Gideon Destroys the Altar of Baal Judges part 4 Today, we will read about a man named Gideon. Gideon's story is longer than the stories of the other judges we have learned about so far, so we will break it down into several parts. Let's read about the first part of the story: Jdg 6:1 (ERV) Again the Israelites did what the LORD said was wrong. So for seven years the LORD allowed the Midianites to defeat the Israelites. Jdg 6:2 The Midianites were very powerful and were cruel to the Israelites. So the Israelites made many hiding places in the mountains. They hid their food in caves and places that were hard to find. Jdg 6:3 They did that because the Midianites and Amalekites from the east always came and destroyed their crops. Jdg 6:4 They camped in the land and destroyed the crops that the Israelites had planted. They ruined the crops of the Israelites as far as the land near the city of Gaza. They did not leave anything for the Israelites to eat. They did not even leave them any sheep, cattle, or donkeys. Jdg 6:5 The Midianites came with their families, animals, and tents. They were like a swarm of locusts! They and their camels were too many to count. They came into the land and ruined it. Jdg 6:6 (ESV) And Israel was brought very low because of Midian. And the people of Israel cried out for help to the LORD. Jdg 6:7 When the people of Israel cried out to the LORD on account of the Midianites, Jdg 6:8 the LORD sent a prophet to the people of Israel. And he said to them, "Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel: I led you up from Egypt and brought you out of the house of slavery. Jdg 6:9 And I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all who oppressed you, and drove them out before you and gave you their land. Jdg 6:10 And I said to you, 'I am the LORD your God; you shall not fear the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell.' But you have not obeyed my voice." The Lord makes it very clear to Israel that the reason for their suffering is their disobedience. In a way, Israel is very blessed because every time they rebel against God, God punishes them to straighten them up.
Pro 3:11 (ERV) My son, don't reject the LORD'S discipline, and don't be angry when he corrects you. Pro 3:12 The LORD corrects the one he loves, just as a father corrects a child he cares about. This is the way we should look at our parents correction. When they correct us, it means they love us! I know it's hard to look at spanking in that light. It's just natural for us to hold a grudge when we are disciplined by our dad or by our mom. But as we mature, we will learn to appreciate how much they have done for us to set us on the right path. The Midianites, just like our flesh, are very powerful and very cruel. We all go through a part of our lives that we don't see a way out of slavery to our flesh. Like the apostle Paul, we cry out to God and say who shall deliver me from this body of death?. When we cry out to Him, God is faithful to send us someone to guide us. Jdg 6:11 (ERV) One time the angel of the LORD came to a place called Ophrah and sat under an oak tree. This oak tree belonged to a man named Joash from the Abiezer family. His son Gideon was beating some wheat in a winepress. He was hiding so that the Midianites could not see the wheat. The angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon and said, "The LORD be with you, brave soldier." Jdg 6:13 Then Gideon said, "Pardon me, sir, but if the LORD is with us, why are we having so many troubles? We heard that he did wonderful things for our ancestors. They tell us that the LORD took them out of Egypt. But now it seems the LORD has left us and is letting the Midianites defeat us." Jdg 6:14 The LORD turned toward Gideon and said, "Then use your great power and go save the Israelites from the Midianites. I am sending you to save them." Jdg 6:15 But Gideon answered and said, "Pardon me, sir. How can I save Israel? My family group is the weakest in the tribe of Manasseh, and I am the youngest one in my family." Jdg 6:16 The LORD answered Gideon and said, "I will be with you, so you can defeat the Midianites as easily as if they were only one man." I want you to notice what Gideon was doing when the Lord appeared to him. Gideon was threshing some wheat. Threshing is separating the grain from the husk. The grain is the edible portion of the plant. Wheat is where flour comes from, and flour of course, is used to make bread. The husk, after it is separated from the grain, is called chaff, and is pretty much useless. Why am I telling you all these? Because the wheat or the grain is a symbol of truth, God's words. While the chaff is a symbol of the lies of the devil that will be burned out of our minds, out of our heavens.
