Tag Archive | Abimelech

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Day 92

Apr2
Day 92.  Reading Judges 8 – 9 
 

Read today’s scripture.

What encourages you in today’s reading in Judges?

Judges 8.

And so, on with Gideon.  He’s valiant now, but beginning to slip. He and his 300 men chase the two kings of Midian. He met some men of the tribe of Ephraim who were mad at him for not calling them to battle. (He only called Naphtali, Asher, and Manasseh.)  

Gideon chased the kings across the Jordan River but the men were, by this time, exhausted and very hungry.  He asked the people of Succoth and Penial for some food for his men.  They refused and Gideon vowed to “pay them back” with violence on his return (which he did). He attacked the remaining Midianite army and the two kings fled. Gideon’s men caught them, and the rest of the army fled in a panic.

On his return, Gideon dealt cruelly to Succoth and Penial, then told his young son to kill the two kings. But Jether was scared, so Gideon did the deed himself.

WARNING, GIDEON – temptation is coming.  The men of Israel said to Gideon, “rule over us.”  And at first, he was cool.  “I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; The LORD will rule over you.”

Good start, Gideon, but then he asked for part of the gold from their spoil. He made an Ephod (only priests were to have them!).  Soon all of Israel “whored after it” for it had “become a snare to Gideon and his family.” 

But, the land had rest for forty years.

Gideon left behind 70 SONS from his wives and one more from a concubine.  This man was Abimelech.  Remember him.

And the people of Israel turned again and whored after the Baals. They did not remember the LORD their God who had delivered them from their enemies.

Judges 9.

Abimelech (Gideon’s son by a female servant) went to Shechem where his mother lived and stirred up the people. “Which is better for you, that all the 70 sons rule over you or ME? Remember that I am your bone and your flesh.“

“You!” they cried.

So, Abimelech hired a gang of worthless men and went south. They killed all of his half-brothers, missing only the very youngest, Jotham, who escaped.  And THE PEOPLE (not God) made him king at Shechem. 

Young Jotham, went to the top of Mount Gerizim and yelled out a parable about Abimelech and the leaders in Shechem, pointing out his murderous deeds.  He proclaimed a curse on them.  “Let fire come down from Abimelech and devour the leaders of Shechem and let fire come out from the leaders of Shechem and devour Abimelech.”

Then Jotham ran away. 

Abimelech ruled for three years. Then GOD sent an evil spirit between him and the leaders and they dealt treacherously with him. Anger stirred up strife. Each ambushed the other and plotted against the other.  Abimelech finally set fire to Shechem. The people ran for safety in their tower. Abimelech set it afire too, but before it fell a woman took a millstone and dropped it down onto Abimelech and crushed his skull. 

After that, the others who were with him left and went home.  

God returned the evil of Abimelech on his head and the evil of the men of Shechem on their heads.

And so, God fulfilled the curse of Jotham, Gideon’s son.

Sigh.

What a horrible time to live in Israel. After the LORD had fulfilled all His promises to them, they kept turning farther and farther away from Him.  He rescued them with flawed judges, but soon they were back at the evil their hearts craved.

  • O LORD, keep me firm. May my heart NOT stray from You!

 

 

 

 

 

Journaling through the Bible Chronologically in 2025, Days 19 & 20 — PART TWO

Jan20

Days 19 & 20. Reading in Genesis 25-26. (Posted on Monday)

I accidentally posted Day 19 yesterday, so today will be part TWO of my usually combined weekend posts, Day 20.

 

Genesis 25.

After his wife Sarah died, Abraham took another wife named Keturah. She had six sons. But regardless of these boys and Ishmael, Abraham made it quite clear that it was Isaac, whom Sarah bore, who was the son of his inheritance, receiving not only his own things but all the promises of God for blessing, descendants, land, and ultimately the One who would bless all peoples, the Messiah.

Abraham died at age 175. (This is actually 15 years after Isaac and Rebekah had their twin boys, Esau and Jacob. So they were able to know and learn from their grandfather.)  Isaac and Ishmael buried Abraham in the cave of Machpelah with his wife, Sarah. Ishmael returned to Arabia, and God blessed Isaac, who settled further south to the well of Beer-lahairoi (where God first met the runaway, Hagar).

Backtracking a little, the story of Isaac and Rebekah continues. Like Sarah, Rebekah was barren. Isaac prayed for her, and 20 years later the LORD granted his prayer. She conceived twins, and even pre-birth they seemed to be warring inside her.  SHE prayed to the LORD about it and He told her, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you shall be divided; the one shall be stronger than the other, the older shall serve the younger.”

Eventually, she gave birth. The firstborn was red and hairy, and they named him Esau (meaning red). Second to be born was a boy with his hand clinging to the heel of Esau. They named him Jacob, meaning “grabber.”  (He’s going to grab more than just Esau’s heel!)

