The Altar Thrown Down, and the Fleece
25 That same night, Yahweh said to him, “Take your father’s bull, even the second bull seven years old, and throw down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down the Asherah that is by it. 26 Then build an altar to Yahweh your God on the top of this stronghold, in an orderly way, and take the second bull, and offer a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah which you shall cut down.” 27 Then Gideon took ten men of his servants, and did as Yahweh had spoken to him. Because he feared his father’s household and the men of the city, he could not do it by day, but he did it by night. 28 When the men of the city arose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was broken down, and the Asherah was cut down that was by it, and the second bull was offered on the altar that was built. 29 They said to one another, “Who has done this thing?” When they inquired and asked, they said, “Gideon the son of Joash has done this thing.” 30 Then the men of the city said to Joash, “Bring out your son, that he may die, because he has broken down the altar of Baal, and because he has cut down the Asherah that was by it.” 31 Joash said to all who stood against him, “Will you contend for Baal? Or will you save him? He who will contend for him, let him be put to death by morning! If he is a god, let him contend for himself, because someone has broken down his altar!” 32 Therefore on that day he named him Jerub-Baal, saying, “Let Baal contend against him, because he has broken down his altar.” 33 Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites and the children of the east assembled themselves together; and they passed over, and encamped in the valley of Jezreel. 34 But Yahweh’s Spirit came on Gideon, and he blew a trumpet; and Abiezer was gathered together to follow him. 35 He sent messengers throughout all Manasseh, and they also were gathered together to follow him. He sent messengers to Asher, to Zebulun, and to Naphtali; and they came up to meet them. 36 Gideon said to God, “If you will save Israel by my hand, as you have spoken, 37 behold, I will put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece only, and it is dry on all the ground, then I’ll know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you have spoken.” 38 It was so; for he rose up early on the next day, and pressed the fleece together, and wrung the dew out of the fleece, a bowl full of water. 39 Gideon said to God, “Don’t let your anger be kindled against me, and I will speak but this once. Please let me make a trial just this once with the fleece. Let it now be dry only on the fleece, and on all the ground let there be dew.” 40 God did so that night; for it was dry on the fleece only, and there was dew on all the ground.
Gideon's first assignment is against his own father's altar, and he does it at night — and then asks for two more signs after the Spirit has already come on him.
That same night, Yahweh said to him, “Take your father’s bull, even the second bull seven years old, and throw down the altar of Baal that your father has, and cut down the Asherah that is by it.
The first order is not against Midian. Before he fights a raider, Gideon must demolish the shrine in his own family's yard — and it is your father's altar, which locates Israel's problem inside the household of the man being sent to save it. That is the book's diagnosis made personal: the oppression outside is a symptom, and the altar at home is the disease.
The replacement is specified as well: build an altar to Yahweh, and burn the offering with the wood of the Asherah which you shall cut down Judges 6:26. The idol's own timber becomes the fuel.
Then Gideon took ten men of his servants, and did as Yahweh had spoken to him. Because he feared his father’s household and the men of the city, he could not do it by day, but he did it by night.
The text says outright that he was afraid, and does not present the night work as cunning. He obeys, fully, and he obeys frightened — which is the most useful thing about Gideon. Courage in this book is not the absence of fear but action taken while it is present.
Joash said to all who stood against him, “Will you contend for Baal? Or will you save him? He who will contend for him, let him be put to death by morning! If he is a god, let him contend for himself, because someone has broken down his altar!”
The morning brings a lynch mob to Joash's door, and Gideon is defended by the man whose altar he destroyed. The father's argument is the sharpest theology in the chapter and it is essentially Elijah's on Carmel 1 Kings 18:27 Isaiah 46:7: a god who needs a mob to protect him has been answered. The nickname that follows — Jerub-Baal, let Baal contend Judges 6:32 — sticks, and it is a standing dare.
But Yahweh’s Spirit came on Gideon, and he blew a trumpet; and Abiezer was gathered together to follow him.
The second of the book's seven comings of the Spirit Judges 3:10 Judges 11:29, and it produces a muster: his own clan, then Manasseh, then Asher, Zebulun and Naphtali Judges 6:35.
behold, I will put a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece only, and it is dry on all the ground, then I’ll know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you have spoken.”
And then, with the Spirit on him and an army assembled, he asks for another sign. Then a third, reversing the first — and he knows he is pushing: don't let your anger be kindled against me, and I will speak but this once Judges 6:39. It is worth noticing that he had already received a sign, a promise, a prophet's message, and the Spirit.
God grants both without a word of rebuke Judges 6:38 Judges 6:40, which is the passage's real subject. Scripture elsewhere warns against demanding signs Matthew 12:39 and commends believing without them John 20:29, and it also records God stooping to a doubter's terms more than once Isaiah 38:7–8 John 20:27. Gideon's requests are not held up as a model of faith. They are evidence of how much patience God spent on a man who kept needing to be convinced — and the first thing that patience does, in the next chapter, is take his army away.
held with reason What this mark means