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God Reigning Where We Might Not Expect It - Judges 9

Sermon Series: In Need of a Greater Rescue

Last week we finished our examination of the narrative of Gideon and discovered that Gideon attempted to overstep his God-appointed position of ‘deliverer’ to take for himself the position of king. One of the ways we saw Gideon assuming this position was in taking for himself multiple wives and concubines. The author and narrator told us about one specific concubine in 8:31, “And his concubine who was in Shechem also bore him a son, and he called his name Abimelech.” Gideon took for himself a Canaanite woman as his concubine and named the son that she bore for him Abimelech, which means “my father is king.” While Gideon’s words had earlier rejected the idea of being Israel’s king (8:23), his actions clearly articulated something different. Gideon’s actions had declared that it was his intention to do more than just deliver the Israelites from their physical enemies, he sought to rule over them. The very next verse (8:32) recorded Gideon’s death. So as you can imagine, the author and narrator of the book of Judges is going to continue to move on. However, rather than moving on to the next deliverer of Israel, the author and narrator of the book of Judges is going to spend the next chapter (9) recounting a portion of Abimelech’s life.

Chapter 9 is a long chapter in the book of Judges. So for time’s sake I am going to share the narrative, painting in very broad strokes. There will be certain verses where we pause to provide clarity or to note greater significance, but of first importance is  to begin by familiarizing ourselves with the Abimelech narrative. I encourage you to follow along in the text as we familiarize ourselves with the story so that you can compare my re-telling of the story with the way the divinely inspired author and narrator of the book of Judges records it for us.

The Abimelech narrative begins with Abimelech going to Shechem to meet with all of his mother’s relatives. At the time Shechem was a Canaanite city and Abimelech’s mother was a Canaanite woman – so Abimelech (whose father, Gideon, was an Israelite and whose mother was a Canaanite) establishes a meeting with his Canaanite relatives in order to recruit them and ask for their help. Abimelech, like his father, Gideon, had a desire to be king. But Abimelech had several problems – 70 of them to be exact. Abimelech had 70 brothers/half-brothers that Gideon had fathered and who were probably not going to be quick to relinquish the authority and power which each of them believed they had.

One thing that we are going to learn later in the text is that while Shechem was a Canaanite city, they had not been spared from the devastating effects of the Midianite and Amalekite invasions. Shechem was a short distance away from the Israelite city of Ophrah (where Gideon’s father had resided and where Gideon had lived), so as the Midianites invaded and sought out the produce of the land, it appears that their invasion must have encompassed the city of Shechem as well. The earlier narrative of Gideon had revealed that God worked through Gideon and his army to defeat the invading Midianites and Amalekites, so God’s victory through Gideon would have also brought relief to the Canaanite city of Shechem. As a result it appears that the city of Shechem must have been paying tribute to or possibly even being governed by Gideon’s Israelite sons. So Abimelech recruits his Canaanite relatives to help him start asking questions and planting seeds in the minds of the Canaanites residing in Shechem, “Say in the ears of all the leaders of Shechem, ‘Which is better for you, that all seventy of the sons of Jerubbaal rule over you, or that one rule over you? Remember also that I am your bone and your flesh’” (9:2). Abimelech wanted to plant in the minds of the Canaanites that it would be better to be ruled by one individual who was related to them than it would be to be ruled by 70 who were Israelites. Abimelech’s family agrees to help plant these seeds in the minds of the leaders of Shechem and the author and narrator tells us that the leaders of Shechem agree and become inclined to make Abimelech their leader/king. Unfortunately, making Abimelech their leader/king wasn’t going to just make Gideon’s other sons go away, so the leaders of Shechem partnered with Abimelech to help make that problem go away. The text tells us that the leaders of Shechem gave Abimelech 70 pieces of silver (one piece of silver for each of Gideon’s 70 sons) so that Abimelech could hire some assassins to go and kill his brothers. And this is exactly what took place. Abimelech and his team of assassins killed all of Gideon’s sons and Abimelech’s brothers with the exception of one, the youngest named Jotham, who managed to hide himself from those who were trying to kill him. With all of Gideon’s sons dead except for Abimelech and Jotham, the Canaanites of Shechem then made Abimelech their king.

