1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:06,000
And also the baby pops with surgery this week and there may still be others.

2
00:00:06,000 --> 00:00:08,000
I'm not sure. Is there nothing to be audrey today?

3
00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:13,000
I guess we're going to send her home tomorrow because we have such a long schedule.

4
00:00:13,000 --> 00:00:16,000
Okay, we're going to send her home tomorrow.

5
00:00:16,000 --> 00:00:22,000
Alright, let's open our Bibles together to the book of Judges.

6
00:00:22,000 --> 00:00:31,000
And the ninth chapter. Are you able to hear me okay?

7
00:00:31,000 --> 00:00:37,000
A rather strange and awful story actually about a man named Abimelech.

8
00:00:37,000 --> 00:00:42,000
It is a story that is unique in the book of Judges.

9
00:00:42,000 --> 00:00:49,000
Abimelech actually was not a judge in the sense as we have defined that term.

10
00:00:49,000 --> 00:00:54,000
He was a man who was more of a renegade than anything else.

11
00:00:54,000 --> 00:01:00,000
So some have asked, well why is this included in the book of Judges, this story about the man?

12
00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:04,000
The answer to that is probably at least three-fold.

13
00:01:04,000 --> 00:01:13,000
First of all, it gives us some insight as to the extent of Baal worship in that part of Palestine this time.

14
00:01:13,000 --> 00:01:19,000
Baal was a part of the pantheon of the Canaanites.

15
00:01:19,000 --> 00:01:23,000
He was the son of El, who was their head god.

16
00:01:23,000 --> 00:01:28,000
And his name still is retained today over in that area.

17
00:01:28,000 --> 00:01:33,000
Some of you have perhaps been to the ruins in Lebanon called Baalbek,

18
00:01:33,000 --> 00:01:38,000
which I think is accessible anymore because of the war there.

19
00:01:38,000 --> 00:01:44,000
But the name is still retained today and we'll see it in tonight's lesson as well.

20
00:01:44,000 --> 00:01:52,000
Secondly, the story gives us the conditions that existed in central Israel during this period of time.

21
00:01:52,000 --> 00:01:58,000
Most of the stories in Judges take place in the northern part of Palestine or in the southern part.

22
00:01:58,000 --> 00:02:02,000
This hits right in the middle and it tells us what it was like there.

23
00:02:02,000 --> 00:02:13,000
It also gives to us early on an expression of the tendency on the part of the people of Israel toward a monarchy,

24
00:02:13,000 --> 00:02:18,000
showing us that they wanted a king to rule over them.

25
00:02:18,000 --> 00:02:25,000
They were not satisfied, they were not content with a theocracy, the rule of God.

26
00:02:25,000 --> 00:02:28,000
They wanted the rule of one king.

27
00:02:28,000 --> 00:02:32,000
And this gives us an example of what's a limited number of people involved,

28
00:02:32,000 --> 00:02:37,000
a limited geographical area still shows us that that was the heart's desire.

29
00:02:37,000 --> 00:02:44,000
It says, And Abimelech the son of Jeroboabol went to Shechem to his mother's relatives.

30
00:02:44,000 --> 00:02:48,000
Back up a few verses to chapter 8 and look at verse 31.

31
00:02:48,000 --> 00:02:52,000
Jeroboabol is of course another name for Gideon.

32
00:02:52,000 --> 00:03:03,000
And it says in verse 31, his concubine who was in Shechem also bore him a son and he named him Abimelech.

33
00:03:03,000 --> 00:03:09,000
And so now we have a little bit of understanding as to the origin of Abimelech.

34
00:03:09,000 --> 00:03:13,000
He is the son of a slave woman.

35
00:03:13,000 --> 00:03:21,000
And he lived, she lived in the city of Shechem so that's where her relatives were from.

36
00:03:21,000 --> 00:03:26,000
That's why Shechem is so important in what happens in chapter 9.

37
00:03:26,000 --> 00:03:30,000
This was his home turf so to speak.

38
00:03:30,000 --> 00:03:38,000
His name also is interesting because Abimelech means his father is king.

39
00:03:38,000 --> 00:03:45,000
Now Gideon had been offered the kingship and had refused it.

40
00:03:45,000 --> 00:03:53,000
And yet he went on to live like a king in wealth and a lot of wives and concubines.

41
00:03:53,000 --> 00:03:59,000
And so even the naming of his son suggests to us that while he refused the title,

42
00:03:59,000 --> 00:04:05,000
he nonetheless rather enjoyed that image, his father as king.

43
00:04:05,000 --> 00:04:15,000
And perhaps because he grew up with that name, Abimelech is early on tempted toward becoming the next king,

44
00:04:15,000 --> 00:04:18,000
the first king actually of Israel.

45
00:04:18,000 --> 00:04:22,000
And Abimelech the son of Jehovah-Wilbent to Shechem, his mother's relatives,

46
00:04:22,000 --> 00:04:29,000
and spoke to them and the whole clan of the household of his mother's father saying,

47
00:04:29,000 --> 00:04:36,000
Speak now in the hearing of all the leaders of Shechem, which is better for you,

48
00:04:36,000 --> 00:04:46,000
that seventy men, all the sons of Jehovah-Wilbent, rule over you or that one man rule over you?

49
00:04:46,000 --> 00:04:52,000
So he's giving them a choice. He says, would you rather have seventy people to give tribute to

50
00:04:52,000 --> 00:04:58,000
and to honor his king or his many kings or would you rather just have one?

51
00:04:58,000 --> 00:05:04,000
And then he goes on to say, oh by the way, remember that I'm your bone and your flesh.

52
00:05:04,000 --> 00:05:07,000
And so he presents to them an alternative.

53
00:05:07,000 --> 00:05:11,000
The implication seems to be here that somebody's about to rule over you.

54
00:05:11,000 --> 00:05:14,000
Now whether that was true or not, we don't know.

