1 00:00:00,360 --> 00:00:04,240 I just want to mention yesterday morning for many of you who know 2 00:00:04,240 --> 00:00:07,760 the family, Jake and Jake and Maria Fair, I think it's Maria 3 00:00:07,760 --> 00:00:10,360 Fair. He passed away yesterday morning 4 00:00:10,440 --> 00:00:12,680 due to a battle with cancer. He was in Hospice in Leamington. 5 00:00:12,680 --> 00:00:14,920 So I just want to be mindful of them. 6 00:00:15,240 --> 00:00:17,320 Many of you know them very well. They used to be part of the 7 00:00:17,320 --> 00:00:19,560 search many years ago to just remember them. 8 00:00:19,560 --> 00:00:25,600 Your prayers, Our sermon title this morning is Pride and Power 9 00:00:26,240 --> 00:00:31,520 Leads to Ruin. We do not have to look far to 10 00:00:31,520 --> 00:00:36,520 see how much the world today is obsessed with power and control. 11 00:00:37,920 --> 00:00:41,520 The whole world seems to be just saturated and ever growing 12 00:00:41,520 --> 00:00:44,800 hunger for dominance and control and does not matter where we 13 00:00:44,800 --> 00:00:48,440 look, the struggle is everywhere. 14 00:00:49,440 --> 00:00:52,560 We're born with it, with a desire to be in charge, to call 15 00:00:52,560 --> 00:00:56,040 the shots. It happens in families. 16 00:00:56,040 --> 00:00:59,400 There's rivalry, there's there's striving for power and dominance 17 00:00:59,400 --> 00:01:04,120 and control happens in schools, happens in colleges and 18 00:01:04,120 --> 00:01:06,320 universities and places of employment. 19 00:01:07,040 --> 00:01:08,640 I don't need to mention politics. 20 00:01:10,400 --> 00:01:14,800 And sadly, even in churches, power in and of itself is just 21 00:01:14,800 --> 00:01:16,200 that. It's just power. 22 00:01:17,000 --> 00:01:22,480 But power is dangerous. When human power and earthly 23 00:01:22,480 --> 00:01:29,400 pride mix, that is sinful. A quote attributed to Abraham 24 00:01:29,400 --> 00:01:32,480 Lincoln reads. Nearly all men can stand 25 00:01:32,480 --> 00:01:34,800 adversity. But if you want to test a man's 26 00:01:34,800 --> 00:01:40,000 character, give him power, and that will very quickly reveal 27 00:01:40,440 --> 00:01:45,600 what kind of person this is. I believe it's true what this 28 00:01:45,600 --> 00:01:48,960 quote says. Many people it seems can lead a 29 00:01:48,960 --> 00:01:54,280 fairly stable normal life and sometimes you can't really see 30 00:01:54,280 --> 00:01:56,000 anything wrong with this individual. 31 00:01:56,160 --> 00:02:01,040 But when that someone gets a taste of power and control, then 32 00:02:01,040 --> 00:02:04,760 everything changes. Someone has said power tends to 33 00:02:04,760 --> 00:02:09,080 corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. 34 00:02:10,280 --> 00:02:14,280 There's some things to watch for when a person starts corrupting 35 00:02:15,200 --> 00:02:18,440 due to power. Initially a person may be given 36 00:02:18,440 --> 00:02:22,640 power and they may not seem to be falling for it, they just do 37 00:02:22,640 --> 00:02:26,160 their job. But as time moves on, as time 38 00:02:26,160 --> 00:02:30,800 progresses, their position kind of gets to them and they start 39 00:02:30,800 --> 00:02:33,560 corrupting. There's a verse in Proverbs 40 00:02:33,560 --> 00:02:39,960 chapter 16, verse 18 that reads pride goes before a fall, Pride 41 00:02:39,960 --> 00:02:43,480 goes before destruction and a haughty spirit spirit before a 42 00:02:43,480 --> 00:02:45,000 fall. Some of the slide is not 43 00:02:45,000 --> 00:02:45,920 working. I'm just going to read the 44 00:02:45,920 --> 00:02:48,680 verse. It may not be a reputational 45 00:02:48,680 --> 00:02:51,440 fall. A person makes a decision. 46 00:02:51,440 --> 00:02:55,360 Or maybe a reputational fall. A person makes a decision and 47 00:02:55,360 --> 00:02:58,360 through arrogance and pride and the reputation falls. 48 00:02:58,640 --> 00:03:01,280 It could be finances making a foolish decision because they're 49 00:03:01,280 --> 00:03:03,240 proud and then things don't work out. 50 00:03:03,840 --> 00:03:07,080 Or it can be a spiritual or a moral fall. 51 00:03:08,080 --> 00:03:10,240 A person may think themselves above danger, above 52 00:03:10,240 --> 00:03:12,840 accountability. What has been alarming to me 53 00:03:12,840 --> 00:03:16,200 over the last number of years especially is how many pastors, 54 00:03:16,200 --> 00:03:22,000 church leaders fall due to moral indiscretion, thinking they're 55 00:03:22,080 --> 00:03:25,000 they're beyond danger because of power and pride. 