The Altar of True Peace Text: Judges 6:19-24
Introduction: Hospitality for God
We live in an age that is terrified of unannounced visitors. Our homes are our castles, and we like the moat to be wide and the drawbridge to be up. We screen our calls, check the peephole, and pretend we are not home when someone we do not know knocks. But in the ancient world, hospitality was a sacred duty, and how one received a stranger could be a matter of life or death, or, as we see in our text, a matter of encountering God Himself.
The book of Judges is a grim and bloody record of Israel's covenant infidelity. It is a repeating cycle of sin, oppression, crying out, and deliverance. It is a downward spiral, a societal rot that gets worse with every turn of the page. And right in the middle of this mess, God decides to raise up a most unlikely deliverer. Gideon is found hiding, threshing wheat in a winepress, the very picture of fear and subjugation. The Midianites had so thoroughly demoralized Israel that the basic functions of life had to be done in secret. And it is into this fear that the Angel of Yahweh comes.
What we have in our passage today is the pivot point in Gideon's call. It is the moment where a simple act of fearful, yet dutiful, hospitality is transformed into a profound act of worship. It is where a man who thinks he is serving lunch to a mysterious dignitary discovers he is, in fact, offering a sacrifice to the pre-incarnate Christ. This encounter is not just a quaint historical episode. It teaches us the fundamental nature of true worship, the terror of encountering holiness, and the only possible source of genuine peace in a world that is, like Gideon's, full of chaos and fear.
This is a story about God turning our meager, trembling offerings into something holy and acceptable. It is about the transition from fear to faith, a transition that can only happen when we see God for who He is and live to tell the tale. And it is about the kind of peace that is not the absence of conflict, but the presence of God Himself.
The Text
So Gideon went in and prepared a young goat and unleavened bread from an ephah of flour; he put the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot and brought them out to him under the oak and presented them. And the angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened bread and lay them on this rock and pour out the broth.” And he did so. Then the angel of Yahweh put out the end of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened bread; and fire sprang up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread. Then the angel of Yahweh went away from before his eyes. And Gideon saw that he was the angel of Yahweh, so he said, “Alas, O Lord Yahweh! For now I have seen the angel of Yahweh face to face.” And Yahweh said to him, “Peace to you. Do not fear; you shall not die.” So Gideon built an altar there to Yahweh and named it Yahweh is Peace. To this day it is still in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
(Judges 6:19-24 LSB)
An Offering of Hospitality (v. 19)
We begin with Gideon's response to the stranger's commission.
"So Gideon went in and prepared a young goat and unleavened bread from an ephah of flour; he put the meat in a basket and the broth in a pot and brought them out to him under the oak and presented them." (Judges 6:19)
Gideon, having asked for a sign, now prepares what he calls a "present" or an "offering." In his mind, this is an act of lavish hospitality, not yet a formal sacrifice. He is following in the footsteps of Abraham, who prepared a similar meal for three visitors by the oaks of Mamre, one of whom was the Lord Himself (Genesis 18). Gideon prepares a young goat, unleavened cakes, meat in a basket, and broth in a pot. This is no small snack. An ephah of flour is a massive amount, somewhere around 20 to 40 pounds. In a time of famine and oppression, when he was hiding his grain from the Midianites, this is a costly, generous, and risky act.
He is not yet thinking in explicitly liturgical terms. He is a layman, not a priest. He is at Ophrah, not Shiloh where the tabernacle was. He is simply trying to honor a guest who has spoken with divine authority. But this is how God works. He meets us in the midst of our ordinary duties and our fumbling attempts at faithfulness. God does not wait for us to have everything sorted out, to have our theology perfected, or to be in the right official location. He comes to us in our winepresses, and He honors the sincere, if imperfect, offerings we bring.
A Meal Becomes a Sacrifice (v. 20-21)
The nature of the event now shifts dramatically. The guest takes charge and redefines the meal.
"And the angel of God said to him, 'Take the meat and the unleavened bread and lay them on this rock and pour out the broth.' And he did so. Then the angel of Yahweh put out the end of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened bread; and fire sprang up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened bread. Then the angel of Yahweh went away from before his eyes." (Judges 6:20-21)
The Angel of God, who is also called the Angel of Yahweh, now gives liturgical instructions. The rock is to become an altar. The meal is to become a sacrifice. The meat and bread are to be laid out, and the broth, which would have been for drinking or dipping, is to be poured out as a drink offering. Gideon's act of hospitality is being accepted by God and consecrated as an act of worship. God is the one who determines what constitutes acceptable worship. We do not get to invent our own methods; we must follow His direction.
And then comes the sign. The Angel touches the offering with the tip of his staff, and fire leaps up from the rock itself. This is not ordinary fire. This is holy fire, divine fire. It is the same kind of fire that consumed the sacrifices at the dedication of the tabernacle (Lev. 9:24) and the one that would later fall on Elijah's offering at Mount Carmel (1 Kings 18:38). This fire is a sign of divine acceptance. God is saying, "I have received your offering. I accept your worship." The meal prepared for a man is consumed by God.
