We saw earlier that Gideon’s story was interrupted. After his calling, there first came the episode in which he tore down the altar of Baal and Ashtaroth. In the verses that followed, Gideon gathered the forces and seemed about to begin his task as Israel’s deliverer. Yet, another interlude follows: Gideon asks for a sign and places a fleece of wool on the threshing floor.
This second interruption also occurs after Gideon’s calling and before he delivers Israel. It illustrates the period between Christ’s first coming and His second coming.
Judges 6
36 And Gideon said to God, “If you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said,
37 behold, I will put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor; If there is dew only on the fleece, and dryness on all the land, then I will know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you have spoken.
38 And it was so. He rose early the next day and pressed the fleece and wrung the dew out of it, a bowl full of water.
the redeemer of Israel
Gideon asks God for a sign that confirms that he is the one through whom God will save Israel. In this story, this sign points Gideon as the redeemer of Israel, but ultimately points to the Savior of Israel: Jesus Christ.
the Lamb of God
Gideon lays a sheepskin on the threshing floor. This sheepskin reminds us of a slaughtered lamb. Of course, this sheepskin is a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ, who died and then rose from the dead. He is the Lamb, standing as if slain (Rev. 5:12).
Isaiah 53
7 As a lamb he was led to the slaughter; Like a sheep before its shearers is mute, so He opened not His mouth.
1 Corinthians 5
7 (…) for our Passover, Christ, was sacrificed for us.
the threshing floor
Gideon lays the fleece on the threshing floor, a representation of Jerusalem (2 Chronicles 3:1). That is the place where the Lord was crucified and where He rose from the dead. It is also the place where God will gather the nations in the future “like sheaves to the threshing floor” to judge them (Micah 4:11-13).
dew
Dew is (rain)water and usually falls later in the night, especially in the early morning. It is a representation of blessing and of the living word of God (Deuteronomy 32:2; Psalm 133:3). But of course, also of the Word that became flesh (John 1:14), Christ, who early in the morning left the tomb empty (John 20:1). Gideon also rises early in the morning (John 1:38) and wrings “a fullness of water” from the sheepskin, representing the abundance of blessing that Christ received in His resurrection.
The Third Day
Earlier in this chapter, Gideon tore down the altar of Baal, and he did so at night (6:25). When Judges 6:28 then speaks of “early in the morning,” this refers to the second day. And when Gideon rises early the next morning at the sign of the sheepskin, this is the third day!
Christ, the Firstfruits|
At the first sign, the sheepskin is dewy and the ground around it is dry. It depicts Christ, who was raised from the dead, the Firstfruit of those who have fallen asleep (1 Cor. 15:20). He was the first to receive imperishable life. The threshing floor and the surrounding land are still dry. They receive life later, and that is what the second sign speaks of. More about that in a future blog post.