for doubt since, faced with God’s call, we often need grace we’ve never needed before. This is not to be used as some religious template. When we need guidance, all we need do is ask and God will guide. He promises wisdom when we lack it in order that we might rely on Him as we follow Him.

Next, Midian’s defeat…another wonder of God!