Judges chapter 9, the treachery of Abimelech. Thank you. We'll actually pick up reading in chapter 8 at verse 29 and read the whole chapter of chapter 9. It's quite a lengthy section of scripture.
We'll try to get to the whole thing tonight. If not, we'll try and break it in half. Remember, the larger context, Gideon and the Midianite cycle from chapter 6, verse 1 to the end of chapter 9, Abimelech goes along with the Gideon narratives because, of course, Abimelech was one of the sons of Gideon that rises up and asserts himself to be the king in Israel, and specifically with reference to, or he goes to Shechem to seek to get this underway. So he goes along with the Gideon narrative.
So I'll pick up reading in 829. Then Jerob Baal, the son of Joash, went and dwelt in his own house. Gideon had 70 sons who were his own offspring, for he had many wives. And his concubine who was in Shechem also bore him a son whose name he called Abimelech.
Now Gideon, the son of Joash, died at a good old age and was buried in the tomb of Joash, his father, in Ophrah of the Abizrites. So it was, as soon as Gideon was dead, that the children of Israel again played the harlot with the Baals and made Baal-berit their god. Thus, the children of Israel did not remember the Lord their god, who had delivered them from the hands of all their enemies on every side. Nor did they show kindness to the house of Jerob-baal, or Gideon, in accordance with the good he had done for Israel.
Then Abimelech, the son of Jeroboam, went to Shechem, to his mother's brothers, and spoke with them and with all the family of the house of his mother's father, saying, please speak in the hearing of all the men of Shechem. Which is better for you, that all 70 of the sons of Jeroboam reign over you, or that one reign over you? Remember that I am your own flesh and bone. And his mother's brothers spoke all these words concerning him in the hearing of all the men of Shechem.
And their heart was inclined to follow Abimelech, for they said, he is our brother. So they gave him 70 shekels of silver from the temple of Baal-barith, with which Abimelech hired worthless and reckless men, and they followed him. Then he went to his father's house at Ophrah and killed his brothers, the 70 sons of Jeroboam, on one stone. But Jotham, the youngest son of Jerobel, was left because he hid himself.
And all the men of Shechem gathered together, all of Beth Milo, and they went and made a Bimelech king beside the terebinth tree at the pillar that was in Shechem. Now when they told Jotham, he went and stood on top of Mount Gerizim and lifted his voice and cried out. And he said to them, listen to me, you men of Shechem, that God may listen to you. The trees once went forth to anoint a king over them.
And they said to the olive tree, rain over us. But the olive tree said to them, should I cease giving my oil, with which they honor God and men, and go to sway over trees? Then the tree said to the fig tree, you come and reign over us. But the fig tree said to them, should I cease my sweetness and my good fruit and go to sway over trees?
Then the tree said to the vine, you come and reign over us. But the vine said to them, should I cease my new wine, which cheers both God and men, and go to sway over trees? then all the trees said to the bramble, you come and reign over us. And the bramble said to the trees, if in truth you anoint me as king over you, then come and take shelter in my shade. But if not, let fire come out of the bramble and devour the cedars of Lebanon." Now therefore, if you have acted in truth and sincerity in making Abimelech king, and if you have dealt well with Jeroboam and his house, and have done to him as he deserves, for my father fought for you, risked his life, and delivered you out of the hand of Midian.
But you have risen up against my father's house this day, and killed his 70 sons on one stone, and made Abimelech, the son of his female servant, king over the men of Shechem, because he is your brother. If then you have acted in truth and sincerity with Jeroboam and with his house this day, then rejoice in Abimelech and let him also rejoice in you. But if not, let fire come from Abimelech and devour the men of Shechem and Beth Milo, and let fire come from the men of Shechem and from Beth Milo and devour Abimelech. And Jotham ran away and fled, and he went to Beer and dwelt there for fear of Abimelech his brother.
After Abimelech had reigned over Israel three years, God sent a spirit of ill will between Abimelech and the men of Shechem. And the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech, that the crime done to the 70 sons of Jerob Baal might be settled, and their blood be laid on Abimelech, their brother, who killed them, and on the men of Shechem, who aided him in the killing of his brothers. And the men of Shechem set men in ambush against him on the tops of the mountains, and they robbed all who passed by them along that way. And it was told to Bimelech.
Now Gael, the son of Ebed, came with his brothers and went over to Shechem. And the men of Shechem put their confidence in him. So they went out into the fields and gathered grapes from their vineyards and trod them and made merry. And they went into the house of their god and ate and drank and cursed Abimelech.
And Gael the son of Ebed said, who is Abimelech and who is Shechem that we should serve him? Is he not the son of Jeroboam and is not Zebal his officer? Serve the men of Hamor the father of Shechem, but why should we serve him? If only those people were under my authority, then I would remove Abimelech.
So he said to Abimelech, increase your army and come out. When Zebal, the ruler of the city, heard the words of Gael, the son of Ebad, his anger was aroused, and he sent messengers to Abimelech secretly saying, Take note, Gael the son of Ebed and his brothers have come to Shechem, and here they are fortifying the city against you. Now therefore, get up by night, you and the people who are with you, and lie in wait in the field. And it shall be as soon as the sun is up in the morning that you shall rise early and rush upon the city.