56 00:03:25,000 --> 00:03:30,240 Their position, power and pride are a very dangerous mix. 57 00:03:30,840 --> 00:03:35,200 I do not find any story in the Old Testament where a humble man 58 00:03:35,200 --> 00:03:37,240 fell into sin just out of the blue. 59 00:03:38,240 --> 00:03:41,880 And in this morning's sermon, we will see especially one man how 60 00:03:41,880 --> 00:03:49,720 pride ruined him. Last Sunday we took a break from 61 00:03:49,720 --> 00:03:52,800 a sermon series and judges when we had Pastor A Burke from 62 00:03:52,800 --> 00:03:55,200 Straffordville with us and he spoke on the topic of money and 63 00:03:55,200 --> 00:03:57,520 his sermon title was Money Talks. 64 00:03:57,520 --> 00:04:01,080 And it is true. Money is a powerful tool, a 65 00:04:01,080 --> 00:04:04,160 powerful master. Either it controls us or we 66 00:04:04,160 --> 00:04:06,160 control it. Either it serves us or we serve 67 00:04:06,160 --> 00:04:08,920 it as Jesus says. And often times in our world, 68 00:04:08,920 --> 00:04:12,040 money and power they get, they get mixed up. 69 00:04:12,840 --> 00:04:15,560 And So what we do is our resources is a window into our 70 00:04:15,560 --> 00:04:17,720 heart. And whether we have little or 71 00:04:17,720 --> 00:04:20,480 much is not the question, it's what we do with it. 72 00:04:21,079 --> 00:04:24,000 And as long as we stay humble, the amount of money is not 73 00:04:24,000 --> 00:04:26,880 really the issue. But when power or control or 74 00:04:26,880 --> 00:04:30,560 pride creeps into the equation, then money can become very 75 00:04:30,560 --> 00:04:33,600 deadly and dangerous as well. So today in the book of Judges, 76 00:04:34,000 --> 00:04:39,240 we will cover 2 chapters that are separate stories, but 77 00:04:39,240 --> 00:04:42,480 they're part of the same family and they tie in one one to the 78 00:04:42,480 --> 00:04:44,800 other. So today we will wrap up the 79 00:04:44,800 --> 00:04:48,520 story of Gideon, how he finished his time as a judge in Israel. 80 00:04:48,840 --> 00:04:52,720 And then we will look at his son Abimelech, who made himself 81 00:04:52,720 --> 00:04:55,320 king, actually a judge, but also king. 82 00:04:56,200 --> 00:05:00,360 And we will see how his time just quickly unraveled and ended 83 00:05:00,360 --> 00:05:04,560 in a very catastrophic way back in Judges chapter 6. 84 00:05:05,040 --> 00:05:07,960 We began with Gideon some Sundays ago, and we learned that 85 00:05:07,960 --> 00:05:13,120 he considered himself small. In his own eyes, he was a man 86 00:05:13,120 --> 00:05:14,800 who felt he had nothing to offer. 87 00:05:14,960 --> 00:05:17,840 Look where I come from. I'm come from a very minor, from 88 00:05:17,840 --> 00:05:20,120 a very insignificant tribe. Who am I? 89 00:05:20,600 --> 00:05:24,800 He was humble at heart in a sense, but God called him to 90 00:05:24,800 --> 00:05:27,600 lead the children of Israel into victory against the Midianites. 91 00:05:27,600 --> 00:05:30,520 He wasn't interested. He was not the man for the job, 92 00:05:30,520 --> 00:05:33,920 but God patiently pushed him along and drew him along. 93 00:05:33,920 --> 00:05:36,360 And eventually Gideon took courage and put his trust in 94 00:05:36,360 --> 00:05:38,880 God, and God used him to overthrow the Midianites. 95 00:05:39,760 --> 00:05:43,000 And even though God used him to lead the charge, it was God's 96 00:05:43,000 --> 00:05:45,760 power that did the work. It was Gideon who had to be in 97 00:05:45,760 --> 00:05:48,320 charge of the group. But God did the work. 98 00:05:49,240 --> 00:05:52,080 And as we look at Gideon in Chapter 6 and seven, we saw 99 00:05:52,080 --> 00:05:55,480 clearly how Gideon did not think highly of himself at all. 100 00:05:55,480 --> 00:05:57,800 He was just a simple, humble farmer trying to be safe from 101 00:05:57,800 --> 00:05:59,920 the Midianites. And out here he was used in a 102 00:05:59,920 --> 00:06:04,240 very powerful way. Well, things did not stay that 103 00:06:04,240 --> 00:06:07,720 way this morning. We'll see how Gideon, even 104 00:06:07,720 --> 00:06:10,840 though he started well, he ended worse than he started, or he 105 00:06:10,840 --> 00:06:13,120 ended less than he was before he started. 106 00:06:14,400 --> 00:06:17,080 Finishing well is not by accident. 