Judg
9:26-29, 38-40, 45b-46, 49-57 (NIV) Now Gaal son of Ebed moved with his
brothers into Shechem, and its citizens put their confidence in him. 27 After
they had gone out into the fields and gathered the grapes and trodden them,
they held a festival in the temple of their god. While they were eating and
drinking, they cursed Abimelech. 28 Then Gaal son of Ebed said, "Who is
Abimelech, and who is Shechem, that we should be subject to him? Isn't he
Jerub-Baal's son, and isn't Zebul his deputy? Serve the men of Hamor, Shechem's
father! Why should we serve Abimelech? 29 If only this people were under my
command! Then I would get rid of him. I would say to Abimelech, 'Call out your
whole army!'"
. . .
38 Then
Zebul said to him, "Where is your big talk now, you who said, 'Who is
Abimelech that we should be subject to him?' Aren't these the men you
ridiculed? Go out and fight them!"
39 So
Gaal led out the citizens of Shechem and fought Abimelech. 40 Abimelech chased
him, and many fell wounded in the flight — all the way to the entrance to the
gate.
. . .
45b Abimelech pressed his attack against the
city until he had captured it and killed its people. Then he destroyed the city
and scattered salt over it.
46 On
hearing this, the citizens in the tower of Shechem went into the stronghold of
the temple of El-Berith. . . . 49 So all the men cut branches and followed
Abimelech. They piled them against the stronghold and set it on fire over the
people inside. So all the people in the tower of Shechem, about a thousand men
and women, also died.
50 Next
Abimelech went to Thebez and besieged it and captured it. 51 Inside the city,
however, was a strong tower, to which all the men and women — all the people of
the city — fled. They locked themselves in and climbed up on the tower roof. 52
Abimelech went to the tower and stormed it. But as he approached the entrance
to the tower to set it on fire, 53 a woman dropped an upper millstone on his
head and cracked his skull.
54
Hurriedly he called to his armor-bearer, "Draw your sword and kill me, so
that they can't say, 'A woman killed him.'" So his servant ran him
through, and he died. 55 When the Israelites saw that Abimelech was dead, they
went home.
56 Thus
God repaid the wickedness that Abimelech had done to his father by murdering
his seventy brothers. 57 God also made the men of Shechem pay for all their
wickedness. The curse of Jotham son of Jerub-Baal came on them.
NOTE: Jotham's parable (9:7-20), the first in the
bible, becomes a prophecy. Those who supported Abimelech are burned and
Abimelech is judged at the hand of a woman. The story of Israel's first
self-proclaimed king is an ugly story of sin, treachery, and cruelty. God's
involvement in the story is in repaying the wickedness (9:56), but beyond that
it is a story of men solving their own problems without the help of God. In
fact, the people of Shechem hold a festival in the temple of their god,
completely ignoring God who gave them the land. These are the same people who
cry out to God when life is painful but completely forget him when life is
good. And this is the message for us. When life is good, we live in the world,
forgetting what God has graciously given to us. And then when tragedy or pain
befalls us, we scream out or cry out to God for relief, as if it was his fault
and not ours. Oh, when will we wake up from our delusions and recognize that we
were bought with a price--our life is not our own (1 Cor 6:20). This year, I
will make one goal only and that will be to spend time thanking God for the
good things he has given and praying for the enlightenment of others. A greater
prayer life will I yearn.
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