And when he and the people who are with him come out against you, you may then do to them as you find opportunity. So Abimelech and all the people who were with him rose by night and lay in wait against Shechem and four companies. When Gael the son of Ebed went out and stood in the entrance to the city gate, Abimelech and the people who were with him rose from lying in wait. And when Gale saw the people, he said to Zeeble, look, people are coming down from the tops of the mountains.
Zeeble said to him, you see the shadows of the mountains as if they were men. So Gale spoke again and said, see, people are coming down from the center of the land. And another company is coming from the diviner's terebinth tree. Then Zebal said to him, where indeed is your mouth now, with which you said, who is Abimelech that we should serve him?
Are not these the people whom you despised? Go out, if you will, and fight with them now. So Gael went out, leading the men of Shechem, and fought with Abimelech. And Abimelech chased him, and he fled from him.
And many fell wounded to the very entrance of the gate. Then Abimelech dwelt at Arumah, and Zebal drove out Gael and his brothers, so that they would not dwell in Shechem. And it came about on the next day that the people went out into the field, and they told Abimelech. So he took his people, divided them into three companies, and lay in wait in the field.
And he looked, and there were the people coming out of the city. And he rose against them and attacked them. Then Abimelech and the company that was with him rushed forward and stood at the entrance of the gate of the city, and the other two companies rushed upon all who were in the fields and killed them. So Abimelech fought against the city all that day.
He took the city and killed the people who were in it, and he demolished the city and sowed it with salt. Now when all the men of the tower of Shechem had heard that, they entered the stronghold of the temple of the god Berih. And it was told Abimelech that all the men of the Tower of Shechem were gathered together. Then Abimelech went up to Mount Zalman, he and all the people who were with him.
And Abimelech took an axe in his hand and cut down a bow from the trees, and took it and laid it on his shoulder. Then he said to the people who were with him, what you have seen me do, make haste and do as I have done. So each of the people likewise cut down his own bow and followed Abimelech, put them against the stronghold, and set the stronghold on fire above them, so that all the people of the Tower of Shechem died, about a thousand men and women. Then Abimelech went to Thebes, and he encamped against Thebes and took it.
But there was a strong tower in the city, and all the men and women, all the people of the city, fled there and shut themselves in. Then they went up to the top of the tower. So Abimelech came as far as the tower and fought against it, and he drew near the door of the tower to burn it with fire. But a certain woman dropped an upper millstone on Abimelech's head and crushed his skull.
Then he called quickly to the young man, his armor bearer, and said to him, draw your sword and kill me, lest men say of me a woman killed him. So his young man thrust him through and he died. And when the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, they departed, every man to his place. Thus God repaid the wickedness of Abimelech, which he had done to his father by killing his 70 brothers.
And all the evil of the men of Shechem, God returned on their own heads. And on them came the curse of Jotham, the son of Jerob Baal." Amen.
Introduction
Quite an interesting chapter in Holy Scripture. Bimelech is a particularly nasty fellow, as you can see in the reading here. Four sections that I want to look at this evening. The first is the State of Israel, just a bit of a review at the end of Chapter 8.
Secondly, the treachery of Abimelech, third, the curse on Abimelech and Shechem, and then fourth, the judgment on Abimelech and Shechem. Now one of the things that we have noted throughout this particular book is that when the people of Israel sin against God, very often a foreign oppressor comes and brings judgment to bear upon them. And in this particular instance we see it's not only external enemies that Israel has to be aware of, but it's internal enemies as well. This gives further evidence of the canonization of Israel.
They are becoming, like the Canaanites, the people they were supposed to dispossess from the land. They are carrying on in sinfulness, and in wretchedness, and in wickedness, and in this particular instance, Abimelech, one of their own, rises up and asserts, or tries to become, and actually does become the king, and he brings the nation into just a horrible state. of declension and wickedness
The State of Israel
so let's look first at the state of Israel remember in chapter 8 verses 33 to 35 at the death of Gideon the children of Israel then again played the harlot with the bales and made Baal-berit their god." Gideon didn't necessarily finish all that well, but Gideon was a good servant from the Lord to the nation of Israel. In fact, this is what the author says in verse 35, nor did they show kindness to the house of Jeroboam in accordance with the good he had done for Israel. Jotham in the same or Jotham in chapter 9 in verses 7 to 21. He gives this fable, and then he interprets it.
And he says, if you have treated Gideon or if you have treated Jeroboam justly and righteously, then be at peace with Abimelech. Of course, the implication is they had not treated Jeroboam or Gideon properly. They were not to be at peace with Abimelech. And God would bring judgment to bear upon both parties, Abimelech and Shechem.
So we see that recurring theme. There is a man put in place, and while he's not a perfect man, he's got his issues, he nevertheless exercises some good restraint and some good influence upon the children of Israel. So at the death of Gideon, the people revert back to their wickedness and harlotry. Notice in verse 34, the children of Israel did not remember the Lord their God, who had delivered them from the hands of all their enemies on every side.
