Abimilech Makes A Name For Himself
Review Judges 8:22-35
29 Then Gideon son of Joash returned home.
30 He had seventy sons born to him, for he had many wives.
31 He also had a concubine in Shechem, who gave birth to a son, whom he named Abimelech.
32 Gideon died when he was very old, and he was buried in the grave of his father, Joash, at Ophrah in the land of the clan of Abiezer.
33 As soon as Gideon died, the Israelites prostituted themselves by worshiping the images of Baal, making Baal-berith their god.
34 They forgot the Lord their God, who had rescued them from all their enemies surrounding them.
35 Nor did they show any loyalty to the family of Jerub-baal (that is, Gideon), despite all the good he had done for Israel.
Judges 9
1 One day Gideon’s son Abimelech went to Shechem to visit his uncles—his mother’s brothers. He said to them and to the rest of his mother’s family,
2 “Ask the leading citizens of Shechem whether they want to be ruled by all seventy of Gideon’s sons or by one man. And remember that I am your own flesh and blood!”
Back in Genesis, the Lord met Abraham at Shechem in Genesis 12.
5 When they arrived in Canaan, 6 Abram traveled through the land as far as Shechem. There he set up camp beside the oak of Moreh. At that time, the area was inhabited by Canaanites.
7 Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “I will give this land to your descendants.” And Abram built an altar there and dedicated it to the Lord, who had appeared to him.Shechem is the place where God told Abraham all about his heritage and his posterity. It’s also the place where Abraham’s descendants worshiped God first thing as they entered into the promised land under Joshua’s leadership
- Click here to read Joshua 8:30-35
- It’s supposed to be a place where God meets his people in his promise and their obedience. Now, Abimelech is standing in a place of promise with no promise for himself; he’s got no standing, no inheritance, no posterity. He’s not favored, he’s an outsider, he is beginning to act out that if he’s to have anything in the world, he’ll have to do it himself.
Judges 9.3
So Abimelech’s uncles gave his message to all the citizens of Shechem on his behalf. And after listening to this proposal, the people of Shechem decided in favor of Abimelech because he was their relative. 4 They gave him seventy silver coins from the temple of Baal-berith, which he used to hire some reckless troublemakers who agreed to follow him. 5 He went to his father’s home at Ophrah, and there, on one stone, they killed all seventy of his half brothers, the sons of Gideon. But the youngest brother, Jotham, escaped and hid.
Abimelech’s means ‘My Father is King’ and
Jotham’s name means “Yahweh is Flawless, Perfect Blameless.”
6 Then all the leading citizens of Shechem and Beth-millo called a meeting under the oak beside the pillar at Shechem and made Abimelech their king.
7 When Jotham heard about this, he climbed to the top of Mount Gerizim and shouted,
“Listen to me, citizens of Shechem! Listen to me if you want God to listen to you!
8 Once upon a time the trees decided to choose a king.
First they said to the olive tree, ‘Be our king!’
9 But the olive tree refused, saying, ‘Should I quit producing the olive oil
that blesses both God and people, just to wave back and forth over the trees?’
10 “Then they said to the fig tree,‘You be our king!’
11 But the fig tree also refused, saying, ‘Should I quit producing my sweet fruit
just to wave back and forth over the trees?’
12 “Then they said to the grapevine, ‘You be our king!’
13 But the grapevine also refused, saying, ‘Should I quit producing the wine
that cheers both God and people, just to wave back and forth over the trees?’
14 “Then all the trees finally turned to the thornbush and said,
‘Come, you be our king!’
15 And the thornbush replied to the trees, ’If you truly want to make me your king,
come and take shelter in my shade. If not, let fire come out from me
and devour the cedars of Lebanon.’”
- (This particular word for a thornbush indicates an oily scrubby thornbush that easily catches fire and grows to about 18-24 inches high. How can you take shade in that?)
16 Jotham continued, “Now make sure you have acted honorably and in good faith by making Abimelech your king, and that you have done right by Gideon and all of his descendants. Have you treated him with the honor he deserves for all he accomplished? 17 For he fought for you and risked his life when he rescued you from the Midianites. 18 But today you have revolted against my father and his descendants, killing his seventy sons on one stone. And you have chosen his slave woman’s son, Abimelech, to be your king just because he is your relative.
19 “If you have acted honorably and in good faith toward Gideon and his descendants today, then may you find joy in Abimelech, and may he find joy in you.
20 But if you have not acted in good faith, then may fire come out from Abimelech and devour the leading citizens of Shechem and Beth-millo; and may fire come out from the citizens of Shechem and Beth-millo and devour Abimelech!”
21 Then Jotham escaped and lived in Beer because he was afraid of his brother Abimelech.
- From Judges For You (page104):
“If you’ve been fair to Gideon’s family in making Abimelech your king (and let’s face it, you haven’t, but if you have) then you may find great blessing in the rule of King Abimelech. But if you haven’t (and let’s face it, you haven’t) then I hope you and he get what you all deserve; you burned by him and he burned by you.”
Judges 9
22 After Abimelech had ruled over Israel for three years,
23 God sent a spirit that stirred up trouble between Abimelech and the leading citizens of Shechem, and they revolted.
24 God was punishing Abimelech for murdering Gideon’s seventy sons, and the citizens of Shechem for supporting him in this treachery of murdering his brothers.
25 The citizens of Shechem set an ambush for Abimelech on the hilltops and robbed everyone who passed that way. But someone warned Abimelech about their plot.
