RETURN TO SYLLABUS
JUDGES 9:22-57
LESSON #11
SHADES OF THE OLD WEST

• MEMORY VERSE: ROM 1:28

• WE ARE IN THE FIFTH CYCLE IN JUDGES. THIS CYCLE BEGINS NEAR THE END OF GIDEON’S LIFE WHEN THE PEOPLE FALL BACK INTO THE SIN OF IDOLATRY TOLERATED BY GIDEON. THIS SIN LEADS TO SERVITUDE UNDER THE FALSE KING, ABIMELECH. THREE YEARS UNDER THIS FALSE, EVIL KING, WAS TOO MUCH EVEN FOR THE PEOPLE OF SHECHEM, WHO HELPED TO PUT HIM IN POWER.
• KEEP IN MIND THAT A LARGE SEGMENT OF THE POPULATION OF THE CITY OF SHECHEM WAS CANAANITE.
• THE ISRAELITES LIVING THERE WERE TOLERATING AND COMPROMISING WITH CANAANITE CULTURE.
• REMEMBER THIS IS OUR THEME FOR THE BOOK OF JUDGES…SYNCRETISM.
• UNDERSTANDING THIS CHAPTER MEANS WE MUST BECOME FAMILIAR WITH WHO IS WHO:
• THE CAST OF CHARACTERS:
• KING ABIMELECH = THE ILLEGITIMATE SON OF GIDEON WHO BECAME A FALSE KING BY KILLING HIS BROTHERS.
• THE MEN OF SHECHEM = THE EVIL MEN FROM THE CITY OF SHECHEM WHO PUT ABIMELECH IN POWER AND NOW WANT TO REMOVE HIM FROM POWER.
• GAAL = A RENEGADE LEADER OF A ROVING GANG OF THUGS HIRED BY THE MEN ON SHECHEM, THE HIRED GUN.
• ZEBUL = THE GOVERNOR OF THE CITY OF SHECHEM PLACED THERE BY ABIMELECH AS HIS PERSONAL DEPUTY.

• READ JDG 9:22-25 SETTING THE STAGE FOR CIVIL WAR
• WHAT WAS THE CAUSE OF THE SHECHEMITE REVOLT?
• READ ROM 1:22-25, 28-32
• THE CAUSE OF THE REVOLT WAS THE PEOPLE THEMSELVES:
• THEY WANTED A KING INSTEAD OF GOD’S LEADERSHIP.
• THEY CHOSE AN EVIL MAN FILLED WITH PERSONAL AMBITION AND CRUELTY INSTEAD OF A MAN OF HUMILITY AND GODLY PEACE.
• BECAUSE MAN HAS FREE WILL THAT GOD WILL NOT VIOLATE, HE GIVES MAN OVER TO THAT WHICH MAN DESIRES EVEN IF THAT DESIRE IS EVIL AND DESTRUCTIVE.
• THE CAUSE OF THE REVOLT WAS GOD’S RETRIBUTION:
• GOD USES THE NATURAL CONSEQUENCES OF SIN TO REAP ITS OWN REWARD.
• GOD EVEN USES THE DESTRUCTIVE NATURE OF SATAN AND HIS DEMONS TO PUNISH EVIL DEEDS.
• WHILE SATAN THINKS HE HAS TREMENDOUS SUPERNATURAL POWER AND THINKS HE KNOWS WHAT HE IS DOING, GOD IS IN ULTIMATE CONTROL OF EVEN THE DEMONS.
• THE CAUSE OF THE REVOLT WAS AN EVIL SPIRIT SENT BY GOD:
• WHY WOULD A LOVING GOD SEND AN EVIL SPIRIT IN THIS SITUATION?
• THE EVIL SPIRIT IS GOD’S MEANS OF FULFILLING THE PRINCIPLE OF SOWING AND REAPING. THESE PEOPLE SOWED EVIL AND REAPED EVIL WITHOUT REPENTANCE.
• THE SHECHEMITE PLAN AGAINST ABIMELECH (25):
• THE MEN FROM SHECHEM SET AMBUSHES (LIERS, IN THE KING JAMES WHICH LITERALLY MEANS = TO LIE IN WAIT) IN THE MOUNTAIN PASSES TO ROB THE CARAVANS AND TRAVELERS ALONG THIS VERY IMPORTANT TRADE ROUTE. THESE RAIDS DEPRIVED KING ABIMELECH OF TRIBUTE MONEY AND TOLL FARES AS WELL AS REDUCING TRADE.

