24Then Gideon built an altar there to Yahweh, and called it “Yahweh is Peace.” To this day it is still in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
25That same night, Yahweh said to him, “Take your father’s bull, even the second bull seven years old, and throw down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down the Asherah that is by it.26Then build an altar to Yahweh your God on the top of this stronghold, in an orderly way, and take the second bull, and offer a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah which you shall cut down.”
27Then Gideon took ten men of his servants, and did as Yahweh had spoken to him. Because he feared his father’s household and the men of the city, he could not do it by day, but he did it by night.
24 Then Gideon built an altar there to Yahweh, and called it “Yahweh is Peace.” To this day it is still in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
25 That same night, Yahweh said to him, “Take your father’s bull, even the second bull seven years old, and throw down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down the Asherah that is by it.
26 Then build an altar to Yahweh your God on the top of this stronghold, in an orderly way, and take the second bull, and offer a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah which you shall cut down.”
27 Then Gideon took ten men of his servants, and did as Yahweh had spoken to him. Because he feared his father’s household and the men of the city, he could not do it by day, but he did it by night.
KJVKing James Version
24 Then Gideon built an altar there unto the LORD, and called it Jehovah-shalom: unto this day it is yet in Ophrah of the Abi-ezrites.
25 And it came to pass the same night, that the LORD said unto him, Take thy father’s young bullock, even the second bullock of seven years old, and throw down the altar of Baal that thy father hath, and cut down the grove that is by it:
26 And build an altar unto the LORD thy God upon the top of this rock, in the ordered place, and take the second bullock, and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the grove which thou shalt cut down.
27 Then Gideon took ten men of his servants, and did as the LORD had said unto him: and so it was, because he feared his father’s household, and the men of the city, that he could not do it by day, that he did it by night.
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JPSJPS Tanakh (1917)
24 Then Gideon built an altar there unto the LORD, and called it 'Adonai-shalom'; unto this day it is yet in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
25 And it came to pass the same night, that the LORD said unto him: 'Take thy father's bullock, and the second bullock of seven years old, and throw down the altar of Baal that thy father hath, and cut down the Asherah that is by it;
26 and build an altar unto the LORD thy God upon the top of this stronghold, in the ordered place, and take the second bullock, and offer a burnt-offering with the wood of the Asherah which thou shalt cut down.'
27 Then Gideon took ten men of his servants, and did as the LORD had spoken unto him; and it came to pass, because he feared his father's household and the men of the city, so that he could not do it by day, that he did it by night.
Genesis 22:14(v24)Abraham called the name of that place “Yahweh Will Provide”. As it is said to this day, “On Yahweh’s mountain, it will be provided.”
Exodus 17:15(v24)Moses built an altar, and called its name “Yahweh our Banner”.
Exodus 34:13(v25)but you shall break down their altars, and dash in pieces their pillars, and you shall cut down their Asherah poles;
Judges 3:7(v25)The children of Israel did that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight, and forgot Yahweh their God, and served the Baals and the Asheroth.
Judges 8:32(v24)Gideon the son of Joash died in a good old age, and was buried in the tomb of Joash his father, in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
Show all 33 cross-references
Ezekiel 48:35(v24)“It shall be eighteen thousand reeds around: and the name of the city from that day shall be, ‘Yahweh is there.’
2 Corinthians 6:15-17(v25)What agreement does Christ have with Belial? Or what portion does a believer have with an unbeliever? What agreement does a temple of God…
Jeremiah 33:16(v24)In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell safely. This is the name by which she will be called: Yahweh our righteousness.”
Matthew 10:37(v25)He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he who loves son or daughter more than me isn’t worthy of me.
Acts 5:29(v25)But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.
Genesis 33:20(v24)He erected an altar there, and called it El Elohe Israel.
Joshua 22:10(v24)When they came to the region near the Jordan, that is in the land of Canaan, the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the…
Joshua 22:26-28(v24)“Therefore we said, ‘Let’s now prepare to build ourselves an altar, not for burnt offering, nor for sacrifice; but it will be a witness…
Judges 21:4(v24)On the next day, the people rose early and built an altar there, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings.
Jeremiah 23:6(v24)In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell safely. This is his name by which he will be called: Yahweh our righteousness.
John 2:5(v27)His mother said to the servants, “Whatever he says to you, do it.”
1 Corinthians 14:33(v26)for God is not a God of confusion, but of peace, as in all the assemblies of the saints.
1 Thessalonians 2:4(v27)But even as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the Good News, so we speak: not as pleasing men, but God, who tests our…
Deuteronomy 4:1(v27)Now, Israel, listen to the statutes and to the ordinances which I teach you, to do them; that you may live, and go in and possess the land…
2 Samuel 24:18(v26)Gad came that day to David, and said to him, “Go up, build an altar to Yahweh on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.”
1 Kings 18:21(v25)Elijah came near to all the people, and said, “How long will you waver between the two sides? If Yahweh is God, follow him; but if Baal,…
Matthew 6:24(v25)“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other; or else he will be devoted to one and despise the other.…
Genesis 35:2(v25)Then Jacob said to his household, and to all who were with him, “Put away the foreign gods that are among you, purify yourselves, change…
Deuteronomy 7:5(v25)But you shall deal with them like this: you shall break down their altars, dash their pillars in pieces, cut down their Asherah poles, and…
Job 22:23(v25)If you return to the Almighty, you will be built up, if you put away unrighteousness far from your tents.
Psalms 101:2(v25)I will be careful to live a blameless life. When will you come to me? I will walk within my house with a blameless heart.
Psalms 112:5(v27)It is well with the man who deals graciously and lends. He will maintain his cause in judgment.
Matthew 16:24(v27)Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
John 3:2(v27)The same came to him by night, and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that…
John 15:14(v27)You are my friends, if you do whatever I command you.
Acts 4:19(v25)But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, judge for yourselves,
Galatians 1:16(v27)to reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I didn’t immediately confer with flesh and blood,
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (22 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Geneva Bible translators1599 · Public DomainOn vv24–26Or, the Lord of peace.
Or, the Lord of peace.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp1656 · Public DomainOn vv24–27Jdg 6:24 Then Gideon built an altar there unto…
Jdg 6:24 Then Gideon built an altar there unto the LORD, and called it Jehovahshalom: unto this day it [is] yet in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
Ver. 24. And called it Jehovah-shalom,] i.e., The Lord of peace, or the peace of the Lord. Christ had said unto him, {Jdg 6:23} Peace be unto thee: he therefore honoureth Christ by this name given to his newly built altar. We should write upon our hearts Jehovah-tsidkenu, Jehovah-shalom - The Lord our righteousness, the Lord our peace. "The Lord of peace himself give us peace always by all means." {2Th 3:16} Such an inscription there would answer all our doubts, and cheer up our spirits above belief.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole1685 · Public DomainOn vv24–27There, to wit, on the top of the rock,…
There, to wit, on the top of the rock, as is evident from Jdg 6:20, and especially from Jdg 6:26, where that which is here expressed only in general, and by anticipation, is more particularly described, according to the usage of the Scripture.
Jehovah-shalom, i.e. the Lord’s peace; the sign or witness of God’s speaking peace to me, and to his people; or the place where he spake peace to me, when I expected nothing but destruction.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry1710 · Public DomainOn v25Here, I. Orders are given to Gideon to begin…
Here, I. Orders are given to Gideon to begin his government with the reformation of his father's house, Jdg 6:25, Jdg 6:26. A correspondence being settled between God and Gideon, by the appearance of the angel to him, it was kept up in another way; the same night after he had seen God, when he was full of thoughts concerning what had passed, which probably he had not yet communicated to any, The Lord said unto him in a dream, Do so and so. Note, God's visits, if gratefully received, shall be graciously repeated. Bid God welcome, and he will come again. Gideon is appointed, 1. To throw down Baal's altar, which it seems hi father had, either for his own house or perhaps for the whole town. See the power of God's grace, that he could raise up a reformer, and the condescensions of his grace, that he would raise up a deliverer, out of the family of one that was a ring-leader in idolatry. But Gideon must not now think it enough not to worship at that altar, which we charitably hope he had not done, but he must throw it down; not consecrate the same altar to God (tit is bishop Hall's observation), but utterly demolish it. God first commands down the monuments of superstition, and then enjoins his own service. He must likewise cut down the grove that was by it, the plantation of young trees, designed to beautify the place. The learned bishop Patrick, by the grove, understands the image in the grove, probably the image of Ashtaroth (for the word for a grove is Ashereh), which stood upon or close by the altar. 2. The erect an altar to God, to Jehovah his God, which probably was to be notified by an inscription upon the altar to that purport - to Jehovah, Gideon's God, or Israel's. It would have been an improper thing for him to build an altar, even to the God of Israel, especially for burnt-offering and sacrifice, and would have been construed into a contempt of the altar at Shiloh, if God, who has not tied up himself to his own laws, had not bidden him to do it. But now it was his duty and honour to be thus employed. God directs him to the place where he should build it, on the top of the rock, perhaps in the same place in which the angel had appeared to him, near to the altar he had already built: and he must not do it in a hurry, but with the decency that became a religious action (in an orderly manner, as it is in the margin), according to the ancient law for altars raised on particular occasions, that they must be of earth not of hewn stone. The word here used for the rock on which the altar was to be built signifies a fortress, or strong-hold, erected, some think, to secure them from the Midianites; if so, it was no security while the altar of Baal was so near it, but it was effectually fortified when an altar to the Lord was built on the top of it, for that is the best defence upon our glory. On this altar, (1.) He was to offer sacrifice. Two bullocks he must offer: his father's young bullock, and the second bullock of seven years old, so it should rather be read, not even the second as we read it. The former, we may suppose, he was to offer for himself, the latter for the sins of the people whom he was to deliver. It was requisite he should thus make peace with God, before he made war on Midian. Till sin be pardoned through the great sacrifice, no good is to be expected. These bullocks, it is supposed, were intended for sacrifices on the altar of Baal, but were now converted to a better use. Thus, when the strong man armed is overcome and dispossessed, the stronger than he divides the spoil, seizes that for himself which was prepared for Baal. Let him come whose right it is, and give it to him. (2.) Ball's grove, or image, or whatever it was that was the sanctity or beauty of his altar, must not only be burnt, but must be used as fuel for God's altar, to signify not only that whatever sets up itself in opposition to God shall be destroyed, but that the justice of God will be glorified in its destruction. God ordered Gideon to do this, [1.] To try his zeal for religion, which it was necessary he should give proofs of before he took the field, to give proof of his valour there. [2.] That some steps might hereby to taken towards Israel's reformation, which must prepare the way for their deliverance. Sin, the cause, must be taken away, else how should the trouble, which was but the effect, come to an end? And it might be hoped that this example of Gideon's, who was now shortly to appear so great a man, would be followed by the rest of the cities and tribes, and the destruction of this one altar of Baal would be the destruction of many.
II. Gideon was obedient to the heavenly vision, Jdg 6:27. He that was to command the Israel of God must be subject to the God of Israel, without disputing, and, as a type of Christ, must first save his people from their sins, and then save them from their enemies. 1. He had servants of his own, whom he could confide in, who, we may suppose, like him, had kept their integrity, and had not bowed the knee to Baal, and therefore were forward to assist him in destroying the altar of Baal. 2. He did not scruple taking his father's bullock and offering it to God without his father's consent, because God, who expressly commanded him to do so, had a better title to it than his father had, and it was the greatest real kindness he could do to his father to prevent his sin. 3. He expected to incur the displeasure of his father's household by it, and the ill-will of his neighbours, yet he did it, remembering how much it was Levi's praise that, in the cause of God, he said to his father and mother, I have not seen him, Deu 33:9. And, while he was sure of the favour of God, he feared not the anger of men; he that bade him do it would bear him out. Yet, 4. Though he feared not their resentment when it was done, to prevent their resistance in the doing of it he prudently chose to do it by night, that he might not be disturbed in these sacred actions. And some think it was the same night in which God spoke to him to do it, and that, as soon as ever he had received the orders, he immediately applied himself to the execution of them, and finished before morning.
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III. He was brought into peril of his life for doing it, Jdg 6:28-30. 1. It was soon discovered what was done. Gideon, when he had gone through with the business, did not desire the concealment of it, nor could it be hid, for the men of the city rose early in the morning, as it should seem, to say their matins at Baal's altar, and so to begin the day with their god, such a one as he was, a shame to those who say the true God is their God, and yet, in the morning, direct no prayer to him, nor look up. 2. It was soon discovered who had done it. Strict enquiry was made. Gideon was known to be disaffected to the worship of Baal, which brought him into suspicion, and positive proof immediately came against him: "Gideon, no doubt, has done this thing." 3. Gideon being found guilty of the fact, to such a pitch of impiety had these degenerate Israelites arrived that they take it for law he must die for the same, and require his own father (who, by patronising their idolatry, had given them too much cause to expect he would comply with them herein) to deliver him up: Bring out thy son, that he may die. Be astonished, O heavens! at this, and tremble, O earth! By the law of God the worshippers of Baal were to die, but these wicked men impiously turn the penalty upon the worshippers of the God of Israel. How prodigiously mad were they upon their idols! Was it not enough to offer the choicest of their bullocks to Baal, but must the bravest youth of their city fall as a sacrifice to that dunghill-deity, when they pretended he was provoked? How soon will idolaters become persecutors!
IV. He was rescued out of the hands of his persecutors by his own father, Jdg 6:31.
1. There were those that stood against Gideon, that not only appeared at the first to make a demand, but insisted on it, and would have him put to death. Notwithstanding the heavy judgments they were at this time under for their idolatry, yet they hated to be reformed, and walked contrary to God even when he was walking contrary to them.
2. Yet then Joash stood for him; he was one of the chief men of the city. Those that have power may do a great deal for the protection of an honest man and an honest cause, and when they so use their power they are ministers of God for good.
(1.) This Joash had patronised Baal's altar, yet now protects him that had destroyed it, [1.] Out of natural affection to his son, and perhaps a particular esteem for him as a virtuous, valiant, valuable, young man, and never the worse for not joining with him in the worship of Baal. Many that have not courage enough to keep their integrity themselves yet have so much conscience left as makes them love and esteem those that do. If Joash had a kindness for Baal, yet he had a greater kindness for his son. Or, [2.] Out of a care for the public peace. The mob grew riotous, and, he feared, would grow more so, and therefore, as some think, he bestirred himself to repress the tumult: "Let it be left to the judges; it is not for you to pass sentence upon any man;" he that offers it, let him be put to death: he means not as an idolater, but as a disturber of the peace, and the mover of sedition. Under this same colour Paul was rescued at Ephesus from those that were as zealous for Diana as these were for Baal, Act 19:40. Or, [3.] Out of a conviction that Gideon had done well. His son, perhaps, had reasoned with him, or God, who has all hearts in his hands, had secretly and effectually influenced him to appear thus against the advocates for Baal, though he had complied with them formerly in the worship of Baal. Note, It is good to appear for God when we are called to it, though there be few or none to second us, because God can incline the hearts of those to stand by us from whom we little expect assistance. Let us do our duty, and then trust God with our safety.
(2.) Two things Joash urges: - [1.] That it was absurd for them to plead for Baal. "Will you that are Israelites, the worshippers of the one only living and true God, plead for Baal, a false god? Will you be so sottish, so senseless? Those whose fathers' god Baal was, and who never knew any other, are more excusable in pleading for him than you are, that are in covenant with Jehovah, and have been trained up in the knowledge of him. You that have smarted so much for worshipping Baal, and have brought all this mischief and calamity upon yourselves by it, will you yet plead for Baal?" Note, It is bad to commit sin, but it is great wickedness indeed to plead for it, especially to plead for Baal, that idol, whatever it is, which possesses that room in the heart which God should have. [2.] That it was needless for them to plead for Baal. If he were not a god, as was pretended, they could have nothing to say for him; if he were, he was able to plead for himself, as the God of Israel had often done by fire from heaven, or some other judgment against those who put contempt upon him. Here is a fair challenge to Baal to do either good or evil, and the result convinced his worshippers of their folly in praying to one to help them that could not avenge himself; after this Gideon remarkably prospered, and thereby it appeared how unable Baal was to maintain his own cause.
(3.) Gideon's father hereupon gave him a new name (Jdg 6:32); he called him Jerubbaal: "Let Baal plead; let him plead against him if he can; if he have any thing to say for himself against his destroyer, let him say it." This name was a standing defiance to Baal: "Now that Gideon is taking up arms against the Midianites that worship Baal, let him defend his worshippers if he can." It likewise gave honour to Gideon (a sworn enemy to that great usurper, and that had carried the day against him), that encouragement to his soldiers, that they fought under one that fought for God against this great competitor with him for the throne. It is the probable conjecture of the learned that that Jerombalus whom Sanchoniathon (one of the most ancient of all the heathen writers) speaks of as a priest of the god Jao (a corruption of the name Jehovah), and one to whom he was indebted for a great deal of knowledge, was this Jerubbaal. He is called Jerubbesheth (Sa2 11:12), Baal, a lord, being fitly turned into Besheth, shame.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill1763 · Public DomainOn vv24–27And it came to pass the same night,.... The…
And it came to pass the same night,.... The night which followed the day in which the angel appeared to Gideon as he was threshing:
that the Lord said unto him; perhaps in a dream, since it was in the night: take thy father's young bullock: or "the bullock, the ox" (p); a bullock which was a large grown ox, and was not only his father's property, but what his father designed and set apart for the service of Baal; and though it was his father's, yet having a divine warrant for it, it was sufficient for him to take it without his leave, and especially as it was designed for such an ill use:
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even the second bullock of seven years old; which, according to Hesiod (q) is in its prime and full strength at nine years old, and lives much longer. In Homer (r), one of five years old is said to be sacrificed: this further describes what he was to take, the second that stood in the stall of the bullocks, or that drew in the second row at plough, or the second in age and value, or the second that was set apart for the service of Baal; though the words may be rendered, "and the second bullock" (s); besides that of his father's, he was to take another, which perhaps belonged to the people, and was the second in birth or age with respect to the former, being seven years old; or, as the Targum is, that had been fatted seven years, and had been so long preparing for the sacrifice of Baal; which was as long as the tyranny of the Midianites over them, and was occasioned by the idolatry of the people of Israel; and such a bullock was ordered to be taken with respect to that, and to show that it would end with the sacrifice of this creature:
and throw down the altar of Baal that thy father hath; upon his ground, in some part of his possessions, and perhaps built at his own expense, though for public use:
and cut down the grove that is by it; or "about it", as the Vulgate Latin version; it being usual with the Heathens to plant groves near or around their altars and temples where religious worship was performed; partly to make them more pleasant and venerable, and partly for the commission of deeds which would not bear the light; or "over it", for they were commonly tall trees which grew over the altar they erected. Some render it, "upon it" (t), and understand by it an idol placed on it: so the Arabic version is,"cut down the female idol Asira (perhaps the same with Astarte), which is upon the same altar;''and so the Syriac version to the same purpose, which calls it the idol Estere, set upon the altar.
(p) "juvencum bovem", Drusius; "juvencum adultiorem", Junius & Tremellius. (q) Opera & dies, l. 2. ver. 54. 55. (r) Iliad. 2. ver. 403. & Iliad. 7. ver. 35. (s) "et juvencum alium", Tigurine version; "et alterum taurum", V. L. "et juvencum secundum", Pagninus, Montanus. (t) , Sept. "super illud", Montanus, Junius & Tremellius.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley1765 · Public DomainOn vv24–27There - On the top of the rock, as…
There - On the top of the rock, as is evident from ver. 26, where that which is here expressed only in general, is more particularly described. Jehovah-shalom - That is, the Lord's peace; the sign or witness of God's speaking peace to me, and to his people: or the place where he spake peace to me, when I expected nothing but destruction.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke1810 · Public DomainOn vv24–27Verse 24. Gideon built an altar - and called…
Verse 24. Gideon built an altar - and called it Jehovah-shalom] The words יהוה שלום Yehovah shalom signify The Lord is my peace, or The peace of Jehovah; and this name he gave the altar, in reference to what God had said, Jdg 6:23, Peace be unto thee, שלום לך shalom lecha, "Peace to thee;" which implied, not only a wish, but a prediction of the prosperous issue of the enterprise in which he was about to engage. It is likely that this is the altar which is mentioned in Jdg 6:26, and is spoken of here merely by anticipation.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson1811 · Public DomainOn vv25–27Jdg 6:25. The same night the Lord said unto…
Jdg 6:25. The same night the Lord said unto him — Most likely in a dream; Take the second bullock — Houbigant and some others suspect that there is a deficiency in the text here, as nothing is said of the first bullock. Perhaps he was to offer both bullocks, one for himself, and the other for the sins of the people whom he was to deliver. For, till sin was pardoned through sacrifice offered for it, no good was to be expected. Dr. Dodd, however, conjectures that there is a false reading in the Hebrew, and that פר השׁור, par-hasshor, which is the expression in the first clause, and is rendered, young bullock, has, by the mistake of transcribers, been written, פר השׁני, par hassheni, second bullock, in the next clause. He therefore proposes to render the passage, Take thy father’s young bullock, even the young bullock of seven years old; the Hebrew phrase, פר השׁור, par- hasshor, implying no more than the offspring of a bull. Perhaps what some commentators have observed is more fanciful than just, namely, “that as this bullock was calved when the oppression of the Midianites began, so it was now ordered to be sacrificed in token that the oppression should end with this bullock’s death.” Throw down the altar of Baal — Thus God commands Gideon to begin his heaven-appointed task with the destruction of the altar of Baal, the fatal source of Israel’s defection and punishment; and to expiate their crime by a sacrifice, in the place where they had rendered divine honours to that despicable deity of the Midianites. That thy father hath made — Which was in his ground, and perhaps erected at his expense, though it was for public use, as appears from Jdg 6:28. Cut down the grove planted by the altar for idolatrous uses, as the manner of idolaters was. That is by it — Or, upon it. Perhaps by אשׁרה, Asherah, which we translate grove, may be meant the image in the grove, and which was placed on the altar. This, Mr. Seldon conjectures, with great probability, was the image of Ashtaroth, or Astarte, for she was worshipped together with Baal. There could be no hope of deliverance till religion was reformed, with which God therefore orders Gideon to begin. This action of Gideon might seem injurious to his father’s authority; but God’s command was a sufficient warrant, and Gideon was now called to be the supreme magistrate, whereby he was made his father’s superior, and was authorized to root out all idolatry, and the instruments thereof.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes1834 · Public DomainOn vv24–27Gideon’s naming the altar which he built, in commemoration…
Gideon’s naming the altar which he built, in commemoration of the words of peace spoken by the Angel, is very similar to what we read of Abraham Gen 22:14, and of Moses (Exo 17:15, when he named the altar Jehovah-nissi).
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary1859 · Public DomainOn vv25–27And another, or "the second." Only one seems to…
And another, or "the second." Only one seems to have been sacrificed; (ver. 28.; Cajetan) though others think that the second bullock was designed for a peace-offering. (Bonfrere) Some infer that it had been fattened for Baal. Septuagint observe, that the first bullock or "calf was fattened:" but it does not appear for what purpose. (Calmet) --- Seven years, in memory of the duration of the slavery. (Menochius) --- Before that age, bulls were not deemed so fit for yoking. Hesiod would have them to be nine years old. --- Altar. We may render the Hebrew, "Cut down the idol which is upon the altar; or, Break in pieces the ashera," &c. This is the title of the idol of the grove, Astare or Asteroth. (Syriac and Arabic) The Septuagint is favourable to this explanation. (Calmet) --- But the groves themselves were to be cut down, where an altar of God was to be erected. It seems this altar and the grove belonged to Joas, who is hence supposed to have joined in the worship of Baal. If he did formerly, his eyes were now opened, and he boldly approved of the conduct of his son, (ver. 31.; Haydock) who had probably never been infected. (Menochius)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures1864 · Public DomainOn v25Gideon destroys the altar of Baal, and builds one…
Gideon destroys the altar of Baal, and builds one to Jehovah. His father, Joash, defends him against the idolaters. His new name, Jerubbaal
Jdg_6:25-32
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25And it came to pass the same [that] night, that the Lord [Jehovah] said unto him, Take thy father’s young [ox] bullock, even [and]16 the second bullock of seven years old, and throw [pull] down the altar of Baal that thy father hath, and cut down the grove [Asherah] that is by [upon] it: 26And build an altar unto the Lord [Jehovah] thy God upon the top of this rock [fortification], in the ordered place,17 and take the second bullock, and offer a burnt-sacrifice with the wood of the 27grove [Asherah] which thou shalt cut down. Then [And] Gideon took ten men of his servants, and did as the Lord [Jehovah] had said unto him: and so it was, because he feared his father’s household, and the men of the city, that he could not do it by day, that he did it by night.18 28And when the men of the city arose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was cast down, and the grove [Asherah] was cut down that was by [upon] it, and the second bullock was offered upon the altar that was built. 29And they said one to another, who hath done this thing? And when [omit: when] they inquired and asked [searched], [and] they said, Gideon the son of Joash hath done this thing. 30Then the men of the city said unto Joash, Bring out thy son, that he may die: because he hath cast down the altar of Baal, and because he hath cut down the grove [Asherah] that was by 31[upon] it. And Joash said unto all that stood against [about] him, Will ye plead [contend] for Baal? will ye save him? he that will plead [contendeth] for him, let him be put to death whilst it is yet morning;19 if he be a god, let him plead [contend] for himself, because one [he] hath cast down his altar. 32Therefore on that day he [they] called him Jerubbaal, saying, Let Baal plead [contend] against him, because he hath thrown down his altar.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL
[1 Jdg_6:25.—Bertheau and Wordsworth also find two bullocks in the text. “The original text,” says the latter, “seems clearly to speak of two bullocks, and the ancient versions appear to distinguish them (see Sept., Vulg., Syriac, Arabic).” De Wette and Bunsen, too, render “and,” not “even.” Keil argues, that “if God had commanded Gideon to take two bullocks, He would surely also have told him what he was to do with both.” But does He not tell him plainly enough in the words, “and pull down the altar of Baal?” See the commentary, below.—Tr.]
[2 Jdg_6:26.—בַּמַּצֲרָכָה. Our author’s translation of this word, “on the forward edge,” is too precarious to allow of its introduction into the text. It probably means: “with the arrangement of wood” (cf. below). On the use of בְּ in this sense, see Ges. Lex., s. v., B. 2, a.—Tr.]
[3 Jdg_6:27.—The E. V. is singularly awkward here. Dr. Cassel: “and as, on account of the house of his father and the men of the city, he feared to do it by day, he did it by night.”—Tr.]
[4 Jdg_6:31.—Dr. Cassel translates the foregoing clause thus: “he that contendeth for him, let him die! Wait till morning;” etc. Keil interprets similarly.—Tr.]
EXEGETICAL AND DOCTRINAL
Jdg_6:25. And it came to pass that night. “Ye have honored false gods instead of the eternal God,” the prophet had said above, “and therefore are come under the yoke.” For apart from its God, the maintenance of Israel’s nationality is an unnecessary thing. If they attach themselves to the gods of the nations, they must also wear their fetters. Only when they believe the Eternal is freedom either necessary or possible. The war against the oppressors, must begin against the gods of the oppressors. Gideon, fully convinced of the truth of Israel’s God, cannot summon to battle against the enemy, while an altar of Baal stands in his father’s own village. Israel’s watchword in every contest is, “God with us;” but before that word can kindle the hearts of the people, it must have been preceded by another—“Down with Baal!” This truth God himself enunciates in the valiant soul of Gideon. For now, being wholly filled with divine fire, he will delay no longer. But, only he who fears not Baal will find confidence among the people. The vigorous blows of his axe against the Asherah are the clearest proofs of his own faith. Such a faith kindles faith. Accordingly, Gideon must begin the liberation of Israel in his own house. Whoever will be truly free, must commence with himself and by his own fire-side—that is truth for all ages.
