The Judges. Day 42, Jephthah Tries To Reason With The Ammonites, Part Two

The king of the Ammonites has been causing trouble for Israel. For eighteen years he has oppressed the Israelites living on the east side of the Jordan in Gilead. Now he's begun attacking the Israelites west of the Jordan in the territories of Judah, Benjamin, and Ephraim. 

Let's take a moment to look again at our map of the promised land that we've been using off and on during our study of the Old Testament. We'll find Ammon on the righthand side of the map in a beige color. The area referred to as Gilead in the book of Judges is believed to be the territory of the tribe of Gad. There were several Israelite cities whose names included the word "Gilead" but when spoken of as a region it's generally accepted to mean the territory of Gad. In the book of Joshua we were told that to the tribe of Gad was given all the towns of Gilead. In looking at our map we see that the Ammonites lived right beside the territory of Gad/Gilead. This is the area the Ammonites began attacking first and it's the area they managed to oppress for eighteen years. Having been successful in subjugating the Israelites east of the Jordan, they've moved across the Jordan in an attempt to do the same to the people in Judah, Benjamin, and Ephraim. We see on our map that these would have been some of the closest territories to the Ammonites after their army crossed the Jordan.

In yesterday's text we found Jephthah, a Gileadite, trying to reason with the king of the Ammonites who is claiming that the Israelites took land from his people on the east side of the Jordan. In reality, the Israelites took the land in question from the Amorites who had taken it from the Ammonites long before. The king is trying to rewrite history and in today's text Jephthah gives him a refresher history course. He reminds him that Israel took nothing from either the Ammonites or the Moabites. When the Lord brought the Israelites out of Egypt He forbade them to take any land from the Ammonites and Moabites because they were the descendants of Abraham's nephew Lot. The Israelites obeyed the Lord in this matter. Jephthah's history lesson proves that the Israelites did not trouble these people in any way. 

"Jephthah sent messengers back to the Ammonite king, saying: 'This is what Jephthah says: Israel did not take the land of Moab or the land of the Ammonites. But when they came up out of Egypt, Israel went through the wilderness to the Red Sea and on to Kadesh. Then Israel sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, 'Give us permission to go through your country,' but the king of Edom would not listen. They sent also to the king of Moab, and he refused. So they stayed at Kadesh. Next they traveled through the wilderness, skirted the lands of Edom and Moab, passed along the eastern side of the country of Moab, and camped on the other side of the Arnon. They did not enter the territory of Moab, for the Arnon was its border.'" (Judges 11:14-18) The Arnon River was on the eastern side of the Dead Sea. On our map it is on the righthand side and forms the border between Moab and Reuben. 

Jephthah continues. "Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, who ruled in Heshbon, and said to him, 'Let us pass through your country to our own place.' Sihon, however, did not trust Israel to pass through his territory. He mustered all his troops and encamped at Jahaz and fought with Israel." (Judges 11:19-20) The Israelites had never intended to take any land east of the Jordan River. They were attempting to cross the Jordan River and live west of it in the land of Canaan, which the Lord promised to the descendants of Abraham. The Israelites merely wanted to pass peacefully through the territories of others on their way there. They even offered to pay for any resources they might use along the way. But, as Jephthah pointed out, the kings of Edom and Moab refused them passage and King Sihon not only refused them passage but came out with his army to attack them. As a result of Sihon's vicious response, the Lord allowed the Israelites to conquer his army and take control of his territory. 

"Then the Lord, the God of Israel, gave Sihon and his whole army into Israel's hands, and they defeated them. Israel took over all the land of the Amorites who lived in that country, capturing all of it from the Arnon to the Jabbok and from the desert to the Jordan." (Judges 11:21-22) Jephthah does not mention King Bashan, another Amorite king, who came out in battle array against the Israelites when they wanted to pass through. The Israelites also defeated him and took his territory. The land the Israelites took from the Amorites lay between the Arnon River and the Jabbok River. On our map the Jabbok River is the blue line flowing through the upper portion of the territory of Gad.

At no time had the Israelites fought the Ammonites and taken land from them. At some time long before the Israelites came out of Egypt, the Amorites had fought against the Ammonites and had taken some of their land from them. When the Israelites wanted to pass through this land to cross the Jordan into the territory the Lord promised to them, the Amorite kings came out to fight them. When the Israelites fought these kings' armies and won, they took this portion of land from the Amorites, not from the Ammonites. It has always been the way of the world that land belongs to whoever is powerful enough to take it and keep hold of it. The Amorites had been powerful enough to take the land between the Arnon and the Jabbok from the Ammonites. The Amorites had been powerful enough to keep hold of it until the day they opposed the Lord's people. When they opposed the Lord's people, the Lord gave Israel victory in battle and to Israel went the spoils of war: the region between the Arnon and the Jabbok. Now this land belongs to Israel who fought for it and won it. The Ammonite king has no right to it; his people lost it long ago.