55
00:05:14,000 --> 00:05:24,000
Gideon was dead by this time. Were his sons in fact planning to put themselves in a position of ruling over the nation?

56
00:05:24,000 --> 00:05:29,000
That is the implication. That's what Abimelech at least wanted them to think.

57
00:05:29,000 --> 00:05:36,000
And they were Israelites and he was half-Kinanite.

58
00:05:36,000 --> 00:05:39,000
And so who would they rather have rule over them?

59
00:05:39,000 --> 00:05:44,000
These seventy Jews or one who was at least partially like them?

60
00:05:44,000 --> 00:05:51,000
And his mother's relatives spoke these words in his behalf in the hearing of all the leaders of Shechem.

61
00:05:51,000 --> 00:05:55,000
And so they took this message back to all the people who lived there.

62
00:05:55,000 --> 00:05:59,000
And the people who lived in Shechem were both Israelite and Kinnunite.

63
00:05:59,000 --> 00:06:03,000
There was a mixture. And they were inclined to follow Abimelech.

64
00:06:03,000 --> 00:06:07,000
But they said he is our relative. He's partly like us at least.

65
00:06:07,000 --> 00:06:14,000
And so they gave him seventy pieces of silver from the house of Baal Barith.

66
00:06:14,000 --> 00:06:18,000
He was the lord of the covenant.

67
00:06:18,000 --> 00:06:25,000
This was a temple, a place of worship of these pagan gods there in the city of Shechem.

68
00:06:25,000 --> 00:06:28,000
They took some money out of the church treasury.

69
00:06:28,000 --> 00:06:34,000
You understand my revised perversion there.

70
00:06:34,000 --> 00:06:39,000
Out of the treasury of this temple.

71
00:06:39,000 --> 00:06:45,000
And with that Abimelech hired worthless and reckless fellows and they followed him.

72
00:06:45,000 --> 00:06:53,000
And worthless and reckless fellows is an idiomatic expression that refers to people who were ruffians.

73
00:06:53,000 --> 00:06:57,000
They were hooligans. They were thugs. They were worth nothing.

74
00:06:57,000 --> 00:06:59,000
They just got into trouble.

75
00:06:59,000 --> 00:07:05,000
And so with this money that was given in from the temple, he hired a band of worthless guys

76
00:07:05,000 --> 00:07:08,000
who then were going to carry out what he wanted them to do.

77
00:07:08,000 --> 00:07:10,000
And what did he want them to do?

78
00:07:10,000 --> 00:07:15,000
He wanted them to turn into okra which was not far away and they killed his brothers,

79
00:07:15,000 --> 00:07:18,000
the sons of Jerubbimble.

80
00:07:18,000 --> 00:07:21,000
Seventy men on one stone.

81
00:07:21,000 --> 00:07:25,000
That expression seems to me that was a public massacre.

82
00:07:25,000 --> 00:07:33,000
We haveyour enmassed murder of all the sons of Gideon same one because almost parenthetically it says there

83
00:07:33,000 --> 00:07:35,000
at the end of verse five.

84
00:07:35,000 --> 00:07:41,560
youngest son of Jerubbabel was left for he hid himself. So somehow he was able to escape this

85
00:07:41,560 --> 00:07:50,280
massacre of Gideon's family and was able to preserve his life. It says all the men of Shechem and all

86
00:07:51,160 --> 00:07:59,720
Beth-Milo assembled together. Beth-Milo means the house of the Phil and probably is referring to a,

87
00:07:59,720 --> 00:08:06,760
as we would say today, a suburb of Shechem where some wealthy people live. The house of the Phil

88
00:08:06,760 --> 00:08:13,320
probably refers to an area that been filled in with something and on that platform or that

89
00:08:13,320 --> 00:08:19,720
foundation of filled dirt they built their houses. And this is where some of the more wealthy or the

90
00:08:19,720 --> 00:08:27,000
more influential people apparently live. And they went and made a Bimalek king by the oak of the

91
00:08:27,000 --> 00:08:33,800
pillar which was in Shechem. Now this is interesting turn back to Joshua 24 for a moment.

92
00:08:37,240 --> 00:08:41,720
Here we have Joshua's final charge to the people of Israel when he says to them,

93
00:08:41,720 --> 00:08:44,840
ask for me in my house we will serve the Lord. Who are you going to serve?

94
00:08:46,280 --> 00:08:51,320
And it says in verse 24, and the people said to Joshua we will serve the Lord our God and we will

95
00:08:51,320 --> 00:08:57,240
obey his voice. And so he made a covenant with the people that day and made for them a statute and

96
00:08:57,240 --> 00:09:03,320
an ordinance in Shechem. That's where that all took place in this very city. And he wrote the

97
00:09:03,320 --> 00:09:07,800
words of the book of the law of God. He took a large stone and set it under the oak that was by

98
00:09:07,800 --> 00:09:15,720
the sanctuary of the Lord. It was the same place where years later a Bimalek is named the king of

99
00:09:15,720 --> 00:09:21,480
Israel. And so we have a little bit of a cross reference there on this location. It was very

100
00:09:21,480 --> 00:09:27,560
meaningful in Israel's history is where Joshua led the people in recommitting themselves to God.

101
00:09:27,560 --> 00:09:32,680
It was there they buried the covenant. There they honored the Lord. It was at that place that they

102
00:09:32,680 --> 00:09:42,200
chose then to name a Bimalek as this renegade king. Now the news of all this got to Jotham.

103
00:09:42,200 --> 00:09:47,160
And Jotham decided to take some action. He was the only son of Gideon who was left.