Take the ox-bullock, etc. Under divine inspiration, Gideon is as energetic as he is prudent. He neither delays, nor hastens overmuch. He chooses night for what he has to do, not from cowardice, but to insure a successful issue. By day, an outcry and contest would be inevitable, and would terrify the undecided. An accomplished fact makes an impression, and gives courage. His task is a twofold one: he must first tear down, then build up. The abominations of Baal must be thrown down. The altars of Baal, as the superior sun-god, were located on heights or elevated situations. They were built of stone, sometimes also of wood or earth (2Ki_23:15), and were of considerable massiveness. Erected upon them, “planted” (לֹאתִפַּע, Deu_16:21), stood a tree, or trunk of a tree, covered with all manner of symbols. This was consecrated to Astarte, the fruitful, subordinate night-goddess. Such an image was that of Artemis in Ephesus, black (like the earth), fastened to the ground, and full about the breasts, to symbolize the fostering love of the earth. In other places, where the Greeks met with similar figures, Sparta, Byzantium, and elsewhere (cf. Gerhard, Griech. Mythol. § 332, 4, vol. i. p. 343), they were dedicated to Artemis Orthia, or Orthosia. In this name (ὀρθός, straight), that of the Asherah (from אַשֵׁר, to be straight) was long since recognized (cf. Zorn, Biblioth. Antiquar., p. 383). Asherah was the straight and erect idol of Astarte; the symbol of her sensual attributes. Its phallic character made it the object of utter abhorrence and detestation to the pure and chaste worship of Jehovah. And in truth the worship at Sparta (Paus. iii. 16, 7) did not differ essentially from that on Mt. Carmel (1Ki_18:28). This idol was a common ornament of the altars of Baal,20 by means of which these represented the worship of nature in its completeness. Hence it is, that we find Baal and Astarte joined together, as well as Baal and Asherah. Accordingly, Asherah and Astarte are not indeed altogether identical, as was formerly supposed; but neither are they, as Movers thought (Phoeniz. i. 561, etc.), different divinities. Asherah was the Astarte Orthia, the image which expressed the ideas represented by the goddess; but it was not, and need not be, the only image of the goddess. Without adducing here the many passages of Scripture in which Asherah and Astarte occur, the foregoing observations may suffice to explain every one of them. It will be found, upon reviewing them, that while persons could indeed worship Astarte, it was only Asherah which they could make for themselves, and again destroy. In form and idea, Baal and Astarte presented the perfect contrast to the living and creative God. Gideon, therefore, if he is to build up Israel anew, must begin with the overthrow of their idols. But this was not so slight an undertaking as to be within his own sole powers of execution. He needs men and carts for the purpose. He must wrench the altar of Baal out of its grooves, and throw it down; tear out the Asherah, and cut it to pieces. In their place (this is expressed by the הַוֶּה, “this,” of Jdg_6:26), he is to erect an altar to the Eternal God. For this he cannot use the polluted fragments of the altar of Baal. He must bring pure earth and stones with him, out of which to construct it. Hence he uses ten servants to assist him, and a cart.
Take the ox-bullock which belongs to thy father, etc. The altar of Baal had been erected on his father’s estate. The guilt of his father’s house must be first atoned for. Therefore his cattle are to be taken. פַּר הַשּׁוֹר, ox-bullock, is not a young bullock, and does not answer to בֶּו בָּקָר. It is rather the first bullock of the herd, the “leader;” for even the second, being seven years old, is no longer young. Hesiod advises agriculturists to provide themselves two plough-bullocks of nine years old (Works and Days, 447). In Homer, bullocks of five years are offered and slaughtered (Il. ii. 403; Odyss. xix. 420). Down to the present day, the bullock of the plain of Jezreel and the Kishon surpasses, in size and strength, the same animal in the southern parts of the land (cf. Ritter, xvi. 703). This first bullock, this head of the herd, answers in a sense to the head of the family, which is Joash; it must help to destroy the altar which belongs to the latter. But as Gideon is not simply to destroy, but also to build up, the second bullock must also be taken, to be offered upon the new altar, in a fire made of the wood of the Asherah. The flames for which the idol must furnish the material—and we may thence infer how considerable a log of wood it was,—must serve to present an offering to the Eternal God.21
Jdg_6:26-29. On the top of the fortification, on the forward edge, עַל רֹאשׁ הַפָּעוֹז: not the rock, near which God first appeared to Gideon. It was stated at the outset, that Israel made themselves grottoes, caves, and fortifications against the enemy. Some such place of protection and defense we are here to understand by the term מצוֹז. Upon this, the altar of Baal, the helper who could not help, had reared itself. In its place, an altar of the true Helper, the Eternal God, was now built, and placed בַּמַּצַרָכָה., on the forward edge. This word occurs repeatedly in the first book of Samuel, in the sense of “battle-array.” It answers to the Latin acies, and indicates that attitude of armies in which they turn their offensive sides toward each other; so that we are told (1Sa_17:21) that Israel and the Philistines had arranged themselves מַצֲרָכָה לִקְרַאת מַצֲרָכָה. Now, as acies came to signify battle-array because of the sharp side which this presented, so מַצֲרָכָה, as here used of the fortification, can only signify its forward edge.22 The place where Gideon had to work was within the jurisdiction of Joash, but at some distance from the city, since otherwise the inhabitants would scarcely have remained ignorant of his proceedings till the next morning.
Jdg_6:30. And the men of the city said unto Joash. Although the altar belonged to Joash, the people of the city nevertheless think themselves entitled to sit in judgment on the insult offered to Baal. Baal worshippers are not tolerant. The disposition of Joash however, seems even before this to have been similar to that of Gideon. For when it is said that Gideon feared to do his work by day, among all those whom he considers, his father is not mentioned, though he must be the most directly concerned. The same inference may be drawn from the energetic and ironical answer which he gives the men of the city. There is nothing to support Bertheau’s conjecture that Joash held the office of a judge. He is the head of the family; as such, he is required to deliver up Gideon, guilty of crime towards Baal. Joash is not merely indisposed to do this, but even threatens to use violence against any one who takes the cause of Baal upon himself. A few such forcible words were enough to quiet the people of the city. Israel had fallen into such deep torpidity and self-oblivion, that their enemies dared to demand of a father the life of his son, because he had done that which it was the duty of every Israelite to do. The first energetic resistance changes the position of parties, and puts the enemy to flight.
Jdg_6:31. And Joash said, Will ye contend for Baal? In a similar manner,23 Lucian ridicules the heathenism of his day, by representing Jupiter as laughed at for letting the sacriligious thieves depart from Olympia, untouched by his thunderbolts, although they had cut from his statue the golden locks of hairs, each of which weighed six minæ (in Jupiter Tragoedus). It lies in the nature of heathenism to identify God and the symbol which represents Him, since in general whatever testifies of God, every sensible manifestation of Deity, is made Deity itself by it. Joash ridicules the idea of his heathen neighbors, that the destruction of his altar is an insult to Baal. On the principles of heathenism, Baal’s protection of his altar, or the contrary, will demonstrate whether he is or is not. If he is able to take care of his own altar, Joash mockingly argues, it is an insult for another to undertake it for him. In this case, not he who injures, but he who would defend his altar, denies his deity. The latter first deserves to die. Many expositors have connected צַד חַבֹּקֶר, “till morning,” with יו·מת, “let him die,” which is against the sense of Joash’s speech. As to the destroyer of the altar, he says, we know not yet whether he has deserved death; wait till morning, and let us see whether Baal himself will do anything. But he who would take Baal’s place, and put the other to death, he deserves punishment at once; for he denies that Baal has any power at all, and by consequence that he exists. Wait till morning, if he be a god, he will contend for himself, because he hath cast down his altar. Joash denies that the altar belonged to him, although Jdg_6:25 states that it did. The altar, he says, belongs to its god: let him see to it. The result of these words must have been, to make it evident to the men of the city that Joash and his house would have nothing more to do with Baal. For this they knew full well, that their Baal would do nothing to Gideon. It is one of the characteristic illusions of heathenism in all ages, that it does not itself believe in that for which it spends its zeal.
Jdg_6:32. And at that time they named him Jerubbaal, that is, Baal will contend with him, for he hath thrown down his altar. Why expositors have not been content with this significant explanation, it is impossible to see.24 It sets forth the utter impotence of Baal, and the mockery which it excited. Had Gideon been named “Contender with Baal,” it would have implied the existence of Baal. But if he was called, “Baal will contend with him, avenge himself on him,” and thus by his life, presence, and prosperity, strikingly manifested the impotence of the idol-god, who could not take vengeance on him, then his name itself was full of the triumph of the Israelitish spirit over its opponents. Baal can do nothing, Baal will do nothing, when his altars are overthrown. Baal is not: Israel has no occasion to fear. The superstition that he will avenge himself on his enemies, is idle. Of that, Jerubbaal affords living proof. In vain did Baal’s servants wait for vengeance to overtake Gideon—it came not; the hero only becomes greater and more triumphant. The name is therefore of greater ethical significance, than has been generally supposed. This fact secured its perpetuation and popular use. Even believers in the eternal God are deeply imbued with superstitious fear of Baal, which forbids them to do anything against him. How idle this fear is, Gideon shows. Samuel in his farewell address speaks of Gideon as Jerubbaal (1Sa_12:11); while Joab, speaking of Abimelech, calls him “son of Jerubbosheth” (2Sa_11:21). בּשֶׁת is a term of reproach for Baal (Hos_9:10).25 Any connection between the name Jerubbaal and that of a god Jaribolos, discovered on Palmyrene inscriptions, is not to be thought of. First, for the self-evident reason, that no heathen god can possibly be called Jerubbaal; and secondly, because the like-sounding Jar can be better explained from יָרֵחַ, the moon, thus suggesting a moon-baal (cf. Corpus Insc. Grœc. iii. n. 4502, etc.; Ritter, xvii. 1531, etc.). It is interesting to notice that Gideon’s proper name, גּדְעוֹן, appropriately expresses the act with which he began his career. נָדַצ is equivalent to the Latin caedere, to fell. Deu_7:5 says: “Their altars ye shall throw down, .… their asherahs ye shall fell (תְּגַדֵּעוּן, cf. Deu_12:3. The same word is used (2Ch_14:2; 2Ch_31:1) of the felling of the Asherah, and Isa_9:9, of the felling of trees. Gideon, therefore, is the Feller, (Cæsar).
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
After the miracle of his election, Gideon enters on his calling. Othniel begins his official career in battle, Gideon in his own house. He must test at home his courage against foes abroad. Before he can proclaim the call of God against the enemies of Israel, who are inflicted on account of the prevalent idolatry, he must throw down the altar of Baal in his father’s house. The most difficult battle is to be fought first. Nearest neighbors are the worst adversaries. But he dares it because he believes God, and wins. So, when preachers of the gospel reap no fruit and gain no victory, it is often because they have not yet overthrown the altars in their own houses. The road to the hearts of the congregation, is over the ruins of the minister’s own Baal.—Starke: Christian friend, thou also hast a Baal in thine own heart, namely, evil concupiscence. Wilt thou please the Lord, first tear that idol down.
But Gideon must not merely tear down, but also build up; not only destroy the old altar, but also sacrifice on the new. Tearing down is of itself no proof of devotion; for an enemy’s enemy is not always a friend. The spirit that only denies, is an evil spirit. Divine truth is positive. Building involves confession; hence, to build up (edify) is to proclaim our confession and to preach the gospel of Him who is Yea and Amen. So did the Apostle not merely undermine the idolatry of Diana, but build up the church in Ephesus. Boniface, the Apostle of the Germans, not only cut down the oaks of heathenism, but founded churches. All churches are Gideon-altars, dedicated to Him who overthrew death, that He might build up the New Jerusalem.—Starke: He who would truly reform, must not only abolish, but put something better in its place.
Gideon’s sacrifice was to be consumed by the wood of the idol-image. The sole use which can be made of wooden gods, is to kindle a sacrifice to the true God. The wood was not unholy, but only the heart that fashioned it into an idol-image. The mountains on which the people worshipped were not unholy, but only the people who erected idols upon them. All sacrificial flames arise from the wood of idols previously worshipped. So the Apostle consumed his zeal as persecutor in the burning zeal of love. When the heart burns with longings after its Saviour, the flames consume the worldly idols which it formerly served. When prayer rises like the smoke of sacrifice, it springs from penitence in which old sins are burned to ashes.
Gideon is obedient to every direction, and is crowned with success. Notwithstanding apparent danger, obedience to God conducts only to happy issues. The most painful injunction is laid on Abraham; he obeys, and it turns to salvation. The enemies seek to slay Gideon; but they are sent home with derision. Gideon not only threw down the altar in his father’s house, but also won his father’s heart for God. So, confession of Christ often draws after it the hearts of parents. It is salvation, even if the first be last. However late, if at last men only come to God!—Lisco: The father had evidently derived new courage from his son’s bold exploit of faith, and declares war to the idolaters, if they touch his son.—Gerlach: The bold deed, of the son inspired the father also with new faith and courage. Hence, in this strife, Joash dared to judge as faith demanded.
And Gideon was called Jerubbaal. The hero is the wonderful type of the militant church: militant, that is, against unbelief, not engaged in internal warfare. His name proclaimed that Baal is nothing and can do nothing; but that God’s word is irresistable. Hence, it is a symbol of encouragement for all who confess the truth. He who fears and hesitates, does not love; but for him who has courage, Baal is vanished. Gideon threw down his altar, and built another for God, not for the stones’ sake, but for Israel’s benefit. Every Christian is a Jerubbaal, so long as instead of self-righteousness, he gives a place in his heart to the Cross. Thus, many in our days, who have more fear of man than courage in God, are put to shame by Jerubbaal. They exercise discretion, regard their position, look to their income, defer to superiors, and wish to please all,—but only he who seeks to please God alone, loses nothing and gains all.—Starke: As names given to men in memory of their good deeds are an honor to them, so to their adversaries they are a disgrace.—Gerlach: Henceforth the life and well-being of Gideon became an actual proof of the nothingness of idolatry; hence he receives the name Jerubbaal from the mouth of his father.
[Bp. Hall: The wood of Baal’s grove must be used to burn a sacrifice unto God. When it was once cut down, God’s detestation and their danger ceased. The good creatures of God that have been profaned to idolatry, may, in a change of their use, be employed to the holy service of their Maker.—Wordsworth: The Parthenons and Pantheons of heathen antiquity have been consecrated into Basilicas and Churches of Christ.—Henry: Gidson, as a type of Christ, mast first save his people from their sins, then from their enemies.—The same: It is good to appear for God when we are called to it, though there he few or none to second us, because God can incline the hearts of those to stand by us, from whom we little expect it.—TR.
Footnotes:
[16][Jdg_6:25.—Bertheau and Wordsworth also find two bullocks in the text. “The original text,” says the latter, “seems clearly to speak of two bullocks, and the ancient versions appear to distinguish them (see Sept., Vulg., Syriac, Arabic).” De Wette and Bunsen, too, render “and,” not “even.” Keil argues, that “if God had commanded Gideon to take two bullocks, He would surely also have told him what he was to do with both.” But does He not tell him plainly enough in the words, “and pull down the altar of Baal?” See the commentary, below.—Tr.]
[17][Jdg_6:26.—בַּמַּצֲרָכָה. Our author’s translation of this word, “on the forward edge,” is too precarious to allow of its introduction into the text. It probably means: “with the arrangement of wood” (cf. below). On the use of בְּ in this sense, see Ges. Lex., s. v., B. 2, a.—Tr.]
[18][Jdg_6:27.—The E. V. is singularly awkward here. Dr. Cassel: “and as, on account of the house of his father and the men of the city, he feared to do it by day, he did it by night.”—Tr.]
[19][Jdg_6:31.—Dr. Cassel translates the foregoing clause thus: “he that contendeth for him, let him die! Wait till morning;” etc. Keil interprets similarly.—Tr.]
[21][Wordsworth: “Gideon, though not a priest, was made a priest for the occasion—as Manoah afterwards was (Jdg_13:19)—by the special command or God, who shows his divine independence and sovereign authority by making priests of whom he will, and by ordering altars to be built where he will. Cf. Hengst., Pentateuch, ii: 48.”—TR.]
[22][Keil; “בַּמַּצֲרָכָה, ‘with the preparation (zurüstung).’ The explanation of this word is doubtful. Since בָּבָח is used (1Ki_15:22) with בְּ of the building material, Studer and Bertheau understand מַצֲרָכָה of the materials of the overthrown Baal-altar, out of which Gideon was to build the altar to Jehovah—Studer applying the word more particularly to the stone of the altar itself, Bertheau to the materials, especially the pieces of wood, lying on the altar, ready to be used in offering sacrifices. But they are certainly wrong; for neither does מַצֲרָכָה mean building material or pieces of wood, nor does the definite article, which here precedes it, point to the altar of Baal. The verb צָרַדְ occurs not only quite frequently of the arrangement of the wood upon the altar (Gen_22:9; Lev_1:7, and elsewhere), but also of the preparation of the altar for the sacrifice (Num_23:4). Accordingly, מַצֲרָכָה can scarcely be understood otherwise than of the preparation of the altar to be built for the sacrificial action, in the sense: ‘Build the altar with the preparation (equipment) required for the sacrifice.’ According to what follows, this preparation consisted in piling up the wood of the Asherah on the altar to consume the burnt-offering of Gideon.”—Tr.]
[23]The same idea underlies the Jewish legends of Abraham’s destruction of the idols in his father’s house. Cf. Beer, Leben Abraham’s, Leipzig, 1869, p. 10.
[24]Keil has come back to it.
[25]On the names Ishbosheth and Mephibosheth, compare for the present my article on Ishbosheth in Herzog’s Realencykl. vii:83, where, however, the printer has erroneously put קרי מבצל for מריב בצל.
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown1871 · Public DomainOn vv24–25it came to pass the same night, that the…
it came to pass the same night, that the Lord said unto him--The transaction in which Gideon is here described as engaged was not entered on till the night after the vision.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon1874 · Public DomainOn vv24–2724. Jehovah-shalom — That is, Jehovah is peace. He…
24. Jehovah-shalom — That is, Jehovah is peace. He erected this altar both in gratitude to God for his mercy in remembering Israel, and as a memorial and witness of the blessed peace which was in that spot granted unto him. That revelation to Gideon was a sign and pledge that God was about to remove the rod of his anger from Israel, and be again at peace with them. That altar, with its sacred associations, long remained, and when this book of Judges was written, it was yet in Ophrah of the Abi-ezrites, still called by its old name. This altar must not be confounded with the one which Gideon was commanded to build on the top of the stronghold, (Jdg_6:26,) in the place of the altar of Baal.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges1878 · Public DomainOn vv24–2724. built an altar there] where the Deity had…
24. built an altar there] where the Deity had appeared; the patriarchs observed this custom, see Gen_12:7; Gen_26:25; Gen_35:1. The altar with its name Jehovah is peace, i.e. well-disposed, commemorated the revelation; cf. the naming of an altar in Gen_33:20; Gen_35:7, Exo_17:15 (all E). For Kittel’s interpretation of the episode see on Jdg_13:19. Perhaps Gideon’s experience conveyed to his mind a new religious idea. According to primitive belief, the Deity dwelt in a sacred tree or stone; but not in the terebinth or rock at Ophrah; the Messenger of Jehovah has no such dwelling; He comes as a traveller from some region that no one knows. Whether the burning of the sacrifice marked a change in religious practice is more doubtful.
The foregoing narrative presents several difficulties. The inconsistent use of Jehovah in Jdg_6:14; Jdg_6:16 may be accounted for by a lapse from strict dramatic fitness on the part of the writer; but the expressions in Jdg_6:14; Jdg_6:16-17 which imply that Gideon recognized the Angel before Jdg_6:22, cannot perhaps be explained in this way. It has been suggested (1) that these expressions have been inserted by a later editor to emphasize from the first the divine nature of Gideon’s Visitor and the sacrificial character of the meal; or (2) that the confusion is due to a double version, Jdg_6:14 b do not I send thee, Jdg_6:16-17 b being assigned to E, the rest belonging to J. But the distinction between the sources cannot be made out with much success. It is possible to explain the difficulty in Jdg_6:17 b in the way attempted in the note; but we must allow that the present form of the narrative cannot be original.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers1878 · Public DomainOn vv24–27(24) Built an altar.—Altars, like the altar Ed (Jos_22:34),…
(24) Built an altar.—Altars, like the altar Ed (Jos_22:34), built by the Transjordanic tribes, were not always intended for purposes of sacrifices, but to witness some great event or Divine appearance (Gen_31:48, Gen_26:25; Exo_17:15).
Jehovah-shalom.—“The Lord is peace.” We find similar names in Jehovah-jireh, “the Lord will provide” (Gen_22:14); Jehovah-nissi, “the Lord my banner” (Exo_17:15); and Jehovah-tsidkenn, “the Lord our righteousness” (Jer_23:6). (Comp. Eze_48:35.) See Pearson on the Creed, Art. 2.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary1880 · Public DomainOn vv24–27For naming altars built in commemoration of particular events…
For naming altars built in commemoration of particular events Gen_22:14 Gen_31:47-49 Gen_33:20 Jos_22:34, etc.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator1887 · Public DomainOn v25Throw down the altar of Baal.
Jdg_6:25-32
Throw down the altar of Baal.
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Baals altar destroyed
1. Observe Gods command to Gideon. He had been hitherto protesting against the idolatry of his family and country by a life of opposition, inasmuch as it was a life of humble, pious fear, and love of Jehovah, and of the worship of Him as the true God. But now he is commanded to perform an act of opposition. Gideon is to destroy Baals altar before he builds Gods; the same altar will not do: God will have no polluted sacrifice; if there is any connection at all between the two, it shall be only this, that the wood of Baals grove shall be made fuel to burn the sacrifice on Jehovahs altar. Now may not this act of Gideons, under the Old Testament dispensation, be made to speak the language of the New? No man can serve two masters; ye cannot serve God and Mammon, any more than God and Baal. But it is a noble act, worthy of the imitator of Gideon, to make the things which were before an occasion of falling the instruments of doing good, by putting them to a sanctified use; making them subservient to the furtherance of the gospel, instead of fostering the lust of the eye and the pride of life, as they did before. Whatever has been the accompaniment of your idol-worship, cut it down, and apply it to a holy purpose; make it fuel for the altar of God. But where shall Gideon build the altar of God? Is it to stand in the place of Baals? No; as if this were a contamination, the thing is forbidden: Build an altar unto the Lord upon the top of this rock. The reason was obvious. That rock was the place where the angel of the covenant had met him. That rock was the place on which the miracle had been wrought, to show the Godhead of Him that wrought it and to confirm the faith of him who witnessed it. That rock was the place from whence ascended the sacrifice which the angel had made acceptable by ascending with it. That rock had already witnessed the manifestations of God to Gideon; and there was written, as it were, upon it, Jehovah-shalom.
2. Observe Gideons prompt obedience to Gods command. He seems to have begun the destruction of idolatry that very night in which God had given the command. Oh, the sad effects of procrastination in matters which respect the overthrow of the idols of the heart and the dedication of the heart to God! How is it that when the command of God is proclaimed to do this there is such hesitation and delay? It is not so much from a determination not to obey it at all as from a fallacious hope of being better able to comply with it at some other time, which time is constantly keeping its distance in proportion as life itself advances.
3. We notice the influence of Gideons character and conduct over those who were in his service: Gideon took ten men of his servants, and did as the Lord said unto him. It seems that Gideon had not only kept himself from the defilement of his countrys idolatry, but that he had used his influence and authority in endeavouring to preserve his servants from it also; and now, when he has to perform a work beyond his own strength--a work in which not one man in his fathers house, nor in all Israel, can be found to help him--the hearts of his own ten servants are made willing to unite with him, and they give him a proof on which he can depend that his counsel and example have had a proper effect by assisting him at the risk of their lives. Here, then, is a point of Gideons character which deserves the imitation of every master of a family. Gideon keeps his own servants from bowing the knee to Baal. He instructs them in the knowledge of the true God. His authority is exercised for the best of purposes.
4. Observe how professing Christians may often be put to confusion and shame by a comparison with those very idolaters whose ignorance appears so pitiable in their sight. Here is a god made of a log of wood or a block of stone; it is a lifeless and senseless image: and yet his worshippers rise up early in the morning to worship him. See how diligent they are in his service, how zealous for his honour, how fervent in their devotions! Compare that god with our God, and then compare those worshippers with ourselves.
5. Observe how the enmity of the carnal heart shows itself when any effort is made for promoting the worship and glory of God. The men of the city said unto Joash, Bring out thy son, that he may die: because he hath cast down the altar of Baal. As long as religion remains a dead letter, a mere matter of profession devoid of practice, the world will not cry out against it. But when the decisive part which the Christian takes shows the difference which exists between him and others as to motive and principle; when his life is seen to be a constant reproach to theirs, and his love for God a contrast to their love for mammon; when Baals altar is cast down, and Gods altar built; then the carnal mind becomes a spirit of persecution; then a mans foes become those of his own household; and because he is not content to think or speak about religion merely, but is active enough to do something for the cause, he is made to suffer for it. Hence the calumny which a zealous Christian undergoes; hence all the misconstruction put upon his good works; hence all the evil motives charged upon him, and all the hard speeches which are spoken against him. Lastly, observe that God can make the wrath of man to praise Him, and the remainder of wrath He can restrain. It might have been supposed that Joash, whose bullock had been slain and whose altar had been thrown down, would have been more enraged than the rest. But, lo! he takes the part of the accused. It seems as if he had been secretly influenced by his sons pious example; and perhaps he was struggling with the convictions of his own mind upon the folly and wickedness of his idolatry when the conduct of these men brought him at once to the point. Gideon commits his cause to God; and God not only takes care of the cause, but of Gideon. And so it is, and always shall be, with the Christian who is called forth to fight the battles of the Lord. He shall be able, in the strength of his Master, to put to flight all who oppose his progress. (F. Elwin.)
The way to deal with public abuses
May not we all learn from what is here recorded not to shrink from boldly and promptly assailing and seeking to uproot all moral evils, which have already become chronic, or threaten ere long to become so. Half measures, in regard to such matters as those to which we refer, never succeed. The more thoroughly the iron will of a Cromwell combines with the sterling spirituality of a John the better fitted is the reformer for his difficult and delicate task. It will never do for one in his circumstances to act in a spirit of compromise, where truth and principle demand the prompt, vigorous, and unsparing application of the sledge-hammer and the axe. But if firmness and decision are indispensable in dealing with public abuses, whether in Church or State, they are no less indispensable in dealing with the corruption of our own hearts and any evil habits which we may have contracted. It is peculiarly necessary that we set ourselves resolutely and vigorously to the work of self-reformation--a work which, while it must always take the precedence of every other kind of rectification, can never succeed if attempted in our own strength. Cheered and sustained by the Divine promise, so freely and largely given to those who are sincere in their desire to reform their own hearts and lives, let every one apply the pruning-knife with nerve and determination to the overgrowth of what is false in principle or vicious in practice, and lop it off without remorse (Mar_9:43-48). Another lesson to be derived from Gideons conduct on this occasion is the duty of obeying the commands of God with unquestioning promptitude. Too rash and impetuous we may be, but we can never be too prompt. Instructive as the example of Gideon is, still more so is that of his Master and our Exemplar who, when the bitter cup of retribution due to us was put into His hand and He was satisfied that it was indeed the will of His Father that He should drink it, drank it to the very dregs. (W. W. Duncan, M. A.)
