How low can you go?

And the Israelites did cry out to the Lord, and he did heareth unto them and sent an angel to Gideon, son of Joash the Abiezrite. And the angel did say, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior, and will strengthen you and lead you to victory against the Midianites in his powerful name.”

However, Gideon did declare, “Pardon, my Lord, but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”

And the Lord himself did speak unto Gideon, “I will be with you. Fear not, my son.”

Gideon said to God, “If you will save Israel by my hand as you have promised: look, I will place a wool fleece on the threshing floor. If there is dew only on the fleece and all the ground is dry, then I will know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said.” 

And that is what happened. Gideon rose early the next day; he squeezed the fleece and wrung out the dew – a bowlful of water.

Then Gideon said to God, “Do not be angry with me. Let me make just one more request. Allow me one more test, but this time make the fleece dry and let the ground be covered with dew.” That night, God did so. Only the fleece was dry; all the ground was covered with dew.

And Gideon said to God, “I know thou art full of grace and have already shown great forbearance with your child, but how about we try one with half the fleece wet and the other half dry?’

And the next morning, it was so; half the fleece was wet with dew while the other half remained dry.

Gideon did pace up and down and rubbed his chin briefly before looking skyward and saying: “How about the fleece be red as a sunset and the ground around it be covered in grapes?”

And the next morning, it was so; the red fleece was found resting on a multitude of grapes.

Gideon did winketh heavenward and uttered: “Howzabout the fleece is stripey, sort of like a demented zebra, and the ground is covered in grasshoppers with little sticks doing the limbo?”

And the next morning, it was so; a stripey fleece and amusing hopping creatures with tiny sticks were seen around it.

Gideon did rubbeth his hands together and licketh his lips and say: “What say we have a fleece made of gold, sitting on a sea of rubies and fine jewels?”

And the next morning, the Lord did say: “Abimilek, son of Jerub-Baal, on the sudden passing of Gideon, whilst thou lead the Israelites against the Midianites in my name?” 

Major Mal Davies is the Assistant Divisional Commander for the Victoria Division