This Angel of Yahweh is no mere created angel. Created angels do not accept worship (Rev. 22:8-9). This is a theophany, a visible manifestation of God. And given that He is a distinct person who is also called Yahweh, we are on solid ground to see this as a pre-incarnate appearance of the second person of the Trinity, the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ Himself is the one who receives Gideon's offering and makes it acceptable by His divine fire. And then, having confirmed His word, He vanishes. The sign is given, the point is made, and Gideon is left alone with the staggering reality.
The Proper Fear of God (v. 22)
Gideon's reaction is immediate and visceral. He understands what has just happened, and he is terrified.
"And Gideon saw that he was the angel of Yahweh, so he said, 'Alas, O Lord Yahweh! For now I have seen the angel of Yahweh face to face.'" (Judges 6:22)
The realization dawns. "Gideon saw." He perceived, he understood, that this was no prophet, no ordinary messenger, but God Himself. And his response is not, "Wow, what a cool experience!" His response is, "Alas!" It is a cry of anguish and dread. Why? Because he knew his Old Testament. He knew that God had told Moses, "you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live" (Exodus 33:20). Jacob marveled that he had seen God face to face and his life was preserved (Gen. 32:30). Manoah, Samson's father, would have the same reaction: "We shall surely die, for we have seen God" (Judges 13:22).
This is the proper and sane reaction for a sinful man in the presence of a holy God. Modern evangelicals have domesticated God. We think of Jesus as our buddy, our pal, and an encounter with Him as a warm, fuzzy experience. But to see God in His holiness is to be undone. It is for Isaiah to cry out, "Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips... for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!" (Isaiah 6:5). Gideon's fear is not a sign of weak faith; it is a sign that he is beginning to understand who God is. This holy terror is the beginning of wisdom.
The Peace of God (v. 23-24)
Into Gideon's terror, God speaks a word of grace, a word that will define the entire encounter.
"And Yahweh said to him, 'Peace to you. Do not fear; you shall not die.' So Gideon built an altar there to Yahweh and named it Yahweh is Peace. To this day it is still in Ophrah of the Abiezrites." (Judges 6:23-24)
Notice who speaks in verse 23. It is Yahweh Himself. The Angel of Yahweh has vanished, but Yahweh speaks. The two are distinct, yet one. This is the mystery of the Trinity, present even here in the book of Judges. And the first word from the holy God to the terrified sinner is "Peace." In Hebrew, "Shalom."
This is the gospel in miniature. The sinner sees God, rightly fears judgment and death, and God speaks a word of peace and reassurance. "Do not fear; you shall not die." Why would Gideon not die? Because a sacrifice had just been offered and accepted. The goat and the bread were consumed in his place. A substitution has been made. The fire of God's holiness fell on the offering, not on Gideon. This is a picture of the cross. We, who deserve the consuming fire of God's wrath, are spared because the fire fell upon Christ, our substitute. Therefore, God can say to us, "Peace. Do not fear. You shall not die."
Gideon's response to this grace is to build. Faith always builds. He builds an altar, not for another sacrifice, but as a memorial. It is an act of remembrance and worship. And he gives it a name that captures the essence of his experience: "Yahweh is Peace," or Yahweh-Shalom. This is profound. Peace is not just something God gives; it is something God is. He is the source of all wholeness, all well-being, all rightness. True shalom is not found in the absence of Midianites or in a strong military. It is found in a right relationship with the God who is, in His very nature, Peace.
That altar stood "to this day," a lasting testimony in the midst of a faithless generation. It was a reminder that even when the nation was in chaos, even when enemies were plundering the land, it was possible for a man to meet with God and find peace. Not a fragile, circumstantial peace, but a foundational, covenantal peace rooted in the very character of God.
Conclusion: The Altar of Our Peace
This story is our story. We are Gideon, hiding in our winepresses, fearful of the enemies that plunder our lives, whether they be sin, despair, or the encroaching chaos of a godless culture. We are surrounded by the altars of Baal, the false gods of our age that demand our worship and promise security but deliver only bondage.
And into this situation, Christ comes. He meets us not in our strength, but in our weakness. And He invites us to offer up what little we have to Him. We bring our meager hospitality, our fumbling attempts at obedience, and He provides the rock, the true altar. That altar is the cross.
On that altar, Jesus, the true Angel of the Lord, did not offer a goat, but Himself. He took our sin, and the divine fire of God's wrath, which should have consumed us, consumed Him instead. And because that sacrifice has been made and accepted, God the Father now speaks to all who are in Christ, and He says, "Peace to you. Do not fear; you shall not die."
The result for us must be the same as it was for Gideon. We are to build an altar in our hearts and in our homes, an altar of memorial and worship, and name it Yahweh-Shalom. For our peace is not in our circumstances, not in our politics, not in our bank accounts. Our peace is a person. As the apostle Paul says, "For he himself is our peace" (Ephesians 2:14). Jesus Christ is Yahweh-Shalom. And having been reconciled to God through Him, we now have a peace that passes all understanding, a peace that the world, with all its Midianites, cannot give and cannot take away.