DEPRAVITY WITHOUT GOD PART 9: SAME SONG SUNG

Abimelech is no more.  On his heels come a couple guys we know little about. They are among the more obscure characters of Scripture. 

The first to arise to defend Israel is a man of the Issachar Tribe. He lived in Shanir, a town on Mount Ephrim, and his name was Todo…no wait, that was a dog, who is better known to the world than the guy Tola. Tola was the son of Puah…and get ready to chuckle. Puah was the son of Dodo. 

Now there was a Puah, who was one of the midwives who feared God (Exodus 1:15-21) and refused to abort the Hebrew male babies at the time Moses was born, but this is not the same Puah.  All we know bout this Puah is that he was a male and the father of Tola. Tola’s father was Dodo, one of three Dodos named in Scripture, but we know little of him, except what is given in Judge 10:1. 

Tola held the position of a Judge in Israel for 23 years, possibly from 1149 B.C. to 1129 B.C., then he died and was buried at Shamir.

Next came Jair the Gileadite. There are controversies over this Jair concerning a man named Jair in Numbers 32:40-42: 

And Moses gave Gilead to Machir the son of Manasseh, and he settled in it.  And Jair the son of Manasseh went and captured their villages, and called them Havvoth-jair.

And also in Deuteronomy 3:14-15.

Jair the Manassite took all the region of Argob, that is, Bashan, as far as the border of the Geshurites and the Maacathites, and called the villages after his own name, Havvoth-jair, as it is to this day.) To Machir I gave Gilead, 

The question is weather this was the same man who became a Judge in Israel.

After him arose Jair the Gileadite, who judged Israel twenty-two years. And he had thirty sons who rode on thirty donkeys, and they had thirty cities, called Havvoth-jair to this day, which are in the land of Gilead. And Jair died and was buried in Kamon. (Judges 10:3-5).

There are some similarities, such as Gilead and the cities of Havvoth-jair. Lot of argument over whether these were that same Jair or not. I don’t think it matters too much.  The most interesting thing about Jair is he had 30 sons and they had 30 cities, which were called Havvoth-jair. Jair’s main claim to fame was being  Judge in Israel for 22 years before he died, and that he had 30 sons who rode on 30 donkeys and controlled 30 cities.

This is what a man who sat atop of Israel for 23 years has as his claim in history? Right here we probably can say the Jair of Deuteronomy and the Jair of Judges are different men. In Deuteronomy Jair was out leading men against Canaan and taking regions for Israel. God had commanded that the Israelites go in and possess the land and destroy those dwelling there. Judge Jair’s namesake was doing just that but what had Judge Jair done? He took over after Tola, who apparently settled things down after Abimelech, and he sire 30 sons. Are his sons out riding horses and occupying the land? No, they are settled comfortably upon their asses controlling their individual cities. Meanwhile, while Jair and his sons enjoy peace and their prosperity for 23 years the Israelites are treading back toward false gods and sins.

So when Jair has died, the Israelites in full throat sang the same old song:

The people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth, the gods of Syria, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the Ammonites, and the gods of the Philistines. And they forsook the Lord and did not serve him. Judges 10:6

Needless to say, God was rather displeased and once again sold Israel into the hands of their enemies, this time the Ammonites and the Philistines, and these oppressed Israel for 18 years. The Ammonites even came across the Jordan River to greatly distress the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. (Judges 10:9)

As before, the Israelites began to bemoan their fate to God. They finally set aside the foreign gods and began again to serve the Lord, who had become impatient with the misery of Israel.

The Israelites encamped in Gilead and cried out for a leader against the Ammonites. The Ammonites were not some extinct sea creature, but a tribe of people in Canaan who descended from Ammon. They occupied the territory east of the Jordan across from Samaria, their bottom tip opposite Jericho. Ammon sat above its sister kingdom Moab. It’s chief city was Rabbath Ammon, and was on the site of present day Amman, Jordan’s current capital.

