From Idolatry to Emunah

Introduction

How many of you have ever poured your heart into something, trusting it’ll work out, only to see it collapse at the worst moment? A few years back, I was living with my parents after my divorce, helping my mom with some things for La Paloma Academy. Graduation was coming up, and I was in charge of the creating the slideshow—pictures, music, a big moment to honor the kids. I’m working late, everything’s ready, and then—pfft. Nothing. The computer just died. As an IT guy, I thought, not a big deal, “I’ve got this.” I tried every trick I knew—reboots, diagnostics, you name it. Nothing worked. I’m sitting there, heart pounding, thinking, “This is a disaster. Nothing I try is working, and I was counting on that computer in order to create this perfect slideshow.” Ever been there? Maybe it’s a job you counted on, a plan you thought was foolproof, or your own know-how. We all do it—trust stuff, systems, ourselves over God. What to do?

Today, we’re diving into Gideon’s story in Judges 6–8, where B’nei Israel faced seven years of Midianite raids because they swapped trust in Yehovah for idols like Baal and Asherah (Judges 6:1–10, TLV). Their sin—and ours—is trusting the creature over the Creator. But Yehovah shows us the way out, and it’s not just “faith” as we know it. I’m using a Hebrew word today—emunah—because “faith” doesn’t do it justice. Emunah is more than faith; it’s a steadfast trust in Yehovah’s covenant promises, a rock-solid reliance on Him as our faithful Creator, no matter what we see. It’s living out Torah’s call to love Yehovah alone, rejecting idols like money or self, as Yeshua teaches in Matthew 6:33: “Seek first the kingdom of God.” Unlike Western “faith” as a mental nod, emunah is a life of loyalty and hope, walking by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7, TLV).

Gideon starts out lacking emunah, hiding in a winepress, trusting his own weakness over Yehovah’s strength. But Yehovah transforms him, and He can do the same for us. Let’s read.

Judges 6:12–14 TLV

Then the angel of Adonai appeared to him and said to him, “Adonai is with you, O mighty man of valor.” But Gideon said to him, “O my lord, if Adonai is with us, then why has all this befallen us? So where are all His wonders that our fathers told us about saying ‘Didn’t Adonai bring us up from Egypt?’ But now Adonai has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.” Then Adonai turned toward him and said, “Go in this might of yours and deliver Israel from the hand of Midian. Have not I sent you?”

Gideon’s journey from idolatry to emunah is our roadmap to trust Yehovah. Let’s see how he did it—and how we can too.

Gideon’s Hesitation

Picture Gideon in Judges 6:11, threshing wheat in a winepress, hiding from Midianites. Why the chaos? Israel turned to Baal, breaking Torah:

Exodus 20:3 TLV

“You shall have no other gods before Me.

The Hebrew word here is zānâ—like cheating on Yehovah—describes their idolatry. The thing is, Gideon in this scene is showing he’s no different. When God calls Him a mighty warrior,” he fires back, “My family is the poorest, and I’m the least!” (Judges 6:15, TLV). Sound familiar? “Yehovah, I don’t have the money, the skills, the strength!” Even his fleece test (Judges 6:36–40, TLV) shows he’s looking for proof, not emunah.

But Yehovah doesn’t give up. He names the altar Yehovah-Shalom—“Yehovah is Peace” (Judges 6:24, TLV renders YHVH-Shalom, but we’ll use Yehovah-Shalom in discussion)—promising His presence. Rashi, a Hebrew sage, sees Gideon’s humility in honoring his father (Judges 6:11), but his fear shows a lack of emunah. Origen, an early Church Father, says Gideon’s call points to Yeshua empowering the weak, like Hebrews 11:1: “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (TLV). The Brit Chadashah hits it hard in Romans 1:25: “They exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshiped the creation rather than the Creator” (TLV). That’s Gideon’s struggle—and ours—trusting self or systems over Yehovah.

Rejecting Idolatry

God doesn’t leave Gideon in fear. In Judges 6:25–32, He says, “Tear down your father’s Baal altar.” That’s bold! Baal worship was Israel’s big sin, a direct violation of the Shema:

Deuteronomy 6:4 TLV

“Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.

Gideon obeys, even if he’s scared and does it at night. This act rejects zānâ—unfaithfulness—and restores emunah through Torah obedience.

