And when the men of the city arose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was broken down, and the Asherah was cut down that was by it, and the second bullock was offered up upon the altar that was built.
The town wakes to a scene it cannot explain away. The altar it had prayed at is rubble, the wooden pole beside it is gone, and a bull has been offered on a new altar built to the God of Israel. What Gideon did in the dark is now the first thing every man in the town sees. A private act of obedience has become public testimony.
Gideon did the work after dark because he was afraid. The timing changed nothing about the result. By morning the deed stood in full daylight for the whole town to see.
He did his work at night, because he was afraid to do it by day. He did it all the same, for God had commanded him to. Only in the morning did the people of the city see what he had done... Let us, too, weak as we are, destroy our idols in silence, when no one is watching. Let us not talk loudly about it. Let us do this hard work with fear and trembling, looking to God alone, in the silence of the night. The world will soon see that we have a new altar which it does not know.
The altar Gideon pulled down belonged to his own family, not to some stranger's town. One writer finds God's order in that.
Faithfulness within comes before outward strength: Israel must put away evil before driving out the enemy. Obedience first, and then strength: this is God's order.
Another writer weighs what the night cost Gideon, and why the idol at home could not be left standing.
Gideon had nothing but death to expect, if it had not been the will of the Lord; but, come what may, "whoever does the will of God abides forever," and Gideon was content to face whatever followed... It would have been a huge inconsistency for a man to go out and deal with the pagan enemies of Israel while his own father's house worshipped Baal... For nothing wounds people more than something that treats their religion as nothing.
The men of the town found the altar broken down — not damaged, not half taken apart. That thoroughness is the point.
This is what we may call striking at the very root of the matter. The worship of Baal is completely overturned... There would have been no use in picking out a stone here and there from the idol's altar. The whole structure had to be torn down from its very foundation, and the idol itself shamed in front of the very worshippers it had deceived.
The wooden pole beside the altar came down too. The ESV calls it the Asherah; some older translations call it "the grove." One writer notes what God's altar does without:
The grove might add beauty to the altar of Baal, but God's altar must be set up in its own plain simplicity.
The town saw more than an absence. It saw a replacement — a new altar, fuelled by the idol that came down.
The positive duty of one who would be a testimony for God is, before all else, to cast down his idols. Why is it that there are so few true servants among Christians, walking in the power of a testimony for Christ? It is because they have not the two altars. And why have they not the second? Because they have not provided themselves wood for the sacrifice. The idols are the wood... Let us begin in the innermost circle of the family. If we do not do this, where will our testimony be?
The town's outrage is not a sign that Gideon got it wrong. It shows where the town had been resting its confidence.
The action of faith always stirs up the flesh. Israel did not know where their strength was; they thought it was in Baal. Gideon had learned that it was in God. These are testing times... How many think the strength of Christians lies in the things they see around them! The soul taught by God knows it is only in Jehovah Jesus.
Gideon's dreaded morning came, and the disaster he feared did not.
Is anyone trembling and hesitating to take some plain step of faith? Let them learn from Gideon, and take courage. How all the results you dread would fail to happen! The very people whose opposition you fear will approve. Or if not, what can happen?
- Home first. Pull down the idol in your own family before you face the enemy outside — obedience, then strength.
- All the way down. Not a stone picked out here and there. The whole structure comes down, and the pole beside it too.
- Replaced, not just removed. The morning shows two things — an altar gone and an altar built, the old idol burned as fuel for the new sacrifice.
- Daylight comes. Quiet work, done in fear, still ends up in plain view. The world soon notices the new altar it does not recognise.
- Then the noise. Opposition shows that faith has touched what people trusted in. The disaster you dread usually never comes.
And they said one to another, Who has done this thing? And when they inquired and asked, they said, Gideon the son of Joash has done this thing.
