Judges Gideon’s First Mission
Gideon is the next man God raises up to free Israel. Gideon’s first mission is to tear down his father’s altar to Baal and Asherah pole
I want to start off by apologizing for not writing yesterday. And for any disjointed thoughts that might come out today. My body is having one of ‘those’ days. I’m not giving in today though. So, let’s get going.
Israel is in another cycle of punishment and return. After Deborah’s death, Israel went back to worshiping the Baals and Ashtaroth poles. This time, Midian has driven all of Israel into caves and hiding. It lasted for seven years. Let’s look in on Israel and see where the Spirit takes us.
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The people of Israel are weary. Every time they plant crops, Midian and the Amalekites and any one else they care to bring with them come and devour it. They are worse than locust! They keep coming back. Israel is literally being eaten out of house and home. Even Israel’s own livestock are swept up by these invaders. The only thing that remains is what the people have been able to hide away.
This has been going on for YEARS! “Where is the God of our Fathers” the people cry out. “Save us from our distress!”
The Lord heard the cries of the people, and He has an answer for them. God calls a man to be His voice to the people. He is faithful to the Lord and delivers His message to the people.
“Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I led you up from Egypt and brought you out of the house of slavery. 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. 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.” (Judges 6: 8-10)
The people are frightened. “Does this mean that the Lord won’t help us?” “We promise Lord to obey Your voice from now on. PLEASE move on our behalf.”
“What are We going to do about Israel? They haven’t really turned away from the foreign gods” the Spirit asks.
“We are going to give them a little ‘push’ in that direction” answers Father.
“What do You have in mind?”
“We are going to raise up someone to cut down their altars.”
“This should be fun” Jesus adds in.
Gideon is a hardworking young man. He is also a little devious. He has learned how to hide his wheat from the eyes of the Midianites. Rather than taking his crops where the Midianites can see him, he climbs into a wine press and beats his wheat in the bottom of the barrel. There are no grapes to trod so the barrel is empty.
While Gideon is laboring away, separating the wheat from its stalks, the angel of the Lord comes and sits beneath a terabinth tree near where he is working.
Gideon doesn’t notice him until he hears a voice.
“The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor.” (Judges 6:12)
Gideon is startled by the voice. First, he looks around to see who is speaking. Once he identifies the source, then he looks to see who he could possibly be talking to. “Certainly not me” thinks Gideon.
When their eyes meet, the angel nods his head. Gideon points to himself, and the angel nods again.
“I’m no mighty man of valor” thinks Gideon, but he doesn’t say that. Instead, he asks the question that has been on every Israelites’ lips.
“Please, my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all his wonderful deeds that our fathers recounted to us, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has forsaken us and given us into the hand of Midian.” (Judges 6:13)
The angel doesn’t even acknowledge Gideon’s question. He gives him encouragement instead. “Go in this might of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian; do not I send you?” (Judges 6:14)
Gideon sees no strength in himself. “Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.” (Judges 6:15)
“But I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man.” (Judges 6:16) answers the angel of the Lord.
The confidence in the angel’s voice changes something in Gideon. He isn’t ready to buy into this idea fully, but he is wondering if it might be true after all. Gideon has to know. “If now I have found favor in your eyes, then show me a sign that it is you who speak with me. Please do not depart from here until I come to you and bring out my present and set it before you.” (Judges 6:17-18a)
The angel answers him. “I will stay till you return.” (Judges 6:18b)
Gideon rushes back to his house. He is skilled in many areas, one of them being in cooking. As a gift to the angel, Gideon prepares him a meal. He prepares a young goat, unleavened bread, and a savory broth to go with it. He does this with as much speed as possible without ruining the meal.
When everything if finally ready, Gideon puts the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot. These, with the bread, he carries back to the terabinth tree where the angel is resting.
The angel sits up straighter when Gideon approaches. He knows what Gideon is carrying in his hands without even needing to lift the lid from the pot or the top of the basket.
Gideon arrives at the tree and holds his offering towards the angel. Instead of taking it in his hands, the angel gives Gideon instructions.
“Take the meat and the unleavened cakes, and put them on this rock, and pour the broth over them.” (Judges 6:20)
Gideon gives the angel a look of confusion. Gideon had expected the angel to eat this, not waste it on the rock. But he wouldn’t argue. Gideon carefully lays the unleavened bread on the rock and places the pieces of meat on them. Then, he pours the broth over all of it. He watches as the broth drips down the side of the rock. “Wasted” he silently thinks to himself.
The angel raises one corner of his mouth into a sly smile as he reaches out with the staff he is carrying. He touches the tip of the staff to the meal that Gideon has brought him and fire ignites and consumes it in an instant!
Gideon jumps back in surprise. In that same moment, the angel of the Lord vanishes.
