It was the Lord, the God their ancestors worshiped, who had brought the Israelites out of Egypt. But they stopped following him and began to worship the false gods of the people living around them. This made the Lord angry.

The Israelites stopped following the Lord and began worshiping Baal and Ashtoreth.

But when each judge died, the Israelites again sinned and started worshiping the false gods. They acted worse than their ancestors did. The Israelites were very stubborn and refused to change their evil ways.

The Israelites began to marry the daughters of those people. They allowed their own daughters to marry the sons of those people. The Israelites also began to worship their gods.

Then I said to you, ‘I am the Lord your God. You will live in the land of the Amorites, but you must not worship their false gods.’ But you did not obey me.”

So Gideon built an altar there to worship the Lord and named it “The Lord is Peace.” It still stands in the city of Ophrah, where the Abiezer family lives.

Gideon Tears Down the Altar of Baal

That same night the Lord said to Gideon, “Choose your father’s best bull, the one that is seven years old. First, use it to pull down the altar your father built to worship Baal. Also, cut down the Asherah pole beside the altar.

Gideon used the gold to make an ephod, which he put in his hometown, the town called Ophrah. All the Israelites worshiped the ephod. In this way the Israelites were not faithful to God—they worshiped the ephod. The ephod became a trap that caused Gideon and his family to sin.

The Ammonites Fight Against Israel

Again the Israelites did what the Lord said was wrong. They began worshiping the false gods Baal and the Ashtoreth. They also worshiped the gods of the people of Aram, the gods of the people of Sidon, the gods of the Moabites, the gods of the Ammonites, and the gods of the Philistines. The Israelites left the Lord and stopped serving him.

So the Israelites cried to the Lord for help. They said, “God, we have sinned against you. We left our God and worshiped the false god Baal.”

But you left me and started worshiping other gods, so I refuse to save you again.

You like worshiping those gods, so go call to them for help. Let them save you when you are in trouble.”

Then the Israelites threw away the foreign gods and began to worship the Lord again. So he felt sorry for them when he saw them suffering.

Micah had a temple for worshiping idols. He made an ephod and some house idols. Then Micah chose one of his sons to be his priest.