WWUTT 249 Abimelech the King?

Israel came into the Promised Land, it was only a generation later when they turned from worshipping God and started worshipping the false gods.

But though this sin permeated Israel, God was still sovereign, and His hand was still at work when we understand the text.

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Here's your teacher, Pastor Gabe. Thank you, Becky. This being Thursday, we continue our Old Testament study in the book of Judges.

Turn with me, if you will, to Judges chapter 9. Today we'll be reading the story of Abimelech.

Now this is kind of a break in the Judges narrative because Abimelech was not a judge. He comes right in between Gideon and Tola, who we'll read about next week in chapter 10.

Gideon was Abimelech's father. And to kind of understand what's going on here in chapter 9, we need to do a little bit of backstory.

So let's go back to chapter 8, verse 22. After Gideon was successful against all of his enemies, the men of Israel said to Gideon, Rule over us, you and your son and your grandson also, for you have saved us from the hand of Midian.

So Israel is experiencing peace in the land again, and to ensure that that peace is going to happen for a long time, they want

Gideon to be their king. And then when Gideon dies, his son can succeed, can succeed him on the throne.

And then after his son dies, then his son can be on the throne. So the longer they can keep this line of Gideon going, the longer they can sustain peace in Israel.

But if you'll remember back to last week, Gideon was kind of a coward, so he didn't want to be king.

Instead, what he said to Israel in verse 23 was, I will not rule over you and my son will not rule over you.

The Lord will rule over you. Now that sounds noble, but really Gideon had just put kings to death and he knew that being a king himself, if an army powerful enough were to rise up, then he could be the one that ends up getting put to the sword so he wouldn't sit on the throne.

Instead, he did kind of give himself some faux power by by making an ephod and an ephod was the breastplate that was worn by the high priest.

So Gideon kind of made himself an unofficial high priest and it ended up causing a lot of problems for him and also for Israel.

Things didn't work out so great. He wouldn't become king. He was kind of a fake high priest. So to maintain a little bit of prestige for himself, but not so much that it would cost him his life.

And so anyway, things didn't end too well for Gideon. But as we see the story progress all the way through the book of Judges, these judges become less and less righteous men because they reflect the sins of the nation of Israel, who has turned from God and is worshiping the false gods.

Now we read about the death of Gideon in verses twenty nine through thirty five there in Judges chapter eight.

But first we read that he had a lot of sons. Verse 30 says Gideon had 70 sons, his own offspring, for he had many wives and his concubine who was in Shechem also bore him a son and he called his name

Abimelech. So Abimelech is not even the son of one of his wives. Abimelech is the son of one of Gideon's concubines.

And she was in Shechem, which was a Canaanite city. So then when we get to chapter nine here,

Abimelech, the son of Jerubal and Jerubal is another name for Gideon. It means he who contends with Baal.

He went to Shechem to his mother's relatives and said to them and to the whole clan of his mother's family, say in the ears of all the leaders of Shechem, which is better for you, that all 70 of the sons of Jerobal rule over you or that one rule over you?

Remember also that I am your bone and your flesh. And so Abimelech is kind of capitalizing a little bit on the fears of the

Canaanites in thinking that one of Gideon's sons could end up rising to the throne, because once again,

Israel felt like to maintain peace. Gideon should be ruling and then his son and then his grandson.

And so the Shechemites need to come up with something here. Who's a king that can help lead us against the sons of Gideon?

Why not another son of Gideon? If Gideon's line is blessed as successful conquerors somehow, then

Abimelech might be our successful conqueror. So let's make him a king. In verse three, and his mother's relatives spoke all these words on his behalf in the ears of all the leaders of Shechem and their hearts inclined to follow

Abimelech, for they said, he is our brother. And they gave him 70 pieces of silver out of the house of Baalbereth, with which

Abimelech hired worthless and reckless fellows who followed him.

And he went to his father's house at Aphra and killed his brothers, the sons of Jerobal, 70 men on one stone.