107 00:06:17,960 --> 00:06:22,360 If you want to finish well in life, you'll have to be just as 108 00:06:22,360 --> 00:06:26,520 focused going across the finish line as you were when you 109 00:06:26,520 --> 00:06:29,200 started. There's never a time to take 110 00:06:29,200 --> 00:06:31,760 your eyes off the track or off the off the road. 111 00:06:32,560 --> 00:06:37,960 We don't just coast to victory. It is a race to the finish, to 112 00:06:37,960 --> 00:06:41,000 the end. One would like to think that in 113 00:06:41,000 --> 00:06:44,240 life a person would want to end better than they began, correct? 114 00:06:44,360 --> 00:06:47,360 I think so. Gideon was one of those leaders. 115 00:06:47,680 --> 00:06:51,480 He was very humble to start. He was well used by God. 116 00:06:51,480 --> 00:06:55,200 God used him in a very good way. But then things changed and he 117 00:06:55,200 --> 00:06:58,200 ended worse than he started. It's it's a sad story. 118 00:06:58,200 --> 00:07:01,200 But then his son Abimelech becomes the next guy, makes 119 00:07:01,200 --> 00:07:07,760 himself the next guy in charge. And it was really bad getting 120 00:07:07,760 --> 00:07:11,040 started doing things toward the end that revealed character 121 00:07:11,040 --> 00:07:14,400 flaws about him that would be his downfall. 122 00:07:14,400 --> 00:07:18,680 So let's begin reading out of Judges chapter 8, one to three. 123 00:07:18,680 --> 00:07:21,680 And I'll say it at the start, we won't read all of chapters 1 and 124 00:07:21,680 --> 00:07:23,640 chapters 8:00 and 9:00. It's just too much scripture for 125 00:07:23,640 --> 00:07:25,600 this morning. So I'll just pick some passages 126 00:07:25,880 --> 00:07:27,520 and I'll just talk about the rest. 127 00:07:28,240 --> 00:07:31,360 Now the men of Ephraim said to him, meaning, Gideon, why have 128 00:07:31,360 --> 00:07:35,600 you done done this to us by not calling us when you went to 129 00:07:35,600 --> 00:07:39,080 fight with the Midianites? And they reprimanded him 130 00:07:39,080 --> 00:07:42,560 sharply. So he, Gideon said to them, What 131 00:07:42,560 --> 00:07:45,080 I what have I done now in comparison with you? 132 00:07:45,440 --> 00:07:48,160 Is not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than 133 00:07:48,160 --> 00:07:51,360 the vintage of Abbiezer? God has delivered into your 134 00:07:51,360 --> 00:07:54,960 hands the Princess of Midian Orb and Zeb, and what was I able to 135 00:07:54,960 --> 00:07:58,040 do in comparison with you? Then their anger toward him 136 00:07:58,120 --> 00:08:02,120 subsided when he said that so far so good, he did the right 137 00:08:02,120 --> 00:08:05,600 thing. After the war, Gideon had called 138 00:08:05,600 --> 00:08:10,480 out for help from some of the tribes, and help came, but the 139 00:08:10,920 --> 00:08:14,920 Ephraimites were angry that they had not been invited sooner, had 140 00:08:14,920 --> 00:08:18,480 been not been involved more, and they kind of felt left out. 141 00:08:18,640 --> 00:08:20,920 And so their pride and ego was hurt. 142 00:08:21,960 --> 00:08:24,960 And what exactly all their motives were, we don't know. 143 00:08:24,960 --> 00:08:27,520 Maybe they wanted more spoils of the war. 144 00:08:27,720 --> 00:08:30,120 They wanted some recognition from the battles. 145 00:08:30,240 --> 00:08:32,080 You know what we fought in that battle, so on. 146 00:08:32,120 --> 00:08:34,400 We don't know for sure. But anyway, they wanted in on 147 00:08:34,400 --> 00:08:37,960 the glory and the victory and Gideon is here getting rebuked 148 00:08:37,960 --> 00:08:41,200 and reprimanded by these men of Ephraim for not having included 149 00:08:41,200 --> 00:08:45,000 them more than he had. Well, Gideon had every right to 150 00:08:45,000 --> 00:08:47,000 justify what he did and explain himself. 151 00:08:47,000 --> 00:08:49,320 After all, God told me your army's too big and you need to 152 00:08:49,320 --> 00:08:52,120 cut down the army and so on. Does none of that just says look 153 00:08:52,120 --> 00:08:53,720 what you did. You captured orb and Z. 154 00:08:53,720 --> 00:08:56,560 That's better than what I did. He's a humble man. 155 00:08:57,160 --> 00:08:59,760 Gideon did what Proverbs 15 verse one writes. 156 00:09:00,160 --> 00:09:05,760 A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. 