The valorous assault
I. Observe Gods command to Gideon.
1. Gideon is commanded to destroy the altar of Baal. God or Baal--not God and Baal was the point to be settled before any deliverance could be expected. Now, throw New Testament light upon this, and what do we learn? The lesson is trumpet-tongued. No compromise--no halting between two opinions--is the language of the command. God hates a divided heart. He will not endure two altars. He will give no deliverance as long as Baals altar stands. No sacrifice, however costly, is, or can be, accepted, which is offered upon the polluted altar of mans corrupt heart. A new altar must be built up--an altar of Gods workmanship--of God, and for God, that is the only altar which will sanctify an acceptable gift. Any attempt to worship at Jehovahs altar on one day in seven, and to worship at the altar of Baal or Mammon on the other six days of the week, is not only vain, but suicidal. God will have a new heart, and a whole heart, or none.
2. The next thing Gideon was commanded to do was to cut down Baals grove and make it fuel for the altar of God. Groves were not idolatrous--there was no harm in them--but they were occasions of sin, How many had been ruined, and ruined for ever, under the foliage of those groves! Perversion of natures growth to the dishonour of natures God! Many would plead for the harmless trees who would condemn both: Baal and his idolatrous worship. But God knows the heart of the sinner better than he knows it himself; and therefore He says, Cut down the grove. Cut down the occasion of sin. Touch not, taste not, handle not that which causes men to perish with the using. Avoid the spot, shun the places, where Satans seat is. Do more than this! God commanded Gideon to offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the grove. This was turning the idolatrous grove to a good purpose. Let there be no waste--no useless destruction. Money, health, time, influence, example, all, once expended for Baal, now let them all be as fuel for the altar of God.
3. The third thing God commanded Gideon to do was to build an altar unto the Lord his God. But where was this altar to be reared? Was it to stand on the spot whereon Baals altar stood? No! the place is polluted. On no unhallowed spot must this altar be raised. Build it, said the Lord, upon the top of this rock, in the ordered place. Gideon must build it upon the rock already consecrated by the wondrous doings thereon of the angel of the covenant. May we not say of this rock what Paul said of the smitten rock in the wilderness, That rock was Christ. He is indeed both altar and rock--yea, He is Himself the sacrifice. Standing on Him alone as our Rock, we ever hear the words, Peace be unto thee; fear not: thou shalt riot die. He only is the true Rock--higher than we--far above the flood which sweeps the impenitent into the depths of woe. He, too, only is the Rock on which we can with safety place the altar of our hearts. The old foundation will not do--it is polluted--it is defiling. No altar, no sacrifice will God accept if it be offered upon the site of Baals altar. Behold, I make all things new--this is our hope to come. This must be the rule of our faith and practice now.
II. And now we come to Gideons obedience.
1. His obedience was prompt. He did not give himself time to take counsel of his fears. He did it by night, lest he should be opposed and hindered. He had no fear on account of detection. He must have known that his deed would be proclaimed over the whole nation. His aim was to do the work out of hand, and leave the consequences with God. Duty was his, events were Gods. Noble example. Half the shipwrecks of faith would be escaped were it followed. Procrastination is the bane of true godliness.
2. We observe, however, that Gideons obedience was attended with personal danger. He needed courage and strong faith. Doubtless he sought for grace equal to that night of danger whence alone all strength cometh. The followers of Baal--the men of the city--were zealous for the worship of Baal. If idolaters be zealous for the honour of Baal, he will be no less zealous for the honour and glory of God. Now, it is just this zeal and this courage, in the face of danger and difficulties, which prove the character of the true Christian. If a man will venture nothing for Christ he is not worthy of Him. Ah, we need a Gideon to rise up in Israel! Rather we need that all the people of God should be as zealous for the true God, for His Word, for His day, for His worship, as idolaters are for the worship of Baal.
3. Mark, also, that Gideons obedience was eminently successful and strikingly rewarded. He was for God, and God was for him. The Lord made his way prosperous. Gideons ten servants did their work well. He was not left to do all the work himself. Doubtless they caught their masters spirit and zeal. It is astonishing how much influence for good or evil every master exercises over his own household. Eyes are upon him when he leasts suspects it. But Gideon was defended by one who of all others seemed pledged to oppose him. His father ceased to be an idolater that very night. Perhaps the bravery of his son, or his steady and consistent piety and zeal, convinced him of his sin, or perhaps the impotency of Baal to save himself was conclusive logic to his mind. Who can tell how many fathers and mothers in Israel, how many sons and daughters, relatives and friends, would be converted and saved, were Christian men and women as faithful to their God as was Gideon? You think to conciliate the world by concession, by connivance at their sinful principles and customs. Alas! your inconsistency only leads them to despise you. Be consistent, be uncompromising in serving the Lord; be courageous--obey God rather than man, and God will honour you, as he Has honoured many, and made them instruments in winning father and mother, brothers and sisters, to Christ. (G. A. Rogers, M. A.)
On the destruction of idols
The idolatrous altar and false worship of ones own, clan, of ones own family--these need courage to overturn, and more than courage--a ripeness of time and a Divine call. A man must be sure of himself and his motives, for one thing, before he takes upon him to be the correcter of errors that have secured truth to his fathers and are maintained by his friends. Suppose people are actually worshipping a false god--a world-power which has long held rule among them. If one would act the part of iconoclast the question is, by what right? Is he himself clear of illusion and idolatry? Has he a better system to put in place of the old? He may be acting in mere bravado and self-display; flourishing opinions which have less sincerity than those which he assails. There were men in Israel who had no commission and could have claimed no right to throw down Baals altar, and taking upon them such a deed would have had short shrift at the hands of the people of Ophrah. And so there are plenty among us who, if they set up to be judges of their fellow-men and of beliefs which they call false, even when these are false, deserve simply to be put down with a strong hand. There are voices, professing to be those of zealous reformers, whose every word and tone are insults. The men need to go and learn the first lessons of truth, modesty, and earnestness. And this principle applies all round--to many who assail modern errors as well as to many who assail established beliefs. On the one hand are men anxious to uphold the true faith. It is well. But anxiety and the best of motives do not qualify them to attack science, to denounce all rationalism as godless. We want defenders of the faith who have a Divine calling to the task in the way of long study and a heavenly fairness of mind, so that they shall not offend and hurt religion more by their ignorant vehemence than they help it by their zeal. On the other hand, by what authority do they speak who sneer at the ignorance of faith and would fain demolish the altars of the world? It is no slight equipment that is needed. Fluent sarcasm, confident worldliness, even a large acquaintance with the dogmas of science, wilt not suffice. A man needs to prove himself a wise and humane thinker; he needs to know by experience and deep sympathy those perpetual wants of our race which Christ knew and met to the uttermost. (R. A. Watson, M. A.)
Reform at home
In Jerusalem every man sweeps before his own door--at least it is said that he does. If he doesnt, I doubt if any one else does it for him. Here in London the same thing was required of us until a very recent date. If a fall of snow came, say before January, 1892, every man was required by law to sweep in front of his own door, and in the sweeping he was to go as far as the outer edge of the footpath; so that what we know as a proverb in relation to Jerusalem we have practised as a fact in relation to London. But I suppose that most of you will at once understand that the Jerusalem door-front sweeping is only another way of saying that all reform should begin at home; and used in that sense the saying is expressive and suggestive. It is in this sense that I use the text.
I. Reform at home should be preached to nations. These are days of rapid travel and national interchange. We visit all the world, and all the world visits us. This enables us to see the excellences and the defects of our neighbours; and I do not think that Englishmen have been slow to speak of the faults of others. But it may be well for us as a people to look a little more at home. If the angel of God came to us as he came to Gideon, I have a suspicion that he would say, Break down the altar, turn out the idols, heal your own diseases, sweep before your own door, and reform your own abuses and inconsistencies. We send our missionaries to convert the heathen from their darkness and superstitions, and it is good that we should. We send our missionaries to convert the heathen, but what else do we send them? We send them our ardent spirits, our rum fiend, which undoes the good work the men of God succeed in doing. I feel like saying, Before you send any more missionaries, sweep your own door-step, clean your own house. We have sent our ships into many waters, and our soldiers into many lands, to put down slavery; we have spent much in blood and treasure in this direction; but if the angel came to us as he did to Gideon, wouldnt he rebuke us for the slavery in our midst? If a tenth part of what we hear about the sweater be true, of poor women making clothes for the army, and I know not what beside, at a price on which they cannot live, isnt it time we swept in front of our own door?
II. Reform at home should be preached to Churches. We want revivals among the people which shall save them. Then the Church must be revived. We desire to lead the masses to Christ, that they may feel the warm glow of His love, and know the joy of His service. Then the Church must get nearer Christ. We must put out of the Church everything contrary to the spirit of Him whose name it bears. The Churches must be warm, generous, and large hearted, and this should apply both to pulpit and pew. The pulpit is not always as broad and sympathetic as might be. And there is a good deal of room for reform in the pew. Cold men in the pews create cold men in the pulpit. Let there be warmth and love in the pews, and the pulpit will warm up. But if icebergs be in the pews you will get marble in the pulpit, and seeking souls will be warned off by the chills which will be as cutting as the east wind.
III. Reform at home should be preached to individuals. All reform should begin at self. We can only mend the universe as we mend its units. We want the nation better, then we must mend its men. We desire to see the Church of God pure and holy, then its members must be holy. Let us break down every altar, and eject every idol, and let the Lord of life, who has a right to rule ours, enter into possession of us. (C. Leach, D. D.)
Gideons reformation not destructive only
Gideon does not leave Ophrah without an altar and a sacrifice. Destroy one system without laying the foundation of another that shall more than equal it in essential truth and practical power, and what sort of deliverance have you effected? Men will rightly execrate you. It is no reformation that leaves the heart colder, the life barer and darker than before, and those who move in the night against superstition must be able to speak in the day of a living God who will vindicate His servants. It has been said over and over again, and must yet be repeated, to overturn merely is no service. They that break down need some vision at least of a building up, and it is the new edifice that is the chief thing. The world of thought to-day is infested with critics and destroyers, and may well be tired of them. It is too much in need of constructors to have any thanks to spare for Voltaires and Humes. Let us admit that demolition is the necessity of some hours. We look back on the ruins of Bastilles and temples that served the uses of tyranny, and even in the domain of faith there have been fortresses to throw down, and ramparts that made evil separations among men. But destruction is not progress; and if the end of modern thought is to be agnosticism, the denial of all faith and all ideals, then we are simply on the way to something not a whit better than primeval ignorance. (R. A. Watson, M. A.)
Daring to oppose wrong
I have seen many a time on the sea-shore bits of driftwood tossed hither and thither, the helpless sport of the waves. I have seen on the same shore the black rock standing there unmoved, unshaken--opposing itself to all the might and force of the waves which fumed and seethed around it and dashed themselves in wild and savage fury against it. To be real men we must be not like the driftwood--driven about by every passing wave of opinion; we must be like the rock--able to resist and oppose the full force of the worlds fashion and custom. This will not be easy. The world has never loved singularity. Loyalty to conviction, courage to say No to the demands made by fashion and custom, will entail upon you scorn, hardship, hate. The way of life is still the narrow path. But I have yet to learn that difficulties can daunt the young and ardent soul. Garibaldi could only promise his ragged soldiers suffering, wounds, and perhaps death if they followed him into Italy, and yet they responded to his call, and said, General, we are the men. And I am not afraid now that those who have any love or enthusiasm for truth and right will be daunted or terrified because of the suffering wherewith the path of duty abounds. (J. D. Jones.)
If he be a god, let him plead for himself.
Religion judged by results
When we hear a speech like that, we are inclined to shout, Hear, hear. Surely it seems reasonable. Surely no one could object to that. Let religion be judged by its results. Do not attempt to argue to defend it; it surely does not need that. Christianity has had eighteen hundred years of trial now, and it is too late to attempt to defend it by mere words. Look at what it has done. If you know your Bibles, you will recollect that both Old and New Testaments claim this test. When Elijah stood alone for God at Carmel, in the presence of the king and the court and the false prophets, he challenged them all to a judgment by results. The God that answereth by fire, let him be the God. And when the people refused to believe in our Saviour, rejected His teaching, and would not acknowledge Him as their Saviour, He appealed to them on the ground of results: Though ye believe not Me, believe the works, said Christ (Joh_10:38); Believe Me for the very works sake, said He again (Joh_14:11). If, then, we say, Judge our religion by its works, the tree by its fruits, you ask, Well, what has it done? And when this question is put, whole continents stand up to bear witness to the power and saving might of Jesus Christ. Whole peoples, who have come out of paganism and heathen darkness, say, Look at us. We are what we are by Christ Jesus the Lord. What has Christianity done? It has filled dark places of the earth with light. It has sent help to the poor, hope to the despairing, comfort to the sad, salvation to the sinful, and restored fallen man to his reconciled God. But let us suppose for a moment that we listen to those who would take Christ and His religion out of the world. We ask them, What will you put in place of these? What have you to offer us? Before I give up the old I want to see the new. Bring out your god, let us have a look at him. It will be interesting to see what he is like. We should like to know what he has done. We want to apply our test of results to him. We challenge you on this ground. A meeting was once held at which number of very clever people set themselves the task of opposing Christianity and slighting God. When the speaking was over, criticism and questions were asked for. After a short pause an old woman rose up on the floor of the meeting-place and said, These men have been opposing religion and almost laughing at God. I want to ask what they can give me instead of what I have? I was left a widow with six children, not one of whom could work. I rested upon the promise of God, who says He is a husband to the widow and a father to the fatherless, and I have found His word to be true. For, though I have had a hard struggle, not one of my six children or myself ever wanted a bit of bread. I have brought them all up, and now I am just waiting till God thinks fit to take me home to rest. Will these men up there tell me what could have done better for me than my loving God has done? It was an old womans argument, but as it was one of experience it was powerful. I put her question, What has infidelity done? Until we can see something of its results we shall not be disposed to part with the religion which has lifted us into the higher regions of life and hope. We know too much of the blessings which result from Christianity ever to be persuaded to give it up. We have seen it reconstruct, remake men. It is said that now science has invented a way of dealing with the waste slag which comes from the iron furnaces which used to be thrown away in heaps as worthless. I have seen somewhere various useful articles, vases and others, made from the slag--waste, worthless materials worked up into articles of use and beauty. That is just what Christ does. He takes men who are cast off by the world as worthless and waste, and remakes them. (C. Leach, D. D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary1892 · Public DomainOn v24CHAPTER 6—Jdg_6:24-32
CHAPTER 6—Jdg_6:24-32
THE REMOVAL OF THE BARRIER TO DELIVERANCE
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CRITICAL NOTES.—one thing must be scrupulously gone about, ere a step can be taken to secure the much-needed emancipation of the land. The deliverance itself it would be easy for God to accomplish, were the barrier that prevented it taken out of the way. To remove that barrier out of the way, was, in God’s sight, the great thing to be done. Baal stood where Jehovah alone should stand. That which brought all this misery on Israel, was their preferring to have other gods in place of Jehovah. The first thing to be done, in order to restore peace and comfort to the land, was to clear away all other gods, and make Jehovah supreme. Gideon’s first duty then, as the champion chosen to save Israel, was to deal a deadly blow against Baal. It is at this point where the directions in this paragraph come in.
Jdg_6:25. The same night, the Lord said unto him, etc.] said either by vision or dream (Gen_20:3; Gen_15:4-5; Gen_26:24; Gen_28:12-15; Num_12:6; 2Sa_7:4; 1Ki_3:5; Job_4:13). It was the night following the day of the angel’s visit; while Gideon’s heart was still all aglow with many mixed feelings of wonder, love, and praise, and, while a strange conflict of thoughts was passing through his mind about the very responsible though noble position, which he had just been called by the Angel Jehovah to occupy—it was then he was called upon to take the first step. Delay, in such a case, would beget irresolution. Besides, on general grounds, there was no time to be lost. Now that the people had repented, and sent up a cry all over the land, it was fit that God’s tender mercy should show itself. Let not a tear too many be shed. Bring the axe and cut down the idol. Let an altar to Jehovah rise in its stead. The idol of the district—that which stood within the grounds of Joash, and which served as the point of worship to all the Abi-ezrites, is taken as a symbol to represent all the other images of Baal throughout the land.
This was in keeping with the fact that Gideon was now a public character, chosen of God to represent the whole people of Israel, so that what was done by him was understood to be done in the name of the whole people. When he cut down the Asherah, and destroyed the altar on his father’s grounds, much more was done than merely the demolishing of the idol worshipped by the Abi-ezrites. Being done by him who was now Divinely appointed as mediator between God and all Israel, it must be taken as a blow given to the idolatry of the whole land. The first step in the work of salvation was to abolish idolatry, and what Gideon, the natural leader, now did was to be understood as striking the key-note to be followed by the whole kingdom. His act in erecting an altar to the Lord, in a place different from that chosen for permanent worship, and offering a sacrifice thereon, though highly irregular, judged by the ordinary rule (Deu_12:13-14; Num_18:7; Heb_5:4), was entirely justifiable on this occasion, first, because it was a Divine command that he was fulfilling (Jdg_5:25-26), and next, because it was a necessary part of the special office for which he was chosen—viz., to be a saviour to Israel. To make an atonement for the sins of the people by a sacrifice of burnt offering, was indeed the most essential part of all that was required of Gideon to do, as the saviour of his people. In it Gideon was virtually acting as the high priest of Israel.
Take thy father’s young bullock.] Rather, ox-bullock פְּר i.e., a bullock for sacrifice (comp Hos_14:3)—“we will render as bullocks our lips,” i.e, our praises as our sacrifice (Fausset)
Even the second bullock of seven years old]—not and the second bullock, for there were not two bullocks. Mention is made of what Gideon was to do with one such, but if there had been two, we should certainly have had directions given as to the other also. The phrase, the second bullock, is three times referred to, but no mention is made of any other (Jdg_6:25-26; Jdg_6:28). But why is a bullock chosen which was seven years old, for the animal was reckoned at its best state when it was three years? This can scarcely be thought wonderful, when we remember the extreme difficulty felt all over the land in getting animals for sacrifice at all. “The Midianites left to Israel neither sheep, nor ox, nor ass.” There was no choice. Besides, in the age of seven years, there was a significant pointing to the period of Israel’s severe punishment, inflicted for their flagrant sin. The phrase, second bullock may indicate its age as compared with others.
Throw down the altar of Baal which thy father hath]. This altar was usually made of stone, though sometimes of wood or earth (2Ki_23:15). Being massive, various materials, besides the axe, would be needed to destroy it and the Asherah. He required to wrench the altar of Baal out of its grooves, and throw it down. His duty also required him to erect an altar to Jehovah, and for this he dare not use the polluted and broken fragments of Baal’s altar. He must bring fresh stones and earth with him, and as the whole must be done in one night, he required considerable help. Accordingly, he took ten men of his father’s servants for this purpose.
Cut down the grove that is by it]—upon it. Not “grove” but the Asherah, or wooden pillar, the Canaanite symbol of the moon-goddess, representing nature’s passive powers, as Baal, the sun-god represents the active powers. This pillar was placed in upright form on the altar of Baal. In Deu_16:21, it is said to be “planted” on it (הִטַּע) covered with all manner of symbols.
Jdg_6:26. Upon the top of this rock]—the top of a fortification, or fortress built as a defence against the Midianites. It would be near to where the altar of Baal had stood—the highest available spot in the district, to make it as conspicuous as possible, and to show that it must be held superior to all other things (Hence Isa_2:1-2). This was reckoned to be honouring to Jehovah. Some think it was on the top of the hill, the highest point at hand, others that it was the castle, or citadel of Ophrah. Baal’s altar must first be cast down, then the altar to Jehovah reared.
In the ordered place.] This is an expression of which many interpretations have been given (בָמַּעַדָכָה) The best, as it appears to us, is that given by Keil, “with the preparation,” i.e., which is necessary for presenting the sacrifice. The specific idea is, the orderly preparation of every thing about the sacrifice, a circumstance to which God Himself, in all offerings, attached the greatest importance. We might indeed translate the sentence thus:—“Build an altar unto the Lord … putting everything in due order,” etc. Thus did Abraham (Gen_22:9). Thus too did Elijah (1Ki_18:33). The word עָרַךְ is often used to express the idea of setting sacred things in order, connected with the worship of God (Exo_39:37; Lev_1:7; Lev_24:3; Lev_4:6). But this orderly preparation for the sacrifice did not refer to his using the materials got from the breaking down of Baal’s altar, for building up the altar of Jehovah. [Speaker’s Com.] The case quoted in confirmation of this view is not in point, viz.: 1Ki_15:22, for in that transaction there was nothing sacred, whereas the sacred character of the erection here was the all-important point. The materials of Baal’s altar must be held to be polluted; Gideon therefore must build with new materials wherever he can find them. The wood of the Asherah, however, might be used as fuel for the sacrifice, implying that it would be consumed. Hence—
With the wood of the grove (Asherah) which thou shalt cut down], i.e., the pieces or blocks of wood got from cutting down the Asherah. That such a command as this should have been given at all, was entirely owing to the exceptional circumstances of the national history, which required a provisional arrangement to meet the emergency. A case very similar occurred in Elijah’s days (1Ki_18:18-41).
Jdg_6:27. Took ten men.] The number required to form a Church, or to perform publicly any religious service, i.e., in name of the Church. Every part of altar service required to be gone through in a very methodical manner. Being now the only son left in the family, and being high in his father’s esteem, as well as his affection, he had probably delegated to him such a measure of authority over the servants, as would secure their obedience to his orders on this oocasion. His own excellent qualities of character, must also have gained for him an ascendency over several of the domestics, as David did at the court of Saul (1Sa_18:14-16). But Gideon, when calling the domestics to such a work, must also have brought forward the far more powerful consideration, that an angel had appeared to him, and given him a commission to deliver Israel from the awful scourge that desolated the land, and that the removal of Baal’s altar was a necessary preliminary to anything being done. Yet with all these arguments to encourage them, it speaks well for these ten men, that they had the boldness to do as Gideon directed them, even if we add the fact, that he would doubtless assure them, that he would take all the responsibility of the iconoclastic deed on himself.
He feared his father’s household, and the men of the city.] This shows what the atmosphere of Joash’s house was, strongly savouring of idolatry. The household must have been large, for after deducting the ten men, Gideon still “feared his father’s household.” We may suppose the ten men to be a fractional part of the entire number, and that, with the exception of that fractional part, the entire number were “wholly given to idolatry,” otherwise, why should he fear them? “The men of the city,” were probably the old Canaanites who still lingered in the townships of Manasseh, and who were naturally special patrons of Baal worship (ch. Jdg_9:28).
He did it by night]—not that be was afraid of doing the work itself, for he knew well that whether done by day or night, it was sure to be known that he did it; but he feared the tumult that would be raised about the doing of it, if he did it in daylight, with all eyes upon him. He felt that there must be an uprising against his doing it at all.
Jdg_6:28. And the grove was cut down that was by it]—upon it. The Asherah (wooden pillar) was cut down. The second bullock was offered on the altar that was built (to Jehovah).] The wood of the Asherah had been used for the burnt-offering, and traces were still remaining. The altar of Jehovah then, must have been built near the site of the altar of Baal.
Jdg_6:29. They said Gideon, the son of Joash, hath done this thing.] Informers are always forth-coming, and Gideon was a man so pronounced for Jehovah, that he could not be hid. From his past proclivities, many would suspect him. It is a noble thing for a man so to live, that he shall be suspected by his fellows, of doing some great thing for the glory of the Eternal God. Some also of the ten men would inform others, that it was Gideon, to save themselves.
Jdg_6:30. Bring out thy son that he may die.] It is not certain whether Joash was the owner of the altar of Baal, or merely its custodier, in name of the district over which be ruled. Some think the former from the expression in Jdg_6:25—“the altar of Baal which thy father hath.” If so, it shows the extreme intolerance of the Baal party. But the fact that such an outcry should be raised at all in an Israelitish city, shows into what a deplorable stupor the national conscience had sunk, when the rankest possible insult should be publicly offered to Jehovah’s name, without a single voice being raised to frown it down. They ask a father to take the life of his son, because that son had dared to stand up for Jehovah’s interest, and relegate Baal to oblivion in Jehovah’s land!
Jdg_6:31. Joash said to all that stood against him.] עָלָיו before him, i.e., as chief magistrate. Happily, he the father himself was now fairly aroused, when he saw that the life of he only son left to him was in danger. It is probable, from all the circumstances, that, before this, he had had serious doubts in his own mind, as to the propriety of giving any farther support to idol worship, when he saw the sad results in the destruction of his country. He may possibly indeed have had secret desires to see a general return of the public mind to the worship of Jehovah, and now seizes the present occasion to speak out his mind. All this could be greatly strengthened, by the detail which his son would give him of his wonderful interview with the angel, and the Divine command to throw down the altar of Baal. If he had got this information beforehand, doubtless he must have thought very maturely over the question, what was the best answer to give the idolaters, when his son should be arraigned before him in public. God helped him with the answer which he gave. It was most admirable. It was an unanswerable answer.
“What!” he says, rising to the full height of his position as magistrate, “will ye plead for Baal?—ye, and not Baal himself? Do ye presume to come forward to speak on his behalf, as if he could not speak for himself? He who dares to insinuate that Baal cannot help himself, is putting an indelible stigma on his name, and deserves to die. He is the man who ought to be put to death, and that without delay, while it is yet morning. If Baal be really a god, surely he can defend himself, and now let him do it, since one man has cast down his altar” This is really the spirit of the few but energetic words of the very capable ruler of Ophrah. The clamour was hushed in a moment. It was of God that this reply was given; so He threw His shield around the man of His choice. Yet we may also say, Joash was the right man in the right place. “A word spoken in season, how good is it!”
Not a few Commentators (Keil, Cassel, Edersheim, Fausset, and others) would put a full stop at the word “death.” and read what follows thus, “till (next) morning let Baal, if he be a god, plead for himself, for now surely there is need for it, since one has cast down his altar” The A. V. seems more simple and natural—“he who (thinks Baal cannot plead for himself, and therefore) stands up to plead for him, (is doing him an insult, and) ought to be put to death this very morning. If he be a god, let him plead for himself, since one has overturned his altar.”
Jdg_6:32. Galled him Jerubbaal.] Let Baal fight with him, or the man who defies Baal to fight with him, with impunity; as David defied the Philistine. Variations of the name afterwards occur as Jerubbesheth (2Sa_11:21), in which Besheth or Bosheth (shame) is a nickname of Baal. This variation also occurs in Ishbosheth (2Sa_2:8), and in Eshbaal (1Ch_8:33; 1Ch_9:39).
MAIN HOMILETICS—Jdg_6:25-32
I. All genuine obedience is well pleasing to God.
This is the purport of the present paragraph. It speaks of the first test to which Gideon’s obedience was put, and how he stood it. The obedience which God requires of all His servants is, that His command alone be taken as sufficient reason for obedience, apart from any other motive, and that it be regarded as sufficient to overrule all other considerations. If a host of difficulties and objections should stand in the way, the obedient servant has but one simple question to ask, Does my God require it?—if so, he has no other thought but to obey. This is what may be called pure obedience, and is synonymous with the description so often given in Scripture, of “the man who fears the Lord.” The highest expressions of the Divine regard are made to such a spirit of obedience, as being most glorifying to God, and showing that the creature is nearing the true pivot of his being, which is that of instinctive obedience to the will of his Creator, “He that doeth the will of my Father, the same is my brother, and sister and mother.” The whole Book of Deuteronomy is one continued enforcement of the duty of reverential obedience to the commandments, statutes, and judgments of Israel’s covenant God. The example of obedience afforded in Gideon’s case was most beautiful, on whatever side we look at it.