The Ammonites had a evil beginning. They descended from Ben-Ammi, a son of Lot and his own youngest daughter. Lot’s daughters got him drunk in order to have sexual relations with him. The older

daughter also had a son by Lot named Moab. The decedents of both these sons became enemies of Israel. These conceptions occurred after the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. (Doesn’t Gomorrah sound like it should have been located in Ireland?) The daughters didn’t think there was any who would impregnate them, except their father. This was not something they conferred with God about and thus we see again that without God we go to depravity. (Genesis 19:30-38) Ammon and Moab would be constant enemies of Israel for a long time, as would the Philistines.

Now who are these Philistines? The name has come to mean a lowbrow, anti-intellectual, uncultured, materialistic lout. We first hear of the Philistines in Genesis 10:13-14. Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth. Ham had a son named Cush, who fathered four sons, One was Nimrod, who you may recall built the tower of Babel.  Ham’s other three sons Egypt, Put and Canaan, a couple of whom you’ve probably heard about. We read about Egypt progeny in verses 13 and 14:

Egypt fathered Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim, Pathrusim, Casluhim (from whom the Philistines came), and Caphtorim.

The Philistines will pop up a lot in the Old Testament. As a people, they settled on the south coast alongside Canaan in an area then called the Palestine Confederacy consisting of five cities: Gaza (which we hear a lot about today), Ashkelon (which since 1948 sits in southeastern Israel), Ashdod  (currently one of Israel’s main port), Gath (a city that has disappeared from the map, but we know it as the hometown of the giant Goliath) and Ekron (which was a stronghold in David’s time known for its worship of Baalzebub).

Thus Israel found themselves under attack on both the west and the east. The Ammonites showed up first with a challenge.

Then the Ammonites were called to arms, and they encamped in Gilead. And the people of Israel came together, and they encamped at Mizpah. And the people, the leaders of Gilead, said one to another, “Who is the man who will begin to fight against the Ammonites? He shall be head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.” Judges 10:17-18

This is a somewhat strange and twisted story, and maybe a sad one.  The first surprise in this narrative if who the leaders of Gilead turn to as a leader, one Jephthah. His name means to open or to release. It is given that Jephthah was a mighty warrior, which may have qualified him, but there was something else about him. He was the son of a prostitute. Most likely he was his father’s first born, but his half-brothers by his father’s wife told him he would receive no inheritance in the family. He then fled his brothers and lived in the land of Tob, probably Armenia, the name means good. Now it is quite possible that Jephthah was entitled to the inheritance as the first born and he fled from his brother in fear they would do him harm. 

This is somewhat reminiscent of Abraham and Sarah. Ishmael was technically Abraham’s first born, but Sarah out of jealousy had his mother Hagar and her son banished so Ishmael would have no inheritance with Isaac. A question raised here could be the status of Jephthah as a son of a prostitute. But the father apparently excepted Jephthah into his home and most likely his half-brothers banished him after the father’s death so he would not have an inheritance. His half-brothers saying he would receive no inheritance makes it their desire, not necessarily a standing law. Jacob made no distinction in inheritance between the offspring of his concubines and his wives.

Anyway, he began a new life and worthless fellows flocked to him and became his followers. They were probably just a band of robbers at this point. (Judges 11:1-3)

After a time the Ammonites made war against Israel. And when the Ammonites made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to bring Jephthah from the land of Tob. And they said to Jephthah, “Come and be our leader, that we may fight against the Ammonites.” But Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “Did you not hate me and drive me out of my father's house? Why have you come to me now when you are in distress?” (Judges 11:4-7)

Seems like a logical question. They ran him off and now they want him back.