104
00:09:48,600 --> 00:09:56,440
So he went to the area of Shechem to a mountainside that was not far from there at all. In fact it

105
00:09:56,440 --> 00:10:03,640
was right outside the city. And it's Mount Gerizim on the south side of the city. Mount

106
00:10:03,640 --> 00:10:09,320
Ebal is on the north side. And you may recall that when the people of Israel entered into the

107
00:10:09,320 --> 00:10:15,880
promised land, they went to this place and there they recited the blessings of the law on Mount

108
00:10:15,880 --> 00:10:24,760
Gerizim and the curses of the law on Mount Ebal. That was part of the ceremony. And it was

109
00:10:24,760 --> 00:10:28,840
reminded of the blessings that God would pour on them if they obeyed and the curses that would

110
00:10:28,840 --> 00:10:35,960
come upon them if they disobeyed His law. And it's interesting that even today Mount Gerizim is a

111
00:10:35,960 --> 00:10:42,360
mountain that has green growing on it. There's life there. Mount Ebal just across the greenness

112
00:10:42,360 --> 00:10:49,400
of valleys is barren as can be. Just rock. The blessings and the cursings of the law.

113
00:10:51,400 --> 00:10:57,400
Well it is to Mount Gerizim now that Jotham goes. And he goes there because this area is sort of

114
00:10:57,400 --> 00:11:03,480
like a natural amphitheater in the sense that his voice would carry for a good distance. And

115
00:11:03,480 --> 00:11:09,400
that's what he wanted. This is not a tall mountain as though you were going up thousands of feet.

116
00:11:09,400 --> 00:11:16,600
It's only a few hundred feet high. But because of a situation his voice would carry. And he gave to

117
00:11:16,600 --> 00:11:29,800
them what is an example of a fable as a story for it. By fable we mean that inanimate or animate

118
00:11:29,800 --> 00:11:39,880
nature is given a name. Is given identity. Is given personality. And then a story is woven around

119
00:11:39,880 --> 00:11:50,200
them. This story form became the parabolic form. The parable that Jesus used so much. In this

120
00:11:50,200 --> 00:11:56,840
particular case the very first use of the Bible of this parable type statement. He says listen to me

121
00:11:56,840 --> 00:12:01,960
O men of Shechem that God may listen to you. By that he probably means may you listen to me

122
00:12:02,840 --> 00:12:07,720
so that God can hear what you're going to say in response to what I have to say. He wasn't going

123
00:12:07,720 --> 00:12:13,320
to stay around for their response because his life would be in danger. He took off as soon as he got

124
00:12:13,320 --> 00:12:17,480
finished saying this. But he said you listen to me and God will hear what you have to say in response.

125
00:12:18,280 --> 00:12:25,720
Once the trees went forth to anoint the king over them. And they said to the olive tree

126
00:12:25,720 --> 00:12:33,080
reign over us. But the olive tree said to them shall I leave my fatness with which God and men

127
00:12:33,080 --> 00:12:39,800
are honored and go to wave over the trees. In other words the olive tree said no no thanks.

128
00:12:42,280 --> 00:12:47,160
Then the tree said to the fig tree you come reign over us. But the fig tree said to them

129
00:12:47,160 --> 00:12:53,400
shall I leave my sweetness and my good fruit and go to wave over the trees. He said no thanks.

130
00:12:53,400 --> 00:13:00,840
Then the tree said to the vine you come and reign over us. But the vine said to them shall I leave

131
00:13:00,840 --> 00:13:09,960
my new wine which cheers men God and men and go to wave over the trees. So these first three trees

132
00:13:10,760 --> 00:13:19,480
are trees of crotus. Trees that were important in Israel. We talk about the fig tree and the vine

133
00:13:19,480 --> 00:13:25,000
and the olive tree producing the olive oil. You're talking about three very important products in

134
00:13:25,000 --> 00:13:33,480
Israel. All of these valuable trees said no we don't want to move over you. Finally all the trees

135
00:13:33,480 --> 00:13:43,240
said to the bramble to the thorn bush you come and reign over us. And the thorn bush said to the trees

136
00:13:43,240 --> 00:13:50,440
if in truth you are anointing me as king over you come and take refuge in my shade. Now there's a

137
00:13:50,440 --> 00:13:59,160
bit of sarcasm there. You know how much shade the thorn bush has. But if not may fire come out from

138
00:13:59,160 --> 00:14:06,200
the bramble and consume the cedars of Lebanon. Oh interesting statement. Now therefore if you have

139
00:14:06,200 --> 00:14:11,800
dealt in truth integrity in making a benlick king and if you have dealt well with the rubble in his

140
00:14:11,800 --> 00:14:18,120
house and have dealt with them as he deserved. Then verse 19 if then you've dealt in truth and

141
00:14:18,120 --> 00:14:24,200
integrity with Jerobo-Bobo's house this day. So gentlemen rejoice in a benlick and let him also

142
00:14:24,200 --> 00:14:33,320
rejoice in you. But if not let fire come out from a benlick and consume the men of Shechem and Ben

143
00:14:33,320 --> 00:14:38,920
Milo. And let fire come out from the men of Shechem and Ben Milo and consume a benlick.

144
00:14:38,920 --> 00:14:45,720
Now we skipped over the verses that tell how worthy Gideon and his family was of honor.

145
00:14:46,600 --> 00:14:52,520
They have in fact been mistreated by these people. Now Joseph in this parable and in its

146
00:14:52,520 --> 00:15:01,160
interpretation tells us that the people of Shechem chose the thorn bush an unworthy man,

147
00:15:01,160 --> 00:15:10,440
a benlick, a disastrous leader to be their king and he places a curse upon those people.

148
00:15:12,440 --> 00:15:18,440
Now it hardly seems important to us today in our thinking but let me tell you that

149
00:15:19,160 --> 00:15:26,440
curses are very real and here Jopham stands before the people he places a curse on them.

150
00:15:26,440 --> 00:15:32,120
Stands before the people he places a curse on them. He says now if you treated Gideon and his

151
00:15:32,120 --> 00:15:40,040
family with respect fine but if you didn't and they didn't then let fire come out from him and

152
00:15:40,040 --> 00:15:47,640
destroy you and the fire come out from you and destroy him. Well we're going to see how that was

153
00:15:47,640 --> 00:15:53,320
fulfilled. Joseph escaped and fled and left Tudir which means a well nobody knows where that is

154
00:15:53,320 --> 00:15:59,880
and remained there because of Abimelech his brother so he's off the stage now. We go back to Abimelech.

