The Bible Way for the Family

It begins  at home...

Gideon knew it was dangerous work but the family had to eat! The Midianites (Israel’s oppressors) came and went as they pleased, raiding the land like locusts. Gideon had intimately known hunger and fear for seven years. So he hid in a wine press while threshing wheat. Imagine the panic Gideon felt as he looked up from his work to find a stranger had been watching him (Judges 6:3-12).

The stranger was an angel of the Lord. God called Gideon to deliver Israel from the Midianite oppression. Before he could rally the nation and lead men into battle, God wanted Gideon to cleanse his father’s household of idolatry (v. 25-26). Idolatry had brought about Israel’s persecution and God couldn’t use a leader that actively worshiped idols (v. 1-10, 25-32). So Gideon went by night with 10 servants and two bulls to pull down the altar of Baal, chop down the Ashteroth pillar and build an altar to the Lord. Then he sacrificed the younger bull (7 years old, symbolic of Israel’s oppression) to the Lord, using the wood from the Ashteroth (v.25-27). By this dramatic action, Gideon sanctified his household and demonstrated that forsaking idols and returning to the Lord would accomplish deliverance from Midian.

Notice the way in which God directed Gideon to act. First Gideon served God at home (v.25-27). Then he served God in the local community (v.27-32). Finally he could serve God nationally (v.33-35).

While we may or may not receive national recognition for our Christianity, Gideon teaches us a powerful lesson: sanctification and service to the Lord begins at home. Each of us can stand for Christ in our home and remove idols from our hearts and our families!