The Usurper and the Throne | Sermon 01/09/2022

Apologia Utah

Subscribe

Download

Share

00

00:00

Now Abimelech, the son of Jerubaal, went to Shechem, to his mother's relatives, and said to them and to the whole clan of his mother's family,

00:08

Say in the ears of all the leaders of Shechem, Which is better for you, that all seventy sons of Jerubaal rule over you, or that one rule over you?

00:16

Remember also that I am your bone and your flesh. And his mother's relatives spoke all these words on behalf in the ears of all the leaders of Shechem, And their hearts inclined to follow

00:27

Abimelech, for they said, He is our brother. And they gave him seventy pieces of silver out of the house of Baal -berith, with which

00:34

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 Jerubaal, seventy men on one stone.

00:45

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

00:52

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

00:58

Thus ending the reading of God's word, let's pray. Dear Lord, we thank you to be able to come here and gather in worship in your name.

01:09

We know, Jesus, it's solely because of your blood that you shed on the cross, that, Lord, our sins are forgiven.

01:15

There's nothing that we have done. There's no righteousness that we can present before you, Lord, but it's purely the righteousness that you,

01:23

Lord, have given us, that you have credited us to our account. And it's because of you, Jesus, that we gather together.

01:29

We love you. We thank you for this. In Holy Spirit, we praise you that you have preserved your word throughout time,

01:35

Lord, that you have given us such gracious examples, Lord, in Scripture, showing us what happens when we search after other gods, when we are led after other gods,

01:46

Lord. So let our hearts be opened today to your word. Let us love you with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.

01:53

Lord, please keep my voice and my words from error. It is a terrifying thing,

01:59

Lord, to be in the pulpit. So I praise you, Lord, for this opportunity, but I pray,

02:05

Lord, that I get out of the way, that your word, Lord, reigns supreme because you reign supreme.

02:10

You are the end. You are the beginning. You are the alpha and the omega. And I praise you,

02:16

Lord, in Jesus' name. Amen. Psalm 16 .4 says this,

02:21

The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply. It's the psalm that we had

02:26

Pastor Wade reading. And this story, and judges, this is a dark story, guys. And honestly, if we're honest with ourselves, it's a story that we know all too well personally.

02:37

But specifically, this is one of a bitter man who stops at nothing to obtain his desires. This is a story of a twisted people who, though they have seen the miracles of God, play the harlot and run after other gods.

02:51

This is the story of adultery. Israel running around with its pagan playmates doing

02:57

God knows what in the dark while the Lord of hosts rescues his adulterous bride from the brink of utter destruction.

03:05

This is the story of the dog who goes back to lick up his own vomit. It's also the story of the addict, the one who destroys himself and all those around him trying to obtain an unreachable high.

03:18

You see, guys, this is the story of idolatry. And the very first commandment is, thou shall have no other gods before me.

03:25

And the book of Judges clearly, clearly illustrates what happens to a covenant people who reject the

03:31

Lord as king and bring illegitimate worship into the house of God. We live in God's world by His design.

03:40

It is upheld by the word of His power. He is sovereign, distinct, and separate from His creation.

03:45

Yet He is fully imminent. He is fully present within His creation. He alone determines how and what we worship.

03:54

He is a jealous God who shares His glory with no one. So He alone deserves and receives worship.

04:01

He has declared the end from the beginning. He creates calamity and well -being, it says in Isaiah 45.

04:08

He alone establishes kings and judges the nations. It is under His hand that kingdoms rise and kingdoms fall.

04:16

It is our Lord who endures forever. Understanding, knowledge, truth, justice, and love stem from His character.

04:25

In reality itself is determined by the immutable nature of God. Therefore, what

04:30

He says goes. And anyone who rejects God lives in rebellion to God's determined reality.

04:37

And they are living in a lie. They are searching after something that they could never find. That is idolatry.

04:42

It's living and worshiping an illusion. This is idolatry. It's the worship of what isn't when

04:49

God is the great I am. God's wrath abides on those who reject Him. He opposes the proud, but He gives grace to the humble.

04:58

He sits in the heavens and laughs and holds the nations in derision. Anyone who is not with God is against God.

05:07

In all peoples, nations, and kings will face judgment for their actions. Every word said under the sun will be brought forth before the king and we will all have to give it an account.

05:18

It is a dangerous thing to fall into the hands of the living God. But, but it is also a beautiful thing to find yourself receiving

05:29

God's mercy, patience, and benevolence. It is a blessing to find your life hidden with Christ, to have the refuge of being safe in Him.

05:38

This is the case with Israel in the time of judges. They were blessed by God to bring forth the

05:43

Messiah. They were hidden in the promise of Christ, the mystery of the gospel. Despite their failures,

05:50

God made a covenant with Abraham and God swore to Himself since there is no one greater than God.

05:55

And this is what He swore to Abraham. He said, through your offspring shall all the nations be blessed.

06:02

Though Israel may fail time and time again, though Israel may break their covenant with God, God never, ever broke

06:09

His covenant with them. Israel and we even are the great covenant breakers, whereas God is the great covenant keeper.

06:18

Thus is the time of the book of Judges. The book of Judges, guys, it's a historical narrative that shows the

06:25

Lord upholding His covenant with the lowly people, all for the sake of the

06:31

Messiah. This book details the history of the tribes between 1400 BC and 1100

06:36

BC. The book of Judges in the beginning in the first chapter gives us a magnified look into the conquest of Joshua, the land that was captured but only partially because there was failure that occurred and there was consequences that had to happen for the failure of the conquest.