Mat 3:12 (GNB) He has his winnowing shovel with him to thresh out all the grain. He will gather his wheat into his barn, but he will burn the chaff in a fire that never goes out." I also want you to notice Gideon's humility when he was told by the Lord that he will save Israel. Gideon says he is no one. His family is the least known among his tribe. The Lord is pleased if we have such an attitude. One lesson we have learned from all the stories we have heard is that the Lord calls the weak in order to bring down those who are powerful in this world. Mat 23:12 (GNB) Whoever makes himself great will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be made great. Let's continue Gideon's story: Jdg 6:17 (GNB) Gideon replied, "If you are pleased with me, give me some proof that you are really the LORD. Jdg 6:18 Please do not leave until I bring you an offering of food." He said, "I will stay until you come back." Jdg 6:19 So Gideon went into his house and cooked a young goat and used a bushel of flour to make bread without any yeast. He put the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot, brought them to the LORD's angel under the oak tree, and gave them to him. Jdg 6:20 The angel told him, "Put the meat and the bread on this rock, and pour the broth over them." Gideon did so. Jdg 6:21 (ERV) The angel of the LORD had a walking stick in his hand. He touched the meat and the bread with the end of the stick, and fire jumped up out of the rock and burned up the meat and the bread. Then the angel of the LORD disappeared. Jdg 6:22 Then Gideon realized that he had been talking to the angel of the LORD. So he shouted, "Oh, Lord GOD! I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face!" Jdg 6:23 But the LORD said to Gideon, "Calm down! Don't be afraid! You will not die!" Gideon offered a young goat which is a figure of his young faith. We don't start out fully believing the Bible. We all start out with doubts in our hearts, like Gideon who needed proof that he was indeed talking to the Lord. Gideon also offered some bread made with flour without yeast. Jesus calls Himself the bread of life. Flour without yeast is a symbol of God's pure words which is not mixed with lies. After the Lord proved that it was really Him,
Gideon thought he was going to die but the Lord calmed him down. Jdg 6:24 (ESV) Then Gideon built an altar there to the LORD and called it, The LORD Is Peace. To this day it still stands at Ophrah, which belongs to the Abiezrites. Jdg 6:25 That night the LORD said to him, "Take your father's bull, and the second bull seven years old, and pull down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down the Asherah that is beside it Jdg 6:26 and build an altar to the LORD your God on the top of the stronghold here, with stones laid in due order. Then take the second bull and offer it as a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah that you shall cut down." Jdg 6:27 So Gideon took ten men of his servants and did as the LORD had told him. But because he was too afraid of his family and the men of the town to do it by day, he did it by night. Jdg 6:28 When the men of the town rose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was broken down, and the Asherah beside it was cut down, and the second bull was offered on the altar that had been built. Jdg 6:29 And they said to one another, "Who has done this thing?" And after they had searched and inquired, they said, "Gideon the son of Joash has done this thing." Jdg 6:30 Then the men of the town said to Joash, "Bring out your son, that he may die, for he has broken down the altar of Baal and cut down the Asherah beside it." Gideon was given a very difficult task. He has to break down the altar of Baal and burn down the pole of Asherah. These are the gods of his family! It's like telling our former religion, I don't believe in what you teach anymore. It's like telling them that they believe a bunch of lies! Gideon was too afraid to do it so he did it secretly. This is the same thing that we do at first when we are given the conviction that the church we grew up in is a false church. We keep it a secret at first, but there are a few of us who will be given the boldness to leave our family behind in search of our true spiritual family. How difficult is this task of figuratively burning up the idols of our hearts? It's as hard as a rich man leaving everything behind. It's as impossible as a camel going through a needle! In other words, we cannot do it without God's help. However, there is great reward if we do it in this life. Mat 19:27 (ERV) Peter said to him, "We left everything we had and followed you. So what will we have?"
