Idol Threats

Luke 19:41-44

41As [Jesus] came near and saw [Jerusalem], he wept over it, 42saying, “If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. 43Indeed, the days will come upon yo, when your enemies will set up ramparts around you and surround you, and hem you in on every side. 44They will crush you to the ground, you and your children within you, and they will not leaven within you one stone upon another; because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God.

This is the Word of the LORD

Thanks be to God

Judges 6:25-32

That night the LORD said to [Gideon], “Take your father’s bull, the second bull seven years old, and pull down the altar of Baal that belongs to your father, and cut down the sacred pole that is beside it, 26and build an altar to the LORD your God on top of the stronghold here, in proper order; then take the second bull, and offer it as a burnt offering with the wood of the sacred pole that you shall cut down.” 27So Gideon took ten of his servants, and did as the LORD had told him; but because he was too afraid of his family and the townspeople to do it by day, he did it by night.

28When the townspeople rose early in the morning, the altar of Baal was broken down, and the sacred pole beside it was cut down, and the second bull was offered on the altar that had been built. 29So they said to one another, “Who has done this?” After searching and inquiring, they were told, “Gideon son of Joash did it.” 30Then the townspeople said to Joash, “Bring out your son, so that he may die, for he has pulled down the altar of Baal and cut down the sacred pole beside it.” 31But Joash said to all who were arrayed against him, “Will you contend for Baal? Or will you defend his cause? Whoever contends for him shall be put to death by morning. If he is a god, let him contend for himself, because his altar has been pulled down.” 32Therefore on that day Gideon was called Jerubbaal, that is to say, “Let Baal contend against him,” because he pulled down his altar.

This is the Word of the LORD

Thanks be to God.

Gideon is the unheroic hero of the faith. His life and leadership as a judge demonstrate that our God can use even the most unqualified person. I have heard that “it is a poor craftsman who blames his tools.” Imagine how great a craftsman God is to accomplish amazing things through such meager tools as Gideon.

Last week I called Gideon a faithless twerp who uses cleverness to cover for his cowardice. This week we return to Gideon to glimpse what God did through him, regardless of his reluctance.

“That night the LORD said to [Gideon], ‘Take your father’s bull, the second bull seven years old, and pull down the altar of Baal that belongs to your father, and cut down the sacred pole that is beside it, and build an altar to the LORD your God on top of the stronghold here, in proper order; then take the second bull, and offer it as a burnt offering with the wood of the sacred pole that you shall cut down.’”

The pattern we have seen throughout our Lenten series on the Judges is that the Israelites invariably fall back into idol worship. Over and over again, the people slip away from the justice of God’s appointed leaders and do whatever is right in their own eyes. The disconnect themselves from their creator, redeemer, sustainer. Instead, they build altars and erect sacred poles to the local idols.

Worshipping idols, especially Baal, shows up all over Judges and continues throughout the rest of scripture. Baal is a Canaanite fertility god. He is responsible, in their mythology, for plentiful harvests, appropriate rains, and growing things in general. For tribes who were farmers first, he’s kind of a big deal. It’s no surprise that Joash, Gideon’s father, has an altar to the idol who supposedly made him the wealthy and respected community leader he is. Likewise the “sacred pole” is an idol to the Canaanite goddess of love: Asherah. Love and wealth, there are no idols more tempting than those. His offering to the community was to provide those idols. Gideon’s father housed and maintained the idols for his fellow Israelites to serve. He maintained herds to sacrifice to the idols, ensuring love and wealth for all the community. Or so it was thought...

The LORD, who brought the people out of Egypt and gave them this land as a promise to their ancestors and their descendants, is not impressed by the devotion at the altars of Baal and the sacred poles of Asherah. Israel has abandoned the LORD and is serving idols. God refuses to let go and commissions Gideon to set things right again. Gideon is appointed to establish justice, which can only come from the covenant community’s right relationship with the LORD. That means the altar to Baal, and the sacred pole, have got to be torn down.

This causes some conflict with Gideon’s neighbors. “When the townspeople rose early in the morning, the altar of Baal was broken down, and the sacred pole beside it was cut down, and the second bull was offered on the altar that had been built. 29So they said to one another, “Who has done this?” After searching and inquiring, they were told, “Gideon son of Joash did it.” 30Then the townspeople said to Joash, ‘Bring out your son, so that he may die, for he has pulled down the altar of Baal and cut down the sacred pole beside it.’”

If ending the false worship means breaking with tradition, it’s because the tradition was already broken. If pulling down the altars means destroying what would have been our inheritance, it’s because our inheritance ought not stand between us and God. If cutting down the sacred pole means disrespecting our history, we should remember that learning from our history and celebrating it are two different things.

Joash gets it. He sides with his son, and with the LORD, rather than with his neighbors and his idols. “Joash said to all who were arrayed against him, ‘Will you contend for Baal? Or will you defend his cause? Whoever contends for him shall be put to death by morning. If he is a god, let him contend for himself, because his altar has been pulled down.’”

Gideon, in the dead of night, tears down the altar and sacred pole that belonged to his father, that were revered by his neighbors. His broke with his own family, his own inheritance, his own position, because God appointed him to establish justice, rather than maintain what was comfortable.

Idolatry is comfortable. Idolatry maintains a calm status quo. Idolatry may establish quiet, a brief reprieve from conflict, but it doesn’t bring peace. Justice and Peace can only be established through right relationship with the LORD, who brought our spiritual ancestors out of Egypt.

Gideon takes the bulls his father had intended to offer to Baal and Asherah and instead offers them to the LORD. But first, before the offering is laid upon the altar, that offering does work. Gideons offering pulls down the idol’s altar and the sacred pole, then repurposes those empty objects to the glory of God. Gideon’s offering, even though it was done in secret because of his fear, did work to glorify the LORD, and reform the community around the God who delivered them from bondage in Egypt.

What does our offering do?

Our congregation’s offering to the community is growing faith together as taught through God’s Word. None of those pieces are enough on their own. Growing faith, on its own, leads to an individualized faith which focuses inward, rather than on serving God. Togetherness, without faith, leads to toxic and stuck relationships. Being taught by God’s Word, without faith and without one another, is purely academic and lacks the transformation, the reforming, that comes from right relationship with the LORD.

So what will our offering do?

Will our offering build altars to wealth? Will our offering lift up a sacred pole?

Or will our offering tear down the idols that are so tempting and prevalent in our community? Will our offering maintain divine worship that re-focuses our life around Christ?

What will our offering do?