1. It was prompt. There was no hesitation. The command of his God being given, he has no other thought than to obey. That command alone rules him. “Speak, Lord, thy servant heareth” was his motto. He has full trust in his God without inquiring whether there was a rational prospect of carrying through the work. Thus did Abraham. The command being given, “he rose up early in the morning, saddled his ass … and went to the place of which God had told him” (Gen_22:3; Gen_17:23; Gen_21:14). So did David; “I made haste, and delayed not to keep God’s commandments” (Psa_119:60). So did Paul; “When it pleased God to reveal His son in me, immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood” (Gal_1:15-16). (Mat_4:20; Mat_4:22; Mat_9:9; Luk_19:5-6; Joh_1:48-49).
2. It was done under great difficulties. He had no sympathy from any around him. His very father, so loving in other matters, he believed, in this case, would only give his frowns, or, at the very best, must withhold his good wishes, being virtually the priest of Baal himself. Even though Gideon might acquaint him with the Divine commission, it could only lead the father to try his best to save his son, but not to assist him in the work. The ten men whom he employed as assistants would, doubtless, also raise many objections, and need strong arguments to induce them to give their aid, and the numerous other domestics, Gideon felt he must also regard as strongly opposed to the very idea of offering such an insult to the deity that had for so many years been worshipped in the district. There was no sympathy at home with the duty he had on hand, and among the population outside there was only an unbroken stream of opposition. Gideon’s obedience was boldly done, for it was done in a strongly idolatrous centre, without a single friend to stand by him in the work. Yet he shows no faltering, or fear of man. His act was like that of Luther when he nailed the Theses to the doors of the Cathedral at Wittemberg, or, on that other occasion, when he burned the Papal Bull in the midst of a people who had been under the influence of Popery for many generations.
There are many formidable difficulties ever occurring in the way of religious duty in daily life—difficulties so great that they seem to render the fulfilment of the duty an impossibility. Yet all may be conquered by a strong faith or an ardent love. “Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre?” (Mar_16:3). Yet an ardent love in Mary’s case saw no such difficulty, but, on the contrary, thought that she, a feeble woman, could remove the body itself if she only knew where to find it (Joh_20:15). “Who art thou, O great mountain, before Zerubbabel, thou shalt become a plain?”
3. It was done at the risk of life. Gideon understood the temper of his people and the temper of the times. Notwithstanding their terrible calamities, he knew that they were yet in the mass of them, leavened with the idolatrous spirit, and that to tamper with their God was to commit, in their eyes, a capital crime. It was an unpardonable offence, and all the religious frenzy of the district would be aroused to demand his execution. On this he calculated, and yet he quailed not. The fear of God in him was strong enough to overrule all the fear of man. This pass of mental difficulties which he had to go through greatly heightens our admiration of his heroic resolution. He was willing even to lose his life for the sake of his duty to his God (Joh_12:25; Mat_16:25). His fidelity to his God could stand the severest test (Luk_14:26). All that he counted dear in life, including the love of life itself, he was willing to sacrifice, but he could not disobey his God.
4. It was done without a murmur. We hear of no complaints about the severity of the test. Even Moses complained in similar circumstances (Exo_4:1; Exo_4:10; Exo_4:13). Barak raised objections (ch. Jdg_4:8). But not a murmer comes from the lips of Gideon, when called to do that which was sure to endanger life. He asks no modification of the command. It is all right when his God requires it. Duty is his; to determine results is God’s. It was an unquestioning obedience. Doubtless he saw the necessity of it, for sin must be put away ere deliverance could come, and Baal, he well knew, was the root of the evil. But manifestly it was not his own sense of the fulness of what should be done that was his guiding motive throughout this whole transaction. From beginning to end he regarded the whole proceeding as coming from the Lord, and therefore to His instructions on every point implicitly he gave heed. Oh, for more of this high-toned confidence in God, as our own God, which lifts the soul far above both the smiles and the frowns of a world that knows us not!
II. Gideon’s support in his obedience.
He might, at first sight, have said, “All things are against me.” Yet, on reflection, he might have added, “they that are with me are more than they that are against me.” For—
1. He had a good conscience. He was sure that God had spoken to him and, therefore, that what he was about, was fulfilling a command he had received from God. He realised the fact, that this was the first and necessary step of a plan of action, which God had marked out for him to do. He felt that he was in the service of God in the whole matter, and that all the steps to be taken were marked out by God, and were not schemes of his own devising. Thus he had all that inward strength which a good conscience always gives. Though, in his father’s house, he had no sympathy, in that home of homes, the innermost home of his own heart, all was with him; in the profoundest convictions which he cherished in the sanctuary of his breast, every feeling within was in full support of the action without. The consciousness of righteousness was “the girdle of his loins.” When he broke down the altar of Baal, he felt as if at Mahanaim, and that two companies of the angels of God, in two crescents, were acting as his shield. “His heart was established, and he was not afraid; he was not greatly moved” (Psa_112:6; Psa_112:8; Psa_62:5-7; Psa_57:1). “Who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good” (1Pe_3:13).
2. He had the assurance of the Divine presence. It was God’s work he was doing, and not his own. That alone was enough to foster the belief that he would have the Divine shield thrown over him. For God is a master who “sends none a warfare on their own charges.” His language always is, “I will be with thee.” It was so now. Gideon was expressly assured that the angel Jehovah had not only sent him (ch. Jdg_6:14), but also that He would Himself be with him (Jdg_6:16). More than that under no circumstances could be needed. For what were all the men of Abi-ezer, or all the hordes of the ruthless invaders, in comparison of the mighty God of Jacob? Gideon felt like David—“The Lord is on my side; I will not fear what man can do unto me. Though the people compass me about as bees, they shall be quenched as the fire of thorns, for in the name of the Lord, I will destroy them.” “If God be for us, who can be against us?” It is because we do not realise how much is included in that—“I will be with thee”—that we get fainthearted and irresolute, in the day of trial. There is a great art in knowing how, when weak in ourselves, to become “strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might.”
3. He was sustained by the assurance of success in his great enterprise. He felt it was no doubtful project in which he was engaged, when the hand of God was at the helm. It was a scheme in which God’s own glory was concerned, and now that he was raised up out of His place, Gideon felt convinced that having begun the work, He could accomplish it to the end. And so glorious a consummation it would be, to see Israel entirely free from the heavy incubus, that had crushed all the energy out of the nation these seven years, that this eminently successful God-fearing and patriotic man was willing to sacrifice all his personal feelings and interests in order to its attainment. He had no doubt begun his duties by arming himself with earnest prayer, that God would no longer “deliver the soul of His turtle-dove unto the multitude of the wicked—that He would remember the congregation He had purchased of old—that He would not remember against them past iniquities, for they were brought very low—that He would turn again their captivity as streams in the south—that the Lord would comfort Zion—that He would comfort all her waste places, making her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord.”
4. He had had long gathering thoughts of revenge against Baal. Many strong purposes have their roots deep in the soil of past experiences. Gideon was one of those who had discerned where the true source of all Israel’s misery lay. And long had he mused how the idols could be abolished. Those musings would lead to a deep purpose of revenge against Baal, so soon as an opportunity occurred. It was the thought of many years, matured and strengthened by the ever fresh calamities which occurred at every new visit of the enemy. When at length the call was made in Providence, “Who is the man that shall fight against Baal, and destroy his power throughout Israel?” Gideon replied in his heart—“Here am I, send me!” God knew the state of Gideon’s heart, and therefore selected him as a sort of agent for doing His work.
THE GENERAL LESSONS TAUGHT
1. Religious duty ought to begin at home. When Christ taught His disciples where to commence their great work of preaching the gospel, He said “Begin at Jerusalem.” Begin where you are—at home. All souls are precious alike. Therefore begin at the point nearest you. This, at least, was one reason for doing so. Abraham began at home, and as a matter of fact almost every domestic he had, of whom we hear any account was a fearer of his God (Gen_18:19). Jacob when about to draw closer to God, and to have new manifestations of the Divine love, begins with making a strict religious reformation in his own household. He required, that all his household should “put away the strange gods that were among them” (Gen_35:2-3). And now Gideon is required to begin at his father’s house the important duty, of cleansing their hands and purifying their hearts. The church-office-bearer is required, before entering on his duties in superintending the spiritual well-being of the church, to “rule well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity; for if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?” (1Ti_3:4-5).
2. Obstacles to religious duty are sometimes found amid the tenderest relations of life. It is singular that Gideon should have had so little sympathy, and have been even exposed to so much danger, in his own father’s house, for doing his duty to his God. That father was the most influential man in the district, and Gideon was now his only son. That son had a singular combination of good qualities of character, fit to call forth the respect and even the love of all the domestics. Moreover, the work which he was now doing was given him by the God of Israel to do, and it was notorious to all who had eyes to read the signs of the times, that the overwhelming distresses under which the land groaned, were owing to the apostasy of the people from the God, whom they were so deeply pledged to love and serve. Yet it required the greatest heroism on Gideon’s part to fulfil an obviously necessary duty, and one which was divinely commanded, having to run the greatest risk of losing his life. So true is it, that for the sake of fidelity to religious principle, “a man’s foes will sometimes be those of his own household.”
Even Abraham had to contend with an idolatrous opposition in his father’s house, before he left the paternal home. His father and brothers, with probably the whole family circle, at first “served other gods.” This must have led to family differences, if, as we must suppose, Abraham was even then a devoted worshipper of the true God. At length the family circle broke up, God directing Abraham to leave his earthly friends, however dear, and promising, probably as a reward for his fidelity in being found “faithful among the faithless,” to bless him and make of him a great nation. With Abraham there went Sarai his wife, his father Terah, and his nephew Lot. The rest appear to have remained where they were, and we hear no more of them (Jos_24:2-3; Gen_11:27-32; Gen_12:1-3). Jacob had much difficulty in performing his duties to his God while living in the same family circle with an ungodly brother, though it must not be overlooked, that he himself greatly increased the difficulty by some grievous faults of his own (Genesis 27). The same difficulty followed him to Padan-aram, in the house of the old miser, where he passed more than twenty years (Genesis 31). We have a similar example in the case of Korah, Dathan and Abiram, who, as members of the Levitical[5] tribe, ought to have succoured Moses and Aaron in every possible way, in the discharge of their onerous sanctuary and other duties, and yet raised a determined opposition to them, while only fulfilling the trust which God had committed to them (Numbers 16). David was often in such difficulties. (1Sa_17:28-29; Psa_41:9; 1Sa_30:3-6; 2Sa_16:11); Job also (Job_19:13-19); and Jeremiah (Jer_12:6; Jer_20:10-11); in the days of Micah there was much of it (Mic_7:6); and the Master Himself leads His disciples to expect it (Mat_10:21-22; Mat_10:34-37; Luk_12:49; Luk_12:51-53).
[5] Properly speaking, Korah only belonged to the tribe of Levi, while Dathan and Abiram were of the tribe of Reuben. But Korah manifestly took the lead in the movement, so that the remarks made above are substantially correct.
3. Without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins. This truth is taught broadly in that Epistle, which professes to interpret the Divine meaning of the whole sacrificial system (Heb_9:22). We find the great truth illustrated in Abel’s days, who brought an animal for sacrifice as his offering to God, in contrast to Cain’s offering, which was merely of the fruit of the ground, and therefore showed no thought of a propitiation for his sins (Gen_4:3-5). Noah offered sacrifices of blood on his altar, “and the Lord smelled a sweet savour,” (Gen_8:20-21). Abram reared the altar regularly, wherever he went (Gen_12:8; Gen_13:4; do 18, etc.). Also Jacob did the same (Gen_31:54; Gen_35:3). Moses by God’s direction laid down the whole system of sacrifice, which was to be sacredly observed by all God’s people down through their history, till the coming of the true Lamb of God, who was for ever to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.
As part of this system, we here find Gideon, by God’s special direction, building an altar to God, and on it, shedding blood, as a symbol of that which was needed to atone for the people’s sins. Only thus could God righteously pardon sin. Sin forfeits the life of the sinner (Rom_6:23; Gen_2:17; Eze_18:4; Eze_18:20). But the blood is the life; therefore to shed the blood is to give to sin its wages. This must be done because it is God’s law. It is both just and true—it preserves God’s character as a God of truth. Hence the sinner must die, or a suitable substitute be found for him (Rom_3:25-26; 2Co_5:21; Rom_8:3-4; Eph_5:2; Col_1:20; Heb. passim).
4. God greatly honours faithfulness in a declining time. Fidelity to God’s name and cause, is always a spectacle well pleasing unto God. But when it takes the form of stedfast endurance under sharp sufferings, in the face of stern opposition, without any friendly help, and at serious personal loss, it rises a hundredfold higher in the estimation of Him toward whom it is shown. And a hundredfold greater will be the reward (Mat_19:27-29). The Master will see to it, that no servant be a loser for his fidelity to Him. Hence the greatness of the reward (Mat_7:12). The reward is an hundredfold even in this life (Mar_10:30). And in Paul’s history we see it exemplified in the extraordinary outpouring of the gracious influence of the Holy Spirit, when under the greatest sufferings connected with the carrying on of his great work (Act_13:52; Act_18:9; Act_18:20; Act_21:13; 2Co_1:4-5; 2Co_2:14).
Thus it was with Gideon, while passing through his difficult work, doing it so well, and doing it without a murmur, though Satan stirred up opposition to him on all hands. He whom he served looked on with supreme satisfaction, gave him all needed strength to persevere till it was accomplished, gave him complete success in the result, and prepared for him a great reward in the future. For, conspicuous as a star of the first magnitude, shines the name of Gideon, in the Orion nebula of the New Testament heavens (Heb_11:32). Gideon, by his fidelity, was now making history, one of the brightest pages, where there are so many bright. He was the iron cable that would not break, but kept sure and stedfast, when so many others were snapping asunder at the pitching and heeling of the vessel, as the waves were carrying it right on the rocks. Such a man deserves to be esteemed through all time; and there never, we believe, will come a time, even in the bright ages of New Testament history, when such a man need be ashamed to show his face. Already he has a place among the fixed stars of the Church’s sky. And this motto may be written under his name:—“Blessed is the man that endureth trial, for when he is tried he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love Him” (Jas_1:12).
5. God has all hearts in His hand, and all events at His disposal. However hopeless the web of difficulties with which God’s servant in this matter was surrounded, the great Ruler of Providence found ways and means of extricating him from danger, without any miraculous interposition. We are not to forget that God exercises complete control over the workings of every man’s mind, every moment of his life, and leads him to form this or that impression, this or that purpose, this or that idea, without in the least interfering with the full measure of liberty which belongs to him, as a rational and voluntary agent. It was not in any way, a doing violence to the law of the mind’s free agency, if God should (as we believe He did) turn the minds of Joash’s household to think thus on this occasion. “Well! there is little doubt that the worship of Baal is at the bottom of our great misery, and if it should be reckoned by these old Canaanites, such a terrible affront to their god to do as Gideon has done, still it will be a great step to our much needed relief, and since it has been done, let it so remain, for we cannot lay a hand on the noble young man who is the pride of the family, and himself all but the idol of the district. No, we will rally round him, if any hostile hand should be raised. “To think thus would be not unnatural—and yet it would be all of God’s over-ruling.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
Alexander MacLaren1905 · Public DomainOn v24
Judges
GIDEON’S ALTAR
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Jdg 6:24.
I need not tell over again, less vividly, the picturesque story in this chapter, of the simple husbandman up in the hills, engaged furtively in threshing out a little wheat in some hollow in the rock where he might hide it from the keen eyes of the oppressors; and of how the angel of the Lord, unrecognised at first, appeared to him; and gradually there dawned upon his mind the suspicion of who He was who spoke. Then follow the offering, the discovery by fire, the shrinking of the man from contact with the divine, the wonderfully tranquillizing and condescending assurance, cast into the form of the ordinary salutation of domestic life: ‘And the Lord said unto him Peace be unto thee!’-as any man might have said to any other-’fear not! thou shalt not die.’ Then Gideon piles up the unhewn stones on the hillside into a rude altar, apparently not for the purpose of offering sacrifice, but for a monument, to which is given this strange name, strange upon such warrior lips, and strange in contemplation of the fierce conflict into which he was immediately to plunge, ‘the Lord is peace.’
How I think that this name, imposed for such a reason and under such circumstances, may teach us a good many things.
I. The first thing that it seems to me to suggest is the great discovery which this man had made, and in the rapture of which he named his altar,-that the sight of God is not death, but life and peace.
Gideon was a plain, rude man, with no very deep religious experience. Apparently up to the moment of this vision he had been contentedly tolerating the idolatrous practices which had spread over all the country. He had heard of ‘Jehovah.’ It was a name, a tradition, which his fathers had told him. That was all that he knew of the God of Israel. Into this hearsay religion, as in a flash, while Gideon is busy about his threshing floor, thinking of his wheat or of the misery of his nation, there comes, all at once, this crushing conviction,-’the hearsay God is beside you, speaking to you! You have personal relations to Him, He is nearer you than any human being is, He is no mere Name, here He stands!’
And whenever the lightning edge of a conviction like that cuts its way through the formalisms and traditionalisms and hearsay repetitions of conventional religion, then there comes what came to Gideon, the swift thought, ‘And if this be true, if I really do touch, and am touched by, that living Person whose name is Jehovah, what is to become of me? Shall I not shrivel up when His fiery finger is laid upon me? I have seen Him face to face, and I must die.’
I believe that, in the case of the vast majority of men, the first living, real apprehension of a real, living God is accompanied with a shock, and has mingled with it something of awe, and even of terror. Were there no sin there would be no fear, and pure hearts would open in silent blessedness and yield their sweetest fragrance of love and adoration, when shone on by Him, as flowers do to the kiss of the sunbeams. But, taking into account the sad and universal fact of sin, it is inevitable that men should shrink from the Light which reveals their evil, and that the consciousness of God’s presence should strike a chill. It is sad that it should be so. But it is sadder still when it is not so, but when, as is sometimes the case, the sight of God produces no sense of sin, and no consciousness of discord, or foreboding of judgment. For, only through that valley of the shadow of death lies the path to the happy confidence of peace with God, and unless there has been trembling at the beginning, there will be no firm and reasonable trust afterwards.
For Gideon’s terror opened the way for the gracious proclamation, which would have been needless but for it-’Peace be unto thee; fear not, thou shalt not die.’
The sight of God passes from being a fear to a joy, from being a fountain of death to a spring of life, Terror is turned to tranquil trust. The narrow and rough path of conscious unworthiness leads to the large place of happy peace. The divine word fits Gideon’s condition, and corresponds to his then deepest necessity; and so he drinks it in as the thirsty ground drinks in the water; and in the rapture of the discovery that the Name, that had come down from his fathers to him, was the Name of a real Person, with whom he stood in real relationships, and those of simple friendship and pure amity, he piles up the rough stones of the place, and makes the name of his altar the echo of the divine voice. It is as if he had said with rapture of surprise, ‘Then Jehovah is peace; which I never dreamed of before.’
Dear friends, do you know anything of such an experience? Can you build your altar, and give it this same name? Can you write upon the memorial of your experiences, ‘The Lord is my peace’? Have you passed from hearsay into personal contact? Can you say, ‘I have heard of Thee by the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye seeth Thee’? Do you know the further experience expressed in the subsequent words of the same quotation: ‘Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes’? And have you passed out of that stormy ocean of terror and self-condemnation into the quiet haven of trust in Him in whom we have peace with God, where your little boat lies quiet, moored for ever to the Rock of Ages, to ‘Jehovah, who is Peace’?
In connection with this rapturous discovery, and to Gideon strange new thought, we may gather the lesson that peace with God will give peace in all the soul. The ‘peace with God’ will pass into a wider thing, the ‘peace of God.’ There is tranquillity in trust. There is rest in submission. There is repose in satisfied desires. When we live near Him, and have ceased from our own works, and let Him take control of us and direct us in all our ways, then the storms abate. The things that disturb us are by no means so much external as inward; and there is a charm and a fascination in the thought, ‘the Lord is peace,’ which stills the inward tempest, and makes us quiet, waiting upon His will and drawing in His grace. The secret of rest is to cease from self, from self as guide, from self as aim, from self as safety. And when self-will is cast out, and self-dependence is overcome, and self-reliance is sublimed into hanging upon God’s hand, and when He, not mine own inclination, is my Director, and the Arbiter of my fate, then all the fever of unrest is swept wholly out of my heart, and there is nothing left in it on which the gnawing tooth of anxiety or of care can prey. God being my peace, and I yielding myself to Him, ‘in quietness and confidence’ is my ‘strength.’ ‘Thou shalt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed upon Thee, because he trusteth in Thee.’
II. We may look upon this inscription from another point of view, as suggesting the thought that God’s peace is the best preparation for, and may be experienced in the midst of, the intensest conflict.
Remember what the purpose of this vision was,-to raise up a man to fight an almost desperate fight, no metaphorical war, but one with real sharp swords, against real strong enemies. The first blow in the campaign was to be struck that night. Gideon was being summoned by the vision, to long years of hardship and bitter warfare, and his preparation for the conflict consisted largely in the revelation to his inmost spirit that ‘Jehovah is peace.’ We might rather have looked for a manifestation of the divine nature as ready to go forth to battle with the raw levies of timid peasants. We should have expected the thought which inspired their captain to have been ‘The Lord is a man of war,’ rather than ‘The Lord is peace.’ But it is not so-and therein lies the deep truth that the peace of God is the best preparation for strife. It gives courage, it leaves the heart at leisure to fling all its power into the conflict, it inspires with the consciousness of a divine ally. As Paul puts it, in his picture of the fully-armed Christian soldier, the feet are ‘shod with the preparedness of alacrity which is produced by the gospel of peace.’ That will make us ‘ready, aye ready’ for the roughest march, and enable us to stand firm against the most violent charges of the enemy. There is no such preparation for the conflict of life, whether it be waged against our own inward evil, or against opposing forces without, as to have deep within the soul the settled and substantial peace of God. If we are to come out of the battle with victory sitting on our helmets, we must go into it with the Dove of God brooding in our hearts. As the Lord said to Gideon, ‘Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel, . . . have not I sent thee?’
But, besides this thought that the knowledge of Jehovah as peace fits us for strife, that hastily-reared altar with its seemingly inappropriate name, may remind us that it is possible, in the midst of the deadliest hand-to-hand grip with evil, and whilst fighting the ‘good fight of faith’ with the most entire self-surrender to the divine will, to bear within us, deeper than all the surface strife, that inward tranquillity which knows no disturbance, though the outward life is agitated by fierce storms. Deep in the centre of the ocean the waters lie quiet, though the wildest tempests are raging above, and the fiercest currents running. Over the tortured and plunging waters of the cataract there lies unmoving, though its particles are in perpetual flux, the bow of promise and of peace. So over all the rush and thunder of life there may stretch, radiant and many-coloured, and dyed with beauty by the very sun himself, the abiding bow of beauty, the emblem and the reality of the divine tranquillity. The Christian life is continual warfare, but in it all, ‘the peace of God which passeth understanding’ may ‘garrison our hearts and minds.’ In the inmost keep of the castle, though the storm of war may be breaking against the walls, there will be a quiet chamber where no noise of the archers can penetrate, and the shouts of the fight are never heard. Let us seek to live in the ‘secret place of the Most High’; and in still communion with Him, keep our inmost souls in quiet, while we bravely front difficulties and enemies. You are to be God’s warriors; see to it that on every battlefield there stands the altar ‘Jehovah Shalom.’
III. Lastly, we may draw yet another lesson, and say that that altar, with its significant inscription, expressed the aim of the conflict and the hope which sustains in the fight.
Gideon was fighting for peace, and what he desired was that victory should bring tranquillity. The hope which beckoned him on, when he flung himself into his else desperate enterprise, was that God would so prosper his work that the swords might be beaten into ploughshares, and the spears into pruning hooks. Which things may stand as an allegory, and suggest to us that the Christian warfare, whilst it rests upon, and is prompted by, the revelation of God who is peace, aims in all its blows, at the conquering of that sure and settled peace which shall be broken by no rebellious outbursts of self-will, nor by any risings of passions and desires. The aim of our warfare should ever be that the peace of God may be throned in our hearts, and sit there a gentle queen. The true tranquillity of the blessed life is the prize of conflict. David, ‘the man of war from his youth,’ prepares the throne for Solomon, in whose reign no alarms of war are heard. If you would enter into peace, you must fight your way to it, and every step of the road must be a battle. The land of peace is won by the good fight of faith.
But Gideon’s altar not only expressed his purpose in his taking up arms, but his confidence of accomplishing it, based upon the assurance that the Lord would give peace. It was a trophy erected before the fight, and built, not by arrogant presumption or frivolous underestimate of the enemy’s strength, but by humble reliance on the power of that Lord who had promised His presence, and had assured triumph. So the hope that named this altar was the hope that war meant victory, and that victory would bring peace. That hope should animate every Christian soldier. Across the dust of the conflict, the fair vision of unbroken and eternal peace should gleam before each of us, and we should renew fainting strength and revive drooping courage by many a wistful gaze.
We may realise that hope in large measure here. But its fulfilment is reserved for the land of peace which we enter by the last conflict with the last enemy.
Every Christian man’s gravestone is an altar on which is written ‘Our God is peace’; in token that the warrior has passed into the land where ‘violence shall no more be heard, wasting, nor destruction within its borders,’ but all shall be deep repose, and the unarmed, because unattacked, peace of tranquil communion with, and likeness to, ‘Jehovah our Peace.’
So, dear brethren, let us pass from tradition and hearsay into personal intercourse with God, and from shrinking and doubt into the sunshine of the conviction that He is our peace. And then, with His tranquillity in our hearts let us go out, the elect apostles of the peace of God, and fight for Him, after the pattern of the Captain of our salvation, who had to conquer peace through conflict; and was ‘first of all King of Righteousness, and after that also King of Peace.’
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield1917 · Public DomainOn v25See, Deu 16:21. (See Scofield "Jdg 3:7").
grove
See, Deu 16:21. (See Scofield "Jdg 3:7").