26 One day Gaal son of Ebed moved to Shechem with his brothers and gained the confidence of the leading citizens of Shechem.
27 During the annual harvest festival at Shechem, held in the temple of the local god, the wine flowed freely, and everyone began cursing Abimelech.
28 “Who is Abimelech?” Gaal shouted. “He’s not a true son of Shechem, so why should we be his servants? He’s merely the son of Gideon, and this Zebul is merely his deputy. Serve the true sons of Hamor, the founder of Shechem. Why should we serve Abimelech? 29 If I were in charge here, I would get rid of Abimelech. I would say to him, ‘Get some soldiers, and come out and fight!’”
30 But when Zebul, the leader of the city, heard what Gaal was saying, he was furious. 31 He sent messengers to Abimelech in Arumah, telling him, “Gaal son of Ebed and his brothers have come to live in Shechem, and now they are inciting the city to rebel against you. 32 Come by night with an army and hide out in the fields. 33 In the morning, as soon as it is daylight, attack the city. When Gaal and those who are with him come out against you, you can do with them as you wish.”
34 So Abimelech and all his men went by night and split into four groups, stationing themselves around Shechem.
35 Gaal was standing at the city gates when Abimelech and his army came out of hiding. 36 When Gaal saw them, he said to Zebul, “Look, there are people coming down from the hilltops!”
Zebul replied, “It’s just the shadows on the hills that look like men.”
37 But again Gaal said, “No, people are coming down from the hills. And another group is coming down the road past the Diviners’ Oak.”
38 Then Zebul turned on him and asked, “Now where is that big mouth of yours? Wasn’t it you that said, ‘Who is Abimelech, and why should we be his servants?’ The men you mocked are right outside the city! Go out and fight them!”
39 So Gaal led the leading citizens of Shechem into battle against Abimelech. 40 But Abimelech chased him, and many of Shechem’s men were wounded and fell along the road as they retreated to the city gate. 41 Abimelech returned to Arumah, and Zebul drove Gaal and his brothers out of Shechem.
42 The next day the people of Shechem went out into the fields to battle. When Abimelech heard about it, 43 he divided his men into three groups and set an ambush in the fields. When Abimelech saw the people coming out of the city, he and his men jumped up from their hiding places and attacked them.
44 Abimelech and his group stormed the city gate to keep the men of Shechem from getting back in, while Abimelech’s other two groups cut them down in the fields.
45 The battle went on all day before Abimelech finally captured the city. He killed the people, leveled the city, and scattered salt all over the ground.
46 When the leading citizens who lived in the tower of Shechem heard what had happened, they ran and hid in the temple of Baal-berith. 47 Someone reported to Abimelech that the citizens had gathered in the temple, 48 so he led his forces to Mount Zalmon. He took an ax and chopped some branches from a tree, then put them on his shoulder. “Quick, do as I have done!” he told his men. 49 So each of them cut down some branches, following Abimelech’s example. They piled the branches against the walls of the temple and set them on fire. So all the people who had lived in the tower of Shechem died—about 1,000 men and women.
50 Then Abimelech attacked the town of Thebez and captured it.
51 But there was a strong tower inside the town, and all the men and women—the entire population—fled to it. They barricaded themselves in and climbed up to the roof of the tower. 52 Abimelech followed them to attack the tower. But as he prepared to set fire to the entrance, 53 a woman on the roof dropped a millstone that landed on Abimelech’s head and crushed his skull.
54 He quickly said to his young armor bearer, “Draw your sword and kill me! Don’t let it be said that a woman killed Abimelech!” So the young man ran him through with his sword, and he died. 55 When Abimelech’s men saw that he was dead, they disbanded and returned to their homes.
- Where’s God in all this betrayal, backstabbing, and bloodshed?
Judges 9.23
God sent a spirit that stirred up trouble between Abimelech and the leading citizens of Shechem, and they revolted. 24 God was punishing Abimelech for murdering Gideon’s seventy sons, and the citizens of Shechem for supporting him in this treachery of murdering his brothers.
And our conclusion of the chapter:
Judges 9.56
In this way, God punished Abimelech for the evil he had done against his father by murdering his seventy brothers. 57 God also punished the men of Shechem for all their evil. So the curse of Jotham son of Gideon was fulfilled.
- Be sure of two things tonight:
You may not see it or be able to tell, but God is moving toward redemption or judgment. “In our day, we have no divinely inspired narrator to lift the curtain to tell us where, when and how God is judging people,” but we better believe that He is.
Hebrews 11.6
And it is
Romans. 2.5
But because you are stubborn and refuse to turn from your sin, you are storing up terrible punishment for yourself. For a day of anger is coming, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.
- God’s judgment comes.
2 Peter 3.9
The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for
Judges 10.1
After Abimelech died, Tola son of Puah, son of Dodo, was the next person to rescue Israel. He was from the tribe of Issachar but lived in the town of Shamir in the hill country of Ephraim. 2 He judged Israel for twenty-three years. When he died, he was buried in Shamir.
- Like Deborah, Tolah ‘leads Israel’. There’s no enemy named. We have met the enemy and the enemy is us. God raises up Tola to lead Israel. They’ve collapsed in on themselves and God rescues them from them.
In the same way, God delivers us from us.
Romans. 7
21 I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. 22 I love God’s law with all my heart. 23 But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. 24 Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? 25 Thank God! The
Romans 8.1
So now there is
2 And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death.