Under Gods Command
Gideon
Judges 6:23 But the LORD said to him, “Peace! Do not be afraid. You are not going to die.”
Judges 25-30 That same night the LORD said to him, “Take the second bull from your father’s herd, the one seven years old. Tear down your father’s altar to Ball and cut down the Asherah pole beside it. Then build a proper kind of altar to the LORD your God on the top of this height. Using the wood of the Asherah pole that you cut down, offer the second bull as a burnt offering.” So Gideon took ten of his servants and did as the LORD told him. But because he was afraid of his family and the men of the town, he did it at night rather than in the daytime. In the morning when the men of the town got up, there was Baal’s altar, demolished, with the Asherah pole beside it cut down and the second bull sacrificed on the newly built altar! They asked each other, “Who did this?” When they carefully investigated, they were told, “Gideon son of Joash did it.” The men of the town demanded of Joash, “ Bring out your son. He must die, because he has broken down Baal’s altar and cut down the Asherah pole beside it.”
After god called Gideon to be Israel’s deliverer, he immediately asked him to tear down the altar of the pagan god, Baal-an act that would test Gideon’s faith and commitment. Canaanite religion was very political, so an attack on god was often seen as an attack on the local government supporting that god. If caught, Gideon would face serious social problems and probable physical attack.
Gideon took a real risk by following God’s higher law, which specifically forbids idol worship (Exodus 20:1-5). After learning what Gideon has done, the townspeople wanted to kill him. Many of those people were fellow Israelites. This shows how immoral God’s people had become. God said in Deuteronomy 13:6-11 that idolaters must be stone to death, but these Israelites wanted to stone Gideon for tearing down an idol and worshiping God!
Lets bring it home: When you begin to accomplish something for God, the very people who should support you may criticize you.
Under Gods command 