Again, it's cognitive It's not a cognitive knowledge, they knew who Yahweh was, but it was experiential. They had rejected him, they had despised him, they had forsaken him. And they had an ingratitude toward the house of Gideon, as evidenced there in verse 35. So that's the context, that's the situation.
And notice the links between chapter 8 and chapter 9. Chapter 8 at verse 30 tells us that Gideon had 70 sons who were his own offspring, for he had many wives. And in verse 31, and his concubine who was in Shechem also bore him a son whose name he called Abimelech. So this is the story in chapter 9 of his one son Abimelech who wanted to be the king in Israel.
And
The Treachery of Abimelech
that brings us secondly to the treachery of Abimelech. Now notice in verse 2 where it says, in the hearing of all the men of Shechem." And then again in verse 3, all the men of Shechem. It's better translated leaders of Shechem. It's probably the men who are in charge within Shechem.
It's not all the men indiscriminately of Shechem, but it's probably specifically the leaders of Shechem. I think the ESV translates it that way. Does the NIV have leaders or citizens? Citizens of Shechem.
Yeah, leaders is better. It's the word Baal. It's the same sort of word lord or master, something to that effect. So it's the men who have charge in the city of Shechem, not every single one of the men of Shechem.
So let's look at the treachery of Abimelech.
Abimelech's Proposal to Shechem
Notice first his proposal. Verse 1, Then Abimelech the son of Jeroboam went to Shechem to his mother's brothers and spoke with them and with all the family of the house of his mother's father, saying, Please speak in the hearing of all the men of Shechem. Which is better for you, that all seventy of the sons of Jerobel reign over you, or that one reign over you? Remember that I am your own flesh and bone." He's got the hometown advantage here, doesn't he?
Out of the 71 sons of Gideon, there's only one that hails from Shechem. Shechem's a very important city. And so Abimelech understands this, and he goes to his particular city to solicit the leaders there to try and pave the way to coronation. for Abimelech so that he can take the throne in Israel. The rest of Gideon's sons have no link with Shechem.
Abimelech is related through his mother and it's quite interesting because what Abimelech is doing is pitting both sides of his family against each other. He goes to his mother's side of the family to try and solicit support so that he can become the king in Israel. Well, we know, of course, how he treats his father's side of the family. He treats them as if they are the inhabitants of a slaughterhouse.
He murders them. He executes them. This man is bloodthirsty. His desire is for rule.
His desire is for leadership. He makes this particular offer to the people of Shechem. The rule of one man is preferable than that of 70. That's his argument.
That's what he says. Which is better for you? That all the 70 of the sons of Jeroboam reign over you? or that one reign over you is probably appealing to people like me, like small and limited government. I don't want 70 bureaucrats.
One is bad enough, but it is a necessary evil. And then he mentions this reality. Remember that I am your flesh and bone. The rule of a relative is preferable to the rule of outsiders.
He is appealing to them on a very basic level. And I want us to think, as we consider this section and Jotham's fable, something about leadership.
Leadership and Qualification
Leadership is based on qualification. Leadership isn't based on flesh and blood. Leadership isn't based on desire alone. Leadership isn't based on, well, this is the only options that you have.
One of the things that we learn in this passage, along with Jotham's fable, is the reality and the necessity of a qualified leadership and just how bad it is to have faithless leadership. In fact, in this entire chapter, what is highlighted is not only the wretchedness of Abimelech for usurping the place of the throne, or usurping the throne, but also the folly and the stupidity and the wickedness of the people of Shechem. for agreeing to such a man like this. You don't vote for a mass murderer. You don't select a man whose way to eliminate his opponents is by brutally murdering each other.
Many have seen in Judges chapter 9, many, at least some, have seen an anti-monarch tract. In other words, the whole argument here is that kingship is necessarily bad. I don't think that's what's in view. Kingship isn't necessarily bad, but bad kingship, and specifically Abimelech's kingship.
And then the Shechemites, who wanted Abimelech, That's what's being denounced in Judges chapter 9. So he makes this appeal, and of course they agree. Verse 3, his mother's brothers spoke all these words concerning him in their hearing of all the mannered leaders of Shechem. And their heart was inclined to follow Abimelech, for they said, he is our brother.
Again, we ought not to let such things dictate who we vote for. We ought not to let charisma, or we ought not to let brutality, or we ought not to let our heartstrings dictate. I remember when Bill Clinton ran for president in the United States of America. I was listening to Rush Limbaugh, and he pointed out something, that a lot of women that were surveyed were voting for Bill Clinton because they thought he was sexy.
That is absolutely the wrong reason why you should ever vote for a government official. And in this instance, it is wrong to say he is our brother. Your brother may be a brutal, barbaric, wretched beast of a man. He doesn't deserve your vote for kingship.
This is the point of the narrative. Notice in verse 4, so they gave him 70 shekels of silver from the temple of Baal-berit, with which Abimelech hired worthless and reckless men, and they followed him. 70 shekels. For how many murders? 70. These sons of Gideon's lives were reduced to a shekel apiece.