• READ JDG 9:26-29 SHECHEM’S HIRED GUN, GAAL
• THE EVENTS IN THIS CHAPTER ARE REMINISCENT OF AMERICA’S OLD WEST WHEN EVERYONE DID THAT WHICH WAS RIGHT IN THEIR OWN EYES. IT WAS A TIME OF LAWLESSNESS AND HIRED GUNS. WHILE THERE WERE NO GUNS USED IN THE PERIOD OF THE JUDGES, THE ACTIONS PLAY LIKE AN OLD WESTERN MOVIE.
• GAAL, SON OF EBED:
• GAAL WAS A LEADER OF A ROVING GANG OF THUGS.
• THE CITY OF SHECHEM HIRED THIS RENEGADE GANG TO PROTECT THEM FROM ABIMELECH’S ARMY ONCE ABIMELECH FIGURED OUT THAT THE MEN OF SHECHEM HAD TURNED AGAINST HIM.
• THE PAGAN GRAPE HARVEST FESTIVAL WAS TO BE THE SCENE OF THE SHOWDOWN. THE PAGAN GRAPE HARVEST WAS IN JUNE AND JULY.
• THE MEN OF SHECHEM HAVE EVERYTHING PLANNED OUT IN DETAIL.
• THE GRAPE HARVEST FESTIVAL WAS A TIME OF GREAT CELEBRATION AND DRUNKENNESS.
• WITH EMOTIONS HIGH AND INHIBITIONS STEEPED IN ALCOHOL, THE MEN OF SHECHEM CURSED AND RIDICULED ABIMELECH AND ZEBUL, BUT THEY PRAISED THEIR HIRED GUN, GAAL AND HIS RENEGADE GANG.
• REMEMBER THAT ZEBUL WAS A DEPUTY TO ABIMELECH AND THE GOVERNOR OF THE CITY OF SHECHEM.
• THE MEN OF SHECHEM COUNT ON ZEBUL’S REACTION, AND THAT ZEBUL WILL INFORM ABIMELECH OF THE SITUATION IN SHECHEM.
• ZEBUL DOES EXACTLY THAT.
• GAAL ENCOURAGED THE PEOPLE TO PUT THEIR TRUST IN HIM AND HIS GANG, WHICH DESCENDED FROM HAMOR, (GEN 34:26) INSTEAD OF TRUSTING IN KING ABIMELECH.
• GAAL CALLED FOR A SHOWDOWN BETWEEN ABIMELECH’S ARMY AND HIS OWN GANG.

• READ JDG 9:30-41 ABIMELECH’S VICTORY AND ZEBUL’S DECEPTION:
• ZEBUL ANGRY WITH GAAL SEES HIS OWN POSITION OF POWER THREATENED. HE INFORMS ABIMELECH OF THE INSULTS.
• ABIMELECH FELL FOR THE PLAN PLACED IN MOTION BY THE MEN OF SHECHEM. HE CALLS OUT HIS TROOPS TO FIGHT AGAINST GAAL.
• ZEBUL IS THE MAN IN THE MIDDLE PLAYING BOTH SIDES FOR HIS OWN BENEFIT.
• ZEBUL KNOWS THAT ABIMELECH’S ARMY IS ON THE WAY.
• WHEN GAAL OBSERVES SOME SHADOWS MOVING ON THE MOUNTAINSIDE, ZEBUL DENIES THE POSSIBILITY THAT IT IS ABIMELECH’S TROOPS.
• FINALLY, ZEBUL GOADS GAAL INTO MEETING THAT ARMY OUTSIDE THE PROTECTIVE WALLS OF THE CITY.
• ZEBUL PROBABLY DOESN’T WANT THE CITY DESTROYED. NO MATTER WHO WINS, ZEBUL WANTS TO COME OUT ON TOP POLITICALLY.
• ABIMELECH’S ARMY EASILY DEFEATS GAAL’S GANG OF THUGS.
• ZEBUL AND A FEW OF THE MEN FROM SHECHEM DROVE GAAL AND HIS GANG OUT OF THE CITY.

