Abimelech: Anti-Judge and Tyrant King

Glad to be able to join with us in worship this morning. Before we dive into God's Word, we want to spend some time in prayer
for needs in our world and nation, our body. I do have one update to give. We have a new addition
to our family. Lily Grace Gaines was born to Derek and Elizabeth Gaines yesterday morning,
521 a.m., and with proud big brother Samuel. She was... Seven pounds,
six ounces. So I think everybody's doing well. So let's give them a hand for a new edition.
We're thankful for that. And so again, let's spend some time in prayer for our body and for our
world and our nation before we jump into God's word. Let's pray.
Heavenly Father, we thank you for... for the opportunities you have given us as a body to proclaim
the good news of Jesus and salvation for sinners through faith in Jesus Christ.
Father, we thank you for the good work that was done in Memphis this past week,
for Pastor Cole's leadership of our student ministries here, for all of the youth that went and
served, for the parents and adult volunteers that went with them. Father, we thank you just for the
continued fruitfulness that we see through that partnership. and pray that through the work of our
partnership with Street Reach that you would continue to draw sinners to yourselves, that you would
be glorified in the proclamation of the good news of Jesus.
Father, we thank you for new life in our body, for Lily Gaines and for her healthy arrival.
Father, we pray that you would continue to give her health, bless their family as they adjust to
life with two kids, and pray that you would give strength and patience to Derek and Elizabeth
through trying days of little sleep with a newborn, and that you would be with Samuel as he adjusts
to being a big brother and having to share his attention with his new little sister.
Father, we come before you as people saddened by the events that we've seen in Venezuela this past
week with the two earthquakes that have taken a rising death toll of 1,400 people.
Father, we mourn for the loss of life. We grieve for our fellow image bearers who have lost loved
ones, who have lost their property, who have lost everything. Father, we pray that you would bring
peace to their family and to that nation, a nation that's already experienced political turmoil
this year, that you would bring stability there as they work to recover from this disaster.
Father, we pray that you would sustain life through the continued rescue efforts that those that
are still... that you would sustain them and that you would hold their life while people come to
find them. Father, we pray that you would be the God of all comfort to the nation of Venezuela.
Father, we lift up our nation this week as we anticipate the 250th anniversary of our nation on
this coming Saturday. Father, we don't take lightly the freedoms that we have been granted here in
this country that you have sustained. Father, we think of the... freedom, a free exercise of
religion that we can gather today and to worship you in the way that we see fit,
not as mandated by a king, but in... in alliance with our conscience and what we see as revealed in
your scripture. Father, we thank you to our faithfulness to our nation for these 250 years.
In spite of the flaws, Father, we just thank you for the good that has come from this nation.
We pray for our leaders, that they would be men and women who honor you and seek to do your will
rather than for their own glory or good. Father, we pray for spiritual revival in our nation,
that there would be a turning to you from those that don't know you, that we as a nation would seek
to honor you and to follow your commands for our lives and our morality, and that we would bring
much glory and honor to you as a nation. Father, as we move to request for needs in our bodies,
we lift up Paul Cherry and his continued fight against cancer. Father, we thank you for the the
response, the good response he's had to the chemo and the minimal side effects that he continues to
have for that. Father, we pray for continued work through the addition of radiation treatment this
past week, that that would be effective and that he would have minimal side effects from that as
well. Father, as I'm aware of needs in our body, of specifically individuals that are looking for
work, that are out of work, Father, I pray that you would provide them with jobs, with sustenance,
with provision, that you would provide that quickly, and that in the meantime, while they wait for
that, that you would have us as the body of Christ encourage and support those that are in need.
Father, we ask these things in your name. In Christ's name, amen.
All right, if you would open your Bibles to Judges chapter 9. We are in the middle of a...
series this summer going through the book of Judges. And if you've been here in some past weeks,
you've noticed that we've talked about there are 12 judges that we study throughout the book of
Judges. There is this cycle of misery that we see in the book of Judges where the people
apostatize, they're apathetic to the ways of God, God brings oppression to them, they cry out to
God, God brings a deliverer, and then they fall back into apostasy and apathy.
And that cycle continues. Thus far, we've studied five of those 12 judges.
And most recently, we studied Gideon in chapters 6 through 8 over the last two weeks. And so this
week, as we turn to chapter 9, we'll study about what happened in the life of one of Gideon's sons,
Abimelech, in chapter 9.
Who here has heard of the term antihero? Anybody familiar with that term? Okay,
some hands. Good, good, good, good. An antihero is a protagonist in a story who typically doesn't
follow what we would traditionally associate with a hero. They don't have all or any of the virtues
that we would associate with a hero. They don't... follow the traditional moral standard.
They live by their own code. They might not always be courageous. They might be cowardly.