And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “That is why we have turned to you now, that you may go with us and fight against the Ammonites and be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.” Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “If you bring me home again to fight against the Ammonites, and the Lord gives them over to me, I will be your head.” And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “The Lord will be witness between us, if we do not do as you say.”  So Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and leader over them. And Jephthah spoke all his words before the Lord at Mizpah. (Judges 11:8-11)

Perhaps Jephthah and his men had a reputation as fighters and the elders of Gilead felt they needed such men. Perhaps there was no one else in Gilead they felt could be a leader against the Ammonites. He certainly got his inheritance back and maybe then some since they agree to make him leader of Gilead permanently. It says that Jephthah spoke these words before the Lord at Mizpah. Mizpah means a watchtower and came to mean an agreement between parties that had been at odd, such as Jacob and Laben (see Genesis 31). It also probably meant that this vow was made before a priest or in a tabernacle. Reference is made later to the Mizpah of Gilead and this is probably the one and the same.

Jephthah attempts to be reasonable with the Ammonites. He has a back and forth with the King of the Ammonites and we see the Ammonites still hold a grudge against Israel going back to when Israel was passing through doing the Exodus and requested to graze their livestock on Ammon land., and Ammon refused. 

The narrative that Jephthah gives the King of the Ammonites can be found in Deuteronomy 2:16-37 & Numbers 20:14-21.

12 Then Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites and said, “What do you have against me, that you have come to me to fight against my land?” 13 And the king of the Ammonites answered the messengers of Jephthah, “Because Israel on coming up from Egypt took away my land, from the Arnon to the Jabbok and to the Jordan; now therefore restore it peaceably.” 14 Jephthah again sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites 15 and said to him, “Thus says Jephthah: Israel did not take away the land of Moab or the land of the Ammonites, 16 but when they came up from Egypt, Israel went through the wilderness to the Red Sea and came to Kadesh. 17 Israel then sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying, ‘Please let us pass through your land,’ but the king of Edom would not listen. And they sent also to the king of Moab, but he would not consent. So Israel remained at Kadesh.

18 “Then they journeyed through the wilderness and went around the land of Edom and the land of Moab and arrived on the east side of the land of Moab and camped on the other side of the Arnon. But they did not enter the territory of Moab, for the Arnon was the boundary of Moab. 19 Israel then sent messengers to Sihon king of the Amorites, king of Heshbon, and Israel said to him, ‘Please let us pass through your land to our country,’ 20 but Sihon did not trust Israel to pass through his territory, so Sihon gathered all his people together and encamped at Jahaz and fought with Israel. 21 And the Lord, the God of Israel, gave Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they defeated them. So Israel took possession of all the land of the Amorites, who inhabited that country. 22 And they took possession of all the territory of the Amorites from the Arnon to the Jabbok and from the wilderness to the Jordan. 23 So then the Lord, the God of Israel, dispossessed the Amorites from before his people Israel; and are you to take possession of them? 24 Will you not possess what Chemosh your god gives you to possess? And all that the Lord our God has dispossessed before us, we will possess. 25 Now are you any better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? Did he ever contend against Israel, or did he ever go to war with them? 26 While Israel lived in Heshbon and its villages, and in Aroer and its villages, and in all the cities that are on the banks of the Arnon, 300 years, why did you not deliver them within that time? 27 I therefore have not sinned against you, and you do me wrong by making war on me. The Lord, the Judge, decide this day between the people of Israel and the people of Ammon.” 28 But the king of the Ammonites did not listen to the words of Jephthah that he sent to him.

Jephthah's Tragic Vow

Jephthah is now pretty much forced to engage the Amonites. He marched across Gilead to meet them in battle and along the way he made a careless vow to the Lord.  

“If you will give the Ammonites into my hand,  then whatever comes out from the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the Ammonites shall be the Lord's, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering.” Judges 11:31.

Jephthah went into the battle and God gave them into his hand, so he went home after his victory. (Judges 11:32-33)

34 Then Jephthah came to his home at Mizpah. And behold, his daughter came out to meet him with tambourines and with dances. She was his only child; besides her he had neither son nor

daughter. 35 And as soon as he saw her, he tore his clothes and said, “Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low, and you have become the cause of great trouble to me. For I have opened my mouth to the Lord, and I cannot take back my vow.”