06:52

So judges for Israel, it is a time of judgment, repentance, restoration, and then judgment for the purpose, again, of preserving a nation to bring forth the

07:03

Messiah. This is a cyclical book. This is what happens when you place something that is other than God as the chief desire in your heart.

07:12

And the question that I want you to ask yourself today as we go through this, Judges 8 .33 -9 .6

07:18

is what have you made more important in your life than God? How are you trying to take

07:25

Christ off his throne? What is your king? Who is your king? What do you follow or who do you follow?

07:31

The Bible states that if it isn't God, your sorrows will multiply and that you will become just like what you worship.

07:41

So beginning at Judges chapter one, just to give a quick context to the situation in Judges chapter eight and nine here, the judgment of Israel began when they failed to conquer the promised land exactly how the

07:52

Lord told them to in Exodus 23 verses 20 -33. We don't need to go there. I'm just going to summarize what is told there.

07:59

The angel of the Lord makes a covenant with the people and they're given a promise to inherit the promised land.

08:05

However, the full blessing of the Lord is contingent upon the obedience of Israel. They are to conquer all and make no pacts or treaties with any foreign government or gods.

08:14

They were to be conquered. Even the people don't make the pacts with the people, drive them out of the land.

08:19

But Judges chapter one, if you want, you can turn to Judges one starting in verse 27.

08:25

You can see here the conquest failures were as follows. Benjamin did not drive out the

08:31

Jebusites. It's shown in Judges 121. And quick side note actually about the Jebusites is we actually know we have a great idea through the internal evidence of the book of Judges of when the book of Judges was written right here in this text because it says that the

08:44

Jebusites dwell in the land to this day. Well, we know early in King David's reign that he drove the

08:52

Jebusites out of Jerusalem. So the internal evidence of the book of Judges says that early in King David's reign is most likely when this book was written.

09:00

I find that to be extremely interesting. The Bible always gives us so many cool things to look at. So Benjamin did not drive out the

09:06

Jebusites fully. Manasseh did not drive out the inhabitants as well. Instead, they put the Canaanites into forced labor.

09:14

Ephraim, they also did not fully drive out the Canaanites. Zebulon did not drive out the inhabitants.

09:20

Asher as well did not drive out the inhabitants fully. And Naphtali did not drive out the inhabitants. And this is noted here for a reason.

09:27

The author of Judges is making a point. He's saying here, this is the failure.

09:32

This is where it all starts. Because in Judges chapter two, immediately it follows with this.

09:38

This is the angel of the Lord. I'm gonna read it to you. It says, now the angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to Bacchum.

09:44

And he said, I brought you up from Egypt. This is the angel of the Lord. He says, I brought you up from Egypt and brought you into the land that I swore to give your fathers.

09:54

I said, I will never break my covenant with you. And you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land.

10:01

You shall break down their altars, but you have not obeyed my voice. What is this that you have done?

10:08

So now I say, I will not drive them out before you, but they shall become thorns in your sides and their gods shall be a snare to you.

10:16

As soon as the angel of the Lord spoke these words to all the people of Israel, the people lifted up their voices and wept.

10:22

And they called the name of that place Bacchum and they sacrificed there to the Lord. And Bacchum literally means weeping, wept.

10:29

Israel then follows the Lord all the rest of the days of Joshua. But the next generation we see in Judges chapter two initially, they forget the

10:37

Lord and they worship the Baal in Ashtoreth. So God handed them over to be plundered.

10:42

But in all of this, Israel lifts up their voice to God and he raises up judges to release them from the hands of their enemies.

10:50

So that's the cyclical nature of this book, right? They start and they go off of idolatry and they worship other gods and then they repent and then

10:59

God restores them. So we're gonna flash all the way up to the sixth Judge Gideon now. So in Judges six through eight, we have the

11:07

Israelites being oppressed by the hand of the Midianites for seven years. And prior to this, they were being oppressed by the

11:12

Amalekites, but Deborah and Barak released them from this oppression and they had 40 years of peace.

11:19

But after that 40 years of peace, another generation goes by and then they're worshiping the Baals over again, worshiping false gods.

11:27

But what's interesting enough is that the Lord, it shows us in Judges chapter six, that he actually sends a prophet to remind the people of the miracles of God, how he delivered them from the

11:39

Egyptians. God is so gracious. He is so gracious. But then it was the angel of the Lord who showed himself to Gideon.

11:47

But however, the Bible makes it clear, guys, that Gideon was not a man of intense bravery, nor was he a man of impeccable faith.

11:54

When the angel of the Lord goes to meet Gideon, Gideon is hiding, beating wheat in a wine press in fear of the

12:00

Midianites, right? He was a man, he was a son of Adam, but he was used as a judge to rescue

12:08

Israel, to preserve a people who were to bring forth the Messiah. Even Gideon, over and over again, he tested the

12:15

Lord. We've heard the stories, right? First, he tested the Lord with food and then he tested the Lord with a fleece.

12:21

However, the Lord of hosts with his eyes ablaze like fire stood beside Gideon as 135 ,000

12:29

Midianites fell on the swords of 300 Israelites. That's phenomenal.

12:35

This is something that really happened. Gideon, though, he was only the instrument. He was the person used to bring glory to God's holy name.

