 It's our joy this evening to be continuing our series in the book of Judges. So tonight we come to Judges Chapter 9. We're finishing up the second half of Judges Chapter 9 and the second half of the Biblical record of Abimelech, the Bramble King. And so tonight we have the opportunity to spend our remaining time in the second part of Judges Chapter 9. This part, this account is lengthy, so we have some ground to cover tonight. And we'll do that relatively quickly, but I want to read this section of text. I think it's important that we go to the text and read this section and then we'll work through those themes and those points that I believe the Lord would have us consider this evening as we think about Abimelech and his reign in Shechem. So Judges Chapter 9, beginning in verse 22, hear the word of the Lord. Now after Abimelech had reigned over Israel three years, God sent a spirit of ill will between Abimelech and the men of Shechem. And the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech, that the crime done to the 70 sons of Jerobail might be settled and their blood be laid on Abimelech, their brother, who killed them, and on the men of Shechem, who aided him in the killing of his brothers. And the men of Shechem set men in ambush against him on the tops of the mountains and they robbed all who passed by them along that way and it was told Abimelech. Now Gail, the son of Ebed, came with his brothers and went over to Shechem and the men of Shechem put their confidence in him. So they went out into the fields and gathered grapes from their vineyards and trod them and made merry. And they went into the house of their God and ate and drank and cursed Abimelech. And then Gail, the son of Ebed said, who is Abimelech and who is Shechem that we should serve him? Is he not the son of Jerobail and is this not Zebel, his officer? Serve the men of Hamor, the father of Shechem, but why should we serve him? If only this people were under my authority, then I would remove Abimelech. So he said to Abimelech, increase your army and come out. When Zebel, the ruler of the city, heard the words of Gail, the son of Ebed, his anger was aroused. And he sent messengers to Abimelech secretly saying, take note, Gail, the son of Ebed and his brothers have come to Shechem and here they are fortifying the city against you. Now therefore, get up by night, you and the people who are with you and lie and wait in the field. And it shall be as soon as the sun is up in the morning that you shall rise early and rush upon the city. And when he or the people who are with him come out against you, you may then do to them as you find opportunity. So Abimelech and all the people who are with him rose by night and lay in wait against Shechem in four companies. When Gail, the son of Ebed, went out and stood in the entrance to the city gate, Abimelech and the people who are with him rose from lying in wait. And when Gail saw the people, he said to Zebel, look, people are coming down from the tops of the mountains. As Zebel said to him, you see the shadows of the mountains as if they were men. So Gail spoke again and said, see, people are coming down from the center of the land and another company is coming from the diviner's terribent tree. And then Zebel said to him, where indeed is your mouth now with which you said, who is Abimelech, that we should serve him? Are not these the people whom you despised? Go out if you will and fight with them now. So Gail went out leading the men of Shechem and fought with Abimelech. And Abimelech chased him and he fled from him and many fell wounded to the very entrance of the gate. Then Abimelech dwelt at Aruma and Zebel drove out Gail and his brothers so they would not dwell in Shechem. And it came about on the next day that the people went out into the field and they told Abimelech. So he took his people, divided them into three companies and lay in wait in the field. And he looked and there were people coming out of the city and he rose against them and attacked them. And then Abimelech and the company that was with him rushed forward and stood at the entrance of the gate of the city and the other two companies rushed upon all who were in the fields and killed them. And so Abimelech fought against the city all that day. He took the city and killed the people who were in it and he demolished the city and sowed it with salt. And when all the men of the Tower of Shechem had heard that, they entered the stronghold of the Temple of the God Barrett. And it was told to Abimelech that all the men of the Tower of Shechem were gathered together. Then Abimelech went up to Mount Zalman and he and all the people who were with him. And Abimelech took an axe in his hand and cut down a bow from the trees and took it and laid it on his shoulder. Then he said to the people who were with him, what you have seen me do, make haste and do as I have done. So each of the people likewise cut down his own bow and followed Abimelech and he put them against the stronghold and he set the stronghold on fire above them so that all the people of the Tower of Shechem died about a thousand men and women. Then Abimelech went to Thebes and he encamped against Thebes and took it. But there was a strong tower in the city and all the men and women, all the people of the city, fled there and shut themselves in. Then they went up to the top of the Tower. So Abimelech came as far as the Tower and fought against it and he drew near the door of the Tower to burn it with fire. But a certain woman dropped an upper millstone on