Gideon: Doubt, Courage, and the 300

When You Have Doubts

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Gideon had a lot of doubts. He doubted that God was still with Israel, he doubted himself, and he asked for proof again and again. God did not throw him away. God was patient, and He helped Gideon trust Him.

Doubting God's care. Gideon asked, “If the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us?” (Judges 6:13). Many people ask that question when life is hard.

Doubting himself. “How can I save Israel? Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house” (6:15).

God's answer to doubt. God did not give Gideon a long explanation. He gave him a promise: “Surely I will be with you” (6:16).

Asking for a sign. Gideon said, “Show me a sign that it is You who talk with me” (6:17). The Lord even said, “I will wait until you come back” (6:18), while Gideon cooked. Then God answered with fire from the rock (6:21).

The fleece. Later Gideon asked for the fleece to be wet and the ground dry, and then the opposite (6:37-40). God did both.

He already knew. Gideon said “as You have said” two times (6:36-37). God had already promised. The fleece did not teach Gideon anything new. It helped his weak faith.

God is patient. “The Lord is merciful and gracious, Slow to anger, and abounding in mercy” (Psalm 103:8).

Bring your doubts to God. “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16). You can be honest with God.

Ask for wisdom. “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach” (James 1:5). Without reproach means without scolding.

Jesus and Thomas. After Jesus rose, Thomas said he would not believe until he saw the nail marks. Jesus came and showed him His hands and His side, and Thomas believed (John 20:24-28).

Faith grows by the Word. “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17). We do not need a fleece. God has already spoken in the Bible.

What to do. Write down one question or doubt you have about God. Tell it to Him in prayer, and then read one of His promises, like Hebrews 13:5.

Gideon's story shows the difference between honest doubt that is brought to God and unbelief that walks away from Him. Gideon kept talking to God, and God kept answering.

The why question (6:13). Gideon assumed that suffering meant God had left. But the prophet had just named the cause: “you have not obeyed My voice” (6:10). Israel's trouble came from leaving God, not from God leaving them.

The who question (6:15). Gideon measured himself and came up short. God answered not with a pep talk but with His presence: “Surely I will be with you” (6:16).

Signs and patience (6:17-21). God waited while Gideon cooked, then answered with fire. God meets weak faith where it is, the way He gave Moses signs to show the people at the burning bush (Exodus 4:1-9).

The fleece (6:36-40). Gideon's request was not a search for God's will. He repeated “as You have said,” so he already knew it. It was a request for reassurance, and Gideon knew he was pressing God: “Do not be angry with me” (6:39).

Testing God. Moses commanded, “You shall not tempt the Lord your God” (Deuteronomy 6:16), and Jesus quoted those words when Satan tempted Him (Matthew 4:7). Demanding proof after God has spoken is not faith. Yet God, in mercy, answered Gideon.

A Father who remembers. Psalm 103:13-14 says the Lord has compassion on His people the way a father has compassion on his children, because He remembers that we are dust.

Thomas (John 20:24-29). Thomas refused to believe without seeing. Jesus came to him and invited him to touch His wounds, and Thomas called Him his Lord and his God. Then Jesus blessed everyone who believes without seeing.

Hebrews 4:16. “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace.” Doubts should be brought to God, not hidden from Him.

Romans 10:17. “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” The answer to doubt is usually not a new sign but a closer look at what God has already said.

John 1:18. We have something Gideon did not have: the full revelation of God in Jesus. “The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.”

Application. Doubts are not the end of faith. Bring them into the light. Pray honestly, read what God has promised, and talk with a parent or pastor. Then act on what God has said.

Courage and the 300

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Gideon did not start out brave. He was hiding in a winepress when God called him. Step by step, God turned a fearful man into a leader who trusted Him.

Courage from God's presence. God's promise came first: “Surely I will be with you” (Judges 6:16). Gideon's courage would rest on that promise.

Courage at home. Gideon's first battle was in his own family. He tore down his father's altar to Baal and built an altar to the Lord in its place (6:25-27). Sometimes the bravest thing is to obey God in front of the people who know you best.

Scared but obedient. He did it at night because he was afraid (6:27). Courage does not mean feeling no fear. It means obeying God anyway.

Courage from the Spirit. “But the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon; then he blew the trumpet” (6:34). God's Spirit gives power we do not have on our own. The same Holy Spirit lives in everyone who trusts Jesus.

An army gathers. Men came from Manasseh, Asher, Zebulun and Naphtali (6:35). In the next chapter, God told the fearful ones to go home, and twenty-two thousand left. Ten thousand stayed (Judges 7:3).

Still too many. God had said, “The people who are with you are too many for Me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel claim glory for itself against Me” (Judges 7:2).

The 300. God brought the army down to just three hundred men. He said, “By the three hundred men who lapped I will save you” (Judges 7:7).

Why so few? With only three hundred men, everyone would know the victory came from God. Gideon's courage had to rest on God's promise, not on the size of his army. God had told him from the start that he would defeat Midian “as one man” (6:16).

Remembered for faith. Hebrews 11:32 names Gideon first among the judges who lived by faith, people who “out of weakness were made strong” (Hebrews 11:34).

Jesus, our brave Savior. Jesus went to the cross “for the joy that was set before Him” (Hebrews 12:2). He faced the battle against sin alone and won it for us, and then He rose again.

Courage for you. “Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9).

What to do. Think of one hard thing God wants you to do. Pray for the Holy Spirit's help, and then take one brave step this week.

Gideon's courage was not a personality trait. God built it by His word, His Spirit and His promise, and then tested it by making Gideon's army smaller.

Courage rooted in a promise (6:16). Every step of Gideon's courage goes back to “Surely I will be with you.” Courage that rests on our own strength fails when the odds change, but courage built on God's presence does not.

Obedience at home first (6:25-27). Before Gideon faced Midian, he faced his father's idols and his neighbors' anger. Public courage usually begins with private obedience.

Fear and faith together (6:27). Gideon was honest about his fear, and he obeyed anyway. God used a man who obeyed while afraid.

The Spirit's power (6:34). The Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon before he called the tribes. The Holy Spirit is a Person, and Jesus promised that His followers would receive power when the Holy Spirit came upon them (Acts 1:8).

The army reduced (Judges 7:2-3). God said the people were too many, “lest Israel claim glory for itself against Me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’” Twenty-two thousand fearful men went home, and ten thousand stayed.

Three hundred (Judges 7:7). “By the three hundred men who lapped I will save you, and deliver the Midianites into your hand.” God took away every reason Gideon might have had to trust in numbers.

Courage under testing. The fleece showed Gideon's need for reassurance. The 300 tested whether his trust rested on God alone. In the next chapter God kept strengthening him for the night of the battle (Judges 7:9-15).

Hebrews 11:32-34. Gideon heads the list of judges: “For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah.” They “out of weakness were made strong.”

Isaiah 41:10. “Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you.” The reason not to fear is not that the enemy is small. It is that God is with us.

Jesus' courage (Hebrews 12:2). We run “looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.” He went to the cross for the joy set before Him, won the battle against sin and death, and now gives His Spirit to His people.

Application. Courage for a Christian is trust that acts. Ask what God has clearly said, ask the Holy Spirit for strength, and take the next obedient step even when you feel outnumbered.

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