Our text tonight is from the book of Judges, the five books of Moses, Joshua, Judges, Ruth. We will be reading from chapter six, reading about the servant, the judge, Gideon. This is before and better known stories perhaps of the fleece of the 300 men. Judges chapter 6, we will begin reading with verse 25 and read through verse 32. Having just been called, Gideon now receives his charge. Let us hear the word of our Lord. Now it came to pass the same night that the Lord said to him, take your father's young bull, the second bull of seven years old, and tear down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down the wooden image that is beside it. and build an altar to the Lord your God on top of this rock on the proper arrangement and take the second bowl and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the image which you shall cut down. So Gideon took 10 men from among his servants and did as the Lord had said to him. But because he feared his father's household and the men of the city too much to do it by day, he did it by night. And when the men of the city arose early in the morning, there was the altar of Baal torn down, and the wooden image that was beside it, it was cut down, and the second bowl was being offered on the altar which had been built. So they said to one another, who has done this thing? And when they had inquired and asked, they said, Gideon, the son of Joash, has done this thing. Then the man of the city said to Joash, Bring out your son, that he may die, because he has torn down the altar of Baal, and because he has cut down the wooden image that was beside it. But Joash said to all who stood against him, Would you plead for Baal? Would you save him? Let the one who would plead for him be put to death by morning. If he is a God, let him plead for himself, because his altar has been torn down. Therefore, on that day, he called him Jeroboam, saying, let Baal plead against him, because he has torn down his altar." Thus far the reading of God's Word. Dear people of God, Do you ever look forward to the next goal or the next milestone in your life and think that it will solve all your problems? If I can just get that degree, or if I can just have that relationship, or everything will be perfect once the mortgage is paid off. The children of Abraham have reached that next goal. They have been delivered from Egypt. They have wandered around in the desert and now they are in the promised land. The great milestone which took so long to reach. So many years of wandering. But their problems are not solved. They have failed to drive out the Canaanites completely. will be a continual snare and trap for them, just as Joshua predicted on his deathbed at the end of the book of Joshua. So this is the time of the judges, when the milestone of the promised land has been reached, but the worship of false idols leads to misery So the people cry out to God again, with the Midianites standing at the doorstep. They cry, and the angel of the Lord comes. He calls Gideon, who is described as a mighty man of valor in the beginning of chapter 6. And now, after being called in our text, Gideon is given his first task. Before he questions God with the fleece, before Gideon leads 300 men against the Midianites, he is given this task. Because before things can be fixed away from home, things must be fixed at home. So we will first consider the command from God for Gideon to take action. We will then look at Gideon taking action. And finally, we will consider the various responses to the action of Gideon. First, the command to take action. In Gideon's own backyard, or somewhere on his father's property, there are two idols standing next to each other. Baal, who is considered by the surrounding nations to be the head god, the god of crops, the god of agriculture. It is not surprising that a god of crops and agriculture would be a head god in these imagined gods of the surrounding nations, because they are an agricultural nation. They depend on crops. They depend on their farms for their livelihood. So even as they come up with imaginary gods for nearly everything, from the rivers, to the sun, to crops, and so on, and we see even the Ten Commandments, the Ten Plagues against Egypt, all against specific gods. Gods for everything, but here is a head gun. a representative of the whole. We do this in our own language when we talk about history. We talk about, when we talk about the Civil War, we talk about General Lee and General Grant and their armies. They are individual men. Ulysses S. Grant is a man. Robert E. Lee is a man. But their name can also stand for the entire army since they are the head. So we can talk about the army of the North as the army of Grant. We can talk about the army of the South as the army of Lee. So here, Baal is often, even as he is an individual false god of imagination, stands in for all of the false gods. The first commandment in Exodus 20, the law which we read every week, you shall have no other gods before me. But at this time, the nation of Israel is continually disobeying that command. A repeated pattern throughout the book of Judges. Knowing that this temptation could be. There is the command before the entrance to the land, the command in Deuteronomy chapter 6. We can turn and read verses 14 and 15. You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are around you. For the Lord your God is a jealous God among you. Lest the anger of the Lord your God be aroused against you and destroy you from the face of the earth. God goes on throughout this passage to describe His chosen people and to command them to conquer the land completely. But the Israelites do not obey. They do not