Compared to a traditional hero or villain, the antihero might appear somewhere in between the hero
and villain. Our culture seems lately to be consumed with stories that blur the line between good
and bad, between right and wrong. quote-unquote good guys may have some ulterior motive for the
actions they take, and the quote-unquote bad guys are the ones we're designed to root for. These
stories take us from the world of black and white, of good and bad, to a gray zone of moral
ambiguity. You can think even lately of the rise of stories that give us the backstory of
traditional villains that we've known. You can think of Cruella, or the Joker, or even Wicked.
These stories don't just let the villains remain as evil, but they give them some added backstory
so we can understand how they got to be the way that they are. You think of Elphaba in Wicked.
She was the illegitimate daughter, tortured for her green skin.
When she doesn't fit society's norms, she decides to chart her own path and live out the way that
she would see fit when she sees the flaws in the wizard and the rest of society. Or think of the
Joker, Batman's archenemy. You know, he's a mass murderer, but recently in his backstory,
we've come to understand that he was an ill-treated, abused, mentally ill person, and that when
society cut out the funding to take away his medication, he turned to his murderous streak.
And so these stories frame us to help us see the hero as more of the victim rather than someone
who's just purely evil. Antihero stories are designed to make us root for the villain rather than
the hero. They want to make us like the villain. What we'll see from the life of Abimelech in
chapter 9 is that it's not really an antihero story, but he's more of an anti-judge. He's got the
perfect backstory for an antihero. He's the illegitimate son of Gideon's concubine.
He's got trauma in his family and his backstory. Even the name that his father gave him,
Abimelech means my father is king. And so he could blame his thirst for power on the name that his
dad gave him, almost as if that was a prophecy that he was destined for that. But what we'll see
from this story, from the life of Abimelech, is that he's not to be valorized. We aren't going to
be drawn to like him. We're going to see him as the villain. Chapter 9 is the longest chapter by
verse count in the book of Judges. So we're only reading one chapter this week. So I won't have a
stand because it's going to take me probably about eight minutes to read through the passage. But
as we prepare to read God's word, let me pray for the Spirit to give us eyes to see and a heart to
understand what he would reveal to us this morning. Let's pray.
Holy Spirit, living breath of God, breathe new life into our willing souls.
Let the presence of the risen Lord come renew our hearts and make us whole. Cause your word to come
alive in us. Give us faith for what we cannot see. Give us passion for your purity.
Holy Spirit, breathe new life in us. Amen. This is the word of the Lord from Judges chapter 9.
Now Abimelech, the son of Jerubbabel, went to Shechem to his mother's relatives and said to them
and to the whole clan of his mother's family, Say in the ears of the leaders of Shechem, which is
better for you, that all 70 of the sons of Jerubbabel rule over you, or that one rule over you?
Remember also that I am your bone and your flesh. And his mother's relatives spoke all these words
on his behalf in the ears of all the leaders of Shechem, and their hearts inclined to follow
Abimelech, for they said, he is our brother. And they gave him seventy pieces of silver out of the
house of Baal-barith, with which Abimelech hired worthless and reckless fellows who followed him.
And he went to his father's house at Ophrah and killed his brothers, the sons of Jerubbabel,
seventy men on one stone. But Jotham, the youngest son of Jerubbabel,
was left, for he hid himself. And all the leaders of Shechem came together, and all Bethmilo,
and they went and made Abimelech king by the oak of the pillar at Shechem. When it was told to
Jotham, he went and stood on top of Mount Gerizim and cried aloud and said to them, Listen to me,
you leaders of Shechem, that God may listen to you. The trees once went out to anoint a king over
them, and they said to the olive tree, Reign over us. But the olive tree said to them,
Shall I leave my abundance, by which gods and men are honored, and go hold sway over the trees?
And the trees said to the fig tree, You come and reign over us. But the fig tree said to them,
shall I leave my sweetness and my good fruit and go hold sway over the trees? And the tree said to
the vine, you come and reign over us. But the vine said to them, shall I leave my wine that cheers
God and men and go hold sway over the trees? Then all the trees said to the bramble,
you come and reign over us. And the bramble said to the trees, if in good faith you are anointing
me king over you, then come and take refuge in my shade. But if not, let fire come out of the
bramble and devour the cedars of Lebanon. Now therefore, if you acted in good faith and integrity
when you made Abimelech king, and if you have dealt well with Jerubbabel and his house and have
done to him as his deeds deserved, For my father fought for you and risked his life and delivered
you from the hand of Midian. And you have risen up against my father's house this day and have
killed his sons. Seventy men on one stone have made Abimelech the son of his female servant king
over the leaders of Shechem because he is your relative. If you then have acted in good faith and
integrity with Jeroboam and with his house this day, then rejoice in Abimelech and let him also
rejoice in you. But if not... Let fire come out from Abimelech and devour the leaders of Shechem
and Beth Milo. And let fire come out from the leaders of Shechem and from Beth Milo and devour
Abimelech. And Jotham ran away and fled and went to Beer and lived there because of Abimelech,
his brother.
