No servant can serve two masters

God’s people were living in fear, terrorized by the Midianites. They had forsaken the Lord and forgotten his covenant. Their “hero” is discovered hiding in a winepress (Judg 6:12). Gideon didn’t feel like a hero. He was timid and suspicious of the angel of the Lord. He asked the question I have often wondered in reference to the church, “If the Lord is with us, why has all of this happened to us?” (Judg 6:13). The answer for Israel was that they were worshipping Baal. The answer for the American church is that we are worshipping Mammon. God acknowledges Gideon’s tentativeness and commands him, “Go in the strength you have (however little it may be) and rescue Israel…I am sending you.” (Judg 6:14) God instructs him to do something radical in direct confrontation to the idol worshipping culture he lived in; tear down the altar of Baal and the Asherah pole (Judg 6:25-26). His actions earned him the name Jerubaal (meaning let Baal defend himself) because Baal was under attack! (Judg 6:32). For us timid believers hiding in our culture, isn’t it time to take radical action against the god of our culture? Let Mammon defend himself! (Mat 6:24, Luk 16:9-15).