Judges 9: Abimelek - the anti-Judge
So far in the book of Judges, there have been a series of pretty good judges that God raises up to lead Israel and triumph over their enemies. We’ve read about Othniel, Ehud, Shamgar, Deborah, and most recently Gideon: all of which are spoken highly of in their scriptural accounts. They were considered good leaders by history, and by God. Yes, there were ups and downs, and these good leaders were imperfect, but they were empowered by the Holy Spirit. In Judges 9, we learn about a counterfeit judge that rises up by the power of evil spirits, rather than by God’s Holy Spirit. As you’ll see through this chapter, he resembles an antichrist type of spirit that is warned of throughout the Bible. This man, Abimelek, is an anti-judge yet thinks of himself as ordained by God. Through this study, we'll get valuable insight to how these fake types of godly leaders operate, and what we can do to deter them from gaining influence in our families, churches, and communities.
Whatever God creates, Satan counterfeits.
Satan is not creative, he only steals God’s ideas and puts his own evil twists on things. We see the ways that he is twisting God’s good things all the time. Before we read Judges 9, remember that spiritual warfare is the undercurrent of the story of Judges, and still is today. There is a hidden war going on around us for truth and goodness, yet we know that goodness only comes from Jesus himself. Reflecting on the following questions will help us in interpreting Judges chapter 9.
What are some examples of good things that God has made, which the enemy has counterfeited?
How do we as Christians take stands against the counterfeits of satan?
At the end of Judges 8, we get a quick synopsis of conclusion of Gideon’s life. We learn about his sins of polygamy and idolatry, which would lead to a whole host of destruction later. The following chapter, which details the events of one of his many sons, is a lesson on what a little compromise can lead to.
Judges 9:1-6
1 Abimelek son of Jerub-Baal (that is, Gideon) went to his mother’s brothers in Shechem and said to them and to all his mother’s clan, 2 “Ask all the citizens of Shechem, ‘Which is better for you: to have all seventy of Jerub-Baal’s sons rule over you, or just one man?’ Remember, I am your flesh and blood.” 3 When the brothers repeated all this to the citizens of Shechem, they were inclined to follow Abimelek, for they said, “He is related to us.” 4 They gave him seventy shekels of silver from the temple of Baal-Berith, and Abimelek used it to hire reckless scoundrels, who became his followers. 5 He went to his father’s home in Ophrah and on one stone murdered his seventy brothers, the sons of Jerub-Baal. But Jotham, the youngest son of Jerub-Baal, escaped by hiding. 6 Then all the citizens of Shechem and Beth Millo gathered beside the great tree at the pillar in Shechem to crown Abimelek king.
What’s your name?
Names are important. They have a way of defining us and shaping our destiny. If you have a not-so-great name in this world, don’t worry, because Jesus himself says that he has given us new names (Revelation 2:17). Here, we learn about the beginnings of Abimelek’s life. Abimelek’s name means “son of a king” in Hebrew. This fact plays a part in his counterfeit nature as an anti-judge. This name implies that Gideon - Abimelek’s dad - was perhaps seen as a king. Although Gideon denied formal kingship of Israel (Judges 8:22-23), people may have ascribed that title or function to him, rather than to God. In a very real sense, Abimelek is the son of a king, but he is the son of his father Satan, as made clear by his actions.
Family by who’s blood?
The emphasis of blood relation turns out to be a source of manipulation for Abimelek to gain power. In the few times I read over this passage, I laughed out loud every time I read verse 3. Instead of waiting on God's anointing on a leader, they default to, “he's related to us!” Their impatience, ignorance, and absence of good leadership made the people of Shechem anoint the devil as their king.
Family bloodline worship is a real thing, and a real problem. It literally honors the dead and the flesh over life and the spiritual. You see it in Eastern cultures, with their unhealthy honoring and guidance-seeking of ancestors. As I've studied marriage and family counseling, I’ve noticed that so many issues stem from unhealthy boundaries of bloodline relatives. Of course, the family unit is so important to God, for healthy functioning in life, but it is not should not be the “end all be all” of life as so many people make it. Jesus spoke of this when he called for familial denial in Luke 14:26, saying that we must “hate” our family in comparison to our love for him. As Christians, we are made family by the blood of Jesus. As we see from this short account, family worship can be a serious foothold of the enemy, if we are not mindful.