The Hebrew sage Rambam, in Mishneh Torah (Laws of Idolatry 1:1), says idolatry denies Yehovah’s unity, the heart of Torah. Jerome, who believed Matthew’s Gospel was first in Hebrew, says a Jewish audience would see Gideon’s act as a call to trust Yehovah alone, like Yeshua teaches:

Matthew 22:37–40 TLV

And He said to him, “ ‘You shall love Adonai your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire Torah and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Yeshua’s words in Matthew 6:33 echo this:

Matthew 6:33 TLV

But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

What’s our Baal? Maybe it’s chasing a promotion over Yehovah’s call, or scrolling social media for answers instead of praying. We’ve all got idols we need to tear down through obedience to God’s word.

God’s Victory

Here’s where it gets good!

Judges 7:1–22 TLV

Then Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the people who were with him, rose up early and camped beside En-harod, while the camp of Midian was north of them, by Gibeath-moreh, in the valley. But Adonai said to Gideon, “Too many are the people who are with you, for Me to give the Midianites into their hand. Otherwise Israel would glorify itself against Me saying, ‘My own hand has delivered me.’ So now, make proclamation in the ears of the people saying, ‘Whoever is afraid or anxious may turn back and leave from Mount Gilead.’ ” So 22,000 people turned back, while ten thousand remained. But Adonai said to Gideon, “The people are still too many. Bring them down to the water and I will test them for you there. Now it will be that he of whom I say to you, ‘This will go with you,’ he will go with you, but anyone of whom I say to you, ‘This one will not go with you,’ he will not go.” So he brought the troops down to the water, and Adonai said to Gideon, “You are to set apart everyone who laps the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, and everyone who bows down on his knees to drink.” Now the number of those who lapped, putting their hand to their mouth, was 300 men, but all the rest of the people bowed down on their knees to drink water. Then Adonai said to Gideon, “With the 300 men who lapped I will deliver you and give the Midianites into your hand. So let all the other people go, every man to his place.” So the 300 took provisions and their shofarot in their hands. He sent all the other men of Israel each to his tent, but he kept the 300 men. Now the camp of Midian was below him in the valley. It came to pass the same night that Adonai said to him, “Arise, get down against the camp, for I have given it into your hand. But if you are afraid to go down, first go down to the camp with your attendant Purah. Then you will hear what they are saying, and after that your hands will be strengthened to attack the camp.” So he went down with his attendant Purah to an outpost of the army that was in camp. Now the Midianites, the Amalekites and all the people of the east were lying in the valley as numerous as locusts; and their camels were countless, as numerous as the sand on the seashore. Yet when Gideon came, behold, there was a man relating a dream to his fellow, saying, “Listen, I just now had a dream: there was a loaf of barley bread that came tumbling into the camp of Midian, came up to a tent and struck it so it fell, and turned it upside down, so that the tent lay flat.” His companion answered and said, “This is nothing less than the sword of Gideon son of Joash, a man of Israel—God has delivered Midian and all the camp into his hand!” Now when Gideon heard the account of the dream and its interpretation, he bowed in worship. Then he returned to the camp of Israel and said, “Arise! For Adonai has given into your hand the camp of Midian.” Then he divided the 300 men into three columns, and he put into the hands of all of them shofarot and empty pitchers, with torches inside the pitchers. Then he said to them, “Watch me and do likewise. So behold, when I come to the outskirts of the camp, do just as I do. When I and all that are with me blow the shofar, then you also blow the shofarot all around the camp, and say, ‘For Adonai and for Gideon!’ ” So Gideon and the 300 men who were with him came up to the outermost part of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, when they had just posted the watch. Then they blew the shofarot and smashed the pitchers that were in their hands. When the three columns blew the shofarot and broke the pitchers, they held the torches in their left hands and the shofarot in their right hands to blow, and they shouted, “A sword for Adonai and for Gideon!” Each one stood in his place around the camp, and then the entire army ran, shouting as they fled. Now when they blew the 300 shofarot, Adonai set every man’s sword against his fellow throughout the entire army. So the army fled as far as Beth-shittah toward Zererah, as far as the border of Abel-meholah, by Tabbath.

Gideon’s got 32,000 men, but Yehovah says, “Too many!” He cuts the army to 300. Why? “Lest Israel boast over Me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me’” (Judges 7:2, TLV). When you see no way out—army gone, odds impossible—Yehovah’s at work, stripping away what you’ve always trusted to build emunah in Him. With shofar trumpets, torches, and jars, Yehovah delivers Israel. The shofar (Judges 7:16) blasts His authority, and yāsha`—deliverance—shows Yehovah, not Gideon, is the Savior.

