36 And Gideon saith unto God, 'If Thou art Saviour of Israel by my hand, as Thou hast spoken, 37 lo, I am placing the fleece of wool in the threshing-floor: if dew is on the fleece alone, and on all the earth drought—then I have known that Thou dost save Israel by my hand, as Thou hast spoken;' 38 and it is so, and he riseth early on the morrow, and presseth the fleece, and wringeth dew out of the fleece—the fulness of the bowl, of water. 39 And Gideon saith unto God, 'Let not Thine anger burn against me, and I speak only this time; let me try, I pray Thee, only this time with the fleece—let there be, I pray Thee, drought on the fleece alone, and on all the earth let there be dew.' 40 And God doth so on that night, and there is drought on the fleece alone, and on all the earth there hath been dew.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Judges 6:36-40
Commentary on Judges 6:33-40
(Read Judges 6:33-40)
These signs are truly miraculous, and very significant. Gideon and his men were going to fight the Midianites; could God distinguish between a small fleece of Israel, and the vast floor of Midian? Gideon is made to know that God could do so. Is Gideon desirous that the dew of Divine grace might come down upon himself in particular? He sees the fleece wet with dew to assure him of it. Does he desire that God will be as the dew to all Israel? Behold, all the ground is wet. What cause we sinners of the Gentiles have, to bless the Lord that the dew of heavenly blessings, once confined to Israel, is now sent to all the inhabitants of the earth! Yet still the means of grace are in different measures, according to the purposes of God. In the same congregation, one man's soul is like Gideon's moistened fleece, another like the dry ground.