That's the emphasis of the passage. And notice, these worthless and reckless men that he hired were hit men. They were ruthless murderers. They were men that were going to kill other men simply for a shackle of silver.
This is what's going on in this particular instance. Notice, verse 5. Then he went to his father's house at Ofra and killed his brothers. the 70 sons of Jeroboam on one stone." One stone, what does that mean? It's interesting because that's how Abimelech meets his end, isn't it?
He kills 70 men on one stone. This woman, this certain woman, throws her millstone off of this tower, one stone, and crushes the skull of this particular man. Which, when we get there, that's kind of interesting. Why would this woman bring a millstone to the top of a tower?
Bloch said, she must have been a pretty sturdy woman. Davis says, the husband was probably saying, honey, why are you bringing that millstone to the top of the tower? Well, dear, you never quite know when you might need a millstone. I mean, that's an interesting turn of events.
Thankfully, she had it. And that was the means by which, as Davis said, she exercised her crush on Abimelech. But notice here, this whole idea. Then he went to his father's house at Ofra and killed his brothers, the 70 sons of Jeroboam, on one stone." Bloch, dealing with this statement, on one stone, says, the most helpful clue comes from 1 Samuel 14, 33 and 34, where Saul calls for I think the word is abattoir, slaughterhouse, calls for a slaughterhouse stone on which he slaughters all the oxen and sheep his forces had kept after the defeat of the Amalekites.
Assuming a similar use of the stone, all of Gideon's sons could have been killed on one stone, listen to this, only by murdering them serially, one after the other. This was a calculated, brutal act of murder, not a quick slaughter of unsuspecting victims. How does he deal with the last 1,000 people in Shechem? They're in a tower sealed off, and he burns them to death.
This Abimelech is a nasty character. He's a bad man. This is not a good thing. The author wants us to feel what's going on in this chapter.
He looks more like a Canaanite leader than he does a king in Israel. Notice that Jotham escapes, the end of verse 5. But Jotham, the youngest son of Jeroboam, was left because he hid himself. Thankfully, that detail is given to us so that when Jotham addresses the congregation and the people of Israel, In verses 7 to 21, we know how he got there.
Verse 6 tells us they crowned him. And all the men of Shechem gathered together, all of Bethmela, which was probably a portion or a part of Shechem, and they went and made a Bimelech king beside the terebinth tree at the pillar that was in Shechem. It's interesting because it was at Shechem that Joshua ratifies the covenant in Joshua 24. It's at Shechem that Jacob affirms fidelity to God.
Now Abimelech, according to Davis, and I think he's right, uses the place to sanctify his treachery under the auspices of Baal-Beirit. So there's a coronation going on in verse 6. The men of Shechem gathered, they went, they made Abimelech king beside the terebinth tree. So it's one of those sort of installation ceremonies.
It's a time of Royal pomp, it's a time of celebration.
The Curse on Abimelech and Shechem
That brings us thirdly to consider the curse on Abimelech and Shechem, verses 7 to 21. Verse 7, now when they told Jotham, he went and stood on top of Mount Gerizim and lifted his voice and cried out. He couldn't go to the coronation. He couldn't wander amongst the rabble.
Here was one of the escaped sons of Gideon. If they found him, they would have cut his throat just like they did with the other brothers. But it's interesting. Mount Gerizim.
Remember, there were two mounts. There was Mount Gerizim and there was Mount Ebal. One was a mount of blessing. One was the mount of cursing, according to Deuteronomy 27.
Mount Gerizim, interestingly enough, was the Mount of Blessing. So Jotham takes his place on the Mount of Blessing to pronounce a curse upon Abimelech and upon the Shechemites. That's what's going on here in the hearing of these men during this coronation scene. Now, when they told Jotham, he went and stood on top of Mount Gerizim, lifted his voice, and cried out.
And he said to them, listen to me, you men of Shechem, that God may listen to you. And then he tells this fable.
Jotham's Fable of the Trees
There's trees, and they want a leader. These trees first ask the olive tree. This is another interesting thing. People who see this as a tract against monarchy say that genuinely productive people don't want to be kings.
Genuinely productive people that contribute to society can't be bothered with serving in government. It's brambles. It's thorn bushes. It's those kinds of rabble that want to serve in public office.
Now, I'm not agreeing that this is a track against monarchy as an institution. But it does seem interesting that very often those attracted to public service in terms of government, in terms of that sort of thing, oftentimes have a desire for power, they have a desire for money, they have a desire for ease and comfort and all those sorts of things. When you look at this particular parable, or fable rather, look at verse 8. the trees once went forth to anoint a king over them. And they said to the olive tree, rain over us.
The olive tree said to them, should I cease giving my oil with which they honor God and men and go to sway over other trees? I've got positive contributions to make. I don't need to lord it over men. I simply need to serve and give and do what I'm supposed to do.
Simply the opposite of what Abimelech was about. Verse 10, Then the tree said to the fig tree, You come and reign over us. The fig tree said to them, Should I cease my sweetness and my good fruit and go to sway over trees? Then the tree said to the vine, You come and reign over us.
