March
28th Judges
9
Abimelech and Jotham
1:
And Abimelech the son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem unto his mother's
brethren, and communed with them, and with all the family of the
house of his mother's father, saying, 2:
Speak, I pray you, in the ears of all the men of Shechem, Whether is
better for you, either that all the sons of Jerubbaal, which are
threescore and ten persons, reign over you, or that one reign over
you? remember also that I am your bone and your flesh. 3:
And his mother's brethren spake of him in the ears of all the men of
Shechem all these words: and their hearts inclined to follow
Abimelech; for they said, He is our brother. 4:
And they gave him threescore and ten pieces of silver out of the
house of Baal-berith, wherewith Abimelech hired vain and light
persons, which followed him. 5:
And he went unto his father's house at Ophrah, and slew his brethren
the sons of Jerubbaal, being threescore and ten persons, upon one
stone: notwithstanding yet Jotham the youngest son of Jerubbaal was
left; for he hid himself. 6:
And all the men of Shechem gathered together, and all the house of
Millo, and went, and made Abimelech king, by the plain of the pillar
that was in Shechem. 7:
And when they told it to Jotham, he went and stood in the top of
mount Gerizim, and lifted up his voice, and cried, and said unto
them, Hearken unto me, ye men of Shechem, that God may hearken unto
you. 8:
The trees went forth on a time to anoint a king over them; and they
said unto the olive tree, Reign thou over us. 9:
But the olive tree said unto them, Should I leave my fatness,
wherewith by me they honour God and man, and go to be promoted over
the trees? 10:
And the trees said to the fig tree, Come thou, and reign over us. 11:
But the fig tree said unto them, Should I forsake my sweetness, and
my good fruit, and go to be promoted over the trees? 12:
Then said the trees unto the vine, Come thou, and reign over us. 13:
And the vine said unto them, Should I leave my wine, which cheereth
God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees? 14:
Then said all the trees unto the bramble, Come thou, and reign over
us. 15:
And the bramble said unto the trees, If in truth ye anoint me king
over you, then come and put your trust in my shadow: and if not, let
fire come out of the bramble, and devour the cedars of Lebanon. 16:
Now therefore, if ye have done truly and sincerely, in that ye have
made Abimelech king, and if ye have dealt well with Jerubbaal and his
house, and have done unto him according to the deserving of his
hands; 17:
(For my father fought for you, and adventured his life far, and
delivered you out of the hand of Midian: 18:
And ye are risen up against my father's house this day, and have
slain his sons, threescore and ten persons, upon one stone, and have
made Abimelech, the son of his maidservant, king over the men of
Shechem, because he is your brother;) 19:
If ye then have dealt truly and sincerely with Jerubbaal and with his
house this day, then rejoice ye in Abimelech, and let him also
rejoice in you: 20:
But if not, let fire come out from Abimelech, and devour the men of
Shechem, and the house of Millo; and let fire come out from the men
of Shechem, and from the house of Millo, and devour Abimelech. 21:
And Jotham ran away, and fled, and went to Beer, and dwelt there, for
fear of Abimelech his brother. 22:
When Abimelech had reigned three years over Israel, 23:
Then God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of
Shechem; and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech:
24:
That the cruelty done to the threescore and ten sons of Jerubbaal
might come, and their blood be laid upon Abimelech their brother,
which slew them; and upon the men of Shechem, which aided him in the
killing of his brethren. 25:
And the men of Shechem set liers in wait for him in the top of the
mountains, and they robbed all that came along that way by them: and
it was told Abimelech. 26:
And Gaal the son of Ebed came with his brethren, and went over to
Shechem: and the men of Shechem put their confidence in him. 27:
And they went out into the fields, and gathered their vineyards, and
trode the grapes, and made merry, and went into the house of their
god, and did eat and drink, and cursed Abimelech. 28:
And Gaal the son of Ebed said, Who is Abimelech, and who is Shechem,
that we should serve him? is not he the son of Jerubbaal? and Zebul
his officer? serve the men of Hamor the father of Shechem: for why
should we serve him? 29:
And would to God this people were under my hand! then would I remove
