Baal Altars in the Modern Church—Gideons Arise!

In Judges 6, Gideon had an incredible encounter with an angel who called him forth as a mighty warrior in his generation.

Although Gideon did not consider himself qualified to lead, God saw something in him that had destiny all over it. As Gideon began to consider this divine invitation from above to impact his nation, the first assignment he was given was regarding an altar that was built in the land. Let’s read it in Judges 6:25-26:

Now on the same night the Lord said to him, “Take your father’s bull and a second bull seven years old, and pull down the altar of Baal which belongs to your father, and cut down the Asherah that is beside it; and build an altar to the Lord your God on the top of this stronghold in an orderly manner” (NASB95).

I want you to put yourself in Gideon’s shoes for one moment. First of all, he is totally unsure that he is even capable of leading his nation to victory over the Midianites. Second, his very first assignment before he even faces off against the enemy of Israel is tearing down the altar that his own dad built in his front yard! What? Deciding that the only way to carry out the Lord’s instruction to him is by nightfall, Gideon takes ten men and destroys the altar his father had built to baal and cuts down the Asherah next to it. What is the response of his home town when they wake up and find out that their altar has been destroyed? “Bring out Gideon that he may die!” What a start for a man who would eventually lead a small chosen army to defeat the Midianites and bring Israel out of captivity.

As I look across the landscape of the global Church today, I believe there has never been more of an urgent need to build a Wedding Altar for Jesus than now. However, I sadly recognize too many altars that have also been built to baal as in the days of Gideon. These altars have been erected to the gods of religious control and performance. On top of them stand Christian celebrities who sadly glory in their titles, online followings, and the money that pads their pockets every year. Like Gideon, I also see thousands and thousands of friends of the Bridegroom hanging in the shadows, feeling they are unqualified to do anything about what they know is grieving the heart of God in their generation.

God is raising up end-time messengers who are going to confront in love and tear down the altars of baal in their nation that their fathers have built to religious control and performance and establish the Wedding Altar of the Lord with fresh fire and zeal.

The Control Spirit

One night a man named Mike Bickle, who is the founder of IHOPKC, was preparing to minister to five thousand pastors in the United Kingdom. As he was seeking God the day of the meeting, the Holy Spirit said to him, “I have a controversy with the leadership of this nation. No one with a control spirit will experience My power.”

Faithful to the word of the Lord, Mike shared it from the platform that night and watched as hundreds of pastors responded to the altar call and, in his own words, “The leadership began to writhe on the ground like snakes as demons began to come out of them. It was the most supernatural work of the Holy Spirit I have ever seen in the Lord’s zeal to confront and deliver leaders from religion and control.”

The Religious Spirit

I absolutely believe in order in the global Church, but order is designed to facilitate life. I absolutely believe in form, but form is designed in the kingdom of God to give birth to power. I believe an altar of religious control and performance (baal) was built in many nations in the ’80s and ’90s. A megachurch movement and mentality was adopted that fostered a performance model of church that was more focused on attendance and large offerings than the movement of the Holy Spirit. An unhealthy emphasis on fivefold ministry titles was embraced and the saints were robbed of their inheritance as the priesthood of all believers.

If these statements sound extreme, take into consideration a conversation I had with Rick Joyner, founder of Morningstar Ministries, who like Mike Bickle has over fifty years of church leadership experience and has authored over fifty books. Here is what he said to me in a conversation in 2018: “After more than fifty years of full-time ministry around the world, I would say 90 percent of the Church in America is controlled by the religious spirit and not the Holy Spirit.”

As senior elders in the body of Christ, the experience that Mike Bickle had in the UK and the words of Rick Joyner should cause us all to weep and cry out to God in deep repentance. The altars of baal built across the land to religious control and performance must come down.

Friends of the Bridegroom just like Gideon are going to emerge to challenge the religious control that has dominated church culture for far too long. They won’t have to look far because these altars of baal have been erected in their neighborhoods and cities. Some of them have been built by family members.

Religious Traditions

Where the religious traditions of men govern the Church, everything is scripted, preplanned, and methodically carried out. There is no room for anything spontaneous, Spirit-filled, or shifting in the service because those actions cannot be controlled or predicted. A clock on the wall manages what takes place in the house of God because it’s more about a religious performance on a stage than it is creating a place where the Spirit of God can move among His people.

The religious traditions of men thrive on what can be controlled, predicted, and expected. They require individuals who crave the pleasure of man more than the pleasure of God. The addiction to a stage and the applause that it brings is what props up these modern-day altars of baal where the harlot bride thrives.

The ministry of the Holy Spirit and those who love Him is the number-one enemy of the religious traditions of men. He brings unpredictability, spontaneity, and fresh fire that the consecrated Bride loves. When friends of the Bridegroom refuse to follow a religious script, it makes those who thrive on religious control and performance irate!

Making the Shift

In order to help build a Wedding Altar for Jesus Christ on top of these religious strongholds of control and performance in the land, we must be committed to shifting our gaze away from men on stages and begin to behold the beauty of the Lord. I believe God loves it when altars are built upon threshing floors. In fact, I prophesy that we are reaching a threshing floor moment in the global Church. God is inviting His people into a new era where the religious traditions of men, which are focused on control and performance, are going to fall.

There is a freedom and liberty coming to the consecrated Bride like we have never seen before. Pure worship is going to break out in neighbor- hoods, coffee shops, beaches, and outdoor gatherings. Dancing and the joy of the Lord are going to overtake many corporate gatherings. Religious control and worship teams performing on a stage to get their carnal needs met will not satisfy the longing in this generation’s heart for the real, authentic Jesus. It’s time to break away from the harlot bride and her baal worship. The mixture, man-worship, and entertainment spirit produce a false Jesus movement that must be exposed in the last days.

Arise Gideon! Arise friends of the Bridegroom! It’s time to help get the Bride ready. You must choose to build a Wedding Altar for your King rather than another religious monument to a man. Do not delay. Jesus is coming soon!