Ironically, right after claiming authority because of his bloodline, he proceeds to murder his brothers. He likes his family heritage, only when it convenient to him. Does that sound familiar? Do you know of anyone that claims power because of their namesake, then proceeds to destroy everything around them? This story is nothing new. This murderous spirit over the Jews is consistent with an anti-Christ type of person. Once you hand the devil power like this, you can expect more and more destruction, which is (spoiler) what will happen to the people of Shechem.
Judges 9:7-21
7 When Jotham was told about this, he climbed up on the top of Mount Gerizim and shouted to them, “Listen to me, citizens of Shechem, so that God may listen to you. 8 One day the trees went out to anoint a king for themselves. They said to the olive tree, ‘Be our king.’ 9 “But the olive tree answered, ‘Should I give up my oil, by which both gods and humans are honored, to hold sway over the trees?’ 10 “Next, the trees said to the fig tree, ‘Come and be our king.’ 11 “But the fig tree replied, ‘Should I give up my fruit, so good and sweet, to hold sway over the trees?’ 12 “Then the trees said to the vine, ‘Come and be our king.’ 13 “But the vine answered, ‘Should I give up my wine, which cheers both gods and humans, to hold sway over the trees?’ 14 “Finally all the trees said to the thornbush, ‘Come and be our king.’ 15 “The thornbush said to the trees, ‘If you really want to anoint me king over you, come and take refuge in my shade; but if not, then let fire come out of the thornbush and consume the cedars of Lebanon!’ 16 “Have you acted honorably and in good faith by making Abimelek king? Have you been fair to Jerub-Baal and his family? Have you treated him as he deserves? 17 Remember that my father fought for you and risked his life to rescue you from the hand of Midian. 18 But today you have revolted against my father’s family. You have murdered his seventy sons on a single stone and have made Abimelek, the son of his female slave, king over the citizens of Shechem because he is related to you. 19 So have you acted honorably and in good faith toward Jerub-Baal and his family today? If you have, may Abimelek be your joy, and may you be his, too! 20 But if you have not, let fire come out from Abimelek and consume you, the citizens of Shechem and Beth Millo, and let fire come out from you, the citizens of Shechem and Beth Millo, and consume Abimelek!” 21 Then Jotham fled, escaping to Beer, and he lived there because he was afraid of his brother Abimelek.
Jotham’s Prophecy: this prophecy — told in the form on an ancient fable that the community was likely familiar with — is how God declares judgment on Abimelek. Jotham’s boldness is admirable, and there are profound truths within this fable that are applicable to our lives.
Prophecy content: Each tree had the chance to rule over the trees, yet their excuses are similar - “would I give up what I have?”. I’m sure there were other good leaders that were called by God to lead around this time, but they did not answer the call. This idea is consistent with God’s character in Scripture, which consistently implies and directly says that God is patient with all people and giving them opportunities to commune with Him (2 Peter 3:9, Matt 22:14) How often do you hear of similar excuses today by godly people? “I’ll never get into politics, I’ll never pursue a leadership in my church.” The devil has been spreading this lie amongst Christians that all power/authority is inherently bad, and that godly people shouldn’t pursue positions of influence. Here’s a basic truth that we need to remember: If good, humble, godly people don’t step up and lead - evil people will. Counterfeits of God’s design for leaders will step up if the ‘real deals’ don’t. If the real Church doesn’t step up, false churches and false teachers will step in the vacancy to fill the role. If Christians don’t step up and educate and serve children, the world will. If Christians don’t step up and lead in the business and political spheres, evil people will. This prophecy of Jotham is a warning of complacency.
People will suffer if you don’t answer God’s call in your life.
How often does the fear of inadequacy prevent us from stepping into God’s call for our lives?
Prophecy application: We need more people like Jotham, who are unafraid to confront the evil in the world directly. There has been a push in our culture recently for Christians to stay in their lane and not get involved in politics to not confront social issues. Americans are now warned often on the dangers of “Christian Nationalism”, as a new attempt by Satan to shut Christians up. Speaking of which, what’s the alternative to a Christian nation? A pagan nation! In America, we’ll either resemble more of a Christian nation, or a pagan nation. And as long as we are free to do so, I believe it is consistent with Scripture for Christians to stand against the evils of the world with the truth of Christ as much as we can. The enemy of our souls is subtly-but-not-so-subtly constantly telling us to shut up, but the Spirit within us should not let us stop talking about Jesus (Acts 4:20).
Complacency and neutrality is often sinful.
In our “you-do-you” culture, we hate to take stands and call people out. For the sake of ‘peace’ we often stay silent, even when the wars are inevitable. Jesus has called us to something higher. Jotham is an example of the faith to call out those around us who embrace evil - which is in many ways, is the most loving thing that we could do.