Abimelech's head and crushed his skull. Then he called quickly to the young man, his armor-bearer, and said to him, Draw your sword and kill me, lest men say of me a woman killed him. So his young man thrust him through and he died. And when the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, they departed every man to his place. Thus God repaid the wickedness of Abimelech which he had done to his father by killing his 70 brothers and all the evil of the men of Shechem, God returned on their own heads and on to them came the curse of Jotham, the son of Jerobail. This is the word of God. Let's pray now as we consider this text together. Father in Heaven, thank you for our time tonight. Thank you for this opportunity to have an evening service. Thank you for your word. Thank you for these near people who've come. I pray, Lord, that you would visit with us now, draw near to us, Lord, by your spirit, and help us as we consider the lessons that you've given us in this text. We know, Lord, from your word that these things were written for our admonition. Help us, Lord, now to heed your word. We love you. Thank you for this time. In Jesus' name, amen. Well, the title of our sermon this evening is The Fruits of Faithlessness. The Fruits of Faithlessness. This is part two. We began last week with part one, the beginning of Judges chapter nine. But now we come to the downfall of Abimelech in Judges chapter nine verses 22 through 57. So, Abimelech, the son of Gideon by his Shechemite concubine, has determined that he himself wants to be king. Abimelech is full of bloodlust, full of ambition. Gideon has died. The restraining influence that the Lord has exercised through the hand of Gideon is now gone with the death of Gideon. The people now free as it were to behave as they like to conduct themselves as is right in their own eyes. They now take a nosedive into idolatry and they again play the harlot with the bales, all led by the bramble king, Abimelech. In chapter eight verse 34, the chapter ends with these words. Thus the children of Israel did not remember the Lord their God who had delivered them from the hands of all their enemies on every side. The Lord had just given them a miraculous victory against Midian, absolutely stunning at the hands of Gideon. And yet this is how they repay his grace and mercy and kindness and benevolence and deliverance. They forget the Lord their God who delivered them from the hands of all their enemies on every side. That's under these conditions that the people in Israel begin to eat the fruit of their own fancy. We're familiar with that proverb. They become filled to the full with their own ways. They stuff it up their nostrils so to speak until they are absolutely sick of it. And the corrupt son of Gideon, Abimelech now is brought to power in Shechem. Abimelech will eat the fruit of his own way. Abimelech will be filled to the full with his own fancy. Shechem will eat the fruit of their own ways and be filled to the full with their own fancies. Abimelech and the men of Shechem abandoned truth and sincerity in order to run a kingdom of their own. That was what the Lord had charged Israel with at Shechem when they renewed their vows at the end of Deuteronomy. They renewed their vows to the Lord and the Lord said, if you will serve the Lord this day, serve him in truth and sincerity. Well, that is a far flung memory now as the people of Shechem, Abimelech, forget the Lord their God and abandon truth and sincerity. Abimelech's boundless lust for power. Abimelech manipulates his own family, manipulates the leaders of the city. He draws other rotten scoundrels to his aid. Other rotten scoundrels as heartless as he is. And he goes and he murders his 70 brothers on one stone at Ophra, lining them up, binding them one at a time, slaying them on one stone at Ophra. Truth and sincerity no longer have any part whatsoever in the government of Shechem or in the life of Abimelech himself. And the people have gotten exactly what they've asked for. The people love to have it so. They eat the fruit of their own way. Well, in all that chaos and all that whirlwind that stirred up by Abimelech, one son escapes the slaughter. And that we see sort of in the white spaces between the lines, that by the hand of God, by the mercy of God, by the grace of God. This one son, Jotham, takes a stand for righteousness against all this unbridled, boundless wickedness. And Jotham, the remaining son of Gideon, he goes to Gerizim, the Mount of Blessing, and he preaches there to Abimelech the Bramble King and the men of Shechem calling them there to repentance. There's time given in Jotham's prayer, in Jotham's preaching for repentance. The Lord's patience, again, on display. But if they do not repent, Jotham preaches a judgment of fire. Look at chapter 8, verse 19. If then you have acted in truth and sincerity with Jerobiel and with his house this day, then rejoice in Abimelech. Let him also rejoice in you. But if not, let fire come from Abimelech and devour the men of Shechem and Beth Milo, and let fire come from the men of Shechem and from Beth Milo and devour Abimelech. In other words, the evil that they have hatched will come down upon their own heads. They will fall into the pit that they've dug for others. They'll fall into that pit themselves. It's almost like the victory that God gave them over Midian. When Midian was turned against themselves, everyone was killing one another with their own swords. And here Abimelech and the men of Shechem will devour one another. And that brings us to verse 22 in