This is a great warning to us to be careful in what we may promise to God during a point of high emotion. Obviously Jephthah made this vow without thoroughly thinking it through. What had he in mind to be the first thing to come out his front door when he returned? His favorite chair? His pet goat? If you have been away a time, especially facing danger such as war, what would you expect to be the first to run out and greet you, but a loved one; you’re spouse or child or sibling?

Jephthah realizes he can not go back on a vow to God and his daughter realizes this even more than him and takes it well, I would say.

36 And she said to him, “My father, you have opened your mouth to the Lord; do to me according to what has gone out of your mouth, now that the Lord has avenged you on your enemies, on the Ammonites.” 37 So she said to her father, “Let this thing be done for me: leave me alone two months, that I may go up and down on the mountains and weep for my virginity, I and my companions.” 38 So he said, “Go.” Then he sent her away for two months, and she departed, she and her companions, and wept for her virginity on the mountains. 39 And at the end of two months, she returned to her father, who did with her according to his vow that he had made. She had never known a man, and it became a custom in Israel 40 that the daughters of Israel went year by year to lament the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite four days in the year. Judges 11:34-40.

Jephthuh did with her according to his vow. What was his hasty vow?

“If you will give the Ammonites into my hand, 31 then whatever comes out from the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the Ammonites shall be the Lord's, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering.” Judges 11:31.

Would God have honored a vow of child sacrifice, especially by fire. This was the practice of the Ammonites, killing their children as offerings to Moloch, God specifically forbade sacrifices to Moloch and forbade the Israelites from child sacrifice in general. Yet it says Jephthah did according to his vow. Does that not mean he burnt her wholly?

There is argument about this, some saying he did kill his daughter, but I side with those who say he did not. The key is in the phrase “Shall be the Lords [and] I will offer it up for a burnt offering.” The conjunction is very arbitrary. It could be either “and” or “or”. If we look at Young’s Literal Translation I think we can see this. 

And she saith unto her father, `Let this thing be done to me; desist from me two months, and I go on, and have gone down on the hills, and I weep for my virginity -- I and my friends.'

And he saith, `Go;' and he sendeth her away two months, and she goeth, she and her friends, and she weepeth for her virginity on the hills;

and it cometh to pass at the end of two months that she turneth back unto her father, and he doth to her his vow which he hath vowed, and she knew not a man; and it is a statute in Israel:

from time to time the daughters of Israel go to talk to the daughter of Jephthah the Gileadite, four days in a year. Judges 11:37-40.

Jephthah kept his vow of giving her to the Lord. She became something of how we would view a Nun, married to the Lord and thus a perpetual virgin. From time to time the daughters of Israel come to talk to her, four times a year. Whom do they talk to if she is only long dead ash risen in smoke to blow away?

We are not quite done with Jephthuh; in fact, we are going to look at something from his life that even if you never heard his name, you probably have heard this.

But first, here come those jealous Ephraimites again. Same old complaint. The Ephraimites confront Jephthah and are angry because he didn’t call them to fight against the Amomites. They threaten  to burn his house down. Jeththah comes right back at them and says when he called them, they didn’t come. Jephthah isn’t as glib as Gideon, so the next thing we know we got a alley fight between the Ephraimites and the people of Gilead. The Gileads were able to capture the fords of the Jordan and cut off passage to the Ephraimites. 

Ephraim attempted to send men across, but every time the Gileans stopped the guy trying to cross and told him to say “shibboleth”, Hebrew for river. Problem for the Ephraimites is they couldn’t pronounce this word. They couldn’t form the “sh” sound. It always came out sibboleth, then they would seize the poor fellow and kill him in the river. Eventually, 42,000 Ephraimites were killed in these skirmages.  Judges 12:1-6

Jephthah ruled Israel a mere six years, then he died and was buried in Gilead. Judges 12:7

We have a line of Judges, who didn’t rule very long, come in short order. These were Ibzan, Elon and Abdon. We know very little about these guys, except in two cases where we are told the number of prodigy and how many donkeys they had. Donkeys seem very popular during this time of the Judges.