The king apparently feels that the Israelites should have handed the land back over to his people instead of keeping it for themselves. Jephthah sarcastically tells him that if the god of the Ammonites had been powerful enough---indeed, if he had been a god at all---he could have kept both the Amorites and the Israelites from obtaining ownership of the land in question. He points out that the Ammonites always felt they had a right to take and keep hold of anything they believed their god Chemosh had enabled them to obtain. Why should the people of the Lord feel any differently? The Lord gave Israel the land in question and they are not obligated to turn it over to the Ammonites any more than the Ammonites would have felt obligated to turn over any land they may have conquered with the supposed help of Chemosh. "Now since the Lord, the God of Israel, has driven the Amorites out before His people Israel, what right have you to take it over? Will you not take what your god Chemosh gives you? Likewise, whatever the Lord our God has given us, we will possess." (Judges 11:23-24)

It's likely that the Moabites, who were "brothers" of the Ammonites, once inhabited part of the disputed territory as well, for Jephthah asks, "Are you any better than Balak son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever quarrel with Israel or fight with them?" (Judges 11:25) Apparently the Moabites had as much claim to this portion of land as the Ammonites (which was no claim by this point in history) and the king of Moab wasn't causing Israel any trouble. Jephthah is saying something like, "The king of Moab doesn't feel we took anything from him or that we are obligated to give back to him anything that the Amorites took from him. He isn't troubling Israel. He knows he has no case against us. Why do you think you do?"

As far as that goes, the Ammonites have had three hundred years (since the Israelites began living in the region) to do something about it if they feel Israel has wronged them in any way. But they never took up their swords and came against Israel until this king decided he was going to get back what his ancestors lost fair and square in war. "For three hundred years Israel occupied Heshbon, Aroer, the surrounding settlements and all the towns along the Arnon. Why didn't you retake them during that time? I have not wronged you, but you are doing me wrong by waging war against me. Let the Lord, the Judge, decide the dispute this day between the Israelites and the Ammonites." (Judges 11:26-27)

Jephthah's attempt to talk sense into the king and to spare Israel a war is not successful. It's not successful because the Ammonite king doesn't want to take anything he says to heart. "The king of Ammon, however, paid no attention to the message Jephthah sent him." (Judges 11:28) The king wants war and war is what he's going to get. 

The Judges. Day 41, Jephthah Tries To Reason With The Ammonites, Part One

The Ammonites are oppressing and attacking the Israelites. The people of Jephthah's hometown of Gilead have asked him to head up the army to fight back against the Ammonites. But first Jephthah tries to reason with the enemy.

"Then Jephthah sent messengers to the Ammonite king with the question: 'What do you have against me that you have attacked my country?' The king of the Ammonites answered Jephthah's messengers, 'When Israel came up out of Egypt, they took away my land from the Arnon to the Jabbok, all the way to the Jordan. Now give it back peaceably.'" (Judges 11:12-13) When the king says "my land" he doesn't mean he was alive when Israel took hold of the region in question. He could not possibly have been alive and king of the Ammonites when this took place. What he is saying is, "Your people took the land of my people. We want it back. You can avoid war with us if you'll turn this area back over to us."

But what he's saying isn't true. The Israelites did not take from the Ammonites the region in question. The Israelites took this particular stretch of land from the Amorites who had taken it from the Ammonites long before the Israelites left Egypt. It was Amorite territory---not Ammonite territory---when the Israelites came out of Egypt. And the only reason the Israelites fought the Amorites in this region and won control of the land "from the Arnon to the Jabbok" was because King Sihon and King Og of the Amorites opposed them with their armies and would not allow them safe passage on their way to the promised land. 

At some time in the very distant past, there was a conflict between the Amorites and the Ammonites. The Amorites were successful in gaining hold of the stretch of land between the Arnon and the Jabbok either in one big war or through a succession of smaller battles. The Amorites kept hold of this territory for an unspecified amount of time until the Israelites came out of Egypt and were on their way to the promised land. When the Israelites asked the leaders of the Amorites to allow them safe passage through this territory, the leaders not only refused but came out with their soldiers in battle array to prevent them from reaching the promised land. The Israelites fought the Amorites and took control of the region from them. So it is not accurate for the Ammonite king to claim the Israelites came and took his people's land. It was not his people's land when the Israelites took it. It was the land of the Amorites when the Israelites took it. 

