These are not Midianites who are speaking; these are Israelites! They have got this completely backwards. Their response here should have been their response when the pagan altar was erected in the first place. How did these Israelites get to be so orthodox when it came to Baal worship, and so completely negligent when it came to the worship of the Lord? It illustrates how truly depraved the Israelites became in the days of the judges.
1 According to Deuteronomy 17:2–7 it should have been the men of the town who were put to death instead of Gideon.
30 Then the men of the town said to Joash, “Bring out your son, that he may die, for he has broken down the altar of Baal and cut down the Asherah beside it.”