Judges 6:27

_AND BUILD AN ALTAR UNTO THE LORD THY 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 THOU SHALT CUT DOWN._ No JFB commentary on these verses....

25-32 See the power of God's grace, that he could raise up a reformer; and the kindness of his grace, that he would raise up a deliverer, out of the family of a leader in idolatry. Gideon must not think it enough not to worship at that altar; he must throw it down, and offer sacrifice on another. It was needful he should make peace with God, before he made war on Midian. Till sin be pardoned through the great Sacrifice, no good is to be expected. God, who has all hearts in his hands, influenced Joash to appear for his son against the advocates for Baal, though he had joined formerly in the worship of Baal. Let us do our duty, and trust God with our safety. Here is a challenge to Baal, to do either good or evil; the result convinced his worshippers of their folly, in praying to one to help them that could not avenge himself....

Verse 27. _HE FEARED HIS FATHER'S HOUSEHOLD_] So it appears that his father was an idolater: but as Gideon had _ten men_ of his own servants whom he could trust in this matter, it is probable that he had preserved the true faith, and had not bowed his knee to the image of Baal....

The mention of the “men of the city” by the side of Gideon’s “father’s household” suggests the probability of their being a remnant of the Canaanite population, and the special patrons of Baal-worship....

EXPOSITION JUDGES 6:25 THE SAME NIGHT, etc. The iron was hot; it was time to strike. As regards what follows, there are two ways of understanding the verse. One, that of the A.V; supposes that only one bullock is spoken of, and that "_the _young bullock" belonging to Joash is further described as "even the second bullock of seven years old;" to which it is objected that a bullock of seven years old is not "a young bullock," "the bullock of an _ox_,"_ _as the Hebrew phrase is, and that there is no explanation of the meaning of "the second bullock;" and that the Hebrew manifestly describes two bullocks: (1) Joash's young bullock, and (2) the bullock of seven years old. The other supposes two bullocks, and instead of has the more natural rendering and. The only objection

THEN GIDEON TOOK TEN MEN OF HIS SERVANTS,.... Not only whom he could command, but could confide in, and whom he knew would cheerfully engage in this work, being like himself, who had not bowed the knee to Baal; and as there was much work to do, and it required dispatch, such a number was necessary; since he had not only the altar of Baal to throw down, and his grove or idol to cut down, but an altar to build, and a sacrifice to be taken and offered: AND DID AS THE LORD HAD SAID UNTO HIM; all the above things, he set about them at once, and dispatched them all in one night; so ready and cheerful was he in obedience to the divine command: 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; for both his father's family, and the inhabitants of the city of Ophrah, were all idolaters, worshippers of Baal;...

4. FOURTH DECLENSION: UNDER MIDIAN AND GIDEON, TOLA AND JAIR CHAPTER 6 _ 1. Israel's suffering from Midian (Judges 6:1)_ 2. Their repentance and the divine answer (Judges 6:7) 3. Gideon, the deliverer, chosen (Judges 6:11) 4. The restored worship (Judges 6:25) 5. The gathering for the conflict (Judges 6:33) 6. The sign of the fleece (Judges 6:36) After Deborah and Barak the land had fifty years' rest, and when again they did

THE DESTRUCTION OF THE ALTAR OF BAAL. We have seen that after the Conquest Yahweh was reverently and innocently called the Baal (Lord) of the land, and that loyal Israelites gave their children Baal names. The present section, in which the Baal of Ophrah is _distinguished_ from Yahweh, and regarded as a heathen god, must have been written after the time of Hosea, who was the first to condemn the practice of applying the name Baal to the God of Israel (Hosea 2:17)_._ The point of the story is that Baal, who, if worth his salt, should be able to plead for himself, is challenged to do so, and found to be impotent. Baal has fallen on evil days, when any daring spirit can laugh at him with impunity as Elijah mocked the Phœ nician Baal (1 Kings 18:27)....

_Gideon overthrows the altar of Baal and receives the name Jerub-baal_. This story has no connexion with the preceding narrative Judges 6:11-24; for after Gideon had built the altar Jehovah-shalom (Judges 6:24), it is not likely that he would have been told to build another altar at once and in the same place (Judges 6:26). So far as any antecedents of the story exist they are to be found in Judges 6:7, which denounce the worship of Canaanite (-Amorite") gods....

_The Call of Giedon Judges 6:11-35_ 11 And there came an angel of the Lord, and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained unto Joash the Abiezrite: and his son Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites. 12 And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him, and said unto him, The Lord is with thee, thou mighty man of valor. 13 And Gideon said unto him, Oh my Lord, if the Lord be with us, why then is all this befallen us? and where be all his miracles which our fathers told us of, saying, Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt? but now the Lord hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites. 14 And the Lord looked upon him, and said, Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent thee? 15 And he said unto him, Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my fami