"Jephthah sent back messengers to the Ammonite king, saying: 'This is what Jephthah says: Israel did not take the land of Moab or the land of the Ammonites.'" (Judges 11:14-15) After the Lord brought the Israelites out of Egypt, He forbade them to take land that was in the possession of the Moabites and the Ammonites at that time. This is because the Moabites and the Ammonites were related to the Israelites. Moab and Ammon were the sons of Lot, the nephew of Abraham. But the Lord's order not to harass the Moabites and the Ammonites did not apply to land that had been in the possession of those peoples in the past but no longer was in their possession. The Lord had allowed the Amorites to take away from the Ammonites the region from the Arnon to the Jabbok and later He allowed the Israelites to take this region away from the Amorites. But He did not tell the Israelites to release this portion of land back to the Ammonites. 

As it has been throughout history, land belongs to whoever can conquer it and keep hold of it. The Ammonites lost the battle long ago for the region between the Arnon and the Jabbok. They lost this stretch of land to the Amorites and, when the Amorites fought the Israelites and the Israelites won this stretch of land from them, the Israelites were in no way obligated to restore it to the Ammonites who lost it somewhere way back in the past. Jephthah is saying to the king of the Ammonites, "Your beef is with the Amorites, not with me and my people. We didn't take anything from you. The region between the Arnon and the Jabbok was not yours when we came out of Egypt."

In tomorrow's passage Jephthah will give the king a history lesson---a lesson about Israel's history which explains how and why the Israelites are now in possession of the disputed territory. He will conclude the lesson by stating that it was the will of God for the Amorites to take the region from the Ammonites and that it was the will of God for the Israelites to take the region for the Amorites in return for the Amorites' cruel refusal to allow passage. Then he will tell the Ammonite king if he is not happy with this arrangement, the Ammonite god Chemosh is welcome to take the matter up with the living God. The king will not listen to reason and will soon see whose god is real and whose is not. 

The Judges. Day 40, The Gileadites Ask Jephthah To Lead Them

In yesterday's study we were introduced to Jephthah. He is the illegitimate son of an Israelite man named Gilead. Gilead fathered Jephthah with a woman the Bible tells us was "a prostitute" (some translations render it as "harlot"). But the word in the original Hebrew text is not so clear. It may mean she was a "strange woman", meaning a foreigner. Or it may mean she was an immoral woman who maintained a sexual relationship with Gilead outside the bonds of marriage. Some scholars argue that the word translated as "prostitute" actually means something like "innkeeper or tavern owner". 

Yesterday's text appears to make it clear that Gilead was not legally married to Jephthah's mother. Israelite men sometimes took foreign wives but those were referred to as "concubines". They were legal wives but without the same legal rights and social standing as Israelite wives. A son of a concubine would not normally inherit his father's estate unless his father's Israelite wife was unable to bear him a son. But since Jephthah's mother is not referred to as either a "wife" or a "concubine", we assume there was never any type of legal relationship between her and Gilead. 

Gilead claimed Jephthah as his son and it was accepted by his family and his townspeople that Jephthah was his son. I think this rules out the possibility that Jephthah's mother was a streetwalker or woman who worked in a brothel. I suppose it's possible that's how she and Gilead originally met, but when she bore him a son he must have felt confident she was having relations only with him. Otherwise I don't see how or why he would have claimed Jephthah as his son. I think Jephthah's mother may have actually been Gilead's mistress. If she were his "kept woman", if you will, that would explain why he knew he was the only man in her life. And if he was the only man in her life, Jephthah had to be his son. He made no secret about Jephthah being his son, which is why at the beginning of Chapter 11 we found Jephthah's legitimate sons running Jephthah out of town after their father's death, saying, "You are not going to have any inheritance in our family because you are the son of another woman." 

Jephthah has been living in the town of Tob with a band of "scoundrels" as the author of Judges called them in verse 3 of our current chapter. But now the Ammonites are fighting against Israel and the men of Gilead are looking for someone strong enough to oust the Ammonites from the region. Jephthah had proven himself a "mighty warrior" in the past, according to verse 1, and these men hope he still is a mighty warrior. "Some time later, when the Ammonites were fighting against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah from the land of Tob. 'Come,' they said, 'be our commander, so we can fight the Ammonites.'" (Judges 11:4-6)

Jephthah is understandably bitter toward them and reluctant to offer his help. "Jephthah said to them, 'Didn't you hate me and drive me from my father's house? Why do you come to me now, when you're in trouble?'" (Judges 11:7) He says, "Oh, now you want me in Gilead! It wasn't convenient for you to have me around before, when you thought I might want a share of my father's estate. You didn't even want to acknowledge you knew me. But now that you're in trouble you've come running to me for help. Why should I lift a finger?" These men referred to as "elders" may be his father's legitimate sons---the very men who sent him out into the world without a dime. An elder can literally mean an aged person or it can mean a respected person of power and authority. If these elders are not the sons of Gilead but are some other type of town officials, Jephthah's words to them indicate that they participated in his expulsion, either by giving their legal or moral support or by lending their physical support when he was thrust out. 

