Who was he, anyway?
In retrospect, he wondered if he should have
done the dastardly deed alone. Maybe calling it “a plan” was too generous. As
things turned out, it was more of a Fortunately/Unfortunately fiasco.
Fortunately, the Stranger was persuasive.
Unfortunately, when push came to shove the guy was nowhere to be
seen.
Fortunately, Gideon brought ten men to help.
Unfortunately, they sold him out.
Fortunately, the statues gave up without a fight.
Unfortunately, they made a lot of noise doing it.
Fortunately, sacrificing his father’s bull meant there was a lot of steak to
go around.
Unfortunately, nobody was hungry.
Fortunately, Gideon followed through under cover of
darkness.
Unfortunately, the sun also rises.
It didn’t take long for news of the downtown
revitalization project to reach the city leaders. They were not amused.
Pitchforks in hand, they quickly formed a posse and headed straight for Gideon’s
hideout—aka, his father’s house.
But instead of the ‘back of the toolshed’
moment he’d anticipated once his dad found out about the hijinks, Gideon
watched in shock while Joash stood his ground against the mob when
they showed up the next morning threatening to lynch his boy.
“Send that kid out here!” the mob’s henchman
ordered while the horde behind him roared in anger. “We have rules against public
vandalism, you know!”
“You tell him, McDougal!” the mob screamed.
“Those were our favorite false gods!”
“Nobody tears down our right to religious
freedom,” someone yelled. “Either live the way we tell you to or die!”
“I hate steak!” a voice from the back
bellowed. “Eat more chicken!”
“So, you’re here to fight Baal’s battles for
him, are you?” Joash questioned.
“It’s our civic responsibility,” the henchman
said. “Any time an innocent god is destroyed in public, we have a moral
obligation to hold the culprit accountable. And kill him.”
Gideon watched in fear as the furious mob
pressed closer to his father—Gideon’s own safety zone.
“Is that right?” Joash challenged. “You think
you can save Baal? If he’s half the god you think he is, how come all it took
to turn him into a firepit was a prank by a frightened little mouse like
Gideon?”
The crowd was silent for a minute while they
considered that. Gideon’s eyebrows furrowed at his father’s character summary.
And a man at the rear of the crowd whimpered, “I never get invited to barbecues.”
Joash surveyed the dozens of men where they
stood in his front yard squashing all his begonias. “And I’ll tell you
something else,” he went on, calling their bluff. “Anyone,” he began,
his blazing eyes focused now on the crowd’s megamouth leader, “anyone who
defends Baal will be dead by morning.”
A collective gasp escaped the crowd.
“If Baal is a god like you say he is,” Joash went
on, his voice rising in challenge, “then let him do his own fighting and defend
his own altar. If he won’t, then you’ll know he isn’t God.”
“Well,” the throng of men began to murmur, “I
never actually said he was God. People can believe whatever they want to
believe, right? I just wanted everyone to get along. You know, go with the
flow. Live and let live.”
“Exactly,” others concurred. “The guy makes a
good point. It’s not worth dying over.”
In a matter of moments all that remained of
the confrontation were a few broken begonias and a small collection of
abandoned pitchforks. “I wonder what he meant when he said anybody who defends
Baal will be dead by morning,” the straggler at the back of the crowd said.
“Probably just a figure of speech,” another comforted.
“I’m proud of ya, kid,” Gideon’s father said,
throwing an arm across his son’s shoulders as the two watched the crowd
disperse. “You surprised me. Didn’t know you had it in you.” He brushed a
finger across his son’s nose. “Ya got a little flour there."
Gideon gazed at his father with new respect. “Thanks,
Dad,” he said. “Means a lot that you stuck up for me.”
“Of course,” his dad said, giving him a slap
on the back. “You’re my son.” Turning to go back in the house, he added, “You owe me a new bull."
“Was that all really necessary?” Gideon asked
the Stranger later once the dust settled. “And where were you anyway—didn’t you
say you’d be there?”
“I was there.”
“What—in spirit?” Gideon grumbled. “All I saw
was me and ten other losers doing all the dirty work.”
The Stranger smiled in that way that still
confused Gideon. “Didn’t you stop to ask yourself where you got the courage to
take on a whole town like that?”
“Well, no,” Gideon stuttered. “I had a job to
do and I did it. I didn’t have time to think about myself.”
“What were you thinking about?”
Gideon paused while he considered that
question. What had he been thinking about while he ordered a paltry crew of ten
reluctant men to tear down a couple of idols?
“I was more afraid of what people might do than
what their fake god would.”
“Kind of shows you where the power play is, doesn’t
it?” the man pointed out.
Gideon sniffed and averted his eyes. It was
true, but he didn’t know how to change the situation. The fear of people was at
the root of it all. It never occurred to him that anyone might accuse him of
being a mighty man of fearless courage. That he’d find himself on the wrong
side of the law tearing down oppressive symbols used to dominate his people. Or
that his late-night antics would result in a new nickname.
Jerub-baal. It didn’t exactly roll off the
tongue the way “Gideon” did. But the first time someone used it around him,
their smile was proof enough that he was the only one left who needed
convincing. He wasn’t a loser. He didn’t need to hide. He only needed to be the
man the mysterious Stranger had said he was.
Courageous, fearless, mighty man. Jerub-baal.
Baal Fighter.
Not bad for a mouse in a winepress.
The cool snapshot of the mouse seen above was taken by Paul Gulliver. You can view his original photo at this webpage:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/paul-g/33026657783/in/photolist-SjsfJc-7AFeas-9MqqgH-9g3Jww-9nokaw-4cFSRP-SFUV49-8yEYQp-dYzLBw-2vC7E-mEqcTr-47uktW-9k8H8R-6wuHGb-6wqxxe-9WKydL-6wuHCw-8tRiLV-3KA7N9-81AYir-5dcWum-sorUoj-QDeetX-MusHv-MuGcz-4rDnpm-NeHgpy-Hep5RW-KX2giL-Muh97-87wmry-aMTbZZ-Y87oiB-4oD1a7-u4YeL-Ho7Ddf-4rDnYS-6KjgHL-8ZpTpg-bCw2AQ-4yoNPV-5Haf77-jg27C-3MSJvo-de5LcT-aUgTFZ-2Smz8-7t64g2-aUgTtr-2GdUe
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