Esau was a skillful hunter, a man’s man, and his father Isaac loved him best, especially for the wild venison he brought the old man (now in his 70s) to eat.  Jacob was a quiet guy. He liked home and hearth, and probably looking after the farm animals. He learned to cook quite well.  In fact, his lentil stew was so good he could tempt his twin brother into selling him the birthright with it. 

Esau came in one day, “starving,” saw/smelled the stew Jacob was stirring, and craved it.  Wiley Jacob traded that yummy bowl and a slab of fresh-baked bread for the double portion of their father’s inheritance. WHOA!

  • NOTE: The first-born son always got a double portion. When Isaac died, his possessions would be divided into three parts. The oldest boy would get two parts, the younger, only one. Jacob’s bargain changed that.

Genesis 26

Okay, now comes the dumbest thing Isaac ever does.  He had moved his family back to Gerar in Philistine territory, and he – yes, Isaac, not Abraham – told everyone that beautiful Rebekah was his….SISTER!!  WHAT?  She was not even his HALF sister (second cousins at most). This was a flat-out lie.  Why did he do it?  Same as his father. He feared that other men would want her and KILL HIM to get her.  What a bunch of wimps these Hebrew men were!  Ever heard of fighting for your woman?

One day, Abimelech looked out his window and saw Isaac and Rebekah frolicking. (The Hebrew may suggest an intimate relation.)  He called in Isaac, infuriated.  “She is your WIFE!  How could you say she was your sister? What have you done to us? One of us might have slept with her, and YOU would have brought guilt on us all!!“

Abimelech (maybe the same man who had taken Sarah when Abraham was there) proclaimed to all in his kingdom that “Whoever touches this man or his wife shall surely be put to death!”  I’m thinking that Abimelech is a more honorable man than Isaac (or Abe). 

After that, Isaac and the king’s men had more trouble digging wells and falsely claiming them (like with Abraham)  Finally, the king told him to “Go away from us.” 

So Isaac and his family moved up to Beersheba. And there, the LORD appeared to him, saying, “I am the God of Abraham, your father. Fear not, for I am with you and will bless you and multiply your offspring for my servant Abraham’s sake.”  

Was this the first time God had appeared to him and gave him the Abrahamic blessing?  Isaac built an altar there and worshiped the LORD.

  • God is so good to His children. Even when we blow it and sin, He is gracious to come to us with fresh blessings. Great is His faithfulness!

And then – wonder of wonders – Abimelech came to Isaac, saying, “We’ve seen how God is blessing you. Let’s get along. (And maybe some of that blessing will fall off on us too).  Let’s live together in harmony.”  So they had a big feast… and they all got along happily ever after.

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When Esau was forty years old (Isaac’s age at marriage), he took two Hittite women to be his wives.  TWO?  “And they made life bitter for Isaac and Rebekah.”

 

 

 

#2024GOAL – Reading Through The Bible Chronologically, days 91 & 92

Apr1

    Day 91 & 92—  We have been reading the Bible daily for a quarter of the year. Praise God! What have you learned about God?  About yourself?  (Note: SUNDAY’s readings are combined with MONDAY’s)

   Day 91 – Joshua 6 – 7  (Midian & Gideon)

In Chapter 6, the “cycle of sin” repeats.  After 40 years of “rest” under Deborah, “The people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and the LORD gave them into the hand of Midian seven years.”  And Israel was brought very low because of Midian.

When the people cried out to the LORD, He heard and sent a prophet to admonish them. 

Then “the angel of the LORD” visited the fearful, doubtful Gideon and called him a “mighty man of valor.”  This story shows the immense patience that God will show towards one of His chosen servants, as first Gideon, whines and complains, then doubts the presence and words of the LORD.

First, Gideon had to pull down his father’s idols and sacrifice to the LORD. Then God was patient with the man through the two nights of fleece laying out, testing God which Israel was never to do., On top of that, in Chapter 7, God won the victory as Gideon obeyed. The Midian army took flight and even started killing each other! Gideon called back the men he’d sent home to chase the enemy across the river and kill the two princes of Midian. Hooray! But wait. So high did Gideon go, and so low would he, Gideon had to reduce the size of his army from 32,000 to 300 men, and he had to go against the huge Midianite army with NO SWORDS, only pots and torches. AND… the powerful Name of the LORD.

Of course, God won the victory, as Gideon obeyed. The Midian army took flight and even started killing each other! Gideon called back the men he’d sent home to chase the enemy across the river and kill the two princes of Midian. Hooray! But wait. So high did Gideon go, and so low will he sink in tomorrow’s reading.

Happy Resurrection Day! Jesus has RISEN!

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    Day 92 – Joshua 8 – 9  (Gideon & Abimelech)

Chapter 8 tells more about Gideon, and it’s not good. He tries to mop up after the Midianite victory, but his fellow Israelites won’t even help him by giving his exhausted men bread to eat. He swears to get even after he catches the enemy kings, and he does.

