The God Who Refuses to Be Rid of Us
Patience and Presence in the Call of Gideon
The Book of Judges is often remembered for its dark cycle of rebellion and rescue, a downward spiral where the heroes seem increasingly flawed and the nation increasingly fractured. However, when we approach the account of Gideon in Judges 6, we find that the primary theme is not the ingenuity of a military leader, but the staggering patience of a God who refuses to be rid of His disobedient people. This chapter offers a profound glimpse into the heart of a God who loves to deliver, even when His people have done everything to forfeit His favor.
The Mercy of Interpretation
The account begins with a familiar but intensified refrain: Israel did what was evil, and the Lord gave them into the hand of Midian. This particular oppression was uniquely devastating. The Midianites descended like locusts, devouring crops and livestock until Israel was reduced to hiding in mountain caves and dens. In their misery, the people cried out to the Lord.
Interestingly, God’s first response to their cry for help is not a military commander, but a preacher. Before God provides a judge to change their circumstances, He sends a prophet to interpret them. The prophet’s message is a stinging reminder of the Covenant: God had delivered them from Egypt, yet they had feared the gods of the Amorites and disobeyed His voice .
There is a profound pastoral lesson in this delay. We often want to escape our circumstances, but God wants us to understand them. It is a patient kindness when God brings us under the criticism of His Word to expose the idolatry in our hearts. To have the Word removed is a judgment; to have it search us—even painfully—is a mercy. God’s interpretation reminds us that our greatest problem is never our external difficulty, but our internal wandering from His voice.
The Sufficiency of Presence
When the Lord finally approaches Gideon, He finds him threshing wheat in a winepress—a place of hiding, born of fear. The Angel of the Lord greets him with a title that seems almost ironic: “The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor”. Gideon’s response is one of faithful questioning: “If the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us?”.
Gideon’s struggle is one many Christians share. We look at the “wonderful deeds” of the past and contrast them with our current hardships, concluding that the Lord has forsaken us. Yet, the Lord’s answer to Gideon is the same promise He gave to Moses and Joshua: “I will be with you”.
In the economy of God’s grace, His presence is the essential provision. This promise does not always answer our questions regarding the “when,” “how,” or “why” of our suffering, but it provides the “Who”. Whether facing the weakness of our own clans or the threat of death itself, the presence of God is sufficient . He draws near to those hiding in winepresses, refusing to abandon His own.
The Grace of Preparation
God’s preparation of Gideon involves both a public confrontation of idolatry and a private bolstering of faith. Before Gideon can face the Midianites, he must confront the idols in his own backyard. He is commanded to tear down his father’s altar to Baal and the Asherah beside it, replacing them with an altar to the Lord.
This act of “hesitant obedience” is telling. Gideon performs the task at night because he is afraid. Yet, the biblical text does not criticize his fear; it records his obedience. True faith is often not the absence of fear, but boldness in spite of it. By destroying the idols, Gideon demonstrates that the altars of false gods and the altar of the true God cannot coexist.
Finally, we see God’s remarkable “baby talk” to a weak believer through the sign of the fleece. While some view the fleece as a lack of faith, it is perhaps better understood as a request for encouragement for a “fragile faith”. God is not hesitant to stoop down and reassure His children. Just as He provided the signs of dew and dry ground to Gideon, He has provided the signs and seals of the sacraments—Baptism and the Lord’s Supper—to us. These are not for a God who needs to prove Himself, but for a people who need to be reminded of His promises.
The Peace of the Greater Judge
Gideon’s story ultimately points beyond himself to a Greater Deliverer. When Gideon realized he had seen the Angel of the Lord face to face, he was terrified, expecting to die in the presence of a holy God. But the Lord spoke peace to him: “Do not fear. You shall not die”.
This is the ultimate display of God’s patience. In Christ Jesus, the “dividing wall of hostility” has been broken down. We, who were once far off because of our rebellion, have been brought near by the blood of Christ, who is himself our peace. Jesus is the Deliverer who did not hesitate, who did not fear, and who took the full weight of judgment so that we might hear the words, “Peace be to you”.
When we find ourselves in confusing circumstances or feeling the fragility of our own faith, we must remember that our God is not in a hurry to dismiss us. He is the God of the winepress and the fleece—a God who is patient, kind, and ever committed to His covenant people.