These men don't really make what I'd call a sincere or acceptable apology for their past behavior. They acknowledge that the incident happened but kind of gloss over it. They hope their offer of leadership over them will be enough to persuade him to forget about their ill treatment of him in the past. "The elders of Gilead said to him, 'Nevertheless, we are turning to you now; come with us to fight the Ammonites, and you will be head over all of us who live in Gilead.'" (Judges 11:8) They say something like, "Yes, but that was then and this is now. Now we realize now that you're valuable to us. We'll prove it to you by making you ruler over us if you'll lead our troops against the Ammonites."

Jephthah knows how treacherous the men of his father's town can be. He doesn't trust them not to go back on their word. "Jephthah answered, 'Suppose you take me back to fight the Ammonites and the Lord gives them to me---will I really be your head?'" (Judges 11:9) He asks, "How can I know you'll do as you say? If I win this victory for you with the help of the Lord, how can I be sure you'll keep your promise?"

The men make an oath to him in the name of the Lord to prove the sincerity of their promise. As a result, he agrees to go with them. Their contract with him is witnessed and agreed to by all the troops gathered at Mizpah. "The elders of Gilead replied, 'The Lord is our witness; we will certainly do as you say.' So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and commander over them. And he repeated all his words before the Lord in Mizpah." (Judges 11:10-11) 

This is quite a turnaround in Jephthah's circumstances. As we said yesterday, the Lord doesn't always call to greatness those we would expect Him to call. Human beings tend to look at different things than the Lord looks at when choosing a leader. The Lord doesn't call a man of impeccable pedigree to lead the army of Israel against the Ammonites. He doesn't call a man who has been highly esteemed and respected by his townspeople. Instead He calls an outcast, an illegitimate son, a man who was rejected by his own people, to be general of the army. Jephthah's own people never thought much of him. He may not think much of himself; we couldn't blame him if his ill treatment in the past caused him to have low self-esteem. But the Lord thinks highly of him. The Lord knows he has what it takes to do this great work, with His help. As the Lord will later say to the prophet Samuel, "The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." (1 Samuel 16:7)

Maybe there were people in your past who didn't seem to think very highly of you. Maybe you feel like you come from very humble beginnings and can't be used of the Lord to do great things. But the Lord doesn't consider other people's opinions when He calls a person to greatness. He doesn't consider someone's background or pedigree or social status or financial means when calling them to greatness. He looks on the heart! And if you have a heart for Him, He has things for you to do. 

The Judges. Day 39, The Lord Raises Up A New Judge

In Monday's study we learned that many of the Israelites fell into idolatry in the peaceful and prosperous era following their delivery from the wicked Abimelek. As discipline, the Lord allowed them to be oppressed by some of the very pagan people whose religious practices they've been dabbling in. The Philistines and the Ammonites became powerful enough to make some areas of the nation subject to them. Hard pressed by these invaders and overlords, the Israelites cried out to God, "We have sinned against You, forsaking our God and serving the Baals." (Judges 10:10)

This is where we pick up today, with the Lord's answer. "The Lord replied, 'When the Egyptians, the Amorites, the Ammonites, the Philistines, the Sidonians, the Amalekites and the Maonites oppressed you and you cried to Me for help, did I not save you from their hands? But you have forsaken Me and served other gods, so I will no longer save you. Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen. Let them save you when you are in trouble!'" (Judges 10:11-14) Some ancient manuscripts have the word "Midianites" in place of "Maonites". There is no other known ancient writing which references a people called the Maonites and it would be strange for the Lord to omit the Midianites from the list of those from whom He delivered Israel. Midianite is probably the correct translation.

At first it appears as if the Lord is refusing Israel's request for help. But I think, at their first cry, perhaps many of the people do not realize the depth of their betrayal of the Lord. I think perhaps they had not all considered how illogical it was to forsake the One who has delivered them so many times in favor of foreign gods who've done nothing for them. Where is the proof that Baal ever did anything for anyone? Or Asherah? Or Dagon? Or Molech? Or Milcom? Or Chemosh? Or any other god of the heathen nations surrounding Israel? There is no proof anyone but the Lord ever did anything on behalf of mankind! The Lord reminds the people of His power, of His deliverance, and of His faithfulness. Then He says, "But you prefer the gods of the nations to Me. You have turned your backs on Me in favor of them. Let them come and help you." I think He says this to make the people confront the enormity of their error. He doesn't want them to say, "We've made the Lord angry by serving other gods besides Him. We must apologize to Him in hopes He will help us." He wants them to say, "We've forsaken the one and only God. We've worshiped that which does not exist. When we turned from Him to idols, we were turning away from the living God to worship useless blocks of wood and stone."

