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Judges 9:1-6 – A Very Wicked Deed

Abimelech became king in Israel by means of a very wicked deed. Besides Abimelech, Gideon had had seventy sons by his many wives. If Abimelech’s supposed right to rule over Israel came from the fact that he was a son of Gideon, there were seventy other men who could make the same claim. In fact, since they were sons of Gideon’s wives while Abimelech was the son of a concubine (a secondary wife who was more a slave than a bride), their claims were stronger than his. Having rejected the rule of the LORD the Israelites seem to have made the assumption that they must be ruled by Gideon’s heirs. Abimelech presents the men of Shechem with this choice: either they will be ruled by seventy sons of Gideon who are not closely related to them, or they can be ruled by one of their own.

The men of Shechem choose to support Abimelech because he is closely related to them. They take money from the temple of Baal-berith and hire “worthless and reckless fellows” to follow Abimelech. Abimelech leads them to his father’s house at Ophrah and they murder all but one of his brothers. Worse still, that they do so “on one stone” suggests they killed these men as human sacrifices to their false god. After this, the leaders of Shechem and Beth-Millo (the fortress at Shechem) declare Abimelech king.

Like the men of Shechem, people today are inclined to choose leader not based on the righteousness, wisdom,or experience of the candidates, but based on their own self-interest. They choose those whom they think will get them the most advantages in life. If we are privileged to have a say in who our leaders are, let us choose those who are evidently godly and wise, not simply those whom we think will get us advantages over our neighbors.

Questions

  1. Why did the men of Shechem support Abimelech?
  2. How did they eliminate the sons of Gideon?
  3. Why would they murder them “on one stone”?

Prayer Points

  1. Pray that people will choose leaders for godly and not selfish reasons.
  2. Use prayer points from your congregation.
  3. Pray for family matters.