Abimelech ruled over Israel three years. And God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the
leaders of Shechem, and the leaders of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech, that the
violence done to the seventy sons of Jerubbabel might come and be laid on Abimelech their brother
who killed them, and on the men of Shechem who strengthened his hands to kill his brothers. And the
leaders of Shechem put men in ambush against him on the mountaintops, and they robbed all who
passed by them along that way. And it was told to Abimelech. And Gael,
the son of Ebed, moved into Shechem with his relatives, and the leaders of Shechem put confidence
in him. And they went out into the field and gathered the grapes from the vineyards and trod them
and held a festival. And they went into the house of their god and ate and drank and reviled
Abimelech. And Gael, the son of Ebed, said, Who is Abimelech, and who are we of Shechem,
that we should serve him? Is he not the son of Jerubbabel, and is not Zebal his officer? Serve the
men of Hamor, the father of Shechem, but why should we serve him? Would that this people were under
my hand, then I would remove Abimelech. I would say to Abimelech, increase your army and come out.
When Zebal, the ruler of the city, heard the words of Gael, the son of Ebed, his anger was kindled.
And he sent messengers to Abimelech secretly, saying, Behold, Gael, the son of Ebed,
and his relatives have come to Shechem, and they are stirring up the city against you. Now
therefore, go by night, you and the people who are with you, and set an ambush in the field. Then
in the morning... As soon as the sun is up, rise early and rush upon the city. And when he and the
people who are with him come out against you, you may do to them as your hand finds to do.
So Abimelech and all the men who were with him rose up by night and set an ambush against Shechem
in four companies. And Gael, the son of Ebed, went out and stood in the entrance of the gate of the
city. And Abimelech and the people who were with him rose from the ambush. And Gael saw the people
and said to Zebal, Look, people are coming down from the mountaintops. Zebul said to him, You
mistake the shadow of the mountains for men. Gael spoke again and said, Look, people are coming
down from the center of the land, and one company is coming from the direction of the diviner's
oak. Then Zebul said to him, Where is your mouth now, you who said? Who is Abimelech,
that we should serve him? Are not these the people whom you despised? Go out now and fight with
them. And Gael went out at the head of the leaders of Shechem and fought with Abimelech.
And Abimelech chased him, and he fled before him. and many wounded up to the entrance of the gate.
And Abimelech lived at Aruma, and Zebal drove out Gael and his relatives so that they could not
dwell at Chechem. On the following day, the people went out into the field, and Abimelech was told.
He took his people and divided them into three companies and set an ambush in the fields. And he
looked and saw the people coming out of the city. So he arose against them and killed them.
Abimelech and the... The company that was with him rushed forward and stood at the entrance of the
gate of the city, while the two companies rushed upon all who were in the field and killed them.
And Abimelech fought against the city all that day. He captured the city and killed the people who
were in it, and he raised the city.
And Abimelech went up to Mount Zalman,
he and all the people who were with him. And Abimelech took an axe in his hand and cut down a
bundle of brushwood and took it up and laid it on his shoulder. And he said to the men who were
with him, What do you have seen me do? Hurry and do as I have done. So every one of the people cut
down his bundle and following Abimelech put it against the stronghold. And they set the stronghold
on fire over them so that all the people of the tower of Shechem also died, about a thousand men
and women. Then Abimelech went to Thebes and encamped against Thebes and captured it.
But there was a strong tower within the city and all the men and women and all the leaders of the
city fled to it and shut themselves in. They went up to the roof of the tower. And Abimelech came
to the tower and fought against it and drew near to the door of the tower to burn it with fire. And
a certain woman threw an upper millstone on Abimelech's head and crushed his skull. Then he called
quickly to the young man, his armor bearer, and said to him, draw your sword and kill me, lest they
say of me, a woman killed him. And his young man thrust him through and he died. When the men of
Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, everyone departed to his home. Thus God returned the evil of
Abimelech, which he committed against his father in killing his 70 brothers. And God also made all
the evil of the men of Shechem return on their heads, and upon them came the curse of Jotham the
son of Jerubbabel. May God add his blessing to this reading of his word.
Well, we came from chapter 8 into chapter 9. It had the making of a good antihero story,
but that's not where the author of Judges lands us. We see rightly... anti-judge Abimelech is the
villain. Now, why do I call him an anti-judge? Well, one, he's not raised up by the Lord as we've
seen with the other judges, and he does not provide salvation for Israel as we see from the other
judges. Quite the opposite, in fact. He only brings destruction first to his brothers, then to the
people of Shechem, and then finally to himself. Now, there's a lot of movement in this chapter
between towns and... and towers. It took us a while to read through it, so let me summarize the
narrative with seven plot points. First, the illegitimate son,
destined for the throne, eliminates all other contenders and claims the throne. We see that from
verses 1 to 6. Next, his lone surviving brother proclaims a curse on him and his supporters.
We see that from verses 7 through 21. Then, God opposes his reign.
and those who placed him there, from verses 22 to 25. Next,
his supporters turn on him and follow another leader, verses 26 to 29.
Next, he attacks and destroys those who once followed him, verses 30 to 49.