I believe the people get the point the Lord is making. They repent again but this time they do it wholeheartedly. They don't turn back to Him while hanging onto idolatrous practices at the same time. They cast their useless idols aside. "But the Israelites said to the Lord, 'We have sinned. Do with us whatever You think best, but please rescue us now.' Then they got rid of the foreign gods among them and served the Lord. And He could bear Israel's misery no longer." (Judges 10:15-16) True repentance has occurred and now the Lord can respond affirmatively to their pleas for help.

"When the Ammonites were called to arms and camped in Gilead, the Israelites assembled and camped at Mizpah. The leaders of the people of Gilead said to each other, 'Whoever will take the lead in attacking the Ammonites will be head over all who live in Gilead.'" (Judges 10:17-18) They say, "We will serve whichever man among us is able to lead the army and defeat the Ammonites." This is where the next judge of Israel comes in. The Lord is about to call an unlikely person into that role.

"Jephthah the Gileadite was a mighty warrior." (Judges 11:1a) You might be thinking he doesn't sound like an unlikely choice to lead the people; he's a mighty warrior. Chapter 11 does begin with a description of this man that sounds promising. But then the author continues, "His father was Gilead; his mother was a prostitute. Gilead's wife also bore him sons, and when they were grown up, they drove Jephthah away. 'You are not going to get any inheritance in our family,' they said, 'because you are the son of another woman.' So Jephthah fled from his brothers and settled in the land of Tob, where a gang of scoundrels gathered around him and followed him." (Judges 11:1b-3) 

Jephthah was the illegitimate son of Gilead. It would appear that Gilead was aware of the existence of this son and acknowledged him as his son. He may have supported him as a son and treated him the same as his other children. But after Gilead's death his legitimate sons ran Jephthah out of town penniless. He's living as an outcast, estranged from his closest remaining family members and his townspeople. He's been joined by a band of misfits and malcontents. Of all the sons of Gilead, he seems the least likely to become a deliverer of Israel. 

But as the Apostle Paul pointed out in 1 Corinthians 1:26-31, the Lord doesn't always call those with the most impressive pedigrees or with the biggest bank accounts to do great things for Him. He often calls those whom we'd least expect to become mighty warriors of the faith. As Paul said, "God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things---and the things that are not---to nullify the things that are." Why does God go about things in this way? Paul tells us it's so no one can boast about themselves. The Lord does things this way, as Paul says in another passage, to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. (2 Corinthians 4:7) When the Lord does mighty things through the weak, and when He makes great leaders from the lowly, all the glory goes to Him and not to man. This is for our benefit, for if we do not acknowledge and glorify Him as God, we will acknowledge and glorify someone or something else (even ourselves) as a god. 

In tomorrow's passage this unlikely hero steps up to fight on behalf of his fellow Israelites.

The Judges. Day 38, The Judges Tola And Jair; Apostasy Again

Chapter 10 gives us a brief look at the two judges who ruled after Abimelek and then we find the Israelites falling into idolatry again. But we also find them repenting again.

"After the time of Abimelek, a man of Issachar named Tola son of Puah, the son of Dodo, rose to save Israel. He lived in Shamir, in the hill country of Ephraim. He led Israel twenty-three years; then he died, and was buried in Shamir." (Judges 10:1-2) We don't know when or how the Lord called Tola to lead Israel but during his years in office it appears as if the land enjoyed peace. Some scholars interpret the Bible saying that Tola "rose to save Israel" means he had to put down some type of enemy incursions when he first took office but others feel it refers to the administration of Tola being the exact opposite of that of Abimelek. Abimelek was a ruthless, wicked, heathen leader. Tola, presumably, was a man who followed godly principles. In leading Israel in the right ways, Tola helped Israel to heal from the dark days of Abimelek's rule. 

"He was followed by Jair of Gilead, who led Israel twenty-two years. He had thirty sons, who rode thirty donkeys. They controlled thirty towns in Gilead, which to this day are called Havvoth Jair. When Jair died, he was buried in Kamon." (Judges 10:3-5) Gilead was located in East Manasseh. By this we know that Jair was of the half-tribe of Manasseh that settled on the same side of the Jordan River as the Reubenites and the Gadites. As with Tola, we are not provided any details regarding when and how the Lord called Jair to be judge of Israel. In Jair's time, as well as in Tola's time, there was apparently peace. There was also prosperity as evidenced by Jair's ability to maintain multiple households; to have sired thirty sons (and a number of daughters as well, I'm sure) he had to have taken many wives. He had founded or had so greatly improved thirty towns that they were named "Havvoth Jair" meaning "the settlements of Jair". His sons all rode donkeys, which were animals used primarily by kings and members of royal families. The donkey was the luxury automobile, if you will, of ancient times. 