Abimelech. And he said to Abimelech, Increase thine army, and come
out. 30:
And when Zebul the ruler of the city heard the words of Gaal the son
of Ebed, his anger was kindled. 31:
And he sent messengers unto Abimelech privily, saying, Behold, Gaal
the son of Ebed and his brethren be come to Shechem; and, behold,
they fortify the city against thee. 32:
Now therefore up by night, thou and the people that is with thee, and
lie in wait in the field: 33:
And it shall be, that in the morning, as soon as the sun is up, thou
shalt rise early, and set upon the city: and, behold, when he and the
people that is with him come out against thee, then mayest thou do to
them as thou shalt find occasion. 34:
And Abimelech rose up, and all the people that were with him, by
night, and they laid wait against Shechem in four companies. 35:
And Gaal the son of Ebed went out, and stood in the entering of the
gate of the city: and Abimelech rose up, and the people that were
with him, from lying in wait. 36:
And when Gaal saw the people, he said to Zebul, Behold, there come
people down from the top of the mountains. And Zebul said unto him,
Thou seest the shadow of the mountains as if they were men. 37:
And Gaal spake again and said, See there come people down by the
middle of the land, and another company come along by the plain of
Meonenim. 38:
Then said Zebul unto him, Where is now thy mouth, wherewith thou
saidst, Who is Abimelech, that we should serve him? is not this the
people that thou hast despised? go out, I pray now, and fight with
them. 39:
And Gaal went out before the men of Shechem, and fought with
Abimelech. 40:
And Abimelech chased him, and he fled before him, and many were
overthrown and wounded, even unto the entering of the gate. 41:
And Abimelech dwelt at Arumah: and Zebul thrust out Gaal and his
brethren, that they should not dwell in Shechem. 42:
And it came to pass on the morrow, that the people went out into the
field; and they told Abimelech. 43:
And he took the people, and divided them into three companies, and
laid wait in the field, and looked, and, behold, the people were come
forth out of the city; and he rose up against them, and smote them.
44:
And Abimelech, and the company that was with him, rushed forward, and
stood in the entering of the gate of the city: and the two other
companies ran upon all the people that were in the fields, and slew
them. 45:
And Abimelech fought against the city all that day; and he took the
city, and slew the people that was therein, and beat down the city,
and sowed it with salt. 46:
And when all the men of the tower of Shechem heard that, they entered
into an hold of the house of the god Berith. 47:
And it was told Abimelech, that all the men of the tower of Shechem
were gathered together. 48:
And Abimelech gat him up to mount Zalmon, he and all the people that
were with him; and Abimelech took an axe in his hand, and cut down a
bough from the trees, and took it, and laid it on his shoulder, and
said unto the people that were with him, What ye have seen me do,
make haste, and do as I have done. 49:
And all the people likewise cut down every man his bough, and
followed Abimelech, and put them to the hold, and set the hold on
fire upon them; so that all the men of the tower of Shechem died
also, about a thousand men and women. 50:
Then went Abimelech to Thebez, and encamped against Thebez, and took
it. 51:
But there was a strong tower within the city, and thither fled all
the men and women, and all they of the city, and shut it to them, and
gat them up to the top of the tower. 52:
And Abimelech came unto the tower, and fought against it, and went
hard unto the door of the tower to burn it with fire. 53:
And a certain woman cast a piece of a millstone upon Abimelech's
head, and all to brake his skull. 54:
Then he called hastily unto the young man his armourbearer, and said
unto him, Draw thy sword, and slay me, that men say not of me, A
woman slew him. And his young man thrust him through, and he died.
55:
And when the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, they departed
every man unto his place. 56:
Thus God rendered the wickedness of Abimelech, which he did unto his
father, in slaying his seventy brethren: 57:
And all the evil of the men of Shechem did God render upon their
heads: and upon them came the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal.
Judges
10 Tola delivers Israel 23 yrs
1:
And after Abimelech there arose to defend Israel Tola the son of
Puah, the son of Dodo, a man of Issachar; and he dwelt in Shamir in
mount Ephraim. 2:
And he judged Israel twenty and three years, and died, and was buried
in Shamir.
