Monday, September 21, 2020

Surprising Parent

 One of the oddest elements to the story of Gideon in Judges 6 is the presence of the altar to Baal and the Asherah pole that belongs to his father. It's as if Gideon doesn't even know it's there, and his father wants it gone, but won't take it down. Sound confusing? Well, it's very possible that won't be the only confusing element for you.

Now on the same night the LORD said to him, “Take your father’s bull and a second bull seven years old, and pull down the altar of Baal which belongs to your father, and cut down the Asherah that is beside it; and build an altar to the LORD your God on the top of this stronghold in an orderly manner, and take a second bull and offer a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah which you shall cut down.” Then Gideon took ten men of his servants and did as the LORD had spoken to him; and because he was too afraid of his father’s household and the men of the city to do it by day, he did it by night. Judges 6:25-27 NASB)

So, after complaining to God that he's so insignificant in an insignificant family, it turns out that Gideon's father is the resident stronghold and worship center for the village. Gideon is both afraid of his father's house and the village. He knows they won't like what God has told him to do. But he does it. Notice, he isn't specifically afraid of his father...

When the men of the city arose early in the morning, behold, the altar of Baal was torn down, and the Asherah which was beside it was cut down, and the second bull was offered on the altar which had been built. They said to one another, “Who did this thing?” And when they searched about and inquired, they said, “Gideon the son of Joash did this thing.” Then the men of the city said to Joash, “Bring out your son, that he may die, for he has torn down the altar of Baal, and indeed, he has cut down the Asherah which was beside it.” But Joash said to all who stood against him, “Will you contend for Baal, or will you deliver him? Whoever will plead for him shall be put to death by morning. If he is a god, let him contend for himself, because someone has torn down his altar.” Therefore on that day he named him Jerubbaal, that is to say, “Let Baal contend against him,” because he had torn down his altar. (Judges 6:28-32 NASB, emphasis mine)

The people took exception to the new altar on the local stronghold, but look at dad. Joash makes an interesting point, he defends his son, but threatens the entire village with death if they contend for Baal. He's got an altar to Baal in the yard, but won't contend for this god. In fact, what he poses to the village is a challenge to see if Baal really is a god at all. I think there's more involved there, but we venture off into obscure areas to find it. 

So, oddly, even though he has the level of importance to have the stronghold and the altar to Baal, Joash really isn't invested in Baal. He doesn't claim to be invested in Yahweh, but keep in mind Gideon knows the stories, and know how to build a different altar to Yahweh. Who taught him that? I believe Joash is a good candidate. With God's prompting, Gideon goes farther than his father is willing to go with Yahweh. It seems to me that Joash wants to go farther with Yahweh, but, for whatever reason, won't.

Yet, given the opportunity, Joash defends the step Gideon takes, and challenges the people about their belief in Baal. We're not told why, we're not clued into anything about Joash except that he threatens the people, and they respect the threat. We can speculate about why (and I do), but the point of the writer is that what Gideon did for Yahweh worked. He made a step toward Yahweh, and people eventually follow. Without the support of his father, that wouldn't have happened. 

There are all sorts of lessons here. As parents, we can find all kinds of lessons, from the need to support our kids "adventures in faith" to the need to be a role model of adventurous faith. As a parent, what do you take away from Joash? As a son or daughter, what do you learn from Gideon and Joash? The main point of the author is that Gideon was successful in his obedience. That isn't the extent of what the Spirit having inspired these words, can teach us thousands of years later.

Regardless of what lessons you see, I hope you also see the redemptive lesson. Joash's failures, the altar to a false god, weren't the defining characteristic of the story preserved by Yahweh, it was his eventual success. We can't let our failures and struggles as parents define us, because our Savior doesn't define us that way. We can't define our parents by their failures because our Savior doesn't define them that way. Whatever else you get from the account of Joash, I hope you also see that.

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB. Copyright by The Lockman Foundation

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