9:7 tells us that news of Abimelech having been made king of Shechem makes its way to Jotham, who then goes out and does an incredibly brave thing. Jotham ascends Mount Gerazim, and cries out to the leaders of Shechem (the ones who had just financed his assassination attempt) a fable. He tells them a story of some trees which went out to anoint a king over them. The trees first approached the olive tree. The olive tree was the most important tree in the Middle East region because it’s what the people relied upon for olive oil (the most valuable agricultural product in the ancient world). The people of the time had all kinds of uses for olive oil – they would use it for cooking, for their lamps, for medicinal purposes, as a lubricant, as an ingredient in perfumes, and as an anointing agent in sacred rituals. The trees asked the olive tree to rule over them, but the olive tree declined because it believed it served a greater purpose than ruling as king. The trees then approached the fig tree to ask it to rule over them. The fig tree was another important tree in the region whose figs were used as fruit, made into both cakes and wine, and were used as a sweetener. Like the olive tree, the fig tree also declined stating that it served a greater purpose than ruling over them as king. Then the trees approached the vine to ask it to rule over them. The vine produced grapes that were made into wine, so like the olive and fig trees the vine played a significant role in this region. But also like the olive and fig trees the vine declined the offer because the role it played was of greater significance than holding kingship over all the trees. Finally the trees turn to the bramble. The bramble was very different from the olive tree, the fig tree, and the vine because those trees contributed much to life in the Middle East. The bramble on the other hand contributed little to nothing positive to life and culture. It seems that the trees have come to their last resort and in a desperate attempt to appoint a king over them they have finally offered the position to the most insignificant and worthless of the trees named so far. It’s a tree that in comparison to the others doesn’t seem worthy of such a position, but unlike the other trees, it is the one tree that accepts the offer. Upon receiving the offer of kingship the bramble puts a condition into place. The bramble declares to the other trees that if this offer was genuinely extended to him in good faith then they should come and find refuge under the bramble’s shade. If however, the offer was not genuinely extended in good faith then fire would come out of the bramble and devour the trees that had made the offer to it.

Jotham’s fable is an interesting one – one that may not have made much sense to the Shechemites that he was crying out to. So Jotham goes a step further than simply telling a fable to the Shechemites, he also offers an interpretation for the fable. We have to tune in carefully in these few verses because it is in the interpretation of the fable that we find some of the most significant verses in our text this week – verses that play a vital role to our right understanding of Judges 9. Jotham says in verse 16 (and repeats the important part again in verse 19), “Now therefore, if you acted in good faith and integrity when you made Abimelech king, and if you have dealt well with Jerubbaal and his house and have done to him as his deeds deserved . . .” The driving concern for Jotham is if the Shechemites have “acted in good faith and integrity” and “dealt well” with Gideon’s family (of which he is a part). This is obviously a rhetorical question – Jotham knew well what Gideon had done for the Shechemites and what the Shechemites had done to Gideon’s family (as we see in verses 17-18). Jotham reminds them that Gideon’s service had done more than liberate the Israelites from the Midianite’s oppression, it had also liberated them. In return the leaders of Shechem had opted to repay Gideon’s good deeds by deliberately murdering his sons. If this is “acting in good faith and integrity” then Jotham tells them to celebrate Abimelech as king. But if this was not “acting in good faith and integrity” then both Abimelech and the leaders of Shechem were going to be destroyed. Then having declared both the fable and its interpretation Jotham runs and hides so that he might not be murdered like his brothers.