12:42

It is the Lord, clearly, it is the Lord who rescued Israel. It is the Lord who delivered them from the hand of the

12:49

Midianite kings, Zeb and Zalmanah. Like all the other judges, he also had his faults.

12:55

And Israel, even after being rescued and experiencing 40 years of peace, fell back into idolatry.

13:01

Right there, we saw that at the end of Judges 8, verses 33. And this now, guys, brings us to Abimelech.

13:08

So verse one, Judges 9, verse one, it states this. Now Abimelech, the son of Jerubbaal, went to Shechem to his mother's relatives and said to them and to the whole clan of his mother's family.

13:21

Interesting enough, guys, Abimelech, the name itself means my father is king. My father is king.

13:27

It's very interesting. He's one of the sons of Gideon. He's one of the 70. And if you've read the name a lot, it's

13:34

Jerubbaal. We've been hearing that. That actually means let Baal contend against him because Gideon, when the angel of the

13:41

Lord called him, first tested Gideon and said, I want you to go to your hometown in Ophrah and I want you to destroy the altar to Baal that is there and also the ashtroth.

13:49

And what's funny about that is Gideon, being the intense man of bravery that he is, doesn't do it during day.

13:56

He actually does it at nighttime. And then when the townspeople are angry at him, he has his father speak for him.

14:02

I think it's very, very interesting. But anyways, he destroys the altar there. And what happens is, is they name him

14:11

Jerubbaal. Let Baal contend against him. And Abimelech, just like Gideon, was from the tribe of Manasseh.

14:18

And interesting enough, in chapter 8, we see Gideon says this. He says, after he destroys the king

14:24

Zeb and Zalmanah, he takes their ornaments from their camels and he fashions an ephod. And the townspeople of Israel, they say, hey,

14:33

Gideon, we want to make you king. But Gideon says this. He says, no, the Lord shall be your king. Great.

14:38

That's a great way to start, Gideon. But what's interesting enough is, it seems like during the end of his life, what happens is he ends up falling into some sort of dynasty, right?

14:47

He ends up having multiple wives. Polygamy is a sin. It's a sin in the Bible. He also has the son of a concubine, which was not one of his wives, who was

14:56

Abimelech, right? And then he names that son, my father is king. The one who says,

15:03

God is your king. It seems to be very interesting to me. And the funny thing is, is if you name your child, my father is king, you think they might just grow up with a complex to want to be king themselves, right?

15:14

I think that's kind of what happened here. But also in Judges chapter 8, just as in some of Gideon's faults, in a sense, is that when he talks about the city of Aphra, where he's from, the

15:26

Bible actually details as Gideon calling it his city, his city. So we can see there that Gideon, in a sense, may have succumbed to some form of, not worship in a sense, but what he did was, may have set himself up a little dynasty and to have some rulers from it.

15:48

Anyways, Abimelech, as we see in the text, he was brought from Shechem to Aphra, where him and his 70 brothers were actually living in the house of Gideon.

15:58

They were being raised there. But the text says that he went to Shechem, right, to see his mother's family.

16:07

So he went to Shechem after the death of his father Gideon to pay a visit. But the truth is that we can see in the text is that Abimelech didn't go there just trying to go, you know, like say it's like a

16:18

Thanksgiving dinner or something like that, trying to get along with his family. No, he went there for a reason and for a purpose.

16:24

Abimelech conspired to gain control. He didn't like the rule of the

16:29

Lord in the tribes of Israel. And Abimelech despised the honor of his brothers.

16:35

But they were also the only ones that could stop him in his tyranny, right? Remember guys, at this time in Israel, God did not institute any kings.

16:45

There was to be no monarchial system. The book of Judges clearly details that any success even from a judge was given to them purely by God.

16:54

Over and over again in the book of Judges, it's the writer and the author of Judges makes it very, very clear that it was

17:02

God rescuing Israel. What Abimelech desired guys was something outside of God's design.

17:11

Think about that. Now on to verse two. Say in the ears, this is what

17:17

Abimelech is telling his mother's family to do. Say in the ears of all the leaders of Shechem, which is better for you?

17:24

That all 70 sons of Jerubbaal rule over you? Or that one rule over you? Remember also that I am your bone and I am your flesh.

17:34

So here we can see Abimelech enticing his family and he began to conspire against even his own flesh and blood.

17:41

And he pit themselves against one another. Remember, these are all Israelites we're talking about here.

17:47

However, the people of Shechem, they were synchronizing their worship of God with Baal. And the section of scripture that says leaders of Shechem, the literal translation would actually be the

17:58

Baals of Shechem, which means lords, Baals would mean lords. But the original language connotates allegiance to the

18:06

Canaanite deity Baal. So when he says, go speak to the leaders of Shechem, these are like the priests of Baal in Shechem that were leading the city in Israel.

18:17

So Abimelech not only stating to these people that he shares their blood, but he's also telling them that he shares his devotion of worship to Baal.

18:27

It's very interesting. It's noted again that Jerubbaal is Gideon, but Abimelech's choice of words here, it sets the juxtaposition between the worshiper of the

18:37

Lord Gideon and the worshiper of Baal. So he keeps using, when he's talking to his relatives, he doesn't say

18:43

Gideon, he's using the words Jerubbaal because he's reminding them that Jerubbaal is the one who took down your altars, but I'm not him.

