Judges 9

Judges 9:50-57

the cruelty done to the therefore and ten sons of Jerubbaai might come, and their blood be laid upon Abimelech their brother which flew them, and upon the men of Shechem which aided him in the killing of his brethren. 25. And the men of Shechem set livers in wait for him in the top of the mountains, and they robbed all that came along that way by them: and it was told Abimelech. 26. And Gaal the son of Ebed came with his brethren, and went over to Shechem: and the men of Shechem put their confidence in him. 27. And they went out into the fields, and gathered their vineyards, and trode the grapes, and made merry, and were into the house of their god, and did eat and drink, and curled Abimelech. 28. And Gaal the son of Ebed said, ‘Who is Abimelech, and who is Shechem, that we should serve him? is not he the son of Jerubbaai, and Zebul his officer? serve the men of Hamor the father of Shechem? he why should we serve him? 29. And ‘would to Gaal this people were under my hand; ’then would I remove Abimelech.’ And he said to Abimelech, Increase thine army, and come out.

c. 22-29. For a time the wickedness of Abimelech seemed to prosper, and three years he enjoyed in peace his ill-gotten dignity; but the triumphing of the wicked is short, like sunshine before the thunder storm. For.

1. There was a spirit of dissention from between him and the Shechemists; God, in just judgment for the blood which was shed, visiting their sins upon them by the hands one of another. They who set up Abimelech, now tired of his government, confide to stay him; so tottering is that throne that hath been established by cruelty and blood-shed. Note, (1.) They who have sifted a perfidious part once, are seldom ever again to be trusted. (2.) Blood will cry for vengeance. (3.) Confiscates in iniquity have usually but feeble hands. (4.) They who promote themselves comfort in ill-gotten rule will be deceived, and find the crown they wear to be lined with thorns.

2. Gaal the son of Ebed, who seems to have been a Canaanite, hearing of the discontent of the men of Shechem, comes in hopes to turn it to his own use, and fish for himself in their troubled waters; they entertain him gladly, and he seeks to foment the dissention, and to inflame the minds of the people more against their king. At their entertainments, inflamed with wine and feasting, he boldly broaches the treason, speaks contemptuously of Abimelech, his family, and his officers, vaunting his own courage if they would make him their captain, and challenging Abimelech to assert his title, intimating that it were more eligible to serve a Canaanite king than such a one. Note, (1.) An artful leader, with an inflamed populace, can do a world of mischief. (2.) When men are intoxicated with wine, then they are fit for murders, treason, and every evil work. (3.) To speak evil of dignities is highly criminal. (4.) They who are most valiant over a bottle, prove often cowards when the sword must decide.

3. ¶ And when Zebul the ruler of the city heard the words of Gaal the son of Ebed, his anger was kindled. 31. And he sent messengers unto Abimelech a privily, saying, Behold, Gaal the son of Ebed, and his brethren, be come to Shechem; and behold, they fortify the city against thee. 32. Now therefore up by night, thou and the people that is with thee, and lie in wait in the field. 33. And it shall be, that in the morning as soon as the sun is up, thou shalt rise early, and set upon the city: and behold, when he and the people that is with him come out against thee, then mayst thou do to them as thou shalt find occasion. 34. ¶ And Abimelech rose up, and all the people that were with him, by night, and they laid wait against Shechem in four companies. 35. And Gaal the son of Ebed went out, and stood in the entering of the gate of the city: and Abimelech rose up, and the people that were with him from lying in wait. 36. And when Gaal saw the people, he said to Zebul, Behold, there come people down from the top of the mountains. And Zebul laid unto him, Thou seest the shadow of the mountains, as if they were men. 37. And Gaal spake again, and said, Sir, there come people down by the middle of the land, and another company come along by the plain of Meonem. 38. Then said Zebul unto him, Where is now thy moods, wherewith thou saidest, Who is Abimelech, that we should serve him? is not this the people that thou hast despised? go out, I pray now, and fight with them. 39. And Gaal went out before the men of

Shechem, and fought with Abimelech. 40. And Abimelech chased him, and he fled before him, and many were overthrown, and wounded, rose unto the entering of the gate. 41. And Abimelech dwelt at Arumah: and Zebul thrust out Gaal and his brethren, that they should not dwell in Shechem. 42. And it came to pass on the morrow, that the people went out into the field, and they told Abimelech. 43. And he took the people, and divided them into three companies, and laid wait in the field, and looked, and behold, the people were come forth out of the city, and he rose up against them and fester them. 44. And Abimelech, and the company that was with him, rushed forward, and stood in the entering of the gate of the city: and the two other companies ran upon all the people that were in the fields, and flew them. 45. And Abimelech fought against the city all that day, and he took the city, and flew the people that was therein, and beat down the city, and ‘fowed it with salt. 46. ¶ And when all the men of the tower of Shechem heard that, they entered into an hold of the house of the god Berith. 47. And it was told Abimelech, that all the men of the tower of Shechem were gathered together. 48. And Abimelech got him up to mount Zalmos, he and all that people that were with him; and Abimelech took an ax on his hand, and cut down a bough from the trees, and took it, and laid it on his shoulder, and said unto the people that were with him, What ye have seen him do, make halfe and do as I have done. 49. And all the people likewise cut down every man his bough, and followed Abimelech, and put them to the hold, and set the hold on the upon them; so that all the men of the tower of Shechem died also, about a thousand men and women.

c. 30-49. Such proceedings were too public to be concealed, and too dangerous to be neglected.

