Judges 6:25-40
25 Now it came to pass the same night that the LORD said to him, “Take your father’s young bull, the second bull of seven years old, and tear down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down the wooden image that is beside it; 26 and build an altar to the LORD your God on top of this rock in the proper arrangement, and take the second bull and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the image which you shall cut down.” 27 So Gideon took ten men from among his servants and did as the LORD had said to him. But because he feared his father’s household and the men of the city too much to do it by day, he did it by night.
Gideon Destroys the Altar of Baal
28 And when the men of the city arose early in the morning, there was the altar of Baal, torn down; and the wooden image that was beside it was cut down, and the second bull was being offered on the altar which had been built. 29 So they said to one another, “Who has done this thing?” And when they had inquired and asked, they said, “Gideon the son of Joash has done this thing.” 30 Then the men of the city said to Joash, “Bring out your son, that he may die, because he has torn down the altar of Baal, and because he has cut down the wooden image that was beside it.”
31 But Joash said to all who stood against him, “Would you plead for Baal? Would you save him? Let the one who would plead for him be put to death by morning! If he is a god, let him plead for himself, because his altar has been torn down!” 32 Therefore on that day he called him Jerubbaal, saying, “Let Baal plead against him, because he has torn down his altar.”
33 Then all the Midianites and Amalekites, the people of the East, gathered together; and they crossed over and encamped in the Valley of Jezreel. 34 But the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon; then he blew the trumpet, and the Abiezrites gathered behind him. 35 And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh, who also gathered behind him. He also sent messengers to Asher, Zebulun, and Naphtali; and they came up to meet them.
The Sign of the Fleece
36 So Gideon said to God, “If You will save Israel by my hand as You have said— 37 look, I shall put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor; if there is dew on the fleece only, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that You will save Israel by my hand, as You have said.” 38 And it was so. When he rose early the next morning and squeezed the fleece together, he wrung the dew out of the fleece, a bowlful of water. 39 Then Gideon said to God, “Do not be angry with me, but let me speak just once more: Let me test, I pray, just once more with the fleece; let it now be dry only on the fleece, but on all the ground let there be dew.” 40 And God did so that night. It was dry on the fleece only, but there was dew on all the ground.
Gideon was commanded to tear down the false altar of the idol Baal and replace it with an altar to honor the true and Living God, the LORD who is self-existing and not a figment of imagination created by man’s hands. He did this and offered a whole burnt-offering that was entirely consumed and went up in the flame of the altar to God. He used the wood of the broken down idol image of Canaanite goddess Asherah for the fire of the true sacrifice on the proper altar, which demonstrated the futility of false images useful only to be burned. This type of offering expressed the ascent of his soul in worship to the only God who is in heaven. Gideon still feared the oppressors and so did these things under the safety of night. The next day, the people found the idol and its altar smashed down to the ground and had to ask around before identifying Gideon as the culprit. When they came to his father Joash to hand him over to be punished with death for destroying their idol, however, the wise patriarch told them to let Baal plead for himself against his son if he was truly a god and not them on his behalf. This matter resolved, a new development arose; all the Midianites and Amalekites gathered together against them and crossed over to set up camp in the Valley of Jezreel nearby. Gideon was moved by the Spirit of the LORD and he blew the trumpet to gather forces to fight off the imminent invaders. Gideon himself was still reluctant and asked for a sign from God before being used by Him as called to save Israel from the idolatrous hoard. He asked for the famous sign of the fleece as we know it now, asking for dew first only on the fleece and then only on the ground around the fleece the next morning. God had answered his faltering and fearful faith with assurance of the way forward and this judge then moved forward to gather forces to ward off the enemy attackers. We now have the prophetic word made sure (2 Peter 1:19, 20-21) and can look in the completed scriptures to understand by the indwelling Spirit of the Lord for guidance (Isaiah 30:21, John 14:26, 16:13, Hebrews 4:12, 1 Corinthians 2:12-13) to know where to go and what to do with fervent prayer and faith to proclaim the gospel of true deliverance that others may worship at the altar of the cross where God sacrificed His Son for us to worship no other as we offer ourselves up as living sacrifices (Romans 12:1) in the prescribed proper and devoted manner. We are to not allow worship at any idol altars in our lives, but are to tear down any idol altars and images we might bow down to that stand between us and the only Living God and His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
No comments:
Post a Comment