No King in Israel (21)

Gideon’s son Abimelech wanted to be king of Israel. Following the example of the kings of the nations, and aided and abetted by his kindred in Shechem, he murdered seventy of his half-brothers to consolidate his throne. Unfortunately for Abimelech, his father’s youngest son escaped his hand and lived to curse him in God’s name. God heard and answered Jotham’s “attack prayer” because he offered it in accordance with the Lord’s mind and will, in hope of seeing divine justice done on behalf of his brothers and his father’s family.

Not all curses land on their target. This one did, and the writer of Judges makes sure we understand what was happening behind the scenes in the spiritual realm.

II. Twelve Judges in Chronological Order (continued)

5. Gideon (continued)

Judges 9:22-25 — Treachery Time

“Abimelech ruled over Israel three years. And God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the leaders of Shechem, and the leaders of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech, that the violence done to the seventy sons of Jerubbaal might come, and their blood be laid on Abimelech their brother, who killed them, and on the men of Shechem, who strengthened his hands to kill his brothers. And the leaders of Shechem put men in ambush against him on the mountaintops, and they robbed all who passed by them along that way. And it was told to Abimelech.”

Sometimes people who have perfectly good reasons to get along (like being co-conspirators in murder) have a serious falling out for which nobody involved can give a logical reason. Most of these relationship ruptures have nothing to do with God, and many are in direct opposition to his will and desires. Other divisions are the natural consequences of the personalities involved. When we look back on them, we wonder why they didn’t happen earlier; they were inevitable. More rarely, God is personally active in sowing discord between bad elements. A good example of this sort of thing is the split between David’s kin and the rest of Israel in the time of Rehoboam. God divided the nation of Israel, fulfilling his promise to judge David’s household for his sin with Bathsheba.

There was nothing natural about the split between Abimelech and the leaders of Shechem. God sent an evil spirit between them in order to pay back both parties for their part in the murders of seventy innocent men. Why did the leaders of Shechem suddenly decide to set ambushes against Abimelech’s men when they had anointed him king over them only three years prior? I doubt they could have told you, but I’m sure it made perfect sense to them at the time. Mysterious conflicts arise out of nowhere between parties carrying a load of unatoned guilt.

Interestingly, God’s vengeance took three years to come about. The Lord graciously gives men opportunity to repent of their errors. Sadly, too few are interested in taking advantage of his grace.

We should remind ourselves that, as James puts it, “God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one.” To accomplish his purposes in this instance, the Lord permitted an evil spirit to divide Abimelech and the men of Shechem. The death of Ahab involved a similar offer by a lying spirit to delude the doomed. He was, of course, successful.

Judges 9:26-29 — The Casus Belli

“And Gaal the son of Ebed moved into Shechem with his relatives, and the leaders of Shechem put confidence in him. 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. 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? Would that this people were under my hand! Then I would remove Abimelech. I would say to Abimelech, “Increase your army, and come out.” ’ ”

When men are disloyal and discontented, war may break out at the smallest of provocations. Gaal the son of Ebed was the new kid in Shechem, enjoying for a time the favor of Shechem’s rulers. They “put confidence in him”, inviting him to a celebration at which many among them freely discussed their contempt for Abimelech. After all, Abimelech was only the son of a local concubine who had obviously gotten above his station in life. Maybe it was time to bring him back down to earth.

As happens occasionally in the middle of an alcohol-fueled “good time”, the new guy failed to take the temperature of the room before he started shooting off his mouth. Profoundly unwise things are often said after a few drinks, most of which the speaker has usually forgotten by the next morning. Gaal makes several serious errors in judgment here that may have been the result of too many flagons of wine. First, he refers to “we of Shechem”, indulging in a level of familiarity that may have made long-time Shechemites around him bridle with indignation. (“What is this ‘we’ of whom he speaks? Who does he think he is? He just barely got here!”) Second, Gaal drops Zebul’s name somewhat contemptuously with Zebul himself in the room, incurring his wrath and setting up his own betrayal. Third, Gaal brags about his ability to remove a king in front of a roomful of people who had anointed that very man over themselves. Somebody was going to take exception to that, and someone did.

The moral: never let the illusion of men’s approval go to your head. Public opinion has a tendency to shift in ways nobody can control. A little humility would have served Gaal much better than the imprudent and prideful display in which he engaged.

In any case, Zebul predictably betrayed Gaal and the men of Shechem who followed him to Abimelech. Think how unlikely that was, given that a ruler of Shechem was selling out his own brothers and sisters to almost certain death! But that’s what unchecked anger will do.

Judges 9:34-41 — Pride and Destruction

“So Abimelech and all the men who were with him rose up by night and set an ambush against Shechem in four companies. And Gaal the son of Ebed went out and stood in the entrance of the gate of the city, and Abimelech and the people who were with him rose from the ambush. And when Gaal saw the people, he said to Zebul, ‘Look, people are coming down from the mountaintops!’ And Zebul said to him, ‘You mistake the shadow of the mountains for men.’ Gaal spoke again and said, ‘Look, people are coming down from the center of the land, and one company is coming from the direction of the Diviners’ Oak.’ 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.’ And Gaal went out at the head of the leaders of Shechem and fought with Abimelech. And Abimelech chased him, and he fled before him. And many fell wounded, up to the entrance of the gate. And Abimelech lived at Arumah, and Zebul drove out Gaal and his relatives, so that they could not dwell at Shechem.”

We have already seen that Gaal had problems with both pride and presumption. He criticized a man whose measure he had not taken. Zebul baited him by delaying him until he could not easily retreat, then dared him to make good on his drunken promises, and Gaal fell for it. We do not know what happened to him, but the implication seems to be that he escaped the fate that would shortly befall the men who had aided and abetted Abimelech. Perhaps that was the grace of God to Gaal. The man was foolish and had a big mouth, but he was not a murderous conspirator like those with whom he drank and consorted. The Lord used his boasting to provoke the fulfillment of Jotham’s curse.