Abimelech-A Man Who Failed To be Great

Kevin Jesmer NIU UBF 4/29/12

Judges 9:1-57    Key Verse: 9:8

“One day the trees went out to anoint a king for themselves.
They said to the olive tree, ‘Be our king.’”

In the last study we learned about Gideon and his powerful exploits in defeating thousands of Midianites with 300 men. Despite his great victory, he refused to be king. He said, “The Lord will rule over you.” He went on to live as a judge and bear lots of fruit. But his son did not think this way. Abimelech made a bid to be king. To do so, he murdered 70 of his brothers. One lone survivor, Jotham, escaped and proclaimed God’s judgment. This passage portrays the justice and sovereignty of God. It also brings to mind that question as to what is true leadership. From this passage may we be saved from destructive selfish ambition, and may God grant us pure motives to serve others for Jesus’ sake. May we thank God his grace and for Jesus who satisfies God’s righteous requirements through his own suffering and death and not ours. May God grant you insight into all of this.

Part l: What It Means To Be A Great Leader (1-3)

Gideon had one son from a concubine. Look at verse 8:31, “His concubine, who lived in Shechem, also bore him a son, whom he named Abimelech.” His mother was a slave girl and she lived among the people of Shechem who were closely related to the Canaanites. (18b) His name means “My father is king”. It was the title that the Canaanite kings gave to their rulers in Abraham’s time. From the start of his life kingly ambitions were planted in his heart. Later in life he not only wanted to rule over the people of Shechem, he wanted to rule over the entire nation of Israel. (22). But these kingly ambitions were focused in the wrong direction for he was a power hungry megalomaniac.

Abimelech was the opposite of his father Gideon. When Gideon brought victory to his people and ushered in a time of peace and the people wanted to crown him king. Verses 8:22-23 read, “The Israelites said to Gideon, ‘Rule over us—you, your son and your grandson—because you have saved us out of the hand of Midian.’ 23 But Gideon told them, ‘I will not rule over you, nor will my son rule over you. The LORD will rule over you.’” Gideon was not a megalomaniac like his son had become. He knew the will of God and was content to live as a judge.

Abimelech did not know the heart and mind of God and so his quest for power began in verse 2, “Ask all the citizens of Shechem, ‘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.’” He was a good politician, appealing to their sense of tribal loyalties. He was also appealing to their desire to remain free by planting fear in their hearts at the thought of being ruled over by Gideon’s 70 sons. He made it sound like his rule was the only option. (There was another option. How about being ruled over by God and have people serving as judges?)

Part of us is turned off by his quest for power, but we must remember that God does not crush our desires to rise to a level of greatness and be a leader for the people. But our desires to be great must have the right focus and must be done through God, for his glory and for the good of the people. Let me explain. Jesus is fully aware about how the rulers in the world treat the people under them. (Luke 22:25-27). But true greatness is not to lord it over others, but to serve others instead. Jesus deserved to be served hand and foot for he is the Christ. But Jesus served instead. He taught, he listened, he healed and he raised the dead. He led people to the kingdom of God. Ultimately he suffered and died at the hands of an unregretful humanity so that our sins may be forgiven and we could spend eternal life with our Lord. We must never lord it over others in our quest for human greatness. We must be like Jesus. Mark 10:45 reads; “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Gideon was right. It is best for the Lord God to reign over us. We can read of the affects of Jesus’ righteous reign in words written by the prophet Isaiah. He says, in Isaiah 9: 6-7, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.” I love having Jesus ruling over me and my family and my church. I pray that Jesus’ righteous rule may come in the hearts of people across our entire nation.

Godly people have reflected Jesus’ righteous reign. Let’s think about King Solomon. 1 Kings 3:9-12b reveals his heart. He prays, “So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?” 10 The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. 11 So God said to him, “Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice, 12 I will do what you have asked.” Solomon was a great king. He prayed for wisdom on how he might better shepherd the people of God.

Jesus taught his disciples what it means to be great. Luke 9:47-48 reads; “Jesus, knowing their thoughts, took a little child and had him stand beside him. 48Then he said to them, ‘Whoever welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. For he who is least among you all—he is the greatest.’” In any generation, children represent those who are weak, helpless and vulnerable in society. But Jesus’ disciples need to be the ones who welcome such as these and love and serve them in the love of God. People who served little children were considered the least among the people. Slaves, nannies, and women did that. But Jesus says that true leaders must be willing to step into the seemingly less important roles in order to love and serve the weak and the vulnerable. Think about Jesus. He did this. He is the King of the whole universe. He enjoyed all the privileges and the honor of the Kingdom of Heaven, but he gave it all up in order to come and serve us so that we may know him and his love and be saved from our sins. Jesus set the example for all those who want to be great.