But power and glory go to Gideon’s head, and when Israel wants him to “rule over us,” he first denies their request, saying, “The LORD will rule over you.” The Next thing we know, however, is that he’s collecting golden earrings from them and making an ephod. (NOTE: This was supposed to be ONLY for the High Priest of Israel.) Soon, the Israelites were worshiping it. (Sheesh!!) But God was gracious and allowed forty years of peace in the days of Gideon.

After Gideon dies, the people turn wholeheartedly again to worshiping false gods.

In Chapter 9, Abimelech, one of Gideon’s 70 sons proclaimed himself their ruler and proceeded to kill all of Gideon’s many sons (except Jotham, the youngest one, who escaped). He killed them all on a single stone, so perhaps this was an “offering” to a false god. Jotham called out against Abimelech, predicting his downfall by fire.

And it happened just as the boy predicted; after Abimelech warred against many cities, killing thousands, he came to Thebez. The people there fled to the tower, but he set it afire. A woman threw out a millstone, which crushed Abimelech’s skull. He ordered his armor-bearer to kill him so it wouldn’t be known that a woman had done the deed. But, alas, the Bible said A WOMAN did it. And so the curse of Jotham came to pass.

#2024 GOAL – Reading Through The Bible Chronologically, day 18

Jan18

Won’t you read the Bible with me this year?   It only takes a few minutes.  (You can also listen to an audio recording.)

   Day 18  Genesis 19 – 21

We ended yesterday with Abraham’s interceeding with God to spare the cities of Sodom & Gomorrah for the sake of a bare minimum of 10 righteous people living there.  God agrees, but the cities are doomed by their sin and because there is only ONE righteous man in the whole area.

Chapter 19 is God’s grace at work. The two angels go into Sodom with the purpose of rescuing Abe’s nephew Lot and his family. They are lewdly accosted by the crazed men of the city, but they incapacitate them with blindness. Forceably grabbing Lot, his wife, and two daughters, the angels flee the city just minutes before the LORD rains down sulfer and fire out of heaven and burns up the cities, all the valley, all the inhabitants, and even what grew on the ground.

Talk about narrowly escaping “by the skin of your teeth!”

To show that only Lot is righteous in this family, his wife turns back and hesitates, looking longingly at all her “things.”  And the backflash of sulfer immediately coats her and turns her into a statue of salt. (A mini Hiroshima!)  Then the broken – but righteous man – flees to live in a cave (remember he had been a very important man – a judge – in the city), and is twice made drunk and seduced by his own daughters. They both have sons by him, who later turn out to be enemies of Israel – the Moabites and Ammonites on the east side of the Jordan.

Back to the man of the hour in chapter 20, when Abraham leaves the area (the sight & stench of the burned cities?) and roams into the Negev (south of Gaza).

And then —- can you believe it? —- he tells the local Philistine king that Sarah is his sister!!!  WHAT?  At this point Sarah as about to conceive – or maybe already has conceived – the promised son, Isaac! Abimelech takes her into his household, and God immediately closes the wombs of all the women in his house. (I’m thinking that God maybe causes great impotence among the men of the house, for that would be sooner evident.) If this hadn’t happened, perhaps Abimelech “might” have claimed Isaac as HIS offspring. YIKES!

God appears to the king in a dream with, “YOU ARE A DEAD MAN because the woman you took is a man’s wife.”

Abimelech cries out that he is innocent, a man of integrity of heart. God agrees and tells him that He, Himself, had KEPT HIM FROM SINNING.  Sarah (she must really be tired of this) is returned to Abraham, who prays for the king, and God “opens the wombs of the women.”  But the king DOES indignantly accuse Abe for bringing that trouble on him, although he sends him away with more loot. (and a thousand pieces of silver to prove Sarah’s innocence.)

And FINALLY, after 25 years of waiting, the promised son, “He laughs” is born. Abe is 100, Sarah is 90, and Ishmael is about 14.  A couple years later when Sarah weans Isaac, she notices Ishmael mocking (teasing, tormenting) the toddler.  She says (again) that Hagar and Ishmael MUST GO AWAY.  This time God agrees with her and tells Abe to do just that.

With regret and sorrow (but with God’s promise of blessing) Abraham sends the Egyptian maid and her son away. In the wilderness, the gracious God meets her again, refreshes and encourages her, reminds her of His blessing on her son and “points her to the south-east.”  Later, she takes an EGYPTIAN wife for her son.

At the end of chapter 21, there is a skirmish between Abraham and Abimelech (possibly another king in the line) about some wells that Abe dug.  It’s settled and the king and his men go back to Philistia. The place is named Be’er Sheva (Beersheba) meaning “seven wells.”

And ALL is at peace…..