Judges 6:26

"That same night, the LORD 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."

Key Reflection

That same night, the LORD instructed Gideon to take his father’s second bull, a seven-year-old animal, and perform a symbolic act of destroying an altar dedicated to Baal and cutting down the Asherah pole that accompanied it. This act was not just about dismantling religious idols but also about signaling a significant shift in worship from pagan deities to the true God. For Gideon's contemporaries, this would have been a bold move, challenging the established religious practices of his community and affirming the supremacy of the Lord Yahweh.

From the Scholars: Barnes' Notes

In the ordered place -See the margin. “Build an altar, etc., with the materials,” “the wood laid in order” (compareGenesis 22:9), that, namely, which he would find ready to hand in the altar of Baal which he was to throw down. The wood of the grove - “The (blocks of) wood of the idol,” i. e. the image of Astarte. The command from God Himself to build an altar, and sacrifice upon it, is analogous to Elijah’s sacrifice1 Kings 18:0, and was doubtless caused by the extraordinary circumstance of the defection of the Israelites from the worship of the true God.

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