They of Little Faith

Judges Chapter 6, the Strange and the Spectacular

Verses: 40

Is It Read At Synagogue?: No.

Famous Quotes/Phrases: Gideon, this chapter’s main character, is unafraid to challenge Divine instructions, though, like Abraham in Genesis 18, he tries to tread lightly. Gideon’s plea that God “not be angry with me if I speak just once more” in Verse 39 is the same sentiment expressed by Abraham to God in Genesis 18:30.

Basic Plot: Following the age of Deborah and Barak, the Israelites again turn against God, leaving themselves vulnerable for the Midianites to defeat them. This time, neighboring Amalekites and Kedemites also contribute to decimate Israel, and once the Israelites cry for deliverance, God sends “a certain prophet” (we don’t know who) to excoriate the people.

An angel of God finds a man named Gideon from the tribe of Manasseh and informs him that he will lead the people to redemption. Gideon responds with skepticism, wondering aloud where God has been. When the angel remains insistent, Gideon asks for three different signs from heaven to show that God is truly with him. As these signs are revealed, Gideon tears down an altar of the alien god Baal and builds a similar one dedicated to God. He gathers troops from other Israelite tribes to prepare for imminent battle.

What’s Strange: It’s not always easy to keep track of who exactly is speaking to Gideon. In his book The Bodies of God and the World of Ancient Israel, Benjamin D. Sommer points out that the being is sometimes identified as a God’s messenger and other times as God’s self. “The text seems self-contradictory only if one insists that an angel is a being separate from Yhwh,” Sommer writes. “On the other hand, if one can understand an angel as a small-scale manifestation of God or even as a being with whom Yhwh’s self overlaps, the text coheres perfectly well.”

In other words, God’s dialogue with Gideon is consistent; all that changes is the form, and the title, that God assumes.

What’s Spectacular: Some have argued that Gideon is one of the Hebrew Bible’s most admirable characters. We’ll have to read the next two chapters of Judges to evaluate this claim, but given what we know from this chapter, Gideon’s leadership origins feel more Moses-like than anyone since Moses. He’s unafraid to question what God tells him, and he requires visual signs of God’s commitment before he can commit to leading the people to freedom.

In a broader sense, Gideon’s skepticism is just one example of a grand biblical tradition of … well, why don’t we call it the Reluctant Pioneer. As mentioned above, both Abraham and Moses periodically challenge God. Jacob is awed by God while dreaming of the ladder to heaven, but still feels that he needs to make a deal with God before accepting his destiny. Later, prophets such as Isaiah and Jeremiah question their qualifications before taking on their roles, while Jonah openly defies God’s call to prophesize.

Certainly not every Israelite leader takes on the role reluctantly. But our text’s normalization of this kind of skepticism can be seen as reassuring to the biblical reader. It’s okay to not adopt every religious teaching on face value. It’s fine to wonder where God is in our lives and to question where God is. As long as we continue our conversations with our tradition, blind acceptance is not required — in fact, the one who questions is often the ones who receives the greatest rewards.

Chag Sameach, and soon afterward, Shabbat Shalom!