Then he himself is destroyed, 50 to 54. And then finally,
everyone goes back home, 55 to 57. You know, this is an interesting,
bloody interlude, not about a judge, in a book about judges. And so if he's not a judge,
and the book is called Judges, why is his story here? Why did the author put this here?
That's a good question for us to ask anytime we're reading scripture, especially when we're reading
narratives. It's like, why? What was the author's intent? What's the purpose that he's trying to do
by telling us this story? And so I want to give us three reasons why I think that the author put
the story of Abimelech here. The first reason is that it really happened. This is a true story.
Don't forget that, especially as we study the book of Judges. we read these sensational,
headline-worthy accounts of the judges, and they can seem more like a murder mystery or a true
crime podcast, or as we'll see in chapters and weeks to come, more like a horror movie. But these
are real stories of true events that really happened. So I think it's here, one, because it really
happened. Two, I think this story's here because it points to the evil that's within the people of
God. I talked earlier, and we've talked in past weeks, about the cycle of misery that the people of
Israel are facing in the book of Judges. First, they've had oppression from external oppressors.
We've seen that coming from Mesopotamia, from Canaan, from Midian. Then we've moved to have
oppression from flawed judges, as we saw with Gideon in the way that he attacked his fellow
Israelites. And now we see the entrance of a godless king in Abimelech.
And this cycle will continue in chapters ahead. This path that they've been on from external
oppression and questionable judges and now this godless king is a path that the people of God have
been on since they first disobeyed the Lord's command to completely conquer the land when they took
it at the beginning of Judges, really at the end of Joshua when they came into the promised land.
Their own unfaithfulness is why the Lord first brought those external oppressors.
And as we move forward in this book, we will continue to see how broken the people really are.
We see God working in this chapter, but it's not to aid the people, but it's to oppose Abimelech
and the men of Shechem. So again, I think this book's here because it really happened. It points to
us, the evil within the people of God. And third, I think that it's here because it points us
ultimately to a future kingdom. The book of Judges points us to... What's immediately coming?
The kingdom of God under the monarchy of Saul and then David and his sons. But even the monarchy
itself is pointing to the future kingdom. If we recall that Bob told us about some summary verses
in the book of Judges, like Judges 17, 6. In those days, there was no king in the land,
or in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes. The whole book of Judges is showing us
what happens when they had no king. Now, the Lord, when he gave the law to Moses,
had planned for a day when Israel would have a king. Deuteronomy 17 gives instructions for what a
king should look like in Israel. And as Trey showed us last week, Israel did need a king.
Following from the time of the Judges, as I said, Israel would enter the time of the monarchy. And
this book... we think it was written, is setting the stage for that monarchy and showing that what
they really needed was a king. But ultimately, even Israel's kings were to decide to point to a
future kingdom, to the true king, the deliverer king, the savior king, King Jesus.
So, given these three reasons for its inclusion that I think that it's true,
that it points to the evil within the people of God, and that it points us to the future kingdom.
The big takeaway that I want to drive home for us today is that God will eternally punish those who
oppose his reign, but will save those who submit to the Savior King. Say that again.
I want us to take home today that God will eternally punish those who oppose his reign,
but will save those who submit to the Savior King.
The author of Judges mentions in two specific passages the Lord's intervention in this chapter.
And these two hidden passages lead me to think about this big takeaway. Those verses are verse 23
and 56. So in verse 23 it says, God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the leaders of
Shechem. The leaders of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech. So again, here we see God's
opposition to the potential.
And then at the end of the chapter, in verses 56 and 57, we see, Again here we see God bringing the
evil that Abimelech and the men of Shechem did back on themselves. So with those two hinged
passages, I want us to consider two propositions as we walk through this passage.
One, that God appoints rightful kings and opposes wrongful kings.
And two, God does not let evil go unpunished. Let's jump into proposition number one.
God appoints rightful kings and opposes wrongful kings. As we learned last week,
Abimelech was the son of Gideon's concubine. Gideon, at the end of chapter 8, had denied the
request of the people of Israel to make him king over them. But as we saw last week, his actions
showed that he had a longing of hiding for the throne. And nowhere is that seen more acutely than
in his son Abimelech, whose name literally means, my father is king. At the end of chapter 8,
we're told that Gideon's concubine, Abimelech's son, was from Shechem.
There's a lot of biblical history that surrounds the town, the city of Shechem. It's where Abraham
first received the promise of land when he entered Canaan. It was a city allotted to the tribe of
Vanessa when the people came into the land. It was the site of covenant renewal for all the people
of Israel in Joshua chapter 24 when the people entered the promised land. But also,
it was the site and location of great sin in Israel's history. It's where Jacob's daughter Dinah
was defiled, and then two of Jacob's sons go and slaughter the men of Shechem.
And chapter 9 here in Judges points us to further unfaithfulness associated with the town of
Shechem. We're told of the temple of Baal-Barith and El-Barith. Barith in Hebrew means covenant,
so it's a temple to the Baal of the covenant and his father, the pagan god El. What a contrast.
from the righteous covenant renewal of God's people in Shechem when they first came into the pagan
land, to devotion to a covenant pagan God here, as we see in chapter 9.
