Gideon Built an Altar - Judges 6:24

In the book of Judges we learned how Gideon brought an offering, “and the angel of the LORD put forth the end of the staff that was in his hand, and touched the flesh and the unleavened cakes; and there rose up fire out of the rock, and consumed the flesh and the unleavened cakes. Then the angel of the LORD departed out of his sight. And when Gideon perceived that he was an angel of the LORD, Gideon said, Alas, O Lord GOD! for because I have seen an angel of the LORD face to face. And the LORD said unto him, Peace be unto you; fear not: you shall not die.”, and in chapter six and verse twenty-four of Judges, we learn how, “Gideon built an altar there unto the LORD” where we read,

Then Gideon built an altar there unto the LORD, and called it Jehovahshalom:

 unto this day it is yet in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.

The verse reads, “Then Gideon built an altar there unto the LORD, and called it Jehovahshalom:” The writer began with the words, “then Gideon” which means “at that time Gideon whose name means ‘hewer’ and was the youngest son of Joash of the Abiezrites, fifth judge of Israel who led the Israelites against the Midianites” “built an altar there” or “erected and constructed a sacrificial place of slaughter” “unto the LORD” which means “to Jehovah who is the existing One and the proper name for the One True God”, “and called it Jehovahshalom” or “it, the altar, Jehovahshalom whose name means the existing One who was complete, with prosperity, quiet and calm”. The writer shared how “Gideon” constructed a place of sacrificial slaughter to Jehovah God, and he named it “Jehovahshalom”. 

The verse continues, “unto this day it is yet in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.” The writer added the words, “unto this day” which means “to that particular sunrise to sunset” “is yet in Ophrah” or “still exists within Ophrah whose name means ‘fawn’ and was a town of Benjamin approximately five miles (8kn) east of Bethl” “of the Abiezites” or “belonging to the Abiezites whose name means ‘my father is help’ and was one of the family of Abiezer, a descendant of Joseph's son, Manasseh. The writer shared how the sacrificial “altar” constructed by “Gideon” remained in that location until that particular sunrise to sunset. 

When we meditate upon the words in this verse, we learn how “Gideon” responded to God’s words about him having no need to be afraid and to be calm by erecting a place of sacrifice or worship to Him. “Gideon” realized God was with Him, and we may do the same through His Son Jesus who died on the cross for our sins and was raised from the dead after three days. When we yield to Him as our “Savior and Lord”, He will forgive our sins, grant us everlasting life and put His Holy Spirit within us to guide us into all truth and give us the ability to respond to Him with thanksgiving and worship because of who He is and what He has done for us. (See John 3:16; 16:13; Acts 1:8; Psalm 103:1)

Next time we learn how Jehovah God tells Gideon, “throw down the altar of Baal that your father has”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

See more devotionals on the website "thewordfortodaywithray.com" or look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".