157 00:09:06,480 --> 00:09:09,640 Does it ever? How many of us at some point or 158 00:09:09,640 --> 00:09:12,200 other just wish, I wish I kept my mouth shut. 159 00:09:13,400 --> 00:09:16,440 I think all of us at some point have just thought, OK, no, I 160 00:09:16,440 --> 00:09:18,680 shouldn't have said that. I wish I kept my mouth shut. 161 00:09:18,840 --> 00:09:20,800 But you know what? There's a good answer for that. 162 00:09:20,840 --> 00:09:26,280 Repent, humility and repentance. It's hard, but it's good. 163 00:09:26,280 --> 00:09:30,000 It's healthy. And so Gideon, he starts out 164 00:09:30,000 --> 00:09:32,600 well here. He went on the pursuit of these 165 00:09:32,600 --> 00:09:37,800 kings and these, these Aphramites, they're upset. 166 00:09:37,800 --> 00:09:39,960 He says look what what you did was better than what I did. 167 00:09:39,960 --> 00:09:43,440 And off he goes. But now we see a shift 168 00:09:43,440 --> 00:09:44,360 happening. Let's continue. 169 00:09:44,360 --> 00:09:47,440 See, Gideon goes on the pursuit of the kings of Midian. 170 00:09:47,760 --> 00:09:51,320 He comes to a place called Sakath, Don't know if that's 171 00:09:51,320 --> 00:09:53,720 correct pronunciation. But anyway, he comes to this 172 00:09:53,720 --> 00:09:55,640 place. He asks the men of that place 173 00:09:55,640 --> 00:09:59,360 for bread for his army. His 300 guys were with him as 174 00:09:59,360 --> 00:10:02,240 he's chasing the Midianites. Well, they taunt him. 175 00:10:02,800 --> 00:10:04,880 They, they, they turn him down, taunting him. 176 00:10:04,880 --> 00:10:08,960 And who are you? And maybe these men of soccer 177 00:10:08,960 --> 00:10:12,880 think that Gideon, he's probably not going to win and the mobits 178 00:10:12,880 --> 00:10:14,920 are going to come back. And then we've chosen the wrong 179 00:10:14,920 --> 00:10:16,640 side. We don't know all the details, 180 00:10:17,000 --> 00:10:20,480 but they don't help him out. Well, Gideon is upset. 181 00:10:20,600 --> 00:10:22,240 And this is where the shift happens. 182 00:10:22,640 --> 00:10:27,120 Gideon is not humble anymore. And verse 7, if you follow in 183 00:10:27,120 --> 00:10:30,680 your Scripture, it tells us that Gideon is angry and he tells 184 00:10:30,680 --> 00:10:34,320 them what he's going to do. He says, OK, you won't give me 185 00:10:34,320 --> 00:10:36,520 bread. But when I capture those kings, 186 00:10:36,520 --> 00:10:39,200 when the Lord gives them into my hands, I'm going to come here. 187 00:10:39,240 --> 00:10:41,800 I'm going to tear your flesh with thorns of the desert. 188 00:10:42,200 --> 00:10:44,760 That's a threat. He's crediting God with 189 00:10:44,760 --> 00:10:47,040 delivering the kings into his hand that he's doing. 190 00:10:47,400 --> 00:10:50,120 But these thorns are not just simple small garden thistles. 191 00:10:50,400 --> 00:10:54,480 They're heavy, strong wooden thorns or wood like thorns that 192 00:10:54,480 --> 00:10:56,280 go deep, They're long, they're sharp. 193 00:10:56,920 --> 00:10:58,680 I'm going to punish you with thorns of the desert. 194 00:10:58,680 --> 00:10:59,720 They knew what he was talking about. 195 00:11:00,960 --> 00:11:03,040 Well, on he goes. He doesn't get help from them. 196 00:11:03,400 --> 00:11:06,200 He goes to the next city of Pennuell and he asks for bread 197 00:11:06,200 --> 00:11:08,280 as well. Again, they answer him in the 198 00:11:08,280 --> 00:11:11,280 same way he told these guys. When I come back here with my 199 00:11:11,720 --> 00:11:13,880 with victory, I'm going to tear down your tower. 200 00:11:14,560 --> 00:11:16,840 Where's soft answer? Turns away wrath. 201 00:11:16,880 --> 00:11:20,040 Where's that? A shift had taken place. 202 00:11:20,280 --> 00:11:22,320 Gideon had now become a man of power. 203 00:11:22,480 --> 00:11:25,080 He'd been chosen by God to lead this charge against the 204 00:11:25,080 --> 00:11:27,080 Mennonites. And it was wrong for the men of 205 00:11:27,080 --> 00:11:29,440 these places to not trust him enough to give him food. 206 00:11:29,920 --> 00:11:32,720 But how Gideon responded wasn't right either. 207 00:11:34,120 --> 00:11:38,560 You know, it's, it's weird how other people's sins reveal the 208 00:11:38,560 --> 00:11:42,440 sins in our own lives. Commentators mentioned that 209 00:11:42,440 --> 00:11:44,320 Gideon here had crossed the line. 210 00:11:45,000 --> 00:11:48,960 Now it had become personal. He had done this fighting. 211 00:11:48,960 --> 00:11:51,680 Sure, he had been in the lead, in the lead, he had been in 212 00:11:51,680 --> 00:11:54,680 charge. But now he makes it personal. 