QT 12/27/2021 Judges 9, Doing things in our own strength

 

UPDATE: This is a repeat of a QT on 1 Jan 2013. The passage is long and I added a paragraph to the context. It is a story much like Esther (little mention of God except verses 23, 56-57), except no one is trusting God in this story.

 

Judges 9:1–6 (ESV) —

1 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, 2 “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.”

3 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.” 4 And they gave him seventy pieces of silver out of the house of Baal-berith with which Abimelech hired worthless and reckless fellows, who followed him. 5 And he went to his father’s house at Ophrah and killed his brothers the sons of Jerubbaal, seventy men, on one stone. But Jotham the youngest son of Jerubbaal was left, for he hid himself. 6 And all the leaders of Shechem came together, and all Beth-millo, and they went and made Abimelech king, by the oak of the pillar at Shechem.

Judges 9:26–29 (ESV) —

26 And Gaal the son of Ebed moved into Shechem with his relatives, and the leaders of Shechem put confidence in him. 27 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 and ate and drank and reviled Abimelech. 28 And Gaal the son of Ebed said, “Who is Abimelech, and who are we of Shechem, that we should serve him? Is he not the son of Jerubbaal, and is not Zebul his officer? Serve the men of Hamor the father of Shechem; but why should we serve him? 29 Would that this people were under my hand! Then I would remove Abimelech. I would say to Abimelech, ‘Increase your army, and come out.’ ”

Judges 9:38–40 (ESV) —

38 Then Zebul said to him, “Where is your mouth now, you who said, ‘Who is Abimelech, that we should serve him?’ Are not these the people whom you despised? Go out now and fight with them.” 39 And Gaal went out at the head of the leaders of Shechem and fought with Abimelech. 40 And Abimelech chased him, and he fled before him. And many fell wounded, up to the entrance of the gate.

Judges 9:45–46 (ESV) —

45 And Abimelech fought against the city all that day. He captured the city and killed the people who were in it, and he razed the city and sowed it with salt.

46 When all the leaders of the Tower of Shechem heard of it, they entered the stronghold of the house of El-berith.

Judges 9:49–57 (ESV) —

49 So every one of the people cut down his bundle and following Abimelech 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 1,000 men and women.

50 Then Abimelech went to Thebez and encamped against Thebez and captured it. 51 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. 52 And Abimelech came to the tower and fought against it and drew near to the door of the tower to burn it with fire. 53 And a certain woman threw an upper millstone on Abimelech’s head and crushed his skull. 54 Then he called quickly to the young man his armor-bearer and 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. 55 And when the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, everyone departed to his home. 56 Thus God returned the evil of Abimelech, which he committed against his father in killing his seventy brothers. 57 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.

 

NOTE:  Jotham's parable (Judges 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 (Judges 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, our response is to 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).

 

PONDER:

1. When do I call upon God? Is it only when life goes bad or the situation is beyond my ability?
2. Do I every spend the good times in gratitude or do I wait for tragedy to begin seeking God?

 

PRAYER: Father, forgive me for a selfish narcissistic attitude toward life. I need seek you in the good times as well as the bad. I need to be grateful for the work that you are doing all the time. But most of all, I just need to seek you.