18:53

I'm not him. He's creating, he's enticing, he's conspiring against his family. And then he's showing that by himself who shares their blood and worship is better to lead

19:04

Shechem and better to lead Israel than the 69 of his brothers that don't share the same devotion.

19:11

So the beauty of this narrative that we have so graciously recorded for us is that we can see the sin of Abimelech and it's the same sin that the leaders, the

19:19

Baals of Shechem fell into. Idolatry does that, right?

19:25

They worshiped a different God, they lived in an illusion, therefore they fell prey to the desires of their heart.

19:31

Verse three says this, and his mother's relatives spoke all these words on behalf in the ears of all the leaders of Shechem and their hearts inclined to follow

19:43

Abimelech for they said, he is our brother. So it's clear that Abimelech was moved by his earthly desires.

19:50

He went to his own clan, to his own family to sway the ears of the people of Shechem. But the questions are this, why not speak to the

19:58

Baals of Shechem yourself? Right? Why have your family speak for you?

20:04

The heart of Abimelech is that of a coward, right? So is a lot of tyrannical rulers, they're cowards. He looks to use the strength of others for his own personal gain.

20:14

It's possible that his family had more notoriety in town however, if he was a true leader, honor and integrity should have it that you ought not to spread your bitterness to others by devilishly instilling your envy in another.

20:28

Right? Idolatry clouds the mind though. It doesn't allow the person to think about the situation.

20:34

The leaders of Shechem should have seen something like this. Why in the world is he having his family speak for himself?

20:40

But they were also enticed by a coward. In their own hearts, it says their hearts were inclined to follow

20:46

Baal. They're unable to see how Abimelech would rather others speak on behalf for him.

20:53

That he would use their influence for he is a man whom no one would follow.

20:59

Right? They don't understand that he doesn't care about them. He's taking advantage of them for his own personal reasons.

21:07

In all reality, right? This is the town of Shechem. This is an Israelite town.

21:13

They should have feared the Lord their God, right? If they had correct worship, they would have understand that any person coming to them, enticing them with the power of the throne of Israel would have streamed, they would have seen straight off their rocker.

21:27

Right off their rocker. They would have been, how can you get any better a king than the Lord? What does

21:32

Abimelech really even have to offer? They would have already been waiting for the Messiah, recompensing on the prophecy given by Jacob in Genesis 49, 10 that says, the scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the staff from between his feet until Shiloh comes and the allegiance of the nations is his.

21:48

If Shechem had true worship to God, they wouldn't be enticed by a king because they're waiting for the

21:54

Messiah. Well, the truth is, what Abimelech had to offer aligned with the desires of their own wicked hearts.

22:05

Remember guys, the town of Shechem was in the tribe of Ephraim and these are Israelites.

22:11

They were enticed by the words of Abimelech. Their own dark desires of their hearts maligned themselves with the vision of Abimelech and this is what happens.

22:20

Go to verse 4. And they gave him 70 pieces of silver out of the house of Baal -barith, with which

22:30

Abimelech hired worthless and reckless fellows who followed him. And verse 5, and he went to his father's house at Aphra and killed his brothers, sons of Jerubbaal, 70 men on one stone.

22:45

It's very, very intense and this section of scripture has to be one of the most tellings. The Baals of Shechem enticed by their own desires, conspired with Abimelech and funded him by taking money out of their temple to Baal.

22:58

Just let that sink in for a moment. Like when we read scripture guys, myself included, I tend to gloss over sections that are extremely eye -opening.

23:07

I'm going to read this section of scripture again. I want to see if you guys catch how eye -opening it is. And they gave him 70 pieces of silver out of the house of Baal -barith, with which

23:18

Abimelech hired worthless and reckless fellows. You may be thinking, oh, well he conspired and there was pieces of silver that were given to go kill his brothers just like the

23:27

Pharisees had given money to Judas to go kill Jesus. Yes, that is intense and that is a truth that can be brought from scripture.

23:33

But my mind is thinking something different. And then he went to his father's house at Aphra and killed his brothers, sons of Jerubbaal, 70 men on one stone.

23:43

If you're not catching it, think about this guys. The Lord had just rescued the

23:49

Israelites from the hands of the Midianites through Gideon. Miraculously, 135 ,000 pagans were conquered by 300 of Gideon's men.

23:58

That is literally 400 and odd men for each one person to kill. And this happened in all reality.

24:05

Not only that, Gideon began his legacy by destroying the altar to Baal in his hometown. Yet what we are seeing happen within the generation after Gideon's death is

24:15

Baal is not only worshipped in a town in Israel, but a temple is erected and the

24:20

Israelites are paying tithes to a false god. We can see easily how the

24:26

Baals of Shechem were enticed. Their hearts were already going after other gods. They did not honor the god of their fathers.

24:33

They wanted something different. Their hearts were darkened and they did not heed the warning of Moses and Joshua.

24:40

The most deep part is this. When you hear the word Shechem, if you read your Bibles often, if you read the

24:45

Old Testament often, you should hear the name Shechem and there should be things that are immediately going in your head. Immediately things going in your head.

24:52

This is the town that Abimelech went to, that his mother was from so he could spire, right?

24:58

This is where the temple of Baal was. Well, in Joshua, Joshua chapter 24,

25:04

Shechem is the place where Joshua challenged the Israelites to follow the Lord.

