The Altar of Baal Cast Down - Judges 6:28

In the book of Judges we learned how Jehovah God told Gideon, “Take your father's young bullock, even the second bullock of seven years old, and throw down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down the grove that is by it. And build an altar unto the LORD your God upon the top of this rock, in the ordered place, and take the second bullock, and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the grove which you shall cut down. Then Gideon took ten men of his servants, and did as the LORD had said unto him: and so it was, because he feared his father's household, and the men of the city, that he could not do it by day, that he did it by night”, and in chapter six and verse twenty-eight of Judges, we learn, “when the men of the city arose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was cast down” where we read,

And when the men of the city arose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was cast down, and the grove was cut down that was by it, and the second bullock was offered upon the altar that was built.

The verse reads, “And when the men of the city arose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was cast down, …” The writer began with the words, “and when the men of the city” which means “and at the time and moment the male human beings belonging to the dwelling place, habitation, abode or town” “arose early in the morning” or “initially started and got up within the break of day, dawn or coming of the sunrise”, “behold, the altar of Baal” which means “lo, look and consider, the sacrificial place belonging to Baal whose name means ‘lord’ and was the supreme male divinity of the Phoenicians or Canaanites” “was cast down” or “was broke, beat down, destroyed and overthrown”. The writer shared at the initial time when the male human beings within the dwelling place awoke at the sunrise, they looked and considered and the sacrificial place for “Baal” was broken and destroyed. 

 

The verse continues, “…  and the grove was cut down that was by it, and the second bullock was offered upon the altar that was built.” The writer added the words, “and the grove” which means “and the accompanying timber, planks, stalks and sticks belonging to the ‘Ashera’ which were used for idol worship” “was cut down that was by it” or “was cut out, killed and eliminated that existed alongside and beside the altar to Baal”, “and the second bullock was offered”  which means “and the second bull, cattle or oxen was slaughtered and sacrificed”, “upon the altar that was built” or “on the sacrificial place that was constructed on the stone”. The writer shared shared how the trees used for idol worship were eliminated and used to sacrifice the second bull in the sacrificial location. 

When we think through the words in this verse, we learn how the “men” of the dwelling place rose at dawn or sunrise to discover that their sacrificial place of “Baal” and the tree orchard beside it was destroyed. The “second” bull was slaughtered and burnt upon the sacrificial place that was constructed. We can imagine the surprise and anger of these men, but this was Jehovah God’s work through “Gideon” and his ten servants. God was acting against the “idols” that were in the people of Israel’s lives because He wants to be first in everyone’s life. (See Matthew 6:33) When we yield to His Son Jesus who was sent into the world to die on the cross for the sins of all mankind and was raised from the dead three days later, He will forgive our sins grant us everlasting life and remove our idols so we serve the true and living God. (See 1 Thessalonians 1:9)

Next time we learn how, “they said one to another, Who has done this thing?”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

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