As we've discussed many times before, peace and prosperity often have the result on a person's spiritual life that conflict and hardship do not. Peace and prosperity can make a person spiritually lazy. Peace and prosperity can make a person's life so easy that they call upon the Lord less and less frequently. Peace and prosperity can make a person bored and restless, so that they begin casting about for more and more variety in their amusements. It does not have to be this way; we can commit to the daily habit of watching and praying so that we do not fall into temptation. (Matthew 26:41, Mark 14:38) But I think most people, including myself, would have to admit that we pray more in hard times than in prosperous times. Praying less during times of prosperity is probably what led to these conditions: "Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord. They served the Baals and the Ashtoreths, and the gods of Aram, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the Ammonites and the gods of the Philistines." (Judges 10:6a)

Previously we found the people serving only the gods of the Canaanites: Baal and Ashtoreth. But now, as trade with other nations has increased, they become familiar with and attracted to the ways of many other cultures. As usual, when the Lord's people get on the wrong track, He sends correction. "And because the Israelites forsook the Lord and no longer served Him, He became angry with them. He sold them into the hands of the Philistines and the Ammonites, who that year shattered and crushed them. For eighteen years they oppressed all the Israelites on the east side of the Jordan in Gilead, the land of the Amorites. The Ammonites also crossed the Jordan to fight against Judah, Benjamin and Ephraim; Israel was in great distress. Then the Israelites cried out to the Lord, 'We have sinned against You, forsaking our God and serving the Baals.'" (Judges 10:6b-10)

It's as if He said, "If you like the Philistines and the Ammonites and their gods so much, I'm going to give you all of them you can stand." He will do a similar thing later in the Bible when idolatry has taken hold again. In the days of the prophet Jeremiah the Lord will warn the people that because of their fondness for foreign gods He is going to allow them to be overcome by foreign people and taken captive to a foreign nation. There they will see all the false idols they can stand to look at. Why? Because it's a trait of our carnal nature to sometimes have to become thoroughly sick of something before we are willing to turn away from it. Our false gods (whatever form they may take) have to fail to come through for us enough times, and have take us out into the wilderness to leave us high and dry enough times, and have to cause us to feel lonely and unfulfilled enough times that we can't stand the sight of them any longer. When we become sick as a dog with wrong living, it's then that we can't cast down our idols quickly enough. It's then that we give our hearts wholly to the living God in whom we will find help, fulfillment, and a companionship that satisfies our souls. 

In our passage today the people have reached that point. In tomorrow's passage the Lord will hear their cries for help and raise up a new judge to deliver them from their enemies.

The Judges. Day 37, The Downfall Of Abimelek, Part Four

In yesterday's study we found Abimelek and his deputy Zebul and their soldiers running Gaal and his family clan out of the city of Shechem. Gaal's attempt to usurp Abimelek's authority in the region was a failure and the last time he was seen he was running for his life. He will not be mentioned again on the pages of the Bible. But this doesn't mean the wicked Abimelek will continue to remain in power. 

We don't know whether all the citizens of Shechem turned against their kinsman Abimelek and gave their allegiance to his rival Gaal, but I believe yesterday's text indicates that the majority of them did. We were told that during the grape harvest celebration the people "cursed Abimelek". Abimelek's deputy Zebul heard about what was said at this party and reported this news to Abimelek by messenger. So Abimelek knows that the majority of the people are unhappy having him rule over them. He suspects they are not finished trying to install another leader in his place and believes that they will throw all their support behind the next challenger who comes along. 

It's quite possible that many of the people's grievances against Abimelek were justified. He was a cunning and ruthless man before he came to power and he is still a cunning and ruthless man, as we'll see later in today's passage. It's unlikely that his was a pleasant administration to live under. But his grievances against the Shechemites are justified as well, for he is half-Shechemite and they turned their backs on him in favor of an outsider. They were happy to forget that they once supported him so wholeheartedly that they financed the mercenaries who slaughtered his brothers (whom he considered rivals) in cold blood. There's just as much blood on the hands of the officials of Shechem as there is on the hands of Abimelek, yet now they prefer to pretend they had nothing to do with his rise to power. 

