When we think of Gideon, we typically think of him asking God for a sign using the fleece and then leading an army of 300 men into battle against 135,000. But before that there is a part of the story that I actually find more interesting. When God calls on Gideon, the first thing He tells Gideon to do is to destroy the idols that his father had set up.
Now keep in mind that doing this was not like breaking something decorative around the house. It wouldn’t even be like if we watched someone burn a Bible. In ancient times, and in some religions still today, they believed that once the idol was made, their god actually dwelled inside of it. So destroying the idols was not just destroying a chunk of wood or something, it was a direct attack on the god itself.
Well, what I find incredibly interesting about this story is what God says in Judges 6:26,
“Then take the second bull and offer it as a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah that you shall cut down.”
God basically says, ‘Don’t just cut it down, use the wood of that idol to make a fire and use the fire to make a sacrifice to me.’ Wow! Burn the false gods to worship the true God. I’m sure that this was an intentional move by God not just to show who holds the true power but also to prepare Gideon (and the people of Israel) for the battle that was about to take place. The battle (where 300 Israelites take on 135,000) was not actually going to be fought by the Israelites. They just needed to obey God in faith and not turn to idols when that going got tough.
We may not have chunks of wood around our house that we worship, but we do have things in our life that we put above God; things that we turn to when situations seem insurmountable. Remember though that we don’t actually have to do the fighting. You just need to obey God in faith. He has never failed, nor will ever fail, even though He doesn’t always do things your way.
It’s time to tear down some idols and burn them as a sacrifice to God.