the downfall of Abimelech. Look at verse 22 with me. After Abimelech had reigned over Israel three years. This is no time at all, right? Three years. His kingdom won't last very long. His rule has an expiration date and it's coming quick. After he'd reigned over Israel three years, God sent a spirit of ill will between Abimelech and the men of Shechem. The men of Shechem had installed Abimelech as king. The word is melech. They had made him melech over Shemek, Shechem. But our author here can't quite bring himself to consider the usurper Abimelech in those terms. Can't quite call him a melech. And so the word for reigned there in verse 22 is actually a word that means to captain or to govern. Can't quite bring himself to consider Abimelech as king here. He's a usurper king. He's the bramble king. As you can imagine, considering his motivation for power, considering the absurdly wicked means that he used to achieve it, you can imagine how wicked and tyrannical Abimelech was in his governing over Shechem. The absence of truth and sincerity, or the absence of truth and integrity, marked his government. That's what characterized him. No truth, no sincerity, no integrity. And notice now, it's not only Shechem that he stands over. It's now verse 22 over Israel. Did you notice that? Abimelech had reigned over Israel. They installed him as melech over Shechem, but now Abimelech is said to have reigned over Israel. Now it may not have had much influence outside of Shechem, but it's the shame of this treachery that reaches to the whole of the nation. That makes sense? The shame of what Abimelech has done, the shame of what Shechem has done, now extends over all of Israel such that Abimelech is said to reign over Israel, verse 22. It's a shameful treachery that Abimelech has been involved in. It's overly apparent that he won't enjoy his power for long. He reigns for three years. God is the one who does rule and does reign over the kingdoms of men and gives that rule to whomever he pleases. God is the one who is sovereign and God intervenes here to bring justice by sending a spirit, verse 23, a spirit of ill will. It's the same words used to refer to the distressing spirit that the Lord sent to plague Saul. If you remember that story, where Saul would be grieved or plagued by a distressing spirit, David would come and play his harp and comfort Saul for a while until Saul decided to pin him to the wall with a spirit, a distressing spirit. God sends, if you remember, a lying spirit in the mouths of all of Ahab's worthless prophets. And here we are again, Judges chapter 9, God sending a spirit of ill will. And what does that tell us? What are the lessons we're to learn from that? Well, it tells us that God is sovereign over all things whatsoever that come to pass. God is sovereign even over spirits of ill will, even over distressing spirits, even from the book of Job, even over Satan himself. God is sovereign. That doesn't make God the author of evil, but what they mean for evil, God will intend for good to accomplish his purposes. Here he sends a spirit of ill will to Abimelech and the men of Shechem. Verse 23, and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech. We see in the fruit of this, right, the fruit of their actions, the fruit of this spirit of ill will, it's back to the doctrine, if you remember that sermon we did a while back on the Providence of God, the doctrine of divine concurrence. The doctrine of divine concurrence. That what they mean for evil, God means for good. Verse 23, the men of Shechem deal then treacherously with Abimelech so that the crime done to the 70 sons of Jerobail might be settled and their blood be laid on Abimelech, their brother, who killed them and on the men of Shechem, who aided him in the killing of his brothers. But to deal treacherously, verse 23, is to deal faithlessly, to deal deceitfully, to deal with an intent to harm, there's malice behind that word, right? An intent to harm, an intent to undermine, and God uses the evil intentions of the men of Shechem in retribution against the evil actions of Abimelech. It's amazing, isn't it? You consider the sovereignty of God. Again, God is not the author of evil, but God uses the evil wicked intentions of the men of Shechem to judge, to dole out retributive justice against the evil wicked actions of Abimelech. And this treachery, this treachery has a purpose, and that purpose is to pour out justice for the 70 sons of Gideon. That justice for the murder of Gideon's sons might be done both to Abimelech and the men of Shechem who aided him. So God in this has his own purpose, has his own intentions. Justice is going to roll, and it's going to roll against both Abimelech and the men of Shechem. Just as Jotham had pronounced on Mount Garazim, the wicked in this account, both Abimelech and the men of Shechem are going to turn on one another. It's just like the camp of the Midianites when Gideon and the 300 went into battle in the Valley of Jezreel. They turned their swords on each other, routed most of the army in that battle with that very event. And this is not uncommon to see this in the Bible. It's actually very common that God frequently uses the wicked to judge the wicked. And then he'll turn around and judge those wicked by others intending to pour out justice or judgment upon their wickedness. Very common. Many times where Israel is judged by a foreign nation. In this case, judged by Midian. And then God will turn around and use Israel to judge that wicked nation for all that they had done against the apple of