DCLM Daily Manna 29 March 2022 Devotional By Pastor W. F. Kumuyi — Pull Down The Altars
TOPIC: Pull Down The Altars
TEXT: Judges 6:25-32 (KJV)
25 And 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:
26 And 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.
27 Then 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.
28 And 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.
29 And 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.
30 Then 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.
31 And 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.
32 Therefore on that day he called him Jerubbaal, saying, Let Baal plead against him, because he hath thrown down his altar.
KEY VERSE: “And 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.” – (Judges 6:25)
MESSAGE:
According to St. Augustine, “Idolatry is worshiping anything that ought to be used, or using anything that ought to be worshipped”. There is no difference between the idolatry of a tribesman attributing power to a fetish altar and that of the professor attributing the wonders of the modern world to evolutionary forces.
From the above passage, Gideon was asked to pull down the altar of Baal belonging to his father before he would fulfil his commission of delivering his fellow countrymen from the rampaging Midianites. Gideon obeyed the Lord, mobilised his servants and carried out the assignment in the night. By morning, the whole city gathered against him, demanding that he be executed for his actions. But his father stood up in his defence. This was enough to disperse the angry crowd, allowing Gideon to carry out his task as Israel’s deliverer.
The altar is the centre of worship and devotion. In the case under review, this altar was dedicated to Baal worship, which is satanic. The Lord wanted Gideon to pull it down because he would not use him while an altar representing Satan’s worship existed in his compound. Of course, his father supported him. Idolatrous altars must be pulled down with the full cooperation of those who erected them after their new birth experience in Christ.
We must first destroy all existing altars dedicated to the worship of Satan before we can be used of God for His kingdom work. Believers need to build spiritual altars of communion with God.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
Pull down all altars of sin today.
THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:
Nehemiah 5-7
DCLM Daily Manna was written by Pastor W. F. Kumuyi; is the founder and General Superintendent of the Deeper Life Bible Church situated at KM 42 on the busy Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Nigeria.
