A hard story--a hard heart

This story breathes contempt and
utter distain! It's so brutal and cold blooded you can hardly grasp it!

The mighty warrior Gideon has died and his son Abimelech is thirsty for power. Did he get this from his dad?

Abimelech son of Gideon went to his uncles in the city of Shechem. He said to his uncles and all of his mother’s family group, “Ask the leaders of Shechem, ‘Is it better for the seventy sons of Gideon to rule over you or for one man to rule?’ Remember, I am your relative.”
Abimelech’s uncles spoke to all the leaders of Shechem about this. And they decided to follow Abimelech, because they said, “He is our relative.” (Judges 9:1-3 NCV)

He IS Gideon's son after all ....why not make him king!
This is why not....

So the leaders of Shechem gave Abimelech about one and three-quarter pounds of silver from the temple of the god Baal-Berith. Abimelech used the silver to hire some worthless, reckless men, who followed him wherever he went.
He went to Ophrah, the hometown of his father, and murdered his seventy brothers, the sons of Gideon.
He killed them all on one stone.
But Gideon’s youngest son, Jotham, hid from Abimelech and escaped. Then all of the leaders of Shechem and Beth Millo gathered beside the great tree standing in Shechem. There they made Abimelech their king. (Judges 9:4-6 NCV)

Is absurd to make a reckless and worthless man a king! But they did!
Why? Maybe they feared for their own lives since Abimelech had no respect for his own brothers lives!
He had a entourage of worthless men that was as irresponsible as he was. This dictatorship was probably
Intimidating to say the least!

How can one be so power and blood thirsty? How did he get to be this way?
Perhaps it was a seed planted when his father Gideon made the extravagant ephod that Israel bowed to, and worshipped IT instead of HIM! (chapter 8)

Can we blame the sins of the children on their fathers!
No we cannot. But children watch their parents closely,

So if we're living a double sided life,
One foot in the church and one in the world, dabbling in sinful things....well, our children see this! It's confusing to say the least.

However, everyone is responsible for their own sins, including our kids!
Gideon, his dad, had a lot of good in him but he also struggled with power and vanity.
It was his downfall you might say! And Abimelech watched his dad!

We all struggle with those things probably, but do we let them master us? Does it cause other people to serve us instead of God, or to seek our approval over God's!
Is it about us, how we look and what we do?

The things Abimelech did are hard to read about. Like burning a tower with about a 1000 people in it, where they burned to death! How could you do that, hearing the screams of all of those people as he burned them up!
I cannot imagine this!

Abimelech ruled over Israel for three years. Then God brought bad blood between Abimelech and Shechem's leaders, who now worked treacherously behind his back. Violence boomeranged: The murderous violence that killed the seventy brothers, the sons of Jerub-Baal, was now loose among Abimelech and Shechem's leaders, who had supported the violence. (Judges 9:22 MSG)

The violence boomeranged on him!
I don't know why Abimelech was so
evil, but he must've started playing with it to become it!

A little porn...what's it hurt ?
Curiosity gets him into to child porn...
Then he finds himself to molesting a child...
Rape..
Murder...

Sound a little radical?
Don't think sin don't grow! It will grow and overcome you if you don't overcome IT!
It mastered Abimelech!
And eventually we will face our God!

Vengeance is Mine, and recompense; Their foot shall slip in due time; For the day of their calamity is at hand, And the things to come hasten upon them. (Deuteronomy 32:35 NKJV)

Abimelech lived a hard life, he had a hard heart, and he died a hard death!

Then Abimelech went to the city of Thebez. He surrounded the city, attacked it, and captured it. But inside the city was a strong tower, so all the men, women, and leaders of that city ran to the tower. When they got inside, they locked the door behind them. Then they climbed up to the roof of the tower.
Abimelech came to the tower to attack it. He approached the door of the tower to set it on fire, but as he came near, a woman dropped a grinding stone on his head, crushing his skull.
He quickly called to the officer who carried his armor and said, “Take out your sword and kill me. I don’t want people to say, ‘A woman killed Abimelech.’ ” So the officer stabbed Abimelech, and he died. (Judges 9:50-54 NCV)

Even as he lay dying, you would think he would seek forgiveness, seek God!
But he was worried about what people would say... That A 'woman' killed him!

Oooooh, this is a hard story!

Created 3 months ago