Judges 9:1-6 – A King for Israel?
Last week we learned that after the great victory over the Midianites the people of Israel desired to make Gideon their king. Gideon rightly refused saying “the LORD will rule over you.” However, Gideon proceeded to live like a king, demanding tribute of the people and taking many wives for himself as well as a concubine in the city of Shechem. It says much that the son this woman bore to Gideon was named Abimelech, for “Abimelech” means “my father is king.” We also learned of Gideon’s tragic decision to make an ephod of the gold brought to him as tribute from the spoils of the war against the Midianites. This ephod became a source of false worship for the Israelites – even for Gideon and his family.
After Gideon’s death, Israel once again forsook the LORD altogether, worshipping Baal-berith, which means “Baal of the covenant.” The Israelites have rejected the covenanted God of Israel in favor of a “covenant” with a false god. Gideon’s son, Abimelech, takes advantage of this degenerated situation in Israel to make himself king. By means of his mother’s family connections in Shechem, he gets the leaders of that important and centrally-located city to support his claims to kingship. Though Gideon may have rejected the kingship of Israel for himself and his sons after him, many Israelites seem content to ignore Gideon’s express wishes and let his son rule over them. As Judges 9:22 tells us, Abimelech will rule as king over Israel for three years. This was not simply an ignoring of Gideon’s wishes, this was a rejection of the LORD God. Gideon had said “The LORD will rule over you.” Israel is now saying, “No! The LORD will not rule over us.” Instead they turn to the worship of a false god and accept the rule of a cruel and wicked king. Again we see how quickly a nation can turn from God. May nations that have turned from Him repent and acknowledge the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
Questions
- What does “Abimelech” mean? Why is this significant?
- What two things did the people do that showed they had rejected the LORD?
Prayer Points
- Pray that the nations will acknowledge the Lordship of Christ.
- Use prayer points from your congregation.
- Pray for family matters.