(Judges 9:22-57) Now Abimelech ruled over Israel for three years. 23 Then God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the leaders of Shechem; and the leaders of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech, 24 so that the violence done to the seventy sons of Jerubbaal would come, and the responsibility for their blood would be placed on their brother Abimelech, who killed them, and on the leaders of Shechem, who encouraged him to kill his brothers. 25 The leaders of Shechem set up men in ambush against him on the tops of the mountains, and they robbed everyone who would pass by them on the road; and it was reported to Abimelech.
26 Now Gaal the son of Ebed came with his relatives, and crossed over into Shechem; and the leaders of Shechem trusted him. 27 So they went out to the field and gathered the grapes of their vineyards and trampled them, and held a festival; and they went into the house of their god, and ate and drank and cursed Abimelech. 28 Then Gaal the son of Ebed said, “Who is Abimelech, and who is Shechem, that we should serve him? Is he not the son of Jerubbaal, and is Zebul not his governor? Serve the men of Hamor the father of Shechem; but why should we serve him? 29 If only this people were under my authority! Then I would do away with Abimelech.” And he said to Abimelech, “Enlarge your army and come out!”
30 When Zebul the leader of the city heard the words of Gaal the son of Ebed, his anger burned. 31 So using deception, he successfully sent messengers to Abimelech, saying, “Behold, Gaal the son of Ebed and his relatives have come to Shechem; and behold, they are stirring up the city against you. 32 So now, arise by night, you and the people who are with you, and lie in wait in the field. 33 Then in the morning, as soon as the sun is up, you shall rise early and attack the city; and behold, when he and the people who are with him come out against you, you shall do to them whatever you can.”
34 So Abimelech and all the people who were with him got up at night, and lay in wait against Shechem, in four units. 35 Now Gaal the son of Ebed went out and stood at the entrance of the city gate; and Abimelech and the people who were with him arose from the ambush. 36 When Gaal saw the people, he said to Zebul, “Look, people are coming down from the tops of the mountains.” But Zebul said to him, “You are seeing the shadow of the mountains as if they were people.” 37 And Gaal spoke yet again and said, “Look, people are coming down from the highest part of the land, and one unit is coming by way of the diviners’ oak.” 38 Then Zebul said to him, “Where then is your boasting with which you said, ‘Who is Abimelech that we should serve him?’ Is this not the people whom you rejected? Go out now and fight them!” 39 So Gaal went out in the sight of the leaders of Shechem and fought Abimelech. 40 But Abimelech chased him, and he fled from him; and many fell wounded up to the entrance of the gate. 41 Then Abimelech stayed in Arumah, but Zebul drove out Gaal and his relatives so that they could not stay in Shechem.
42 Now it came about the next day, that the people went out to the field, and it was reported to Abimelech. 43 So he took his people and divided them into three units, and lay in wait in the field; when he looked and saw the people coming out from the city, he attacked them and killed them. 44 Then Abimelech and the company who was with him rushed forward and stood at the entrance of the city gate; the other two companies then attacked all who were in the field and killed them. 45 Abimelech fought against the city that whole day, and he captured the city and killed the people who were in it; then he tore down the city and sowed it with salt.
46 When all the leaders of the tower of Shechem heard about it, they entered the inner chamber of the temple of El-berith. 47 And it was reported to Abimelech that all the leaders of the tower of Shechem were gathered together. 48 So Abimelech went up to Mount Zalmon, he and all the people who were with him; and Abimelech took an axe in his hand and cut down a branch from the trees, and lifted it and put it on his shoulder. Then he said to the people who were with him, “What you saw me do, hurry and do likewise.” 49 So all the people also cut down, each one, his branch and followed Abimelech, and put them on top of the inner chamber and set the inner chamber on fire over those inside, so that all the people of the tower of Shechem also died, about a thousand men and women.
50 Then Abimelech went to Thebez, and he camped against Thebez and captured it. 51 But there was a strong tower in the center of the city, and all the men and women with all the leaders of the city fled there and shut themselves in; and they went up on the roof of the tower. 52 So Abimelech came to the tower and fought against it, and approached the entrance of the tower to burn it down with fire. 53 But a woman threw an upper millstone on Abimelech’s head, crushing his skull. 54 Then he called quickly to the young man, his armor bearer, and said to him, “Draw your sword and kill me, so that it will not be said of me, ‘A woman killed him.’” So the young man pierced him through, and he died. 55 Now when the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, each left for his home. 56 So God repaid the wickedness of Abimelech, which he had done to his father in killing his seventy brothers. 57 God also returned all the wickedness of the men of Shechem on their heads, and the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal came upon them.
TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:
Justice was served! This was God allowing consequences to fall onto the people who were responsible. Evil begets evil. People who seek to do evil eventually turn on each other. One can think they are allies and cozy with these people - and then suddenly - they are not!
Back in grade nine, I compromised my values in order to fit in with a certain group of "friends" - only to have them become my enemies who spread hurtful slander about me, so no one wanted to be my friend. I began to feel very unworthy and far too ashamed to even talk to my parents about this. But the worst part was, I had strayed away from the Lord! Therefore my conscience was really bothering me. And all of this happened just over a couple of months!
What I went through was enough for me to see and know that I never want to rebel or stray away from God, ever again. My desire is to always seek after the Lord. This doesn't mean that I always do everything as I should. And there have been months where I neglected to have personal devotions or talking earnestly with God; but then when I started those things up again - what a difference it makes! And what a peace there is in knowing that because God extends His grace to us, we will never lose our salvation!
Therefore, I will gratefully continue to run (back) to Him, over and over again! Even when and especially when I go through tests and trials, although I do prefer to avoid consequences of my own stupid mistakes!!! So WHY would I NOT want to surround myself with godly people, who are allies with the Lord, to be my closest friends of support and guidance? WHY would I NOT want to have daily devotions and constant prayer with the One who saved me and cares for me and will never leave me or betray me!!! Therefore, I choose to stay close to the sovereign Lord of everlasting lovingkindness as my constant go-to-ally!!!
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