his eye. It happens all the time in the Bible. God judges the wicked. In all of that, God is entirely just. And in all of that, all of the liability for that, all of the culpability, all of the guilt lands squarely on the shoulders of those people who determined to do that wickedness. Even though that wickedness served the purposes of God. Does that make sense? It falls upon their head and they are solely responsible. No one can say when he's tempted that I've been tempted by God. God is neither tempted nor does he tempt anyone else to sin. James says, right? God is just when he judges the wicked for their wicked actions. So then we come to verse 25 and we see how this plays out. The men of Shechem then in order to undermine a bimilek set men in ambush against him on the tops of the mountains and they robbed all who passed by them along that way and it was told a bimilek. We see in verse 25 how quickly the tables turn. How quickly the tables turn. A bimilek and the men of Shechem were cohorts together and now we see the men of Shechem against a bimilek. That's the problem when you make unscrupulous deals with unscrupulous people. When you make unscrupulous deals with unscrupulous people they will eventually turn their unscrupulous ways upon you. If you lie and cheat and steal and you enter into covenant with those that lie and cheat and steal eventually they'll turn their lying, cheating, stealing ways against you. That's the way this world works. We need to figure that out. Make sure we understand it. The men of Shechem had had it with the tyrannical leadership of a bimilek and so they hatch a plan here to undermine them. They're going to undermine them through highway robbery. A bimilek, the king is charged with protecting the people of Shechem and so what the men of Shechem now are going to do is start attacking the people of Shechem coming and going from the city robbing them on the highway and if a bimilek can't protect the people then what good is he as king? It's going to undermine a bimilek's power. He couldn't even protect his own subjects along the roads coming into the city. How could he protect Shechem or how could he work as king? In other words, they're going to give a bimilek a good old-fashioned political black eye in doing this. The optics aren't good here for a bimilek and in this the men of Shechem begin to court the idea of another king. The men of Shechem begin to court someone to replace a bimilek. As they're thinking about that enter verse 26 Gail the son of Abed Gail the son of Abed came with his brothers went over to Shechem and the men of Shechem put their confidence in him. This guy seems to come out of nowhere. It may have been that the people of Shechem knew him well. It might have been that he had lived there before and left for a period of time now he's coming back. He claims to be a true Shechemite the father to Shechem the founder of the city not sure why he left or where he's coming from but the men of Shechem see Gail as the answer to their pagan prayers. They throw a big party celebrate his return and the end and the end this certainly signaled for a bimilek. Verse 27 So when he returns they went out into the fields they gathered grapes from their vineyards and trod them and they made merry. They went into the house of their god ate and drank and cursed a bimilek. Then Gail the son of Ebed said who is a bimilek and who is Shechem that we should serve him? Is he not the son of Jerob Bale and is not Zebel his officer? Serve the men of Hamor the father of Shechem but why should we serve him? If only this people were under my authority then I would remove a bimilek. So he said to a bimilek increase your army and come out. Basically get together for a drunken party and under the influence of alcohol the boasts start flying as is typical of those drunken parties, right? Tail as old as time and we're not talking about beauty and the beast. Drunkenness has made many a fool throughout history and not just a fool here but a brazen fool a boastful fool. Here Gale, son of ebed plays the relative card better than a bimilek did I'm literally your flesh and bone I'm a true Shechemite unlike him who is the son of ebed Gale unlike a bimilek who's one of the sons of Gideon I'm an actual Shechemite I'm your own flesh and blood in reality before the night was out Gale, the son of ebed had cursed himself into a showdown with the bramble king a bimilek why should we serve a bimilek? He's not a real Shechemite get your army together a bimilek and come out Now in verse 30 when Zebel the ruler of the city when he heard these words of Gale the son of ebed his anger was aroused and that's the way of this wicked world isn't it and when you when someone lies cheats schemes to get ahead of somebody else they're incensed when someone lies, cheats and schemes to get ahead of them isn't that the way it always works talk about hypocritical you talk trash about somebody behind their back and then you're angry when somebody talks trash about you behind your back these are the bitter fruits of faithlessness and this is like a wicked cancer that spreads when that begins it just continues to spread continues to spread it's like a gangrene eventually the limb has got to be cut off to save the body right becomes such a bitter fruit and in that always for God's people if you find yourself swept up in the whirlwind of that kind of wickedness on the job or that kind of wickedness in the classroom or that kind of wickedness in your family or that kind of wickedness anywhere in the world truth and sincerity