Judges
chapter 9 reminds us that rebellion against God ultimately produces
destruction. In the previous chapter we learned, God won great
battles using Gideon. Gideon (also called Jerub-Baal, meaning “fights
against Baal”) was corrupted by fame and took on many wives and
even had one son by a servant. This son was named Abimelech. The
chapter begins, “Abimelech,
son of Jerub-Baal went to… his mother’s clan… in Shechem… and
asked… which is better for you: to have all seventy of Jerub-Baal’s
sons rule over you, or just one man? Remember, I am your flesh and
blood… they were inclined to follow Abimelech“.
We also read they gave him seventy shekels of silver from the
temple of Baal “and
Abimelech used it to hire worthless men“.
This is the story of the ultimate corrupt leader with a base of
support, money and selfish desire. “He
went to his father’s home… and murdered his seventy brothers…
but Jotham, the youngest escaped by hiding“.
“Then
all the citizens of Shechem… gathered beside the great tree at the
pillar in Shechem to crown Abimelech king.”
Jotham
heard about this coronation and climbed a nearby mountain. He
shouted down to the people, “My
father fought for you and risked his life to rescue you… but
today, you have revolted against my father’s family, murdered his
seventy sons… and made Abimelech, the son of a slave girl, king…
may Abimelech be your joy, and may you be his too!”
We make the same mistake as the people of Shechem when we place our
hope in a politician, or seek our joy from any one person. Every
person on earth will eventually let us down. Nehemiah 8:10 reminds
us that no matter how difficult our circumstance, God is near and He
will provide for even our emotional needs. “Do
not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength“.
The
people of Shechem eventually turned against Abimelech, and we read,
“Abimelech
pressed his attack against the city until he captured it and killed
the people. Then he destroyed the city“.
We even read of one brutal account where he burned the tower of
Shechem and “about
a thousand men and women also died“.
Quite justly, Abimelech is killed when he attempted the same thing
in the next city. “A
woman dropped a millstone on his head and cracked his skull“.
The chapter ends, “Thus
God repaid the wickedness that Abimelech had done to his father by
murdering his seventy brothers“.
Many blame their parents or family upbringing for the decisions they
make as adults. They may even believe they must pay a penance for
all the wrongs they committed. 1 Peter 1:18-20, refers to the “empty
ways handed down from your forefathers”
and contrasts that to “the
precious blood of Christ“.
The apostle writes, “Through
Him
you believed in God, who raised Him from the dead and glorified Him,
and so your faith and hope are in God“.
The moment you embrace Christ as your Savior, “You
have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable,
through the living and enduring Word of God“.
What do you need today? Call on your heavenly Father. Matthew 7:11
reminds all of us, “If
you then, imperfect as you are, know how to give good gifts to your
children, how much more will your Father in Heaven give good things
to those who ask Him!”