Be Careful For What You Ask For

Judges 9

I am somewhat of a competitive person. I can be competitive when it comes to playing sports to board games. There is a game called Risk that I can not play with Adam because we are both so competitive in our conquest of global domination. We both try to get other people to attack the other person so we can have control over the other person. Obviously this is the strategy of the game but it somewhat shows what happened in this chapter of Judges.

Gideon a.k.a. Jerubbaal has died and out of his 70 sons Abimelech has decided that he wants to lead over Israel. As you read this chapter remind yourself that you are in an Old Testament Soap Opera.

The Plan

Abimelech decided that he would use his mother to share with all the leaders of Shechem that he would be a great leader. He used the why should you have 70 leaders when you could just have one awesome leader, me line. His mother took the bait and told all the leaders and they agreed. The plan was now how to get rid of the other leaders. Abimelech then took some worthless men and killed all of the 70 brothers except the youngest who was hiding. How sad that Abimelech who was going to be able to fill his father’s shoes has fallen so short. He is going way beyond the opposite way that Gideon had gone.

Be Careful For What You Ask For

Now Israel let Abimelech rule over them 3 years and for some reason they decided they were not so happy with their so called leader. They started to complain about him and think it would be better to follow after someone else. Word got out to Abimelech and he decided to let the leaders of Shechem have a little taste of complaint. He made war against the city and all those that lived in it. The leaders fled to the stronghold in which he set fire and killed them. As Abimelech decided to make war on more he did the same to the city of Thebez. There the leaders went to the strong hold and as he was about ready to set fire to that a woman threw a millstone and it crushed his skull and he died right there.

As Christians we can easily think the grass is always greener on the other side. We think if only we had this or did that, life would be great. Remember Israel while they were in the wilderness would complain that they had it better in Egypt. Here Israel wanted a leader in which they realized that he was of no good and brought evil and lead the people to do evil. Because of what Abimelech did the people realized they needed an out. 

Be careful as Christians to not complain and grumble against what the Lord has given you. We want the world or certain things right now that we do not wait on the Lord and his timing in things. When we do that we compromise on what really matters, God and his provision. We rush in relationships, we overspend in finances, and we make hasty decisions. Israel needed to rest in the Lord as their leader and king but also go before him with electing who they did. May we always go before the Lord in our decisions because he already knows what the future holds. I need to ask God still and continue to for patience and to trust him because I do things impulsively and I know his way would have been better.