God’s work moves forward in the earth through people who boldly obey him. They hear from God and do what he says, regardless of the cost. The actions of such people are often misunderstood by others, but their obedience unleashes remarkable deliverance.
In Judges 6, the Israelites were oppressed by Midian. Their crops were taken, their possessions were stolen, and they had no peace.
God chose Gideon to deliver his people out of this difficult situation.
Gideon was just an ordinary man. He had a low view of himself. He called himself the least. But God called him a mighty man of valor.
God does not need great and powerful people; he needs obedient people. Deliverance comes not through those who are strong in the flesh, but through ordinary people like you and me who obey God.
God commanded Gideon to take a radical step and tear down his father’s false altar.
“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.” (Judges 6:25)
Gideon’s father had an altar of Baal and an Asherah pole. These things were popular, and people from the community worshiped there.
This altar wasn’t Gideon’s altar, it was his father’s altar. It didn’t just affect Gideon, it affected his whole family and the entire community. It was hindering everyone.
This evil altar was opening the door to Satan to ravage God’s people. Their bondage to evil spirits was mirrored by their bondage to the Midianites. Natural oppression is often a reflection of spiritual oppression.In order to deal with oppression, we must get rid of the things in our lives that open the door to spiritual oppressors.
Sometimes we inherit wrong ways of doing things from our fathers – “the aimless behavior received by tradition from your fathers” (1 Peter 1:18).
When we reject false things, we will be set free. It’s important to realize that the truth is objective, not subjective. The altar of Baal was not wrong for Gideon, it was wrong for everyone. God wanted this false altar thrown out not just from Gideon’s life, but from everyone’s life. Truth applies to all of God’s people, not just to us. This means that sometimes it is ok to criticize what others are doing because their actions can hinder us, them, and those we love. The truth will not just set us free, it will set others free too.
The work of a prophet is to “To root out and to pull down,to destroy and to throw down,to build and to plant” (Jeremiah 1:9).
God wants to build and to plant. But first, he wants things that are contrary to his word to be destroyed. If we are unwilling to root out, pull down, destroy, and throw down, we will often will be unable to build or plant. We cannot build and plant for God on a faulty foundation.
Fear hinders people from obeying God. We don’t know how others will respond to our actions if we destroy their false altars or take other radical steps of obedience.
But when we obey God we have nothing to fear. “The Lord is on my side, I will not fear what man shall do to me” (Psalm 118:6).
God told Gideon not only what to destroy, but also what to build.
“Build an altar to the LORD your God on top of this rock in the proper arrangement, and take the second bull and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the image which you shall cut down.” (Judges 6:26)
Gideon wasn’t just tearing down to create a void, but he was preparing a place for God to reveal himself. If we just tear down and leave a void, then Satan will come in later and fill that void (Matthew 12:43-45). It is always important to build after tearing down.
Gideon was to build an altar and sacrifice his father’s bullock on that altar. This would be a radical sacrifice, and it would be expensive. Sacrificing the family bullock would appear to be a problem.What if the family couldn’t plow the field any more after sacrificing the bullock? What if they couldn’t thresh their wheat?
Sacrificing sometimes seems risky.
Jesus once saw a woman throw a penny in the offering box, and it was all she had. Now what would she do? How would she survive?
The widow who gave her last meal to Elijah may have wondered how she would survive when her flour and oil were gone.
Above these fears stands the truth of Christ: “Give and it will be given to you, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be poured into your lap” (Luke 6:38). Those who make radical sacrifices quickly discover that God will not be a debtor to any man. He will take care of all the consequences.
Sacrifice is worship. The word worship means to bow down like a dog and lick the master’s hand.
Whenever we worship God, we must worship him on his terms, not our own. We must worship according to his word.Gideon had to make an altar that was according to the proper arrangement. The altar was to be built on the rock. When we build something for God, it cannot be according to human ways, in the place of our own choosing; it must be according to Christ’s word.
God didn’t want the Asherah pole cut down and left on the side, but he wanted it to be burned in the fire and totally destroyed. The burning idol would fuel the fire that would burn up the sacrifice. Radical repentance lights the fire of the Holy Spirit and sparks revival.
Radical destruction of evil and radical sacrifice to God prepares the way for God to pour out his Spirit.
Gideon heard from God. He boldly obeyed. He tore down his father’s idol, and then he offered a radical sacrifice. His obedience began a cascade of God working among his people that ultimately delivered them from the oppression of Midian and set them free. It brought unity among God’s people and enabled them to fulfill their purpose.
When we hear from God, we have the potential to unleash his mighty work. As we obey his word, God’s presence will be revealed.
Let’s be unafraid to be radical for our God.
Lincoln House Churches 