Is it wrong to "use a fleece" in determining God's will for decisions in my life?

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Question: Is it wrong to "use a fleece" in determining God's will for decisions in my life?

DC

ATP: A great question and one that I learned something about in doing the research to provide the answer.

A little background first for those who may not know what a "fleece" is in this context. Here's the Biblical text from the story of Gideon in Judges 6:-40.

36 Then Gideon said to God, "If Thou wilt deliver Israel through me, as Thou hast spoken, 37 behold, I will put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece only, and it is dry on all the ground, then I will know that Thou wilt deliver Israel 1through me, as Thou hast spoken." 38 And it was so.

When he arose early the next morning and squeezed the fleece, he drained the dew from the fleece, a bowl full of water. 39 Then Gideon said to God, "Do not let Thine anger burn against me that I may speak once more; please let me make a test once more with the fleece, let it now be dry only on the fleece, and let there be dew on all the ground." 40 And God did so that night; for it was dry only on the fleece, and dew was on all the ground.

(The New American Standard Bible: The Lockman Foundation)

From this example of Gideon using a "fleece" in his discussion with the Lord, people have looked to apply the principle of receiving a sign from the Lord to help make decisions in life.

Others have looked at the same text and commented that it was only because of Gideon's weak faith that he used a fleece, and thus this is not a good example to follow in making decisions as to whether a "go left or go right" or "yes or no" are from the Lord.

There is a third and better way to look at this passage, as I discovered in reading some commentaries about the above passage.

The fact of Gideon's "decision making by fleece" method is that this wasn't about making a decision at all. Reread the passage carefully. Gideon had already decided to go ahead with his army in helping protect Israel from the Midianites. In the earlier verses of the same chapter in Judges we read:

33 Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the sons of the east assembled themselves; and they crossed over and camped in the valley of Jezreel. 

34 So the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon; and he blew a trumpet, and the Abiezrites were called together to follow him. 35 And he sent messengers throughout Manasseh, and they also were called together to follow him; and he sent messengers to Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali, and they came up to meet them.


Gideon had already assembled his army. He was moving ahead. What is discovered in a careful reading of verse 36-40 above, is that he was asking the Lord whether he would be successful or not! So the original "Gideon's fleece" much to my own surprise as I took a new look at this, wasn't about decision making at all. Gideon's fleece incident was triggered by an understandable curiosity on Gideon's part about the success of what he had already been led to do by the Spirit of the Lord.

So the answer to the question, "Is it wrong to use a fleece in determining God's will?" is probably "yes." In the New Testament we are told that we are to walk by faith, not sight. Having a supernatural sign be our guide is not acting in faith, but rather is acting by sight.

We are also told that it is an evil and faithless generation that seeks a sign. Mind you that comment is made in a different context, but it would seem that the principle of not being "sign seekers" applies.

Last, if we were to use a "Gideon fleece principle" in order to make decisions, we would have to ask for a supernatural sign, something that could not be naturally fulfilled. Most often when people attempt to "put out a fleece" they do so asking for natural things to occur that will cue them as to God's leading.

That is inconsistent with what Gideon did. He asked for something that couldn't happen naturally.

In the end, the "fleece" question is made clearer when we see that Gideon wasn't asking for direction about what to do. He was asking whether what he had already decided to do and had been led to do by the Lord would be a success. Was he right to do that? That's hard to say.

What isn't hard to say however is this: there is no Gideon's fleece example in the Bible where a fleece was put out to help make a decision. That alone is perhaps the answer to the question.

So how do we make decisions and know with confidence that we are being led of the Lord? Good question, but one for another installment at another time.