155
00:16:01,480 --> 00:16:08,040
Abimelech ruled three years. Apparently he did not live in Shechem he lived elsewhere

156
00:16:09,640 --> 00:16:16,200
because Abimelech had appointed a man that we'll meet in a moment to be his lieutenant so to speak

157
00:16:16,200 --> 00:16:23,720
so to speak in the city of Shechem. Now verse 23 is an interesting verse it says then God

158
00:16:23,720 --> 00:16:29,800
sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem.

159
00:16:32,120 --> 00:16:36,520
Now there are those who take this to mean that God caused evil attitudes to develop

160
00:16:37,480 --> 00:16:44,920
and feelings went sour and it could mean that but if we take it literally for what it says

161
00:16:44,920 --> 00:16:51,560
it seems to suggest that God here sent a demon which is what literally it means.

162
00:16:51,560 --> 00:17:00,600
God sent a demon to create trouble between Abimelech and Shechem. Now does this strike you as being odd?

163
00:17:01,960 --> 00:17:05,480
Of course it does all of this it seems out of character for God to do this.

164
00:17:06,120 --> 00:17:10,120
Is there any other occasion in the Bible where we see something like this happen?

165
00:17:10,120 --> 00:17:17,800
Yeah with Saul. God sent a spirit to play Saul.

166
00:17:20,680 --> 00:17:25,880
You say well how do you justify this? How do you rationalize God doing this?

167
00:17:26,840 --> 00:17:33,720
And of course God doesn't need any explanation from me or from you for that matter. God can do

168
00:17:33,720 --> 00:17:39,960
what he wants to do. He is sovereign. The suggestion though is that what likely happened was that God

169
00:17:39,960 --> 00:17:45,960
simply allowed this to take place. It wasn't that God is here condoning an evil spirit that God is

170
00:17:46,520 --> 00:17:55,800
somehow in charge of that evil spirit except that ultimately God is sovereign over all things isn't

171
00:17:55,800 --> 00:18:06,520
it? Even evil spirits. And here God apparently sent this evil spirit as an act of his sovereign

172
00:18:06,520 --> 00:18:14,600
will and allowance and this spirit began to cause division between Abimelech and the people who had

173
00:18:14,600 --> 00:18:19,960
named him king. They began to deal treacherously with Abimelech which means they broke their

174
00:18:19,960 --> 00:18:26,680
agreement with him. What did they do this for? Or why did God do this rather? And verse 24 says,

175
00:18:26,680 --> 00:18:32,680
in order that the violence done to the seventy sons of Jerubbabel might come and their blood be laid

176
00:18:32,680 --> 00:18:38,280
on Abimelech, their brother who killed them, and on the men of Shechem who strengthened his hands to

177
00:18:38,280 --> 00:18:46,040
kill his brothers. So God is going to allow vengeance to take place upon these people

178
00:18:46,040 --> 00:18:51,480
and that's part of the reason for this attitude being developed in this spirit working that

179
00:18:51,480 --> 00:18:58,280
attitude. And the men of Shechem set men in ambush against him, Abimelech, on the tops of the

180
00:18:58,280 --> 00:19:04,280
mountains and they robbed all who might pass by them along the road and it was told to Abimelech.

181
00:19:04,280 --> 00:19:09,480
And what the situation is that the Shechem is located in a very vital commercial route.

182
00:19:09,480 --> 00:19:16,120
All the caravans going north and south would pass through Shechem in central Palestine and those

183
00:19:16,120 --> 00:19:23,080
caravans that would be going from the Mediterranean coast inland to the Dead Sea and beyond would

184
00:19:23,080 --> 00:19:29,160
likewise pass through Shechem. So it was a heavily commercialized area, lots of caravan traffic.

185
00:19:30,680 --> 00:19:34,840
And Abimelech had been taking advantage of that and now the people of Shechem

186
00:19:34,840 --> 00:19:40,840
go to these caravans first and they exact a toll or a tax as it were from them

187
00:19:41,640 --> 00:19:46,760
so that that money isn't now going to Abimelech. It's not supporting him any longer in his

188
00:19:46,760 --> 00:19:53,160
tyranny. But the men of Shechem are enriching themselves and so when he dealt treacherously

189
00:19:53,160 --> 00:19:59,000
with them, that's what it's talking about, they began to rob these people in caravans to deprive

190
00:19:59,000 --> 00:20:06,440
Abimelech of his revenant. But now we're introduced in verse 26 to another individual his name is

191
00:20:06,440 --> 00:20:13,400
Gael, the son of Eben who came with his relatives and crossed over into Shechem.

192
00:20:15,400 --> 00:20:22,600
This man seems to have been a Canaanite again and so he was he was right at home in the city that

193
00:20:22,600 --> 00:20:30,280
was largely Canaanite. And it says that the men of Shechem put their trust in him. He began to work

194
00:20:30,280 --> 00:20:36,600
the crowd. He apparently was aware of the situation with Abimelech and so he began to

195
00:20:37,240 --> 00:20:43,000
foster their loyalty to himself. And they went out in the field and gathered grapes for their

196
00:20:43,000 --> 00:20:48,360
vineyards and brought them called a festival. This was a pagan festival and they were going to

197
00:20:48,360 --> 00:20:53,480
vineyards and brought them called a festival. This was a pagan festival and from what we know the

198
00:20:53,480 --> 00:21:00,440
Canaanite festivals it was a drunken sexual orgy. It's one of the magnitude. And they went to the

199
00:21:00,440 --> 00:21:09,000
house of their god and they ate and drank and cursed that Abimelech. And this man Gael

200
00:21:09,000 --> 00:21:17,560
replied this to them very shrewdly, who is Abimelech and who is Shechem that we should serve him.

201
00:21:19,720 --> 00:21:22,360
He's saying does Abimelech fit with Shechem?