We're going to see a lot of inversions or parallels throughout the chapter as we study,
and so I'll try to point those out as we go along. But Shechem is just another example of the
people's disobedience to clear the land and the syncretism and compromise that followed their
failure to follow the Lord's commands.
After his father dies, Abimelech goes to his mother's relatives, the people of Shechem, and he
plays up the family card. Assuming that Gideon's 70 sons would reign,
he gets the leaders to start spreading the word throughout the city, as we saw in verse 2. Say in
the leaders of Shechem, which is better for you, that all 70 of the sons of Jerubba will rule over
you, or one rule over you? Remember also that I am your bone and your flesh. He's planting the
seed. Wouldn't it be better for you guys to have a connection with the top dog? Wouldn't it be
better for y'all to have a family member in charge? You know what it works? The people convince
the leaders to follow him because he is their brother. And then they go and take money from the
pagan temple for him to hire mercenaries. It says, worthless and reckless fellows who followed him.
Again, these were just hired guns. The Hebrew for worthless describes empty vessels.
These were men who were devoid of moral fortitude. They were reckless. They were hot-headed.
They were quick on the trigger. These were just the men that Abimelech needed for the job. And I'll
say, if you're having to hire people to be your followers, you're probably not someone who's worth
following. So then he goes with his men and he kills his 70 brothers.
the sons of Gideon's wives, in Gideon's house on a single stone.
He kills every single one of them, except the youngest one, Jotham, who was hiding.
Now, I don't know if the author's intending that to be a callback to Gideon's hiding when the Lord
first calls him, but again, maybe another interesting parallel. And I'll come back to the fable
that Jotham tells in just a minute, but it's interesting that when it says they make him king,
in verse 6, the author uses the word, Melech, king, like Abimelech,
my father is king. But when we look at verse 22, when it says that he ruled for three years,
the Hebrew word there is different for rule. It's not related to kingship. It's the Hebrew word
sur, which conveys the idea of reigning as a commander or a prince, more of a warlord or a tyrant.
It's not the same as a king's royal rule. So even though he desired that, that's not what he
ultimately did. After three years of this tyrannical reign, what happens? God sends an evil spirit
between Abimelech and the men of Shechem. We see that in verse 23. So here we are seeing God's
opposition to a wrongful king, a king who desired his own way rather than what God had established,
and so God opposed him. Now one question that comes up in this is how can God send an evil spirit?
We see similar action take place in 1 Samuel 16 when the spirit of the Lord departs from King Saul,
another questionable king, and in its place, God sends a harmful spirit.
Though the Lord never does and is not responsible for evil, he sometimes allows and uses evil to
bring about his purposes. Like the harmful spirit with Saul or pagan...
countries like Babylon taking the people of Israel into captivity, or even Christ being crucified
at the hands of sinful men, God's purposes sometimes are accomplished through evil actors.
This evil spirit, we could even think about it as a spirit of animosity between Abimelech and the
men of Shechem, was used by God to oppose those who wrongly made Abimelech king.
All right, so let's go back to Jotham. When he finds out that Abimelech was made king, he goes up
on Mount Gerizim to tell this fable and to pronounce a curse as it's referred to at the end of the
chapter. Here's another one of our interesting parallels. When the people first came into the land
in Joshua chapter 8, there were blessing and curses that were to be pronounced from the law.
And the men stood on Mount Gerizim to pronounce blessings and to amen those blessings. And then
people stood on Mount Ebal to pronounce curses and to amen those curses from the reading of the
law. And so what was once the Mount of Blessing, Mount Gerizim, is now turned upside down as the
Mount of Cursing used here by Jotham. In his fable,
in verses 7 through 15, he tells of the trees, the cedars, going to other trees,
and they ask them to rain over them. The concept of each of these trees raining over the cedars is
pretty absurd. The cedars would have been at least 80 feet tall. Some of them could have been over
100 feet tall. The olive and the fig tree are about 20 to 30 feet tall.
The vine, even shorter than that, 12 to 15 feet tall. You know, they asked the olive and fig and
vine in succession, with each refusing the request and replying with contentment with their own lot
in life. The olive is content with his abundance that honors God and men.
The fig is content with his sweetness and good fruit. And the vine is content with his wine that
cheers God and men. And I'll ask today, are you content with the fruit God has designed you to
bear? Or do you wish for a perceived better fruit?
God has given each of us gifts, and they all differ, and he gives it to us all in different
measures. Earlier this year, one of our elders, Rick Tarter, gave us a sermon on 1 Corinthians 12.