213 00:11:55,440 --> 00:12:00,920 Now he's into settling scores. Now it's not so much anymore 214 00:12:00,920 --> 00:12:03,320 doing it because God called me to do this, and all while these 215 00:12:03,320 --> 00:12:04,520 guys don't help me. So what? 216 00:12:05,120 --> 00:12:09,640 No, I'm going to make them pay. Sometimes this happens in life. 217 00:12:09,640 --> 00:12:15,520 Things are said, pride gets hurt, lines are drawn, scores 218 00:12:15,520 --> 00:12:19,960 are kept, people dig in, goodwill and humility evaporate. 219 00:12:21,000 --> 00:12:23,360 What had happened to Gideon? He had gotten power and he 220 00:12:23,360 --> 00:12:26,400 became angry. Now he's using his power in 221 00:12:26,400 --> 00:12:30,360 anger to control people and that's never good, but he 222 00:12:30,360 --> 00:12:32,640 continues the chase. We find further in chapter 8, 223 00:12:32,800 --> 00:12:34,120 the kings of Midian, they had fled. 224 00:12:34,120 --> 00:12:36,240 They had to had escaped to a place that they thought they 225 00:12:36,240 --> 00:12:38,080 were safe. You can read that in verse 10. 226 00:12:39,160 --> 00:12:44,600 They still had 15,000 men with them. 120 had fallen, 120,000 227 00:12:44,600 --> 00:12:46,640 had fallen. I want to mention also two 228 00:12:46,640 --> 00:12:49,200 Sundays ago when I preached on this, I didn't do my math 229 00:12:49,200 --> 00:12:50,440 correctly. Some of you may have caught 230 00:12:50,440 --> 00:12:53,280 that. I mentioned there were 120,000 231 00:12:53,280 --> 00:12:56,840 men and Gideon had three hundred, a ratio of 400 232 00:12:57,200 --> 00:13:01,440 Midianites to 1 Israelite, but actually my numbers were wrong. 233 00:13:01,440 --> 00:13:06,560 Actually the correct answer was there were 120,000 had fallen, 234 00:13:06,720 --> 00:13:10,520 15,000 remained, meaning there were 135,000 to begin with 235 00:13:10,520 --> 00:13:14,880 against Gideon's 300, which was actually 450 Midianites to an 236 00:13:14,880 --> 00:13:16,440 Israelite. So the the numbers were even 237 00:13:16,440 --> 00:13:19,240 farther apart. Now here there's still 15,000 238 00:13:19,240 --> 00:13:24,400 Midianites left and Gideon's on the attack and he still is 239 00:13:24,400 --> 00:13:27,160 vastly outnumbered. He's caught up with the kings, 240 00:13:27,160 --> 00:13:32,320 he charges and they flee and he captures the 2 kings of Midian. 241 00:13:32,600 --> 00:13:35,280 He achieves the objective and God is still with him. 242 00:13:36,000 --> 00:13:39,040 Now Gideon goes back the way he came, with his prisoners in tow, 243 00:13:39,320 --> 00:13:41,240 to the places he had earlier asked for bread. 244 00:13:41,240 --> 00:13:45,000 He comes to Sokkath and there he captures a young man outside the 245 00:13:45,000 --> 00:13:48,000 city and interrogates him. Who are the elders in the city? 246 00:13:48,560 --> 00:13:50,280 And the guy writes the names down for him. 247 00:13:50,280 --> 00:13:51,640 And Gideon does as he said he would. 248 00:13:51,640 --> 00:13:54,680 He teaches those men of Sokkath a lesson with thorns from the 249 00:13:54,680 --> 00:13:57,800 desert in anger. That's not relationship 250 00:13:57,800 --> 00:14:00,280 building, that's not conciliatory, that's not 251 00:14:00,280 --> 00:14:03,400 helping. He settles a score for all we 252 00:14:03,400 --> 00:14:05,440 can imagine. If anything, if there was 253 00:14:05,440 --> 00:14:08,680 already distance between him and these men now just grew even 254 00:14:08,680 --> 00:14:10,560 greater. He goes to the other town. 255 00:14:10,560 --> 00:14:13,720 Panda Will tore their city down down and kills the men in the 256 00:14:13,720 --> 00:14:16,320 city. Now let's keep in mind who's he 257 00:14:16,320 --> 00:14:18,840 killing. He's killing fellow Israelites 258 00:14:18,840 --> 00:14:21,480 in anger. He's killing his own countrymen. 259 00:14:23,280 --> 00:14:26,680 One has to say good moral leaders show self restraint and 260 00:14:26,680 --> 00:14:29,320 self-control. But here Gideon and Anger is 261 00:14:29,320 --> 00:14:31,720 killing his own countrymen because they wouldn't give him 262 00:14:31,720 --> 00:14:36,880 bread. He was going to prove himself. 263 00:14:37,440 --> 00:14:40,840 He's not finished yet. Next he goes he talks to the 2 264 00:14:40,840 --> 00:14:42,480 kings he had captured and asked them about. 265 00:14:42,480 --> 00:14:45,160 So what were those men on Mount Tabor that you killed? 