Gideon's Fleece

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Yes, I have. Thanks in large part to the book DECISION MAKING AND THE WILL OF GOD that wreaked havoc on the campus of the small bible college I attended in the early 80's.

My conclusion: Gideon is not normative and therefore not an example for us to follow in determining God's will in any matter. God has given us His word and by knowing it we know His will for all things.
 
Yes, I have. Thanks in large part to the book DECISION MAKING AND THE WILL OF GOD that wreaked havoc on the campus of the small bible college I attended in the early 80's.

My conclusion: Gideon is not normative and therefore not an example for us to follow in determining God's will in any matter. God has given us His word and by knowing it we know His will for all things.

Having preached through Judges, I am fairly confident almost none of the book is intended to be prescriptive. It is a story of a faithless and doubting and wicked people who are none the less repeatedly delivered by the hand of God. Note the indictment in Gideon’s own words “And Gideon said unto God, If thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said..” God told Gideon what he would do, and yet his word was not sufficient for Gideon to believe. How many today have followed this sad example? And yet the purpose of God is never thwarted.
 
If we want to determine what is lawful and/or wise, it is better to look at passages of Scripture that directly instruct God's people what to do. We get in trouble if we make rules out of passages that describe what one particular guy did in one particular instance.

In the case of Gideon we have a guy who was used by God, but still deeply flawed in several ways. We don't want to blindly imitate him. We also have a situation in which God was doing a special work in the history of redemption. We don't want to presume any situation in our own lives falls under that same category, or that we can expect similar signs.
 
Agree with James especially, and everyone else as well. Basing decision-making on subjective feelings, impressions, signs, fleeces, etc. is an unbiblical idea. Fine for Pentecostals and charasmatics, but not for someone who believes in relying on God's revelation for authority in decision-making.

Gary Friesen's book that James referenced is excellent, and the ideas are promoted as well in books by Bruce Waltke, Finding the Will of God: A Pagan Notion, and Just Do Something by Kevin DeYoung; they emphasize the fact that we shouldn't be led in decision-making by impressions, feelings, circumstances, etc. and instead relying on God's word. And also that it's not even biblical to expect God to directly guide us in all our decisions (thus the subtitle "A Pagan Notion") as the heathen used to do.

But the bible does tell us to pray for wisdom about decisions, and be guided within the broad parameters and limits set in scriptures. Don't be paralyzed (what college should I attend? Which girl should I marry? Lord send me a sign! An open door, closed door, or something!) like so many young people are.

An interesting subject, which my Baptist denomination unfortunately leans sometimes towards the model practiced by Pentecostals and charismatics.
 
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