(Note: this message is based on and edited from a sermon preached at First Baptist Church of Chamois, MO on 10-16-2022 but is not an exact transcription.)
Introduction: Gideon had just realized he saw the Angel of the LORD and was probably trying to take it all in. He was one of only a few people to ever have that privilege, by the way, even though he may not have absorbed it.
He had begun by threshing wheat in a local wine press, probably scared half to death of the enemies he knew were close by. As mentioned, he had also seen the Angel of the LORD, and the Angel had told Gideon he was going to deliver Israel from the Midianites and others. The Angel had never said just how, though, as that was going to come later. Before Gideon was going to deliver Israel, there were two tests he had to pass. Let’s look at the first one:
1 The first test: Tear down the altar of Baal
Text: Judges 6:25-27, KJV: 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.
This test for Gideon was difficult, at best. For one thing, his own father, Joash, had either built or permitted an altar to Baal, one of the idols worshiped by the Canaanites. Gideon would be risking the wrath of his own family if he actually did tear down “dear old Dad’s” altar to Baal. As a sad aside, Joash in Hebrew means “Jehovah is strong” even though Joash wasn’t strong enough to remain true to the God of Israel.
Now, I have to confess that I’ve wondered why God would tell Gideon to use one or two bulls (the opinions of several commentators vary) to pull down the pagan altar. Some altars were made of stone (as some pictures of these reveal) and others were made of earth. At any rate, the altar to Baal was probably large enough to lay a bull-sized sacrifice on it. To give an idea, the altar for the Tabernacle was to be “five cubits long, and five cubits broad; the altar shall be foursquare: and the height thereof shall be three cubits (Exodus 27:1, KJV).” Allowing 18 inches or one-half yard to a cubit, the altar would be 7-1/2 feet in length and width, and 4-1/2 feet in height.
So then, if Joash’s altar to Baal was in any similar size, Gideon would have had too much to do in one session. Whether the bull was to shove down the dirt, move the stones, or any other use, God had provided Gideon with some much-needed help.
There’s another thing that isn’t mentioned directly but those who know the Old Testament probably saw this, too. When Moses was on the mountain receiving the Ten Commandments, what did the people “guilt” Aaron into doing? Aaron supervised the creation of a golden calf or young bull—which Israel promptly worshiped! Israel had abandoned God while they were at the very foot of the mountain where God had made Himself known to Israel (Compare Exodus 19 and 32)!
But let’s get back to Gideon for a moment. God had told him to tear down (“throw down”) the altar of Baal, and that would take some courage at best. And that’s not all: God also told Gideon to cut down the “grove” that was by that pagan altar. I’m not sure just what a “grove” really was, whether a group of trees or some other kind of idol. Commentators have different opinions, too, but whatever it was, God wanted it GONE. To make it permanent, God told Gideon to use the very wood of the “grove” he had cut down as fuel for the burnt sacrifice!
Think about this: Joash had either built, or permitted to build, an altar to Baal on his own property. Baal was supposed to be the god of harvest, fertility, and who knows what else. Joash had also either planted or allowed to be planted a “Grove”—whatever that was—near that altar. He and the others who worshiped Baal must have thought this would stand for a long time, but the True and the Living God had other ideas! This God had told Gideon to use his father’s own bull to pull down his father’s own altar, and then use the wood of his father’s own “Grove” as fuel for the burnt offering of a very special bull! An old quote goes something like this” Man proposes, but God disposes” and God certainly had the last word here.
Gideon got the message, clearly, and was ready to obey but waited until night to do it. Remember, even though the Angel of the LORD had called him a “mighty man of valor”, he was still scared to do anything out in the open. He had good reason to be concerned, too, as we’ll see later. Besides, when you look at how the people had abandoned God for Baal, Gideon might have been committing suicide by tearing down the altar and grove in broad daylight. It’s well for us to remember that God never condemned Gideon for being careful, prudent, and so forth in a matter like this.
There was one positive result from this, by the way. Did you notice, Gideon had ten of his servants go with him to do this. These servants, by the way, rank among the unsung heroes of the Bible because they knew the risk—the same risk Gideon faced—but decided to support him no matter what. Wouldn’t it be great if we had more people willing to do this?
And it was good for another reason. Gideon had one more test to go through.
2 The second test: Build an altar to the LORD alone
Gideon’s first test was to “throw down” the altar of Baal which his father, Joash, had permitted to be constructed on his property. Every time I read this, I find myself amazed that not only had Israel exchanged the God of Israel for a pagan deity, Baal, several time before but also had gone “all in” on Baal-worship. Take a look at this altar to Baal, large enough that a full-grown bull was needed to help tear it down.
Knowing he would face oppression from his own family and people of the area, Gideon did it anyway because the LORD had commanded him to do it. Gideon also was told to cut down the “grove” near that altar and use the wood for fuel when he offered a sacrifice to the LORD. Even though he was afraid to do this during the day, he did it at night with the help of 10 servants.
But as the text states, Gideon had one more test in front of him. This second test was to build an altar to the LORD, God of Israel, exactly where he was told to do so. This could have been in the same place or “in the neighborhood” of Joash’s pagan altar but we’re not told exactly where this construction took place.
It’s interesting, to me, at least, that God never told Gideon any of the dimensions for this new altar. The only restrictions for altars to the LORD, God of Israel, were to be made of earth or of stone, but not “hewn stone”, and those who built the altar were forbidden to use tools in the construction (Exodus 20:24-25). It’s a good thing Gideon’s ten servants were with him or he might have needed a long time to get this new altar to the LORD completed.
Gideon passed this test, too, as he did build the altar and sacrificed the bull on it. God was pleased, but the others were not! In verses 28-30, the people who apparently lived near Joash’s land noticed the altar of Baal was gone, the grove was cut down, and the remains of a fully grown bull were on a brand new altar—and that altar had nothing to do with Baal!
By the way, I did an internet search to get an idea how much a grown bull would possibly weigh. To my surprise, fully grown bulls can reach weights of 1000-2000 pounds! I’ll leave the metric equivalents to those of you so interested (some in the audience laughed), but it goes without saying that 1500 pounds of beef would take a long time to burn. So, when the other people saw, and maybe smelled, the burnt offering, they were furious.
They even demanded Joash had Gideon over to them so they could kill him! To the credit of Joash, though, he took a stand in defense of his son. He asked the other people two questions: first, “Will YOU plead for Baal (I can almost note the defiance in his voice)?” and the second was, “Will YOU save him (I take this to mean, ‘will you save Baal?’)? As though a “god” would need to be saved!
And Joash also seems to remember some of the Law of Moses, concerning those who abandon God to worship idols (see Deuteronomy 13). In so many words, Joash had decided to “man up” and remind the people they were at risk of losing their lives. It was only because of God’s patience and grace that so few had died because of this,
Gideon passed the two tests which God have given him. Now he was ready for victory.
Scripture quotations taken from the King James Version of the Bible (KJV).
