First the Fleece, and Then the Earth

Joel 2:28-32 And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out My Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:
29 And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour out My Spirit.
30 And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke.
31 The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the Lord come.
32 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the Lord hath said, and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call.

The prophet Joel is prophesying of a time when there will be a tremendous outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Great movings of God will take place, causing wonders in the heavens and in the earth. The prophet Habakkuk prayed that God would “remember mercy” in the time of wrath (Habakkuk 3:2). And we see that during this time His mercy is manifested abundantly, for it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered (verse 32).

The Hebrew word for “pour out” (shaphak) in verse 28 indicates a pouring out in great abundance. It implies “plentifulness” and “wide diffusion.” There was a tremendous outpouring of the Spirit upon the 120 in the upper room on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4), but this will be greater. Everything Joel prophesied did not take place at that time. There have also been other great movings of Spirit upon believers – such as, during the beginnings of the Methodist Movement, the Pentecostal Movement, and the Charismatic Movement – but none of these have compared to the Pentecost of Acts chapter two, and certainly not to what Joel prophesied. So we have yet to see the great outpouring of the Holy Spirit prophesied by Joel. Could it take place in our day? Yes, it could! Whether it does or not, though, depends on us.

Notice that the first result of this outpouring of Spirit is the prophesying of “sons and daughters.” They are the sons of God spoken of in Paul’s epistle to the Romans. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God…For the earnest expectation of the creature (creation) waits for the manifestation of the sons of God. Romans 8:14,19. All of creation is earnestly waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God, because it will be their prophetic ministry that looses creation from futility.

As the “sons and daughters” speak the Word, tremendous movings of God are set in motion. Servants and handmaids receive the Spirit, wonders are manifested in the heavens and in the earth, and multitudes begin calling on the name of the Lard and are delivered. Ezekiel prophesying over the dry bones, thus creating a mighty army of God (Ezekiel 37:1-10), speaks of the same prophetic ministry as that of the “sons and daughters." The “sons and daughters” drink of the Spirit of the Lord, and out of their innermost being flows rivers of living water to “all who call on the name of the Lord.” In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink. He that believes on Me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. John 7:37-38.

The “sons and daughters” are the remnant Joel speaks of in verse 32. A remnant is only a small portion of the whole. They are also the “little flock” Jesus spoke of when He said, Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom. Luke 12:32.

The remnant of “sons and daughters” are those who come unto the Lord and drink. And, then, from their innermost being flows rivers of living waters to others. The Holy Spirit being poured out upon all flesh is not something God does apart from His “sons and daughters,” it is a result of their initiative to drink of the Lord. They are filled to overflowing, and the Holy Spirit is diffused from them to all the earth. Think about it. Our thirsting after the Lord and drinking in of His Spirit can begin the great outpouring of Spirit prophesied by Joel.

Though Gideon was probably unaware of it, his actions prophesied of this great diffusion of the Spirit upon mankind.

Judges 6:11 And there came an angel of the Lord, and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained unto Joash the Abiezrite: and his son Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites.

The days of Gideon were days of spiritual decay and oppression. The Midianites did not permanently occupy the land, but like plagues of locusts, made unexpected raids upon the Israelites devastating the land. Particularly during times of harvest they would swoop down, carrying away their harvest. What they did not take as spoil they destroyed. Thus we find Gideon in hiding as he threshed wheat.

Spiritually, it was a time very much like the Church has been experiencing during these days of the Laodicean Church Age. With each revival of the Church when it seemed it would reap a rich wheat harvest, it was pillaged and robbed of its victory. Over the years there have been the revivals under Luther, the Wesleys, the Pentecostals, and the Charismatics. Each time it looked as though the great wheat harvest had come, but each time the Midianites swooped down and the Church was spoiled. Not one denomination has as much of God in it as it did in its beginning. Each one has lost its wheat harvest. But hidden away is a little “Gideon Company” threshing wheat. It isn’t much, but they are surviving during the time of oppression.