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann1924 · Public DomainOn v25Gideon Granted Special Signs
Gideon Granted Special Signs
v. 25. And it came to pass the same night, following this wonderful manifestation, that the Lord said unto him, Gideon, Take thy father’s young bullock, even the second bullock of seven years old, and throw down the altar of Baal that thy father hath, for thus openly was idolatry practised in Israel, and cut down the grove, the Ashera pillar that is by it, the chief deities of the Canaanites being worshiped by the family of Abiezer;
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v. 26. and build an altar unto the Lord, thy God, upon the top of this rock, in the ordered place, on the grotto or fortification, the wood from the pillar of Ashera being intended to consume the burnt offering of Gideon, and take the second bullock, and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the grove which thou shalt cut down.
v. 27. Then Gideon took ten men of his servants and did as the Lord had said unto him; and so it was, because he feared his father’s household, addicted to idolatry as they were, and the men of the city that he could not do it by day, that he did it by night.
v. 28. And when the men of the city arose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was cast down, and the grove, the wooden pillar erected in honor of Ashera, was cut down that was by it, and the second bullock was offered upon the altar that was built, for it was not yet fully consumed by the fire.
v. 29. And they said one to another, Who hath done this thing? And when they enquired and asked, searching for the man who might be guilty, they said, either the searchers themselves upon strong suspicion, or men who knew of Gideon’s exploit, Gideon, the son of Joash, hath done this thing.
v. 30. Then the men of the city said unto Joash, Bring out thy son that he may die, because he hath cast down the altar of Baal, and because he hath cut down the grove, the wooden pillar, that was by it.
v. 31. And Joash said unto all that stood against him, for he fully approved of the act of his son, Will ye plead for Baal? Will ye save him? The emphasis in either case is on the "ye," since Joash wanted to ridicule the idea of Baal’s having need of men to defend him, if he were in truth god. He that will plead for him, let him be put to death whilst it is yet morning; if he be a god, let him plead for himself, because one hath cast down his altar. He demanded that his enraged townspeople wait till the morning, in order to give Baal time to avenge himself if he were able. Joash knew, and the people knew, that this settled the matter, for none of them seriously believed in the idol. It is one of the characteristic illusions of heathenism in all ages that it itself does not believe in that for which it appears to be so zealous.
v. 32. Therefore on that day he, Joash, called him, Gideon, Jerubbaal ("Let Baal plead his case"), saying, Let Baal plead against him, because he hath thrown down his altar. This brought the incident to a close.
v. 33. Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the children of the East, all the enemy allies, were gathered together, and went over, passed over Jordan from the east, and pitched in the Valley of Jezreel, in the upper reaches of the Kishon.
v. 34. But the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon, clothing him like a garment or a coat of mail, and he blew a trumpet, to summon Israel against their enemies; and Abiezer, his own section of the tribe of Manasseh, was gathered after him.
v. 35. And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh, who also was gathered after him; and he sent messengers unto Asher, who had held back from Barak, and unto Zebulun, and unto Naphtali; and they came up to meet them.
v. 36. And Gideon said unto God, in asking a further confirmation of the success of his undertaking, If Thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as Thou hast said,
v. 37. behold, I will put a fleece of wool in the floor, out in the open on the ground; and if the dew be on the fleece only, and if it be dry upon all the earth beside, then shall I know that Thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as Thou hast said. He had such a humble opinion of himself and his influence that he felt the need of such a sign to establish his courage.
v. 38. And it was so; for he rose up early on the morrow, and thrust the fleece together, and wringed the dew out of the fleece, a bowl full of water, while the ground round about was dry.
v. 39. And Gideon said unto God, let not Thine anger be hot against me, and I will speak but this once, requiring one more sign, in which all explanations on natural principles would be excluded; let me prove, I pray Thee, but this once with the fleece; let it now be dry only upon the fleece, which has a tendency to absorb the slightest moisture, and upon all the ground let there be dew.
v. 40. And God did so that night; for it was dry upon the fleece only, and there was dew on all the ground, as Gideon had asked. His request did not flow from unbelief, but from the weakness of his flesh, which causes even the servants of God to be anxious for the future. But God is rich in kindness; He has compassion with our weakness, and comes to our assistance even with extraordinary blessings and miraculous manifestations.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0On vv25, 27a second bull
a second bull
The word "second" is the ordinal number for "two." AT: "another bull" (See: Ordinal Numbers)
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that is beside it
"that is beside the altar of Baal"
on the top of this place of refuge
The city of Ophrah was on top of a hill. Israelites fled there for refuge from the Midianites.
construct it the correct way
"place the stones in an orderly manner" or "and build it properly"
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv24–26 Or, the Lord of peace.
Or, the Lord of peace.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv24–27 Jdg 6:24 Then Gideon built an altar there unto…
Jdg 6:24 Then Gideon built an altar there unto the LORD, and called it Jehovahshalom: unto this day it [is] yet in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
Ver. 24. And called it Jehovah-shalom,] i.e., The Lord of peace, or the peace of the Lord. Christ had said unto him, {Jdg 6:23} Peace be unto thee: he therefore honoureth Christ by this name given to his newly built altar. We should write upon our hearts Jehovah-tsidkenu, Jehovah-shalom - The Lord our righteousness, the Lord our peace. "The Lord of peace himself give us peace always by all means." {2Th 3:16} Such an inscription there would answer all our doubts, and cheer up our spirits above belief.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv24–27 There, to wit, on the top of the rock,…
There, to wit, on the top of the rock, as is evident from Jdg 6:20, and especially from Jdg 6:26, where that which is here expressed only in general, and by anticipation, is more particularly described, according to the usage of the Scripture.
Jehovah-shalom, i.e. the Lord’s peace; the sign or witness of God’s speaking peace to me, and to his people; or the place where he spake peace to me, when I expected nothing but destruction.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v25 Here, I. Orders are given to Gideon to begin…
Here, I. Orders are given to Gideon to begin his government with the reformation of his father's house, Jdg 6:25, Jdg 6:26. A correspondence being settled between God and Gideon, by the appearance of the angel to him, it was kept up in another way; the same night after he had seen God, when he was full of thoughts concerning what had passed, which probably he had not yet communicated to any, The Lord said unto him in a dream, Do so and so. Note, God's visits, if gratefully received, shall be graciously repeated. Bid God welcome, and he will come again. Gideon is appointed, 1. To throw down Baal's altar, which it seems hi father had, either for his own house or perhaps for the whole town. See the power of God's grace, that he could raise up a reformer, and the condescensions of his grace, that he would raise up a deliverer, out of the family of one that was a ring-leader in idolatry. But Gideon must not now think it enough not to worship at that altar, which we charitably hope he had not done, but he must throw it down; not consecrate the same altar to God (tit is bishop Hall's observation), but utterly demolish it. God first commands down the monuments of superstition, and then enjoins his own service. He must likewise cut down the grove that was by it, the plantation of young trees, designed to beautify the place. The learned bishop Patrick, by the grove, understands the image in the grove, probably the image of Ashtaroth (for the word for a grove is Ashereh), which stood upon or close by the altar. 2. The erect an altar to God, to Jehovah his God, which probably was to be notified by an inscription upon the altar to that purport - to Jehovah, Gideon's God, or Israel's. It would have been an improper thing for him to build an altar, even to the God of Israel, especially for burnt-offering and sacrifice, and would have been construed into a contempt of the altar at Shiloh, if God, who has not tied up himself to his own laws, had not bidden him to do it. But now it was his duty and honour to be thus employed. God directs him to the place where he should build it, on the top of the rock, perhaps in the same place in which the angel had appeared to him, near to the altar he had already built: and he must not do it in a hurry, but with the decency that became a religious action (in an orderly manner, as it is in the margin), according to the ancient law for altars raised on particular occasions, that they must be of earth not of hewn stone. The word here used for the rock on which the altar was to be built signifies a fortress, or strong-hold, erected, some think, to secure them from the Midianites; if so, it was no security while the altar of Baal was so near it, but it was effectually fortified when an altar to the Lord was built on the top of it, for that is the best defence upon our glory. On this altar, (1.) He was to offer sacrifice. Two bullocks he must offer: his father's young bullock, and the second bullock of seven years old, so it should rather be read, not even the second as we read it. The former, we may suppose, he was to offer for himself, the latter for the sins of the people whom he was to deliver. It was requisite he should thus make peace with God, before he made war on Midian. Till sin be pardoned through the great sacrifice, no good is to be expected. These bullocks, it is supposed, were intended for sacrifices on the altar of Baal, but were now converted to a better use. Thus, when the strong man armed is overcome and dispossessed, the stronger than he divides the spoil, seizes that for himself which was prepared for Baal. Let him come whose right it is, and give it to him. (2.) Ball's grove, or image, or whatever it was that was the sanctity or beauty of his altar, must not only be burnt, but must be used as fuel for God's altar, to signify not only that whatever sets up itself in opposition to God shall be destroyed, but that the justice of God will be glorified in its destruction. God ordered Gideon to do this, [1.] To try his zeal for religion, which it was necessary he should give proofs of before he took the field, to give proof of his valour there. [2.] That some steps might hereby to taken towards Israel's reformation, which must prepare the way for their deliverance. Sin, the cause, must be taken away, else how should the trouble, which was but the effect, come to an end? And it might be hoped that this example of Gideon's, who was now shortly to appear so great a man, would be followed by the rest of the cities and tribes, and the destruction of this one altar of Baal would be the destruction of many.
II. Gideon was obedient to the heavenly vision, Jdg 6:27. He that was to command the Israel of God must be subject to the God of Israel, without disputing, and, as a type of Christ, must first save his people from their sins, and then save them from their enemies. 1. He had servants of his own, whom he could confide in, who, we may suppose, like him, had kept their integrity, and had not bowed the knee to Baal, and therefore were forward to assist him in destroying the altar of Baal. 2. He did not scruple taking his father's bullock and offering it to God without his father's consent, because God, who expressly commanded him to do so, had a better title to it than his father had, and it was the greatest real kindness he could do to his father to prevent his sin. 3. He expected to incur the displeasure of his father's household by it, and the ill-will of his neighbours, yet he did it, remembering how much it was Levi's praise that, in the cause of God, he said to his father and mother, I have not seen him, Deu 33:9. And, while he was sure of the favour of God, he feared not the anger of men; he that bade him do it would bear him out. Yet, 4. Though he feared not their resentment when it was done, to prevent their resistance in the doing of it he prudently chose to do it by night, that he might not be disturbed in these sacred actions. And some think it was the same night in which God spoke to him to do it, and that, as soon as ever he had received the orders, he immediately applied himself to the execution of them, and finished before morning.
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III. He was brought into peril of his life for doing it, Jdg 6:28-30. 1. It was soon discovered what was done. Gideon, when he had gone through with the business, did not desire the concealment of it, nor could it be hid, for the men of the city rose early in the morning, as it should seem, to say their matins at Baal's altar, and so to begin the day with their god, such a one as he was, a shame to those who say the true God is their God, and yet, in the morning, direct no prayer to him, nor look up. 2. It was soon discovered who had done it. Strict enquiry was made. Gideon was known to be disaffected to the worship of Baal, which brought him into suspicion, and positive proof immediately came against him: "Gideon, no doubt, has done this thing." 3. Gideon being found guilty of the fact, to such a pitch of impiety had these degenerate Israelites arrived that they take it for law he must die for the same, and require his own father (who, by patronising their idolatry, had given them too much cause to expect he would comply with them herein) to deliver him up: Bring out thy son, that he may die. Be astonished, O heavens! at this, and tremble, O earth! By the law of God the worshippers of Baal were to die, but these wicked men impiously turn the penalty upon the worshippers of the God of Israel. How prodigiously mad were they upon their idols! Was it not enough to offer the choicest of their bullocks to Baal, but must the bravest youth of their city fall as a sacrifice to that dunghill-deity, when they pretended he was provoked? How soon will idolaters become persecutors!
IV. He was rescued out of the hands of his persecutors by his own father, Jdg 6:31.
1. There were those that stood against Gideon, that not only appeared at the first to make a demand, but insisted on it, and would have him put to death. Notwithstanding the heavy judgments they were at this time under for their idolatry, yet they hated to be reformed, and walked contrary to God even when he was walking contrary to them.
2. Yet then Joash stood for him; he was one of the chief men of the city. Those that have power may do a great deal for the protection of an honest man and an honest cause, and when they so use their power they are ministers of God for good.
(1.) This Joash had patronised Baal's altar, yet now protects him that had destroyed it, [1.] Out of natural affection to his son, and perhaps a particular esteem for him as a virtuous, valiant, valuable, young man, and never the worse for not joining with him in the worship of Baal. Many that have not courage enough to keep their integrity themselves yet have so much conscience left as makes them love and esteem those that do. If Joash had a kindness for Baal, yet he had a greater kindness for his son. Or, [2.] Out of a care for the public peace. The mob grew riotous, and, he feared, would grow more so, and therefore, as some think, he bestirred himself to repress the tumult: "Let it be left to the judges; it is not for you to pass sentence upon any man;" he that offers it, let him be put to death: he means not as an idolater, but as a disturber of the peace, and the mover of sedition. Under this same colour Paul was rescued at Ephesus from those that were as zealous for Diana as these were for Baal, Act 19:40. Or, [3.] Out of a conviction that Gideon had done well. His son, perhaps, had reasoned with him, or God, who has all hearts in his hands, had secretly and effectually influenced him to appear thus against the advocates for Baal, though he had complied with them formerly in the worship of Baal. Note, It is good to appear for God when we are called to it, though there be few or none to second us, because God can incline the hearts of those to stand by us from whom we little expect assistance. Let us do our duty, and then trust God with our safety.
(2.) Two things Joash urges: - [1.] That it was absurd for them to plead for Baal. "Will you that are Israelites, the worshippers of the one only living and true God, plead for Baal, a false god? Will you be so sottish, so senseless? Those whose fathers' god Baal was, and who never knew any other, are more excusable in pleading for him than you are, that are in covenant with Jehovah, and have been trained up in the knowledge of him. You that have smarted so much for worshipping Baal, and have brought all this mischief and calamity upon yourselves by it, will you yet plead for Baal?" Note, It is bad to commit sin, but it is great wickedness indeed to plead for it, especially to plead for Baal, that idol, whatever it is, which possesses that room in the heart which God should have. [2.] That it was needless for them to plead for Baal. If he were not a god, as was pretended, they could have nothing to say for him; if he were, he was able to plead for himself, as the God of Israel had often done by fire from heaven, or some other judgment against those who put contempt upon him. Here is a fair challenge to Baal to do either good or evil, and the result convinced his worshippers of their folly in praying to one to help them that could not avenge himself; after this Gideon remarkably prospered, and thereby it appeared how unable Baal was to maintain his own cause.
(3.) Gideon's father hereupon gave him a new name (Jdg 6:32); he called him Jerubbaal: "Let Baal plead; let him plead against him if he can; if he have any thing to say for himself against his destroyer, let him say it." This name was a standing defiance to Baal: "Now that Gideon is taking up arms against the Midianites that worship Baal, let him defend his worshippers if he can." It likewise gave honour to Gideon (a sworn enemy to that great usurper, and that had carried the day against him), that encouragement to his soldiers, that they fought under one that fought for God against this great competitor with him for the throne. It is the probable conjecture of the learned that that Jerombalus whom Sanchoniathon (one of the most ancient of all the heathen writers) speaks of as a priest of the god Jao (a corruption of the name Jehovah), and one to whom he was indebted for a great deal of knowledge, was this Jerubbaal. He is called Jerubbesheth (Sa2 11:12), Baal, a lord, being fitly turned into Besheth, shame.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv24–27 And it came to pass the same night,.... The…
And it came to pass the same night,.... The night which followed the day in which the angel appeared to Gideon as he was threshing:
that the Lord said unto him; perhaps in a dream, since it was in the night: take thy father's young bullock: or "the bullock, the ox" (p); a bullock which was a large grown ox, and was not only his father's property, but what his father designed and set apart for the service of Baal; and though it was his father's, yet having a divine warrant for it, it was sufficient for him to take it without his leave, and especially as it was designed for such an ill use:
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even the second bullock of seven years old; which, according to Hesiod (q) is in its prime and full strength at nine years old, and lives much longer. In Homer (r), one of five years old is said to be sacrificed: this further describes what he was to take, the second that stood in the stall of the bullocks, or that drew in the second row at plough, or the second in age and value, or the second that was set apart for the service of Baal; though the words may be rendered, "and the second bullock" (s); besides that of his father's, he was to take another, which perhaps belonged to the people, and was the second in birth or age with respect to the former, being seven years old; or, as the Targum is, that had been fatted seven years, and had been so long preparing for the sacrifice of Baal; which was as long as the tyranny of the Midianites over them, and was occasioned by the idolatry of the people of Israel; and such a bullock was ordered to be taken with respect to that, and to show that it would end with the sacrifice of this creature:
and throw down the altar of Baal that thy father hath; upon his ground, in some part of his possessions, and perhaps built at his own expense, though for public use:
and cut down the grove that is by it; or "about it", as the Vulgate Latin version; it being usual with the Heathens to plant groves near or around their altars and temples where religious worship was performed; partly to make them more pleasant and venerable, and partly for the commission of deeds which would not bear the light; or "over it", for they were commonly tall trees which grew over the altar they erected. Some render it, "upon it" (t), and understand by it an idol placed on it: so the Arabic version is,"cut down the female idol Asira (perhaps the same with Astarte), which is upon the same altar;''and so the Syriac version to the same purpose, which calls it the idol Estere, set upon the altar.
(p) "juvencum bovem", Drusius; "juvencum adultiorem", Junius & Tremellius. (q) Opera & dies, l. 2. ver. 54. 55. (r) Iliad. 2. ver. 403. & Iliad. 7. ver. 35. (s) "et juvencum alium", Tigurine version; "et alterum taurum", V. L. "et juvencum secundum", Pagninus, Montanus. (t) , Sept. "super illud", Montanus, Junius & Tremellius.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv24–27 There - On the top of the rock, as…
There - On the top of the rock, as is evident from ver. 26, where that which is here expressed only in general, is more particularly described. Jehovah-shalom - That is, the Lord's peace; the sign or witness of God's speaking peace to me, and to his people: or the place where he spake peace to me, when I expected nothing but destruction.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv24–27 Verse 24. Gideon built an altar - and called…
Verse 24. Gideon built an altar - and called it Jehovah-shalom] The words יהוה שלום Yehovah shalom signify The Lord is my peace, or The peace of Jehovah; and this name he gave the altar, in reference to what God had said, Jdg 6:23, Peace be unto thee, שלום לך shalom lecha, "Peace to thee;" which implied, not only a wish, but a prediction of the prosperous issue of the enterprise in which he was about to engage. It is likely that this is the altar which is mentioned in Jdg 6:26, and is spoken of here merely by anticipation.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv25–27 Jdg 6:25. The same night the Lord said unto…
Jdg 6:25. The same night the Lord said unto him — Most likely in a dream; Take the second bullock — Houbigant and some others suspect that there is a deficiency in the text here, as nothing is said of the first bullock. Perhaps he was to offer both bullocks, one for himself, and the other for the sins of the people whom he was to deliver. For, till sin was pardoned through sacrifice offered for it, no good was to be expected. Dr. Dodd, however, conjectures that there is a false reading in the Hebrew, and that פר השׁור, par-hasshor, which is the expression in the first clause, and is rendered, young bullock, has, by the mistake of transcribers, been written, פר השׁני, par hassheni, second bullock, in the next clause. He therefore proposes to render the passage, Take thy father’s young bullock, even the young bullock of seven years old; the Hebrew phrase, פר השׁור, par- hasshor, implying no more than the offspring of a bull. Perhaps what some commentators have observed is more fanciful than just, namely, “that as this bullock was calved when the oppression of the Midianites began, so it was now ordered to be sacrificed in token that the oppression should end with this bullock’s death.” Throw down the altar of Baal — Thus God commands Gideon to begin his heaven-appointed task with the destruction of the altar of Baal, the fatal source of Israel’s defection and punishment; and to expiate their crime by a sacrifice, in the place where they had rendered divine honours to that despicable deity of the Midianites. That thy father hath made — Which was in his ground, and perhaps erected at his expense, though it was for public use, as appears from Jdg 6:28. Cut down the grove planted by the altar for idolatrous uses, as the manner of idolaters was. That is by it — Or, upon it. Perhaps by אשׁרה, Asherah, which we translate grove, may be meant the image in the grove, and which was placed on the altar. This, Mr. Seldon conjectures, with great probability, was the image of Ashtaroth, or Astarte, for she was worshipped together with Baal. There could be no hope of deliverance till religion was reformed, with which God therefore orders Gideon to begin. This action of Gideon might seem injurious to his father’s authority; but God’s command was a sufficient warrant, and Gideon was now called to be the supreme magistrate, whereby he was made his father’s superior, and was authorized to root out all idolatry, and the instruments thereof.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv24–27 Gideon’s naming the altar which he built, in commemoration…
Gideon’s naming the altar which he built, in commemoration of the words of peace spoken by the Angel, is very similar to what we read of Abraham Gen 22:14, and of Moses (Exo 17:15, when he named the altar Jehovah-nissi).
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv25–27 And another, or "the second." Only one seems to…
And another, or "the second." Only one seems to have been sacrificed; (ver. 28.; Cajetan) though others think that the second bullock was designed for a peace-offering. (Bonfrere) Some infer that it had been fattened for Baal. Septuagint observe, that the first bullock or "calf was fattened:" but it does not appear for what purpose. (Calmet) --- Seven years, in memory of the duration of the slavery. (Menochius) --- Before that age, bulls were not deemed so fit for yoking. Hesiod would have them to be nine years old. --- Altar. We may render the Hebrew, "Cut down the idol which is upon the altar; or, Break in pieces the ashera," &c. This is the title of the idol of the grove, Astare or Asteroth. (Syriac and Arabic) The Septuagint is favourable to this explanation. (Calmet) --- But the groves themselves were to be cut down, where an altar of God was to be erected. It seems this altar and the grove belonged to Joas, who is hence supposed to have joined in the worship of Baal. If he did formerly, his eyes were now opened, and he boldly approved of the conduct of his son, (ver. 31.; Haydock) who had probably never been infected. (Menochius)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain On v25 Gideon destroys the altar of Baal, and builds one…
Gideon destroys the altar of Baal, and builds one to Jehovah. His father, Joash, defends him against the idolaters. His new name, Jerubbaal
Jdg_6:25-32
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25And it came to pass the same [that] night, that the Lord [Jehovah] said unto him, Take thy father’s young [ox] bullock, even [and]16 the second bullock of seven years old, and throw [pull] down the altar of Baal that thy father hath, and cut down the grove [Asherah] that is by [upon] it: 26And build an altar unto the Lord [Jehovah] thy God upon the top of this rock [fortification], in the ordered place,17 and take the second bullock, and offer a burnt-sacrifice with the wood of the 27grove [Asherah] which thou shalt cut down. Then [And] Gideon took ten men of his servants, and did as the Lord [Jehovah] had said unto him: and so it was, because he feared his father’s household, and the men of the city, that he could not do it by day, that he did it by night.18 28And when the men of the city arose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was cast down, and the grove [Asherah] was cut down that was by [upon] it, and the second bullock was offered upon the altar that was built. 29And they said one to another, who hath done this thing? And when [omit: when] they inquired and asked [searched], [and] they said, Gideon the son of Joash hath done this thing. 30Then the men of the city said unto Joash, Bring out thy son, that he may die: because he hath cast down the altar of Baal, and because he hath cut down the grove [Asherah] that was by 31[upon] it. And Joash said unto all that stood against [about] him, Will ye plead [contend] for Baal? will ye save him? he that will plead [contendeth] for him, let him be put to death whilst it is yet morning;19 if he be a god, let him plead [contend] for himself, because one [he] hath cast down his altar. 32Therefore on that day he [they] called him Jerubbaal, saying, Let Baal plead [contend] against him, because he hath thrown down his altar.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL
[1 Jdg_6:25.—Bertheau and Wordsworth also find two bullocks in the text. “The original text,” says the latter, “seems clearly to speak of two bullocks, and the ancient versions appear to distinguish them (see Sept., Vulg., Syriac, Arabic).” De Wette and Bunsen, too, render “and,” not “even.” Keil argues, that “if God had commanded Gideon to take two bullocks, He would surely also have told him what he was to do with both.” But does He not tell him plainly enough in the words, “and pull down the altar of Baal?” See the commentary, below.—Tr.]
[2 Jdg_6:26.—בַּמַּצֲרָכָה. Our author’s translation of this word, “on the forward edge,” is too precarious to allow of its introduction into the text. It probably means: “with the arrangement of wood” (cf. below). On the use of בְּ in this sense, see Ges. Lex., s. v., B. 2, a.—Tr.]
[3 Jdg_6:27.—The E. V. is singularly awkward here. Dr. Cassel: “and as, on account of the house of his father and the men of the city, he feared to do it by day, he did it by night.”—Tr.]
[4 Jdg_6:31.—Dr. Cassel translates the foregoing clause thus: “he that contendeth for him, let him die! Wait till morning;” etc. Keil interprets similarly.—Tr.]
EXEGETICAL AND DOCTRINAL
Jdg_6:25. And it came to pass that night. “Ye have honored false gods instead of the eternal God,” the prophet had said above, “and therefore are come under the yoke.” For apart from its God, the maintenance of Israel’s nationality is an unnecessary thing. If they attach themselves to the gods of the nations, they must also wear their fetters. Only when they believe the Eternal is freedom either necessary or possible. The war against the oppressors, must begin against the gods of the oppressors. Gideon, fully convinced of the truth of Israel’s God, cannot summon to battle against the enemy, while an altar of Baal stands in his father’s own village. Israel’s watchword in every contest is, “God with us;” but before that word can kindle the hearts of the people, it must have been preceded by another—“Down with Baal!” This truth God himself enunciates in the valiant soul of Gideon. For now, being wholly filled with divine fire, he will delay no longer. But, only he who fears not Baal will find confidence among the people. The vigorous blows of his axe against the Asherah are the clearest proofs of his own faith. Such a faith kindles faith. Accordingly, Gideon must begin the liberation of Israel in his own house. Whoever will be truly free, must commence with himself and by his own fire-side—that is truth for all ages.
Take the ox-bullock, etc. Under divine inspiration, Gideon is as energetic as he is prudent. He neither delays, nor hastens overmuch. He chooses night for what he has to do, not from cowardice, but to insure a successful issue. By day, an outcry and contest would be inevitable, and would terrify the undecided. An accomplished fact makes an impression, and gives courage. His task is a twofold one: he must first tear down, then build up. The abominations of Baal must be thrown down. The altars of Baal, as the superior sun-god, were located on heights or elevated situations. They were built of stone, sometimes also of wood or earth (2Ki_23:15), and were of considerable massiveness. Erected upon them, “planted” (לֹאתִפַּע, Deu_16:21), stood a tree, or trunk of a tree, covered with all manner of symbols. This was consecrated to Astarte, the fruitful, subordinate night-goddess. Such an image was that of Artemis in Ephesus, black (like the earth), fastened to the ground, and full about the breasts, to symbolize the fostering love of the earth. In other places, where the Greeks met with similar figures, Sparta, Byzantium, and elsewhere (cf. Gerhard, Griech. Mythol. § 332, 4, vol. i. p. 343), they were dedicated to Artemis Orthia, or Orthosia. In this name (ὀρθός, straight), that of the Asherah (from אַשֵׁר, to be straight) was long since recognized (cf. Zorn, Biblioth. Antiquar., p. 383). Asherah was the straight and erect idol of Astarte; the symbol of her sensual attributes. Its phallic character made it the object of utter abhorrence and detestation to the pure and chaste worship of Jehovah. And in truth the worship at Sparta (Paus. iii. 16, 7) did not differ essentially from that on Mt. Carmel (1Ki_18:28). This idol was a common ornament of the altars of Baal,20 by means of which these represented the worship of nature in its completeness. Hence it is, that we find Baal and Astarte joined together, as well as Baal and Asherah. Accordingly, Asherah and Astarte are not indeed altogether identical, as was formerly supposed; but neither are they, as Movers thought (Phoeniz. i. 561, etc.), different divinities. Asherah was the Astarte Orthia, the image which expressed the ideas represented by the goddess; but it was not, and need not be, the only image of the goddess. Without adducing here the many passages of Scripture in which Asherah and Astarte occur, the foregoing observations may suffice to explain every one of them. It will be found, upon reviewing them, that while persons could indeed worship Astarte, it was only Asherah which they could make for themselves, and again destroy. In form and idea, Baal and Astarte presented the perfect contrast to the living and creative God. Gideon, therefore, if he is to build up Israel anew, must begin with the overthrow of their idols. But this was not so slight an undertaking as to be within his own sole powers of execution. He needs men and carts for the purpose. He must wrench the altar of Baal out of its grooves, and throw it down; tear out the Asherah, and cut it to pieces. In their place (this is expressed by the הַוֶּה, “this,” of Jdg_6:26), he is to erect an altar to the Eternal God. For this he cannot use the polluted fragments of the altar of Baal. He must bring pure earth and stones with him, out of which to construct it. Hence he uses ten servants to assist him, and a cart.
