I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Judges 9-10.

Today’s passage starts with a story which we will want to contrast with the one which begins tomorrow’s passage.  One of Gideon’s sons, Abimelech, who we are told was the son of a concubine, not a wife, makes himself ruler of at least part of Israel.  Abimelech clearly had no fraternal care for his brothers, since his first act was to attempt to kill them all.  Only one got away.  Actually, Abimelech’s first act was to hire a bunch of toughs who agreed to follow him.  Apparently, Abimelexh ruled as he started and after three years the parts of Israel over which he ruled were in open rebellion, even Shechem which had first set him up as ruler.  Scattered throughout the account of Abimelech are references to idolatry on the part of the Israelites.  The passage suggests that their failure to faithfully obey God played a role in the evil which they suffered under Abimelech.

The passage lists two other men who ruled over Israel as judges.  It gives us no real idea how either of these men became judge, nor much of an idea about the quality of their leadership.  However, after the death of the second it tells us that the Israelites fell completely into idolatry, abandoning even the pretense of worshiping God.  As a result they fell under the oppressive dominance of the Ammonites, who continued as a threat to Israel until Saul became king.  The oppression they were under led them to turn back to God.  This was one of the points in their history where they rejected the worship of other gods completely.