For instance, Ibzan had thirty daughters and thirty sons, and thirty daughter-in-laws for his boys that he brought in from other clans than his own. He was from Bethlehem and was buried in Bethlehem when he died. It is not thought that this is the same Bethlehem where Jesus was born, because that one was in Judah in the south. He Judged for seven years.

Next came Elon, a Zebulunite. We know even left about him. We aren’t even told how many kids or donkeys he owned. He judged 10 years, died and was buried in Aijalon of Zebulun.

We return to sons and livestock with Abdon, son of Hillel the Pirathonite. He was very fertile and had forty sons and thirty grandsons and they all rode about on 70 Donkeys. He ruled for eight years, then died and was buried at Pirathon in the land of Ephraim, and curiously, in the hill country of the Amalekites. It’s exact location is no longer known, but it does have one other note of fame; Benaiah, one of David’s mighty ones was originally from there. (2 Samuel 23:30; 1 Chronicles 11:31; 27:14)

Then the next chapter of Judges in Israel begins with the usual theme:

And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, so the Lord gave them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years. Judge 13:1

 I wonder what next.

DEPRAVITY WITHOUT GOD PART 8: LOST GENERATION

Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, “Rule over us, you and your son and your grandson also, for you have saved us from the hand of Midian.” Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; the Lord will rule over you.” Judges 8:22-23

Gideon, after the great victory over Midian, made this promise when the people asked him to be king. King was a position Israel did not have at the time, but Gideon humbly turned down the honor. He even went further and promised his son would not be their king either. He also said, “The Lord will rule over you.” 

Well, that crazy idea kinda went quickly to the curb. Gideon went right out and made himself an idol of a golden ephod from the spoils of those vanquished Midians. (Judges 8:24-28)  Then it seems he busied himself picking up wives right and left, until he many. 

If you recall, Gideon had this one son named Jether. This son was still a youth when the two final Midian princes, Zebah and Zalmunna were captured. Gideon wanted Jether to dispatch them but the lad couldn’t do it, so Gideon killed them himself. Jether was Gideon’s oldest son, and he didn’t become a king. Gideon went out and had 69 more sons (Judges 8:30). None of them would become king either, so it appears his pledge that neither he or his son would be the Israelite king was kept.

Except, Gideon wasn't satisfied nor satiated with many wives. He had to have concubines as well. One of his concubines, and I am guessing he had more than one because it calls this one his concubine in Shechem, and why made the distinction if there were only one. She was probably a Canaanite and not of high regard. According to the Jewish Historian, Josephus, her name was Drusa, which mens drunk or drunkiness.

Gideon would have at least one son by this woman and his name was Abimelech. The name means, “My father is king”.

Abimelech’s mother was not married to Gideon. She was his concubine, basically a woman on the side for sexual pleasures. The offspring of such a relationship was considered illegitimate and had no rights of inheritance or succession to the father’s title, land or estate.

Despite this son’s name meaning "My father is king",  Gideon was not a king. He was a Judge of Israel, but he was functioning pretty much as a king after the defeat of Midian. It makes me believe Drusa probably named the boy, adding a status not true or allowed by society. It might have been a way of pointing out just whose child this was. 

Gideon acting as the ruler, if not taking the actual title, would be subject to the same standards set for kings. He did not, of course, do so.  Deuteronomy 17:17 says of a king that: “Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold.”

Gideon did both these forbidden things, the same things that would bring trouble upon King Solomon in the future. Gideon gathered all those golden spoils to himself and created a golden ephod.  He also went about multiplying wives, until he had many.

Although Gideon had swore to Israel that he would not be their king, nor would his son ever be their king, that didn’t count much with Abimelech. 