But the vine said to them, Should I cease my new wine, which cheers both God and men, and go to sway over trees? You see, in each of these instances, and again, it's not strictly parallel, this isn't what happened in terms of them searching out this king of Bimelech, but this is what essentially happens when we get to this bramble. Verse 14, Then all the trees said to the bramble, You come and reign over us. And the bramble said to the trees, if in truth you anoint me as king over you, then come and take shelter in my shade.
Isn't that government? Take shelter in my shade. I will provide for you. I will take care of you.
I will harbor you. No, just leave us alone and let us do our thing. That's preferable. But if not, let fire come out of the bramble and devour the cedars of Lebanon.
This is fulfilled. in the destruction of Shechem. When he torches the place, it is what we see in this particular instance. So what we see here is not, again, a track against monarchy per se. It's not even a track against government, as I'm seeming to hint.
Just expressing my disappointment with government, I guess. But what is in view specifically? We know who the bramble is. This is a bimolet.
The Bramble and Unqualified Leadership
Davis says it this way. The main concerns of the fable are the stupidity of the trees, verse 14, then all the trees said to the bramble, you come and reign over us, and the uselessness of the bramble. The fable does not stress the worthlessness of kingship, but the worthlessness of a bimilac. The concern is not that the worthy candidates depreciate the offer of kingship, but that a bramble accepts it.
The problem is not kingship, but the character of the king and his cronies, as Jotham makes clear in verses 16 to 20. Jotham's theme is the foolishness and peril of accepting clearly unqualified leadership. Brambles make good fuel, but poor kings. They burn better than they rain.
That's the point. That's what Jotham is expressing through this fable. And now he comes to bring it home specifically by interpreting or by pronouncing a curse in verses 16 to 20. Notice, he calls them to examine themselves.
Now, therefore, if you have acted in truth and sincerity in making a Bimelech king, and if you have dealt well with Jeroboam and his house, and have done to him as he deserves, we know they hadn't. He's doing this simply to set them up. He's doing this simply to accuse them and to show them their culpability before God. he puts in and reminds them in verse 17 how they should have shown respect for my father fought for you he risked his life and delivered you out of the hand of Midian but you have risen up against my father's house this day and killed his 70 sons on one stone and made a Bimelech the son of his female servant king over the men of Shechem because he is your brother
Jotham's Curse Pronounced
Now notice, if then you have acted in truth and sincerity with Jerob Baal and with his house this day, then rejoice in Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you. In other words, if you are operating according to honesty, faithfulness, and integrity, then I hope you enjoy Abimelech, and I hope Abimelech enjoys you. You're a match made in heaven if everything's been done on the up and up. Well, Jotham knows full and well that it hasn't been.
And this brings us to the curse of verse 20, and this explains all that follows in the chapter. Verse 20, but if not, let fire come from Abimelech and devour the men of Shechem and Bethmelech. That happens, doesn't it? In vivid detail, that's what happens in the remainder of the chapter. and let fire come from the men of Shechem and from Beth Milo and devour Abimelech.
Probably Thebes was in alliance with Shechem. So that when Abimelech goes to destroy Thebes, this is when the fire, via a millstone from a certain woman, comes and crushes the head of Abimelech. Verse 20 is a curse pronounced upon this unholy alliance. Abimelech has usurped authority that was not his, and the people of Shechem foolishly appoint a man who has no business whatsoever leading the covenant nation of Israel.
Verse 20 is fulfilled in the remainder of this chapter. So this is what follows, verse 21, Jotham ran away and fled and he went to Bir and dwelt there for fear of Abimelech, his brother. So that sets us up for the judgment. The judgment.
Let me just read this quote, hang on, real quick, with reference to this situation that Jotham just addressed. Bloch says, if the people of Shechem have acted with complete integrity toward Jeroboam and his family, then let them celebrate with Abimelech, and let them celebrate with them. But if not, then let the two parties to this treacherous alliance destroy each other. That's what's going to happen.
And you know what's amazing is that God is hardly mentioned at all in what follows, except at the beginning and at the end. And the point that we are supposed to derive from this is that the sovereignty of God, God who sovereignly orchestrates this whole affair, uses means, uses Abimelech toward Shechem, uses Thebes toward Abimelech to accomplish his holy purposes. This brother goes on to say, people tend to get the leaders they deserve. people tend to get the leaders they deserve. When Shechem fails to do its job in scrutinizing Abimelech, and they allow a brutal murderer to be their king, they've got what's coming to them.
This is one of the first instances in the book where we see a strict eye-for-eye dealing with God. Remember the common theme, they sin, there's oppression, they cry out, and God delivers. Amazing grace. Here we see amazing strict justice, right down to the one stone that Abimelech employs to murder these 70 men to the one stone that falls upon his head from this tower in Thebes.
God does not play games in this passage. He is dealing with sinners that need judgment. Bloch says also, the fable is not only a polemic against treacherous kingship, but is also directed at people who are foolish enough to anoint worthless men to be king. People tend to get the leaders they deserve.
That is so, so evident in this passage.
The Judgment on Abimelech and Shechem
So let's look at the judgment on Abimelech and Shechem.
