Judges 9:34-41 – Abimelech Defeats Gaal
As Zebul advised him, Abimelech moves his army overnight to attack Shechem at dawn. When Gaal sees Abimelech’s men moving down the mountainside, Zebul convinces him that all he is seeing is the shadow of the mountains shifting as the sun rises. Thus, Gaal does not prepare for the attack. Next, Gaal sees Abimelech’s men moving toward the city from the direction of the “Diviner’s Oak” (most likely a tree at which rituals for the worship of false gods in an attempt to predict the future were performed). It is now unmistakable that Gaal and his allies are under attack. Zebul mocks Gaal for ever having bad-mouthed Abimelech and tells him now is the opportunity to fight Abimelech as he had boasted he would do.
Gaal and the leaders of Shechem go out to battle Abimelech and are quickly defeated. Gaal flees back into the city, but Zebul drives him and his family out again. Perhaps unwilling to trust the Shechemites, rather than staying in the city Abimelech takes up residence at the nearby town of Arumah.
In Judges 9:23, we learned that the LORD had stirred up suspicion and treachery between Abimelech and the leaders of Shechem. This treacherous spirit escalated into outright plotting against one another. Now it has escalated into open warfare. Thus the LORD turns the plots of the wicked to their own destruction.
Psalm 7:15-16 says of the wicked man, “He makes a pit, digging it out, and falls into the hole that he has made. His mischief returns upon his own head and on his own skull his violence descends.” Though it sometimes seems that evil men succeed in the world, God will cause their schemes to come to nothing and make them fall into ruin.
Questions
- How does Zebul keep Gaal from preparing for Abimelech’s attack?
- What does God do with the plots of the wicked?
Prayer Points
- Praise the LORD that He causes the plots of the wicked to come to nothing.
- Use prayer points from your congregation.
- Pray for family matters.