Judges 9:30 – When Zebul the governor of the city heard the words of Gaal son of Ebed, he burned with anger. So he covertly sent messengers to Abimelech to say, “Look, Gaal son of Ebed and his brothers have come to Shechem and are stirring up the city against you. Now then, tonight you and the people with you are to come and lie in wait in the fields. And in the morning at sunrise, get up and advance against the city. When Gaal and his men come out against you, do to them whatever you are able.” So Abimelech and all his troops set out by night and lay in wait against Shechem in four companies.
Now Gaal son of Ebed went out and stood at the entrance of the city gate just as Abimelech and his men came out from their hiding places. When Gaal saw the people, he said to Zebul, “Look, people are coming down from the mountains!” But Zebul replied, “The shadows of the mountains look like men to you.” Then Gaal spoke up again, “Look, people are coming down from the center of the land, and one company is coming by way of the Diviners’ Oak.”
“Where is your gloating now?” Zebul replied. “You said, ‘Who is Abimelech that we should serve him?’ Are these not the people you ridiculed? Go out now and fight them!” So Gaal went out before the leaders of Shechem and fought against Abimelech, but Abimelech pursued him, and Gaal fled before him. And many Shechemites fell wounded all the way to the entrance of the gate. Abimelech stayed in Arumah, and Zebul drove Gaal and his brothers out of Shechem.
The next day the people of Shechem went out into the fields, and this was reported to Abimelech. So he took his men, divided them into three companies, and waited in ambush in the fields. When he saw the people coming out of the city, he rose up against them and attacked them. Then Abimelech and the companies with him rushed forward and took their stand at the entrance of the city gate. The other two companies rushed against all who were in the fields and struck them down. And all that day Abimelech fought against the city until he had captured it and killed its people. Then he demolished the city and sowed it with salt.
On hearing of this, all the leaders in the tower of Shechem entered the inner chamber of the temple of El-berith. And when it was reported to Abimelech that all the leaders in the tower of Shechem were gathered there, he and all his men went up to Mount Zalmon. Abimelech took his ax in his hand and cut a branch from the trees, which he lifted to his shoulder, saying to his men, “Hurry and do what you have seen me do.”
So each man also cut his own branch and followed Abimelech. Then they piled the branches against the inner chamber and set it on fire above them, killing everyone in the tower of Shechem, about a thousand men and women.
Some of the stories in the Book of Judges would give “Game of Thrones” a run for its money! Let’s review: God used Gideon to save Israel from the Midianites, and Gideon had 72 sons, one of them being Abimelech and another Jotham. Abimelech was the son of a concubine but was power – hungry and convinced his mother’s brothers to back him as he murdered 70 of Gideon’s legitimate sons. Jotham escaped the slaughter and then pronounced curses on Abimelech and his supporters from Shechem and Beth – millo. When backing Abimelech failed to yield the wealth and power the men of Shechem had expected, they began highway robbery. Soon a fellow named Gaal showed up to challenge Abimelech. As it turned out, Gaal was “all hat and no cattle.”
Zebul, the Shechem city governor, (probably another one of the uncles), was loyal to Abimelech and informed Abimelech about Gaal’s threats. When Abimelech showed up, Gaal was defeated; however, Abimelech also took his revenge on the city of Shechem, destroying the city and sowing the ground with salt so that nothing would ever grow there again. The Shechemite leaders, presumably including Zebul and all of Abimelech’s uncles, took refuge in the tower inside the temple of Baal – berith. This was a fateful decision because Abimelech and his men set fire to the tower, killing a thousand men and women. All of this happened because “God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the leaders of Shechem and caused them to treat Abimelech deceitfully, in order that the crime against the seventy sons of Jerubbaal might come to justice and their blood be avenged on their brother Abimelech and on the leaders of Shechem, who had helped him murder his brothers. Judges 9:23-24
APPLICATION: Galatians 6:7 tells us, “Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant.” The men of Shechem conspired to mass murder of Gideon’s seventy sons, and now they and their entire city were destroyed.
The men of Shechem made the fatal mistake of turning their backs on God and assuming that He was not watching their actions. But actions always have consequences. In recent times, the concept of “situation ethics” has become popular – judging any situation on its own merits without regard to standards. But if there are no standards, how can you assess anything? We might not want rules for ourselves, but we are incensed when others fail to follow the same rules we choose to flout. Human nature has not changed; neither has the nature of God. Another translation of Galatians 6:7 reads, “Do not be deceived. God is not mocked..” When we insist that we can do anything we choose without fear of divine retribution, we are mocking God, behaving as if God is not omnipresent (present everywhere), omniscient (all – knowing), or omnipotent(all – powerful.) God’s nature does not change because we choose to ignore Him.
The evil we do today sows the seeds of disaster for us tomorrow. Human beings are created with a need to worship something greater than themselves. Fail to worship God, and you are setting yourself up for destruction. Fail to teach your children about God, and they will copy your example and find something or someone else lesser to worship. But remember the men of Shechem. The Shechemites refused to worship the God who had delivered them and fixed their affections on Baal – berith (“Lord of the flies”) instead. The very evil that these men had instrumented caught up with them.
PRAYER: Father God, we open our hearts to You. Show us those things that do not please You and clean up our hearts and minds! Let us truly know You as our God and King. In the mighty Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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