But Jotham, the youngest son of Jerobal, was left, for he hid himself. And all the leaders of Shechem came together and all

Beth Milo, and they went and made Abimelech king by the oak of the pillar at Shechem.

When it was told to Jotham, he went and stood on top of Mount Gerizim. Now Mount Gerizim was a

Shechem is in Samaria, by the way, or what we would eventually know as an area of North Israel that was referred to as Samaria.

Mount Gerizim was the place where the Samaritans believed that true worship was supposed to be conducted.

The Israelites believed that it was on Mount Moriah and that's where the temple was built. That was the place that God designated, where the temple was supposed to be constructed, where true worship would occur.

But the Samaritans had their own place of worship and they believed that it was Mount Gerizim. That's the significance of this place.

And as a matter of fact, this was the very place where Jesus would encounter the Samaritan woman at the well in John chapter four.

So it's there on Mount Gerizim that Jotham cried aloud and said to the Shechemites, listen to me, you leaders of Shechem, that God may listen to you.

The trees once went out to anoint a king over them and they said to the olive tree, rain over us.

But the olive tree said to them, shall I leave my abundance by which gods and men are honored and go hold sway over the trees?

And the tree said to the fig tree, you come and rain over us. But the fig tree said to them, shall

I leave my sweetness and my good fruit and go hold sway over the trees? And the tree said to the vine, you come rain over us.

But the vine said to them, shall I leave my wine that cheers God and men and go hold sway over the trees?

Then all the trees said to the bramble, you come and rain over us.

And the bramble said to the trees, if in good faith you are anointing me king over you, then come and take refuge in my shade.

But if not, let fire come out of the bramble and devour the cedars of Lebanon.

Now therefore, if you acted in good faith and integrity, when you made a Bimelech king, and if you have dealt well with Jeroboam and his house and have done to him as his deeds deserved, for my father fought for you and risked his life and delivered you from the hand of Midian, and you have risen up against my father's house this day and have killed his sons, 70 men on one stone and have made a

Bimelech the son of his female servant king over the leaders of Shechem because he is your relative. If you, if you then have acted in good faith and integrity with Jeroboam and with his house this day, then rejoice in a

Bimelech and let him also rejoice in you. But if not, let fire come out of a

Bimelech and devour the leaders of Shechem and Bethmilo and let fire come out from the leaders of Shechem and from Bethmilo and devour a

Bimelech. And Jotham ran away and fled and went to beer and live there because of a

Bimelech his brother. So this is the, uh, the fable that, uh,

Jotham tells to say what could potentially happen to a Bimelech and also to the

Shechemites. A Bimelech will end up destroying Shechem and Shechem will end up destroying a

Bimelech. And that's what ends up happening in the story. As we continue on here, verse 22, a Bimelech ruled over Israel for three years and God sent an evil spirit between a

Bimelech and the leaders of Shechem and the leaders of Shechem dealt treacherously with a

Bimelech that the violence done to the 70 sons of Jeroboam might come and their blood be laid on a

Bimelech, their brother who killed them. And on the men of Shechem who strengthened his hands to kill his brothers,

I find it interesting to note that the writer of judges makes a very clear point that the reader understand

God is still in control and he is still sovereign even over this situation. For God sent an evil spirit between a

Bimelech and the leaders of Shechem. There is this evil spirit then that is working to, uh, to bring a

Bimelech against the Shechemites and the Shechemites might also come against a Bimelech. In verse 26, and Gael the son of Ebed moved into Shechem with his relatives and the leaders of Shechem put confidence in him.

And they went out into the field and gathered the grapes from their vineyards and trod them and held a festival.

And they went into the house of their God, lowercase G, and ate and drank and reviled a

Bimelech. And Gael the son of Ebed said, who is a Bimelech and who are we of Shechem that we should serve him?

Is he not the son of Jeroboam and is not Zebul his officer? Serve the men of Hamer, the father of Shechem, but why should we serve him?

Would that this people were under my hand, then I would remove a Bimelech.