Jotham, the only other remaining son of Israel's former judge Gideon, pronounced a curse upon the violent Abimelek and the wicked people of Shechem who financed and approved of the murder of the sons of Gideon. Today that curse comes true. Abimelek, in his rage, will take vengeance upon the those who turned their allegiance from him. During this rampage he will lose his own life. 

The day after Gaal is run out of Shechem, Abimelek attacks the citizens of his hometown. "The next day the people of Shechem went out to the fields, and this was reported to Abimelek. So he took his men, divided them into three companies and set an ambush in the fields. When he saw the people coming out of the city, he rose to attack them. Abimelek and the companies with him rushed forward to a position at the entrance to the city gate. Then two companies attacked those in the field and struck them down. All that day Abimelek pressed his attack against the city until he had captured it and killed its people. Then he destroyed the city and scattered salt over it." (Judges 9:42-45) 

The average citizens of Shechem come out of the city to go about their work in the fields as usual. But Abimelek isn't going to allow them to go about their work or their lives as usual. He will not forgive or forget that they turned their allegiance away from him. He and his men slaughter everyone in the fields and then attack and take over the city and kill everyone in it. After that they scatter salt over it. Scattering salt over a field was used to render it unusable but scattering salt over a city was an ancient symbol of having conquered and destroyed it. Abimelek is saying with the salt that he has put an end to the city just as he has put an end to the lives of the people.

The political and religious officials barricade themselves inside the temple portion of the tower of Shechem hoping that this will be a strong fortress for them against Abimelek's murderous rage. They are perhaps trusting that Baal himself will be a strong fortress for them---that Baal will not allow his tower to fall and that he will not allow his priests and faithful followers to be put to the sword. "On hearing this, the citizens in the tower of Shechem went into the stronghold of the temple of El-Berith. When Abimelek heard that they had assembled there, he and all his men went up Mount Zalmon. He took an ax and cut off some branches, which he lifted to his soldiers. He ordered the men with him, 'Quick! Do what you have seen me do!' So all the men cut branches and followed Abimelek. They piled them against the stronghold and set it on fire with the people still inside. So all the people in the tower of Shechem, about a thousand men and women, also died.'" (Judges 9:46-49) Earlier in our chapter we found Jotham, the only son of Gideon who escaped being murdered by Abimelek, saying to the citizens of Shechem, "Let fire come out from Abimelek and consume you." For their part in the slaughter of Gideon's sons, these officials meet the end that Jotham predicted for them.

Abimelek and his men now move on to the city of Thebez which is situated about six miles northeast of Shechem. It is not known for certain why they attack Thebez but it is so close to Shechem that its citizens were probably under the jurisdiction of Abimelek and they probably shared the Shechmites' feelings about him. "Next Abimilek went to Thebez and besieged it and captured it. Inside the city, however, was a strong tower, to which all the men and women---all the people of the city---had fled. They had locked themselves in and climbed up on the tower roof. Abimelek went to the tower and attacked it. But as he approached the entrance to the tower to set it on fire, a woman dropped an upper millstone on his head and cracked his skull." (Judges 9:50-53) These people likely heard of his attack on the tower of Shechem and as a result at least one of them did not go up into their own tower unprepared. Abimelek thinks burning these people up in their tower will be as easy as burning the Shechemites up in their tower. He does not consider failure and he neglects to remain as alert as he should have been and, in a moment of inattention while he's probably stooped down lighting the fire, a woman drops a large stone on his skull.

His injury is fatal but not instantly fatal. He does not want his name to go down in shame. In ancient times it was considered a disgrace for a warrior to be killed by a woman. In an effort to keep from being remembered this way, he begs his armor-bearer to finish him off. "Hurriedly he called to his armor-bearer, 'Draw your sword and kill me, so that they can't say, 'A woman killed him.' So his servant ran him through, and he died." (Judges 9:54) How does he know it was a woman who dropped the stone on him? Maybe the people in the tower begin taunting him that he's dying at a woman's hands. Or maybe, as he lies there mortally wounded, he's facing upwards and he sees her triumphant face as she leans over the tower wall. It's ironic that although the wicked Abimelek took action to try to prevent it from being known that a woman struck him a killing blow, that very fact is recorded on the pages of the Bible for all posterity.