Theological Explanation: God's Sovereign Purpose
Notice, first, the theological explanation in verses 22 to 24. After Abimelech had reigned over Israel three years, God sent a spirit of ill will. Literally, God sent an evil spirit. We've seen heretofore the spirit of the Lord coming upon the human deliverer or the human judge to go out and conquer enemies.
In this instance, God sends an evil spirit to confound, to confuse, and to disrupt both Abimelech and Shechem to turn them against each other. Shechem is the vehicle by which Abimelech makes it to the throne. And now there's such disarray between them that Abimelech wants to exterminate them. This is of God.
This is God's plan. This is his predetermined plan in order to deal with this situation. So after Abimelech had reigned over Israel three years, God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem. And the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech, that the crime done to the seventy sons of Jeroboam might be settled and their blood be laid on Abimelech, their brother, who killed them, and on the men of Shechem, who aided him in the killing of his brothers." The judgment of God may be delayed.
Thankfully, it was only a three-year reign of Abimelech before God intervened. But three years is still a long time, isn't it? Imagine if 70 of our relatives were brutally slaughtered in a slaughterhouse, we would want justice right now. A year, two years, three years, that would start to be tedious upon the person that was victimized by this crime.
So though the judgment of God is delayed, we learn from this that judgment is nevertheless going to be brought to bear. The judgment of God is sure. He will punish the wicked. And the judgment of God is comprehensive.
He doesn't just deal with the king Abimelech. He deals with the Shechemites who put Abimelech into place, into power. He deals with everyone that's involved in this act of treachery. So this is what's going on.
Again, this explains so much of what follows in the chapter. So we've got theological explanation, verses 22 and 24 to 24. Now
The Revolt of Gaal and Its Suppression
notice the dispute with the Shechemites in 25 to 29. Verse 25, they set up ambush, why? because the king would be blamed if in his own domain people couldn't walk the streets without being robbed. This was in an effort, in an attempt to make the king look bad. He promised good to them when he assumed the throne.
What actually happens is that the countryside or that the city the roads are such that men are robbed. It was told to Abimelech. He's getting wind that in Shechem not all is well. Now notice this man by the name of Gael.
This is called a coup. This is called a revolt. Gail comes along and he throws another wrench into the machine. Verse 26, Gail, the son of Ebed, came with his brothers and went over to Shechem, and the men of Shechem put their confidence in him.
So they went out into the fields and gathered grapes from their vineyards and trod them and made merry. This means they drank a lot. It means they went into the temple of Baal-Berith and they drank a lot of wine. and probably as they drank a lot of wine it loosened Gael's lips to say the sorts of things that he was saying here and this served to rally Shechemites in their unity against Abimelech. Notice, they went into the house of their god and they ate and drank and cursed Abimelech.
You see how it's all flowing. God's purpose, God's plan was to deal with Abimelech and to deal with Shechem. He sets the ball rolling, not in some deistic way. He's orchestrating and ruling over all things.
But you see how the second causes are not invalidated. Because there's a first cause, therefore, the second causes are legit. And this is what we have in this case. Then Gael, the son of Ebed, said, Who is Abimelech, and who is Shechem, that we should serve him?
Is he not the son of Jeroboam?" You see, he doesn't highlight that he's the son of a Shechemite woman. He highlights that he's the son of the Israelite Jeroboam. What Gale is doing in essence is saying, yeah, this Abimelech is only a half-breed. It is me, Gale, that's a true Shechemite.
And we ought to take this Abimelech down. We ought to crush him and we ought to destroy him. This is what's going on. And again, I think the alcohol probably helped lubricate the wheels so that there was some free speaking here.
In fact, Davis points out, verse 28 is a notoriously difficult verse. In the footnotes, Davis says he wondered if this is exactly what he said when he was drunk. And that's how come it reads so difficult in verse 28. But you get the gist of it.
He says, who is Shechem that we should serve him? Is he not the son of Jeroboam? And is not Zebal his officer? Serve the men of Amor, the father of Shechem.
But why should we serve him? If only this people were under my authority, then I would remove Abimelech. So he said to Abimelech, increase your army and come out. He's challenging, he's taunting, he's playing.
He wants Abimelech to meet. Remember, why is this happening? Because it's not just Abimelech who's being set up for a fall, but it's also Shechem. Shechem is being judged as well.
So God's going to use Abimelech to deal with Shechem, and then he's going to use Thebes slash Shechem to deal with Abimelech, according to his plan specified in 22 to 24. If you have a problem with the sovereignty of God, if you do not see the comprehensive reality that God orchestrates all things according to His purpose and plan, you will really stumble and struggle as you read the book of Judges. Because the biblical author has no problem saying, this is the sovereign plan of God and this is how it was carried out. There's not all this kind of wondering and curiosity and head scratching and how can this all be?
It is the way that he has specified. God is comprehensively sovereign. He has purpose for this to take place and this is the historical means by which it is carried out. Notice, Zeebel gets wind of this, so he sends word to Abimelech.
He essentially says, you need to ambush Gael. You need to neutralize this particular threat. That's what's going on in verses 30 to 33. Verses 34 to 38, Abimelech neutralizes Gael.
