And it came to pass the same night that the Lord said unto him, Take thy father's young bullock, even the second bullock of seven years old, and throw down the altar of Baal that thy father hath, and cut down the grove that is by it, and build an altar unto the Lord thy God upon the top of this rock in the ordered place, and take the second bullock, and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the grove, which thou shalt cut down. Then Gideon took ten men of his servants, and did as the Lord had said unto him. And so it was, because he feared his father's household and the men of the city, that he could not do it by day, that he did it by night, Judges 6.25-27. In Signs of the Time, June 23rd, 1881, it says this, The family to which Gideon belonged was grievously infected with idolatry. His father erected at Ophrah, where he dwelt, a large altar to Baal, at which the people of the towns worshipped. Gideon was commanded to destroy this altar, to cut down the groves that surrounded it, and in its stead to erect an altar to Jehovah, over the rock on which the offering had been consumed, and then to offer a sacrifice unto the Lord. Gideon faithfully carried out these directions, performing the work by night, lest he should be compelled to desist if he attempted it by day. The deliverer of Israel must declare war upon idolatry before he went to battle with the enemies of his people. He must esteem the honor of God above the credit of his father, and regard the divine commands as more obligatory than parental authority. It was of great importance that the deliverance of Israel should be preceded by a solemn protest against the worship of Baal, and an acknowledgment of Jehovah as the only true and living God. Signs of the Times, June 23, 1881. The first thing that had to be confronted by Gideon is Baal worship in his father's house before the war starts that prefigures the loud cry of message. There was going to be a battle that takes place, and brothers and sisters in Adventism, our greatest need, and we read this passage in our last presentation, is for a revival. In that passage it says, a revival need not be expected to come without reformation. The reformation message that cannot be separated from the revival, and here this is Selected Messages, Book 1, page 128, that we read last time. God calls for a spiritual revival and a spiritual reformation. Unless this takes place, those who are lukewarm will continue to grow more abhorrent to the Lord until he will refuse to acknowledge them as his children. A revival and a reformation must take place under the ministration of the Holy Spirit.