In the morning when the men of the town got up, there was Baal's altar, demolished, with the Asherah pole beside it cut down, and the second bull (the fat bull that was kept to be offered to Baal) sacrificed on the newly built altar [to God]! They asked each other, "Who did this?"
When they carefully investigated, they were told, "Gideon, son of Joash, did it."
The men of the town demanded of Joash, "Bring out your son. He must die, because he has broken down Baal's altar, and cut down the Asherah pole beside it."
But Joash replied to the hostile crowd around him, "Are you going to plead Baal's cause? Are you trying to save him... if Baal is really a god, he can defend himself when someone breaks down his altar."
So that day they called Gideon "Jerub-Baal," saying, "Let Baal contend with him," because he broke down Baal's altar.
After Joshua died, the people of Israel had a difficult time remaining true to the Lord. God had warned them of the dangers of idol worship, and as long as Israel had a strong leader, they obeyed God's command. But, as soon as the strong leader died they fell away.
Joshua led Israel into the Promised Land. The people swore a covenant to remain true to God, but it didn't last.
After [Joshua's] whole generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation grew up, who knew neither the Lord nor what He had done for Israel. (Judges 2:10)
The book of Judges describes a pattern Israel fell into between the time of Joshua and the inauguration of the monarchy, a repeating pattern of apostasy and revival. When Israel forgot God, they would suffer persecution from the surrounding nations. When God raised up a leader in Israel to rescue them from the persecution and restore peace to the land, then Israel would follow God for the lifetime of the leader. As soon as he (or in one case she) died, they would be lured away from their pure faith and would follow their neighboring nations into idolatry.
Two things about today's verses seem to stand out. First, in Gideon's family there seems to have been an understanding of who God is and what He expected of His people. Gideon's dad, Joash, may have erected an altar to Baal and an Asherah pole on his property, but he evidently also taught his family to know the truth, because when God told Gideon to build a proper kind of altar in the paragraphs just prior to today's verse (verse 26), Gideon did not need further instruction. He knew how to build a proper altar.
Do you know what a nominal Christian is? It is someone who is Christian in name only.
Nominal Christians know the Bible. They attend church. They memorized all the AWANA books. They may even teach Sunday school or serve as deacons, but their allegiance to God is not what drives them in their daily life. They do these things not because a fire burns in their hearts but because they have been taught to do them.
It's the case where the fire that burned in Granddaddy's heart when he got radically saved at thirty years old failed to ignite in the hearts of his children and grandchildren. He was not able to transfer his faith to his children and grandchildren. He transferred his Christian practices, yes, but his faith never caught fire in their hearts.
Too often second and third generation "Christians" are nominal Christians. Unless each descendant has his or her own encounter with the Living God and casts himself at the foot of the cross in personal repentance with his own cry of anguish, "Lord Jesus, have mercy on me, a sinner!" then the faith that Granddaddy tried to teach him only settled into a lukewarm ritual as the child became comfortable with Christian doctrine. Granddaddy's kids and grandkids do not want to go to hell, he taught them that much, but neither do they want to have Granddaddy's radical faith that prefers Jesus to all else.
Nominal Christians walk as close to the line as possible. They have one foot in church and the other foot in the mall. They speak blessing and cursing from the same mouth. They do the things they think God requires, but in their hearts they enjoy the things they know are wrong. You hear them say things like, "I can watch that movie or read that book and still be a Christian. All you have to do is shut your eyes to the filth, and don't let it control you."
Nominal Christianity is the great deception of the Bible belt.
The great deception.
Second, today's verse gives us instruction on how to follow God in an ungodly world. When you get saved, God will require you to separate yourself from the ungodliness of those closest to you. This is not easy to do. It is especially difficult if your crowd considers themselves to be Christian, but they are really Christian in name only.
Nominal Christians hate it when one of their own gets saved. Gideon's relatives would have killed him had not his father intervened with a piece of logic. "If Baal is really a god, let him fight his own battles!"
But, because Gideon obeyed God, his generation was rescued from severe persecution. Through Gideon, God gave Israel another chance. He revived their hope. God delivered them from annihilation.
Thus Midian was subdued before the Israelites and did not raise its head again. During Gideon's lifetime, the land enjoyed peace forty years. (Judges 8:28)
All because one man obeyed God. Gideon was a little man from a little tribe. He had little courage, yet he obeyed God and Israel reaped the benefit of his obedience.
Are you small? Are you weak? Rest assured that is the condition of all humanity. We are all small. We are all weak. We have no more power to keep ourselves safe than the grass of the field during a firestorm.
For the true Christian, however, this lack of strength is the exact condition that best showcases the magnificence of our Glorious Savior.
The question of the hour, and the hour is late indeed, is are you saved or are you nominal? Today is the day to pin it down for sure!
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