and build an altar to Yahweh your God on the top of this stronghold, in the orderly manner, and take the second bull, and offer a burnt offering with the wood of the Asherah which you shall cut down.
After the Angel had vanished, the Lord appeared to Gideon again the same night. He commanded him to tear down his family’s pagan altar and its accompanying Asherah pole, build an altar to Yahweh, and offer his father’s bull as a burnt offering of worship. Gideon’s name means "hacker," and this event may have been the source of it. This act would constitute a public confession of Gideon’s commitment to the Lord. It was necessary for him to take this stand personally before the nation would follow him as its judge. Compare Moses’ need to circumcise his son (Exodus 4:24-26). The real problem in Israel was not the Midianites’ oppression but Israel’s spiritual bondage due to idolatry.