Verse 22 becomes a transition verse in the Abimelech narrative which takes us forward three years and reveals more about the extent of Abimelech’s reign as king. “Abimelech ruled over Israel three years.” According to verse 22 Abimelech’s rule as king had grown and extended beyond the city of Shechem. It appears now that Abimelech was at the least reigning over portions of Israel as well as Shechem. Then we get to verse 23 which may well be one of the most important verses in this narrative, “And God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the leaders of Shechem, and the leaders of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech.” This is the first time that God has shown up in the text since 7:22 when He was working through Gideon and the 300 men to strike chaos among the Midianite camp and giving Israel victory over the Midianites. After that verse we saw Gideon continuing to go outside of God’s plan for delivering Israel and assuming more authority and power than God had appointed to him. We noted at that time that when Gideon stepped out of God’s plan that God seemed to step out of the rest of the narrative. The author and narrator of the book of Judges tells us that God shows up once again in 9:23 to send a spirit between Abimelech and the leaders of Shechem that was going to turn these two parties against one another. The English translation of the Hebrew makes it sound as if God is sending an “evil spirit,” but the better understanding of the Hebrew is that God is sending a spirit that is going to produce ‘ill will’ between the two parties. Why? Verse 24 tells us that it was in response to the violence performed by Abimelech and the leaders of Shechem, who helped to finance the assassination of Gideon’s sons.

So how does the narrative play out once God shows up and sends a spirit to cause trouble between Abimelech and the Shechemite leaders? Things begin to run their course when a new individual moves into Shechem with his relatives – a man by the name of Gaal. The text reveals to us that unlike Abimelech, who is only partly Shechemite in his lineage, Gaal is fully Shechemite in his lineage. Gaal begins to question the leaders of Shechem in regards to why they have chosen to make Abimelech king when he is the son of an Israelite father. He convinces the leaders of Shechem that it would be better for them to make him their leader and that if they would do so he would remove Abimelech from power by killing him. All of a sudden we see the Shechemites dealing treacherously with the man that they had supposedly made king in good faith and integrity. The author and narrator will tell us later that Abimelech was living in the city of Arumah at the time (see 9:41), and that he had put a man by the name of Zebul in charge of the city of Shechem to give oversight to that city. Zebul had heard the plan of Gaal and sent a message to Abimelech secretly so that Abimelech would not be taken by surprise. Zebul also crafted a plan for Abimelech whereby Abimelech could go on the offensive and ambush Gaal at the city of Shechem.

The text tells us that Abimelech follows the advice of Zebul and that he sets an ambush outside of Shechem during the night with a group of men who were still loyal to him. The next morning when Abimelech and his men see Gaal standing in the city gates they come out from their ambush and attack Gaal and the leaders of Shechem. The author and narrator tells us that Abimelech and his men pursued and killed many of the leaders of Shechem and that Zebul was successful in driving Gaal and his relatives out of Shechem. Surprisingly though this victory over Gaal and the Shechemite leaders wasn’t enough for Abimelech. Verse 42 tells us that the very next day the people of Shechem went out into the fields to work (it appears to resume life as normal). But Abimelech was not satisfied with his victory over Gaal and the leaders of Shechem, he was now intent on destroying the people of Shechem too. Once again Abimelech and his men had success. The author and narrator tells us that they were able to capture the city and kill most of the people who were in it. There were a few remaining leaders and citizens who fled for safety to the Tower of Shechem and had locked themselves inside. But rather than finding a way to break into the tower Abimelech formed a different plan. He took an axe and his men and went to Mount Zalmon where he cut a load of kindling and wood. He then gave instructions to his men to do just as he had. Then Abimelech and his men loaded the wood on their shoulders and carried the wood back to the Tower of Shechem. Upon their return they spread the kindling and wood around the Tower of Shechem and lit it on fire so that the Tower of Shechem also caught on fire and those who had trapped themselves inside were killed and devoured by the fire. As a result a portion of Jotham’s prophecy had come true. Because the Shechemites had not acted in good faith and integrity and had partnered in the assassination of Gideon's sons, fire had come out from Abimelech and destroyed them.

One final surprise takes place beginning in verse 50. Apparently the message sent by Abimelech’s victory over Gaal, the leaders of Shechem, and the entire population of Shechem had not been loud enough or clear enough. According to verse 50 it seems that Abimelech must have been anxious about leaving no questions concerning his power or authority because verse 50 tells us that Abimelech and his men moved on to a city named Thebez and attacked it. Like their attack on Shechem, Abimelech and his men were able to get the upper hand on the city of Thebez. They had success in killing many of the inhabitants and pursuing those that remained into their strong tower. The remaining inhabitants of Thebez locked themselves inside their strong tower and made their way to the roof. Below Abimelech and his men prepared to burn the strong tower and those who were inside, just as they had done at Shechem. Only this time the author and narrator tells us that before Abimelech and his men were able to set the tower on fire that one of the women of Thebez threw a millstone down from the roof which struck Abimelech on the head, crushing his skull. The strike did not kill Abimelech instantly but without ‘emergency rooms,’ ‘operating rooms,’ and modern technology Abimelech would have probably died within a matter of a few minutes. So the author and narrator tells us that Abimelech called to his armor bearer and pleaded with him to draw his sword and to kill him so that he would not die with the shame of being killed by a woman.