And Abimelech the son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem unto his mother's brethren, and communed with them, and with all the family of the house of his mother's father, saying,

Speak, I pray you, in the ears of all the men of Shechem, Whether is better for you, either that all the sons of Jerubbaal, which are threescore and ten persons, reign over you, or that one reign over you? remember also that I am your bone and your flesh.

Remember Jerubbaal was another name given to Gideon.

And his mother's brethren spake of him in the ears of all the men of Shechem all these words: and their hearts inclined to follow Abimelech; for they said, He is our brother.

And they gave him threescore and ten pieces of silver out of the house of Baalberith, wherewith Abimelech hired vain and light persons, which followed him.

The “they” here are the relatives of Drusa, his mother the concubine, and the leaders in Shechem whom they sweet talked into joining with them in support of Abimelech against the house of Gideon. These leaders gave Abimelech 70 pieces of silver out of the shrine to Baal-berith. Recall that Baal-berith was equated by Rabbinic tradition with Beezlebub, that is the Lord of the Flies, or Satan. What good could ever come from a gift from Baal-berith, then.

Of course, good did not come. Abimelech used this gift of money to hire shady and low men to be his followers.

And he went unto his father's house at Ophrah, and slew his brethren the sons of Jerubbaal, being threescore and ten persons, upon one stone: notwithstanding yet Jotham the youngest son of Jerubbaal was left; for he hid himself.

And these men followed him to the home of Gideon and assassinated Gideon’s 69 sons by his wives. Only the youngest of the boys escaped by hiding.

And all the men of Shechem gathered together, and all the house of Millo, and went, and made Abimelech king, by the plain of the pillar that was in Shechem. (Judges 9:1-6)

The men of Shechem are called the men of Hamor in some verses (Judges 9:28) So what? Who is Hamor. If we go back to Genesis 34 we learn that Jacob was around Shechem and that he and his wife Leah had a daughter named Dinah. Dinah went out to visit the women of the region and she was raped by the Prince of Shechem, who was the son of its ruler, Hamor. Hamor came to Jacob and tried to get Dinah as a wife for his son. He then met with her brothers, who weren’t happy about the rape. They said she could marry Humor’s son if all the men of Shechem got circumcised. Hamor agreed and all the men came and were circumcised. Three days after the snipping, when all these men were in some pain, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers set upon them and slew them all. They also killed Hamor and his son and sacked the city of Shechem. This was just another rather sordid tale the sons of Jacob got involved in.

Anyway, Shechem has a long Biblical history, too much to get into here, but the  base of the pillar where Abimelech was made king is still there. Many archeologists believe this was the stone Joshua erected when he renewed the Covenant. (Joshua 24:27).

Recall, after the hired assassins went to Gideon’s home and killed 69 of his 70 sons, one escaped. This was Gideon’s youngest boy named Jotham, who had managed to hide. When Jothan learned that Abimelech was named as king, he went to the top of Mount Gerizim. You might recall that name from Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan women at the well. 

The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship (John 4:19-20)

Mount Gerizim is the mountain the woman is referring to because the Samaritans considered it sacred. Anyway, Jotham goes to the top of this mount and calls out a somewhat strange tale.

When it was told to Jotham, he went and stood on top of Mount Gerizim and cried aloud and said to them, “Listen to me, you leaders of Shechem, that God may listen to you. The trees once went out to anoint a king over them, and they said to the olive tree, ‘Reign over us.’ But the olive tree said to them, ‘Shall I leave my abundance, by which gods and men are honored, and go hold sway over the trees?’ And the trees said to the fig tree, ‘You come and reign over us.’ But the fig tree said to them, ‘Shall I leave my sweetness and my good fruit and go hold sway over the trees?’ And the trees said to the vine, ‘You come and reign over us.’ But the vine said to them, ‘Shall I leave my wine that cheers God and men and go hold sway over the trees?’ Then all the trees said to the bramble, ‘You come and reign over us.’ And the bramble said to the trees, ‘If in good faith you are anointing me king over you, then come and take refuge in my shade, but if not, let fire come out of the bramble and devour the cedars of Lebanon.’ (Judges 9:7-15)

A little weird to our ears, I suppose. First though, lets recognize that this was pretty courages of Jotham to come out of hiding, stand up high in plain sight and confront these people of Shechem.

