On the heals of Gideon's call narrative comes of the more perplexing episodes in all of Judges (at least in my opinion). Judges 6:25-32 recounts Gideon's quasi-obedience to the Lord's command to desecrate a local pagan worship center. I say quasi-obedience because Gideon technically obeys the Lord and slaughter's his father's bull with pagan cultic elements as kindling, but he does so under the cover of darkness. And we know that Gideon's actions were less than ideal because the text states ויהי כאשׁר ירא את־בית אביו ואת־אנשׁי העיר מעשׂות יומם ויעשׂ לילה, "But because he feared the house of his father and the men of the city from doing it during the day, he did it at night." Yet the weirdness of the story begins to appear when one considers the turn of events that transpire at daybreak. The text tells us that the townsmen awake to find their altar demolished into a smoldering heap. Naturally, they make inquires and ultimately find that the son of the man who ran the site was culpable. Joash, however, is not willing to give up his son. In fact, he only responds cryptically, stating unequivocally that Baal can take care of himself and whoever attempts to seek justice on the deity's behalf will be killed (Judges 6:31).
Taken in context, Gideon is obviously still dealing with some things. That he accomplished the feat under the cover of darkness and in fear of the townspeople's' reaction clearly demonstrates that he lacked boldness and had resigned himself to fear. Joash, Gideon's father and apparent priest of the worship site just destroyed, interesting, fervently defends neither his son nor Baal. If anything, one can infer that Joash is beginning to change his mind as his allegiance to Baal is waning. Consequently, I am left with a few questions. Why does the text recount Joash's response this way? Why was Gideon so afraid? What is the purpose of this episode?
The critic inside me says that this episode is clearly an etiological episode that was preserved as a memory for how Gideon came to be known by the name Jerubbaal (6:32). Or perhaps, this episode appears to amalgamate once independent heroic traditions. However, such an explanation only goes so far, not to mention being a bit theologically shallow.
Context is key here, and I believe a theological payoff comes when one considers Gideon's lack of boldness. Quite simply, Gideon's fear and lack of boldness compromises the potency of the Word of the Lord. Remember, these actions of desecration were simultaneously intended to be Gideon's coming-out party and a vivid display of the Lord's supremacy over Israel's enemies and their gods. However, because Gideon's actions were preformed at night, there can be no clear statement about Yahweh's supremacy. There is only confusion about the capabilities of the foreign deity. When the spot light should have been on Yahweh, it was focused upon Joash and what he could make of the night's events. As my professor has so eloquently stated, "Gideon's fear...transformed what should have been a radical act of evangelism into simple vandalism in the eyes of the community" [Lawson Stone Judges [Cornerstone Bible Commentary; Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2012), 277].
Taken in context, Gideon is obviously still dealing with some things. That he accomplished the feat under the cover of darkness and in fear of the townspeople's' reaction clearly demonstrates that he lacked boldness and had resigned himself to fear. Joash, Gideon's father and apparent priest of the worship site just destroyed, interesting, fervently defends neither his son nor Baal. If anything, one can infer that Joash is beginning to change his mind as his allegiance to Baal is waning. Consequently, I am left with a few questions. Why does the text recount Joash's response this way? Why was Gideon so afraid? What is the purpose of this episode?
The critic inside me says that this episode is clearly an etiological episode that was preserved as a memory for how Gideon came to be known by the name Jerubbaal (6:32). Or perhaps, this episode appears to amalgamate once independent heroic traditions. However, such an explanation only goes so far, not to mention being a bit theologically shallow.
Context is key here, and I believe a theological payoff comes when one considers Gideon's lack of boldness. Quite simply, Gideon's fear and lack of boldness compromises the potency of the Word of the Lord. Remember, these actions of desecration were simultaneously intended to be Gideon's coming-out party and a vivid display of the Lord's supremacy over Israel's enemies and their gods. However, because Gideon's actions were preformed at night, there can be no clear statement about Yahweh's supremacy. There is only confusion about the capabilities of the foreign deity. When the spot light should have been on Yahweh, it was focused upon Joash and what he could make of the night's events. As my professor has so eloquently stated, "Gideon's fear...transformed what should have been a radical act of evangelism into simple vandalism in the eyes of the community" [Lawson Stone Judges [Cornerstone Bible Commentary; Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2012), 277].
