July 16 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading

Judges 6:11-16, 25-32

¹¹And 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.
¹²And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him, and said unto him, The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valour.
¹³And 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.
¹⁴And 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?
¹⁵And he said unto him, Oh my Lord, wherewith shall I save Israel? behold, my family is poor in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house.
¹⁶And the LORD said unto him, Surely I will be with thee, and thou shalt smite the Midianites as one man....
²⁵And it came to pass the same night, that the LORD said unto him, Take thy father's young bullock, even the second bullock of seven years old, and throw down the altar of Baal that thy father hath, and cut down the grove that is by it:
²⁶And 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.
²⁷Then Gideon took ten men of his servants, and did as the LORD had said unto him: 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.
²⁸And when the men of the city arose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was cast down, and the grove was cut down that was by it, and the second bullock was offered upon the altar that was built.
²⁹And they said one to another, Who hath done this thing? And when they enquired and asked, they said, Gideon the son of Joash hath done this thing.
³⁰Then the men of the city said unto Joash, Bring out thy son, that he may die: because he hath cast down the altar of Baal, and because he hath cut down the grove that was by it.
³¹And Joash said unto all that stood against him, Will ye plead for Baal? will ye save him? he that will plead for him, let him be put to death whilst it is yet morning: if he be a god, let him plead for himself, because one hath cast down his altar.
³²Therefore on that day he called him Jerubbaal, saying, Let Baal plead against him, because he hath thrown down his altar.

Devotional

We rejoice in the Bible's emphasis on the family. We recognize that God requires us to obey and honor parents. They are set up by Him as a channel for our nurture and blessing.

But sometimes parents do not know God. Sometimes to follow them is to dishonor God. This provides a dilemma for many young people today whom God has brought out of an atmosphere of unbelief into faith through His Son.

In the Promised Land all was not peace for God's people. Soon after the time of Deborah they were oppressed by the Midianites. Young Gideon was given by God the task of saving his people from this ungodly tyranny. In verse 25 God tells him to destroy the altar 'which thy father hath.' He is to defy his father, to cut the family bonds of natural affection and filial regard by symbolically destroying the religious life of his father and his household.

Gideon was understandably fearful of this. He did the job at night so that he would not be detected in the act. But this could not be kept from his father. His father learned of the deed and so did all the neighbors.

God is full of surprises. When the neighbors demanded that the father Joash should punish his son by death for this deed he turned the tables on them. He rebuked them for pleading for a god! 'Let him plead for himself,' he retorted (6:31).

Who knows but that God might repeat this event as young people today take a stand for Him against the false faith of their fathers? The gracious Lord may very well use a loving zeal and testimony to unify the whole family in Himself. This should be our prayer for young people in similar circumstances. And what about us and our parents?