truth and integrity have to begin with you has to begin with you there has to be a stop made a full stop there has to be a stand taken for righteousness no matter how difficult it has to be done that has to begin with you you're the one who must take a stand for righteousness and do what is necessary this world won't do it I've often said considering our politics that a genuine Christian could set an egg timer on the length of any political career he aspired to because within a matter of moments what is going to come out of that genuine Christian's mouth is going to light a forest fire for all those who are asking questions all those who are hearing him and his political career is over truth and sincerity a stand for righteousness must begin with you and it must begin with you despite the cost if you find yourself swept up in the wickedness of this world you must take a stand for righteousness well Zebel is mad here his officer Abimelech's officer is angry and so he's gone to Abimelech secretly verse 31 he sent messengers to Abimelech secretly saying take note Abimelech Gail the son of Abed and his brothers have come to Shechem and here they are fortifying the city against you so one power hungry faction takes control through deceit ungodly gain and now another power hungry faction plots to do the very same thing all of it is illegitimate by the way this isn't God installed government these are warring rival gangs of thugs do you see this is not illegitimate government these are warring thugs verse 32 now therefore as Zebel says get up by night you and the people who are with you lie and wait in the field it shall be as soon as the sun is up in the morning you shall rise early rush upon the city when he and the people who are with him come out against you you may then do to them as you find opportunity so Abimelech carries out the plan sounds good to him verse 34 Abimelech and all the people who are with him they rose by night lay and wait against Shechem in four companies when Gail the son of Abed went out and stood at the entrance to the city gate Abimelech and the people who are with him rose from lying in wait verse 36 and when Gail saw the people he said to Zebel who is obviously standing there with him look people are coming down from the mountains you can imagine it's early in the morning sun is just coming up Gail still has sleepy in his eyes he's rubbing his eyes he's trying to get that first cup of coffee going he's got a McMuffin in his hand and he looks into the sun so to speak and he can't quite see through the mists still in his eyes he's not fully awake yet and it's like people are coming down from the tops of the mountains Zebel said to him ah you're seeing stuff Zebel said to him you see the shadows of the mountains as if they were men so verse 37 Gail spoke again and said see people are coming down from the center of the land and Gail's picking it up he's figuring it out another company is coming from the diviner's terribent tree then Zebel said to him this is teleonic justice isn't it where indeed is your mouth now Gail with which you said who is a Bimelech that we should serve him are not these the people whom you despised go out if you will and fight with them now so Gail went out verse 39 leading the men of Shechem and fought with the Bimelech Bimelech chased him and he fled from him and many fell wounded to the very entrance of the gate then a Bimelech dwelt at Aruma and Zebel drove out Gail and his brothers so that they would not dwell in Shechem someone upon reading this might reply well where is the justice in all this a Bimelech gets away with it again the wicked prosper again when is a Bimelech going to get his then reminded of Psalm 73 with respect to that we can often think that the wicked prosper and the psalmist this is psalm of Asaph Psalm 73 the psalmist says this he says I was envious of the boastful when I saw the prosperity of the wicked the psalmist actually said that he was in danger that he was tempted to fall tempted to stumble because of his envy of the wicked and their prosperity I was envious of the boastful when I saw the prosperity of the wicked for there are no pangs in their death their strength is firm they're not in trouble as other men nor they plague like other men their pride serves as their necklace violence covers them like a garment their eyes bulge with abundance they have more than a heart could wish for they scoff and speak wickedly concerning oppression they speak loftily they set their mouth against the heavens and their tongue walks through the earth you see what the psalmist is saying where is the justice in all of this why is it that wicked men continue to prosper we look around our world and it seems to be so every time you turn on the TV you see wicked people prospering they're wicked wealthy it seems like everywhere you turn and the professing Christian might think to himself all the good that could be done with that money if I were the steward of all that or all the good that could be done if that wicked person would turn from their sin and put their trust and faith in Christ this is the way of the wicked and we sometimes think to ourselves where is the justice in this life the psalmist is tempted to despair considering the prosperity of the wicked these are these ungodly people who always seem to be at ease these increase in their riches the psalmist says to himself surely I've cleansed my own heart in vain I'm plagued all day long I'm chastened every morning you see the temptation right the Christian life is difficult it's hard