God chooses the ordinary person (vv. 11, 15), confirms the ordinary with his extraordinary presence (v. 12), and commissions for an extraordinary project (v. 14).

Gideon asks for signs from God. God seems to be very patient with him.

According to Gideon, the fathers had been teaching the younger generation about the greatness and faithfulness of God (v. 13). The younger generation had just wandered away because they were not seeing these miracles anymore. This sounds like the Jews in Jesus’s time. They were always seeking for signs.

Gideon asks for dry fleece/wet ground after the first. This is intriguing. Naturally fleece absorbs moisture so the second goes against nature proving it has to be super-natural.

Better late than never: -5: God has abandone us – V13
-4: How can I save? My clan is the weakest – V15
-3: Give me a sign that it is really you talking to me – V17
-2: Gideon went inside, prepared a young goat and offered them to him
-1: Alas, Sovereign Lord! I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face! – V22
0: The Lord Is Peace – V24
1: Gideon tears down the altar to Baal and cut down the Asherah pole[c] beside it. – V25
2: If you will save Israel by my hand as you have promised, do a sign for me.
3: Allow me one more test with the fleece!
Gideon was on one extreme where he felt God has abandoned his people and slowly getting strengthened to trust the Lord.
As people say, Better late than never.

The question Gideon asks in v13 to the angel of the Lord, is the same as any of us would ask- why do we have suffering if the Lord is with us.V14the Lord does not give extra strength to Gideon to fight the enemies. The point to be noted is, he is going to fight because it’s the Lord who sends him.
V15 Gideon confesses that he is the weakest and least.- the stone the builders rejected has become the corner stone (psalm 118:22)
V16 when the Lord is with Gideon he can defeat all the enemies “together ”
Often times when I cannot do what I want to, I feel I am useless and not valuable and the verse that comes into picture – I can do everything through him who gives me strength (Phil 4:13)

The Lord said, tear down your ” father’s altar to Baal”. Gideon did so. As Gideon obeyed to the Lord the “Spirit of the Lord” came on Gideon.
-Only when we get rid of bad things and evil things from our hearts, we can experience the presence of Lord.

(v. 16) Surely I will be with you, and you shall defeat the Midianites as one man: God’s assurance to Gideon was not to build up his self confidence, but to assure him that God was indeed with him. Gideon did not need more self-confidence but he needs confidence in God. This was the same assurance God gave to Moses (Exodus 3:12). We can face even the most dangerous situations with confidence because God is with us.

It was God’s plan that Gideon would become a mighty warrior.
– If God chooses us, he makes us prepared for his purpose
– Though Gideon was from the weakest tribe of Manasseh, God used him to complete His greatest mission of rescuing the Israelites
– God chooses the weakest to do His greatest mission

Here the prophet convicts the Israelites about what wrong they did(v10) -worshipping other Gods. We need to realize our wrong doings and turn away from them.*The first assignment God asked Gideon to do is to tear down his fathers altar to Baal(v25)–a clean up in his own family.
*We have to serve our Lord faithfully as an individual and make sure our family is also being faithful to God.
Joshua24:15 “But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord”

Gideon’s dad Joash questions all those who stood against them and challenged them. This shows that he would have been an example to Gideon and he would have taught Gideon everything about God.