Dealing with Conflict in the Family: Let Baal Plead for Himself

Trevor S Ferguson

May 4, 2014

Scripture: Judges 6: 25-32

²⁵And 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:
²⁶And 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.
²⁷Then 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.
²⁸And 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.
³⁰Then 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.
³¹And 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.
³²Therefore on that day he called him Jerubbaal, saying, Let Baal plead against him, because he hath thrown down his altar.

INTRODUCTION

Conflict may be defined as ‘a strong disagreement between people or groups’ and is common in virtually all human relationships. Conflict arises because people have the ability to think, to choose and pursue self-determination and therefore will have differences in opinion, and different approaches to life and life events. When such differences arise one may resolve them through negotiation, through compromise, through peaceful coexistence (i.e. agreeing to disagree) or by choosing to go in separate ways. Unfortunately in many situations conflicts are not handled in any of these responsible ways and persons try to use force to compel another to accept his or her position. This often results in violent confrontation and may result in death.

The disputing parties in conflicts are often unrelated but very frequently conflicts occurs within families. Such family conflicts have plagued humanity from the beginning of time. In the very first family, conflict arose between Cain and Abel and ended up with Abel being killed. (Note here that in some situations the initiation of conflict is unilateral. Abel had no problem with Cain. He quietly pursued his farming career and offered up his sacrifices to God; but Cain was angry because God accepted Abel’s sacrifice and rejected his. You don’t have to do anything wrong to get into conflict!) Other examples of family conflict in the bible include conflicts between Abraham and Lot, Jacob and Esau, Joseph and his brothers and the problems between David and his sons. Each of these conflicts was handled in different ways and had different results – some good and some bad. Abraham and Lot chose to go in separate ways; Jacob fled from confrontation with Esau, but was eventually reconciled; Joseph’s brothers sold him to the Midianites, who sold him to the Egyptians; the conflicts in David’s household led to the death of Ammon (killed by Absalom), Absalom’s rebellion against his father David and eventually to the death of Absalom! We therefore see the unresolved or poorly managed conflicts in the family can have grave consequences and may even result in death.

Today we reflect on a story where Gideon’s father took a position that de-escalated conflict and resulted in the sparing of Gideon’s life. His statements in Judges 6:31 are instructive and thus is the focus for today’s message – Let Baal Plead for Himself. I believe that God wants us to recognize that the devil is the source on many of today’s conflicts and rather than us fighting on behalf of the devil, we should let him fight for himself. So today we exhort you: Let Baal Plead for himself!

EXPOSITION

Let us take some time to look at the text in more detail. Judges 6 introduces us to the story of Gideon, the Judge of Israel who initially lacked self-confidence and had so much doubt that he required of God a confirmatory sign from God, not once but twice. However, with God’s help, Gideon was able to defeat the army of the Midianites with an army of three hundred men.

The narrative begins with the problems faced by Israel after they had sinned and God delivered them over to the Midianites. The Midiantes raided their crops and the herds and left Israel impoverished. We first meet Gideon threshing wheat in a winepress, to hide his crops from the Midianites. The Lord appeared unto Gidean as an angel and said unto him “The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valour”. When the angel of the Lord informed him that he was selected to save Israel from the Midianites Gideon’s initial response was that his family was the poorest in Manasseh and that he was the least in his father’s house. God reassured him the He would be with him and that through His help he will smite Midian.

There are some important lessons to learn from this initial conversation between God and Gideon. God addressed Gideon as a mighty man of valour – indicating that God sees us as the person that we have the potential to become and not necessarily as what we are now. God can and will use those who are least recognized among us to accomplish his will. We don’t need to be born into a prominent family or to be the greatest in our household, but if we are available God can use us to do great exploits.

 

Gideon’s next action was to seek a confirmatory sign from the angel of the Lord. He asked the angel to wait for him to present a gift (sacrifice) to him. Gideon then prepared a kid and unleavened cakes and presented them to the angel. The angel instructed him to put the gifts upon a rock, he then touched them with his staff and fire came out of the rock and consumed them. Gideon then recognized that he was in fact speaking to “the angel of the Lord” i.e. a manifestation of God in angelic form. He therefore made an altar and called the name Jehovah-shalom indicating that God was able to grant peace despite the conflicts and confusion being faced by Israel at that time.  Today God is our Jehovah-shalom, he is our peace, despite the challenges and conflicts that we may be facing right now. God can bring us peace!