Take the ox-bullock which belongs to thy father, etc. The altar of Baal had been erected on his father’s estate. The guilt of his father’s house must be first atoned for. Therefore his cattle are to be taken. פַּר הַשּׁוֹר, ox-bullock, is not a young bullock, and does not answer to בֶּו בָּקָר. It is rather the first bullock of the herd, the “leader;” for even the second, being seven years old, is no longer young. Hesiod advises agriculturists to provide themselves two plough-bullocks of nine years old (Works and Days, 447). In Homer, bullocks of five years are offered and slaughtered (Il. ii. 403; Odyss. xix. 420). Down to the present day, the bullock of the plain of Jezreel and the Kishon surpasses, in size and strength, the same animal in the southern parts of the land (cf. Ritter, xvi. 703). This first bullock, this head of the herd, answers in a sense to the head of the family, which is Joash; it must help to destroy the altar which belongs to the latter. But as Gideon is not simply to destroy, but also to build up, the second bullock must also be taken, to be offered upon the new altar, in a fire made of the wood of the Asherah. The flames for which the idol must furnish the material—and we may thence infer how considerable a log of wood it was,—must serve to present an offering to the Eternal God.21
Jdg_6:26-29. On the top of the fortification, on the forward edge, עַל רֹאשׁ הַפָּעוֹז: not the rock, near which God first appeared to Gideon. It was stated at the outset, that Israel made themselves grottoes, caves, and fortifications against the enemy. Some such place of protection and defense we are here to understand by the term מצוֹז. Upon this, the altar of Baal, the helper who could not help, had reared itself. In its place, an altar of the true Helper, the Eternal God, was now built, and placed בַּמַּצַרָכָה., on the forward edge. This word occurs repeatedly in the first book of Samuel, in the sense of “battle-array.” It answers to the Latin acies, and indicates that attitude of armies in which they turn their offensive sides toward each other; so that we are told (1Sa_17:21) that Israel and the Philistines had arranged themselves מַצֲרָכָה לִקְרַאת מַצֲרָכָה. Now, as acies came to signify battle-array because of the sharp side which this presented, so מַצֲרָכָה, as here used of the fortification, can only signify its forward edge.22 The place where Gideon had to work was within the jurisdiction of Joash, but at some distance from the city, since otherwise the inhabitants would scarcely have remained ignorant of his proceedings till the next morning.
Jdg_6:30. And the men of the city said unto Joash. Although the altar belonged to Joash, the people of the city nevertheless think themselves entitled to sit in judgment on the insult offered to Baal. Baal worshippers are not tolerant. The disposition of Joash however, seems even before this to have been similar to that of Gideon. For when it is said that Gideon feared to do his work by day, among all those whom he considers, his father is not mentioned, though he must be the most directly concerned. The same inference may be drawn from the energetic and ironical answer which he gives the men of the city. There is nothing to support Bertheau’s conjecture that Joash held the office of a judge. He is the head of the family; as such, he is required to deliver up Gideon, guilty of crime towards Baal. Joash is not merely indisposed to do this, but even threatens to use violence against any one who takes the cause of Baal upon himself. A few such forcible words were enough to quiet the people of the city. Israel had fallen into such deep torpidity and self-oblivion, that their enemies dared to demand of a father the life of his son, because he had done that which it was the duty of every Israelite to do. The first energetic resistance changes the position of parties, and puts the enemy to flight.
Jdg_6:31. And Joash said, Will ye contend for Baal? In a similar manner,23 Lucian ridicules the heathenism of his day, by representing Jupiter as laughed at for letting the sacriligious thieves depart from Olympia, untouched by his thunderbolts, although they had cut from his statue the golden locks of hairs, each of which weighed six minæ (in Jupiter Tragoedus). It lies in the nature of heathenism to identify God and the symbol which represents Him, since in general whatever testifies of God, every sensible manifestation of Deity, is made Deity itself by it. Joash ridicules the idea of his heathen neighbors, that the destruction of his altar is an insult to Baal. On the principles of heathenism, Baal’s protection of his altar, or the contrary, will demonstrate whether he is or is not. If he is able to take care of his own altar, Joash mockingly argues, it is an insult for another to undertake it for him. In this case, not he who injures, but he who would defend his altar, denies his deity. The latter first deserves to die. Many expositors have connected צַד חַבֹּקֶר, “till morning,” with יו·מת, “let him die,” which is against the sense of Joash’s speech. As to the destroyer of the altar, he says, we know not yet whether he has deserved death; wait till morning, and let us see whether Baal himself will do anything. But he who would take Baal’s place, and put the other to death, he deserves punishment at once; for he denies that Baal has any power at all, and by consequence that he exists. Wait till morning, if he be a god, he will contend for himself, because he hath cast down his altar. Joash denies that the altar belonged to him, although Jdg_6:25 states that it did. The altar, he says, belongs to its god: let him see to it. The result of these words must have been, to make it evident to the men of the city that Joash and his house would have nothing more to do with Baal. For this they knew full well, that their Baal would do nothing to Gideon. It is one of the characteristic illusions of heathenism in all ages, that it does not itself believe in that for which it spends its zeal.
Jdg_6:32. And at that time they named him Jerubbaal, that is, Baal will contend with him, for he hath thrown down his altar. Why expositors have not been content with this significant explanation, it is impossible to see.24 It sets forth the utter impotence of Baal, and the mockery which it excited. Had Gideon been named “Contender with Baal,” it would have implied the existence of Baal. But if he was called, “Baal will contend with him, avenge himself on him,” and thus by his life, presence, and prosperity, strikingly manifested the impotence of the idol-god, who could not take vengeance on him, then his name itself was full of the triumph of the Israelitish spirit over its opponents. Baal can do nothing, Baal will do nothing, when his altars are overthrown. Baal is not: Israel has no occasion to fear. The superstition that he will avenge himself on his enemies, is idle. Of that, Jerubbaal affords living proof. In vain did Baal’s servants wait for vengeance to overtake Gideon—it came not; the hero only becomes greater and more triumphant. The name is therefore of greater ethical significance, than has been generally supposed. This fact secured its perpetuation and popular use. Even believers in the eternal God are deeply imbued with superstitious fear of Baal, which forbids them to do anything against him. How idle this fear is, Gideon shows. Samuel in his farewell address speaks of Gideon as Jerubbaal (1Sa_12:11); while Joab, speaking of Abimelech, calls him “son of Jerubbosheth” (2Sa_11:21). בּשֶׁת is a term of reproach for Baal (Hos_9:10).25 Any connection between the name Jerubbaal and that of a god Jaribolos, discovered on Palmyrene inscriptions, is not to be thought of. First, for the self-evident reason, that no heathen god can possibly be called Jerubbaal; and secondly, because the like-sounding Jar can be better explained from יָרֵחַ, the moon, thus suggesting a moon-baal (cf. Corpus Insc. Grœc. iii. n. 4502, etc.; Ritter, xvii. 1531, etc.). It is interesting to notice that Gideon’s proper name, גּדְעוֹן, appropriately expresses the act with which he began his career. נָדַצ is equivalent to the Latin caedere, to fell. Deu_7:5 says: “Their altars ye shall throw down, .… their asherahs ye shall fell (תְּגַדֵּעוּן, cf. Deu_12:3. The same word is used (2Ch_14:2; 2Ch_31:1) of the felling of the Asherah, and Isa_9:9, of the felling of trees. Gideon, therefore, is the Feller, (Cæsar).
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
After the miracle of his election, Gideon enters on his calling. Othniel begins his official career in battle, Gideon in his own house. He must test at home his courage against foes abroad. Before he can proclaim the call of God against the enemies of Israel, who are inflicted on account of the prevalent idolatry, he must throw down the altar of Baal in his father’s house. The most difficult battle is to be fought first. Nearest neighbors are the worst adversaries. But he dares it because he believes God, and wins. So, when preachers of the gospel reap no fruit and gain no victory, it is often because they have not yet overthrown the altars in their own houses. The road to the hearts of the congregation, is over the ruins of the minister’s own Baal.—Starke: Christian friend, thou also hast a Baal in thine own heart, namely, evil concupiscence. Wilt thou please the Lord, first tear that idol down.
But Gideon must not merely tear down, but also build up; not only destroy the old altar, but also sacrifice on the new. Tearing down is of itself no proof of devotion; for an enemy’s enemy is not always a friend. The spirit that only denies, is an evil spirit. Divine truth is positive. Building involves confession; hence, to build up (edify) is to proclaim our confession and to preach the gospel of Him who is Yea and Amen. So did the Apostle not merely undermine the idolatry of Diana, but build up the church in Ephesus. Boniface, the Apostle of the Germans, not only cut down the oaks of heathenism, but founded churches. All churches are Gideon-altars, dedicated to Him who overthrew death, that He might build up the New Jerusalem.—Starke: He who would truly reform, must not only abolish, but put something better in its place.
Gideon’s sacrifice was to be consumed by the wood of the idol-image. The sole use which can be made of wooden gods, is to kindle a sacrifice to the true God. The wood was not unholy, but only the heart that fashioned it into an idol-image. The mountains on which the people worshipped were not unholy, but only the people who erected idols upon them. All sacrificial flames arise from the wood of idols previously worshipped. So the Apostle consumed his zeal as persecutor in the burning zeal of love. When the heart burns with longings after its Saviour, the flames consume the worldly idols which it formerly served. When prayer rises like the smoke of sacrifice, it springs from penitence in which old sins are burned to ashes.
Gideon is obedient to every direction, and is crowned with success. Notwithstanding apparent danger, obedience to God conducts only to happy issues. The most painful injunction is laid on Abraham; he obeys, and it turns to salvation. The enemies seek to slay Gideon; but they are sent home with derision. Gideon not only threw down the altar in his father’s house, but also won his father’s heart for God. So, confession of Christ often draws after it the hearts of parents. It is salvation, even if the first be last. However late, if at last men only come to God!—Lisco: The father had evidently derived new courage from his son’s bold exploit of faith, and declares war to the idolaters, if they touch his son.—Gerlach: The bold deed, of the son inspired the father also with new faith and courage. Hence, in this strife, Joash dared to judge as faith demanded.
And Gideon was called Jerubbaal. The hero is the wonderful type of the militant church: militant, that is, against unbelief, not engaged in internal warfare. His name proclaimed that Baal is nothing and can do nothing; but that God’s word is irresistable. Hence, it is a symbol of encouragement for all who confess the truth. He who fears and hesitates, does not love; but for him who has courage, Baal is vanished. Gideon threw down his altar, and built another for God, not for the stones’ sake, but for Israel’s benefit. Every Christian is a Jerubbaal, so long as instead of self-righteousness, he gives a place in his heart to the Cross. Thus, many in our days, who have more fear of man than courage in God, are put to shame by Jerubbaal. They exercise discretion, regard their position, look to their income, defer to superiors, and wish to please all,—but only he who seeks to please God alone, loses nothing and gains all.—Starke: As names given to men in memory of their good deeds are an honor to them, so to their adversaries they are a disgrace.—Gerlach: Henceforth the life and well-being of Gideon became an actual proof of the nothingness of idolatry; hence he receives the name Jerubbaal from the mouth of his father.
[Bp. Hall: The wood of Baal’s grove must be used to burn a sacrifice unto God. When it was once cut down, God’s detestation and their danger ceased. The good creatures of God that have been profaned to idolatry, may, in a change of their use, be employed to the holy service of their Maker.—Wordsworth: The Parthenons and Pantheons of heathen antiquity have been consecrated into Basilicas and Churches of Christ.—Henry: Gidson, as a type of Christ, mast first save his people from their sins, then from their enemies.—The same: It is good to appear for God when we are called to it, though there he few or none to second us, because God can incline the hearts of those to stand by us, from whom we little expect it.—TR.
Footnotes:
[16][Jdg_6:25.—Bertheau and Wordsworth also find two bullocks in the text. “The original text,” says the latter, “seems clearly to speak of two bullocks, and the ancient versions appear to distinguish them (see Sept., Vulg., Syriac, Arabic).” De Wette and Bunsen, too, render “and,” not “even.” Keil argues, that “if God had commanded Gideon to take two bullocks, He would surely also have told him what he was to do with both.” But does He not tell him plainly enough in the words, “and pull down the altar of Baal?” See the commentary, below.—Tr.]
[17][Jdg_6:26.—בַּמַּצֲרָכָה. Our author’s translation of this word, “on the forward edge,” is too precarious to allow of its introduction into the text. It probably means: “with the arrangement of wood” (cf. below). On the use of בְּ in this sense, see Ges. Lex., s. v., B. 2, a.—Tr.]
[18][Jdg_6:27.—The E. V. is singularly awkward here. Dr. Cassel: “and as, on account of the house of his father and the men of the city, he feared to do it by day, he did it by night.”—Tr.]
[19][Jdg_6:31.—Dr. Cassel translates the foregoing clause thus: “he that contendeth for him, let him die! Wait till morning;” etc. Keil interprets similarly.—Tr.]
[20] הָאֲשׁרָח אֲשֶׁר צָלָיו. Hence they always occur together, cf. 1Ki_14:23; 1Ki_16:33; 2Ki_17:16; 2Ki_21:8; 2Ki_23:15.
[21][Wordsworth: “Gideon, though not a priest, was made a priest for the occasion—as Manoah afterwards was (Jdg_13:19)—by the special command or God, who shows his divine independence and sovereign authority by making priests of whom he will, and by ordering altars to be built where he will. Cf. Hengst., Pentateuch, ii: 48.”—TR.]
[22][Keil; “בַּמַּצֲרָכָה, ‘with the preparation (zurüstung).’ The explanation of this word is doubtful. Since בָּבָח is used (1Ki_15:22) with בְּ of the building material, Studer and Bertheau understand מַצֲרָכָה of the materials of the overthrown Baal-altar, out of which Gideon was to build the altar to Jehovah—Studer applying the word more particularly to the stone of the altar itself, Bertheau to the materials, especially the pieces of wood, lying on the altar, ready to be used in offering sacrifices. But they are certainly wrong; for neither does מַצֲרָכָה mean building material or pieces of wood, nor does the definite article, which here precedes it, point to the altar of Baal. The verb צָרַדְ occurs not only quite frequently of the arrangement of the wood upon the altar (Gen_22:9; Lev_1:7, and elsewhere), but also of the preparation of the altar for the sacrifice (Num_23:4). Accordingly, מַצֲרָכָה can scarcely be understood otherwise than of the preparation of the altar to be built for the sacrificial action, in the sense: ‘Build the altar with the preparation (equipment) required for the sacrifice.’ According to what follows, this preparation consisted in piling up the wood of the Asherah on the altar to consume the burnt-offering of Gideon.”—Tr.]
[23]The same idea underlies the Jewish legends of Abraham’s destruction of the idols in his father’s house. Cf. Beer, Leben Abraham’s, Leipzig, 1869, p. 10.
[24]Keil has come back to it.
[25]On the names Ishbosheth and Mephibosheth, compare for the present my article on Ishbosheth in Herzog’s Realencykl. vii:83, where, however, the printer has erroneously put קרי מבצל for מריב בצל.
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv24–25 it came to pass the same night, that the…
it came to pass the same night, that the Lord said unto him--The transaction in which Gideon is here described as engaged was not entered on till the night after the vision.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv24–27 24. Jehovah-shalom — That is, Jehovah is peace. He…
24. Jehovah-shalom — That is, Jehovah is peace. He erected this altar both in gratitude to God for his mercy in remembering Israel, and as a memorial and witness of the blessed peace which was in that spot granted unto him. That revelation to Gideon was a sign and pledge that God was about to remove the rod of his anger from Israel, and be again at peace with them. That altar, with its sacred associations, long remained, and when this book of Judges was written, it was yet in Ophrah of the Abi-ezrites, still called by its old name. This altar must not be confounded with the one which Gideon was commanded to build on the top of the stronghold, (Jdg_6:26,) in the place of the altar of Baal.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv24–27 24. built an altar there] where the Deity had…
24. built an altar there] where the Deity had appeared; the patriarchs observed this custom, see Gen_12:7; Gen_26:25; Gen_35:1. The altar with its name Jehovah is peace, i.e. well-disposed, commemorated the revelation; cf. the naming of an altar in Gen_33:20; Gen_35:7, Exo_17:15 (all E). For Kittel’s interpretation of the episode see on Jdg_13:19. Perhaps Gideon’s experience conveyed to his mind a new religious idea. According to primitive belief, the Deity dwelt in a sacred tree or stone; but not in the terebinth or rock at Ophrah; the Messenger of Jehovah has no such dwelling; He comes as a traveller from some region that no one knows. Whether the burning of the sacrifice marked a change in religious practice is more doubtful.
The foregoing narrative presents several difficulties. The inconsistent use of Jehovah in Jdg_6:14; Jdg_6:16 may be accounted for by a lapse from strict dramatic fitness on the part of the writer; but the expressions in Jdg_6:14; Jdg_6:16-17 which imply that Gideon recognized the Angel before Jdg_6:22, cannot perhaps be explained in this way. It has been suggested (1) that these expressions have been inserted by a later editor to emphasize from the first the divine nature of Gideon’s Visitor and the sacrificial character of the meal; or (2) that the confusion is due to a double version, Jdg_6:14 b do not I send thee, Jdg_6:16-17 b being assigned to E, the rest belonging to J. But the distinction between the sources cannot be made out with much success. It is possible to explain the difficulty in Jdg_6:17 b in the way attempted in the note; but we must allow that the present form of the narrative cannot be original.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv24–27 (24) Built an altar.—Altars, like the altar Ed (Jos_22:34),…
(24) Built an altar.—Altars, like the altar Ed (Jos_22:34), built by the Transjordanic tribes, were not always intended for purposes of sacrifices, but to witness some great event or Divine appearance (Gen_31:48, Gen_26:25; Exo_17:15).
Jehovah-shalom.—“The Lord is peace.” We find similar names in Jehovah-jireh, “the Lord will provide” (Gen_22:14); Jehovah-nissi, “the Lord my banner” (Exo_17:15); and Jehovah-tsidkenn, “the Lord our righteousness” (Jer_23:6). (Comp. Eze_48:35.) See Pearson on the Creed, Art. 2.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv24–27 For naming altars built in commemoration of particular events…
For naming altars built in commemoration of particular events Gen_22:14 Gen_31:47-49 Gen_33:20 Jos_22:34, etc.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v25 Throw down the altar of Baal.
Jdg_6:25-32
Throw down the altar of Baal.
Read full note →
Baals altar destroyed
1. Observe Gods command to Gideon. He had been hitherto protesting against the idolatry of his family and country by a life of opposition, inasmuch as it was a life of humble, pious fear, and love of Jehovah, and of the worship of Him as the true God. But now he is commanded to perform an act of opposition. Gideon is to destroy Baals altar before he builds Gods; the same altar will not do: God will have no polluted sacrifice; if there is any connection at all between the two, it shall be only this, that the wood of Baals grove shall be made fuel to burn the sacrifice on Jehovahs altar. Now may not this act of Gideons, under the Old Testament dispensation, be made to speak the language of the New? No man can serve two masters; ye cannot serve God and Mammon, any more than God and Baal. But it is a noble act, worthy of the imitator of Gideon, to make the things which were before an occasion of falling the instruments of doing good, by putting them to a sanctified use; making them subservient to the furtherance of the gospel, instead of fostering the lust of the eye and the pride of life, as they did before. Whatever has been the accompaniment of your idol-worship, cut it down, and apply it to a holy purpose; make it fuel for the altar of God. But where shall Gideon build the altar of God? Is it to stand in the place of Baals? No; as if this were a contamination, the thing is forbidden: Build an altar unto the Lord upon the top of this rock. The reason was obvious. That rock was the place where the angel of the covenant had met him. That rock was the place on which the miracle had been wrought, to show the Godhead of Him that wrought it and to confirm the faith of him who witnessed it. That rock was the place from whence ascended the sacrifice which the angel had made acceptable by ascending with it. That rock had already witnessed the manifestations of God to Gideon; and there was written, as it were, upon it, Jehovah-shalom.
2. Observe Gideons prompt obedience to Gods command. He seems to have begun the destruction of idolatry that very night in which God had given the command. Oh, the sad effects of procrastination in matters which respect the overthrow of the idols of the heart and the dedication of the heart to God! How is it that when the command of God is proclaimed to do this there is such hesitation and delay? It is not so much from a determination not to obey it at all as from a fallacious hope of being better able to comply with it at some other time, which time is constantly keeping its distance in proportion as life itself advances.
3. We notice the influence of Gideons character and conduct over those who were in his service: Gideon took ten men of his servants, and did as the Lord said unto him. It seems that Gideon had not only kept himself from the defilement of his countrys idolatry, but that he had used his influence and authority in endeavouring to preserve his servants from it also; and now, when he has to perform a work beyond his own strength--a work in which not one man in his fathers house, nor in all Israel, can be found to help him--the hearts of his own ten servants are made willing to unite with him, and they give him a proof on which he can depend that his counsel and example have had a proper effect by assisting him at the risk of their lives. Here, then, is a point of Gideons character which deserves the imitation of every master of a family. Gideon keeps his own servants from bowing the knee to Baal. He instructs them in the knowledge of the true God. His authority is exercised for the best of purposes.
4. Observe how professing Christians may often be put to confusion and shame by a comparison with those very idolaters whose ignorance appears so pitiable in their sight. Here is a god made of a log of wood or a block of stone; it is a lifeless and senseless image: and yet his worshippers rise up early in the morning to worship him. See how diligent they are in his service, how zealous for his honour, how fervent in their devotions! Compare that god with our God, and then compare those worshippers with ourselves.
5. Observe how the enmity of the carnal heart shows itself when any effort is made for promoting the worship and glory of God. The men of the city said unto Joash, Bring out thy son, that he may die: because he hath cast down the altar of Baal. As long as religion remains a dead letter, a mere matter of profession devoid of practice, the world will not cry out against it. But when the decisive part which the Christian takes shows the difference which exists between him and others as to motive and principle; when his life is seen to be a constant reproach to theirs, and his love for God a contrast to their love for mammon; when Baals altar is cast down, and Gods altar built; then the carnal mind becomes a spirit of persecution; then a mans foes become those of his own household; and because he is not content to think or speak about religion merely, but is active enough to do something for the cause, he is made to suffer for it. Hence the calumny which a zealous Christian undergoes; hence all the misconstruction put upon his good works; hence all the evil motives charged upon him, and all the hard speeches which are spoken against him. Lastly, observe that God can make the wrath of man to praise Him, and the remainder of wrath He can restrain. It might have been supposed that Joash, whose bullock had been slain and whose altar had been thrown down, would have been more enraged than the rest. But, lo! he takes the part of the accused. It seems as if he had been secretly influenced by his sons pious example; and perhaps he was struggling with the convictions of his own mind upon the folly and wickedness of his idolatry when the conduct of these men brought him at once to the point. Gideon commits his cause to God; and God not only takes care of the cause, but of Gideon. And so it is, and always shall be, with the Christian who is called forth to fight the battles of the Lord. He shall be able, in the strength of his Master, to put to flight all who oppose his progress. (F. Elwin.)
The way to deal with public abuses
May not we all learn from what is here recorded not to shrink from boldly and promptly assailing and seeking to uproot all moral evils, which have already become chronic, or threaten ere long to become so. Half measures, in regard to such matters as those to which we refer, never succeed. The more thoroughly the iron will of a Cromwell combines with the sterling spirituality of a John the better fitted is the reformer for his difficult and delicate task. It will never do for one in his circumstances to act in a spirit of compromise, where truth and principle demand the prompt, vigorous, and unsparing application of the sledge-hammer and the axe. But if firmness and decision are indispensable in dealing with public abuses, whether in Church or State, they are no less indispensable in dealing with the corruption of our own hearts and any evil habits which we may have contracted. It is peculiarly necessary that we set ourselves resolutely and vigorously to the work of self-reformation--a work which, while it must always take the precedence of every other kind of rectification, can never succeed if attempted in our own strength. Cheered and sustained by the Divine promise, so freely and largely given to those who are sincere in their desire to reform their own hearts and lives, let every one apply the pruning-knife with nerve and determination to the overgrowth of what is false in principle or vicious in practice, and lop it off without remorse (Mar_9:43-48). Another lesson to be derived from Gideons conduct on this occasion is the duty of obeying the commands of God with unquestioning promptitude. Too rash and impetuous we may be, but we can never be too prompt. Instructive as the example of Gideon is, still more so is that of his Master and our Exemplar who, when the bitter cup of retribution due to us was put into His hand and He was satisfied that it was indeed the will of His Father that He should drink it, drank it to the very dregs. (W. W. Duncan, M. A.)
The valorous assault
I. Observe Gods command to Gideon.
1. Gideon is commanded to destroy the altar of Baal. God or Baal--not God and Baal was the point to be settled before any deliverance could be expected. Now, throw New Testament light upon this, and what do we learn? The lesson is trumpet-tongued. No compromise--no halting between two opinions--is the language of the command. God hates a divided heart. He will not endure two altars. He will give no deliverance as long as Baals altar stands. No sacrifice, however costly, is, or can be, accepted, which is offered upon the polluted altar of mans corrupt heart. A new altar must be built up--an altar of Gods workmanship--of God, and for God, that is the only altar which will sanctify an acceptable gift. Any attempt to worship at Jehovahs altar on one day in seven, and to worship at the altar of Baal or Mammon on the other six days of the week, is not only vain, but suicidal. God will have a new heart, and a whole heart, or none.
2. The next thing Gideon was commanded to do was to cut down Baals grove and make it fuel for the altar of God. Groves were not idolatrous--there was no harm in them--but they were occasions of sin, How many had been ruined, and ruined for ever, under the foliage of those groves! Perversion of natures growth to the dishonour of natures God! Many would plead for the harmless trees who would condemn both: Baal and his idolatrous worship. But God knows the heart of the sinner better than he knows it himself; and therefore He says, Cut down the grove. Cut down the occasion of sin. Touch not, taste not, handle not that which causes men to perish with the using. Avoid the spot, shun the places, where Satans seat is. Do more than this! God commanded Gideon to offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the grove. This was turning the idolatrous grove to a good purpose. Let there be no waste--no useless destruction. Money, health, time, influence, example, all, once expended for Baal, now let them all be as fuel for the altar of God.
3. The third thing God commanded Gideon to do was to build an altar unto the Lord his God. But where was this altar to be reared? Was it to stand on the spot whereon Baals altar stood? No! the place is polluted. On no unhallowed spot must this altar be raised. Build it, said the Lord, upon the top of this rock, in the ordered place. Gideon must build it upon the rock already consecrated by the wondrous doings thereon of the angel of the covenant. May we not say of this rock what Paul said of the smitten rock in the wilderness, That rock was Christ. He is indeed both altar and rock--yea, He is Himself the sacrifice. Standing on Him alone as our Rock, we ever hear the words, Peace be unto thee; fear not: thou shalt riot die. He only is the true Rock--higher than we--far above the flood which sweeps the impenitent into the depths of woe. He, too, only is the Rock on which we can with safety place the altar of our hearts. The old foundation will not do--it is polluted--it is defiling. No altar, no sacrifice will God accept if it be offered upon the site of Baals altar. Behold, I make all things new--this is our hope to come. This must be the rule of our faith and practice now.
II. And now we come to Gideons obedience.
1. His obedience was prompt. He did not give himself time to take counsel of his fears. He did it by night, lest he should be opposed and hindered. He had no fear on account of detection. He must have known that his deed would be proclaimed over the whole nation. His aim was to do the work out of hand, and leave the consequences with God. Duty was his, events were Gods. Noble example. Half the shipwrecks of faith would be escaped were it followed. Procrastination is the bane of true godliness.
