“God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the guys and gals who were living in the city of Shechem causing the guys and gals to act treacherously against Abimelech.”
~ Judges 9:23
Hi James and Ellen,
Would you rather be a Gideon or an Abimelech when you are as old as your dad? Gideon was a really good guy while Abimelech was a really bad guy. Abimelech used a Baal to set himself up as king over the guys and gals who were living in the city of Shechem. Gideon was not a Baal worshipper. Baals were manmade idol gods that were handmade out of wood, stone, clay or metal. Gideon has become one of the best known judges among the twelve judges who the author of the Judges Book wrote about in his book. Judges were God ordained guys and a gal who led in skirmishes and battles against enemy guys who tried to root God’s specially chosen guys and gals out of the land of Canaan. The land of Canaan was the land that God gave to His specially chosen guys and gals to always to have to live in as their very own land if . . . . after Joshua died and for the next 325 or so years, God chose guys and a gal – who would become known as judges, from among His specially chosen guys and gals to take on the task of pushing back guys who were enemies of His specially chosen guys and gals. Judges were able to most of the time keep neighboring people group’s guys out of their land area in spite of guys who were enemies of God’s specially chosen guys and gals making incursions or forays into the land of Canaan. Gideon would be one of the last guys to have a dramatic influence as a judge in the land that God gave to His specially chosen guys and gals to always to have to live in as their very own land if . . . Gideon wanted God’s specially chosen guys and gals to be obedient God-followers. Gideon would become known by another name – Jerub-Baal. Jerub-Baal means the contender of or the fighter against Baal. Gideon lived in the town of Ophrah. It may have been okay at the time for God’s specially chosen guys to have more than one wife. Gideon must have had a good number of wives as he had seventy sons. The name of Gideon’s youngest kid was Jotham. A slave gal also had a kid with Gideon. The slave gal named her kid Abimelech. Abimelech must have been a scary sort as he convinced his bros and the guys and gals who were living in the city of Shechem that he was the best pick to be their leader. Abimelech was the antithesis or the direct opposite of his dad. Gideon picked good guys to fight with him. Abimelech picked reckless adventurers and/or hooligans to help him do his thuggery or badness. Midianite guys were enemies of God’s specially chosen guys and gals. Gideon fought against Midianite guys to keep them from hanging out and messing with God’s specially chosen guys and gals in the land that God gave to them to always to have to live in as their very own land if . . . while Abimelech used his band of goons to destroy any guys who were threats to him – even if the guys were Jews – Jews being God’s specially chosen guys who were born into Israel’s people group.
Judges 9 has Abimeleck’s story. The words that God – as God the Spirit, breathed on different guys to scribe in books and letters sometimes paint really contemptable stories about a guy or gal. The Judges Book author – who was possibly Samuel, wrote a real life book about real life good and bad guys and about real life occurrences. After Abimeleck dastardly murdered sixty-nine of Jotham’s bros and half bros on a stone in the town of Ophrah, Jotham cursed Abimeleck from the top of Mount Gerizim. Jotham had hid while his older bros were being shamelessly slaughtered by Abimeleck. As Jotham was shouting from the top of Mount Gerizim to the guys and gals who were living in the city of Shechem who had gotten together to crown Abimeleck their king, Jotham used a speaking technique that was used at the time to curse his half bro. The technique that Jotham used was to have a fable have inanimate objects talk and act. Jotham had trees ask an olive tree to be their king. When the olive tree refused to be their king, the trees then asked a fig tree to be their king. When the fig tree refused to be their king, the trees then asked a vine to be their king. When the vine refused to be their king, the trees had pretty much run out of options as to which tree would be their king. The olive tree, fig tree and the vine were all trees and plants that were already productive – servicing both God and God’s specially chosen guys and gals with oil and fruit. The trees and the vine did not have to be the king of trees to have identity and self-value. Because the trees were set on having a king, the trees asked the thornbush or buckthorn if it would be their king. Because the thornbush or buckthorn had no value even for fuel, the thornbush or buckthorn jumped at the chance to rule over all the other trees – telling them that they were to get in its shade. After making his point while cursing Abimeleck, Jotham escaped with his life.
Abimeleck’s story goes from bad to worse. Abimeleck would ultimately be struck on the head by a millstone that a gal threw down from the top of the tower that was located in Thebez. Abimeleck had earlier burned down the temple of El-Berith where about a thousand guys and gals had gone into to try to escape being killed by Abimeleck. Because Abimeleck did not want to be known as a guy who had gotten himself killed by a gal, Abimeleck asked his armorbearer to run his sword through him. God is Who directed this real life drama in which Abimeleck was the lead character. Verse 23 says, “God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the guys and gals who were living in the city of Shechem causing the guys and gals to act treacherously against Abimelech.” Your grandpaa has found it intriguing that a good guy – Gideon, made the town of Ophrah his home while a bad guy – Abimeleck, who Jotham exemplified or epitomized as being a thornbush or buckthorn, slaughtered his half bros in the town of Ophrah while Oprah – who is a major influencer today on planet Earth, had her ma name her after this unfamiliar, iniquitous place.
Judges 9 (594)