You can find that on our website, but it is a great encouragement to serve the body of Christ with
the gifts that he's given you right here and right now, and not be longing for a different gift
than what the Lord has given you. In our world where personal success, corporate ladder climbing,
personal brand pushing. It can be easy to slip into thinking that I've got to move from one station
to the next, from one social rung up to the next. Now, I urge you,
consider the response of these trees. If you long for a higher position at work,
thank God that you have a job now and that you're able to provide for yourself. If you long for a
spouse and a family one day and the Lord has withheld that, Thank the Lord for the freedom of time
and schedule He's given you now to serve His work and His church. Now,
don't get me wrong. Those things that we desire for, for a different position at work, for a
family, for a spouse, those are good things to aspire to. So don't pray and ask the Lord for those
things, but be content with where the Lord has you now, and don't wait to serve Him until you get
something that you think is better. So as we go back to the fable,
as we looked at... These really tall trees asking shorter trees to rain physically over them,
and they don't acquiesce to their request. The cedars then go to the bramble and ask the bramble to
rule over them, and the bramble consents to this request. What an impossible image.
The bramble, low-lying brush, raining over these tall, tall cedars. The bramble accepts and puts
itself in a position that it was not designed for, and in doing so will bring harm to itself and to
the other trees. It wanted authority it was not designed for, and it rejected the station where the
Lord had placed it. Our culture would push us all towards being kings.
We're all masters of our own fates, captains of our souls, as the famous Invictus poem would tell
us. You can customize your phone's layout, find the right mattress to optimize your sleep. Have you
guys seen the new Burger King ad campaign? They fired the king. There's a new king,
and it's you.
This ad campaign encapsulates the predominant worldview of our moment, commonly referred to as
expressive individualism. No one can tell me what's true about me except me.
I am my own ultimate authority. You do you. Everyone does what is right in their own eyes.
Truth is not... what's objectively true, but about how we feel. We don't want something outside of
us telling us what's true about us. We all want to be kings. This worldview rejects the authority
and assumes authority that is only given to the Creator. Pastor and author Paul David Tripp says
this, On this side of our final destination, the greatest spiritual battle is all about kingdoms in
conflict. Sin causes us all to anoint ourselves as king and to live our lives with kingdom
purposes. We all set ourselves up as sovereigns over our kingdoms of one.
We all want our will to be done. We all know what we want, when we want it,
how we want it, where we want it, and who we want to deliver it. So God gives us his grace.
Is his grace given to give you what you need to be your own king? Is his grace bestowed on you so
your little kingdom purpose will happen? No, God's grace dethrones you from your little kingdom and
welcomes you to a much better kingdom than you could ever want yourself.
But in this kingdom, you will never be at the center. It will never be all about you,
and you will never rule. Because in this kingdom, all things are for God and God alone.
So I'll ask us today, how are we rejecting God's reign and usurping his power by placing ourselves
on his throne?
I don't know what brought each of you here today. Maybe a friend invited you. Maybe your parents
made you come. Maybe there's been a stirring lately in your soul and you felt like you needed to go
to church. Maybe you don't know why you're here. You just come each week. It's just something you
do, but you really don't know why you're here. I'll say, whatever reason brought you here today,
we're glad that you're here. We're glad that you came and joined and worshiped with us today.
But hear me, if you're still living for yourself, for your own desires, based on what you see fit
rather than what God has designed for you and what's best for you, then you are rejecting the
rightful king over your life, the creator God and his design for your life. You are usurping his
throne. Don't live anymore under that crushing weight. because it's crushing to live under your own
authority, to try to bear it all by yourself. We weren't designed for that. Submit to his will and
his way and rest in his loving care, not the care of an authoritarian king,
but a loving, fatherly, kind care. He's a loving, fatherly, kind king.
As we see from Abimelech, God opposes those who wrongfully reign in his place.
He will oppose you if you remain opposed.
And so if you haven't today, humbly bow your knee in submission to the Lord and to his will.
And if you have surrendered to Christ, there may be ways that you're still not submitting to the
Lord's will and his rule in your life. You know, are there ways that you're living out that's more
in line with what you think's best than what God's law and his commands would have you do? Would
your media consumption show that you've submitted to his demands for purity and holiness? Does your
bank account show a commitment to his work in his church? Does your schedule show a priority to God
and his word? Husbands, are you living with your lives in an understanding manner?
Are you calling them to live how you would see fit rather than God would design for you?
There will always be ways and areas where we need to continue to submit to Christ and his word.
So let me tell you some good news and some bad news. The more that we continue to submit to Jesus
to become more like him, sanctification is the theological word for this, the more we will become
aware of areas where we are not like him. The more we become sanctified, the more we will think
that we're sinners. So it's good news and bad news. So as you become aware of areas,
or maybe someone makes you aware of areas in your life where you're not submitting to Christ's will
and his law, don't harden your hearts. Be thankful that you've been made aware of those and submit
to his rule. Pray the Lord's Prayer regularly. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done.
Pray that not only in this world, but also in your own life. Remember that God appoints rightful
kings. And he appoints ultimately one rightful king, which is Christ, and opposes wrongful kings,
which is each and every one of us. So now that we've explored the kingship angle,
let's look at... Proposition number two, God does not let evil go unpunished.
As we see God intervene to oppose Abimelech's reign, we ultimately see God's purposes to return
evil on both Abimelech and the men of Shechem, as we saw in verse 56 and 57.