Realization hits Gideon like a bold of lightening. “Alas, O Lord God! For now I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face.” (Judges 6:22)
Before Gideon could take another breath, the Lord speaks to him. “Peace be to you. Do not fear; you shall not die.” (Judges 6:23)
Gideon’s heart soars with excitement, gratitude, and awe. That very minute he builds an altar to the Lord God of Israel, making sure to incorporate the stone on which the sign was given to him. He named the alter The Lord Is Peace.
Gideon had no idea what he was supposed to do next. All he knew for certain was that the Lord had a plan for his life. He would wait and see what the Lord would say to him next.
God was ready with instructions for Gideon that very night. “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 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.” (Judges 6:25-26)
Gideon thought about the Lord’s instructions. The more he thought about them, the more they brought a smile to his face. “Poetic justice, using the Asherah as the wood for the sacrifice to the Lord.” But he also thought about what would happen if he was seen doing this. “The people will attack me!” So, he came up with a twist of his own. He would do exactly as the Lord had commanded him, but he would do under the cover of darkness.
Gideon spend all the next day getting everything in order. He picked ten of his family’s most trusted servants; those loyal to Gideon. And he located the second bull. This was not a task he could do alone in one night; at least not without being discovered.
Gideon waited until the middle watch of the night. He gathered the servants and retrieved both bulls. Carefully and quietly, the group made their way to the altar that stood on the hillside near the city. Gideon’s own father had erected this altar.
It was certainly not a silent endeavor, tearing down the stones and cutting the pole into pieces for the fire, but they were not disturbed during their work. As soon as the destruction was done, construction began. Gideon carefully laid the stones how the Lord had shown him in a vision. Then he brought the second bull over to the altar so he could slit its throat and offer it as a sacrifice to the Lord.
While Gideon dressed the bull, his servants laid the wood from the Asherah on the altar. As soon as the wood was ready, Gideon placed the pieces he had sectioned the bull into on the altar. He took one of the torches the men carried and stuffed it into the wood so that it would kindle the fire for the sacrifice. Gideon and his companions watched until the wood caught fire. Then they all hurried back to their own beds.
Gideon’s heart was light when he arose that morning. He has taken the first step the Lord had called for from him. He was wondering what he would be called upon to do next when pounding was heard on the door of his family’s home.
While Gideon had slept, the town’s people had woken in the morning to a desecrated altar to their gods. They were furious as well as terrified. “Who would do this? Baal will be FURIOUS! This person has to be punished to appease Baal or we will all DIE!”
They had guessed correctly in assuming that Gideon had done this. And they were at his father’s door to take Gideon so they could appease the gods.
Gideon’s father, Joash, answered the door. There is a mob of people on the other side of it. They are all angry and pushing against one another. The leader of the mob speaks to Joash in a demanding voice.
“Bring out your son, that he may die, for he has broken down the altar of Baal and cut down the Asherah beside it.” (Judges 6:30)
Joash looks stunned for a moment. Then his face grows hard before he speaks. “Will you contend for Baal? Or will you save him? Whoever contends for him shall be put to death by morning. If he is a god, let him contend for himself, because his altar has been broken down.”
The people were speechless. At first, no one moved. Joash’s stern look finally turned the people. They began to leave the mob. One at a time at first, then several more, until there was only the leader left, staring at Joash. When he chanced to look behind him, he could see that he stood alone. He too finally turned and left.
Because of the confrontation with Joash, the people began to call Gideon Jerubbaal. This meant, “Let Baal contend against him.”
Baal never did contend with Gideon for he had NO power. Gideon trusted in the Lord God for his safety. But Gideon wore the name with honor.
(to be continued)
I decided to break up Gideon’s exploits with the Lord instead of going on with the story. I’m afraid it would get too long otherwise. One of my favorite stories are coming up next in Gideon’s saga. That of fleece laying. I have done my share of “fleece laying” over the years, thanks to Gideon’s example. NEVER as elaborate or distinctive as Gideon’s though. But just as trustworthy in my heart. But I’m getting ahead of our story.
I’m wondering how I would have reacted if someone (even an angel) had called me “mighty” and said I would do something mighty for the Lord. I probably would have looked around to see who they were talking to. And that’s why I had Gideon do it too.
None of us know what wonders the Lord can work through our lives. But NOTHING would have come of Gideon’s life if he refused to answer that call. Gideon may have felt like the most insignificant person in all of Israel, but by his willingness to do what the Lord told him to do, he became exactly what the angel of the Lord said he was; a mighty man of valor.
Father God, I seriously doubt that You will ever call me to be a mighty woman of valor. But I want to listen to You and do as You command, no matter how insignificant it is, or I am. Let me be Your hands and feet, or just Your fingers Lord. My heart’s desire is to be used by You, in some way. And to turn others to You.
