Do not believe every Spirit (Gideon)

4 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. (1 John 4:1 ESV)

 John’s command to test the Spirits is consistent with his theme throughout the epistle of “no new command” (1 John 2:7) and “that which you have heard from the beginning” (1 John 1:1, 2:24). The testing of the Spirits is something that was commanded and practiced in ancient Israel as recorded in the Old Testament. Several instances of testing the Spirits can be observed. One such example of testing is found in Judges 6 in the calling of Gideon. 

Gideon was working in his hidden wine press (Judges 6:11). The Israelites at the time had to hide the produce of their land due to continual raids from neighbors and foreign enemies the Midianites (Judges 6:1-10). The raids were a judgement from God to drive the ancient people of Israel to repentance (Judges 6:1 & 10). In the midst of this situation, the Israelites cry out to God (Judges 6:7) and God responds by sending an Angel to Gideon. 

Gideon doesn’t immediately believe this angel, and has some questions for the angel (Remember, the word for angel in Hebrew and Greek is akin to messenger or herald, rather than the comical caricatures portrayed in artwork). There is a brief dialog between the messenger from God and Gideon regarding the situation and means of deliverance from the Midianates: 

12 When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.” 13 “Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about when they said, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.” 14 The Lord turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?” 15 “Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.” 16 The Lord answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive.” (Judges 6:12-16 NIV)

It is in this moment, after receiving a command from a strange, previously unknown messenger, that Gideon tests the Spirit. 

17 Gideon replied, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, give me a sign that it is really you talking to me. 18 Please do not go away until I come back and bring my offering and set it before you.” And the Lord said, “I will wait until you return.” 19 Gideon went inside, prepared a young goat, and from an ephah of flour he made bread without yeast. Putting the meat in a basket and its broth in a pot, he brought them out and offered them to him under the oak. 20 The angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened bread, place them on this rock, and pour out the broth.” And Gideon did so. 21 Then the angel of the Lord touched the meat and the unleavened bread with the tip of the staff that was in his hand. Fire flared from the rock, consuming the meat and the bread. And the angel of the Lord disappeared. 22 When Gideon realized that it was the angel of the Lord, he exclaimed, “Alas, Sovereign Lord! I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face!” 23 But the Lord said to him, “Peace! Do not be afraid. You are not going to die.” 24 So Gideon built an altar to the Lord there and called it The Lord Is Peace. To this day it stands in Ophrah of the Abiezrites. (Judges 6:17-24 NIV)

Gideon is just one of many examples in the Old Testament of testing the validity of a message, a messenger, or a Spirit. His testing is not condemned due to a lack of faith, or an inappropriate doubt. Rather his testing of this messenger is kept as a record to guide and show that it is completely reasonable, wise, and God honoring to test the veracity and consistency of a message from someone claiming to speak on behalf of God.