202
00:21:24,360 --> 00:21:31,000
No. Is not the son of Jerubbabel? Is he not the son of Jerubbabel who was Jewish?

203
00:21:31,000 --> 00:21:39,560
And does Zebul not his lieutenant serve the men of Hamor, the father of Shechem?

204
00:21:41,160 --> 00:21:46,040
So why should we serve him? Does anybody know who Hamor is?

205
00:21:51,480 --> 00:21:58,520
You find his name all the way back in the book of Genesis. Hamor was a Canaanite who lived in Shechem.

206
00:21:58,520 --> 00:22:06,840
And in fact the name Shechem is named after his son Shechem and it means shoulder.

207
00:22:08,360 --> 00:22:16,280
Hamor of course had long now been dead. But what this man is saying, look don't you think that you

208
00:22:16,280 --> 00:22:23,880
ought to serve the descendants of Hamor, the great leader of Shechem? Why should you serve this guy

209
00:22:23,880 --> 00:22:30,840
who's a half-breed, this man Abimelech whose father is a Jew? Should you not serve the traditional

210
00:22:30,840 --> 00:22:38,040
ancestry of Hamor and his descendants? Then he goes on to say would therefore that this people

211
00:22:38,040 --> 00:22:44,360
were under my authority then I would remove Abimelech. It sounds just like our elections

212
00:22:44,360 --> 00:22:50,600
every four years. Oh that you would follow our party. And he says to them oh then I could rule

213
00:22:50,600 --> 00:22:56,920
over you. I would get rid of this guy Abimelech. And he said to Abimelech increase your army and

214
00:22:56,920 --> 00:23:04,760
come out. He gave a public challenge and taunt to Abimelech. He says come on and fight. Get your

215
00:23:04,760 --> 00:23:11,240
army out there and let's fight Abimelech. Now was this man drunk as he says these things?

216
00:23:12,520 --> 00:23:17,880
We don't know what his state of mind was. But the fact is that he was issuing a challenge.

217
00:23:17,880 --> 00:23:24,840
But the fact is that he was issuing a challenge to Abimelech and these words did not go unheeded.

218
00:23:24,840 --> 00:23:30,760
There was this lieutenant whose name was Zebul who was left as the ruler of the city.

219
00:23:31,560 --> 00:23:38,120
And he heard these words and he got really mad at him. He was very shrewd in what he did. Before

220
00:23:38,120 --> 00:23:44,520
the people could really respond to the words and the challenge of Gael, he sent a message

221
00:23:44,520 --> 00:23:51,720
to Abimelech. And the message is in verses 31, 32 and so on. He says behold Gael the son of Ebon

222
00:23:51,720 --> 00:23:55,160
his relatives have come to check and behold they're stirring up the city against you.

223
00:23:55,880 --> 00:23:59,880
Now therefore rise by night you and the people who are with you and lie in wait in the field.

224
00:23:59,880 --> 00:24:05,320
You shall come down in the morning as soon as the sun is up. You shall rise early and rush upon the

225
00:24:05,320 --> 00:24:10,280
city and behold when he and the people who are with him shall come out against you. You shall do to

226
00:24:10,280 --> 00:24:17,480
them whatever you can. So he gets this covert message out to Abimelech. And Abimelech gets the

227
00:24:17,480 --> 00:24:22,280
message of he and his people that come to the city and they lay awake and notice that he follows

228
00:24:22,840 --> 00:24:28,840
some of the pattern of his father Gideon. He divides his company up here in Fort Bruce.

229
00:24:30,200 --> 00:24:37,480
And Gael went out and stood at the entrance of the city gate. This is morning now. Abimelech and all

230
00:24:37,480 --> 00:24:45,240
the people who are with him arose from the ambush. So as they looked out he saw this movement. That

231
00:24:45,240 --> 00:24:52,280
was early in the morning. And Zobel said don't worry. Brother Gael said look people are coming

232
00:24:52,280 --> 00:24:57,400
down from the tops of the mountains. He's just seeing shadows there but he thinks he sees people

233
00:24:57,400 --> 00:25:04,040
moving. Zobel plays dumb and he said oh no those are just the shadows you know this is the morning.

234
00:25:04,040 --> 00:25:11,240
You just think they're people. And time passes and Gael spoke again. People are coming down from the

235
00:25:11,240 --> 00:25:19,080
highest part of the land and one company comes by way of the Diviner's Oak. Now Zobel says to him

236
00:25:19,720 --> 00:25:25,000
well where's your boasting now with which you said who is Abimelech that we should serve him.

237
00:25:26,200 --> 00:25:33,000
Is this not the people whom you despise? Go out now and fight them. And so earlier on Gael had been

238
00:25:33,000 --> 00:25:40,920
the one taunting. Now Zobel, the Abimelech's lieutenant, does some taunting. He goes Gael to get out

239
00:25:40,920 --> 00:25:46,600
there and fight. He said you're going to do it. You're going to make a fool of yourself. And so Gael went

240
00:25:46,600 --> 00:25:53,080
out before the leaders of Shechem. We're not sure whether that means that the leaders of Shechem

241
00:25:53,080 --> 00:26:00,920
went out with him or he and his band went out and the leaders watched. Probably the latter.

242
00:26:00,920 --> 00:26:05,880
And the fight took place. Abimelech chased him and he fled before him and many fell wounded

243
00:26:05,880 --> 00:26:13,800
up to the entrance of the gate. And Abimelech remained at Aruma which was nearby. But Zobel drove

244
00:26:13,800 --> 00:26:20,600
out Gael and his relatives so that they could not remain in Shechem. In other words Zobel arranged

245
00:26:20,600 --> 00:26:30,920
that the leaders of Shechem would chase out Gael and what remained of his renegade army.