He takes him out. He devastates him to the point that Gale and his men run off. So Abimelech destroys Gale and his supporters. They run off.
They flee. And then in verses 42 and following, we're just kind of running quickly through some of this because it's just telling us how these people are executing the plan. So verses 30 to 33, Zeebel hears about Gael, tells Abimelech what's going on, lie in wait in the field, ambush these people, neutralize the threat. So then Abimelech and his men advance, Gael sees it, obviously Zebal is out front, and they have this interchange.
And what happens then is that Zebal says, where indeed is your mouth now? I mean, this is great writing. This is great dialogue. What do we find in verse 29?
If only this people were under my authority, then I would remove Abimelech. So he said to Abimelech, increase your army and come out. He's got a big mouth. He's a blabbermouth.
Perhaps the alcohol, whatever it is, when Zeeball comes to deal with him, he says, where's your mouth now? Put up or shut up, we might say. Fish or cut bait. Let's do this.
And they do it, and Abimelech decimates these people. And then 42 to 49 shows us the reality of the end of Shechem. Notice in verse 42, it came about on the next day that the people went out into the field, and they told Abimelech. So probably these are just the common folk.
These are the normal, regular people. They thought, as far as they were concerned, Abimelech dealt with Gael and all of the people that were with Gael, all the Shechemites that rallied around him in his revolt and in his coup. They were squashed, they were put down. Life is back in order as we know it.
Not with Abimelech. You see, you get a bloodthirsty, brutal king and they don't stop. They don't want to just say, well, everything's done at this particular point. Notice, the people thought everything was back to normal.
Verse 42. The people went out into the field, and they told Abimelech. So he took his people, divided them into three companies, and lay in wait in the field. And he looked, and there were the people coming out of the city.
And he rose against them and attacked them. Then Abimelech and the company that was with him rushed forward and stood at the entrance of the gate. of the city and the other two companies rushed upon all who were in the fields and killed them. So Abimelech fought against the city all that day. He took the city and killed the people who were in it and he demolished the city and sowed it with salt.
And then the remaining people, these thousand, when it says the men of Shechem, it doesn't mean every single one in every single instance. Shechem was a big place, pockets of people.
The Destruction of Shechem
Now in verses 46 to 49, now when all the men of the tower of Shechem had heard that, they entered the stronghold of the temple of the god Beri. Then we know what happens at that particular point. So what happens is that Abimelech brings judgment to bear upon the people of Shechem in accordance with Jotham's curse in chapter 9, verse 20, when it says, and let fire come from Abimelech and devour the men of Shechem and Beth Milo. That is precisely what takes place up to this particular point.
Now, lest we think that that twofold curse is not going to be carried out, we see that in fact it is.
Abimelech's Death at Thebes
Verses 50 to 55. The Tower of Thebes, again, probably an alliance with Shechem, so Beneluk goes to destroy it as well. He's got the same plan. What's he going to do?
He's going to burn it down. It worked for the tower in Shechem. It's going to work for the tower in Thebes. Except in Shechem, there wasn't a woman lugging around a millstone.
In Shechem, they didn't have a lady who, however she did it, dragged a millstone up to the top of that tower. This one thing Abimelech never bargained for. He never thought in his wildest dreams that he would meet his end by the crushing of his skull with a big rod. So the woman with her millstone, the skull crushing blow to Abimelech, and then notice the final request of Abimelech.
He calls quickly to the young man after he has his head smashed, his armor bearer, and said to him, draw your sword and kill me lest men say of me a woman killed him. So his young man thrust him through and he died. Now was this a good strategy? Of course it wasn't because it's written in the Bible that a woman dropped a big millstone on this dummy's head and crushed it.
Everybody who's ever picked up a Bible sees the shame of a Bimelech who was killed or bested by a woman. Bloch makes this statement, the man who had accomplished so much so quickly, gaining the kingship of the significant city of Shechem, murdering 69 of his sibling rivals, staving off a revolt and destroying all the rebels, conquering the city of Thebes, falls victim to a woman. Indeed the story of Abimelech, the macho man, is framed by two women. How does he make his appeal to the men of Shechem in order to get to the throne?
My mother is a Shechemite! He comes in to prominence via a woman, and he goes out of this life via a woman. And so for all of his blathering, God has shown that this man was, in fact, a brutal thug that never deserved the kingship in Israel, and that the people who put him into that place were as guilty and as culpable and as blood guilty of those 69 men that were the sons of Gideon. as was Abimelech who carried out this particular treachery.
Theological Conclusion
So then we find a theological conclusion. Remember I said two places in this bigger narrative where God is mentioned. At the beginning, lest we think we're entering into an atheistic world, and at the end, lest we think we're exiting an atheistic world. Notice in verse 56, thus God repaid the wickedness of Abimelech, which he had done to his father by killing his 70 brothers.
And all the evil of the men of Shechem God returned on their own heads, and on them came the curse of Jotham, the son of Jerob Baal." So the text, the narrative, goes right along with what Jotham promises in chapter 9 at verse 20 very specifically.
