The Sign of the Fleece

Judges chapter 6 was the study of this morning, particularly the portion of the chapter talking about Gideon's use of a fleece. I was interested to see if the use of a sign is a valid Biblical test of the Lord's will.

And Gideon said unto God, If thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said, Behold, I will put a fleece of wool in the floor; and if the dew be on the fleece only, and it be dry upon all the earth beside, then shall I know that thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said. And it was so: for he rose up early on the morrow, and thrust the fleece together, and wringed the dew out of the fleece, a bowl full of water. And Gideon said unto God, Let not thine anger be hot against me, and I will speak but this once: let me prove, I pray thee, but this once with the fleece; let it now be dry only upon the fleece, and upon all the ground let there be dew. And God did so that night: for it was dry upon the fleece only, and there was dew on all the ground. Judges 6:36-40

The test was very simple: Gideon would place the fleece on the ground and if it was wet he would know that that was a sign from the Lord to go forward. If it was dry he would know that he shouldn't go forward. The fleece was wet. Gideon being the practical logical sort immediately thought of the principle of the dew being naturally drawn to the fleece and he asked the Lord to reverse the sign. The Lord agreed and again showed Gideon that it was God's will for him to go forward.

So what does this tell us? I thought about that a long time, and to be truthful I am not sure yet. Here are some other texts that may help answering that question:

Then Peter said to her, "How is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Look, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out." Acts 5:9

Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this," Says the LORD of hosts, "If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it. Mal 3:10

The first text would suggest that to test the Spirit of the Lord is wrong; the second would suggest that to try the Lord in that area is encouraged. I am not very sure at all at this moment what the Biblical thing to do is. . .

I must stop for now, but I will post some updates when I have a good answer.

God Bless!

PS: Any comments that anyone has would be appreciated!

Update 1: I am for sure that you must be in complete compliance with the know, revealed will of God. So if you are setting a fleece to see whether you should go kill someone, forget it! If the Lord has already revealed His will in the Bible on the issue in question you have no need to ask the Lord to reveal His will. 1The 4:2-3

Update 2: See separate post here.

God Bless!