25:09

It's where he made his great stand. For me in my house, we will serve the Lord, right? There the

25:15

Israelites stood at Shechem stating over and over again that they would follow the Lord. So I'm going to read a section from Joshua chapter 24.

25:23

Listen to this, guys. This is just huge. Joshua says to the people, you are not able to serve the

25:30

Lord for he is a holy God. He is a jealous God. He will not forgive your transgressions or your sins.

25:38

If you forsake the Lord and serve foreign gods, then he will turn and do you harm and consume you after having done you good.

25:46

So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day and put in place statutes and rules for them at Shechem.

25:53

And he took a large stone and set it up there under the terabinth that was by the sanctuary of the

25:58

Lord. And Joshua said to all the people, behold, this stone shall be a witness against us for it has heard all the words of the

26:06

Lord that the Lord, that he spoke to us. Therefore, it shall be a witness against you, lest you deal falsely with your

26:13

God. The very same place where they erected a stone to bear witness against themselves, they erected a temple proving what

26:21

Joshua said was true. They could not follow the living God. The stone that they could literally see every single day in their hometown that should have reminded them of their covenant instead was overlooked and rejected.

26:35

Today, you can actually Google this stone and archeologists say that it is still there. This thing is like 15 feet high.

26:42

It is not a small stone. It amazes me in scripture that we see this, that these people living in the town of Shechem go after the

26:51

Baals and every single day they have a stone to remind them of their covenant against themselves.

26:59

But the question is, guys, is so do we. We have one as well. The question is, have we lost our first love?

27:05

Have we forgotten the Christ who saved us from our sin? We do have a stone and he is the cornerstone to our faith and we also have a witness.

27:14

It's the Holy Spirit. Have we forgotten our first love? We know that they did.

27:21

Abimelech then uses the money from the temple to Baal and hired worthless and reckless fellows to capture his own brothers.

27:30

He then slew them on one stone and what's very eye -opening about this text is the slaying of his brothers on the one stone was a ritualistic slaying in offering to Baal.

27:46

This wasn't just taking a stone and killing them there. No, he hired the worthless and reckless fellows.

27:52

They went and captured his own blood, his own kin, and he slayed them there.

27:59

What do we see? We see that we as Christian fellowship, right, we might not share the same immediate family, but we have something greater than that.

28:10

We're adopted into the son as sons and daughters of God through the blood of Jesus Christ, it says in Ephesians.

28:15

So we have a connection with one another that is higher than just flesh and blood. It's the blood of Jesus Christ, right?

28:21

And that's what worship does to people, right? So idolatry in a sense with false illegitimate worship of a false god, he aligns himself with the town of Shechem and he slays his own kin on a rock in justification in worship to Baal.

28:37

But the truth is, as we know, Baal gets no glory at all. He's a false god. He can't receive worship. He can't receive worship.

28:44

But that is exactly what happened. And then in verse five, it says, But Jotham, the youngest son of Jerubbaal was left, for he had hid himself.

28:54

And all the leaders of Shechem came together at Beth Milo and they went and made a Bimelech king by the oak of the pillar at Shechem.

29:03

Before we talk about Jotham, the truth is that this guy was pure rebellion.

29:09

There was idolatry here that made a Bimelech and Shechem long after other gods which led them to slaughter their own kin.

29:17

Then in a twisted dark declaration of their own honor, they went by the oak of the pillar at Shechem to declare him king.

29:24

When you hear the name Shechem again, this should be brought to mind. It's in Genesis chapter 12, verse six through seven.

29:32

The oak where they declared a Bimelech king, this is what happened in Genesis 12. Listen to this.

29:38

Abram passed through the land to the place at Shechem, to the oak at Morah. At that time, the

29:43

Canaanites were in the land. Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, To your offspring, I will give this land.

29:49

So he built there an altar to the Lord who had appeared to him. Guys, in an utterly twisted and depraved way to usurp the throne of God and then to declare yourself king, this is where the

30:01

Lord said to Abraham, right, that the nations would be blessed through him. The very same place where they declared him king.

30:08

That is utter blasphemy, utter blasphemy. However, the grace of God was still present.

30:14

For Jotham, one of the sons of Gideon, hid and escaped the tyrannical wrath of a Bimelech. A Bimelech was not allowed to destroy all of Israel.

30:23

Instead, he was destroyed and remembered in a shaming way. We're not going to go through the rest of chapter nine, but I'm going to summarize it for you here.

30:31

This is how idolatry killed the Baals of Shechem, and this is how idolatry killed the

30:36

Bimelech. What happened was, the Baals of Shechem ended up dying, burning in the basement hold of the temple of Baal Barith by the orders of a

30:45

Bimelech. In the house of their idolatry, they fled for safety and their God delivered them not.

30:53

The one who conspired against God, who got his own family to go kill his other family, were then killed by the same tyrannical king that they instituted to usurp the throne of God.

31:05

Then a Bimelech, he was killed by a woman dropping a millstone on his head. He begged his armor bearer to kill him with a sword so that no one could say a woman killed him.

31:15

However, the Bible very well details that he was killed by a woman. And just like he slew his brothers on one stone, he was also killed by a stone, right?

31:28

The sorrows of those who go after other gods will be multiplied. And we see that over and over and over again in the book of Judges.

31:39

So idolatry, it never ends well, guys. It never ends well. And its roots have a bitter beginning.

31:45

Idolatry is there from the beginning. Lucifer, the most beautiful of angels, was not content with his position and he idolized the throne of God.

