I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. I had been using One Year Bible Online, but it was time for a change.

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

    After Gideon’s death, the Israelites began worshiping Baal-berith. Interestingly enough, Baal-berith means “god of the covenant”. I am certain that the Israelites believed that Baal-berith was the same as Yahweh, after all, wasn’t Yahweh the God of the covenant? Yahweh had entered into a covenant with Abraham and again with the children of Israel at My Sinai. However, the story of Abimelech, Gideon’s son, highlights the difference between Baal-berith and Yahweh. Schechem was the center of worship of Baal-berith. The people of Schechem did not act in good faith when they supported Abimelech over his brothers. They supported Abimelech in his plot to kill his brothers, the rest of the sons of Gideon. The people of Schechem worshiped Baal-berith and claimed that he was the same god as the One who brought Israel out of Egypt. Just as we can tell by their actions that the people of Schechem did not worship the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, we can tell by their actions today what sort of god people worship.