246
00:26:32,440 --> 00:26:37,880
They couldn't allow them to stay in the city and they thought that this would surely please

247
00:26:37,880 --> 00:26:46,120
Abimelech. And that's why on the next day the people went to the field. They said surely Abimelech

248
00:26:46,120 --> 00:26:52,360
would appreciate the fact that we didn't allow these people to remain in our city. We chased them

249
00:26:52,360 --> 00:26:58,760
on. And they went out to the field and Abimelech was told that he took his people and divided them

250
00:26:58,760 --> 00:27:03,080
into three companies and lay them away in the field. And when he looked and saw the people coming out

251
00:27:03,080 --> 00:27:08,760
from the city he arose against them and slew them. So these were unarmed people from Shechem who were

252
00:27:08,760 --> 00:27:15,160
going out to the field to do their work. And he fell upon them and it was agreed that they would

253
00:27:15,160 --> 00:27:23,160
be slaughtered. And it says that he and his company who was with him dashed forward stood at the

254
00:27:23,160 --> 00:27:27,320
entrance of the city gate. The other two companies then dashed against all who were in the field and

255
00:27:27,320 --> 00:27:32,920
slew them. They cut off their retreat. They came in from the sides and slaughtered all those who

256
00:27:32,920 --> 00:27:38,040
were in the field. Abimelech fought against the city all that day and captured the city

257
00:27:38,040 --> 00:27:46,280
and killed the people who were in it. Then he raised the city and tore it down and sewed it with

258
00:27:46,280 --> 00:27:52,920
salt. Archaeologists have confirmed that in fact at this particular time the city was just exactly

259
00:27:52,920 --> 00:28:01,240
like this. It says destroyed. The sewing with salt was a mean, it was a ritual, it was symbolic

260
00:28:01,240 --> 00:28:10,040
actually. This land forever now would be unusable. It's cursed. And it says when the leaders of the

261
00:28:10,040 --> 00:28:17,080
Tower of Shechem heard of it they entered the inner chamber of the temple of El-Berith. And we've

262
00:28:17,080 --> 00:28:24,440
seen this name Baal-Berith before. Here it's changed to El-Berith. El being the chief god, Baal

263
00:28:24,440 --> 00:28:33,480
being his son. Same place though. The Tower of Shechem is probably the same as Beth-Miloh,

264
00:28:33,480 --> 00:28:39,320
the house of Phil. But out there in that part of the city, the suburban area, they had built this

265
00:28:39,320 --> 00:28:45,320
fortress-like thing, this tower, in which the leaders of the city, those who were in the wealthy

266
00:28:45,320 --> 00:28:53,080
and who lived down in that region, they hid inside this tower. And apparently as a part of this tower

267
00:28:53,080 --> 00:29:02,360
there was this temple called the El-Berith, the god of the covenant. And it was told to Bimolek

268
00:29:02,360 --> 00:29:06,840
that the leaders were out there hiding and gathered together. And so he sent up to Mount Solomon,

269
00:29:07,560 --> 00:29:12,520
a hill nearby, and he and the people who were with him, and they chopped down some wood and they

270
00:29:12,520 --> 00:29:18,840
brought it back on their shoulders. Interesting, that's the word Shechem. They brought the wood

271
00:29:18,840 --> 00:29:26,600
back on their shoulders. And he says, what you see me do, hurry and do likewise. And the people

272
00:29:26,600 --> 00:29:33,320
did exactly as he did. They started the fire and the result of the fire was smoke or the fire

273
00:29:33,320 --> 00:29:41,160
killed a thousand men and women. So again, we see this tremendous loss of life because of El-Dimilek's

274
00:29:41,160 --> 00:29:50,200
tyranny. Let me ask you a question at this point that is worth thinking about. What is this

275
00:29:50,200 --> 00:29:55,880
activity on the part of El-Dimilek, this hot pursuit and his indiscriminate killing of people

276
00:29:55,880 --> 00:30:01,880
tell you about his mental state? What's happened to this man?

277
00:30:01,880 --> 00:30:16,680
What's happened to this man? Remember there is an evil spirit that is at work here.

278
00:30:19,640 --> 00:30:24,520
He has mentally degenerated, deranged perhaps, to do the work for him.

279
00:30:24,520 --> 00:30:31,320
He has had the taste of blood in Shechem as he killed Gale or killed in the forces of Gale.

280
00:30:32,200 --> 00:30:35,960
Then he goes for the whole city, destroys it, destroys all its leaders.

281
00:30:37,640 --> 00:30:46,520
It rather reminds me of the leader of Iraq, a man who was just possessed, using their word,

282
00:30:46,520 --> 00:30:56,040
and was deranged with murders and can't seem to stop. Then we see what happens next. El-Dimilek

283
00:30:56,040 --> 00:31:02,120
went to Thebes, that's about ten miles from the northeast. He camped against Thebes and captured

284
00:31:02,120 --> 00:31:08,520
it. But there was a strong tower in the center of the city and all the men and women, all the leaders

285
00:31:08,520 --> 00:31:13,720
of the city fled there and shut themselves in. They went up to the roof of the tower and so he was

286
00:31:13,720 --> 00:31:19,240
going to pull the same thing over again. They went inside their fortress tower, protect themselves,

287
00:31:19,960 --> 00:31:23,880
and in this case they went up to the roof of the tower. El-Dimilek came to the tower and fought

288
00:31:23,880 --> 00:31:29,720
against it and approached the entrance of the tower to burn with fire, where it once and where it again.

289
00:31:30,440 --> 00:31:38,840
But a certain woman threw an upper millstone on El-Dimilek's head, crushing his skull. She was up

290
00:31:38,840 --> 00:31:44,440
there in the tower, this little millstone, ten inches long so to speak, weighed several pounds.