1. Zebul, Abimelech’s governor of Shechem, having got intelligence of their meetings, and intended at their contemptuous treatment of himself, informs his matter, advises him to come thither without delay, and forcible the conspirators before they were ready to oppose him. Note, (1.) Much mischief is prevented by nipping evil designs in the bud. (2.) The imprudence and improvidence of rebellious spirits is often as great as their wickedness; it blasts their designs, and sinks the pro-jectors of them in ruin.

2. Zebul, by pretending friendship to Gaal, betrays him. Abimelech having, according to Zebul’s advice, marched all night, in the morning appears with his forces descending from the mountain: Gaal, from the gate, defraying the holt, Zebul, either to lull him into Security, or ridicule his foery, luggells that what he saw was only the shadow of the mountains, until a nearer approach removed the possibility of deception, when he throws off the mull, and insults him for his former bravado. Note, (1.) An insistent tongue is often put to shame by his own vaunting. (2.) They who are rebels themselves, must not expect fidelity from their associates.

3. Gaal now could not refute to go out, but he is quickly routed in the field, and Zebul having recovered the superiority in the city, he and his abettors are that night expelled. Thus may every traitorous design be blasted!

4. Abimelech at that time pushed his victory no farther, and the men of Shechem having expelled the traitor, promoted themselves now that his anger was appealed, and conclude they may securely gather their harvest; but treason is not so lightly past over, nor is the wrath of a king, and such a king, so ready to subside. Therefore, understanding their security, he marches from Arumah, dividing his forces into three companies, with two he falls on the people in the fields, with the other he seized the city; after he had got possession of it havoc was indeed dreadful, for he utterly destroyed the city, and fowed it with salt, in vengeance for their rebellion. Note, The wickedness of the wicked returns upon their own head: rebellion usually ends in the ruin of the traitors.

5. To complete the destruction of the remainder of the Shechemists, Abimelech believes the rests of the tower of Shechem (a place at no great distance probably from the city, perhaps the house of Milo,) who had fortified themselves in the temple of the God Baal-berith, either trulling to the strength of the situation, or to Abimelech’s veneration for that place whence he first rose to the kingdom; but their refuge, like that of other sinners, proves a refuge of lies unto them. Though he could not carry the place by assault, policy prevails more than the sword; at his command his men follow his example, and surrounding it with fuel, they set the place on fire, and men, women and children, to the number of abode; all perish in the flames. Note, (1.) Civil wars are most inhuman, the innocent and the guilty there fall often together. (2.) Vain

Before Ch. 1 1831. I. Hab. Hood. I. Pl. col. 9. Ser. 441. 8. Exph. 6. 9. I. Hab. I have done. V. Ver. 46. Pl. cor. 8. Before Christ 1930. is every covering to hide from the wrath of God, when his fire shall be stirred up round about the finner, it will burn, and none can quench it.

50. ¶ Then went Abimelech to Thebe, and encamped against Thebe, and took it. 51. But there was a strong tower within the city, and his father fled all the men and women, and all they of the city, and shut it to them, and gat them up to the top of the tower. 52. And Abimelech came unto the tower, and fought against it, and went hard unto the door of the tower to burn it with fire. 53. And a certain woman cast a piece of a millstone upon Abimelech’s head, and all to break his skull. 54. Then he called hastily unto the young man his armour-bearer, and said unto him, ‘Draw thy sword and say me, that ‘men say not of me, A woman slew him. And his young man shrug him through, and he died. 55. And when the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, they departed every man unto his place. 56. ¶ Thus God rendered the wickedness of Abimelech which he did unto his father, in ‘slaying his seventy brethren. 57. And all the evil of the men of Shechem, did God render upon their heads: and upon them came the curle of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal.

Abimelech had not yet glutted his revenge, and no sooner succeed in the destruction of Shechem, than he determines to wreak his vengeance on the men of Thebe, who seem to have been confederates with the Shechemen. He succeeds in his attack upon the city, and promises as easily to carry the castle, to which the men of the city fled, by fire as before; but as he is eagerly pressing to the door to burn it, God, who had in judgment permitted him hitherto, flops his career; a finne thrown by a woman from the walls, breaks that guilty head which wore the bloody crown. Vexed at the thought of such an ignominious death from a woman’s hand, the pride that led him to murder others, urges him when dying to self-murder, to cover his shame, least they should say a woman slew him; his armour-bearer therefore disjoined him, and heresque his army immediately dispersed. Thus God’s justice visited Abimelech’s bloody deeds, and the wickedness of his afflictions in Shechem, bringing upon them the curle of Jotham, the son of Jerubbaal. Nate, (1.) They who thrift for blood, God will at last give them their own blood to drink. (2.) When the rod of God’s indignation hath done his work it is easily burnt. (3.) The weak in God’s hand can confound the mighty, and those who walk in pride God is able to abate. (4.) They who in life consulted nothing but their pride and ambition, will usually die as they live, more solicitous that their honour should be preserved on earth, than their souls be saved from hell. (5.) The methods pound men take to secure a great name, only serve to perpetuate their infamy. (6.) Though the wicked flourish for a season like a green hay-tree, yet their end is near, and their destruction determined.