How Cynicism Gives Way

The book of Judges is a fascinating book, perhaps one of the most fascinating in the entire Old Testament. As one of my professors is fond of saying (or at least something to this effect), it presents the “Wild West” portion of Israel’s history. You see, it presents Israel during its formative stages, when it was just beginning to carve out a nitch for itself in the immediate aftermath of the Late Bronze Age Collapse—the period of ancient history that left the Levant with a massive power vacuum in light of Egypt’s forced retreat. Israel, the Philistines, the Midianites, and others were jockeying for position, and the book of Judges recounts this struggle, offering entertaining, enriching, and graphic accounts along the way.

Gideon is one the heroes recounted in Judges, and just like so many of them…boy was he rough around the edges. For the moment, let’s consider his calling to be a judge. Here are some notable observations.

·         When we first meet Gideon, he is at the bottom of a winepress threshing wheat. Now think about this for a second. Threshing wheat involves tossing harvested wheat into the air so that the chaff, or “bad stuff,” can be blow away by the wind. So, to do this properly, one naturally needs to be in a place where the wind is blowing, often at the top of a hill where wind flow is relatively constant. At the bottom of a winepress, there will not be much wind. So, is Gideon just incompetent? No, the text tells us that he is worried about Israel’s brutal oppressors, the Midianites. He is threshing wheat at the bottom of a wine-press because he is attempting to escape the Midianites (cf. 6:11). Apparently, every moment of the day presented another opportunity for a raid…Gideon and Israel were constantly looking over their shoulders.

·         This constant fear had harbored a sense of cynicism in Gideon that manifested itself in doubt and an inability to perceive the Lord’s relevance for him. The text tells us that the Angel of the Lord came to visit Gideon with the expressed purposing of calling him to be a judge, one who would save Israel from the Midianites (cf. 6:14). However, on two occasions, Gideon responds to his visitor and his message with a very cynical “Please my lord!” (בִּי אֲדֹנִי). Furthermore, Gideon is of the opinion that the Lord’s feats of old (i.e. the Exodus memories) were just memories…essentially a dead past. Gideon’s present circumstances had consumed and overwhelmed his worldview and confidence in the future.

·         Still apparently not fully understanding who his visitor really was, Gideon asks for a test. And boy is this kind of bizarre. First, he asks the visitor to stay, and he obliges. Then, goes home and prepares a feast. What is interesting is that the grammar leaves open the possibility that the feast was massive. There was meat, and soup, but did Gideon also use 22 liters of flower to make the bread? The grammar leaves open the possibility. If this was the case, was the test one of determining the man’s stomach size? I don’t know for sure, but what is for sure is that when the Angel of Lord responds by incinerating the feast and then disappears, Gideon freaks out…because he finally realizes who exactly he had been dealing with!

·         At this point (v. 22), Gideon responds with yet another interjection, but this one is of a very different tone. “Oh my Lord!” (אֲהָהּ אֲדֹנִי) He then proceeds to announce his shock that he saw the Angel of the Lord face to face and yet escaped death. Calming his fears though, the Lord pronounces peace and declares that there is no reason to fear for he will not die (cf. 6:23).

In many ways, the call narrative progresses around these three interjections, and therefore asks the reader to ponder Gideon’s change in attitude, at least the start of it (Remember, in chapter 7 Gideon will ask for more signs). What began to knock down his cynicism? What caused him to curb his cynical doubting and be open to the reality that God could, in fact, use him as a savior? The answer suggested by the text was a personal encounter with God. It took one dramatic encounter for Gideon’s cynicism to erode.

It is absolutely critical that our fears, doubts, and frustrations in any circumstance do not mature to conceive an attitude of cynicism that openly doubts, perhaps even mocks, the desired actions and perceived effectiveness of God Almighty. Nevertheless, if one has gotten to that point, know that it does not have to be the final word. The reality is that God’s celebrated actions are not mere memories restricted to the past with no relevance for our present or future. All it takes in one encounter to realize this anew. Consequently, this is one of the reasons why Christian communities meet regularly, fellowship, and testify. It is for the people, at least in part, who find themselves at the bottom of a winepress futilely attempting to thresh wheat.