Application
A couple of lessons and then we close. First, the necessity of faithful leadership. We don't want to hyper-spiritualize a text that deals with the king in Israel, but we should observe, as I've mentioned, that this man should have never been placed into office. Davis says this, our anxiety, he's talking about, he quotes from Shire.
Shire wrote a book about Hitler, and he was a man that was present when Hitler's rise to power. He said he would hear Hitler speak, and he would blather on, he would make all these promises that turned out to be lies, and he was just so full of folly. But the people were eating it up. The people were just ingesting it.
They were loving it, everything this man said. But others saw that this is not right. You see stuff like this in our own day. You get a political figure, a man who's able to at least pretend to speak, and he can rally up a crowd, but he's not saying anything of any substance.
So Davis points this out and then he says this, but our anxiety does not center on Bramble leaders within history in general but among God's people in particular. He says, woe to Israel or a section of it when it covenants with an Abimelech. We should hold Jotham in proper esteem. He is no mere spinner of fables but an instructor of the church.
What care God's people should take in seeking and selecting their leaders. That is a lesson we ought to glean from this time in Judges chapter 9. We don't vote for people because he's our brother. We don't vote for a person because he's a Shechemite.
We don't vote for a person because his father was Jeroboam. You vote for a person because he's qualified. And if there isn't anything more frustrating in the church today, it's in the area of eldership and deacons. Well, we use the popularity scale, or we use he's good with people, or we use he's nice, or we use he's effective in his business.
Is he qualified? What happened to First Timothy 3? What happened to Titus 1? There are men in pulpits that shouldn't be there.
And that's because there's fools in pews that vote them into office. It is a twofold promise. It is one thing to blame a Benny Hinn, to blame a Joel Osteen. But they've got hordes and scads and oodles of people that are hanging upon their every word.
Jesus says if a blind man leads a blind man, both of them will fall into a pit. It's not just the leadership, but it's the people as well. When the people are irresponsible and neglectful of clear, basic Bible verses, like 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1. And we put people into office that cannot handle accurately the Word of God.
I mentioned recently, click here and get your degree. I saw another thing just recently. It was a popular Christian university that has a deal set up with, I think, Benny Ann. where you watch 10 hours of video, take a simple quiz, and then you join Benny Hinn's band of weirdo preachers. That just ought not to be.
Listen to Jotham's fable. Why would we pick a bramble? Why would we pick a fool that's ultimately going to send fire upon us instead of blessing? You cannot live and you cannot function based on your feelings, based on your emotions, based on your whims.
You have to function based on the word of God. What saith the Bible? If the Bible says this is what a man must be, then this is what a man must be. So listen to Jotham when it comes to such matters.
I think we see the curse of faithless leadership. Abimelech was not a help and a boon to the nation, was he? You certainly didn't have blessing when Abimelech wore that crown. It was a curse upon the nation.
It cost the city its entire identity. It was the death of Shechem. Thirdly, we've pointed this out, the sovereignty of God. All these things are orchestrated and overruled and ordained by the living and true God. for his glory and for the good of his people and for the punishment and the chastisement or rather the retribution and vengeance upon those who are not his people.
And then that brings us to consider the justice of God. Bloch says, he who had slaughtered his brothers upon one stone had his skull crushed beneath one stone. And Davis says concerning justice, here lies a firm comfort for God's beleaguered people. God destroys the destroyers of his people.
Now what's going on? Abimelech and Shechem were functioning within Israel to destroy Israel. In fact, the summary statement at the end of chapter 9 in verse 55, after Abimelech is dead, when the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, they departed every man to his own place. They went home.
No need to battle and war. This fool that was brutal that ruled over us is God. We can go home now. We can hang out with our wives and kids and do what we're supposed to do as Israelites.
He says, God destroys the destroyers of his people. The rulers of this age have never learned that whoever touches the flock of God touches the apple of his eye. and therefore place themselves under God's sword or millstone. Similarly, if God's people are God's sacred temple, how careful the church's teachers and members must be not to destroy that temple by teaching error or brewing strife. Judges 9 shows Israel that destruction can come from within as well as from without, from Israel as well as Midian.
Yet even Judges 9 preaches a word of hope to Israel. God does not abandon his people to their Abimelechs, but keeps his people from utter destruction. Those are some good lessons. One commentary said, there's nothing really practical in Judges 9.
There's a lot of practical in Judges 9. leadership, sovereignty of God, and this whole idea of God's holy justice. Well, let us pray.
Closing Prayer
Our Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you for your grace and your mercy. And God, we thank you for the attributes of righteousness and justice and judgment. God, as Davis points out and as the Bible so clearly pictures, you will punish those who hurt your people, and in this we do rejoice, God.
We know there is a day coming when you will right every wrong, when you will usher in a new heavens and a new earth wherein righteousness will dwell. We know, Father, that you are good and glorious and gracious to your people, and I pray that passages like these would continue to reaffirm these things in our own hearts and minds, cause us to walk by faith, cause us to obey the scriptures, cause us not to live based on whim or experience or emotion, but to be principled men and women when it comes to the things of Christ. And we pray in His most blessed name. Amen.