Mat 19:28 Jesus said to them, "When the time of the new world comes, the Son of Man will sit on his great and glorious throne. And I can promise that you who followed me will sit on twelve thrones, and you will judge the twelve tribes of Israel. Mat 19:29 Everyone who has left houses, brothers, sisters, father, mother, children, or farms to follow me will get much more than they left. And they will have eternal life. Let's continue Gideon's story: Jdg 6:31 (ERV) Then Joash spoke to the crowd that was standing around him. Joash said, "Are you going to take Baal's side? Are you going to rescue Baal? If anyone takes Baal's side, let him be put to death by morning. If Baal really is a god, let him defend himself when someone pulls down his altar." Jdg 6:32 Joash said, "If Gideon pulled Baal's altar down, let Baal argue with him." On that day Joash gave Gideon a new name. He called him Jerub Baal. Joash makes a great point. If Baal is a real god, then let him defend himself. If Baal is a true god, then let him fight Gideon. Gideon was renamed by his dad to Jerub Baal, meaning Baal will contend or one who rebukes Baal. This is a fitting name for Gideon and for all who are given the power to rebuke or condemn those who follow false gods. Jdg 6:33 (ERV) The Midianites, Amalekites, and other people from the east joined together to fight against the Israelites. They went across the Jordan River and camped in the Jezreel Valley. Jdg 6:34 The Spirit of the LORD filled Gideon. So Gideon blew a trumpet to call the family of Abiezer to follow him. Jdg 6:35 He sent messengers to all the people of the tribe of Manasseh and told them to get their weapons and prepare for battle. Gideon also sent messengers to the tribes of Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali. The messengers took the same message to them. So they also went up to meet Gideon and his men. Jdg 6:36 (BBE) Then Gideon said to God, If you are going to give Israel salvation by my hand, as you have said, Jdg 6:37 See, I will put the wool of a sheep on the grain-floor; if there is dew on the wool only, while all the earth is dry, then I will be certain that it is your purpose to give Israel salvation by my hand as you have said.
Jdg 6:38 And it was so: for he got up early on the morning after, and twisting the wool in his hands, he got a basin full of water from the dew on the wool. Jdg 6:39 Then Gideon said to God, Do not be moved to wrath against me if I say only this: let me make one more test with the wool; let the wool now be dry, while the earth is covered with dew. Jdg 6:40 And that night God did so; for the wool was dry, and there was dew on all the earth round it. First of all, the Lord is being very patient with Gideon here. It is understandable for Gideon to be afraid because the Amalekites, who were many to begin with, have joined forces with other countries to fight against Israel. Gideon asked for two signs to reassure himself that the Lord will help him defeat Israel's enemies. First, Gideon asked that the Lord make the wool wet but all the ground around it be dry. It happened. Imagine putting a blanket outside and leaving it overnight. Come morning, the blanket will be wet because of all the moisture it soaked overnight. But the ground will also be wet with the same moisture that made the blanket wet. The second sign Gideon asked is the reverse. He asked the Lord to keep the wool dry but all the earth around it would be wet. The next morning, Gideon found the wool was dry, but all the ground around it was wet. What is the spiritual lesson behind these two signs? The wool is a symbol of the elect's righteousness and the earth all around it is a symbol of the world's evil deeds. These two signs are telling us that we need to be different from all the people in the world around us. Rom 12:2 (BBE) And let not your behaviour be like that of this world, but be changed and made new in mind... We need to be a shining light in this world of darkness. We need to be loving, kind and forgiving in this hateful and violent world. We need to be honest and honorable in this world that is full of lying and cheating people. Isa 30:20 (ERV) The Lord might give you sorrow and pain like the bread and water you eat every day. But God is your teacher, and he will not continue to hide from you. You will see your teacher with your own eyes. Isa 30:21 If you wander from the right path, either to the right or to the left, you will hear a voice behind you saying, "You should go this way. Here is the right way." In our next studies, we will continue the story of Gideon.