totally claim the promised land. They do not totally claim this milestone that they have finally made it to. They do not fully follow God's command, and His warning comes true. By not driving them out completely, they do fall and serve these gods. Joshua also warns about this. Joshua chapter 23. the deathbed of the leader who takes the nation after Moses. Joshua 23, beginning with verse 7, Unless you go among the nations and those who remain among you, you shall not make mention of the name of their gods, nor cause anyone to swear by them. You shall not serve them nor bow down to them, but you shall hold fast to the Lord your God, as you have done to this day. And what is the warning from Joshua if they do not do this? We can read on in verse 11, Therefore, take careful, ye, to yourselves, that you love the Lord your God, or else, if indeed you go back and cling to the remnants of these nations, these that remain among you, and make marriages with them, and go into them, and they to you, know for certain that the Lord your God will no longer drive out these nations from before you, but they shall be snares and traps to you, and scourges on your sides, and thorns in your eyes until you perish from this good land which the Lord your God has given you." They remember the words that have come from their leaders. They remember the word of the Lord. In Deuteronomy, if they remember the warning of their leader Joshua when he is dying, then they should not be surprised at the state they are in. The state of putting up an idol of Baal and an idol of Asherah in their own land, their own town, on Gideon's own property. Our God is a jealous God. He will not tolerate this, even as He has said. Baal cannot stand in the midst of the covenant people. So, before Gideon can be called to lead an army against the Midianites, there must be a reformation of worship at home. God requires that the idols are taken down. The matter of the heart must be solved before the armies can stand. So this order is important, showing the primacy of the heart. showing the need for the reformation of worship. So there is a series of commands given to Gideon to carry this task out. First, in verse 25, Gideon must take the bulls and destroy the idols. Having two strong bulls will be helpful in this task, especially the idol of Baal, which is of stone, likely a very heavy idol. For the Asherah, the bowls will not be as necessary. The words to cut down, to cut down that idol, infer likely the use of an axe or some other tool. And secondly, Gideon is to make an altar at the stronghold, the base, where the Baal altar has been. with stones laid precisely, stones taken from what was the altar of Baal. And after making that altar, Gideon is commanded to offer a sacrifice. Insult is added to injury. The dumb idols which cannot speak will be torn down and the very materials that made up these dumb idols are to be used for the sacrifice for God. The uselessness of false idols is spoken of many times throughout scriptures. One of the most detailed passages comes to us from the book of Habakkuk in chapter 2. Habakkuk chapter 2. Verses 18 and 19, asking what profit is the image that its maker should carve it? The molded image, a teacher of lies, that the maker of its mold should trust in it to make mute idols. Woe to him who says to wood awake, to silent stone arise, it shall teach. Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, yet in it there is no breath at all. There is even a totality represented here. An idol of wood and an idol of stone. Not only does Baal represent a totality in himself as the head god, but the very materials themselves. Strong material, somewhat weaker material, any material man can lay hands on to make an idol. Any idol of the imagination, including we can have in our minds the idols of imagination we see around us today. So Gideon must contend with this stone idol and this wooden idol. And to make sure that no one blames the materials themselves. Is it the stone that makes us stumble? Is it the wood that leads us astray? These materials are now put to good use. These materials are now used to sacrifice to the true God. It's not the material that is bad. It is the worship of that material. The imagination which turns that material into a false god. And God asks Gideon for a burnt offering with a seven-year-old bull. That is the bull that is to be sacrificed. Even though Gideon takes two bulls with him, which will both be helpful in the destruction of the large stone idol, as we have said, it is the seven-year-old bull which is to be sacrificed. This is a type of first fruit. This bull is able to pull his own weight. He is strong, but still has years of potential ahead. To give a little perspective, it varies from one type of cattle to another, but the average age of a cow cattle is about 15 years. So this is a sacrifice which hurts. It is giving your best for the Lord. And the burnt offering, which is described in the book of Leviticus with instructions for offering and for how it is to be given on the tabernacle. But before we even get to Leviticus, there is the story of Noah who offers a burnt offering. Already at that time, the burnt offering specifically is used for an offering of propitiation. Or in other words, it is an offering to appease the wrath of God. In the case of Noah, to appease the wrath of God after his worldwide flood to destroy all but Noah. As with all the Old Testament sacrifices, the burnt offering is a shadow of the sacrifice of Christ on the cross, who becomes the full and perfect propitiation. Christ appeases the wrath of God against sin by bearing the penalty for our sins. People do not like that