291
00:31:44,440 --> 00:31:50,120
It wasn't a gigantic millstone. She just took it out there, dropped it as he was lighting the fire

292
00:31:50,120 --> 00:31:59,800
and hit him right in the head. And it crushed his skull. Talk about eccentric heading. He bowed

293
00:31:59,800 --> 00:32:05,240
quickly to the young man, his armor bearer, and said to him, draw your sword and kill me lest it be

294
00:32:05,240 --> 00:32:11,160
said of me a woman who slew him. That was his biggest concern at this point. He's dying. He

295
00:32:11,160 --> 00:32:17,640
doesn't want to die having said to the woman kill him. And so the young man pierced him through and

296
00:32:17,640 --> 00:32:26,840
he died. Now turn over to 2nd Samuel 11 for just a moment. Here's some irony.

297
00:32:26,840 --> 00:32:36,440
2nd Samuel is different from the 1st Samuel, isn't it? Yes. 2nd Samuel, chapter 11, verse 21.

298
00:32:38,360 --> 00:32:42,840
But we can't explain the whole context here. This has to do with David and his arrangements

299
00:32:42,840 --> 00:32:48,840
to have Uriah killed. But just notice what it says in verse 21. And if it happens that the king's

300
00:32:48,840 --> 00:32:56,600
wrath rises, the 20 says, he says to you, I will not kill you. I will not kill you. I will not

301
00:32:56,600 --> 00:33:00,600
kill you. Why did you go so near to the city to fight? Why did you not know that they would shoot

302
00:33:00,600 --> 00:33:05,720
from the wall? Why did you get so close to the wall? Who struck down Abimelech the son of

303
00:33:05,720 --> 00:33:13,880
Jerobochech? Another name could get in. Did not a woman throw an upper millstone on him from the

304
00:33:13,880 --> 00:33:20,920
wall so that he died at Tebes? So why did you go so near the wall? So he's warning about getting so

305
00:33:20,920 --> 00:33:26,760
close to the wall. And you see, even hundreds of years later, it's still said a woman killed him.

306
00:33:26,760 --> 00:33:38,200
So it did no good. What he did. Here's a man who's dying. Let's just back off from the character of this man.

307
00:33:39,080 --> 00:33:45,800
Let's understand that here's a human being who is dying. There's no way for his life to be saved.

308
00:33:45,800 --> 00:33:56,360
He's suffering. And he says to somebody else, by the way, this sword bearer's name, this armor bearer's name,

309
00:33:56,360 --> 00:34:12,120
is Kevorkian. And he says to him, kill me. Kill me. And he did it. So do we have here a biblical precedent

310
00:34:12,120 --> 00:34:22,120
for euthanasia? For killing someone who's about to die anyway? Isn't that the merciful thing to do?

311
00:34:26,040 --> 00:34:29,400
So Kevorkian's right. Right?

312
00:34:33,400 --> 00:34:38,920
Now we wouldn't agree with Kevorkian. And this, although it is sometimes referred to more commonly

313
00:34:38,920 --> 00:34:47,000
as Saul's request, which is the same. His armor bearer refused to do it. So Saul killed himself,

314
00:34:48,120 --> 00:34:58,600
which is more like Kevorkian method. But in these examples, we don't have some kind of foundation

315
00:34:58,600 --> 00:35:08,040
for euthanasia. Nowhere is this commended by God. There is no verse that supplements these accounts

316
00:35:08,040 --> 00:35:13,880
to indicate that this was good, that God's approval was on this. It's simply telling us what happened.

317
00:35:15,160 --> 00:35:21,640
Okay? So that it can't be used as proof for euthanasia, which is the testimony.

318
00:35:24,120 --> 00:35:28,920
And when the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, each departed to his home. Thus,

319
00:35:29,960 --> 00:35:35,000
God repaid the wickedness of Abimelech, which he had done to his father

320
00:35:35,000 --> 00:35:41,240
in killing his seventy brothers. Also, God returned all the wickedness of the men of Shechem

321
00:35:41,240 --> 00:35:49,240
on their heads, and the curse of Jotham, the son of Jerobo, came upon them. Remember the curse?

322
00:35:50,200 --> 00:35:54,680
The fire go out from him and destroy you, the fire go out from you and destroy him.

323
00:35:54,680 --> 00:36:04,920
And so all of these people now have fallen under the curse of Jotham. Let's talk about Jotham for

324
00:36:04,920 --> 00:36:12,440
just a quick moment. What are the admirable qualities that you see in this surviving son of Gideon?

325
00:36:15,000 --> 00:36:19,000
Courage? How do you see that?

326
00:36:19,000 --> 00:36:23,960
I mean, that's some gut. I just can't think of two words for the one of those people that I know

327
00:36:23,960 --> 00:36:27,960
and stand on the rooftop of the house in the morning.

328
00:36:27,960 --> 00:36:33,400
He was a very courageous individual. He was a valiant man to have done that. What kind of

329
00:36:33,400 --> 00:36:39,400
a tone of voice do you think that he had as he spoke to them? Do you think that he was angry?

330
00:36:39,400 --> 00:36:45,480
What kind of a tone of voice do you think that he had as he spoke to them? Do you think that he was angry?

331
00:36:48,760 --> 00:36:53,960
That he was fearful? That he was sarcastic? What kind of a tone of voice did he have

332
00:36:54,680 --> 00:36:56,760
as he spoke to the people of Shechem?

333
00:36:56,760 --> 00:37:12,760
He was very conflicted because God honored his first place. He got his son, Goliath, and he was talking about his three thousandth of men a little ago.

334
00:37:12,760 --> 00:37:28,760
God was pleased to do that, wasn't he?

335
00:37:28,760 --> 00:37:38,760
I'm sorely tempted to give you an illustration of this.

336
00:37:42,760 --> 00:37:48,760
And I will, in catagonal terms.

337
00:37:48,760 --> 00:37:58,760
Two weeks ago, we had a special prayer meeting and we spent an evening praying that God would deliver us from curses.

338
00:37:58,760 --> 00:38:04,760
A so-canic group here in the city was angry at us.

339
00:38:04,760 --> 00:38:08,760
And we prayed that God would deliver us from the curses.

340
00:38:08,760 --> 00:38:12,760
Do you remember how else we prayed that night?

