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And all the men of Shechem gathered together, all of Beth Millo, and they went and made Abimelech king beside the terebinth tree at the pillar that [was] in Shechem. Judges 9:6 NKJV
In Judges 8:22-23, Gideon refuses to become the first king of Israel. After Gideon’s death, however, Abimelek (the son of Gideon’s concubine in Shechem), decides he wants to be king. After publicly slaughtering all but one of Gideon’s other seventy sons, Abimelek and his hometown’s citizens are publicly cursed by Gideon’s traumatized yet bold youngest son, Jotham.
Jotham says, in effect: “After all my father Gideon did, risking his life to deliver you from the raiding Midianites, you have repaid him in a horrific manner. You have done this to make one of your own a so-called king, but he’s no such thing. Therefore, I pronounce this curse: you and Abimelek will destroy each other.”
The next three verses say Jotham safely got away, Abimelek ruled over (vs judges) Israel for three years, and then God saw that Jotham’s curse came true with violent force.
World history is replete with rulers whose violent reigns ended with their own deaths. Their violent deaths, like Abimelek’s, prove that “all who draw the sword will die by the sword” (Matthew 26:52 NIV).
Prayer: Lord, You want me to abhor violence. I do.
In Judges 8:22-23, Gideon refuses to become the first king of Israel. After Gideon’s death, however, Abimelek (the son of Gideon’s concubine in Shechem), decides he wants to be king. After publicly slaughtering all but one of Gideon’s other seventy sons, Abimelek and his hometown’s citizens are publicly cursed by Gideon’s traumatized yet bold youngest son, Jotham.
Jotham says, in effect: “After all my father Gideon did, risking his life to deliver you from the raiding Midianites, you have repaid him in a horrific manner. You have done this to make one of your own a so-called king, but he’s no such thing. Therefore, I pronounce this curse: you and Abimelek will destroy each other.”
The next three verses say Jotham safely got away, Abimelek ruled over (vs judges) Israel for three years, and then God saw that Jotham’s curse came true with violent force.
World history is replete with rulers whose violent reigns ended with their own deaths. Their violent deaths, like Abimelek’s, prove that “all who draw the sword will die by the sword” (Matthew 26:52 NIV).
Prayer: Lord, You want me to abhor violence. I do.