Gideon tore down Baal's altar at night. By morning the whole town stood in front of the ruins, asking who did it. The search that follows raises two questions commentators keep coming back to: why God asked for this act first, and what happens when quiet obedience is found out.
God sent Gideon against the idol in his own father's yard before He sent him against Israel's enemies. The town even names him by his father: Gideon the son of Joash. Commentators see a fixed order here.
Gideon was tied to evil in his father's house. As someone else has said, "faithfulness at home comes before strength outside: evil must be put out of Israel before the enemy can be driven out. Obedience first, and then strength: this is God's order." … So it was with Gideon. Until he had pulled the idol down in his father's house, God could not send him to strike the Midianites. There is plenty here to make all of us search our own hearts. How often have we grieved over our lack of power in the Lord's service, when we could have traced the cause to some lack of obedience?
The townsmen woke to an obvious ruin because Gideon left nothing standing. A half-done job would have been useless.
We have little idea what it cost the son of Joash to do this. But by the grace of God, he did it. True, he may have done it with fear and trembling, but he still did it. He struck one strong blow at the whole system of Baal, and it crumbled to dust under his feet. Half measures would have been no use. Picking out a stone here and there from the idol's altar would have achieved nothing. The whole structure had to come down from its very foundation.
Gideon worked after dark because he feared these very men. His fear did not cancel his obedience.
His faith was timid, but faith still acted. True courage does not mean having no fear. It shows itself in doing right despite fear.
Gideon never announced what he had done. The city found him by asking around, because the act spoke for him.
It is better when obedience and testimony go together. But though the flesh may hold back our testimony, it cannot stop obedience, if there is faith… The stirrings of the flesh are no excuse for not obeying what we have faith to do… And if we are faithful, even without strong feeling, our acts will speak for themselves. So testimony will follow, even though it did not go with them. That is what happened with Gideon.
Once his name was spoken, his private obedience became public. It cost him, and it gave him a new name.
Only in the morning did the people of the city see what he had done… Let us, too, weak as we are, destroy our idols in silence, when no eye is watching us… The world will soon see that we have a new altar it does not know, and that the grove is worth nothing to us except as wood to burn. Then the world, which has supported us until now, will hate us. It was the altar of testimony that drew everyone's hatred onto Gideon. Hated — but what did it matter? He was given the name Jerubbaal (let Baal plead), and in front of everyone he became the living witness that the things he had once worshipped were worthless.
The men asking this question were Israelites, not foreigners. One writer sees their anger as a pattern, not a one-off.
The action of faith always stirs up the flesh. Israel did not know where their strength was; they thought it was in Baal. Gideon had learned it was in God. These are sifting times. In the Lord's day everything looked to be in beautiful order. But because He was setting aside men's traditions, everyone was against Him. It is the same now. How many people think the strength of Christians lies in the things they see around them! The soul taught by God knows it is only in Jehovah Jesus.
The crowd's question ended in a demand for Gideon's death. One writer notes who answered it.
And from the start, he learns how hostile his own people are to faithfulness for the truth. But how little the world knows that its evil opposition always draws out of God's witness more power than enough to put it down! The people's cry for Gideon's execution is met by Joash's challenge to let Baal plead for himself, if he is a god.
- Home first. Gideon had to clear the evil out of his own home before God could send him against the enemy outside. Obedience first, then strength.
- Whole, not partial. Gideon pulled the altar down from its foundation. Half measures would have been useless, and would have left nothing for the city to find.
- Fear allowed, disobedience not. Gideon worked at night because he was afraid. Courage is doing right despite fear, not the absence of fear.
- Acts declare themselves. He said nothing, yet the search found him out. When testimony does not go with obedience, it follows after it.
- Discovery costs. Once named, Gideon faced the town's hatred and a call for his death. It made him a public witness that his old god was worthless.
And the men of the city said to Joash, Bring out thy son, that he may die, because he has broken down the altar of Baal, and because he has cut down the Asherah that was by it.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.