they seem to have it so easy you know what I'm going to do I'm just going to abandon the whole thing it's not worth it I'm going to throw in the towel go back to my own life I'm going to eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow I die I don't believe any of this nonsense anymore you see the temptation that may seem crazy you may think to yourself I would never, never do that there have been people at this church who have done that who are not with us any longer who are living out in the world right now in their sin apostate from the faith take heed he who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall surely this almost says I've cleansed my own heart in vain why would I put up with all this difficulty I'm plagued all day long I'm chastened every morning but then he says it became clear when I went to the sanctuary of God what happens at the sanctuary of God the word of God is preached then he says I understood their end surely Lord you have set them in slippery places oh how they are brought to desolation in a moment they're consumed they're destroyed in a moment Amos says let justice run down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream may seem to us during this time period that God is slack concerning his promises but God is not slack concerning his promises as some count slackness and God will fulfill every word every promise and justice will run down like water righteousness like a mighty stream God the righteous one will be vindicated the wicked will be cast down just a matter of time people scoff today saying where is the promises of his coming right? things have continued as they always have and they forget the flood now remember the people of Shechem here aren't righteous either Abimelech is unrighteous and the people of Shechem are unrighteous God is no respecter of persons justice will flow equally to both look at verse 42 so then it came about on the next day that the people went out into the field and they told Abimelech these people divided them into three companies lay and wait in the field and he looked there were people coming out of the city and he rose against them and attacked them these are people who are just coming out of the city to go back to work the little insurrection the little rebellion, the little revolt that got started was immediately put down and so what do the people of Shechem do the next day they go back to work they go back out into the field the rebellion is over they go back to the farm farming verse 44 they stood at the entrance of the gate of the city the other two companies rushed upon all who were in the field and they killed them so Abimelech fought against the city all that day he took the city killed the people who were in it and he demolished the city and sowed it with salt so Abimelech puts down the rival gang on one day the people of Shechem go out of that rival gang go out to work on the next day like nothing ever happened and Abimelech is enraged there's no sense of justice with Abimelech you notice that? it's just pride he's acting like a tyrant his pride is hurt so he sets out once again in vengeance and against the people that he presumes to rule they're not fighting against him they're going to work in the field and what's important to Abimelech it's not the people the people he could care less about it's the show of force, it's his pride so he decides to literally obliterate everything and everyone he kills the people, men, women, and children he destroys the buildings and he sows the land with salt in other words he destroys their livelihood what are you going to grow in a field full of salt couldn't grow crops this was also this action on the part of Abimelech is interesting because it's also the curse of desolation from Deuteronomy chapter 29 Deuteronomy 29 the Lord curses the land with salt brimstone salt and fire it's the curse of desolation and it was the sign of the Lord's burning wrath against the children, against the nation of Israel for their wickedness when the people broke their covenant with God Almighty here Abimelech uses the same sign it's interesting isn't it that the sign of Abimelech's wrath is this curse of desolation sowing the city with salt and Abimelech is a complete hypocrite he's broken the Lord's covenant and here he is sowing the land with salt for them having broken their covenant so to speak with him the bounds of Abimelech's lust have not yet been fully revealed though look at verse 46 when all the men of the tower of Shechem had heard that they entered the stronghold of the temple of the god Barrett and it was told Abimelech that all the men of the tower of Shechem were gathered together then Abimelech went up to Mount Zalman he and all the people who were with him and Abimelech took an axe in his hand and cut down a bow from the trees and he took it and laid it on his shoulder then he said to the people who were with him what you've seen me do make haste and do as I have done and followed Abimelech and put them against the stronghold and set the stronghold on fire above them so that all the people of the tower of Shechem died about a thousand men and women crazy isn't it unbelievable the people seek safety in the temple and Abimelech burns down the tower we've seen that scene displayed in movies haven't we they lock the people of the town in the church so to speak and burn down the church around them it's exactly what Abimelech does here Jotham's curse proves to be true doesn't it fire comes out from the bramble and consumes the people of Shechem now this is justice