Those who choose to aspire to greatness, in a Christian sense, can have a great influence on the people. King David was a shepherd king. The affect of reign is shown in 2 Samuel 23:3-4 he said, “The God of Israel spoke, the Rock of Israel said to me: ‘When one rules over men in righteousness, when he rules in the fear of God, 4 he is like the light of morning at sunrise on a cloudless morning, like the brightness after rain that brings the grass from the earth.’” When the people are led by a godly leader they are full of hope and refreshment. They experience new life and new growth and new fruitfulness. Abimelech needed to know how to be great and repent of lording it over others.

Part ll: The Bad Fruit of a Godless People (3-6)

The citizens of Shechem were not truthful. Look at verses 3-4a, “When the brothers repeated all this to the citizens of Shechem, they were inclined to follow Abimelech, for they said, ‘He is our brother.’ 4 They gave him seventy shekels of silver from the temple of Baal-Berith,…” The elders of Shechem should have considered the qualities of the person they were endorsing. But they only seemed to care about their own freedom and whether or not this potential leader was part of their clan.

They were also unthankful. Jotham rebuked them for their unthankful hearts in verses 17 & 18. “and to think that my father fought for you, risked his life to rescue you from the hand of Midian 18 (but today you have revolted against my father’s family, murdered his seventy sons on a single stone, and made Abimelech, the son of his slave girl, king over the citizens of Shechem because he is your brother)— “ Gideon’s triumphs rescued them from the hands of their enemies who plundered them year after year. They enjoyed peace and prosperity for forty years. But they forgot all of this. They were unthankful for the grace that was shown them by God and by God’s people. These people also did not remember the Lord. Verse 8:33 reads, “No sooner had Gideon died than the Israelites again prostituted themselves to the Baals. They set up Baal-Berith as their god” These people were very ignoble. They were lost and blind. And as a result they began to worship the idols. Unthankfulness is a great sin and opens our hearts up to much evil. Unthankfulness leads us astray. Jesus teaches us to be thankful people and never let go of the grace of God in our lives.

Their condition is not much different than humanity today. We are so prone to forgetting the grace of God. We forget all the good things that God has done and what people have done for us. We are prone to throwing off the rule of God. Who can save us from our sins? Only Jesus Christ! We need him to be our Savior. When Jesus works in our hearts we can be changed to be noble people of God full of thanksgiving and God’s wonderful grace.

It has been said that you can tell the type of person by looking at his/her friends. Look at the people that Abimelech gathered around him. Verses 4 reads, “They gave him seventy shekels of silver from the temple of Baal-Berith, and Abimelech used it to hire reckless adventurers, who became his followers.” The ESV version of the Bible states that these men were, “worthless and reckless fellows.” These men helped Abimelech perpetrate a most heinous crime, the unjust death of 70 of Gideon’s sons. They were cruel and coldly efficient and merciless. But they became the leaders of the land for three years. It is important to see the type of people whom we are gathering around us. Are they Christ followers? seekers? the noble people of God or are they the reckless and ruthless of the world who have no regard for God?

Think about the loss experienced by Gideon’s descendants. Gideon was dead at this time. I am sure that if he was alive, the news of his 70 dead sons would have caused him to despair of life. There are times when all we have accomplished in this world comes to not and we are left with nothing to hold onto. Our kids may be taken away from us by sickness, accident or the power of sin. Our ministries may wane or even disappear. Our homes may be foreclosed. We may be taken from this world before achieving all we want to achieve. Our memory only becomes a small note in someone’s genealogy records. If we do not have our hope set on Jesus and the eternal Kingdom of God we will surely despair. C.T. Studd, a missionary, said it well in a poem he wrote. “Only one life,’ twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last.” The comforting fact is that no matter what happens, what you do for Jesus will last forever.

Part lll: Jotham’s Parable (7-21)

Jotham was one of the sons of Gideon who survived the slaughter and escaped. He was appalled by the unjust treatment that his family received. He ran to the top of mount Gerizim and yelled out the people of Shechem telling them a parable of what they did and what was to come. Look at verses 7b-15, “…Listen to me, citizens of Shechem, so that God may listen to you. 8One day the trees went out to anoint a king for themselves. They said to the olive tree, ‘Be our king.’ 9 “But the olive tree answered, ‘Should I give up my oil, by which both gods and men are honored, to hold sway over the trees?’ 10 “Next, the trees said to the fig tree, ‘Come and be our king.’ 11 “But the fig tree replied, ‘Should I give up my fruit, so good and sweet, to hold sway over the trees?’ 12 “Then the trees said to the vine, ‘Come and be our king.’ 13 “But the vine answered, ‘Should I give up my wine, which cheers both gods and men, to hold sway over the trees?’ 14 “Finally all the trees said to the thornbush, ‘Come and be our king.’ 15 “The thornbush said to the trees, ‘If you really want to anoint me king over you, come and take refuge in my shade; but if not, then let fire come out of the thornbush and consume the cedars of Lebanon!’” The good bushes were Gideon and his sons. They were doing good things and producing good things for the people. They were too busy doing good to think about ruling over the people. Let’s think about the thorn bush. This was Abimelech. What are some of its characteristic? They do not bear good fruit. They hurt you when you touch them. Thorns stunt the growth of any flower that tries to grow among it. The thorn bush in this parable is especially wicked in that it spits out fire to consume things around it. I would definitely weed these thorn bushes out of my garden. But the people of Shechem did not. They even invited it to be their king.