2. We observe, however, that Gideons obedience was attended with personal danger. He needed courage and strong faith. Doubtless he sought for grace equal to that night of danger whence alone all strength cometh. The followers of Baal--the men of the city--were zealous for the worship of Baal. If idolaters be zealous for the honour of Baal, he will be no less zealous for the honour and glory of God. Now, it is just this zeal and this courage, in the face of danger and difficulties, which prove the character of the true Christian. If a man will venture nothing for Christ he is not worthy of Him. Ah, we need a Gideon to rise up in Israel! Rather we need that all the people of God should be as zealous for the true God, for His Word, for His day, for His worship, as idolaters are for the worship of Baal.
3. Mark, also, that Gideons obedience was eminently successful and strikingly rewarded. He was for God, and God was for him. The Lord made his way prosperous. Gideons ten servants did their work well. He was not left to do all the work himself. Doubtless they caught their masters spirit and zeal. It is astonishing how much influence for good or evil every master exercises over his own household. Eyes are upon him when he leasts suspects it. But Gideon was defended by one who of all others seemed pledged to oppose him. His father ceased to be an idolater that very night. Perhaps the bravery of his son, or his steady and consistent piety and zeal, convinced him of his sin, or perhaps the impotency of Baal to save himself was conclusive logic to his mind. Who can tell how many fathers and mothers in Israel, how many sons and daughters, relatives and friends, would be converted and saved, were Christian men and women as faithful to their God as was Gideon? You think to conciliate the world by concession, by connivance at their sinful principles and customs. Alas! your inconsistency only leads them to despise you. Be consistent, be uncompromising in serving the Lord; be courageous--obey God rather than man, and God will honour you, as he Has honoured many, and made them instruments in winning father and mother, brothers and sisters, to Christ. (G. A. Rogers, M. A.)
On the destruction of idols
The idolatrous altar and false worship of ones own, clan, of ones own family--these need courage to overturn, and more than courage--a ripeness of time and a Divine call. A man must be sure of himself and his motives, for one thing, before he takes upon him to be the correcter of errors that have secured truth to his fathers and are maintained by his friends. Suppose people are actually worshipping a false god--a world-power which has long held rule among them. If one would act the part of iconoclast the question is, by what right? Is he himself clear of illusion and idolatry? Has he a better system to put in place of the old? He may be acting in mere bravado and self-display; flourishing opinions which have less sincerity than those which he assails. There were men in Israel who had no commission and could have claimed no right to throw down Baals altar, and taking upon them such a deed would have had short shrift at the hands of the people of Ophrah. And so there are plenty among us who, if they set up to be judges of their fellow-men and of beliefs which they call false, even when these are false, deserve simply to be put down with a strong hand. There are voices, professing to be those of zealous reformers, whose every word and tone are insults. The men need to go and learn the first lessons of truth, modesty, and earnestness. And this principle applies all round--to many who assail modern errors as well as to many who assail established beliefs. On the one hand are men anxious to uphold the true faith. It is well. But anxiety and the best of motives do not qualify them to attack science, to denounce all rationalism as godless. We want defenders of the faith who have a Divine calling to the task in the way of long study and a heavenly fairness of mind, so that they shall not offend and hurt religion more by their ignorant vehemence than they help it by their zeal. On the other hand, by what authority do they speak who sneer at the ignorance of faith and would fain demolish the altars of the world? It is no slight equipment that is needed. Fluent sarcasm, confident worldliness, even a large acquaintance with the dogmas of science, wilt not suffice. A man needs to prove himself a wise and humane thinker; he needs to know by experience and deep sympathy those perpetual wants of our race which Christ knew and met to the uttermost. (R. A. Watson, M. A.)
Reform at home
In Jerusalem every man sweeps before his own door--at least it is said that he does. If he doesnt, I doubt if any one else does it for him. Here in London the same thing was required of us until a very recent date. If a fall of snow came, say before January, 1892, every man was required by law to sweep in front of his own door, and in the sweeping he was to go as far as the outer edge of the footpath; so that what we know as a proverb in relation to Jerusalem we have practised as a fact in relation to London. But I suppose that most of you will at once understand that the Jerusalem door-front sweeping is only another way of saying that all reform should begin at home; and used in that sense the saying is expressive and suggestive. It is in this sense that I use the text.
I. Reform at home should be preached to nations. These are days of rapid travel and national interchange. We visit all the world, and all the world visits us. This enables us to see the excellences and the defects of our neighbours; and I do not think that Englishmen have been slow to speak of the faults of others. But it may be well for us as a people to look a little more at home. If the angel of God came to us as he came to Gideon, I have a suspicion that he would say, Break down the altar, turn out the idols, heal your own diseases, sweep before your own door, and reform your own abuses and inconsistencies. We send our missionaries to convert the heathen from their darkness and superstitions, and it is good that we should. We send our missionaries to convert the heathen, but what else do we send them? We send them our ardent spirits, our rum fiend, which undoes the good work the men of God succeed in doing. I feel like saying, Before you send any more missionaries, sweep your own door-step, clean your own house. We have sent our ships into many waters, and our soldiers into many lands, to put down slavery; we have spent much in blood and treasure in this direction; but if the angel came to us as he did to Gideon, wouldnt he rebuke us for the slavery in our midst? If a tenth part of what we hear about the sweater be true, of poor women making clothes for the army, and I know not what beside, at a price on which they cannot live, isnt it time we swept in front of our own door?
II. Reform at home should be preached to Churches. We want revivals among the people which shall save them. Then the Church must be revived. We desire to lead the masses to Christ, that they may feel the warm glow of His love, and know the joy of His service. Then the Church must get nearer Christ. We must put out of the Church everything contrary to the spirit of Him whose name it bears. The Churches must be warm, generous, and large hearted, and this should apply both to pulpit and pew. The pulpit is not always as broad and sympathetic as might be. And there is a good deal of room for reform in the pew. Cold men in the pews create cold men in the pulpit. Let there be warmth and love in the pews, and the pulpit will warm up. But if icebergs be in the pews you will get marble in the pulpit, and seeking souls will be warned off by the chills which will be as cutting as the east wind.
III. Reform at home should be preached to individuals. All reform should begin at self. We can only mend the universe as we mend its units. We want the nation better, then we must mend its men. We desire to see the Church of God pure and holy, then its members must be holy. Let us break down every altar, and eject every idol, and let the Lord of life, who has a right to rule ours, enter into possession of us. (C. Leach, D. D.)
Gideons reformation not destructive only
Gideon does not leave Ophrah without an altar and a sacrifice. Destroy one system without laying the foundation of another that shall more than equal it in essential truth and practical power, and what sort of deliverance have you effected? Men will rightly execrate you. It is no reformation that leaves the heart colder, the life barer and darker than before, and those who move in the night against superstition must be able to speak in the day of a living God who will vindicate His servants. It has been said over and over again, and must yet be repeated, to overturn merely is no service. They that break down need some vision at least of a building up, and it is the new edifice that is the chief thing. The world of thought to-day is infested with critics and destroyers, and may well be tired of them. It is too much in need of constructors to have any thanks to spare for Voltaires and Humes. Let us admit that demolition is the necessity of some hours. We look back on the ruins of Bastilles and temples that served the uses of tyranny, and even in the domain of faith there have been fortresses to throw down, and ramparts that made evil separations among men. But destruction is not progress; and if the end of modern thought is to be agnosticism, the denial of all faith and all ideals, then we are simply on the way to something not a whit better than primeval ignorance. (R. A. Watson, M. A.)
Daring to oppose wrong
I have seen many a time on the sea-shore bits of driftwood tossed hither and thither, the helpless sport of the waves. I have seen on the same shore the black rock standing there unmoved, unshaken--opposing itself to all the might and force of the waves which fumed and seethed around it and dashed themselves in wild and savage fury against it. To be real men we must be not like the driftwood--driven about by every passing wave of opinion; we must be like the rock--able to resist and oppose the full force of the worlds fashion and custom. This will not be easy. The world has never loved singularity. Loyalty to conviction, courage to say No to the demands made by fashion and custom, will entail upon you scorn, hardship, hate. The way of life is still the narrow path. But I have yet to learn that difficulties can daunt the young and ardent soul. Garibaldi could only promise his ragged soldiers suffering, wounds, and perhaps death if they followed him into Italy, and yet they responded to his call, and said, General, we are the men. And I am not afraid now that those who have any love or enthusiasm for truth and right will be daunted or terrified because of the suffering wherewith the path of duty abounds. (J. D. Jones.)
If he be a god, let him plead for himself.
Religion judged by results
When we hear a speech like that, we are inclined to shout, Hear, hear. Surely it seems reasonable. Surely no one could object to that. Let religion be judged by its results. Do not attempt to argue to defend it; it surely does not need that. Christianity has had eighteen hundred years of trial now, and it is too late to attempt to defend it by mere words. Look at what it has done. If you know your Bibles, you will recollect that both Old and New Testaments claim this test. When Elijah stood alone for God at Carmel, in the presence of the king and the court and the false prophets, he challenged them all to a judgment by results. The God that answereth by fire, let him be the God. And when the people refused to believe in our Saviour, rejected His teaching, and would not acknowledge Him as their Saviour, He appealed to them on the ground of results: Though ye believe not Me, believe the works, said Christ (Joh_10:38); Believe Me for the very works sake, said He again (Joh_14:11). If, then, we say, Judge our religion by its works, the tree by its fruits, you ask, Well, what has it done? And when this question is put, whole continents stand up to bear witness to the power and saving might of Jesus Christ. Whole peoples, who have come out of paganism and heathen darkness, say, Look at us. We are what we are by Christ Jesus the Lord. What has Christianity done? It has filled dark places of the earth with light. It has sent help to the poor, hope to the despairing, comfort to the sad, salvation to the sinful, and restored fallen man to his reconciled God. But let us suppose for a moment that we listen to those who would take Christ and His religion out of the world. We ask them, What will you put in place of these? What have you to offer us? Before I give up the old I want to see the new. Bring out your god, let us have a look at him. It will be interesting to see what he is like. We should like to know what he has done. We want to apply our test of results to him. We challenge you on this ground. A meeting was once held at which number of very clever people set themselves the task of opposing Christianity and slighting God. When the speaking was over, criticism and questions were asked for. After a short pause an old woman rose up on the floor of the meeting-place and said, These men have been opposing religion and almost laughing at God. I want to ask what they can give me instead of what I have? I was left a widow with six children, not one of whom could work. I rested upon the promise of God, who says He is a husband to the widow and a father to the fatherless, and I have found His word to be true. For, though I have had a hard struggle, not one of my six children or myself ever wanted a bit of bread. I have brought them all up, and now I am just waiting till God thinks fit to take me home to rest. Will these men up there tell me what could have done better for me than my loving God has done? It was an old womans argument, but as it was one of experience it was powerful. I put her question, What has infidelity done? Until we can see something of its results we shall not be disposed to part with the religion which has lifted us into the higher regions of life and hope. We know too much of the blessings which result from Christianity ever to be persuaded to give it up. We have seen it reconstruct, remake men. It is said that now science has invented a way of dealing with the waste slag which comes from the iron furnaces which used to be thrown away in heaps as worthless. I have seen somewhere various useful articles, vases and others, made from the slag--waste, worthless materials worked up into articles of use and beauty. That is just what Christ does. He takes men who are cast off by the world as worthless and waste, and remakes them. (C. Leach, D. D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v24 CHAPTER 6—Jdg_6:24-32
CHAPTER 6—Jdg_6:24-32
THE REMOVAL OF THE BARRIER TO DELIVERANCE
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CRITICAL NOTES.—one thing must be scrupulously gone about, ere a step can be taken to secure the much-needed emancipation of the land. The deliverance itself it would be easy for God to accomplish, were the barrier that prevented it taken out of the way. To remove that barrier out of the way, was, in God’s sight, the great thing to be done. Baal stood where Jehovah alone should stand. That which brought all this misery on Israel, was their preferring to have other gods in place of Jehovah. The first thing to be done, in order to restore peace and comfort to the land, was to clear away all other gods, and make Jehovah supreme. Gideon’s first duty then, as the champion chosen to save Israel, was to deal a deadly blow against Baal. It is at this point where the directions in this paragraph come in.
Jdg_6:25. The same night, the Lord said unto him, etc.] said either by vision or dream (Gen_20:3; Gen_15:4-5; Gen_26:24; Gen_28:12-15; Num_12:6; 2Sa_7:4; 1Ki_3:5; Job_4:13). It was the night following the day of the angel’s visit; while Gideon’s heart was still all aglow with many mixed feelings of wonder, love, and praise, and, while a strange conflict of thoughts was passing through his mind about the very responsible though noble position, which he had just been called by the Angel Jehovah to occupy—it was then he was called upon to take the first step. Delay, in such a case, would beget irresolution. Besides, on general grounds, there was no time to be lost. Now that the people had repented, and sent up a cry all over the land, it was fit that God’s tender mercy should show itself. Let not a tear too many be shed. Bring the axe and cut down the idol. Let an altar to Jehovah rise in its stead. The idol of the district—that which stood within the grounds of Joash, and which served as the point of worship to all the Abi-ezrites, is taken as a symbol to represent all the other images of Baal throughout the land.
This was in keeping with the fact that Gideon was now a public character, chosen of God to represent the whole people of Israel, so that what was done by him was understood to be done in the name of the whole people. When he cut down the Asherah, and destroyed the altar on his father’s grounds, much more was done than merely the demolishing of the idol worshipped by the Abi-ezrites. Being done by him who was now Divinely appointed as mediator between God and all Israel, it must be taken as a blow given to the idolatry of the whole land. The first step in the work of salvation was to abolish idolatry, and what Gideon, the natural leader, now did was to be understood as striking the key-note to be followed by the whole kingdom. His act in erecting an altar to the Lord, in a place different from that chosen for permanent worship, and offering a sacrifice thereon, though highly irregular, judged by the ordinary rule (Deu_12:13-14; Num_18:7; Heb_5:4), was entirely justifiable on this occasion, first, because it was a Divine command that he was fulfilling (Jdg_5:25-26), and next, because it was a necessary part of the special office for which he was chosen—viz., to be a saviour to Israel. To make an atonement for the sins of the people by a sacrifice of burnt offering, was indeed the most essential part of all that was required of Gideon to do, as the saviour of his people. In it Gideon was virtually acting as the high priest of Israel.
Take thy father’s young bullock.] Rather, ox-bullock פְּר i.e., a bullock for sacrifice (comp Hos_14:3)—“we will render as bullocks our lips,” i.e, our praises as our sacrifice (Fausset)
Even the second bullock of seven years old]—not and the second bullock, for there were not two bullocks. Mention is made of what Gideon was to do with one such, but if there had been two, we should certainly have had directions given as to the other also. The phrase, the second bullock, is three times referred to, but no mention is made of any other (Jdg_6:25-26; Jdg_6:28). But why is a bullock chosen which was seven years old, for the animal was reckoned at its best state when it was three years? This can scarcely be thought wonderful, when we remember the extreme difficulty felt all over the land in getting animals for sacrifice at all. “The Midianites left to Israel neither sheep, nor ox, nor ass.” There was no choice. Besides, in the age of seven years, there was a significant pointing to the period of Israel’s severe punishment, inflicted for their flagrant sin. The phrase, second bullock may indicate its age as compared with others.
Throw down the altar of Baal which thy father hath]. This altar was usually made of stone, though sometimes of wood or earth (2Ki_23:15). Being massive, various materials, besides the axe, would be needed to destroy it and the Asherah. He required to wrench the altar of Baal out of its grooves, and throw it down. His duty also required him to erect an altar to Jehovah, and for this he dare not use the polluted and broken fragments of Baal’s altar. He must bring fresh stones and earth with him, and as the whole must be done in one night, he required considerable help. Accordingly, he took ten men of his father’s servants for this purpose.
Cut down the grove that is by it]—upon it. Not “grove” but the Asherah, or wooden pillar, the Canaanite symbol of the moon-goddess, representing nature’s passive powers, as Baal, the sun-god represents the active powers. This pillar was placed in upright form on the altar of Baal. In Deu_16:21, it is said to be “planted” on it (הִטַּע) covered with all manner of symbols.
Jdg_6:26. Upon the top of this rock]—the top of a fortification, or fortress built as a defence against the Midianites. It would be near to where the altar of Baal had stood—the highest available spot in the district, to make it as conspicuous as possible, and to show that it must be held superior to all other things (Hence Isa_2:1-2). This was reckoned to be honouring to Jehovah. Some think it was on the top of the hill, the highest point at hand, others that it was the castle, or citadel of Ophrah. Baal’s altar must first be cast down, then the altar to Jehovah reared.
In the ordered place.] This is an expression of which many interpretations have been given (בָמַּעַדָכָה) The best, as it appears to us, is that given by Keil, “with the preparation,” i.e., which is necessary for presenting the sacrifice. The specific idea is, the orderly preparation of every thing about the sacrifice, a circumstance to which God Himself, in all offerings, attached the greatest importance. We might indeed translate the sentence thus:—“Build an altar unto the Lord … putting everything in due order,” etc. Thus did Abraham (Gen_22:9). Thus too did Elijah (1Ki_18:33). The word עָרַךְ is often used to express the idea of setting sacred things in order, connected with the worship of God (Exo_39:37; Lev_1:7; Lev_24:3; Lev_4:6). But this orderly preparation for the sacrifice did not refer to his using the materials got from the breaking down of Baal’s altar, for building up the altar of Jehovah. [Speaker’s Com.] The case quoted in confirmation of this view is not in point, viz.: 1Ki_15:22, for in that transaction there was nothing sacred, whereas the sacred character of the erection here was the all-important point. The materials of Baal’s altar must be held to be polluted; Gideon therefore must build with new materials wherever he can find them. The wood of the Asherah, however, might be used as fuel for the sacrifice, implying that it would be consumed. Hence—
With the wood of the grove (Asherah) which thou shalt cut down], i.e., the pieces or blocks of wood got from cutting down the Asherah. That such a command as this should have been given at all, was entirely owing to the exceptional circumstances of the national history, which required a provisional arrangement to meet the emergency. A case very similar occurred in Elijah’s days (1Ki_18:18-41).
Jdg_6:27. Took ten men.] The number required to form a Church, or to perform publicly any religious service, i.e., in name of the Church. Every part of altar service required to be gone through in a very methodical manner. Being now the only son left in the family, and being high in his father’s esteem, as well as his affection, he had probably delegated to him such a measure of authority over the servants, as would secure their obedience to his orders on this oocasion. His own excellent qualities of character, must also have gained for him an ascendency over several of the domestics, as David did at the court of Saul (1Sa_18:14-16). But Gideon, when calling the domestics to such a work, must also have brought forward the far more powerful consideration, that an angel had appeared to him, and given him a commission to deliver Israel from the awful scourge that desolated the land, and that the removal of Baal’s altar was a necessary preliminary to anything being done. Yet with all these arguments to encourage them, it speaks well for these ten men, that they had the boldness to do as Gideon directed them, even if we add the fact, that he would doubtless assure them, that he would take all the responsibility of the iconoclastic deed on himself.
He feared his father’s household, and the men of the city.] This shows what the atmosphere of Joash’s house was, strongly savouring of idolatry. The household must have been large, for after deducting the ten men, Gideon still “feared his father’s household.” We may suppose the ten men to be a fractional part of the entire number, and that, with the exception of that fractional part, the entire number were “wholly given to idolatry,” otherwise, why should he fear them? “The men of the city,” were probably the old Canaanites who still lingered in the townships of Manasseh, and who were naturally special patrons of Baal worship (ch. Jdg_9:28).
He did it by night]—not that be was afraid of doing the work itself, for he knew well that whether done by day or night, it was sure to be known that he did it; but he feared the tumult that would be raised about the doing of it, if he did it in daylight, with all eyes upon him. He felt that there must be an uprising against his doing it at all.
Jdg_6:28. And the grove was cut down that was by it]—upon it. The Asherah (wooden pillar) was cut down. The second bullock was offered on the altar that was built (to Jehovah).] The wood of the Asherah had been used for the burnt-offering, and traces were still remaining. The altar of Jehovah then, must have been built near the site of the altar of Baal.
Jdg_6:29. They said Gideon, the son of Joash, hath done this thing.] Informers are always forth-coming, and Gideon was a man so pronounced for Jehovah, that he could not be hid. From his past proclivities, many would suspect him. It is a noble thing for a man so to live, that he shall be suspected by his fellows, of doing some great thing for the glory of the Eternal God. Some also of the ten men would inform others, that it was Gideon, to save themselves.
Jdg_6:30. Bring out thy son that he may die.] It is not certain whether Joash was the owner of the altar of Baal, or merely its custodier, in name of the district over which be ruled. Some think the former from the expression in Jdg_6:25—“the altar of Baal which thy father hath.” If so, it shows the extreme intolerance of the Baal party. But the fact that such an outcry should be raised at all in an Israelitish city, shows into what a deplorable stupor the national conscience had sunk, when the rankest possible insult should be publicly offered to Jehovah’s name, without a single voice being raised to frown it down. They ask a father to take the life of his son, because that son had dared to stand up for Jehovah’s interest, and relegate Baal to oblivion in Jehovah’s land!
Jdg_6:31. Joash said to all that stood against him.] עָלָיו before him, i.e., as chief magistrate. Happily, he the father himself was now fairly aroused, when he saw that the life of he only son left to him was in danger. It is probable, from all the circumstances, that, before this, he had had serious doubts in his own mind, as to the propriety of giving any farther support to idol worship, when he saw the sad results in the destruction of his country. He may possibly indeed have had secret desires to see a general return of the public mind to the worship of Jehovah, and now seizes the present occasion to speak out his mind. All this could be greatly strengthened, by the detail which his son would give him of his wonderful interview with the angel, and the Divine command to throw down the altar of Baal. If he had got this information beforehand, doubtless he must have thought very maturely over the question, what was the best answer to give the idolaters, when his son should be arraigned before him in public. God helped him with the answer which he gave. It was most admirable. It was an unanswerable answer.
“What!” he says, rising to the full height of his position as magistrate, “will ye plead for Baal?—ye, and not Baal himself? Do ye presume to come forward to speak on his behalf, as if he could not speak for himself? He who dares to insinuate that Baal cannot help himself, is putting an indelible stigma on his name, and deserves to die. He is the man who ought to be put to death, and that without delay, while it is yet morning. If Baal be really a god, surely he can defend himself, and now let him do it, since one man has cast down his altar” This is really the spirit of the few but energetic words of the very capable ruler of Ophrah. The clamour was hushed in a moment. It was of God that this reply was given; so He threw His shield around the man of His choice. Yet we may also say, Joash was the right man in the right place. “A word spoken in season, how good is it!”
Not a few Commentators (Keil, Cassel, Edersheim, Fausset, and others) would put a full stop at the word “death.” and read what follows thus, “till (next) morning let Baal, if he be a god, plead for himself, for now surely there is need for it, since one has cast down his altar” The A. V. seems more simple and natural—“he who (thinks Baal cannot plead for himself, and therefore) stands up to plead for him, (is doing him an insult, and) ought to be put to death this very morning. If he be a god, let him plead for himself, since one has overturned his altar.”
Jdg_6:32. Galled him Jerubbaal.] Let Baal fight with him, or the man who defies Baal to fight with him, with impunity; as David defied the Philistine. Variations of the name afterwards occur as Jerubbesheth (2Sa_11:21), in which Besheth or Bosheth (shame) is a nickname of Baal. This variation also occurs in Ishbosheth (2Sa_2:8), and in Eshbaal (1Ch_8:33; 1Ch_9:39).
MAIN HOMILETICS—Jdg_6:25-32
I. All genuine obedience is well pleasing to God.
This is the purport of the present paragraph. It speaks of the first test to which Gideon’s obedience was put, and how he stood it. The obedience which God requires of all His servants is, that His command alone be taken as sufficient reason for obedience, apart from any other motive, and that it be regarded as sufficient to overrule all other considerations. If a host of difficulties and objections should stand in the way, the obedient servant has but one simple question to ask, Does my God require it?—if so, he has no other thought but to obey. This is what may be called pure obedience, and is synonymous with the description so often given in Scripture, of “the man who fears the Lord.” The highest expressions of the Divine regard are made to such a spirit of obedience, as being most glorifying to God, and showing that the creature is nearing the true pivot of his being, which is that of instinctive obedience to the will of his Creator, “He that doeth the will of my Father, the same is my brother, and sister and mother.” The whole Book of Deuteronomy is one continued enforcement of the duty of reverential obedience to the commandments, statutes, and judgments of Israel’s covenant God. The example of obedience afforded in Gideon’s case was most beautiful, on whatever side we look at it.
1. It was prompt. There was no hesitation. The command of his God being given, he has no other thought than to obey. That command alone rules him. “Speak, Lord, thy servant heareth” was his motto. He has full trust in his God without inquiring whether there was a rational prospect of carrying through the work. Thus did Abraham. The command being given, “he rose up early in the morning, saddled his ass … and went to the place of which God had told him” (Gen_22:3; Gen_17:23; Gen_21:14). So did David; “I made haste, and delayed not to keep God’s commandments” (Psa_119:60). So did Paul; “When it pleased God to reveal His son in me, immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood” (Gal_1:15-16). (Mat_4:20; Mat_4:22; Mat_9:9; Luk_19:5-6; Joh_1:48-49).
2. It was done under great difficulties. He had no sympathy from any around him. His very father, so loving in other matters, he believed, in this case, would only give his frowns, or, at the very best, must withhold his good wishes, being virtually the priest of Baal himself. Even though Gideon might acquaint him with the Divine commission, it could only lead the father to try his best to save his son, but not to assist him in the work. The ten men whom he employed as assistants would, doubtless, also raise many objections, and need strong arguments to induce them to give their aid, and the numerous other domestics, Gideon felt he must also regard as strongly opposed to the very idea of offering such an insult to the deity that had for so many years been worshipped in the district. There was no sympathy at home with the duty he had on hand, and among the population outside there was only an unbroken stream of opposition. Gideon’s obedience was boldly done, for it was done in a strongly idolatrous centre, without a single friend to stand by him in the work. Yet he shows no faltering, or fear of man. His act was like that of Luther when he nailed the Theses to the doors of the Cathedral at Wittemberg, or, on that other occasion, when he burned the Papal Bull in the midst of a people who had been under the influence of Popery for many generations.
There are many formidable difficulties ever occurring in the way of religious duty in daily life—difficulties so great that they seem to render the fulfilment of the duty an impossibility. Yet all may be conquered by a strong faith or an ardent love. “Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre?” (Mar_16:3). Yet an ardent love in Mary’s case saw no such difficulty, but, on the contrary, thought that she, a feeble woman, could remove the body itself if she only knew where to find it (Joh_20:15). “Who art thou, O great mountain, before Zerubbabel, thou shalt become a plain?”
3. It was done at the risk of life. Gideon understood the temper of his people and the temper of the times. Notwithstanding their terrible calamities, he knew that they were yet in the mass of them, leavened with the idolatrous spirit, and that to tamper with their God was to commit, in their eyes, a capital crime. It was an unpardonable offence, and all the religious frenzy of the district would be aroused to demand his execution. On this he calculated, and yet he quailed not. The fear of God in him was strong enough to overrule all the fear of man. This pass of mental difficulties which he had to go through greatly heightens our admiration of his heroic resolution. He was willing even to lose his life for the sake of his duty to his God (Joh_12:25; Mat_16:25). His fidelity to his God could stand the severest test (Luk_14:26). All that he counted dear in life, including the love of life itself, he was willing to sacrifice, but he could not disobey his God.