I would say to a Bimelech, increase your army and come out. So already you've got a member of the

Shechemites that is beginning to conspire against a Bimelech.

Verse 30, when Zebul the ruler of the city heard the words of Gael the son of Ebed, his anger was kindled and he sent messengers to a

Bimelech secretly saying, behold, Gael the son of Ebed and his relatives have come to Shechem and they are stirring up the city against you.

Now therefore go by night, you and the people who are with you and set an ambush in the field. Then in the morning, as soon as the sun comes up, rise early and rush upon the city.

And when he and the people who are with him come out against you, you may do to them as your hand finds to do.

So verse 34, a Bimelech and all the men who were with him rose up by night and set an ambush against Shechem in four companies.

And Gael the son of Ebed went out and stood in the entrance of the gate of the city. And a Bimelech and the people who were with him rose from the ambush.

And when Gael saw the people, he said to Zebul, look, people are coming down from the mountaintops.

And Zebul said to him, you mistake the shadow of the mountains for men. Gael spoke again and said, look, people are coming down from the center of the land.

And one company is coming from the direction of the diviner's oak. Then Zebul said to him, where is your mouth now?

You who said, who is a Bimelech that we should serve him? Are not these the people whom you despised?

Go out now and fight with them. And Gael went out at the head of the leaders of Shechem and fought with a

Bimelech. And a Bimelech chased him and he fled before him and many fell wounded up to the entrance of the gate.

And a Bimelech lived at Arumah and Zebul drove out Gael and his relatives so that they could not dwell at Shechem.

So here you kind of have this civil war going on here. Verse 42. On the following day, the people went out into the field and a

Bimelech was told. He took his people and divided them into three companies and set an ambush in the fields.

This looks kind of familiar, right? So Gideon did. Gideon did the same thing. So a Bimelech has kind of taken a page from Gideon's tactical handbook and dividing them up into three companies and surrounding them.

And he looked and saw the people coming out of the city. So he rose against them and killed them. Verse 44.

A Bimelech and the company that was with him rushed forward and stood at the entrance of the gates of the city while the two companies rushed upon all who were in the field and killed them.

And a Bimelech fought against the city all that day. He captured the city and he killed the people who were in it.

And he razed the city and sowed it with salt. That's a whole lot of salt.

When all the leaders of the Tower of Shechem heard it, they entered the stronghold of the house of Elbereth.

A Bimelech was told that all the leaders of the Tower of Shechem were gathered together. And a Bimelech went up to Mount Zalmon, he and all the people who were with him.

And a Bimelech took an axe in his hand and he cut down a bundle of brushwood and took it up and laid it on his shoulder.

And he said to the men who were with him, what you have seen me do, hurry and do as I have done. So every one of the people cut down his bundle and following a

Bimelech put it against the stronghold and they set the stronghold on fire over them. So that all the people of the

Tower of Shechem also died about a thousand men and women. Then a Bimelech went to the

Bez and encamped against the Bez and captured it. But there was a strong tower within the city and all the men and women and all the leaders of the city fled to it and shut themselves in and they went up to the roof of the tower.

And a Bimelech came to the tower and fought against it and drew near to the door of the tower to burn it with fire.

And a certain woman threw an upper millstone on a Bimelech's head and crushed his skull. Then he called quickly to the young man, his armor bearer, and he said to him, draw your sword and kill me lest they say of me a woman killed him.

And his young man thrust him through and he died. And when the men of Israel saw that a Bimelech was dead, everyone departed to his home.

Thus God returned the evil of a Bimelech, which he committed against his father in killing his 70 brothers.

And God also made all the evil of the men of Shechem return on their heads. And upon them came the curse of Jotham, the son of Jerubal, just as he said it would happen.

And that's the bloody story of a Bimelech. I find it funny that he says to his young armor bearer, draw your sword and kill me lest they say of me a woman has killed him.

And yet we have this story that has been captured for over 3000 years here, recounting that a

Bimelech was killed by a woman who threw a stone over the wall and knocked him in the head and he knew the injury was fatal and he was going to die.