31:55

We know what happens after that. Adam and Eve idolized the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

32:01

They were in communion with God in the garden. They were told by the very mouth of God not to eat from the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, for if they were to eat from it, they would surely die.

32:13

But they were swayed by the serpent. Adam and Eve chose to eat from the tree. Through their idolatry, they were unable to view reality for what it truly was.

32:23

God spoke. He said, that's what it is. But when you idolize something, you can't even see what

32:28

God says for what it really is. Idolatry is the worship of what isn't when God is the great

32:34

I am. And again, Cain killed Abel, right? He was jealous of his brother and we know murder begins in the heart.

32:43

Jesus tells us that. He devised a plan to destroy his brother, to gain his honor, to usurp his blessing.

32:50

And what happened to Cain? He was judged by God and forced to wander across the earth for the rest of his life.

32:56

Do you guys see it? Do you guys understand why this idolatry happens? It's because we follow the desires of our heart, right?

33:05

In Jeremiah 17, 9, it says, our hearts are deceitful above all things, desperately sick. Who could know it?

33:11

If you want to see what is at the core of our worship, where is our focus on at the times that we are alone?

33:19

Better yet, what takes up most of our times? What are we constantly thinking about? Because when we're reading the story about Abimelech, we shouldn't just be casting stones at him.

33:28

We should also be thinking about ourselves because in reality, we are also a covenant people in communion with God, right?

33:37

We're also sinners and we struggle and we should want to put to death idolatry in our hearts.

33:44

We should put it to death. James 1, 15 says this, it says, but each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire.

33:53

Then desire, when it is conceived, gives birth to sin and sin, when it is fully grown, brings forth death.

34:01

James shows us that when our desires are not Christ, they will end in sin. Idolatry never begets worship.

34:08

It brings only pain, suffering, and it does not allow us again to see reality for what it truly is.

34:16

So the question is, is how do we stop? How do we stop? The first part of putting sin to death and stopping idolatry is first to analyze the root of our desires.

34:28

And I would say discontentment allows room for idolatry to grow, right?

34:36

Discontentment, not being happy with what you have. Abimelech was tempted with the same desire as Satan, Adam, Eve, and Cain, and at the root of the sin lay discontentment at the door, right?

34:51

It was knocking, scheming, devising, twisting, and turning, rooting and devouring mind, soul, and body.

34:59

Again, Jesus says murder first starts in the heart. When we desire what God has not granted us, we only hasten the sin that keeps us enslaved.

35:08

Not only that, discontentment looks to move from one person to another. It's a wildfire sin of sorts.

35:14

It adds fuel to the flames of the desires in the hearts of men, right? With discontentment, we can bring about gossip and slander in the church, right?

35:23

And these things don't like to make themselves known in the public square. It happens in the dark corners by cowardice and whispers like Abimelech conspiring with his family.

35:33

There's a difference between when God speaks and men speak, right? When God speaks, he speaks truth and it brings life.

35:42

He does nothing in secret. He even publicly sacrificed his son, making a spectacle of the conspiring, gossiping, and slandering

35:50

Pharisees by raising himself also publicly from the dead. But when the heart of the sinful man speaks, especially in whispers, falsehoods, guys, gossip, lies, and slander are spewed from the mouth.

36:04

But it's not for all to hear. It's only for those in the know. And those who wish to know have a desire to malign themselves with the dark desires of their own hearts.

36:15

Out of the abundance of our hearts, our mouths speak. And the tongue is the rudder. It is a blazing fire in destruction, discontentment, and bitterness.

36:23

It can happen in the church and it can happen just with our neighbor. In many ways, things that spread from a conspiracy or a whisper starts with a discontent heart.

36:33

But it's okay, you know, to have desires. Like, we ought to desire to have a good marriage.

36:40

We ought to desire to have good children. But the idolatry flourishes when you want to have a perfect marriage.

36:48

When you want to have perfect children. It's not possible. When you do that, you forget that you already have a perfect marriage.

36:55

Christ is the bridegroom. And you are the bride of Christ. He is the only one that will never fail you.

37:00

So when your husband or your wife or your kids fail you, you can then become discontent with what you have.

37:07

But if you notice that going on in your life, put it to death. And the truth is, as Christians, tell me, honestly, what does a

37:15

Christian have to be discontent about? Oh, wait, the Bible will wait.

37:21

There is nothing that we have to be discontent about. The early Christians, they were flayed from their skin. They were impaled through their butts out their mouth.

37:30

They were eaten alive by animals. This is the reality. And what does Paul say?

37:35

To live is Christ and to die is gain. These were people who were faced with death on a daily basis.

37:42

Right? As Christians, we have been brought from death to life. We have been crucified with Christ.

37:47

Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ. Neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus, our

38:03

Lord. We're told this in Colossians chapter 2. Therefore, as you received

38:08

Christ Jesus, the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him, established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

38:20

We're taught in Colossians 2 that Christ is the treasure of all wisdom and knowledge. Do you hear it though?

38:26

Abound in thanksgiving just as you were taught when you received Christ Jesus, the Lord. When you forget what

38:33

God saved you from, you will fall prey to discontentment.

38:39

Guys, we were once at enmity with God on an eternal pathway to hell.

38:45

But yet while we were still sinners, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

38:51

Then furthermore in Colossians, it says this, and you who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh,

38:57

God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all of our trespasses by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands.