Chapter 9 and the narrative of Abimelech finally ends with some important commentary from the author and narrator. “Thus God returned the evil of Abimelech which he committed against his father in killing his seventy 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 Jerubbaal” (9:56-57). The author and narrator wrote with a divine perspective concerning what had transpired and he made incredibly clear in the last two verse of this chapter that the events which took place in Abimelech’s life and the lives of the Shechemites didn’t simply happen by chance, fate, or coincidence. God had actively played a part in orchestrating the events of history and making sure that Abimelech and the Shechemites faced the consequences for the sin which they had committed.

The text of Judges 9 is a difficult text to make much of. It doesn’t fit the mold of the narratives of the God-appointed deliverers because it isn’t about a God-appointed deliverer. In fact chapter 9 isn’t even about Israel – it’s about Gentiles. The focus of chapter 9 is exclusively on Abimelech, whose mother was a Canaanite, and the Canaanite city of Shechem. Additionally, while God is playing an active role in this narrative, He is operating behind the scenes. So the narrative reveals itself as one about Gentiles and one where God is only mentioned once in the middle and once at the very end. Still I think there are four important lessons that we can take away from this narrative.

First, God is the sovereign King. This narrative focuses a lot on Gentile men who were intent on assuming the role of king and exercising their own power an authority. This was the case for Abimelech and Gaal, as well as the leaders of Shechem who assumed the responsibility of choosing and appointing their own king. For some the temptation would be to believe that because these aren’t Israelites God shouldn’t have had any concern or played any role in their choices or affairs. But one cannot read Judges 9 and walk away with that conclusion. Regardless of who assumed the role of king or who felt they were responsible for choosing and appointing someone king, God was still clearly ruling and reigning in this text. He was fully aware of the intentions of the Gentiles hearts, fully aware of the choices that they made, and actively involved in orchestrating the events of history to carry out his divine purpose and plan. This should give us tremendous hope in an election season! We can have the assurance that regardless of who is elected to lead our nation, regardless of their personal position towards God and Jesus, and regardless of how they choose to use their power and authority, God is still the sovereign King. He is fully aware of all that is transpiring in our country and in our government. He is still fully capable of orchestrating events to accomplish His own purposes. And He will continue to rule and reign even in those countries which refuse to acknowledge Him as almighty King. This was the case thousands of years ago with Abimelech and Shecem and this continues to be the case today.

Lessons two and three, while separate and distinct, go hand in hand with one another. Second, God is holy and third, sin has consequences. These lessons can’t be missed in the text of Judges 9. God’s character is one of complete righteousness and perfection – there is no hint of unrighteousness, imperfection, or blemish anywhere in His character. This truth has huge implications on our relationship with God. God is frustrated, angered, and saddened by our sin. And worst of all our sin causes us to be eternally separated from God’s presence. If God’s holiness means that it is impossible to have any interaction with unrighteousness that means God cannot come into contact with us, because our lives are full of sin. And once again, the truth of this reality extends far beyond God’s chosen people (the Israelites) – it extends to all people. In Judges 9 we saw clearly that the sin of the Gentiles – Abimelech and the Shechemite leaders – was clearly offensive to God. God was incredibly angered by their assassination of 69 of Gideon’s sons. Their intentions and behaviors were an assault on His own character. And even though these men were Gentile men who did not profess belief in God, because He is holy God still held them accountable for both their intentions and actions. Their sin had enormous consequences. Their sin separated them from God and their sin lead to their own deaths. These lessons were clear and unmistakable in Judges 9 and they are just as clear and unmistakable today.

