Commentaries, Commentary on Judges · Chapter 6 · Verses 23-24 – Verses 25-26
23 And the Lord ſayd vntounto him: Peace be vntounto thee, be not afeard, thou ſhalt not dye.
24 And Gideon built there an alter vntounto the Lorde, and called it Iehouah Shalum, euen vntounto this day. It is yet in Ophrath ye pertayneth to the Abiezerite.
Whē theſe things were ſpokē vntounto Gideō, by ye hiſtory it appeareth not, but I thinke it was ye next night after ye things already rehearſed, wherfore he was cō maūded to build there an alter, where ye meates which was ſetforth were cōſumed with fire, namely vponupon ye rocke, wherof is menciō made a litle before.Why God appeared vntounto Gideon the ſecond tyme. Gideō was vexed wt feare, ſuppoſing ye bycauſe he had ſen god, he ſhould die. Wherfore god cōforted him, yt he being voyde of ye feare, might ye chearefullier prepare him ſelfe, vntounto thoſe thinges which wer cōmaūded him. That feare wōderfully letted his faith. For how could he beleue, that he ſhould ſet ye Iſraelites at liberty, which eueryevery houre ſuſpected death to be at hād. Wherfore god in cōforting him, remoued away ye feare, yt he might perſecute ye worke, which lōged eſpecially vntounto faith. Thou ſhalt not die, ſaith he Peace be vntounto the. In ye hebrew phraſe, peace ſignifieth trāquility, good ſucceſſe, & as ye cōmon people ſay, proſperous fortune. This word Shalū is deriued of ye verbe Shalā, which is to performe, to finiſh, & to accōpliſh. The latin word Pax alſo which is peace, agreeth wt ye hebrew ſignificatiō. For if we may beleue Auguſtine, Pax yt is peace, is a trāquility of ordre. And then we recken al things to be peaceable, whē they are right & quietly diſpoſed.
And Gideon built there an altar. Theſe wordes are ſpoken by the figure Prolepſis: for he was in the night admoniſhed of ye Lord to builde this altare, for the holy ſcripture vſeth to ſet forth a thing ſummarily: & then to declare the thing as it was done. Wherfore god came vntounto Gideon in his ſheape, comforted him, that he ſhould not feare leaſt he ſhould dye, cōmaunded him to buyld an alter, to take a bulloke, to do ſacrifice, to cut downe the prophane groue, and to ouerthrow the alter of Baal, Why the Elders vſed alters.which was had in eſtimation. The elders vſed alters not only to ſaſacrifice vponupon, but yt they might be monumentes of ſome notable benefite geuen by god. We read yt Moſes did ſo, when the Iſraelites vnderunder ye Lord obteyned the victory againſt Amalek. After ye exāple of Gideō, eueryevery one yt is iuſtified by faith & hauing peace toward god by Chriſt, & being aſſured of eternall life, ought in his hart to graue ſuch a litle,Chriſte is our peace. Chriſt is my Peace which thīg Paul alſo hath taught when he wrote to the Epheſ. He is our Peace, which made both one.
25 And the ſame night, The Lord ſaid vntounto him, Take thy fathers yong bullok, & the other bullok of vii. yeares old, & deſtroy the altar of Baal, that thy father hath, & cut downe the groue, that is by it.
26 And build an altar vntounto the Lord thy god vponupon the top of this rocke in a playne place, & take the ſecond bulloke, & offer a burnt offring with the wood of the groue, whiche thou ſhalt cut downe.
That which before was in a ſūme ſpokē, is now particularly expreſſed. Some thinke ye two bullokes are here mēcioned, of which the one is called ye ſecōd other by order of natiuity, or as they ſtoode in order at the racke & mangor. And that ſecond, is ſpecified, to be vii. yere olde, in at which time being made fat, at ye lēgth to be offred to Baal: this bulloke god would hauehave offred vntounto himſelfe for aburnt offring. And bycauſe there is no farther mencion made of ye firſt bulloke, neither did god cōmaunde what he would hauehave done with it, therfore I thinke we muſt vnderſtād but one & the ſelf ſame bullok which before is put abſolutly, & thē by expoſition repeted yt he might be by ſome certaine tokēs knowen frō other bulloks, wherof peraduenture his father had many, ſo yt it was vii. yeares fatted, & ſtood in ye ſecōd ſtalle. And as touching ye vii. yeres fatting there is no cauſe why we ſhould meruaile at it,Apis the oxe was lōg fatted foraſmuch as ye oxe called Apis or Serapis which was wont to be ſacrificed, was fatted certain yeares before. And it is not hard to beleue,The Hebrues vſed the ſuperſtitions of the Egyptians. but that this cuſtome of the Egyptians was ſuperſticiouſly kept among ye idolatrous Hebrues, for that they were not onelyonly neighbours vntounto Egypt, but alſo they came out of it into the land of Paleſtine.