39:06

This he set aside by nailing it to the cross. He disarmed all rulers and authorities and put them to open shame by triumphing over them in him.

39:15

This is right after we're told to be thankful for our salvation. He then reminds, Paul reminds and reminds, this is the beauty of the gospel.

39:24

So just as Jesus said to the woman at the well in John 4 10, listen, Jesus answered her, if you knew the gift of God and who it is that is saying to you, give me a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.

39:41

The truth is, is that we already have all that we should desire in Jesus. There is no gift given that is greater than the shed blood of Jesus Christ for our sins.

39:49

Just like Jesus said to the woman at the well. The question is, is Jesus enough for you? Do you know who he is when you're discontent?

39:58

He says, if only you knew me, you would ask and I would give you living water. Do you know him?

40:05

Do you know him? That's the question. And if you don't, please, please come and talk with us.

40:11

Come and talk with us. We would love for you to have a relationship with Jesus Christ. So here's the key.

40:17

We need to stop coveting. Another word for covet is desire, right? And desire things that we simply don't have.

40:27

To covet something again is to desire in the last, the last commandment is thou shalt not covet.

40:33

However, there's a negative connotation to the desire with regard to the 10th commandment. So again, it's okay to want to have a good marriage.

40:41

It's okay to want to have wonderful children and raise them in the fear and admonition of the Lord, but it is not okay to find your peace in that, right?

40:50

Furthermore, we see in Colossians 3, 5 that covetousness is idolatry. This is what

40:56

Paul says. He says, put to death, therefore, what is earthly in you? Sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.

41:10

On the account of these, the wrath of God is coming. Desiring what you do not have, you will scheme and you will devise wicked plans in order to obtain what you worship.

41:25

All of these things follow an empty, sick desire of the heart. Think about this, guys. We have everything already given to us in God's word.

41:33

I don't need to scheme and devise wicked plans to be content with my life. I have it here.

41:39

He gave it for me and He ratified it with His own blood, right? The Holy Spirit has preserved

41:44

His word throughout time, and I've got it in my hands, in my fingertips. But if I want something that is not to be mine, that God has not given me, you bet your bottom dollar that you will sin and you will fight tooth and nail to get it.

41:59

The question is, why don't we fight tooth and nail to read the word of God? So with regard to Abimelech, the throne was not a gift from God for Himself.

42:10

God did not grant Abimelech the earthly throne. God was to be

42:16

King of Israel. And we know that every good gift comes from God, right? But earthly passions and desires come not from God, but from sinful man.

42:28

However, with the case of Abimelech, we see that his desires were antithetical to the position that God had given him.

42:35

And in his discontentment, even being a son of Gideon, he sought to usurp the throne for personal gain, right?

42:43

And the beautiful thing about Jesus is not only is He King of the world, right, but He's King of our hearts.

42:49

And us as Christians, have we tried to dethrone Christ in our lives? Have we tried to usurp

42:55

His rule in our hearts with something else? Not just as Abimelech, a usurper of the throne, but we should be reminded that we are as well in many ways, and we should repent.

43:05

We must put away the same discontentment from our lives. We must kill the root of bitterness that corrupts the whole tree.

43:14

For the Holy Spirit says this through James, how can a fresh lake bear salt water?

43:20

How can a good tree bear bad fruit? We are to be the first fruits of Christ's creation to walk in newness of life, to set our minds on things that are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God and not below.

43:35

This is what Paul states about the earthly things that we desire in Galatians 5, 19 through 21. Now the works of the flesh are evident.

43:44

Sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these.

43:58

I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

44:06

Let it be clear that Abimelech and his passions, again, were not of God but of the flesh.

44:12

Therefore, his carnal reign cannot produce fresh water. He is a usurper. His father is of the devil and he wanted the throne.

44:19

The question again we should ask ourselves is how do we do the same? How do we do the same?

44:26

We can see in the text that when we desire the works of the flesh, they will be manifested.

44:32

These are manifestations of what we desire in Galatians 5, 19 through 21, right?

44:38

So if you find yourself discontent pursuing something in your life and when failures come and you manifest the works of the flesh from Galatians, take a step back, reassess your life, and put your sin to death, right?

44:53

Put your sin to death because the Bible doesn't say think about it. No, it says put to death therefore what is earthly in you.

45:04

So in what ways, guys, in what point in our life do we seek the throne of God? In what aspect do we need to put our fleshly desires to death before we seek to obtain something that doesn't belong to us?

45:18

God's word is clear. Those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

45:25

Let the bitterness and jealousy of Cain, of Abimelech, of Saul, and of the devil produce within you a repentance leading you into the arms of Christ.

45:35

With regard to coveting and discontentment, understand that where you are today was given to you by God, that what you have is a gift.

45:44

Do not let your passions rot and allow them to cause decay in your sanctification. Pluck the passions from yourself before you become septic in your spiritual walk.

45:55

And use God's word in your life to analyze your life before you spew out angers, rivalry, envy, and the sort.

46:03

Truly examine yourself to see whether or not you are in the faith, right? Really, that's why we're told to do that.

46:10

And then remind yourself of the gospel, repent, and pursue Christ. Because the truth is, is that the gospel wages war with our idolatry because the power of the gospel makes us alive in the spirit.