266 00:14:45,360 --> 00:14:47,960 Now, obviously he's referring back to some earlier event 267 00:14:47,960 --> 00:14:50,680 before all this went down, when they were constantly raiding 268 00:14:50,840 --> 00:14:53,880 them and and robbing them. Who were the guys in Mount Tabor 269 00:14:53,880 --> 00:14:56,320 that you guys killed? Oh, they were like you looked 270 00:14:56,320 --> 00:14:59,480 like kings. And then Gideon says to them, 271 00:14:59,800 --> 00:15:01,840 they were my brothers. If you had spared them, I would 272 00:15:01,840 --> 00:15:05,520 spare you. And in anger, he takes charge. 273 00:15:05,920 --> 00:15:08,280 And he tells his son, Jethro, take your sword and kill these 274 00:15:08,280 --> 00:15:09,880 men. And there's a reason why he 275 00:15:09,880 --> 00:15:13,560 talked to his young younger, to his son who's who's a youth to 276 00:15:13,560 --> 00:15:16,200 kill these kings, because it would be humiliation for the 277 00:15:16,200 --> 00:15:19,120 kings to be killed by a youth. And it's just going to humiliate 278 00:15:19,120 --> 00:15:19,520 them. Yet. 279 00:15:20,240 --> 00:15:22,920 Well, he won't do it. He's too, too afraid. 280 00:15:23,080 --> 00:15:25,080 He's a youth. So he does it himself. 281 00:15:25,880 --> 00:15:27,640 But you know what James one verse 20 says? 282 00:15:28,000 --> 00:15:32,440 The wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of 283 00:15:32,440 --> 00:15:36,040 God. The wrath of man does not 284 00:15:36,040 --> 00:15:38,400 produce the righteousness of God. 285 00:15:41,880 --> 00:15:44,440 It gets worse after the war is over. 286 00:15:44,880 --> 00:15:47,680 Now the men of Israel come and ask Gideon to come and rule over 287 00:15:47,680 --> 00:15:50,400 them. Let's read verse 22 to 23. 288 00:15:51,520 --> 00:15:54,760 Then the men of Israel said to Gideon, Rule over us, both you 289 00:15:54,760 --> 00:15:57,400 and your son, and your grandson also, for you've delivered us 290 00:15:57,400 --> 00:16:00,320 from the hand of Midian. But Gideon said to him, I will 291 00:16:00,320 --> 00:16:02,680 not rule over you, nor shall my son rule over you. 292 00:16:02,800 --> 00:16:06,400 The Lord shall rule over you. Great, great statement. 293 00:16:06,760 --> 00:16:08,280 That's exactly what he should have said. 294 00:16:08,440 --> 00:16:12,480 But what's troubling here is the very thing God wanted the people 295 00:16:12,480 --> 00:16:16,120 to avoid from happening in Chapter 7 they're now doing in 296 00:16:16,120 --> 00:16:18,600 Chapter 7. God told Gideon, your army's too 297 00:16:18,600 --> 00:16:20,520 big if you win with this big army. 298 00:16:20,600 --> 00:16:22,960 The children of Israel said our own hand saved us. 299 00:16:23,480 --> 00:16:25,720 And now they were not taking credit to themselves. 300 00:16:25,800 --> 00:16:28,880 Hey, Gideon saved us. No, it was not Gideon, it was 301 00:16:28,880 --> 00:16:31,840 the Lord. But they claimed glory for 302 00:16:31,840 --> 00:16:33,560 Gideon. Big mistake. 303 00:16:34,200 --> 00:16:36,320 Well, Gideon says Nope, I'm not going to do it. 304 00:16:36,960 --> 00:16:39,920 Well, at least he says he's not going to do it. 305 00:16:39,920 --> 00:16:41,280 But let's see what's in his heart. 306 00:16:41,280 --> 00:16:43,280 He knew better. He did the right thing by 307 00:16:43,280 --> 00:16:45,240 refusing. But what was in his heart? 308 00:16:45,240 --> 00:16:47,040 Let's read on. Was he completely innocent? 309 00:16:47,040 --> 00:16:51,160 Let's read on. Verse 24 it says Gideon said to 310 00:16:51,160 --> 00:16:56,000 them, I would like to make a request of you that each of you 311 00:16:56,000 --> 00:16:58,040 would give me the earrings from his plunder. 312 00:16:58,200 --> 00:17:00,760 There was plunder, for they had golden earrings because they 313 00:17:00,760 --> 00:17:03,440 were Ishmaelites. So they answered, we will gladly 314 00:17:03,440 --> 00:17:05,319 give them. And they spread out a garment 315 00:17:05,319 --> 00:17:09,119 and each man threw it into it, the earrings from his plunder. 316 00:17:09,680 --> 00:17:12,960 Now the weight of the gold earrings that he requested was 317 00:17:12,960 --> 00:17:16,400 1700 shekels of gold beside the crescents, ornaments and 318 00:17:16,400 --> 00:17:19,560 pendants, purple robes which were on the kings of Midian, and 319 00:17:19,560 --> 00:17:22,000 besides the chains that were around the camel's necks. 320 00:17:22,560 --> 00:17:25,839 Then Gideon made it into an ephod and set it up in the city 321 00:17:25,839 --> 00:17:28,800 Ofra, and all Israel played the harlot with it. 322 00:17:28,800 --> 00:17:31,840 There it became a snare to Gideon and to his house. 