Rashi says Yehovah chooses the weak to shame the strong, a Tanakh truth. Origen sees Gideon’s victory as a picture of Yeshua’s triumph, like look at what Hebrews says:

Hebrews 11:32–34 TLV

And what more shall I say? For time would fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets. By faith they conquered kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, and made foreign armies flee.

Look who’s on that list! Our boy Gideon, and how did he conquer? BY FAITH!

It comes down to basic Bible understanding:

2 Corinthians 5:7 TLV

For we walk by faith, not by sight.

Hebrews 11:1 TLV

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of realities not seen.

Listen, when your job’s gone, your bank account’s empty, or your health’s failing, Yehovah may be saying, “Stop trusting those things—trust Me!” I’ve been there, staring at a stack of bills, thinking, “No way out.” But Yehovah says, “Look again—I’m your yāsha`!” Like the widow of Zarephath in 1 Kings 17, who trusted Yehovah’s word when her flour was gone, we need emunah to see His provision. When you’re down to nothing, Yehovah’s up to something, building your emunah in Him alone.

Warning Against False Idolatry

Gideon’s story doesn’t end perfectly.

Judges 8:22–27 TLV

Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, “Rule over us—you, your son, and your grandson as well. For you have delivered us from the hand of Midian.” But Gideon replied to them, “I will not rule over you, nor will my son rule over you. Adonai alone will rule over you.” Yet Gideon said to them, “I would make a request of you, that you would give me every man an earring from his spoil.” (For they had golden earrings, because they were Ishmaelites.) “We’ll certainly give them!” they replied. So they spread out a robe, and each one of them threw an earring from his spoil. So the weight of the golden earrings that he requested was 1,700 shekels of gold—besides the crescent ornaments, the pendants and the purple robes that were on the kings of Midian, and besides the chains that were on their camels’ necks. Gideon made it into an ephod, and put it in his town Ophrah. But all Israel prostituted themselves after it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his household.

Israel wants him as king, but he makes an ephod—a golden object that becomes a môqēsh, a snare, pulling Israel back to idolatry. Rambam warns against anything that distracts from Yehovah’s unity. Jerome ties this to 1 John 5:21: “Guard yourselves from idols” (TLV). Yeshua says it best:

Matthew 6:25–34 TLV

“So I say to you, do not worry about your life—what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothing? “Look at the birds of the air. They do not sow or reap or gather into barns; yet your Father in heaven feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? And why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow. They neither toil nor spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. Now if in this way God clothes the grass—which is here today and thrown into the furnace tomorrow—will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ For the pagans eagerly pursue all these things; yet your Father in heaven knows that you need all these. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

Our idols—money, status, tech, self—creep back if we’re not careful. That new gadget you “need”? It might replace prayer. That title you chase? It might pull you from Yehovah. Stay vigilant, keep your eyes on Yehovah-Shalom.

Conclusion

Gideon’s journey from fear to emunah shows how we overcome idolatry. Israel trusted Baal; Gideon trusted his weakness. But Yehovah called them to emunah, stripping away their crutches to show yāsha` is His. Yeshua fulfills this in Matthew 6:33: “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (TLV).

What’s your idol? Money, worrying about bills? Status, chasing that title? Tech, glued to your phone? Self, thinking you’ve got to do it alone? This week, pray: “God, show me where I’m trusting the creature over You.” Write it down, confess it, commit to emunah. Yehovah-Shalom is with you. Let’s pray:

Numbers 6:24–26 LHB

יְבָרֶכְךָ֥ יְהוָ֖ה וְיִשְׁמְרֶֽךָ׃ יָאֵ֨ר יְהוָ֧ה׀ פָּנָ֛יו אֵלֶ֖יךָ וִֽיחֻנֶּֽךָּ׃ יִשָּׂ֨א יְהוָ֤ה׀ פָּנָיו֙ אֵלֶ֔יךָ וְיָשֵׂ֥ם לְךָ֖ שָׁלֽוֹם׃

Numbers 6:24–26 TLV

‘Adonai bless you and keep you! Adonai make His face to shine on you and be gracious to you! Adonai turn His face toward you and grant you shalom!’