language. Famous hymn, newer hymn, many of us know, in Christ alone, has specific language concerning the wrath of God, which is appeased by Christ. When new Psalters are written, that is the first part of the hymn, which people seek to change already, with the authors of the hymn still alive. But the Gettys have not allowed those copyrights to go. And so the mangled version of In Christ Alone is never published. But there is a constant reminder, the very meaning of a burnt offering that anticipates what Christ will do. that it is an appeasement of God's wrath, even as Noah did, even as Gideon does here. So may we quickly note some of the contrasts created by this worship reformation. First, God is not worshipped alongside others. Baal, the god of imagination, is content to stand alongside Asherah. God stands alone. Sacrifice is to Him alone. Second, God is not worshipped through an image. The materials are used, they are put to a good use, by the use of sacrifice. It is not an image of God Himself, as the idol of stone was an image of the imagined Baal Himself, and as the Asherah is an image of the imagined Asherah herself. There is no image for God. And third, God has a plan. The stone idol and the wood idol are dumb. They stand there. They are incapable of anything. They have no plan. Who calls out to these gods? But God does. And the sacrifice, the burnt offering, points to that, even as it points to our Savior, to Christ. We now turn our attention, in verses 27 and 28, to the action which is taken. We turn to see, does Gideon actually do these things? The simple answer is, yes, Gideon does take action. On further reflection, we might say, does Gideon do it as he should? He takes ten men, he's afraid of the men of the city. We might say he is too quick to act. He acts that very night, but because of fear of the men of the city. But we should not be too quick to condemn Gideon. The text itself does not seem to condemn Gideon. Even taking ten men seems to be permissible. God requires action, but not heroics. For this, I think it is helpful to turn to Proverbs. Two quick verses. One is Proverbs 29, verse 5. 29 verse 25, excuse me. The fear of man brings a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord shall be safe. Fear of man is a bad thing, especially contrasted with fear of God. But Proverbs is also a book of wisdom. And we can also turn to Proverbs 14 verse 16. And as we turn back there, it says, a wise man fears. and departs from evil, but a fool rages and is self-confident." How do we hold these two passages together? First, the fear of man brings a snare, and then a wise man fears. These do not seem to fit. Proverbs is a book of wisdom and it tells us that sometimes fear is permissible and other times it is not. Fear especially when it is over and against the fear of God is not permissible. But fear for the sake of departing from evil is permissible. So what fear do we have in Judges. Judges 6. Is it a Proverbs 14 fear? Or is it a Proverbs 29 fear? Well, as we continue in the text, the men come out right away and they notice their idols are gone. So Gideon is not rebuked. Or maybe this was the only way for him to complete his action. The secrecy of night may have been the only way for Gideon to give the burnt offering, to finish his work of tearing down the idols. So we should consider this a Proverbs 14 fear, a fear of wisdom to even allow his task to be completed. And the word for fear is even a hint for that. The word used in Judges 6 is rarely used for man-to-man fear. It is a different word than the word in Proverbs 29. Usually it is used when we read, and he feared God, the fear of God, the man who fears God. So I think that is a further indication that even on a man-to-man basis, in this case, fear is wise. In this case, fear is permissible. Action, completed action, is more important than blind heroics. So with this in mind, Even as Gideon does his work not wanting to be found out, we consider the response to the action of Gideon, the multiple responses. beginning in verse 29, the response of the townsmen. A response that is both fast and furious. If we had time to read the whole chapter, we would know Israel has just called on God again because they are afflicted by the hands of the Midianites. They have not torn down their idols. And when those idols are torn down by God's servant, they rise up in anger, literally looking for blood. We have no doubt that these were not merely token idols, if there were such a thing. The immediate furious response of the men of the town is a clear indication that the trust of these men is in false gods. even as they have called out to God for deliverance, even as they have called to His hand when they look across the river and they see the Midianites, their deeds do not match with their words. With mouth they ask for God, but in action they rise up in indignation when their false idols are gone. If we needed further indication of this, we could consider what they do not say. Oh, here is an altar of the Lord our God, who has brought us out of the house of bondage, out of the house of slavery. Here is an altar to the one true God we have forgotten. This is not their reaction at all. Even with the burnt offering before them, the aroma still rising up, They are indignant. They are out for blood. And they find out it is Gideon who is behind this action. The text does not say how, they find out. Perhaps the ten men Gideon had with him. It is difficult to keep a secret with ten men. However, we should not speculate too much. It is not said explicitly. What matters is that they do find out. And what also matters is the intensity with which they find out. Again, indicating