Now, I almost skipped over this in my study, and as I've been reading through this passage for the
last month or a couple weeks to prepare for this, Because you can just read it as statistics or
facts, but let's consider the evil that Abimelech did. He cunningly persuaded the people to make
him king. He hired mercenaries with pagan money. He slaughtered his 70 brothers.
He ambushed and destroyed the city of Shechem and killed all of its people.
Remember, these were his people. These were his mother's people. This was his homeland. He killed 1
,000 people in the Tower of Shechem. Just let that sink in. That's terrible.
Think about if this popped up in a headline today. Man kills 70 brothers in bid for inheritance.
Even if we think about the loss of life in the earthquakes in Venezuela, it's 1,400 people.
It's almost that number of people that Abimelech was responsible for killing here in this chapter.
This is a gruesome, it's violent, and it's abhorrent. The Bible is not shy about pointing out the
evil that's within man's heart and within his hands.
God, in his opposition, turns the people of Shechem against Abimelech, using his bloodline against
him. Again, one of our parallels that we see, where Abimelech had played up the kinsman card with
his mother's side of the family. Gael comes in with his relatives and plays up the bloodline
through his father's side, saying, I'm from Hamor, the father of Shechem. It's just like a typical
crime syndicate or a political party. It's like you've got someone that's in charge for a while,
and then someone else pops up later. It's, you know, what have you done for me lately? You know,
God uses Abimelech to punish first the people of Shechem. He uses them to bring about their
destruction. Abimelech ambushes the city with the help of Zebo as officer to drive out Gael,
and then he captures the city. The leaders head to the stronghold of El Barith, their pagan god.
And then as Jotham pronounced, fire literally came out of the brambles to destroy the people of
Shechem. Abimelech and his men grabbed a bramble and placed it at the base of the tower and light
it on fire to destroy the stronghold and kill a thousand men and women located in that tower.
Abimelech also then razed the city of Shechem. R-A-Z-E-D for you non-scrabble players.
It's a great word to get rid of your Z when you're playing scrabble. But razed just means to
completely destroy. And then he sowed it with salt, which was a physical yet symbolic way to show
that the city was turned into a barren land. This is another parallel with the town of Shechem.
Shechem would later be rebuilt by Jeroboam after. the reign of Rehoboam,
the son of Solomon, when the ten tribes of Israel oppose Rehoboam's reign, they go to Shechem and
make Jeroboam, another illegitimate man, king.
You know, Shechem gets its reward, but then Abimelech gets his just desserts too.
As he continues his rampage, he's acting like a conquering warlord. He moves on to the town of
Thebes to capture it. The people here, like in Shechem, go into their tower for defense. Abimelech,
up to his old tricks again, tries to set fire to the city. And as he gets near to the tower, what
happens? Verse 53, a woman on the tower throws an upper millstone and it crushes his head.
That upper millstone probably weighed between 25 and 30 pounds. We don't know the name of this
woman, but she is singled out. The author says a certain woman threw that upper millstone.
This action doesn't immediately kill him, but he knows that's the direction he's headed, so he has
his armor bearer pierce him through so that he is not known as the man who was killed by a woman.
What a disgrace that would have been for a king, a warrior. He tries to cover up his disgrace and
his shame, but ultimately it doesn't work. Any human attempt to cover our shame ultimately doesn't
work. Flip over to 2 Samuel 11. And starting in verse 19,
we'll read 19 to 21. You know, this is the account of when David tries to have and ultimately has
Uriah, the husband of Bathsheba, killed in battle. It says, and when the commander instructed the
messenger, when you have finished telling all the news about the fighting to the king, then if the
king's anger arises, if he says to you, why did you go so near the city to fight? Did you not know
that they would shoot from the wall?
He's remembered throughout the rest of Israel's history as the one who was killed by a woman.
Poetic justice that the one who killed his 70 brothers on a stone was killed by an upper millstone.
His attempt to cover his disgrace by having his armor bearer pierce him through did not work.
And it will never work for us either if we're trying to cover our shame and disgrace by ourselves.
It's interesting that that account where Abimelech's death is remembered is in the context of David
trying to cover his sin with Bathsheba by having Uriah, her husband, killed.
Solomon, at the end of Ecclesiastes, says this,
All has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments. For this is the whole duty of man.
For God will bring every deed into judgment with every secret thing, whether good or evil.
One of our children went through a phase where she liked to draw on pretty much anything. Toys,
books, papers, you name it. Those were all fair game in her mind. Now we had been very clear.
We don't draw on toys. We only draw on paper. So then one afternoon,
I'm in our living room. I find one of her baby dolls, and it's got Band-Aids kind of all over the
baby doll in lots of different places. And I didn't know why that was there, so I asked her, what
are these Band-Aids for? Her demeanor just changed. She removed one of the Band-Aids to show an
ink smear on the baby doll. She had drawn on the baby doll, knew that she wasn't supposed to do
that, tried to wipe it off, and it just smeared, and then she covered. the ink smear with the band
-aid. You know, her attempt to cover her shame ultimately drew more attention to it.
