Judges 9
Judges 9 is one of those chapters that make me wonder why God gave it to us. Abimelech was a power-hungry person that went to great lengths to make sure his pseudo-power remained in place.
Let me take you back to Judges 8:22-23 – Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, “Rule over us, you and your son and your grandson also, for you have saved us from the hand of Midian.” Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; the Lord will rule over you.”
The men of Shechem knew the words of Gideon. They should have remembered them when his son wanted to be king. Abimelech should have also remembered his father’s word when we drifted from his mission.
As you read through the chapter, you will notice that Abimelech killed all of his brothers except one, Jotham. You will also notice that he killed 1,000 innocent men during his three-year reign. Further, notice that he required his servant to draw his sword so nobody could say he was killed by a woman. Not by words, read the text.
I want to make two points from the ugliness of chapter 9.
The pursuit of power never ends with one stop. Abimelech was so desperate to be in charge that he went to his grandfather’s house and killed his brothers, seventy men (v. 5). All of us want our own way and are willing to remove apparent obstacles. Killing people is never the answer. Violence is never the answer. The pursuit of another person to satisfy our pursuit for power is never the answer. We don’t kill people, but we do make people look bad, so we look better. Our pursuit of power might look different, but it exists. Let’s pursue the rule of Jesus Christ in our life and rely on the power of the Holy Spirit to press forward.
The plantation of pride will cause more trouble than you ever intended. I think Abimelech went far enough that he had to continue. To turn around and admit guilt would have forced him to lose all that we tried to accomplish. The ripple effect of Abimelech’s decisions is obvious throughout chapter 9. Words like faith and integrity are used in the conversations. It is possible that we are believe we are acting with integrity but have been deceived by the enemy. The consequences of this deception lead to destruction.
Pride is evil. Pride will take us down road we never intended to walk. Look around at people you who have made decisions you believe were outside their character. Look in the mirror. We all have made these types of decisions. In the end, Abimelech lost more than we may have intended at the beginning. He lost his life at the hand of woman, which was covered up.
What do you attempt to cover up because of your pride? Does God’s mission for your life drift because of your pursuit of power?
Let’s press forward in God’s mission together. This will help us avoid a pursuit of power and hurting people we never intended.