Judges 6:25-32
If you remember in our second study when the angel of the Lord met Gideon, he addressed him from God’s perspective calling him “mighty warrior“, which was not as Geidon saw himself. Judges 6:12, “When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.” This acknowledgment by the Lord of Gideon as a “mighty warrior” was not because of something that he was already doing. The angel of the Lord called Gideon “mighty warrior” based on what God had purposed Gideon to be and would do in the future.
The angel of the Lord also told Gideon he would use Gideon to deliver Israel from the oppression of the Midianites. Judges 6:14, 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?” Judges 6:16, “The Lord answered, ….and you will strike down all the Midianites together.” However, for Gideon to experience all that God had planned for him to be and do, there were some formational things that God needed to do first in his life.
The first step of the formation of Gideon’s character was to trust God demonstrated by his obedience. In verses 11-24 we saw what God said and did to prove and convince Gideon who it was he was talking to. Now in verses 25 to 27 Gideon must act on his belief of God by being obedient to what God told him to do.
Judges 6:25-27
25 That same night the Lord said to him, “Take the second bull from your father’s herd, the one seven years old. Tear down your father’s altar to Baal and cut down the Asherah pole beside it. 26 Then build a proper kind of altar to the Lord your God on the top of this height. Using the wood of the Asherah pole that you cut down, offer the second bull as a burnt offering.” 27 So Gideon took ten of his servants and did as the Lord told him. But because he was afraid of his family and the men of the town, he did it at night rather than in the daytime.
God knows each one of us and what is required for our character to grow and mature. To us, what God asks us to do might seem ridiculous or even impossible. But what God is doing is developing our trust in Him by our obedience expressed by our actions. What God will ask us to do will be different for each one of us, but the desired outcome will be the same, the growth of our spiritual maturity. However, if this does not happen, we will never be the daughter or son in Christ to accomplish with any success and according to God’s standards whatever it is He has called us to do.
This character forming process Jesus calls “pruning the branch”.
John 15:1-6, 15 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. 5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.
What God had told Gideon to do (vers. 25-27a) was something that was not only necessary for Gideon’s personal spiritual growth and the formation of his character, but it was also something that had to be accomplished from a spiritual perspective on a family and social level, which is clearly seen by the reaction of the men of Gideon’s town.
In verses 25 to 27a, we read that Gideon did exactly what the Lord told him. However please note the Lord did not tell Gideon when to do it. Gideon very well knew how his family and the men of the town in which he lived would react to what he would do in obedience to the Lord’s instructions. So much so verse 27b says the following, “But because he was afraid of his family and the men of the town, he did it at night rather than in the daytime.” The Lord knew what He had asked Gideon to do was not going to be easy for him, this was the first crucial step in the process of the formation of Gideon’s spiritual growth and formation of his character as a leader and as a “mighty warrior” God wanted him to be.
The Spirit Filled Life Bible For Students commentary gives us a very useful and practical explanation to the Lord’s command to Gideon. “Gideon’s father and the people were involved in worshiping the false god Baal and the wooden image or cult object representing the Canaanite goddess Asherah. Gideon’s first job as a warrior for God was to destroy the idols of Israel.
Gideon was going to smash the idols that his father built. Although God commands us to honor our father and mother, Exodus 20:12, “Honor your father and mother. Then you will live a long, full life in the land the Lord your God is giving you.”. The people of God must not partake in the sins of their parents or ancestors. In fact, they must spiritually cut down anything that is idolatrous or sinful.”
In these next verses nothing is mentioned about what Gideon did or said. In addition, nothing is mentioned at all about the Lord however all that is said in the next five verses is what the Lord did through Gideon’s father Joash in response to Gideon’s trust and obedience to the Lord. When we trust and obey God to do things His way, God will be responsible for the results. This is exactly what we see in these next five verses.
Judges 6:28-32
28 In the morning when the men of the town got up, there was Baal’s altar, demolished, with the Asherah pole beside it cut down and the second bull sacrificed on the newly built altar! 29 They asked each other, “Who did this?” When they carefully investigated, they were told, “Gideon son of Joash did it.” 30 The men of the town demanded of Joash, “Bring out your son. He must die, because he has broken down Baal’s altar and cut down the Asherah pole beside it.” 31 But Joash replied to the hostile crowd around him, “Are you going to plead Baal’s cause? Are you trying to save him? Whoever fights for him shall be put to death by morning! If Baal really is a god, he can defend himself when someone breaks down his altar.” 32 So that day they called Gideon “Jerub-Baal,” saying, “Let Baal contend with him,” because he broke down Baal’s altar.
Warren Wiersbe in his commentary of this portion of scripture gives us additional insight to this portion of scripture.
Judges 6:25-32
When ten other men are involved, it’s not easy to keep your plans a secret; so it wasn’t long before the whole town knew that Gideon was the one who had destroyed his father’s idols. The men of the city considered this a capital offense and wanted to kill Gideon. Gideon was no doubt wondering what would happen to him, but God proved Himself well able to handle the situation.
Joash, Gideon’s father, had every reason to be angry with his son. Gideon had smashed his father’s altar to Baal and replaced it with an altar to Jehovah. He had sacrificed his father’s prize bull to the Lord and had used the sacred Asherah pole for fuel. But God so worked in Joash’s heart that he defended Gideon before the town mob and even insulted Baal! “What kind of a god is Baal that he can’t even defend himself?” asked Joash.
“Gideon learned a valuable lesson that day: If he obeyed the Lord, even with fear in his heart, the Lord would protect him and receive the glory. Gideon needed to remember this as he mustered his army and prepared to attack the enemy.” This we will see in the next weeks study.
Pastor John