In his speech, Jotham also convicted them of their sin and warned them of judgment to come. Look at verses 17-20. In these verses he pointed out that they were not truthful. He reminded them of the grace that was extended to them. He warned them that punishment was coming upon them.

Part lV: Our God Is A God of Justice And Mercy (23-57)

God would not stand by to see the death of the 70 go without avenging himself. Verse 23 reads, “God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the citizens of Shechem, who acted treacherously against Abimelech.” This evil spirit was one of the fallen angels that was cast out of heaven with Satan. God allowed this angel to unleash its wrath on the people. Let’s learn how it all came about. Look at verses 25-49. Another person, who was just like Abimelech, Gaal, decided that he wanted to take over. He was full of bravado. The people of Shechem did not want to live under the yoke of Abimelech any longer.(I suppose he was acting like any other tyrant throughout history, abusing his power, exacting taxes, conscripting their sons and forcing their daughters to marry his soldiers.) The people of Shechem had enough and they rebelled. Through a series of events the people were destroyed by the thorn bush, Abimelech. God was at work in order fulfill the prophecy spoken through Jotham’s parable.

Judgment finally came to Abimelech. Look at verses 50-56. While trying to carry out more acts of vengeance, a woman threw a large mill stone from the walls of her city. This millstone hit Abimelech and rendered him helpless. He was severely wounded but coherent. He asked his armor bearer to kill him. His armor bearer had no problem with doing this and quickly obliged. It shows the demoralized state of those whom Abimelech gathered around him.

Our God is a God of justice. He will not tolerate unjust acts of violence. God hears the cries of his people. Think about Cain and Able. Able was killed in a very unjust way by his brother Cain. Listen to what God said when he confronted Cain. Genesis 4:9-12 reads, “The LORD said, ‘What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground. 11 Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. 12 When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.’” The cries from the ground are cries for justice. His acts of judgment may not come as quickly as some would want, but he does act. For example, Jotham would have liked God to act right away. But it took three years for all this to unfold. It has taken 60 + years for the crimes of the Nazis to be fully punished. We need to be patient with God and accept his time and his ways of bringing about his justice.

This reminds us of the Gospel. The Gospel is about God’s justice and his forgiveness. We have perpetrated many “unjust” acts against others and God. We have given into our desires for power and privilege, even at the expense of others. Others have suffered at our hands, and their cries reach the throne of our Heavenly Father. We are guilty of forgetting the grace of God and all the good things that Jesus and other Christians have done for us. We know that God answers the cries that reach him and he punishes sin. The punishment that Abimelech and the people of the two cities received is a refection of what we deserve because of our sins. This is confirmed in (Hebrews 10:28-30) These are ominous words that must be considered.

But the great news is that God does not punish us as our sins deserve. Psalm 103:9-11 read, “He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; 10 he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. 11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him;” 2 Corinthians 5:21 reads, “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” When Jesus was dying on the cross the full brunt of the punishment that was due us because of our sins, was poured out on our sacrificial lamb. Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi Eloi lama Sabacthani?” Which means “My God! My God! Why have you forsaken me?” (Mk 15:33) The righteous and holy Father, turn his face away from his Son for a moment. It was because Jesus was paying the price for our sins. God’s desire for justice has been paid. He is still absolutely holy and righteous. And yet now he is able to completely forgive those who come to him in repentance and faith and grant them forgiveness and eternal life. That is why we say, that on the cross justice and mercy meet. Will you come to Jesus today and be forgiven of your sins? Now is the best time. 2 Corinthians 6:2-3 read, “As God’s fellow workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain. 2 For he says, “In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.” I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.” Come to Jesus today my friends.

In today’s lesson we learned that we must channel our desires for greatness in Jesus for his glory and not ours. This greatness comes when we follow Jesus’ example and humbly serve others in love. We also learn that we must be truly thankful people and hold onto the grace of God. But most importantly we learned about the Gospel. Jesus took all of the punishment that was due us and now we can be forgiven by our righteous and holy God. Praise Jesus for his grace and taking our place so we can be forgiven and set free to live a new life.