If she had not put the band-aids on it, I don't know if I would have seen the marks on the band
-aids. You know, trying to hide our shame, whether by covering it with band-aids or having our
armor bearer deliver that piercing blow, ultimately will never work.
So I want you to think today, are there ways where you're trying to cover your shame through your
own efforts rather than turning to God? Are you deleting your search history on your phone or
computer after you're on the web? Do you keep your spouse from seeing your bank account so they
don't see where you're spending your money?
Remember I said earlier that we have some hinge verses in this chapter. sending that evil spirit in
verse 23 and then in 56 and 7 where God returns the evil on Abimelech and the men of Shechem.
Sin is self-destructive. The evil that we do will be returned.
It was returned on Shechem. It was returned on Abimelech. Abimelech and the people of Shechem
committed murder and they were killed because of it. God's actions towards Abimelech show and
confirm just how evil Abimelech's actions were and his heart was.
God will not let evil go on forever. He will bring an end to the evil in our world,
sometimes like he did with Abimelech and Shechem. Sometimes he will bring an end to evil right here
and now. So let's pray for justice to reign and for oppression to cease. But sometimes we won't see
earthly justice here and now. We will have to wait until heaven to see that. But know that in the
end, God will make all things new, and he will make all things right.
Now, you likely have not committed murder. You likely have not usurped the throne.
You likely have not burned down a city. But any sin, no matter how small,
is an offense against a holy God. To borrow from Horton Hears a Who,
a sin's a sin, no matter how small. The life of Abimelech is a mirror to show us how evil our sin
truly is in the sight of a holy God. Don't take your sin lightly.
J.C. Ryle, the 19th century English bishop, in his booklet, Thoughts for Young Men,
gives this counsel to young men, but it's applicable to all of us, young men, old men,
men who still think they're young, women, kids. He tells them this. For one thing,
try to get a clear view of the evil of sin. Young men, if you did but know what sin is and what sin
has done, you would not think it strange that I exhort you as I do. Oh,
let not the devil succeed in persuading you that sin is a small matter. Think for a moment what the
Bible says about sin, how it dwells naturally in the heart of every man and woman alive, how it
defiles our thoughts, words, and actions, and that continually. how it renders us all guilty and
abominable in the sight of a holy God, how it leaves us utterly without hope of salvation if we
look to ourselves, how its fruit in this world is shame and its wages in the world to come,
death. If we are left in our sins, it will be returned to us.
The wages of sin, as Romans 6.23 tells us, is death. But the free gift of God is eternal life in
Christ Jesus our Lord. We are all born with sin in our hearts. We are all born sinners.
We were all destined to be the anti-hero. We were destined to be the villain. We were born this
way. You know, it is in our backstory. It's the way that we were made to be. But the scripture is
clear. Those who remain in their sin living for themselves, how they see fit, will reap the wages
of sin. Death.
God will save those who submit to the Savior King. The life of Abimelech,
the anti-judge, points us to the true hero, Jesus, the true king. Unlike the anti-hero who lives
by their own code, Jesus Christ lived a life in perfect obedience to God's law.
Abimelech was the son of one who wanted to be king. Christ is the son of the unquestioned king of
kings. Abimelech was the son of a concubine. Jesus was the son...
Abimelech hired worthless and reckless fellows to follow him. Jesus came and willingly associated
with sinners and tax collectors.
Abimelech connivingly convinced his family to raise him to the throne. Jesus left his father's
throne above and emptied himself, being born in the likeness of men. Abimelech killed his flesh and
blood. Jesus was crucified by his own people.
Abimelech committed countless acts of evil. Christ committed no sin.
One thing they do have in common though is that they both had evil poured out on them.
Abimelech, the false king, bore the wrath that was due for his own sins. Christ,
the true king, bore the wrath for our sins and the wrath that we deserved. Christ came and rescued
sinners from the pit and hopelessness and death that we were in. He rules in truth and grace.
Before our closing hymn in a few minutes, I've asked the worship team to sing Joy to the World.
I know it's a Christmas song, and so it's on me if you have offense with singing a Christmas song
there. It's not on the worship team. But it's not actually a Christmas song. Isaac Watts wrote this
carol, this hymn, as his paraphrase of Psalm 98, in light of the second coming of Christ.
You know, this psalm longs for the day when the true king returns to rule and reign,
where sins and sorrows no longer grow, nor thorns, or in light of this passage,
brambles infest the ground. He comes to make his blessings known far as the curse is found.
And so we want to respond to that with that in a few minutes. I said at the outset that the main
takeaway I want to drive home is that God will eternally punish those who oppose his reign,
but will save those who submit to the Savior King. So I would implore you again this morning,
if you are living in opposition to Christ, know that eternal punishment awaits you.
Any sin, no matter how small, separates you from God. and you will be left in your sins.
But the free offer of grace extends today, so receive Christ.
Rest in his perfect, heroic, saving work, and let him reign as your Savior King.
Let's pray.