• READ JDG 9:42-49 ABIMELECH’S RETALIATION AGAINST SHECHEM:
• ABIMELECH WAS NOT SATISFIED WITH DEFEATING GAAL.
• THERE WAS STILL A CHANCE THAT THE CITY OF SHECHEM WOULD RAISE ANOTHER REVOLT AGAINST ABIMELECH.
• ABIMELECH’S ATTACK ON THE CITY OF SHECHEM (APPROXIMATELY 1200 BC):
• TWO COMPANIES OF ABIMELECH’S ARMY ATTACKED THE CITY WHILE THE PEOPLE WERE IN THE FIELDS WORKING.
• A THIRD COMPANY OF ABIMELECH’S ARMY ATTACKED THE CITY GATE:
• REMEMBER THAT THE CITY GATE WAS THE LOCATION OF A CITY’S GOVERNMENT, A CITY’S COURT SYSTEM, AND A CITY’S MARKET PLACE.
• BY EVENING, ABIMELECH HAD DESTROYED THE CITY AND KILLED THE INHABITANTS OF SHECHEM.
• ABIMELECH HAD SALT SPREAD OVER THE LAND WHERE THE CITY ONCE STOOD:
• THIS IS A SYMBOLIC AS WELL AS A PRACTICAL ACTION:
• SALT ON THE LAND WOULD PREVENT CROPS FROM GROWING THERE FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS. THEREFORE, IT MEANT INFERTILITY AND INSURED THAT NO ONE WOULD LIVE WHERE CROPS WOULD NOT GROW.
• IN REALITY, ARCHAEOLOGY HAS FOUND THE OLD DESTROYED CITY OF SHECHEM THAT REMAINED A GHOST TOWN FOR ABOUT 225 YEARS UNTIL KING JEROBOAM THE FIRST MADE THE CITY HIS CAPITAL OF THE NORTHERN KINGDOM THAT SPLIT AWAY FROM THE SOUTHERN TRIBES OF JUDAH AND BENJAMIN IN 975 BC.
• THIS PRACTICE WAS A COMMON PRACTICE OF WARFARE DURING THAT TIME PERIOD. (DEU 29:23 JER 17:6)
• A GHOST TOWN SOWED WITH SALT WOULD BE A VERY PRACTICAL LESSON TO SURROUNDING TOWNS OF WHAT HAPPENS TO THOSE WHO REBEL AGAINST KING ABIMELECH.
• THE TOWER INCIDENT:
• VERSES 46-49 PROBABLY TAKE PLACE SOMEWHERE WITHIN THE DESTRUCTION OF THE CITY:
• THE MEN OF SHECHEM TAKE REFUGE IN A TOWER ADJACENT TO THE TEMPLE OF BAAL WITHIN THE CITY.
• ABIMELECH’S ARMY SETS FIRE TO THIS TOWER AND TEMPLE, AND THE FIRE KILLS ABOUT 1,000 PEOPLE, MEN AND WOMEN, WHO HAD SOUGHT SAFETY THERE.

• READ JDG 9:50-55 ABIMELECH GETS HIS REWARD
• AFTER THE DEFEAT AND DESTRUCTION OF SHECHEM, ABIMELECH TURNED HIS WRATH TO ANOTHER CITY ABOUT 10 MILES NORTHEAST OF SHECHEM, CALLED THEBEZ (TUBAS).
• THIS CITY WAS ALSO UNDER ABIMELECH’S CONTROL AND DEPENDENT ECONOMICALLY ON THE CITY OF SHECHEM. THEY HAD PROBABLY JOINED IN THE REVOLT SIDING WITH THE CITY OF SHECHEM.
• ABIMELECH THOUGHT HE WOULD USE THE SAME STRATEGY THAT HE HAD USED IN SHECHEM WHEN HE SAW THE PEOPLE RUN FOR SAFETY INTO A TOWER WITHIN THE CITY. HE PLANNED TO SET FIRE TO THE TOWER WHEN A WOMAN DROPPED A MILLSTONE FROM AN UPPER WINDOW ONTO THE KING’S HEAD.
• THE STONE DID NOT IMMEDIATELY KILL HIM, THOUGH HE WAS MORTALLY WOUNDED BY IT.
• ABIMELECH DID NOT WANT A WOMAN TO GET CREDIT FOR HIS DEATH, SO HE PERSUADED HIS ARMOR BEARER TO KILL HIM.
• THE MILLSTONE IN SCRIPTURE IS A SYMBOL OF GOD’S JUDGMENT THROUGH JESUS CHRIST. (REV 18:21,24 DAN 2:34,44-45 MAT 21:44)

• READ JDG 9:56-57 THE FULFILLMENT OF THE CURSE OF JOTHAN
• REMEMBER THAT JOTHAN WAS THE YOUNGEST OF GIDEON’S SONS AND THE ONLY ONE WHO HAD ESCAPED ABIMELECH’S SLAUGHTER OF HIS 60 HALF-BROTHERS.
• JOTHAN HAD PRONOUNCED A CURSE UPON THE CITY OF SHECHEM FOR THEIR EVIL PART IN BRINGING ABIMELECH TO POWER.
• JOTHAN HAD ALSO PRONOUNCED A CURSE UPON ABIMELECH FOR HIS EVIL SLAUGHTER OF ALL JOTHAN’S BROTHERS.
• THE CHAPTER ENDS WITH GOD’S VINDICATION AND THE FULFILLMENT OF JOTHAN’S PROPHETIC CURSE ON THE CITY OF SHECHEM AND UPON ABIMELECH.
• INCIDENTALLY, THE NAME, JOTHAN, MEANS = JEHOVAH IS PERFECT.