God would hauehave an alter erected vntounto him vponupon a hard and ſtronge rocke, namely vponupon yt, wherout fire was ſtricken, to burne thoſe thinges whiche Gideon brought, as though God by ye miracle had appointed it for himſelfe. He cōmaundeth an alter to be raiſed vp in a place apt, for ye ſtone or rock, as it is to be ſuppoſed, was great. Wherfore he willeth Gideon to choſe one certain euen part of it aboue the reſt, which was moſt fit to build an alter vpō. And this is chiefly to be noted, ye god when he would deliuer the Iſraelites from ye Madianites cōmaūded aboue all things, ye idolatry ſhould be ouerthrowē. For vntill as long as religiō is not reſtored,Nothing goeth forwarde well in a plub. welth except religion be firſt reſtored nothing goeth forward well & luckely in the pub. wealth. Farthermore faith is ye groūdſele & foūdation of actiōs to come. And yt cā not be had, where ye worſhipping of god is turned into ſuperſtitiō & impiety. Which thing if god in a maner in al expeditions doth obſerue, let Magiſtrates therby gather, what they ought aboue all things to do among ye people whō they gouerne. Priuate mē alſo by this exāple ar admoniſhed, chiefly to frame piety in their minds. It is not ſufficient to build an altar vntounto the Lord, vnles the ſacrilegious altare be cut downe: neither is it inough to ouerthrow that, vnles vntounto the true god be his altare builte. There are whiche fall from the Pope, but they ſo fall, that they will not follow the Goſpell. And ſome there are which do in ſuch ſorte receaue the true doctrine, that for all that they wil not depart from the pernicious maſſes, and other papiſticall impietyes. God hathe not ſo, not ſo (I ſaye) commaunded whiche ſoeuer of theſe thou neglecteſt, thou breakeſt his commaundemente.
That there were groues by the temples of the idoles, none,About idoles were groues. whiche hath red Poetes or hyſtoryes, doubteth. That was a certayne mutacion of the Patriarches, which offred ſacrifices vnderunder okes, or in hilles, which they called high places. They delighted (as I thinke) in cloſe places, wherby theyr mind, when they ſacrificed, was more voyd of worldly cares and affayres. And for the moſt parte experience teacheth vsus, that in darke places, & where high trees grow, a certain admiration commeth vntounto the mindes, by which admiration they applye themſelues the more to the meditation of thinges deuine. God cōmaundeth the groue to be cut down, bicauſe it was together wt ye altare dedicated vntounto the god Baal. Yet he commaundeth his wood, and the oxe appoynted for him, to be tranſferred to his own ſacrifice, leaſt any man ſhould think that the true god is not lord of all thinges. For there is nothing ſo vnderunder the power of the deuill, but that it may be turned to the glory and honour of god. Yet the godlye oughte not by this example to eate thinges offred vntounto idoles, when they know that they are ſuche in dede. Not vndoubtedly, bcauſe the nature of that fleſh is chaunged, or ceaſeth to belonge vntounto god, but bicauſe of the conſcience of the weake ones, and leaſte it ſhoulde ſeeme that we woulde be made pertakers of the table of the deuilles. But ſuch lawes God hath preſcribed vntounto vsus, not vntounto him ſelfe. Wherefore he maye vſe thynges dedicated vntounto idoles for hys owne burnt offringes.
The groue, the altar, and the bullock are mencioned to belong vntounto Ioas the father of Gideon: becauſe he had ye office of a Magiſtrate in Ophrath: & whatſoeuer was the cauſe, it is to be thought that he mayntayned idolatry there. And foraſmuch as ſacred places & ſacrifices are appointed to the poſſeſſiō of priuate men, therfore magiſtrates are wonte to hauehave the rule & diſpoſition of them. Gideon is chiefly commaunded, to do theſe things that eueryevery man might vnderſtand, that in purging of religiō, or amending any other ſin, we muſt firſt begin at our own famely, and at ſuch as are nieſt of kinne, leaſt any man ſhould ſeme to correcte other, and in the meane time leaue his owne neglected and vnamended.