46:23

The gospel is a super natural thing. Whenever you're reading Paul's writings, some of the most beautiful sections of scriptures, when he's talking about the gospel, when you're dealing with sins in your life, remind yourself of what

46:36

God saved you from. Because we've been given all the answers to our struggles, guys. It all lies within the

46:41

Bible. It's the word of God that renews the mind. Are you reading it? Are you reading it?

46:47

We heard Pastor Wade say earlier, he said, don't just be a hearer of the word, be a doer of the word.

46:52

Well, how can you even be a doer of the word if you're not a hearer of the word? Get it in you. Get it in you.

46:58

You want to go to any other self -help book to try to get you through your issues? You will fall flat.

47:05

And you're probably already not worshiping the true and living God. Or if you do, you may be falling into error and you need to repent.

47:13

You need to repent. So the truth is, is that Christ is king of your heart. And this is how we can overcome idolatry.

47:20

This is how we can overcome covetousness, right? This is how. It's so beautiful, guys. The answer is so clear in front of our faces.

47:27

Colossians 3, 1 through 4 states this. It states, If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.

47:38

Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

47:47

When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you will also appear with Him in glory.

47:53

This is a heavenly reality about the life that we live today. We have died and our life is hidden with Christ in God.

48:04

Furthermore, again, we're told to put that flesh to death. And then we're reminded by Paul in Colossians chapter 3.

48:11

He says this. In these you too once walked when you were living in them, but now you must put them all away.

48:19

Anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.

48:34

Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, civilian, slave -free, but Christ is all and in all.

48:41

Do you hear that? You're being renewed in knowledge after the image of your creator. Where do we have the source of that knowledge?

48:48

In God's word. Put on them, this is what Paul declares. Put on them as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another.

49:02

And if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other. As the Lord has forgiven you, you also must forgive.

49:10

And above all these, put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body, and be thankful.

49:21

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.

49:28

Teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in our hearts to God.

49:34

And whatever you do in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

49:41

So here's the answer to our idolatry. Here's the answer to our covetousness. We are already dead in the flesh, so why should we walk in it?

49:51

We are more than conquerors, that's what the Bible says, right? So why do we allow sin to rule our lives?

49:59

By the power of Christ, we are able to kill our sin before it kills us. We are held by Christ.

50:05

We have been sealed with the Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance to come. It says that in Ephesians chapter 1.

50:11

Let that sink in. It says you have been given the gift of the Holy Spirit, who is the seal, the guarantee of your inheritance.

50:19

That is hands down one of the most amazing, beautiful texts of scripture to me.

50:25

How can you lose your salvation when it is God who dwells within you? Bring about the good work, right?

50:32

We must remember this, guys. Scripture tells us very clearly that we have died and our lives are hidden with Christ in God.

50:41

We have a very real and very living King. And He loves each and every single one of you.

50:47

In John chapter 17, we have the high priestly prayer that occurs. And in this prayer, it seems like Jesus is praying only for the disciples, right?

50:57

But then Jesus clarifies. He says, I'm not praying only for the disciples, but for all who believe in me.

51:06

Literally, when Jesus was praying that prayer, He had every single one of you in mind who claim

51:11

Him. And this is right before He's crucified, guys. Hold on to these precious truths of the

51:17

Bible. Because we will fail. We are failures. Anyone who says that they are without sin, the truth is not in you.

51:23

That's what we're told, right? But the beautiful thing is, is we have Scripture, guys, to teach us, to mold us, to shape us.

51:32

Read it. Read it. So we're going to end on this, guys. And this is one of the reasons why

51:38

I love reading the Old Testament so much. We're going to end in 1 Corinthians 10, 1 through 11. And it's because the

51:44

Scriptures here in the Old Testament are to teach us. They're to teach us. And we read them through the lens of the new.

51:49

The mystery of the gospel has been declared through the shed blood of Jesus Christ.

51:54

He was the great one that all of the prophets were speaking about. This is what Paul says in 1

52:00

Corinthians 10, 1 through 11. And that rock was

52:20

Christ. Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them. Their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.

52:26

Now, these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did.

52:33

Do not be idolaters as some of them were, as it is written. The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.

52:40

We should not commit sexual immorality as some of them did. And in one day, 23 ,000 of them died.

52:46

We should not test Christ as some of them did and were killed by snakes. Do not grumble as some of them did and were killed by the destroying angel.

52:53

The discontent grumble, don't they? They grumble. These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us on whom the culmination of the ages has come.

53:05

It's beautiful. That's what we have in the Old Testament text given to us, shown through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit by Paul.

53:12

We have Christ. We have the king of the universe on our side. We should keep our minds set on the heavenly things of God.

53:19

J .C. Ryle says in his book, Holiness, Hindrances, and the Roots, he says this, he says we should use our faith as a telescope to look through the circumstances immediately in our life to see the heavenly promises of God to get through them.

53:33

But how can you do that? By reading his word, by reading his word. Let's pray. Dear Lord, I thank you for this time.

53:44

I thank you for being able to preach today. I'm in awe of you. I'm in awe of your word.

53:51

You know us deep down inside, Jesus. You know us better than we know ourselves.

53:57

You know exactly what we need. Let us, Lord, put to death our discontentment, our idolatry, our covetousness by knowing that we have everything in you, that there is nothing more, nothing greater than the

54:14

God of the universe who gave himself up for us while we were still sinners. Christ, you died for us.

54:21

So we thank you. We praise you. We pray that you keep us safe and healthy throughout the week. It's in your name we pray, in Jesus' name, amen.