where their heart is at. They inquired. There is a flavor of immediate judgment, of immediate A full task. This is not some simple inquiry. This is not, oh, I wonder who took down the idol. This is an inquiry of pursuit. This is an inquisition. An intense search. So in verse 30, they go to the house and they say to Joash, bring out your son that he may die. Now, if we excuse the fear of verse 27 and say it is a Proverbs 14 fear, a wise fear, there is no excuse here for Gideon. He has had the time he needed to perform the task God required of him. He did it faithfully, but now he hides behind his father. He is not willing to stand and declare the glory of God. An angel has just appeared to Gideon. The glory of God is immediate on his mind and still he hides in the house. This would be a great time for some Proverbs 29 fear or lack of fear. This is a time of fearing either God or man. And he does not put his trust in the Lord. But a surprising man does, Joash, on whose property the idols were. The one whose best bull has just been taken in secret by his son and offered as a complete burnt offering. He has no way now to profit from his prized bull. We do not know. what Joash's motivation is. We must wonder if it is simply an act of defending his son Gideon, or if it is a true trust and faith in our God who gave his son. It is at least possible that Joash is displaying a genuine faith and bravery. He knows the idols were just wooden stone. How do we know that he knows this? He says, if he is a god, let him contend for himself. Jehoashim is very confident that Baal will not be able to defend himself. And maybe, when faced with a possible death to themselves, The men of the town begin to show their true colors. Maybe deep down, they remember something of the God who brought their forefathers out of the land of Egypt. For no one stands up to declare confidence in Baal. When the rubber hits the road, This false god that they were so infuriated about losing, they are not willing to stand up in his defense. Perhaps this is why the blood of the martyrs cries out so loudly. It does not make sense to the world. no matter what God, no matter what false idol is being followed, no matter what God of imagination is on the mind, it does not make sense to put one's own life on the line for that false God. Because they are selfish. Ultimately, Apart from Christ, everyone serves himself. And that is why to the world, the blood of a martyr is so strange and so rare. Now men can be so twisted, so deceived, that they do. strap on the suicide bomb, die for their false god. But it is rare. But a man of faith, willing to stand for Christ, when the persecution is at that level, is not rare. There is a great cloud of witnesses generation upon generation that we stand upon and look back on and take strength from. And more than that, Christ who himself died, whose blood was a sacrifice, a propitiation, an appeasement of God's wrath. And in the light of this, Joash takes the opportunity to give Gideon a new name. In verse 32 he tells us, "...let veil contend against him, so we will call Gideon Jeroboam." This sets up the whole story of Gideon. One of the longest passages in the book of Judges. Central. to the whole book in many ways. And the very name, this new name of Gideon is a reminder that whatever Gideon does, he does because Baal could not contend for himself. Gideon's very name now becomes a constant reminder that the battle has already been won because God defeats Baal. Gideon gets up the next morning alive and well. Baal cannot contend or defend himself. Gideon is a servant called to do God's work, to deliver the Israelites from the hand of the Midianites. And now the reformation of worship in his own home has been completed. The first task has been completed. The attitude of the heart has been completed first. And God can now use his servant for other things. The primary aspect of the heart, of the mind, we are reminded of it In Romans 12 verse 1, do not conform to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds. Israel was in the promised land, but still they failed to follow God completely, leading to unfaithfulness. They conform to the patterns and false gods around them. They are angry when Baal is torn down and replaced with an altar to God. What patterns of this world are we to look out for? What are we in danger of conforming to? The sexual revelation, glory of self, the culture of death, abortion because it's you, you can do whatever you want, that imaginary god of self-exaltation, We are constantly called as God's people to action and reformation. Every generation must be on guard, ready to teach and prepare the next generation. Gideon is not a perfect deliverer. He is not as brave as we might hope. He is not even reckless when we might wish him to tear it down in the middle of the day. Not heroic. And if we read the next few chapters, it is clear that ultimately He will leave troubles for the next generation. There will not even be a faithfulness that lasts to the end of His own life for the people around Him. Only Christ is the perfect Deliverer. Not the shadow of propitiation and burnt sacrifice, but that sacrifice itself. Gideon had the shadow of the promise, and we have that promise. We have that one who appeases God's wrath. So may we take action. and reform the worship, reform our own hearts first. Amen. Let us pray. Lord, be with us. Be with us throughout this week. May your word be applied to us, not only today and throughout this week, but throughout our entire lives, Lord. Always remembering, you are our God. And we are to worship you alone. not from our imagination. In your Son's name we pray, Amen.