4. It was done without a murmur. We hear of no complaints about the severity of the test. Even Moses complained in similar circumstances (Exo_4:1; Exo_4:10; Exo_4:13). Barak raised objections (ch. Jdg_4:8). But not a murmer comes from the lips of Gideon, when called to do that which was sure to endanger life. He asks no modification of the command. It is all right when his God requires it. Duty is his; to determine results is God’s. It was an unquestioning obedience. Doubtless he saw the necessity of it, for sin must be put away ere deliverance could come, and Baal, he well knew, was the root of the evil. But manifestly it was not his own sense of the fulness of what should be done that was his guiding motive throughout this whole transaction. From beginning to end he regarded the whole proceeding as coming from the Lord, and therefore to His instructions on every point implicitly he gave heed. Oh, for more of this high-toned confidence in God, as our own God, which lifts the soul far above both the smiles and the frowns of a world that knows us not!
II. Gideon’s support in his obedience.
He might, at first sight, have said, “All things are against me.” Yet, on reflection, he might have added, “they that are with me are more than they that are against me.” For—
1. He had a good conscience. He was sure that God had spoken to him and, therefore, that what he was about, was fulfilling a command he had received from God. He realised the fact, that this was the first and necessary step of a plan of action, which God had marked out for him to do. He felt that he was in the service of God in the whole matter, and that all the steps to be taken were marked out by God, and were not schemes of his own devising. Thus he had all that inward strength which a good conscience always gives. Though, in his father’s house, he had no sympathy, in that home of homes, the innermost home of his own heart, all was with him; in the profoundest convictions which he cherished in the sanctuary of his breast, every feeling within was in full support of the action without. The consciousness of righteousness was “the girdle of his loins.” When he broke down the altar of Baal, he felt as if at Mahanaim, and that two companies of the angels of God, in two crescents, were acting as his shield. “His heart was established, and he was not afraid; he was not greatly moved” (Psa_112:6; Psa_112:8; Psa_62:5-7; Psa_57:1). “Who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good” (1Pe_3:13).
2. He had the assurance of the Divine presence. It was God’s work he was doing, and not his own. That alone was enough to foster the belief that he would have the Divine shield thrown over him. For God is a master who “sends none a warfare on their own charges.” His language always is, “I will be with thee.” It was so now. Gideon was expressly assured that the angel Jehovah had not only sent him (ch. Jdg_6:14), but also that He would Himself be with him (Jdg_6:16). More than that under no circumstances could be needed. For what were all the men of Abi-ezer, or all the hordes of the ruthless invaders, in comparison of the mighty God of Jacob? Gideon felt like David—“The Lord is on my side; I will not fear what man can do unto me. Though the people compass me about as bees, they shall be quenched as the fire of thorns, for in the name of the Lord, I will destroy them.” “If God be for us, who can be against us?” It is because we do not realise how much is included in that—“I will be with thee”—that we get fainthearted and irresolute, in the day of trial. There is a great art in knowing how, when weak in ourselves, to become “strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might.”
3. He was sustained by the assurance of success in his great enterprise. He felt it was no doubtful project in which he was engaged, when the hand of God was at the helm. It was a scheme in which God’s own glory was concerned, and now that he was raised up out of His place, Gideon felt convinced that having begun the work, He could accomplish it to the end. And so glorious a consummation it would be, to see Israel entirely free from the heavy incubus, that had crushed all the energy out of the nation these seven years, that this eminently successful God-fearing and patriotic man was willing to sacrifice all his personal feelings and interests in order to its attainment. He had no doubt begun his duties by arming himself with earnest prayer, that God would no longer “deliver the soul of His turtle-dove unto the multitude of the wicked—that He would remember the congregation He had purchased of old—that He would not remember against them past iniquities, for they were brought very low—that He would turn again their captivity as streams in the south—that the Lord would comfort Zion—that He would comfort all her waste places, making her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord.”
4. He had had long gathering thoughts of revenge against Baal. Many strong purposes have their roots deep in the soil of past experiences. Gideon was one of those who had discerned where the true source of all Israel’s misery lay. And long had he mused how the idols could be abolished. Those musings would lead to a deep purpose of revenge against Baal, so soon as an opportunity occurred. It was the thought of many years, matured and strengthened by the ever fresh calamities which occurred at every new visit of the enemy. When at length the call was made in Providence, “Who is the man that shall fight against Baal, and destroy his power throughout Israel?” Gideon replied in his heart—“Here am I, send me!” God knew the state of Gideon’s heart, and therefore selected him as a sort of agent for doing His work.
THE GENERAL LESSONS TAUGHT
1. Religious duty ought to begin at home. When Christ taught His disciples where to commence their great work of preaching the gospel, He said “Begin at Jerusalem.” Begin where you are—at home. All souls are precious alike. Therefore begin at the point nearest you. This, at least, was one reason for doing so. Abraham began at home, and as a matter of fact almost every domestic he had, of whom we hear any account was a fearer of his God (Gen_18:19). Jacob when about to draw closer to God, and to have new manifestations of the Divine love, begins with making a strict religious reformation in his own household. He required, that all his household should “put away the strange gods that were among them” (Gen_35:2-3). And now Gideon is required to begin at his father’s house the important duty, of cleansing their hands and purifying their hearts. The church-office-bearer is required, before entering on his duties in superintending the spiritual well-being of the church, to “rule well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity; for if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?” (1Ti_3:4-5).
2. Obstacles to religious duty are sometimes found amid the tenderest relations of life. It is singular that Gideon should have had so little sympathy, and have been even exposed to so much danger, in his own father’s house, for doing his duty to his God. That father was the most influential man in the district, and Gideon was now his only son. That son had a singular combination of good qualities of character, fit to call forth the respect and even the love of all the domestics. Moreover, the work which he was now doing was given him by the God of Israel to do, and it was notorious to all who had eyes to read the signs of the times, that the overwhelming distresses under which the land groaned, were owing to the apostasy of the people from the God, whom they were so deeply pledged to love and serve. Yet it required the greatest heroism on Gideon’s part to fulfil an obviously necessary duty, and one which was divinely commanded, having to run the greatest risk of losing his life. So true is it, that for the sake of fidelity to religious principle, “a man’s foes will sometimes be those of his own household.”
Even Abraham had to contend with an idolatrous opposition in his father’s house, before he left the paternal home. His father and brothers, with probably the whole family circle, at first “served other gods.” This must have led to family differences, if, as we must suppose, Abraham was even then a devoted worshipper of the true God. At length the family circle broke up, God directing Abraham to leave his earthly friends, however dear, and promising, probably as a reward for his fidelity in being found “faithful among the faithless,” to bless him and make of him a great nation. With Abraham there went Sarai his wife, his father Terah, and his nephew Lot. The rest appear to have remained where they were, and we hear no more of them (Jos_24:2-3; Gen_11:27-32; Gen_12:1-3). Jacob had much difficulty in performing his duties to his God while living in the same family circle with an ungodly brother, though it must not be overlooked, that he himself greatly increased the difficulty by some grievous faults of his own (Genesis 27). The same difficulty followed him to Padan-aram, in the house of the old miser, where he passed more than twenty years (Genesis 31). We have a similar example in the case of Korah, Dathan and Abiram, who, as members of the Levitical[5] tribe, ought to have succoured Moses and Aaron in every possible way, in the discharge of their onerous sanctuary and other duties, and yet raised a determined opposition to them, while only fulfilling the trust which God had committed to them (Numbers 16). David was often in such difficulties. (1Sa_17:28-29; Psa_41:9; 1Sa_30:3-6; 2Sa_16:11); Job also (Job_19:13-19); and Jeremiah (Jer_12:6; Jer_20:10-11); in the days of Micah there was much of it (Mic_7:6); and the Master Himself leads His disciples to expect it (Mat_10:21-22; Mat_10:34-37; Luk_12:49; Luk_12:51-53).
[5] Properly speaking, Korah only belonged to the tribe of Levi, while Dathan and Abiram were of the tribe of Reuben. But Korah manifestly took the lead in the movement, so that the remarks made above are substantially correct.
3. Without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins. This truth is taught broadly in that Epistle, which professes to interpret the Divine meaning of the whole sacrificial system (Heb_9:22). We find the great truth illustrated in Abel’s days, who brought an animal for sacrifice as his offering to God, in contrast to Cain’s offering, which was merely of the fruit of the ground, and therefore showed no thought of a propitiation for his sins (Gen_4:3-5). Noah offered sacrifices of blood on his altar, “and the Lord smelled a sweet savour,” (Gen_8:20-21). Abram reared the altar regularly, wherever he went (Gen_12:8; Gen_13:4; do 18, etc.). Also Jacob did the same (Gen_31:54; Gen_35:3). Moses by God’s direction laid down the whole system of sacrifice, which was to be sacredly observed by all God’s people down through their history, till the coming of the true Lamb of God, who was for ever to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.
As part of this system, we here find Gideon, by God’s special direction, building an altar to God, and on it, shedding blood, as a symbol of that which was needed to atone for the people’s sins. Only thus could God righteously pardon sin. Sin forfeits the life of the sinner (Rom_6:23; Gen_2:17; Eze_18:4; Eze_18:20). But the blood is the life; therefore to shed the blood is to give to sin its wages. This must be done because it is God’s law. It is both just and true—it preserves God’s character as a God of truth. Hence the sinner must die, or a suitable substitute be found for him (Rom_3:25-26; 2Co_5:21; Rom_8:3-4; Eph_5:2; Col_1:20; Heb. passim).
4. God greatly honours faithfulness in a declining time. Fidelity to God’s name and cause, is always a spectacle well pleasing unto God. But when it takes the form of stedfast endurance under sharp sufferings, in the face of stern opposition, without any friendly help, and at serious personal loss, it rises a hundredfold higher in the estimation of Him toward whom it is shown. And a hundredfold greater will be the reward (Mat_19:27-29). The Master will see to it, that no servant be a loser for his fidelity to Him. Hence the greatness of the reward (Mat_7:12). The reward is an hundredfold even in this life (Mar_10:30). And in Paul’s history we see it exemplified in the extraordinary outpouring of the gracious influence of the Holy Spirit, when under the greatest sufferings connected with the carrying on of his great work (Act_13:52; Act_18:9; Act_18:20; Act_21:13; 2Co_1:4-5; 2Co_2:14).
Thus it was with Gideon, while passing through his difficult work, doing it so well, and doing it without a murmur, though Satan stirred up opposition to him on all hands. He whom he served looked on with supreme satisfaction, gave him all needed strength to persevere till it was accomplished, gave him complete success in the result, and prepared for him a great reward in the future. For, conspicuous as a star of the first magnitude, shines the name of Gideon, in the Orion nebula of the New Testament heavens (Heb_11:32). Gideon, by his fidelity, was now making history, one of the brightest pages, where there are so many bright. He was the iron cable that would not break, but kept sure and stedfast, when so many others were snapping asunder at the pitching and heeling of the vessel, as the waves were carrying it right on the rocks. Such a man deserves to be esteemed through all time; and there never, we believe, will come a time, even in the bright ages of New Testament history, when such a man need be ashamed to show his face. Already he has a place among the fixed stars of the Church’s sky. And this motto may be written under his name:—“Blessed is the man that endureth trial, for when he is tried he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love Him” (Jas_1:12).
5. God has all hearts in His hand, and all events at His disposal. However hopeless the web of difficulties with which God’s servant in this matter was surrounded, the great Ruler of Providence found ways and means of extricating him from danger, without any miraculous interposition. We are not to forget that God exercises complete control over the workings of every man’s mind, every moment of his life, and leads him to form this or that impression, this or that purpose, this or that idea, without in the least interfering with the full measure of liberty which belongs to him, as a rational and voluntary agent. It was not in any way, a doing violence to the law of the mind’s free agency, if God should (as we believe He did) turn the minds of Joash’s household to think thus on this occasion. “Well! there is little doubt that the worship of Baal is at the bottom of our great misery, and if it should be reckoned by these old Canaanites, such a terrible affront to their god to do as Gideon has done, still it will be a great step to our much needed relief, and since it has been done, let it so remain, for we cannot lay a hand on the noble young man who is the pride of the family, and himself all but the idol of the district. No, we will rally round him, if any hostile hand should be raised. “To think thus would be not unnatural—and yet it would be all of God’s over-ruling.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain On v24
Judges
GIDEON’S ALTAR
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Jdg 6:24.
I need not tell over again, less vividly, the picturesque story in this chapter, of the simple husbandman up in the hills, engaged furtively in threshing out a little wheat in some hollow in the rock where he might hide it from the keen eyes of the oppressors; and of how the angel of the Lord, unrecognised at first, appeared to him; and gradually there dawned upon his mind the suspicion of who He was who spoke. Then follow the offering, the discovery by fire, the shrinking of the man from contact with the divine, the wonderfully tranquillizing and condescending assurance, cast into the form of the ordinary salutation of domestic life: ‘And the Lord said unto him Peace be unto thee!’-as any man might have said to any other-’fear not! thou shalt not die.’ Then Gideon piles up the unhewn stones on the hillside into a rude altar, apparently not for the purpose of offering sacrifice, but for a monument, to which is given this strange name, strange upon such warrior lips, and strange in contemplation of the fierce conflict into which he was immediately to plunge, ‘the Lord is peace.’
How I think that this name, imposed for such a reason and under such circumstances, may teach us a good many things.
I. The first thing that it seems to me to suggest is the great discovery which this man had made, and in the rapture of which he named his altar,-that the sight of God is not death, but life and peace.
Gideon was a plain, rude man, with no very deep religious experience. Apparently up to the moment of this vision he had been contentedly tolerating the idolatrous practices which had spread over all the country. He had heard of ‘Jehovah.’ It was a name, a tradition, which his fathers had told him. That was all that he knew of the God of Israel. Into this hearsay religion, as in a flash, while Gideon is busy about his threshing floor, thinking of his wheat or of the misery of his nation, there comes, all at once, this crushing conviction,-’the hearsay God is beside you, speaking to you! You have personal relations to Him, He is nearer you than any human being is, He is no mere Name, here He stands!’
And whenever the lightning edge of a conviction like that cuts its way through the formalisms and traditionalisms and hearsay repetitions of conventional religion, then there comes what came to Gideon, the swift thought, ‘And if this be true, if I really do touch, and am touched by, that living Person whose name is Jehovah, what is to become of me? Shall I not shrivel up when His fiery finger is laid upon me? I have seen Him face to face, and I must die.’
I believe that, in the case of the vast majority of men, the first living, real apprehension of a real, living God is accompanied with a shock, and has mingled with it something of awe, and even of terror. Were there no sin there would be no fear, and pure hearts would open in silent blessedness and yield their sweetest fragrance of love and adoration, when shone on by Him, as flowers do to the kiss of the sunbeams. But, taking into account the sad and universal fact of sin, it is inevitable that men should shrink from the Light which reveals their evil, and that the consciousness of God’s presence should strike a chill. It is sad that it should be so. But it is sadder still when it is not so, but when, as is sometimes the case, the sight of God produces no sense of sin, and no consciousness of discord, or foreboding of judgment. For, only through that valley of the shadow of death lies the path to the happy confidence of peace with God, and unless there has been trembling at the beginning, there will be no firm and reasonable trust afterwards.
For Gideon’s terror opened the way for the gracious proclamation, which would have been needless but for it-’Peace be unto thee; fear not, thou shalt not die.’
The sight of God passes from being a fear to a joy, from being a fountain of death to a spring of life, Terror is turned to tranquil trust. The narrow and rough path of conscious unworthiness leads to the large place of happy peace. The divine word fits Gideon’s condition, and corresponds to his then deepest necessity; and so he drinks it in as the thirsty ground drinks in the water; and in the rapture of the discovery that the Name, that had come down from his fathers to him, was the Name of a real Person, with whom he stood in real relationships, and those of simple friendship and pure amity, he piles up the rough stones of the place, and makes the name of his altar the echo of the divine voice. It is as if he had said with rapture of surprise, ‘Then Jehovah is peace; which I never dreamed of before.’
Dear friends, do you know anything of such an experience? Can you build your altar, and give it this same name? Can you write upon the memorial of your experiences, ‘The Lord is my peace’? Have you passed from hearsay into personal contact? Can you say, ‘I have heard of Thee by the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye seeth Thee’? Do you know the further experience expressed in the subsequent words of the same quotation: ‘Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes’? And have you passed out of that stormy ocean of terror and self-condemnation into the quiet haven of trust in Him in whom we have peace with God, where your little boat lies quiet, moored for ever to the Rock of Ages, to ‘Jehovah, who is Peace’?
In connection with this rapturous discovery, and to Gideon strange new thought, we may gather the lesson that peace with God will give peace in all the soul. The ‘peace with God’ will pass into a wider thing, the ‘peace of God.’ There is tranquillity in trust. There is rest in submission. There is repose in satisfied desires. When we live near Him, and have ceased from our own works, and let Him take control of us and direct us in all our ways, then the storms abate. The things that disturb us are by no means so much external as inward; and there is a charm and a fascination in the thought, ‘the Lord is peace,’ which stills the inward tempest, and makes us quiet, waiting upon His will and drawing in His grace. The secret of rest is to cease from self, from self as guide, from self as aim, from self as safety. And when self-will is cast out, and self-dependence is overcome, and self-reliance is sublimed into hanging upon God’s hand, and when He, not mine own inclination, is my Director, and the Arbiter of my fate, then all the fever of unrest is swept wholly out of my heart, and there is nothing left in it on which the gnawing tooth of anxiety or of care can prey. God being my peace, and I yielding myself to Him, ‘in quietness and confidence’ is my ‘strength.’ ‘Thou shalt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed upon Thee, because he trusteth in Thee.’
II. We may look upon this inscription from another point of view, as suggesting the thought that God’s peace is the best preparation for, and may be experienced in the midst of, the intensest conflict.
Remember what the purpose of this vision was,-to raise up a man to fight an almost desperate fight, no metaphorical war, but one with real sharp swords, against real strong enemies. The first blow in the campaign was to be struck that night. Gideon was being summoned by the vision, to long years of hardship and bitter warfare, and his preparation for the conflict consisted largely in the revelation to his inmost spirit that ‘Jehovah is peace.’ We might rather have looked for a manifestation of the divine nature as ready to go forth to battle with the raw levies of timid peasants. We should have expected the thought which inspired their captain to have been ‘The Lord is a man of war,’ rather than ‘The Lord is peace.’ But it is not so-and therein lies the deep truth that the peace of God is the best preparation for strife. It gives courage, it leaves the heart at leisure to fling all its power into the conflict, it inspires with the consciousness of a divine ally. As Paul puts it, in his picture of the fully-armed Christian soldier, the feet are ‘shod with the preparedness of alacrity which is produced by the gospel of peace.’ That will make us ‘ready, aye ready’ for the roughest march, and enable us to stand firm against the most violent charges of the enemy. There is no such preparation for the conflict of life, whether it be waged against our own inward evil, or against opposing forces without, as to have deep within the soul the settled and substantial peace of God. If we are to come out of the battle with victory sitting on our helmets, we must go into it with the Dove of God brooding in our hearts. As the Lord said to Gideon, ‘Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel, . . . have not I sent thee?’
But, besides this thought that the knowledge of Jehovah as peace fits us for strife, that hastily-reared altar with its seemingly inappropriate name, may remind us that it is possible, in the midst of the deadliest hand-to-hand grip with evil, and whilst fighting the ‘good fight of faith’ with the most entire self-surrender to the divine will, to bear within us, deeper than all the surface strife, that inward tranquillity which knows no disturbance, though the outward life is agitated by fierce storms. Deep in the centre of the ocean the waters lie quiet, though the wildest tempests are raging above, and the fiercest currents running. Over the tortured and plunging waters of the cataract there lies unmoving, though its particles are in perpetual flux, the bow of promise and of peace. So over all the rush and thunder of life there may stretch, radiant and many-coloured, and dyed with beauty by the very sun himself, the abiding bow of beauty, the emblem and the reality of the divine tranquillity. The Christian life is continual warfare, but in it all, ‘the peace of God which passeth understanding’ may ‘garrison our hearts and minds.’ In the inmost keep of the castle, though the storm of war may be breaking against the walls, there will be a quiet chamber where no noise of the archers can penetrate, and the shouts of the fight are never heard. Let us seek to live in the ‘secret place of the Most High’; and in still communion with Him, keep our inmost souls in quiet, while we bravely front difficulties and enemies. You are to be God’s warriors; see to it that on every battlefield there stands the altar ‘Jehovah Shalom.’
III. Lastly, we may draw yet another lesson, and say that that altar, with its significant inscription, expressed the aim of the conflict and the hope which sustains in the fight.
Gideon was fighting for peace, and what he desired was that victory should bring tranquillity. The hope which beckoned him on, when he flung himself into his else desperate enterprise, was that God would so prosper his work that the swords might be beaten into ploughshares, and the spears into pruning hooks. Which things may stand as an allegory, and suggest to us that the Christian warfare, whilst it rests upon, and is prompted by, the revelation of God who is peace, aims in all its blows, at the conquering of that sure and settled peace which shall be broken by no rebellious outbursts of self-will, nor by any risings of passions and desires. The aim of our warfare should ever be that the peace of God may be throned in our hearts, and sit there a gentle queen. The true tranquillity of the blessed life is the prize of conflict. David, ‘the man of war from his youth,’ prepares the throne for Solomon, in whose reign no alarms of war are heard. If you would enter into peace, you must fight your way to it, and every step of the road must be a battle. The land of peace is won by the good fight of faith.
But Gideon’s altar not only expressed his purpose in his taking up arms, but his confidence of accomplishing it, based upon the assurance that the Lord would give peace. It was a trophy erected before the fight, and built, not by arrogant presumption or frivolous underestimate of the enemy’s strength, but by humble reliance on the power of that Lord who had promised His presence, and had assured triumph. So the hope that named this altar was the hope that war meant victory, and that victory would bring peace. That hope should animate every Christian soldier. Across the dust of the conflict, the fair vision of unbroken and eternal peace should gleam before each of us, and we should renew fainting strength and revive drooping courage by many a wistful gaze.
We may realise that hope in large measure here. But its fulfilment is reserved for the land of peace which we enter by the last conflict with the last enemy.
Every Christian man’s gravestone is an altar on which is written ‘Our God is peace’; in token that the warrior has passed into the land where ‘violence shall no more be heard, wasting, nor destruction within its borders,’ but all shall be deep repose, and the unarmed, because unattacked, peace of tranquil communion with, and likeness to, ‘Jehovah our Peace.’
So, dear brethren, let us pass from tradition and hearsay into personal intercourse with God, and from shrinking and doubt into the sunshine of the conviction that He is our peace. And then, with His tranquillity in our hearts let us go out, the elect apostles of the peace of God, and fight for Him, after the pattern of the Captain of our salvation, who had to conquer peace through conflict; and was ‘first of all King of Righteousness, and after that also King of Peace.’
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v25 See, Deu 16:21. (See Scofield "Jdg 3:7").
grove
See, Deu 16:21. (See Scofield "Jdg 3:7").
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v25 Gideon Granted Special Signs
Gideon Granted Special Signs
v. 25. And it came to pass the same night, following this wonderful manifestation, that the Lord said unto him, Gideon, Take thy father’s young bullock, even the second bullock of seven years old, and throw down the altar of Baal that thy father hath, for thus openly was idolatry practised in Israel, and cut down the grove, the Ashera pillar that is by it, the chief deities of the Canaanites being worshiped by the family of Abiezer;
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v. 26. and build an altar unto the Lord, thy God, upon the top of this rock, in the ordered place, on the grotto or fortification, the wood from the pillar of Ashera being intended to consume the burnt offering of Gideon, and take the second bullock, and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the grove which thou shalt cut down.
v. 27. Then Gideon took ten men of his servants and did as the Lord had said unto him; and so it was, because he feared his father’s household, addicted to idolatry as they were, and the men of the city that he could not do it by day, that he did it by night.
v. 28. And when the men of the city arose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was cast down, and the grove, the wooden pillar erected in honor of Ashera, was cut down that was by it, and the second bullock was offered upon the altar that was built, for it was not yet fully consumed by the fire.
v. 29. And they said one to another, Who hath done this thing? And when they enquired and asked, searching for the man who might be guilty, they said, either the searchers themselves upon strong suspicion, or men who knew of Gideon’s exploit, Gideon, the son of Joash, hath done this thing.
v. 30. Then the men of the city said unto Joash, Bring out thy son that he may die, because he hath cast down the altar of Baal, and because he hath cut down the grove, the wooden pillar, that was by it.
v. 31. And Joash said unto all that stood against him, for he fully approved of the act of his son, Will ye plead for Baal? Will ye save him? The emphasis in either case is on the "ye," since Joash wanted to ridicule the idea of Baal’s having need of men to defend him, if he were in truth god. He that will plead for him, let him be put to death whilst it is yet morning; if he be a god, let him plead for himself, because one hath cast down his altar. He demanded that his enraged townspeople wait till the morning, in order to give Baal time to avenge himself if he were able. Joash knew, and the people knew, that this settled the matter, for none of them seriously believed in the idol. It is one of the characteristic illusions of heathenism in all ages that it itself does not believe in that for which it appears to be so zealous.
v. 32. Therefore on that day he, Joash, called him, Gideon, Jerubbaal ("Let Baal plead his case"), saying, Let Baal plead against him, because he hath thrown down his altar. This brought the incident to a close.
v. 33. Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the children of the East, all the enemy allies, were gathered together, and went over, passed over Jordan from the east, and pitched in the Valley of Jezreel, in the upper reaches of the Kishon.
v. 34. But the Spirit of the Lord came upon Gideon, clothing him like a garment or a coat of mail, and he blew a trumpet, to summon Israel against their enemies; and Abiezer, his own section of the tribe of Manasseh, was gathered after him.
v. 35. And he sent messengers throughout all Manasseh, who also was gathered after him; and he sent messengers unto Asher, who had held back from Barak, and unto Zebulun, and unto Naphtali; and they came up to meet them.
v. 36. And Gideon said unto God, in asking a further confirmation of the success of his undertaking, If Thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as Thou hast said,
v. 37. behold, I will put a fleece of wool in the floor, out in the open on the ground; and if the dew be on the fleece only, and if it be dry upon all the earth beside, then shall I know that Thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as Thou hast said. He had such a humble opinion of himself and his influence that he felt the need of such a sign to establish his courage.
v. 38. And it was so; for he rose up early on the morrow, and thrust the fleece together, and wringed the dew out of the fleece, a bowl full of water, while the ground round about was dry.
v. 39. And Gideon said unto God, let not Thine anger be hot against me, and I will speak but this once, requiring one more sign, in which all explanations on natural principles would be excluded; let me prove, I pray Thee, but this once with the fleece; let it now be dry only upon the fleece, which has a tendency to absorb the slightest moisture, and upon all the ground let there be dew.
v. 40. And God did so that night; for it was dry upon the fleece only, and there was dew on all the ground, as Gideon had asked. His request did not flow from unbelief, but from the weakness of his flesh, which causes even the servants of God to be anxious for the future. But God is rich in kindness; He has compassion with our weakness, and comes to our assistance even with extraordinary blessings and miraculous manifestations.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv25, 27 a second bull
a second bull
The word "second" is the ordinal number for "two." AT: "another bull" (See: Ordinal Numbers)
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that is beside it
"that is beside the altar of Baal"
on the top of this place of refuge
The city of Ophrah was on top of a hill. Israelites fled there for refuge from the Midianites.
construct it the correct way
"place the stones in an orderly manner" or "and build it properly"
translationWords
Yahweh
ancestor
cow
year
altar
Baal
Asherah
God
refuge
burnt offering
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.