bear in mind this is God's retributive justice poured out on the Shechemites for aiding Abimelech in the murdering of the 70 sons of Gideon justice rains down on the Shechemites for their part in the death of Gideon's sons for supporting the usurper Abimelech so what does Abimelech do then doesn't go home blood lust is never satisfied ambition is never satisfied I guess Abimelech thinks he's going to take the entire ancient Near East so Abimelech in verse 50 goes to Thebes and he encamped against Thebes now and he took it not sure why Abimelech turns his anger on this city we're not told here but Abimelech nonetheless attacks and verse 51 there was a strong tower in this city and all the men and women all the people of the city fled there shut themselves in and they went up to the top of the tower second verse the same as the first it's the same reaction Abimelech is thinking we'll just do the same thing again verse 52 so Abimelech came as far as the tower fought against it and he drew near the door of the tower to burn it with fire but a certain woman dropped an upper millstone on Abimelech's head and crushed his skull then he called out quickly the young man his armor bearer and said to him draw your sword and kill me less men save me a woman killed him so his young man thrust him through and he died when the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead they departed every man to his place so Abimelech experiences in this life the justice and the retributive justice the judgment of God he experiences the bitter fruit of faithlessness even now in this life and he is experiencing the bitter fruit of faithlessness now in eternity this was a strong woman in verse 53 upper millstone if you remember what a millstone is it's a stone one smaller stone that sits upon a larger stone and it was used to grind wheat into flour and that upper millstone was heavy this woman lifts up that upper millstone drops it on Abimelech's head Dale Ralph Davis said that she had a crush on him interesting the theme that here it is a woman a woman who crushes the head of the serpent we remember that theme established for us in Genesis chapter 3 we see that theme continuing through the bible here's the woman that crushes the head of the serpent that's just a foreshadowing of the seed of the woman who would come and finally and fully crush the head of the serpent God knows how to deliver his people amen he delivers his people here from the hand of a tyrant head into Abimelech it can't be said that I was killed by a woman run me through and here it is written on the pages of God's eternal word forever written that Abimelech was killed by a woman who dropped a millstone on his head verse 56 thus God repaid the wickedness of Abimelech which he had done to his father by killing his 70 brothers and all the evil of the men of Shechem God returned on their own heads and on them came the curse and brought them the son of Jerobel it's amazing right the wisdom of God the fact that none of God's plans can be thwarted no one will turn his hand or say to him what are you doing no one will turn God's hand divine retribution will be satisfied there's a sense in which divine retribution can fall in this life and that is an ultimate divine retribution that will be satisfied in the life to come if you do not turn from your sin and put your faith and trust in Christ justice does in fact run down like water righteousness does in fact run like a mighty stream whatever a man sows that will a man also reap the Lord is not slack concerning his promises the day of the Lord will come the night when they say to themselves peace and safety sudden destruction will come upon them as the labor pains upon a pregnant woman and they shall not escape I've often thought about that illustration labor pains upon a pregnant woman their destruction will come upon them as labor pains upon a pregnant woman a pregnant woman has been pregnant and it's at the end of her pregnancy that she enters into labor pains these are storing up for themselves wrath right, treasuring up for themselves wrath in the day of wrath these saying to themselves throughout their lives peace and safety no harm will come God's not that mad and I'm not that bad their destruction will come upon them as labor pains upon a pregnant woman Psalm 73 again the psalmist says this indeed those who are far from you shall perish you have destroyed all those who desert you for harlotry but the psalmist says it is good for me to draw near to God don't flee from him draw near to him I have put my trust in the Lord God that I may declare all your works towards his people are good all his promises yes and amen in the Lord Jesus Christ amen amen let's pray Father in heaven we thank you Lord for your promises thank you Lord that we can put our faith and trust in you and be forgiven of our sin be reconciled to you be saved to the utter most thank you for this glorious salvation that you've provided you know how to deliver your people we are grateful for it and we also know Lord that you know how to deliver the ungodly under judgment under a judgment of fire and help us Lord to be faithful in our preaching of the gospel that men who persist in their wickedness and their unrepentant sin would turn from their sin and put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ and be saved we thank you for the gospel thank you for the Lord Jesus Christ this text points us Lord to the reality of your justice and the bitter fruits of faithlessness and help us Lord to be faithful to you in Jesus name we pray amen