323 00:17:32,160 --> 00:17:35,160 Thus meeting was subdued before the children of Israel, so they 324 00:17:35,160 --> 00:17:38,360 lifted their heads no more, and the country was quiet for 40 325 00:17:38,360 --> 00:17:43,880 years in the days of Gideon. Yes, good, but the seeds had 326 00:17:43,880 --> 00:17:45,880 been sown and they would bear fruit. 327 00:17:46,640 --> 00:17:50,240 No sooner had the people been free from bondage headed 328 00:17:50,240 --> 00:17:52,000 straight to another form of bondage. 329 00:17:52,320 --> 00:17:55,320 Gideon made this ephod and we don't know exactly what all was 330 00:17:55,320 --> 00:17:58,120 in his heart. Maybe it was kind of a memorial 331 00:17:58,280 --> 00:18:02,120 or what people built statues to celebrate, commemorate important 332 00:18:02,120 --> 00:18:03,360 events. Maybe that was it. 333 00:18:03,600 --> 00:18:06,560 I won't claim to say it was one, but one thing for sure. 334 00:18:06,800 --> 00:18:11,320 This was a, an, an object to kind of bring people together or 335 00:18:11,320 --> 00:18:15,320 to have a common focus. And I want to say in in Gideon's 336 00:18:15,320 --> 00:18:19,280 defense, he did not intend it to be an idol, but that is what it 337 00:18:19,280 --> 00:18:23,160 became. It was simply a replica of a 338 00:18:23,160 --> 00:18:25,720 priestly garment that the priests wore when they worship 339 00:18:25,720 --> 00:18:31,120 in the House of God. Sometimes an object may be put 340 00:18:31,160 --> 00:18:34,800 in place or a practice may be put in place for a good 341 00:18:34,800 --> 00:18:38,360 intention, but it ends up being something different. 342 00:18:38,560 --> 00:18:42,120 It gets misused. And no doubt this ephod was 343 00:18:42,280 --> 00:18:45,840 something like that. We say with confidence Gideon 344 00:18:45,840 --> 00:18:48,480 was not a man who planned to lead his nation into idol 345 00:18:48,480 --> 00:18:50,920 worship, but his actions still facilitated it. 346 00:18:51,560 --> 00:18:54,240 The gold ephod became a snare to Gideon in his family. 347 00:18:54,880 --> 00:18:58,200 It became not the pointer to a good event or a good history or 348 00:18:58,200 --> 00:19:01,160 to God. It itself became the point. 349 00:19:01,720 --> 00:19:05,720 It became an idol. What Gideon perhaps should have 350 00:19:05,720 --> 00:19:08,040 done is immediately just destroy it. 351 00:19:08,520 --> 00:19:10,880 But for all we know, he didn't deal with the issue at all. 352 00:19:11,520 --> 00:19:13,760 And then it goes on to say something else about getting as 353 00:19:13,760 --> 00:19:16,160 well. He had seventy sons who were his 354 00:19:16,160 --> 00:19:19,320 own offspring all. And then because he had many 355 00:19:19,320 --> 00:19:23,040 wives and so he had a lot of sons, and this was a weakness on 356 00:19:23,040 --> 00:19:26,000 his part. Under Old Testament law, it was 357 00:19:26,000 --> 00:19:29,400 allowed for a man to have numerous wives, but that was 358 00:19:29,400 --> 00:19:32,240 never God's plan. This is just an additional piece 359 00:19:32,240 --> 00:19:35,880 of information about getting as a man, besides his many wives, 360 00:19:35,880 --> 00:19:38,520 he had a slave woman or a woman who was as concubine, not 361 00:19:38,520 --> 00:19:41,640 married to her. She was his his wife, side wife 362 00:19:41,640 --> 00:19:46,720 for pleasure and that was it. And through her he had a son. 363 00:19:46,920 --> 00:19:49,080 And guess what? He named that son. 364 00:19:49,080 --> 00:19:52,560 He named that son Abimelech. The word Abimelech is a very 365 00:19:52,560 --> 00:19:54,920 interesting word. It's actually a name that means 366 00:19:54,920 --> 00:19:58,400 in Hebrew, my father is king. Let's imagine that. 367 00:19:58,400 --> 00:20:00,840 What's going on here? Here we have Gideon, the man who 368 00:20:00,840 --> 00:20:03,600 refuses to be king. He won't worship idols. 369 00:20:04,760 --> 00:20:06,280 And he doesn't want his sons to be king. 370 00:20:06,280 --> 00:20:10,640 But then he has a son and names that boy my father is king. 371 00:20:10,640 --> 00:20:12,920 So here's Abimelech walking around and say, hey, what's your 372 00:20:12,920 --> 00:20:14,600 name? My father is king. 373 00:20:16,280 --> 00:20:21,040 In all of this, we find a subtle hints that do not paint getting 374 00:20:21,040 --> 00:20:24,400 in a favorable light. Even though he refused this 375 00:20:24,400 --> 00:20:29,600 position of power and authority that was offered to him and he 376 00:20:29,680 --> 00:20:33,360 refused it, his mind still was not completely free from it. 377 00:20:34,920 --> 00:20:37,080 He was in some ways acting like 1. 