• SUMMARY AND APPLICATION
• JDG 9:24 TELLS US THAT GOD SENT AN EVIL SPIRIT BETWEEN ABIMELECH AND THE MEN OF SHECHEM SO THAT THEIR OWN CRUELTY MIGHT TURN AND COME UPON THEMSELVES.
• IN OTHER WORDS, THIS IS GOD’S PRINCIPLE OF SOWING AND REAPING THAT PERVADES THE ENTIRE BIBLE, BOTH NEW AND OLD TESTAMENTS.
• ABIMELECH AND THE MEN OF SHECHEM WERE EVIL AND CRUEL. THEY WOULD DO ANYTHING FOR POLITICAL POWER INCLUDING MURDER.
• THE LAST HALF OF JDG 9 SHOWS US THE FULFILLMENT OF THIS PRINCIPLE OF SOWING AND REAPING.
• THE STORY OF ABIMELECH WHO CROWNS HIMSELF KING IS REMINISCENT OF THE COMING ANTI-CHRIST WHO, BY FLATTERIES, GAINS A FOLLOWING TO MAKE HIM RULER OF THE WORLD. THEREFORE, WE CAN SAY THAT ABIMELECH IS A PREFIGURE OF THE COMING ANTI-CHRIST.
• LIKE ABIMELECH, THE ANTI-CHRIST WILL DECEIVE AND MURDER FOR POLITICAL POWER.
• LIKE ABIMELECH, GOD WILL BRING HIM AND THOSE WHO PROMOTE HIM TO JUDGMENT.
• IN CHAPTER 9 OF JUDGES, WE HAVE SEEN PART OF THE FIFTH CYCLE.
• #1 SIN = THE PEOPLE FELL INTO THE SIN OF IDOLATRY AND THEIR DESIRE TO REPLACE GOD WITH A FALSE KING.
• #2 SERVITUDE = THE PEOPLE OF SHECHEM SUFFERED UNDER THE HARSH RULE OF KING ABIMELECH.
• #3 SUPPLICATION = NOTICE THAT THE PEOPLE DID NOT CRY OUT TO GOD FOR HELP, BUT GOD HELPED THEM ANYWAY BY SENDING AN EVIL SPIRIT TO CAUSE THEIR OWN DESTRUCTION.
• BECAUSE THE PEOPLE DID NOT TURN TO GOD, WE WILL SEE THIS FIFTH CYCLE CONTINUE INTO THE FIRST PART OF JDG 10.

• APPLICATION OF JUDGES 9:22-57
• SOMETIMES GOD ALLOWS EVIL LEADERS LIKE ABIMELECH TO GAIN ASCENDANCY BECAUSE THE PEOPLE HAVE COMPROMISED THEIR GODLY STANDARDS AND GOD GIVES THEM WHAT THEY DESERVE. HOWEVER, THE PRAYERS OF A RIGHTEOUS MAN AVAILETH MUCH (JAM 5:16). THAT IS WHY WE ARE TO PRAY FOR OUR LEADERS ACCORDING TO 1TIM 2:1-2 AND ROM 13:4, SO THAT WE MIGHT LIVE PEACEABLY.
• SERIOUSLY PRAY FOR OUR LEADERS THIS WEEK.

• PREPARATION FOR JUDGES 10:
• READ JDG 10:1-5
• WHAT DO YOU LEARN ABOUT JUDGE TOLA? (1-2)
• WHAT DO YOU LEARN ABOUT JUDGE JAIR? (3-5)
• WHAT DO YOU THINK JAIR’S 30 SONS AND THEIR DONKEYS TELL US ABOUT THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE TIME OF THE JUDGES?
• WHAT PARALLELS DO YOU SEE IN OUR OWN SOCIETY TO THE TIME OF JUDGE JAIR?

• READ JDG 10:6-18
• WHICH GODS ARE THE ISRAELITES SERVING IN THIS SIXTH CYCLE?
• LIST THE ENEMIES OF ISRAEL FROM WHICH GOD HAD DELIVERED THEM (11-12)
• DO YOU NOTICE ANY RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE LIST OF GODS AND THE LIST OF ISRAEL’S ENEMIES?

• MEMORY VERSE: 1PETER 2:10