The Israelites want to see for themselves that Abimelek is no more and, after viewing his dead body, they depart in a grateful spirit that the Lord has delivered the nation from such a wicked, violent man. "When the Israelites saw that Abimelek was dead, they went home. Thus God repaid the wickedness that Abimelek had done to his father by murdering his seventy brothers. God also made the people of Shechem pay for all their wickedness. The curse of Jotham son of Jerub-Baal came on them." (Judges 9:55-57) 

The Judges. Day 36, The Downfall Of Abimelek, Part Three

A man named Gaal, a fairly recent newcomer to the town of Shechem, boasted during a drunken pagan feast that if elected in Abimelek's place he would return the region to the glory it had during the reign of its founder, Hamor. He promised to reinstate the policies and prosperity of that era. While deep in his cups, as the saying goes, he boasted that if given a chance he will remove Abimelek from power himself: "If only this people were under my command! Then I would get rid of him. I would say to Abimelek, 'Call out your whole army!'" (Judges 9:29)

He's going to get an opportunity to face down Abimelek, and sooner than he thinks, for Zebul (whom we were told yesterday is Abimelek's deputy) hears about Gaal's boasting and recognizes him as a threat to Abimelek's government. "When Zebul the governor of the city heard what Gaal son of Ebed said, he was very angry. Under cover he sent messengers to Abimelek, saying, 'Gaal son of Ebed and his clan have come to Shechem and are stirring up the city against you. Now then, during the night you and your men should come and lie in wait in the fields. In the morning at sunrise, advance against the city. When Gaal and his men come against you, seize the opportunity to attack them.'" (Judges 9:30-32) 

Zebul knows Gaal and his men won't be in good fighting condition at sunrise. They will be partying hardy all night, celebrating the grape harvest at the temple of their false god. By the early morning hours they'll be suffering the effects of too much alcohol and too much rich food. According to the National Institute On Alcohol Abuse And Alcoholism, a hangover can include some or all of the following symptoms: fatigue, weakness, thirst, headache, muscle aches, nausea, stomach pain, vertigo, sensitivity to light and sound, anxiety, irritability, sweating, and increased blood pressure. Gaal isn't going to have himself a first-rate army in the morning, not by a long shot.

"So Abimelek and his troops set out by night and took up concealed positions near Shechem in four companies." (Judges 9:34) It would appear that Zebul, Abimelek, and all these men are sober during this night. They have evidently not participated in the revelries common to grape harvest season but have kept their wits about them. This gives them an advantage over Gaal and his men.

Gaal doesn't know Zebul has warned Abimelek. Because he sent messengers to Abimelek instead of going himself, he is present in the morning to try to convince the bleary-eyed, hungover Gaal that he isn't really seeing what he thinks he's seeing. "Now Gaal son of Ebed had gone out and was standing at the entrance of the city gate just as Abimelek and his troops came out from their hiding place. When Gaal saw them, he said to Zebul, 'Look, people are coming down from the tops of the mountains!' Zebul replied, 'You mistake the shadows of the mountains for men.'" (Judges 9:35-36) The sun probably hasn't made its appearance over the hills yet but there's enough light in the sky to cast shadows. Zebul causes Gaal to waste precious time by causing him to doubt whether the shadowy movements he's seeing are actually soldiers or just a trick of the light. 

I picture Gaal rubbing his dry, gritty eyes and squinting again toward the area where he thought he saw men approaching. As the morning grows ever lighter, he realizes he was correct and that Zebul is trying to keep him from mounting a defense. "But Gaal spoke up again: 'Look, people are coming down from the central hill, and a company is coming from the direction of the diviner's tree.'" (Judges 9:37)

The ruse is exposed but by this time it doesn't matter. Abimelek and his men have almost reached the city. Zebul stops trying to convince Gaal his eyes are deceiving him and begins to taunt him instead. "Then Zebul said to him, 'Where is your big talk now, you who said, 'Who is Abimelek that we should be subject to him?' Aren't these the men you ridiculed? Go out and fight them!'" (Judges 9:38) Zebul is saying something like, "Don't be all talk and no action. You said this was what you wanted. Well, here's your chance! Get on with it if you think you can do it!"

"So Gaal led out all the citizens of Shechem and fought Abimelek. Abimelek chased him all the way to the entrance to the gate, and many were killed as they fled. Then Abimelek stayed in Arumah, and Zebul drove Gaal and his clan out of Shechem." (Judges 9:39-41) This is the last we'll hear of Gaal and it's a good thing Abimelek and Zebul and their soldiers were able to drive him and his clan from the region. If they had not, he would have taken Abimelek's place and would probably have been more wicked and ruthless than Abimelek himself. He might have attained more power within the borders of Israel than Abimelek ever did. 

Abimelek is in a position to rule unopposed now. The remaining men of Shechem and of the surrounding area might have put their support behind him again, not necessarily because they want him reigning over them but because it's in their best interests (personally and politically) to give him their allegiance. But he can't forgive their treachery. He can't forget that they betrayed him---one of their own townspeople---in favor of that upstart Gaal who was an outsider. In tomorrow's study he'll take steps to avenge his wounded pride and this will accomplish what Gaal's attempt to dethrone him did not. Abimelek will bring about his own demise by his own vindictive actions.