Tag Archives: Judges 9-10

Daily Bible Study

March 23, 2024 Bible Study — Let Us Stop Waiting for a Leader to Turn People Back to God and Start Serving Him Ourselves

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

I was going to write about Abimelek and Shechem but then I was struck by what happened before the people of Gilead decided to follow whoever was willing to lead them against the Ammonites.  We tend to perceive the Book of Judges as teaching that when the people cry out to God because of the suffering which their sin has brought upon them that God raises up a leader, a judge, to lead them back to Him.  However, the passage today makes clear that the people turned back to God before a leader rose up to lead them against their oppressors.  Which is consistent with what God told the Israelites through Moses and other prophets.  And is consistent with what He tells us today.  Personally I think the pattern laid out here perfectly expresses how we should turn back to God.

  • Confession: We (I) have sinned
  • Do with us (me) whatever You think best
  • Get rid of the idols we(I) have set up for myself
  • Serve the Lord
  • God sends someone to lead us in serving Him

When we look at the world around us and see the corruption which abounds, let us not wait for God to send a leader to lead the people back to Him.  Let us confess our sins, throw ourselves on His mercy (which means admitting that we deserve the suffering we see coming on those around us), get rid of any and all things which lead us to sin, start serving God in whatever ways we can find.  Then perhaps God will send a leader to lead our society back to Him.  And, if not, well, we have turned to Him and serve Him.

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

Daily Bible Study

March 23, 2023 Bible Study — The Danger Of Choosing A Bad Leader

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

I want to write about the parable of the trees selecting a king which Jotham told to the citizens of Shechem after Abimelek had killed all of his brothers.  In the parable, the trees sought out a king, while in the event Jotham related it to, Abimelek sought to become king (or, a reasonable facsimile of king).  In the parable, the trees first sought out those who had accomplishments which demonstrated that they had skills which would allow them to lead, but those they approached were unwilling to give up doing that which they were good at in order to provide order for the other “trees”.    Finally, the trees turned to the thorn bush, which was only good at getting in everyone’s way and causing pain.  The thorn bush demanded that all of the other tress lower themselves to that they would be in his shade.  In the same way, bad leaders seek to cut everyone down to below their level, while good leaders seek to empower everyone to rise to the heights their abilities will take them.

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

Daily Bible Study

March 23, 2021 Bible Study Ancient Israel Was Ruled By Libertarian Ideals

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

I really want to comment on the parable about the king of trees which Jotham told when the people of Schechem crowned Abimelek king, but I don’t see quite see how it connects to Abimelek.  I guess the connection comes from the fact that Gideon, the father of both Jotham and Abimelek, had refused to be king when the Israelites asked him to take that role.  Which brings me to what I see as the point of Jotham’s parable.  I see two possible points to this parable, and possibly both were intended.  First, those who have demonstrated their ability are more valuable to society doing what they are already doing than in ruling over others.  Second, generally, those who are willing to take the job of ruler, let alone those who seek it, should not be allowed to have it.  The reason for this is that, if they have the talent to be a good ruler they will recognize that using that talent for something else will be more valuable to society than using it to rule over others.  Once more this passage reinforces my thought that Israel in the years before King Saul was a nation which functioned according to libertarian ideals.

Ultimately, here, and throughout the Book of Judges, we are shown that a libertarian government only works when the people it governs are godly.

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

Daily Bible Study

March 23, 2020 Bible Study — Choosing Our Leaders Wisely

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.

There is a saying, “Blood is thinker than water” which people often use to explain, or justify, giving preferential treatment to relatives.  At some point after the death of Gideon the leaders of Shechem decided that backing the son of Gideon whose mother was from Shechem would lead to advantages for themselves.  Unfortunately, they did not think things through.  They supported Gideon’s son Abimelech to become king over them and others because he was related to them, even after he killed all but one of his brothers.  So, they thought he would favor them because they were related, yet he had just killed his brothers who were more closely related to him than they were.  I could go about this in many different ways, but the people of Shechem chose Abimelech as their leader on the basis of two things: he was Gideon’s son, and he was their relative.  Up until this point, Abimelech had shown no leadership traits.  He had not solved any problems for the people of Shechem.  He had no followers until the people of Shechem gave him money to hire some.  The end result was that Abimelech was a bad ruler and the people of Shechem soon rebelled against him, leading to the death of many of them.

Daily Bible Study

March 23, 2018 Bible Study –Recognizing Bad Leaders Before It Is Too Late

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.

    After Gideon’s victory over the Midianites the Israelites attempted to make him king, with one of his sons as his designated heir. Gideon refused the honor, but lived out his life ruling Israel in a manner not very different from a king. He had many wives and many sons. One of his sons by a concubine was related to people of influence in the city of Shechem. After Gideon’s death, this son, Abimelech, used his connections to get the people of Shechem to back him as ruler in place of his father. He used their financial backing to hire a group of mercenaries whom he had kill Gideon’s 70 other sons. At which point, the people of Shechem made Abimelech their king. However, one of Gideon’s sons had escaped Abimelech’s purge. When he learned that the people of Shechem had made Abimelech king he warned them that something which started this badly could only end badly. And that is indeed what happened. Abimelech used the support of Shechem to extend his rule over all of Israel (or, at least a large portion of it). But the way he started his rule (by killing his own brothers) soon proved to be the way he ruled and the people of Shechem rebelled against him. The rebellion ended with the destruction of Shechem and the death of Abimelech. This story warns us that we should be careful about who we choose to follow. If they treat others badly to gain power, they will treat us badly once they have power.

Daily Bible Study

March 23, 2017 Bible Study — Paying the Price for Foolishly Choosing a Leader

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.

    Once again we see how the failure of a leader to groom his successor leads to problems. Fortunately, the problems are usually not as bad as what is described in this passage. There is also a lesson here for those choosing a new leader. In this case, the leading citizens of Schechem chose to appoint Abimelech as their king because he was related to them on his mother’s side. However, it is even worse than that. Once they had chosen him as their leader, they gave him money to hire men to kill his half-brothers, sons of his father Gideon. The people of Schechem had knowingly chosen a leader without honor because they believed his interests would align with their own. They believed that they would profit from his lack of honor. It was not long before they learned their mistake, but by then it was too late. The people of Schechem chose poorly, and for bad reasons, when they chose to lend their support to Abimelech. They paid a high price for this mistake. It is important to carefully consider the character of those we choose to follow.

Daily Bible Study

March 23, 2016 Bible Study — You Can Tell Who Someone’s God Is By Their Actions

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.

DSCN0257

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.