Jair
delivers Israel 22 yrs
3:
And after him arose Jair, a Gileadite, and judged Israel twenty and
two years. 4:
And he had thirty sons that rode on thirty ass colts, and they had
thirty cities, which are called Havoth-jair unto this day, which are
in the land of Gilead. 5:
And Jair died, and was buried in Camon. 6:
And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD,
and served Baalim, and Ashtaroth, and the gods of Syria, and the gods
of Zidon, and the gods of Moab, and the gods of the children of
Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines, and forsook the LORD, and
served not him. 7:
And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel, and he sold them
into the hands of the Philistines, and into the hands of the children
of Ammon. 8:
And that year they vexed and oppressed the children of Israel:
eighteen years, all the children of Israel that were on the other
side Jordan in the land of the Amorites, which is in Gilead. 9:
Moreover the children of Ammon passed over Jordan to fight also
against Judah, and against Benjamin, and against the house of
Ephraim; so that Israel was sore distressed. 10:
And the children of Israel cried unto the LORD, saying, We have
sinned against thee, both because we have forsaken our God, and also
served Baalim. 11:
And the LORD said unto the children of Israel, Did not I deliver you
from the Egyptians, and from the Amorites, from the children of
Ammon, and from the Philistines? 12:
The Zidonians also, and the Amalekites, and the Maonites, did oppress
you; and ye cried to me, and I delivered you out of their hand. 13:
Yet ye have forsaken me, and served other gods: wherefore I will
deliver you no more. 14:
Go and cry unto the gods which ye have chosen; let them deliver you
in the time of your tribulation. 15:
And the children of Israel said unto the LORD, We have sinned: do
thou unto us whatsoever seemeth good unto thee; deliver us only, we
pray thee, this day. 16:
And they put away the strange gods from among them, and served the
LORD: and his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel. 17:
Then the children of Ammon were gathered together, and encamped in
Gilead. And the children of Israel assembled themselves together, and
encamped in Mizpeh. 18:
And the people and princes of Gilead said one to another, What man is
he that will begin to fight against the children of Ammon? he shall
be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.
And so we come to
the story of Abimelech and Jotham and then we read of the judges Tola
and Jair. Abimelech was the son of Jerubbaal (Gideon) Abimelech went
to his brethren and asked them whether it would be better for them to
have a king and whether he might be that man. And he hired vain and
empty headed men to follow him. Then he went to his brethren and
killed them all 70 men apart from the youngest Jotham, who hid
himself. Then the children of Israel made him king in Shechem. When
Jotham heard this he went and addressed the men on My Gerazim. He
told them a parable of the trees who wanted a king. The olive tree,
the fig tree and the vine said we do not want to leave our place to
be king. So the trees appointed the bramble to rule over them. The
Bramble said, if you will really make me king then come and live
under my shadow and if not then let fire consume you. He said if you
want to make him king then so be it but you have not acted
righteously in destroying the house of my father – he who went on
adventure of his life afar and delivered you from Midian. And now you
rise up against my father’s house today. And you have made
Abimelech the son of his servant king over you. Then Je called on the
Lord to execute judgment in Israel and then he ran away for fear.
Abimelech reigned for three years over Israel. (It is often thought
that Saul was Israels first King but as we see from this passage this
is not so) then the LORD sent a bad spirit between Abimelech and the
men of Shechem and they dealt with him in trechery. They became
robbers in the mountains. Then a man appeared who was called Gaal.
The men of Shechem put their trust in him and he went and fortified a
city. Abimelech went out to battle but secretly. Abimelech went
against the cities that rebelled against him but when trying to enter
a Tower a woman threw a part of a millstone on him and he lay injured
in his head and he asked his armourbearer to kill him lest it be said
that a woman killed him. He did and Abimlech died. And in this way
God judged Abimelech for his killing of his 70 brethren. After
Abimlech Tola was raised up by the Lord to judge Israel and he judged
for 23 yrs. After him came Jair who judged Israel for 22 yrs. He had
30 sons who rode on 30 ass colts and they had 30 cities. When he died
the children of Israel forsook the Lord to serve idols. So the LORD
delivered them into the hands of the Philistines and the children of
Ammon. They ruled Israel for 18yrs. Then the Lord spoke to Israel
reminding them of their sin and calling on them to repent. (This was
probably through a prophet of the Lord) The Children of Israel turned
again to the LORD and asked for the Lord to deliver them. The armies
of the enemy gathered and the children of Israel gathered but who
would lead them?
- What did Abimelech want to do?
- What means did he use to obtain the crown?
- How do we see a continual up and down in Israel's relationship with the Lord?
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