Judges 9:22-24
22 After Abimelek had governed Israel three years, 23 God stirred up animosity between Abimelek and the citizens of Shechem so that they acted treacherously against Abimelek. 24 God did this in order that the crime against Jerub-Baal’s seventy sons, the shedding of their blood, might be avenged on their brother Abimelek and on the citizens of Shechem, who had helped him murder his brothers.
God stirs the pot.
Notice that God is the one that stirs up in Shechem. God will not be mocked, and will fight enemy forces within His timeframes. There will be justice one way or another, but God will make it happen. In this case, God was avenging the murder of Gideon’s seventy sons. There is a principle here that we need to remember - God is aware of the evil around us, and there will be justice. Also, when chaos and wars break out, God may be orchestrating them for His good and perfect will to be fulfilled. That’s a hard concept to gather our minds around, but it is true. When we are on God’s team and are marked with His Holy Spirit by our faith in Christ, we cannot lose, and the evil things that may happen to us and those around us will be worked together for our good (Romans 8:28).
The story continues with the man that God stirred up to administer His justice. In an emotional high, at a party, a man named Gaal gets fired up about how evil Abimelek is, and becomes the leader of an opposition force. He calls out Abimelek publicly, and Abimelek got wind up this and sent his minions to attack the people of Shechem. The battle breaks out and gets fierce.
Judges 9:38-45
38 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!” 39 So Gaal led out the citizens of Shechem and fought Abimelek. 40 Abimelek chased him all the way to the entrance of the gate, and many were killed as they fled. 41 Then Abimelek stayed in Arumah, and Zebul drove Gaal and his clan out of Shechem. 42 The next day the people of Shechem went out to the fields, and this was reported to Abimelek. 43 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. 44 Abimelek and the companies with him rushed forward to a position at the entrance of the city gate. Then two companies attacked those in the fields and struck them down. 45 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.
Who do you elevate in your life?
The people of Shechem — the ones who put this psychopath in power — are the ones who ultimately lose. They perhaps became impatient, or rejected godly leaders, and it has now led to unprecedented chaos. This destruction and betrayal towards the people they lead defines this antichrist type of person. In the end times, the anti-Christ will break his covenant with Israel and will begin the greatest persecution of believers that has ever occurred (2 Thessalonians 2). The people that we elevate in authority, whether that be in title or function, has significant consequences in our lives. We need to seek and elevate God’s type of humble servant-leaders, while also placing Jesus Christ as the main source of authority in our lives.
The destruction and terror continues for the people of Shechem, but is about to come to an end.
Judges 9:50-57
50 Next Abimelek went to Thebez and besieged it and captured it. 51 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. 52 Abimelek went to the tower and attacked it. But as he approached the entrance to the tower to set it on fire, 53 a woman dropped an upper millstone on his head and cracked his skull. 54 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. 55 When the Israelites saw that Abimelek was dead, they went home. 56 Thus God repaid the wickedness that Abimelek had done to his father by murdering his seventy brothers. 57 God also made the people of Shechem pay for all their wickedness. The curse of Jotham son of Jerub-Baal came on them.
God warns us, and shows us what good leadership looks like.
Consistent with the anti-Christ type of spirit, Abimelek uses fire as a means of destroying his enemies. Satan, who is empowering Abimelek, knows that his destiny is to burn in the lake of fire forever, and to mimic and mock God, he likes to use fire as a way to attack God’s people. You see it in Bible stories like this one and the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, where anti-Christ type leaders burn God’s people. We also see it through history in relation to the Jews and anti-semitism, while also extending to Christian persecution as well. Hitler obviously had an anti-Christ type of spirit and he used enormous ovens to incinerate the Jews. Another example is a man named William Tyndale, who was a Christian that played an enormous role in translating and printing Bibles in the 1500s, was burned at the stake for his beliefs. Abimelek’s demise is the end result for all people who reject God as their king and possess this type of spiritual pride, and praise God that we as Christians don’t have to bear those consequences.
Evil will not last long, and there will be justice. Whether you are participating in evil, or whether you are a victim of evil, let this passage be a warning of the consequences that come when we reject God’s leadership and the leadership of humble people that serve Him. This passage ends with the mention of Jotham’s prophecy and how it was fulfilled that day. Jotham reminds us of the power that one person speaking up can have. As Holy Spirit filled Christians, we have the authority to denounce evil in ourselves and around us. Let’s use this story to motivate us to be on guard against evil, while also being bold in our declaration of the victory of Jesus.
