Destroying altars (Part 1 of 2)

Judges 6:24-27

This chapter records the account of Gideon’s calling as a judge. This took place at the time that the nation was under siege by the Midianites and other nations. The freedom that God secured for them was taken away from them. These were the same people that witnessed God driving away nations in order to provide a rich land for their settlement. one would understandably ask, “what went wrong?”

We have throughout our discussion of “#ServeNoForeignGod” argued that the sustenance of our gains depends on the good maintenance of our relationship with God. Verse 1 of this chapter tells us that, “Israel did evil in the eyes of the Lord.” Though it is not immediately clear what they did exactly; reading verse 25, the instruction to demolish the altar of Baal, and chapters 2-4 where Israel is painted as a nation that habitually prostituted herself to other gods helps us understand that God allowed the nation to suffer many afflictions every time they served other gods.

It was in one of those instances that Gideon was called. Though at first, Gideon tried to talk his way out of his assignment, he eventually accepted and built God an altar and named it God is Peace. There is no evidence pointing to God questioning Gideon’s allegiance, but he instructed him to destroy altars to other gods. It is also interesting to note that the altars Gideon was instructed to destroy were not his, but his father’s. As much as God did not object to Gideon building him an altar, the specific instruction He gave that he must destroy other altars gives us an indication that God’s altar cannot coexist with altars for other gods.

Please allow me to point you to the distinction between an idol and an altar; the two are related but not the same thing. An idol is an object of worship whereas an altar is a place or environment that enables worship. Gideon made an unambiguous choice, to worship God; this is illustrated when he builds God an altar. It is interesting to note that, though this was the case, God still demanded that he destroy altars built for other gods. It is therefore not farfetched to conclude that keeping the enabling environment for worshiping other gods alive was going to affect his relationship with God negatively.

Hebrews 12:1 The author of Hebrews charged his readers to, “throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles” (12:1). Two things that the author instructed his readers to get rid of. Firstly, “things that hinder”, may not necessarily be sin, but affect how we run our race negatively. This is an environment that makes it difficult for us to worship God freely and smoothly. There may be no laws forbidding these things, however, their existence in our proximity prevents us from doing what we ought to do. Paul might have had this understanding when he wrote, “Everything is permissible for me ­_ but not everything is beneficial” (1Cor. 6:12). Though doing these things may not translate into sin, they may still make the environment conducive to committing sin, hence we are charged to do away with them. Even though some may seem harmless, the damage they leave behind is significant.

The second thing is, “sin that so easily entangles.” The author is unambiguous about what sin does; it ensnares. Though other things may delay us in our race, however sin demobilizes us and ensures non-completion of the race. Getting rid of all the things and environment that enable the worship of other gods is key in ensuring that we serve no foreign gods.