Judges 6:12 And the Angel of the Lord appeared unto him, and said unto him, The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valour.

Gideon represents the “little flock.” Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom. Luke 12:32. The Angel of the Lord appeared unto him, and said, “The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valor.” Gideon was anything but a mighty man of valor. However, God calls those things which be not as though they were. Romans 4:17. All God has to do to create what He wants is to speak it. As soon as the Lord calls Gideon a mighty man of valor, that is what he becomes. He doesn’t see himself as that yet, but nevertheless it is true. It only remains for Gideon to realize who he is and to respond accordingly.

Judges 6:13 And Gideon said unto Him, Oh my Lord, if the Lord be with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where be all His miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt? but now the Lord hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.

“If the Lord is with us, where are all the miracles we read about in the Bible?” The Church has been so defeated that many do not believe that God works miracles anymore. They don’t believe that God will function in today’s Church as He did in the Early Apostolic Church. But while the Church seems to be forsaken by God, He is dealing with a remnant, creating a “mighty man of valor.” At the present time, this “Gideon Company” is hidden in the winepress. And it is there that God is creating the channel for the outpouring of His Spirit, the “remnant” that will bring deliverance to “all who call upon the name of the Lord.”

Judges 6:14-16 And the Lord looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent thee?
15 And he said unto Him, Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.
16 And the Lord said unto him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man.

The “Gideon Company” is just a remnant, a “little flock,” a little band of “sons and daughters,” but God will be with them to bring deliverance to His people. The fact that this “Gideon Company” is “least in his Father’s house” (verse 15) is not a detriment, for the Lord chooses the foolish to confound the wise and the weak to confound the mighty and things which are not to bring to nought things which are (I Corinthians 1:27-28).

Judges 6:34 But the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet; and Abiezer was gathered after him.

I like the Hebrew text here. It says that Jehovah clothed Himself with Gideon.

The Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet. The trumpet represents prophecy in the Scriptures, the proclaiming of a living Word. So the “Gideon Company” or the “sons and daughters” receive the Holy Spirit and begin proclaiming the Word. And their prophesying sets in motion the great outpouring of the Spirit spoken of by Joel.

Now the account of the fleece and the dew is also prophetic of the great diffusion of Spirit upon the earth.

Judges 6:36-40 And Gideon said unto God, If Thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as Thou hast said,
37 Behold, I will put a fleece of wool in the floor; and if the dew be upon the fleece only, and it be dry upon all the earth beside, then shall I know that Thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as Thou hast said.
38 And it was so: for he rose up early on the morrow, and thrust the fleece together, and wringed the dew out of the fleece, a bowl full of water.
39 And Gideon said unto God, Let not Thine anger be hot against me, and I will speak but this once: let me prove, I pray Thee, but this once with the fleece; let it now be dry only upon all the ground let there be dew.
40 And God did so that night: for it was dry upon the fleece only, and there was dew on all the ground.

The fleece of wool represents the “little flock,” the remnant of “sons and daughters,” who first partake of the Holy Spirit. Gideon puts out the fleece, and the next morning it is filled with the dew of heaven (the Holy Spirit), but all the earth around it is dry. So the “little flock” are first partakers of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Wringing out the fleece, Gideon filled a bowl full of water.

The next night Gideon puts the fleece out again. The following morning the fleece was dry, and the earth all around it was covered with dew. This strange phenomena is prophetic of the miracle of how a bowl full of Spirit upon the “little flock” is diffused, by their prophesying, upon all the earth. The “Fleece Company” receives “dew from heaven,” proclaims the Word of the Lord, and “wonders take place in the heavens and in the earth, and all who call upon the name of the Lord are delivered, for there is deliverance in the remnant whom the Lord shall call.” The process of the great outpouring of Spirit is “first the fleece, and then the earth.”

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