In the previous blog we saw that the temple was later built on the threshing floor of Arauna. The temple is the center of Jerusalem, “the city of the great King” (Matt.5:35) and the capital of the Messianic Kingdom for a thousand years.
Gideon
Another well-known threshing floor is Gideon’s, which we find in the book of Judges. In the introduction we already discussed that the books of Ruth and Judges are set in the same period (Ruth 1:1). In the book of Judges we repeatedly find that the people ‘did evil in the sight of YAHWEH’, after which God sent an enemy people. When the people in their distress begin to call on the name of God, He sends a savior. One of them is Gideon.
sign on the threshing floor
The history of the threshing floor occurs prior to Gideon’s defeat of the Midianites. Gideon asks God for a double sign to confirm that he is the one through whom God wants to free Israel from the Midianites.
twice
Gideon places a woolen sheepskin on the threshing floor. The first time the wool fleece is wet with dew and the ground around it is dry. The second time it is the opposite and the coat is dry and the surrounding earth is wet with dew.
first and second coming
The woolen fleece speaks of Him who came as the true Passover Lamb, Christ Jesus (1 Cor.5:7). He was led as a lamb to the slaughter and as a mute sheep before His shearers (Isa.53:7). The dew is a representation of life and blessing. Christ is the First(ling) and at His first coming He was raised from the dead by God and received incorruptible life. At His second coming the whole earth will share in this blessing of new life.
the true Redeemer
On this threshing floor God shows that Gideon is Israel’s redeemer (Judg. 6:36). But beneath the surface it is a representation of the One whom God has appointed as the true Redeemer of Israel: Jesus Christ. The parallel with the story of Ruth is obvious: there it is Boaz, a relative of Naomi and Ruth, who is appointed as the redeemer on the threshing floor (Ruth 3:9).