Bible Studies
Abimelech Seizes Rulership (Judges 9:1-6)
Series: Studies in the Book of JudgesIntroduction:
1. There are two ways that leaders may rise to power.a. Power can be granted to them.
1) Such was the case with Moses, and Joshua. God raised them to positions of leadership and their leadership was accepted by the people.
2) In the book of Judges God raised up Othniel, Ehud, Deborah and Gideon.
b. A second way leaders rise to power is by force. They seize it.
1) Such was the case with Abimelech.
2) Such rises to power are rarely without difficulty, whether it is a parent seizing power from a child, a husband or a wife seizing power from their partner, or a brother seizing power over his siblings.
2. There is much to be learned from Abimelech and his counterparts, Jotham and Gaal.Discussion:
I. Who is this Abimelech?A. He is first introduced in 8:29-31.
1. Gideon had 70 sons who were his direct descendants, for he had many wives.
2. These 70 sons are contrasted with Abimelech who is the son of a concubine in Shechem.
3. Already we get an inkling of friction between Abimelech and the other brothers. Maybe Abimelech felt less than the others. Maybe the 70 brothers diminished Abimelech.
4. Jotham diminished him (publically) in his speech from the top of Mount Gerizim (9:7-15). He described him as a bramble bush (15). He called him “the son of Gideon’s maidservant” (9:18).
B. Have you ever felt diminished, disrespected, disempowered, excluded, insulted? It makes you want to rise up and take power to prove that you are worthy. Perhaps these are the dynamics working in the background of this text.
C. There is no indication in the account that God raised Abimelech to deliver Israel.
1. He is not described as a judge.
2. Nor is he said to have saved Israel.
D. Even in Abimelech’s death he is humiliated. A woman threw an upper millstone on his head and crushed his skull. He had his armor bearer finish him off lest it be said, “A women slew him.” His macho image is depleted in his death and recorded in a book where the information is perpetuated indefinitely.
E. Such is the case with those who would exalt themselves. Everyone wants to bring them low.
1. In Matt. 23:11-12 Jesus said, “The greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted.”
2. Sometimes it is our thinking lowly of ourselves that causes us to rise up in self-exaltation.
II. Abimelech appealed to his kinfolks to ally with him so he could gain power (9:1ff).A. “I am your bone and your flesh” (2).
B. “Which is better for you, that seventy men, all the sons of Jerubbaal, rule over you, or that one man rule over you?” (2).
C. The people reasoned, “He is our relative” (3). Were they seeking personal power too? Sounds somewhat like politics in Kentucky. “If we can elect our relative, he will give us jobs, roads, money, advantage.” Whether I am seeking favors or handing out favors our perception of power is often fleshly.
D. Sometimes similar things happen in churches. Allegiances form along kinship lines. Lineage and clan loyalties result in adversarial relationships and division develops accordingly. Divisions usually occur along relationship lines no matter what the issue is.
E. Since Abimelech was a relative the leaders of Shechem made him their king.
1. They gave him seventy pieces of silver from the house of Baal-berith, their idol.
2. Evidently this was given so he could raise an army and stabilize his position.
a. He hired “worthless and reckless fellows” (9:4).
b. Went to his father’s house in Ophrah and killed his brothers. Sixty-nine of them on one stone.
3. Only the youngest, Jotham, escaped.
III. Abimelech’s reign is short-lived.A. It begins with Jotham cursing him and the people of Shechem.
B. Jotham accused the men of Shechem of not dealing with truth (sincerity) and integrity with the household of Jerubbaal (i.e., Gideon).
C. He said, “My father fought for you and risked his life and delivered you from the hand of Midian, but you have arisen and killed his sons, seventy men on one stone.” What he is saying is, “We deserve better than this.”
D. Jotham’s curse was if you have dealt in truth and integrity then rejoice in Abimelech and let him rejoice in you. But if you have not, let fire come out from Abimelech and consume you and let fire come out from you and consume Abimelech.
E. Hostilities arose between Abimelech and the men of Shechem.
1. There were thieves and brigands in the mountains (9:25).
2. Gaal arose as leader in Shechem.
3. Gaal asked, “Who is Abimelech and who is Shechem that we should serve him? He is the son of Jerubbaal. We might serve the men of Hamor, the father of Shechem, but why serve Abimelech? If I were in authority I would remove Abimelech.”
F. If you seize leadership there is always someone else seeking to take it away from you. If you fought to take power you will have to fight to keep it.
1. This is true in a parental relationship. If your relationship is defined by taking power rather than winning hearts the adversarial relationship that is created is a constant war.
2. The same is true in a marital relationship or in a church. Any relationship that is defined by taking power rather than winning hearts becomes warlike. Cf. Matt. 5:43ff; Rom. 12:17-21.
G. Abimelech had to fight against Gaal in order to preserve his position (9:30ff). He burned the tower in Shechem where the leaders of the city had fled (46ff).
H. He went to Thebez and intended to burn the tower there, but a woman threw a millstone on his head and crushed his skull.
1. Thus he was laid low by a woman.
2. Probably reflects his thinking about women, that God would use a woman to destroy him. Perhaps he had felt embarrassed all his life by his mother only being a concubine. Oh, the problems that we experience as a result of the perceptions we have of ourselves.
3. Thus the curse of Jotham was fulfilled. The men of Shechem and Abimelech were set at enmity with each other and destroyed each other (9:56-57).
Conclusion:
1. It is better to be given power than to attempt to seize it for yourself. 2. Jesus was granted Lordship as a result of humbling Himself to the point of death on a cross. 3. He is the model of servitude and exultation by God. 4. Abimelech attempted to seize power. Perhaps he was moved by a feeling powerlessness. He was only the son of a maidservant. 5. It is interesting how our perceptions of ourselves affect our lives. Those who would serve the Lord must overcome such temptations and through renewed minds serve the Lord in humility. 6. Would you give your life to Him?
