Gideon‘s first assignment from God: Destroying the altars where the people worshipped false gods

Jesus Ministries, Joan Boney  ... 

Judges 6

 

25 And it came to pass the same night, that the LORD said unto him (to 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, 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.

28 And when the men of the city arose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was cast down, and the grove was cut down that was by it, and the second bullock was offered upon the altar that was built.

29 And they said one to another, Who hath done this thing? And when they enquired and asked, they said, Gideon the son of Joash hath done this thing.

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 that was by it.

31 And Joash said unto all that stood against him, Will ye plead for Baal? will ye save him? 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.

(If Baal is a god, let him plead for himself.)

32 Therefore on that day he called him Jerubbaal, saying, Let Baal plead against him (against Gideon), because he hath thrown down his altar.

33 Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the children of the east were gathered together, and went over, and pitched in the valley of Jezreel.

34 But the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon, and he blew a trumpet; and Abiezer was gathered after him.

(The blowing of a trumpet signals the people to action or causes the people to pay attention.)

 

35 And he (Gideon) sent messengers throughout all Manasseh; who also was gathered after him: and he sent messengers unto Asher, and unto Zebulun, and unto Naphtali; and they came up to meet them.

 

36 And Gideon said unto God, If thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said,

37 Behold, I will put a fleece of wool in the floor; and if the dew be on the fleece only, and it be dry upon all the earth beside, then shall I know that thou wilt save Israel by mine hand, as thou hast said.

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.

39 And Gideon said unto God, Let not thine anger be hot against me, and I will speak but this once: let me prove, I pray thee, but this once with the fleece; let it now be dry only upon the fleece, and upon all the ground let there be dew.

40 And God did so that night: for it was dry upon the fleece only, and there was dew on all the ground.

 

💥💥💥

 

Jesus says:

 

Acts 1:8   But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto ME both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

 

💥💥💥

 

Judges 8

 

22 Then the men of Israel said unto Gideon, Rule thou over us, both thou, and thy son, and thy son's son also: for thou hast delivered us from the hand of Midian.

23 And Gideon said unto them, I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you: the LORD shall rule over you.

 

Truly it was God who delivered them from the hand of Midian.  God used Gideon to lead the deliverance as God used Moses earlier.  But the help is from God.

 

Our help is from God though God might use another human as an instrument to bring about that which we need.  But we must not worship the human who helps us, but rather we worship God who raised up that human to help us!

 

We worship the creator rather than worshipping the created.

 

We don't worship the sun or the moon or the stars or the mountains.

 

We worship God who created all these things for us to enjoy.  And we are thankful to God when HE helps us.  

 

People of the world often worship the created rather than the creator.

 

This is described in Romans 1.

 

18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;

19 Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.

20 For the invisible things of HIM from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even HIS eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:

21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified HIM not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.

22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,

23 And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.

24 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:

25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.

 

💥💥💥

 

Concerning Gideon:

 

Judges 8

 

32 And Gideon the son of Joash died in a good old age, and was buried in the sepulchre of Joash his father, in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

33 And it came to pass, as soon as Gideon was dead, that the children of Israel turned again, and went a whoring after Baalim, and made Baalberith their god.

34 And the children of Israel remembered not the LORD their God, who had delivered them out of the hands of all their enemies on every side:

35 Neither shewed they kindness to the house of Jerubbaal, namely, Gideon, according to all the goodness which he had shewed unto Israel.

 

In the Old Testament, the children of Israel were not given the Holy Spirit except in certain instances such as the prophets.  Unless you have the Spirit of God in you, Jesus says you cannot "see" the kingdom of God.  (Jn. 3)

 

I Corinthians 2:14   But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

 

But the people of this world often hope to be viewed as good people.  But Jesus said there is none good but God.  And having the Holy Spirit makes all the difference.

 

In the New Testament, all who are born again are born of the Spirit and have been given the Spirit of God to live in them to teach and guide them.

 

I Corinthians 3:16   Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

 

💥💥💥💥💥

 

* For writings on additional subjects, click here:  Jesus Ministries Exhortations Blog