Community Group Study Guide — Weak Faith
Judges 6:36-7:15
November 15, 2026
Study Information:
When we feel stretched or feel weak in our lives we tend to look for reassurance. We see this in toddlers who wander too far from parents and look back to see where mom and dad are. We feel this when we move to a new city, start a new job, take a hard class or start on a new team; we want to know we belong and that things will be ok. In a spiritual sense this can express itself as a mild form of doubt when things get difficult in our discipleship. In our Christian life we can desire God’s will in a difficult situation or struggle with growing in faith as we fight sin and strive to obey God. The desire is for reassurance from God that he is behind this, is for us and can be trusted. Gideon’s faith was stretched throughout his story. God met him in the winepress and called him a mighty man of valor, received his offering of worship and then pushed Gideon’s faith public by having him tear down his father’s altar to Baal and put up a new altar to Yahweh where he sacrificed the bull. He knew that God promised to save Israel by his hand, but in our passage Gideon’s weak faith, doubt and fear crop up again and God was gracious to meet him in it.
Taking God at His Word
Judges 7:36-40
Gideon went back to the Lord looking for reassurance, even though Gideon recognized that he understood what God has said (Judges 7:37). Gideon’s struggle with fear and weak faith is on display. In order to receive this reassurance, Gideon devised a test for God. He put out a fleece of wool on the threshing floor and asked if God was behind this then the fleece alone would be wet in the morning. God, in his grace, accommodated to Gideon’s request and he was able to ring out a bowls worth of dew. This was not enough for Gideon, he needed further reassurance, acknowledging this was a test, and asked for the reverse to happen where the fleece was dry and the ground was wet. Again, God came through and showed his grace to Gideon’s weak faith.
If you’ve been around church for a while you may have heard people refer to giving God a “fleece statement,” like some sort of test to determine God’s will. Like, “God if you want me to marry this person have them walk into my work this afternoon.” This passage is not teaching this as an example for us to follow, rather it seems clear that Gideon knew this was not the right course of action but his perceived need for reassurance was desperate. We can tell this from his acknowledgement that he clearly understood God’s promise “as he said,” and his recognition that it was a test. The fleece was a sign of weak faith, not strong faith. Faith takes God at his word. But with that said, we do see something amazing about God here, God is gracious in his kindness to those who are weak in faith and doubting and gave Gideon what he needed.
We can be honest with God in prayer when we are doubting and expect God to be more gracious with us than we deserve. You will likely not get a soaking fleece, but the Holy Spirit does things all the time like bringing scripture to our minds, using community and friendship with other Christians or brings us godly counsel from others.
God’s Test of Gideon
Judges 7:1-8
It is only fitting that God returned the favor and tested Gideon! The people of Israel were gathered at a place called the springs of Harod. Harod is the Hebrew word for “trembling,” foreshadowing the fearfulness of the people and of Gideon. 32,000 Israelites were gathered, a large number but they were still small in comparison to the Midianite and Amalekite coalition. God told Gideon to let those who were fearful and trembling leave the spring of trembling and 10,000 went home. Pragmatically fear spread through an army, but spiritually God was whittling down the number for the expressed purpose of making it clear that God alone saves and not man (Judges 7:2). You can imagine Gideon already feeling like the people were too few and then the Lord reduced it by 10,000 but God wasn’t done yet! Judges 7:4 “The people are still too many!” God had Gideon take them down to the spring of trembling and have them drink water and 21,700 of them drank with their face in the spring and 300 knelt and cupped their hand to bring water up to their mouths. We can spiritualize this and say things like God wanted the attentive members to stay or those who did that were always ready for battle, however the text tells us that God simply desired to bring the number down to a place where people could not take credit for the victory. 300 men remained, and God said “with these men I will save Israel.” The scene ended with the 300 men and Gideon on the hill top overlooking the Midianite camp.
God exposed Gideon’s weakness, pressed him further into dependence and revealed his salvation so that they’d all know if was from the Lord. Hebrews 11, the “hall of faith,” listed out many of the judges God used and what they accomplished in their faith and it is likely that the phrase “were made strong out of weakness” relates to Gideon. Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 that God’s power is made perfect in our weakness so we can boast of our weakness so that the power of Christ may rest upon us. Salvation works in a similar way to God’s weeding down of the Israelite army. God does not want us to have any hint of belief that we have saved ourselves. God does not want us thinking we are good or deserving on our own merit, rather he brings us to a place of need where we have to look to Christ for forgiveness and reconciliation. And just as God is gracious to Gideon in his doubting, so too God is gracious to save us.
Reassurance
Judges 7:9-15
God knew Gideon’s heart and that he was still fearful, even after all this confirmation, so God told him that if he was not ready to begin the attack that he could go down into the camp and hear what the Midianites and Amalekites were saying about Israel. Gideon followed God’s direction and discovered that God had been giving them dreams of defeat. This gave Gideon another boost of assurance that God was behind this and that they’d have success. Judges 7:15 tells us that as soon as Gideon heard this he worshipped and commanded the people of God to make ready for battle.
God does not despise our weakness, questions or need for assurance. Yes, he wants us to take him at his word, but when we cry out “Lord I believe, help my unbelief,” the Lord sees that as faith (Mark 9:24). Even weak faith in a great God is enough to save.
Where do you feel your weakness today? God is gracious to us in our need, he can give us reassurance and we know that God works in a way where no one can boast.
At your community group:
Take 15-20 minutes to share about how God has been at work in your life, prayer concerns and pray for one another.
How did God speak to you through the scripture and the sermon this week?
Discussion Questions:
Read Judges 6:36-7:15
What are some reasons Gideon tested God in our passage? How did God return the test to Gideon?
What was God’s purpose in reducing the size of Gideon’s and what does that teach us about our relationship with God?
Gideon’s struggle with fear and weak faith is common to many of us. God told Gideon if he still struggled to go down to the camp and hear what they were saying. What are some ways that God can reassure us when we are in a season of weak faith today?
This passage is not giving us a pattern for how to seek God’s guidance, but it does teach us some key things about God. What did you learn about how God relates to his people based on this passage?