Finally, God is concerned about us acting “in good faith and integrity.” We cannot miss this fact which is not only clearly stated once in the text but twice – verses 16 and 19. It was Abimelech’s and the Shechemites’ refusal to act in good faith and integrity that prompted God to actively involve Himself in the situation. Verse 23 told us that God sent a spirit because they had not acted in good faith and integrity and instead had acted violently towards Gideon’s sons (verse 24). The Scriptures are clear to reveal to us that not only is God holy, but God also describes Himself as “truth.” Jesus says in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life . . .” Truth is an unmistakable part of His character, and as those who are made in His image it is a character trait God desires for us to possess. King David wrote in Psalm 51:6, “Behold, You delight in truth in the inward being . . .” But sadly acting “in good faith and integrity” is something that many people struggle with – including those who profess to be believers in Christ. If you were to ask individuals who do not attend church what their biggest problem with Christians and church-goers is, most would answer “the hypocrisy.” Even those who are not a part of the Church can look at the Church and see that far too often we don’t live out what we say we believe; we don’t act “in good faith and integrity” with them; and we don’t even act “in good faith and integrity” with one another. And the sad news is, is that most of the time our refusal to act in good faith and integrity is a result of our own selfishness. We discover that acting in good faith and integrity is going to cost us time and energy, we discover that it can sometimes interfere with our schedules and our preferences, and we discover that it isn’t always easy and sometimes gets messy. So rather than continuing to act in good faith and integrity we simply quit. This is an ugly reality that flies in the face of Jesus’ example. Jesus had declared in Luke 19:10, “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost,” and in the chapters that follow chapter 19 we discovered that in order for Him to do that He was going to have to go through incredible amounts of pain and discomfort, die on a cross, and suffer the full measure of God’s wrath for all of the sins of humanity. Yet even with many opportunities to back out and quit, Jesus never chose to. He acted in good faith and integrity to do exactly what He said He had come to do. This is the kind of good faith and integrity that God longs to see in us. But for so many of us our words and our integrity have no significance. We’ll back out of commitments we’ve made because we’re tired, because we’d prefer to do something else, or because we feel like we can do something more productive with our time. We don’t guard our tongue or our words because others need to know how we’ve been wronged. And when we choose to not act in good faith and integrity we do more than hurt our relationships with one another, we destroy our witness, and we frustrate the God who calls us to a life of good faith and integrity.

Connection Point Questions for Discussion:

1. In the Abimelech narrative in Judges 9 we noted that the text dealt almost exclusively with Gentile people. Neither Abimelech (who was half Shechemite) and his mother’s relatives, Gaal and his relatives, nor the Shechemite leaders and people were part of God’s chosen people (the Israelites); and all of them worshipped Canaanite gods. Still, God was involved in the text holding all of these accountable for their sin (see 9:23-24, 56-57). What does this tell us about God’s character and how he feels about sin? What does this tell us about who will be held accountable for sin (i.e. is it just ‘Christians’ and those who believe in God who will be held accountable)? What evidence/support do you have for your answer?

2. After Gideon’s son, Jotham, tells his fable to Abimelech and the Shechemite leaders he challenges them and their motives twice (see 9:16, 19) when he said, “if you acted in good faith and integrity” in regards to the murder of his 69 brothers which they committed. The repetition of this phrase emphasizes its great importance in the narrative and points to the significance of ‘good faith’ and ‘integrity’ in the lives of individuals. Why is ‘good faith’ and ‘integrity’ important to God (see Psalm 51:6 – “You delight in truth in the inward being …”)? Is being men and women of ‘good faith’ and ‘integrity’ ever hard, and if so why (What gets in the way of us living with integrity?)?

3. What is our lack of ‘good faith’ and ‘integrity’ a result of? How was Jesus’ life different in regards to his integrity since He was not subjected to “the fall?” What hope for the future (i.e. near future, as well as eternal future) do those have who have trusted in Jesus as Savior and Lord concerning their own ‘good faith’ and ‘integrity?’ In the meantime, do we need to seek forgiveness from God or from others with whom we have not dealt with ‘good faith’ or ‘integrity?’

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