Commentary - Judges 6:25-27

Bird's-eye view

In Judges 6:25-27, we come to the pivot point in Gideon’s calling. Up to now, God has met a man threshing wheat in a winepress, a picture of furtive faith in a time of national apostasy and oppression. God has called him a mighty man of valor, and Gideon has responded with doubt, followed by a cautious request for a sign. God graciously condescended to that request, consuming the offering with fire. But now, the time for signs and wonders as a preliminary encouragement is over. Now comes the command. And the command is not first to go out and fight the Midianites. The first battle is always with the idols in our own backyard. Before Gideon can be a deliverer for Israel, he must first be a purifier of his own father’s house. This passage teaches us a fundamental principle of reformation: public and national reformation always begins with private and domestic faithfulness. Before you can tear down the high places in the nation, you must first tear down the high place in your own family.

The command is specific, dangerous, and strikes at the very heart of Israel's compromise. The altar to Baal and the Asherah pole are not just symbols; they are the cancerous heart of the covenant lawsuit God has with His people. Gideon is commanded to perform an act of liturgical demolition and then to follow it with an act of true worship, using the very wood of the idol to fuel the sacrifice to Yahweh. This is not just replacement; it is conquest and consecration. The passage concludes with Gideon’s obedience, an obedience marked by fear, which is a great encouragement to all of us. He is afraid of the consequences, so he acts at night. But the point is that he acts. Faith is not the absence of fear, but rather obedience in the presence of fear.

Outline

Context In Judges

The book of Judges details a repeating, downward spiral of sin, oppression, repentance, and deliverance. Israel does evil in the sight of the Lord, the Lord hands them over to their enemies, the people cry out, and God raises up a deliverer, a judge. Gideon’s story is situated right in the middle of this cycle. The oppression of the Midianites is particularly severe, reducing Israel to poverty and hiding in caves. The problem, as the prophet in the earlier part of the chapter made clear, is not Midianite strength but Israelite idolatry. They had forsaken Yahweh for the Baals of the Amorites, in direct violation of God’s command (Judg. 6:10).

Therefore, God’s action through Gideon must address the root problem. The military victory over Midian would be meaningless if the idolatry remained. This is why the first act of war Gideon is commanded to undertake is a spiritual one. He is to declare war on the false gods that his own family and community are entangled with. This sets the stage for the rest of the narrative. The subsequent conflict with the men of his city (Judg. 6:28-32) demonstrates that Israel's primary enemy is not external but internal. The battle for the soul of the nation must be won before the battle for its borders can be secured. This event establishes Gideon as God's man, one who fears God more than he fears his neighbors, and it is the necessary prerequisite for God using him to deliver all of Israel.

Key Issues

(Judges 6:25)

Now it happened on the same night that Yahweh said to him, “Take your father’s bull and a second bull seven years old, and pull down the altar of Baal which belongs to your father, and cut down the Asherah that is beside it,

The action begins immediately, "on the same night." God does not let the encouragement from the miraculous sign grow cold. When God gives a man a commission, He expects him to get on with it. The command is not vague. It is precise and surgical. First, Gideon is to take two bulls. One is his father’s, and the second is seven years old, likely corresponding to the seven years of Midianite oppression. This is a bull in its prime, a valuable animal. Reformation is costly. The second bull is specified for the burnt offering later, but the first is likely for the work of pulling down the altar. This is sanctified brute force.

The target is specified: "the altar of Baal which belongs to your father." This is not some abstract, public works project. This is personal. The corruption is in his own house, under the authority of his own father, Joash. This is where the battle line is drawn. We like to think of fighting for the truth out there, against them. But God consistently brings the battle to our own address. The altar is to Baal, the Canaanite storm and fertility god, a direct rival to Yahweh. Alongside it is the "Asherah," a wooden pole or tree representing the female consort of Baal. This was state-of-the-art paganism, a syncretistic mess that tried to blend the worship of Yahweh with the debased rituals of the Canaanites. And God says to pull it all down. Not negotiate with it, not repurpose it, but demolish it. This is the first principle of biblical reformation: you must tear down before you can build up.

(Judges 6:26)

and build an altar to Yahweh your God on the top of this stronghold in an orderly manner, and take the second bull and offer a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah which you shall cut down.”

Demolition is not enough. You cannot leave a vacuum; it must be filled with true worship. So the second part of the command is constructive. Gideon is to build an altar "to Yahweh your God." Notice the personal name of God. This is a covenantal act, restoring the proper relationship. The location is significant: "on the top of this stronghold." This is to be a public declaration. True worship is not to be hidden away in a winepress. It is to be on the high ground, visible to all. It is to be done "in an orderly manner," or as some translations have it, with the stones laid in order. True worship is not haphazard or based on our whims. It is according to God’s revealed pattern. He is a God of order, not chaos, and our worship must reflect His character.

Then comes the masterstroke, the glorious insult to the false gods. Gideon is to take that second bull, the prime specimen, and offer it as a burnt offering. And what is the fuel for this sacrifice to the one true God? "With the wood of the Asherah which you shall cut down." This is beautiful. God commands that the very instrument of idolatry be used to fuel the worship of Yahweh. The idol is not just destroyed; it is repurposed into the service of its conqueror. This is what God does. He takes the very things that were set up against Him and makes them serve His ultimate purpose. He takes the wood of a Roman cross, an instrument of shame and death, and makes it the instrument of salvation and life for the world. This is the logic of the gospel in miniature.

(Judges 6:27)

So Gideon took ten men of his servants and did as Yahweh had spoken to him; and now it happened that because he was too afraid of his father’s household and the men of the city to do it by day, he did it by night.

The text is beautifully simple here: "Gideon...did as Yahweh had spoken to him." This is the heart of faith. It is obedience. He doesn’t argue. He doesn’t ask for another sign. He gets ten men and gets to work. But the text adds a crucial detail, a detail full of pastoral comfort for the rest of us. He did it, but he was "too afraid" to do it by day. He feared his father’s household. He feared the men of the city. This was a real threat; they would later demand his life for this very act. His fear was not irrational.

And so he acted under the cover of darkness. Some might see this as a flaw in his faith, a compromise. But the Bible records it without condemnation. Why? Because the central thing is that he obeyed. His fear did not paralyze him. This is the difference between a godly fear of God and an ungodly fear of man. The fear of God motivates you to obey, even when you are terrified of the consequences. The fear of man motivates you to disobey, in order to avoid those same consequences. Gideon’s faith was not a perfect, fearless, superhero faith. It was a real-world faith, a shaky-kneed faith, a faith that had to be exercised in the dark. And God honored it. This is an immense encouragement. God is not looking for spiritual giants who never feel a tremor of fear. He is looking for faithful men who will do what He says, even if they have to do it at night.