God’s reassurance of peace was prophetic because Gideon was just about to get involved in a great conflict. The scripture tells us that the same night God instructed Gideon to tear down the altar of Baal and build an altar unto God instead. We note that the major cause of Israel’s problems was that they had sinned against God and had begun to worship Baal – the god of the Canaanites. It appears that the worship of Baal had become so prominent that it had become the norm and Israel had altars dedicated to Baal but no altars dedicated to God. We note also that it was virtually impossible for Gideon to carry out God’s instructions without offending his family. It was his father’s altar; to make matters worse he was to take his father’s bullock. Not only was her tearing down his father’s altar he was also killing his father’s bullock without his consent! The scriptures tell us that Gideon feared his father’s household and the men of the city, but he had a genuine desire to obey God. He therefore arranged with his servants to tear down the altar during the night so that he would not be seen. He probably knew that they would eventually find out, but I believed that he chose to obey God and then to deal with the consequences whenever they arose.

The next morning the men of the city woke up to find that the altar of Baal was torn down and angrily enquired as to who had done this. Not long afterwards they were told that Gideon had done it. The men of the city then called on Joash, Gideon’s father and asked that he bring out his son so that they could put him to death for tearing down Baal’s altar. This request highlighted the state of apostasy that Israel had fallen into. God’s law required that persons be stoned to death for worshipping false gods but these men were seeking to do the exact opposite. Gideon was to be put to death for worshipping the true God and tearing down the altar of the false God. As outrageous as this may seem the world we live in today is not all that different from what pertained in Gideon’s time. Things that are against God are now considered normal and those who take a stand for the things of God are often ostracized and may face legal actions for their statements or positions. Righteous speech is now classified as hate speech and sin is equated to human rights. If we are not careful many today will begin to accept these ‘societal norms’ and so begin to act against God!

Joash’s response however is instructive. A former Baal worshipper himself, he quickly recognized the folly of his ways and began to ask pertinent questions: “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.”

The word of God therefore instructs us today: Let Baal plead for himself! Let us not seek to take the side of the devil and plead his cause against even the members of our own family. Let us not stand with idolaters and evil doers and support them as they carry out acts of victimization against our family members. Let us not escalate family conflict by adding fuel to the fire, pointing out and highlighting what they have done and seek to take our own vengeance. We must recognized that the devil is the force behind all conflict and that escalating these conflicts is supporting the cause of the devil and fighting against the cause of Christ.

Let us instead become peacemakers and ministers of reconciliation, where rather than making the conflict worse we become part of the conflict resolution team. Indeed the word of God calls on us to be peacemakers and ministers of reconciliation. Let’s look at a few illustrative passages:

Matt 5:9 “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.”

Romans 14:19 “Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, and things wherewith one may edify another.”

Romans 12:18 “If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.”

Hebrews 12:14 “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:”

Psalm 37:37 “Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace.”

APPLICATION

The word of God commands us to live in peace and nowhere is this more important than in our families. God wants to restore peace to someone today. I believe that God sent us this word because there is a need. I believe that there are many persons who have been experiencing great conflict in their homes and this has robbed them of peace. Today God is your Jehovah-shalom. He is the giver of peace. Despite the conflicts that you currently face God wants to grant you peace. You must put your trust in him!

Consciously or unconsciously you might have been fighting on the side of the devil against the members of your own family. But today God wants you to let go, and let the devil fight his own battles; let him plead his own cause. We will instead stand for God and for righteousness. We are also assured that God will be with us and will fight for us. Note that Gideon did not even mount a defense against his accusers. He simply held his peace and allowed God to fight for him.

Trust God today. He is the giver of peace, He is the Prince of Peace, He will give you peace in the midst of your storms. The winds may be blowing, the waves may be rocking but I can hear God saying to the situations in your life “Peace, be still”. I commend you to God today – He is your peace!