Here is what is generally felt about these trees. The olive tree was a very valuable tree to Israel and it refuses to be king, just as Gideon, who was also valuable did. Gideon had promised his sons wouldn’t rule over Israel either, just as the fig trees, who seem to represent righteous people, like the true sons, also refused. No one wants to give up their true value to the people to rule over them. Even the grape vine, which isn’t a tree at all, wasn't willing to do that. Scholars feel the grape vine represented the Priests. 

But the bramble, who is Abimelech, is ready and willing to assume the role. The bramble didn’t have much to qualify him for the role. His order to come and take shelter in his shade is ridiculous. The bramble wasn’t a tree and wasn’t really high enough for other trees to shelter under. Getting beneath brambles was risky, since the thorns could rip the flesh. The bramble was good for fires, because it burnt easily, and we will see that fire will play a role with Abimelech. Actually, Jothan’s last words to the people of Shechem was a curse involving fire:

If you then have acted in good faith and integrity with Jerubbaal and with his house this day, then rejoice in Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you. But if not, let fire come out from Abimelech and devour the leaders of Shechem and Beth-millo; and let fire come out from the leaders of Shechem and from Beth-millo and devour Abimelech.” (Judges 9:19-20)

After this, Jotham fled to the city of Beer to live out his days.

There was a Beer mentioned in Numbers 21:16-18, the 44th stop of the Israelites doing their wanderings in the wilderness. Moses dug a well there. Many believe this place where Jotham went was Beeroth, a ancient settlement about 7 miles northwest of Jerusalem. There are no ruins of the town left, so the exact location is disputed. People did inhabit Beeroth until the Babylonian captivity in 586 B.C. They returned to the area 70 years later after the captivity. (Ezra 2:25 and Nehemiah 7:29_

Abimelech ruled over Israel for three years. At this point God had enough of the guy and he sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the leaders of Shechem. (Judges 9:22-23) 

It is doubtful that God would send an evil spirit for this purpose. If an evil spirit was involved, then most likely God gave Satan permission to use a demon here. The word translated “spirit” is the Hebrew “ru akh”. There are several meanings, and spirit is but one. It can also mean breath, wind or mind.  God may have allowed a disagreeable frame of mind between these people and the Men of Shechem turned against Abimelech, kind of out of guilt for their involvement with the murders of Gideon’s sons. At any rate, peace was taken from Israel and chaos reigned about Shechem and Abimelech.

And the leaders of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech, that the violence done to the seventy sons of Jerubbaal might come, and their blood be laid on Abimelech their brother, who killed them, and on the men of Shechem, who strengthened his hands to kill his brothers. And the leaders of Shechem put men in ambush against him on the mountaintops, and they robbed all who passed by them along that way. And it was told to Abimelech. (Judges 9:23-25)

The leaders in Shechem now turned on Abimelech and set up ambushes around about, robbing anyone who dared come that way. Somebody ratted them out to Abimelech, however.

And Gaal the son of Ebed moved into Shechem with his relatives, and the leaders of Shechem put confidence in him. And they went out into the field and gathered the grapes from their vineyards and trod them and held a festival; and they went into the house of their god and ate and drank and reviled Abimelech. And Gaal the son of Ebed said, “Who is Abimelech, and who are we of Shechem, that we should serve him? Is he not the son of Jerubbaal, and is not Zebul his officer? Serve the men of Hamor the father of Shechem; but why should we serve him? Would that this people were under my hand! Then I would remove Abimelech. I would say to Abimelech, ‘Increase your army, and come out.’”(Judges 9:26-28)