So he had his armor bearer run him through. But once again, I draw attention to something that was stated there in verse 23, where it says that God sent an evil spirit between a

Bimelech and the leaders of Shechem and the leaders of Shechem dealt treacherously with a Bimelech.

So that evil spirit drove a Bimelech to do the things that he did, and also the

Shechemites to do the things that they did. Their hearts were so hardened against God that God turned them over to a depraved mind.

And it was by their depraved mind that they ended up destroying one another. And that,

I fear, is what can happen in our own nation as well. If we do not turn from our sin and repent and ask

God for his mercy and forgiveness. Because we read in Romans 1 24, as we've been going through Romans together, we come back to this book where it says, therefore,

God gave them up to the lusts of their hearts, to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the creator who is blessed forever, amen.

For this reason, God gave them up to dishonorable passions. And we read in verse 28, since they did not see fit to acknowledge

God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.

This is what can happen in a nation. If they do not repent and turn from their sin and their worldliness and their sexual immorality and seek the grace and mercy and salvation of our

God through Jesus Christ, our Lord. I pray that would be the attitude of the United States of America.

Now, is the U .S. completely depraved to the point that there are no righteous people here?

No, that's not the case. There are still righteous people in the United States that seek after God and fear him and love the

Lord Jesus Christ and honor his commands. Such people do exist in the United States of America. Such people existed in Israel as well.

When we read about Israel being so fallen from the Lord in the book of Judges, this doesn't mean that every single one of them were worshiping false gods.

There were righteous men that existed there. As a matter of fact, when we get to the story of Ruth, it's likely that that story happened during the time of the judges.

And so you have some righteous people that are spoken about there in the book of Ruth. The judges that God appoints to deliver

Israel out of the hands of their enemies. They are occasionally righteous, at least they are

God -fearing individuals. So it's not like they've become Sodom and Gomorrah where not a single righteous person can be found there.

But their general character, when you evaluate the character of the nation of Israel, you see a nation that is no different than the

Canaanites with whom they live. They're worshiping the Canaanite gods. They have turned from the God that delivered them from slavery in Egypt and instead are worshiping false gods, made up gods in their own image that they can believe will answer their every beck and call.

And so likewise, we see that happening in the American church. There are people who the majority of churches in the

United States of America worship their own version of God. They will use the words of the scriptures, taking verses out of context.

They'll use the name of God. They'll use the name of Jesus Christ. But the Jesus that they worship is their own version of Christ, not the true

Christ of the scriptures. And so repentance needs to first happen in our churches before it's going to happen in our nation.

We need to repent of false teaching, of raising up our own version of God to suit our own passions and interests.

And instead, we need to come back to the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ, understanding his commands and obeying them for the glory of God, lest he turn us over to a debased mind and we end up destroying ourselves.

Pray for the repentance of this nation. Do your part as God has called upon you to do, repenting of your sins and also preaching the gospel to the world.

Dear God, as we come away from this study today in Judges 9, I pray that when we are reading in this book, it's not just we're looking at Israel and thinking about how not to repeat the same mistakes.

But what we see is a God who is patient, who is loving and merciful and gracious.

You are slow to anger God, and it causes us to rejoice in you all the more.

We worship you all the more for the patient and merciful God that you are. We don't deserve this gift of eternal life that we have in Jesus Christ, our

Lord. But it is by your grace and mercy that it has been given to us. And so I pray that we not take this for granted, but we understand what the will of the

Lord is, as is talked about in Ephesians chapter 5. And how do we know your will, but by what is written in your word?

Help us to understand these words, know how to communicate them and share them with the world. And we pray and ask this in Jesus name.

Amen. Pastor Gabe keeps a regular blog, sharing personal thoughts, alerting readers to false teachers, and offering commentary on the church and social issues.

You can find a link to the blog through our website, www .utt .com. Thank you for listening and join us again tomorrow as we continue our study in God's Word...