Judges 9: Abimelech, The Undeliverer

Reading this is the Biblical version of watching The Office. The Office is painful in the way it takes timeless leadership principles (like people first) and distorts them under Steve Carroll’s character’s narcissism. Abimilech is the Biblical version of Steve Carroll. It is painful to watch The Office, but thankfully I don’t have to. We do need to look, however painfully it might seem, at Abimelech; because the tragedy of his life really did happen, and God recorded so that it might teach us about his purpose for our life.

Abimelech (in contrast to later Judges) is actually an effective leader according to Ancient Near Eastern customs. It was not unusual in that day for a new ruler to remove any threats or competing claims to the throne. He was persuasive (convincing his brothers to follow him) and for three years he was the joy of Shechem and Beth Millo. But God would not allow this to continue. He sends an evil spirit in fulfillment of the prophecy of Jotham to serve the effect of a regime change. You will be hard-pressed to find such radical action by God in scripture to remove a leader from position. Abimelech was that bad.

What may be of greater concern for us is this: The judgment was not just on Abimelech but also upon the ones who placed their joy and trust in him. Things were so bad in Israel that the people of these two cities actually liked Abimelech. The judgment in a way even falls upon Gideon, post-mortem. He didn’t want the responsibility of leadership--just the benefits. So when the need for a new judge arose, his sons followed his example abdication and paid the price. It is a terrible picture of the judgment of God against selfishness. Yet, the passage is clear in his judgment saying that it occured so that “the crime against Jerub-Baal’s (Gideon’s) seventy sons might be avenged.”

It is important for us to remember that God is just. He will not allow any sin to go unpunished. Early in revealing himself in scripture, God makes that clear through swift and immediate consequences. That will change over the course of Biblical history. Now, as we look back through the cross we recognize that God is still committed to full justice, yet we have hope in the midst of sin and crime’s against him. Instead of an evil spirit being sent to destroy us, an evil spirit was sent into Judas to destroy his relationship with Jesus, and to ultimately send Jesus to be the target of God’s vengeance against sin on the cross. We who place our hope in him have a true deliverer.

Reading Notes: 1. Judges was written during the days of Samuel and David and asks the question, “What kind of leader does Israel need?” The prologue (1:1-3:6) addresses the leadership problem by describing how God raised up Judges (2:10-20) that were only effective during their lifetime. The epilogue (17-21), “In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit.” (17:6, 18:1, 19:1, 21:25, Deut 12:8). In between, we see a series of Judges. Each one is worse than the other. Abimelech is the tipping point and the complete contrast of what a deliver should be. The transition from Gideon to Abimelech is the tipping point in the failure of the Judges to be a lasting leadership model for Israel.
2. In verse 21, it says “Then Jotham fled, escaping to Beer.” Beer is a place—just so you know :)