341
00:38:12,760 --> 00:38:18,760
Protection for the girl who was seeking to help.

342
00:38:18,760 --> 00:38:24,760
We prayed that the curse would fall back on the hands of those who sent it.

343
00:38:24,760 --> 00:38:32,760
We prayed that on Sunday night, as I recall, wasn't it?

344
00:38:32,760 --> 00:38:34,760
All over the Sunday night.

345
00:38:34,760 --> 00:38:36,760
And we prayed for that.

346
00:38:36,760 --> 00:38:48,760
That afternoon, I had received a call from my sister in Kansas telling me that she had been in an accident with her before.

347
00:38:48,760 --> 00:38:50,760
In Kansas.

348
00:38:50,760 --> 00:39:02,760
And she and her daughter had escaped without serious injury, but that she had towed their car, towed the truck that she had pulled across the road in front of them.

349
00:39:02,760 --> 00:39:06,760
And I had praised God that they were safe.

350
00:39:06,760 --> 00:39:10,760
This sort of found a way in my mind.

351
00:39:10,760 --> 00:39:16,760
It's something to give thanks to God for.

352
00:39:16,760 --> 00:39:26,760
And if I'm going to tell you next, I cannot prove that I am convinced with my own heart that it is true.

353
00:39:26,760 --> 00:39:34,760
The next day I got a call from the girl that we had prayed for and sought to help.

354
00:39:34,760 --> 00:39:44,760
And she said, oh, by the way, my father's sister, her father is the leader of this cold room.

355
00:39:44,760 --> 00:39:48,760
She says, my father's sister died yesterday.

356
00:39:48,760 --> 00:39:50,760
I said, oh, really?

357
00:39:50,760 --> 00:39:58,760
She said, yes, so tell me about it. I said, she was a witch.

358
00:39:58,760 --> 00:40:02,760
And I thought, wow, that's something.

359
00:40:02,760 --> 00:40:08,760
It's Halloween and a witch dies.

360
00:40:08,760 --> 00:40:12,760
Well, how about the telephone I'm getting back?

361
00:40:12,760 --> 00:40:18,760
My sister should have died on Saturday night.

362
00:40:18,760 --> 00:40:24,760
My sister died Sunday.

363
00:40:24,760 --> 00:40:32,760
And so I called up a friend and I said, come some more of my sponsor viewers.

364
00:40:32,760 --> 00:40:36,760
So she shared some more about the heart.

365
00:40:36,760 --> 00:40:44,760
That in fact, on that Halloween, she had been in a witch's circle.

366
00:40:44,760 --> 00:40:48,760
And they were doing their chants and their incantations.

367
00:40:48,760 --> 00:40:59,760
And they were involved in throwing curses among their enemies, including the people helping the scurril.

368
00:40:59,760 --> 00:41:02,760
And we've been helping.

369
00:41:02,760 --> 00:41:07,760
And the odd, who is the head of this witch's circle, was standing in a circle,

370
00:41:07,760 --> 00:41:15,760
because their pagan mythology is that if they stand in the circle, they can throw curses at their enemies

371
00:41:15,760 --> 00:41:19,760
and conjure up all of these spirits, and they can't be hurt.

372
00:41:19,760 --> 00:41:31,760
And while she was standing in that circle, in the witch's circle, casting curses, God struck her dead.

373
00:41:31,760 --> 00:41:43,760
And I want to tell you something, that sent a message. That sent a message that only God could send.

374
00:41:43,760 --> 00:41:55,760
So when we see things like this in Judges chapter 9, and God tells us that what happened was the fulfillment of what Joseph had said.

375
00:41:55,760 --> 00:42:03,760
And the curse that he had placed on those people, we need to understand that these are not casual words.

376
00:42:03,760 --> 00:42:08,760
And I believe that God, in his own sovereign way, answered our prayers,

377
00:42:08,760 --> 00:42:17,760
in allowing the curses that were sent toward us to fall back on the heads of those who were doing that.

378
00:42:17,760 --> 00:42:24,760
Now I hope that doesn't scare you. What it does to me is to say, we serve a great God.

379
00:42:24,760 --> 00:42:34,760
We serve a God who answers prayer. We serve a God who is pleased to work on our behalf, and to see after our welfare.

380
00:42:34,760 --> 00:42:43,760
And we can trust him with everything we have, all we are. That's the kind of a God he is. Great is my faith in him.

381
00:42:43,760 --> 00:42:52,760
I would ask you not to spread that story around. Do you think I can trust you with that?

382
00:42:52,760 --> 00:42:58,760
That's not the kind of story you want to get wider and circulated for longer reasons.

383
00:42:58,760 --> 00:43:05,760
I felt that I should share it with you tonight to illustrate what we're doing here.

384
00:43:05,760 --> 00:43:15,760
And that God is a God who will stop her. And God is a God who will judge the ungodly in his way and in his time.

385
00:43:15,760 --> 00:43:23,760
And I go back to the words of Deborah in the song that she wrote. And she was talking about Sisera.

386
00:43:23,760 --> 00:43:28,760
Remember, he's the guy who also had a bad headache.

387
00:43:28,760 --> 00:43:36,760
The tent peg went right through his temple into the ground. The enemy of the Lord, he was dead on the spot.

388
00:43:36,760 --> 00:43:43,760
And she said, and let all of the enemies of the Lord be like Sisera. And I say, Amen to that.

389
00:43:43,760 --> 00:43:48,760
And let the righteous rise like the sun in its strength.

390
00:43:48,760 --> 00:43:52,760
And tonight you know Jesus Christ and you're one of those who belong to him.

391
00:43:52,760 --> 00:43:59,760
Realize that that is what is true about your life. Quite a few speak. You're rising like the sun in its strength.

392
00:43:59,760 --> 00:44:05,760
And God is with you. And of God before you, who can be against you?

393
00:44:05,760 --> 00:44:13,760
You're his people. Don't ever think that lightly or think of regret. Blessings. Good night. God bless you.