So a man named Gaal moved into Shechem with his own followers and family during a festival. We don’t know a lot about this guy, here in Judges is the only place he appears. We don’t know this Ebed either, but this may not be an individual. The term “son of Ebed” could indicate that Gaal was a slave and he is leading a revolt. against Zebul, who was overseeing the city as a top officer to Abimelech. More likely, I think, is Gaal is a former follower of Hamor in Shecken and has returned seeking revenge to the former leaders Abimelech forced out. Gaal questions Abimelech’s claims and rights to being leader. He is telling the people they should follow the men of Hamor, who he obviously considers himself, and not the usurper Abimelech. Gaal brags that he will take care of Abimelech, even challenging him to increase his army. Zebul is incensed by the Gaul of Gaal and sends a message to Abimelech to set up a sunrise ambush of Gaal.

And so the battle began.

So Abimelech and all the men who were with him rose up by night and set an ambush against Shechem in four companies.

And Gaal the son of Ebed went out and stood in the entrance of the gate of the city,

and Abimelech and the people who were with him rose from the ambush.

And when Gaal saw the people, he said to Zebul, “Look, people are coming down from the mountaintops!”

And Zebul said to him, “You mistake the shadow of the mountains for men.”

Gaal spoke again and said, “Look, people are coming down from the center of the land, and one company is coming from the direction of the Diviners' Oak.”

Then Zebul said to him, “Where is your mouth now, you who said, ‘Who is Abimelech, that we should serve him?’ Are not these the people whom you despised? Go out now and fight with them.”

And Gaal went out at the head of the leaders of Shechem and fought with Abimelech. And Abimelech chased him, and he fled before him. And many fell wounded, up to the entrance of the gate.

And Abimelech lived at Arumah, and Zebul drove out Gaal and his relatives, so that they could not dwell at Shechem. (Judges 9: 35-41)

Gaal proved to be more roar than tiger. When Abimelech attacked he had to be prodded to go out and fight and afterward he was driven out of Shechem by Zebul, whom he had previously ridiculed. The battlefield was left strewn with bodies all the way up to the gates of Shechem  Abimelech appeared solidly in control as he went to a home in Arumah, a town about 6 miles southeast of Shechem, possibly where the ruins of El-Omeh were found.

But the next day the people of Sheckem came out into the battlefield. These passages are a bit unclear on these events, but perhaps they came to look for wounded or to remove the dead, Abimelech learned that the people and the leaders of Shechem had come out to the field and he returned in ambush. Abimelech was thorough and brutal as he attacked Shechem. He killed all the people in the field, then he took the city and killed all within it and sowed the grounds with salt. The leaders of Sheckem fled into a tower stronghold. 

Abimelech ordered his followers to cut down the brush, possibly the brambles common to the area, and tie the cuttings into bundles. Picture the horror of what is happening if you were one of those trapped in the tower. Here comes this army stacking these bundles around the walls and then setting them ablaze to burn you out. All the people at the Tower of Sheckem died, around 1,000 men and women.

Abimelech now seems determine to conquer all the territory nearby. He goes west, halfway between Shechem and the Mediterranean Sea to the city of Thebez, intent on sacking it as well. There was a tower stronghold in Thebez as well and all the citizens fled to its roof for safety. 

Abimelech decided if fire worked once, it would work again. During the fight against the Tower, he took a torch and moved near the door intent on setting it afire, but high about him, a woman came to the upper edge and threw a millstone down upon him. 

Abimelech fell with a fractured skull. Where would we have been with these women crushing big shot men’s heads, Jael with a tent nail and this woman with a large stone.

Of course, it was a disgrace for a great, strong he-man to be killed by a woman back in those days. Abimelech called with his dying breaths to his armor-bearer to run him through with a sword and thus Abimilech was a lier to the end, pretending to have died in face to face combat…with a man.

Then everybody still alive just packed up and went home.

In this God brought all the evil of the men of Shechem back upon them for their part in the killing of Gideon’s sons. The curse of Jotham upon them was fulfilled. (Judges 9:42-57)

So, whose next?