378 00:20:39,600 --> 00:20:43,360 Well, let's continue reading Judges 8 verse 33 and on to 35. 379 00:20:44,040 --> 00:20:48,200 So it was as soon as Gideon was dead that the children of Israel 380 00:20:48,200 --> 00:20:51,640 played the harlot again, the harlot with the bales, and made 381 00:20:51,640 --> 00:20:54,440 Bale beareth their God. That's the children of Israel 382 00:20:54,440 --> 00:20:57,320 did not remember the Lord their God who had delivered them from 383 00:20:57,320 --> 00:21:00,600 the hands of all their enemies on every side, nor did they show 384 00:21:00,600 --> 00:21:03,680 kindness to the House of Jerobeal Gideon in accordance 385 00:21:03,680 --> 00:21:05,960 with the good he had done for Israel. 386 00:21:06,240 --> 00:21:13,680 How quickly people forget Noe Gideon was not who he or what he 387 00:21:13,680 --> 00:21:17,320 could have been, but he did a lot of good, but he didn't end 388 00:21:17,320 --> 00:21:20,760 on a high note. This is a sad thing when when 389 00:21:20,760 --> 00:21:24,280 when a person like that slides or or declines. 390 00:21:25,160 --> 00:21:27,880 It happens today all through society. 391 00:21:28,040 --> 00:21:32,560 It's easy to start well, but it's not that easy sometimes to 392 00:21:32,560 --> 00:21:35,400 finish well because the temptations are relentless. 393 00:21:35,480 --> 00:21:41,960 Opportunities galore everywhere. Now with Gideon gone, the nation 394 00:21:41,960 --> 00:21:45,000 goes into full blown idol worship again and again. 395 00:21:45,000 --> 00:21:48,920 Problems rise again. But you know, for the first time 396 00:21:49,560 --> 00:21:51,880 in the history of the judges. Now this was a long history 397 00:21:51,880 --> 00:21:56,520 already over 200 years by now. For the first time in the book 398 00:21:56,520 --> 00:22:00,360 of Judges, the problems that arise, they don't arise from 399 00:22:00,480 --> 00:22:05,080 outside now, they start within this time. 400 00:22:05,080 --> 00:22:07,400 It's not an outward enemy that's going to trouble them. 401 00:22:07,400 --> 00:22:10,120 It's an inward enemy that's going to come on the scene. 402 00:22:10,120 --> 00:22:12,440 Let's read Judges Chapter 9, verse one to six. 403 00:22:13,160 --> 00:22:16,600 Then Abimelech, this boy, the son of Jerobeil, went to 404 00:22:16,600 --> 00:22:18,800 Shechem, to his mother's brothers, and spoke with them 405 00:22:18,800 --> 00:22:21,440 and with all the family of the House of his mother's father, 406 00:22:24,120 --> 00:22:26,240 saying, please speak into hearing of all the men of 407 00:22:26,240 --> 00:22:27,400 Shechem. So these are his uncles. 408 00:22:28,000 --> 00:22:31,480 Which is better for you, that all seventy sons of the sons of 409 00:22:31,480 --> 00:22:33,840 Jerubel? Jerubel reign over you or that 410 00:22:33,840 --> 00:22:37,040 one reign over you? Remember, I am your own flesh 411 00:22:37,040 --> 00:22:39,320 and blood. Your own flesh and bone. 412 00:22:39,960 --> 00:22:45,040 Look how he starts. Gideon couldn't be persuaded to 413 00:22:45,040 --> 00:22:48,640 take the title. King Abimelech hunts for it. 414 00:22:48,800 --> 00:22:51,960 He goes after it. What's he doing right out of the 415 00:22:51,960 --> 00:22:53,760 gate? Everything is wrong. 416 00:22:54,120 --> 00:22:57,200 He gets to work campaigning, getting support from people who 417 00:22:57,200 --> 00:23:01,920 he believes will be on his side. The first thing we see about 418 00:23:01,920 --> 00:23:05,000 them like is his pride. He has a proud heart. 419 00:23:06,040 --> 00:23:09,600 At this point in the game, he does not yet have power to use 420 00:23:09,600 --> 00:23:13,040 his to use against the people that he's going to go after. 421 00:23:13,400 --> 00:23:15,840 But he will need backing to carry out his plan to become 422 00:23:15,840 --> 00:23:18,000 king. He desperately wants the 423 00:23:18,000 --> 00:23:20,200 position. He wants to be the king. 424 00:23:20,200 --> 00:23:23,640 He wants power to rule. You see when people start to 425 00:23:23,680 --> 00:23:27,360 advertise themselves and try to portray themselves, hey, look at 426 00:23:27,360 --> 00:23:29,840 me, I'm the guy for your next for that position. 427 00:23:30,400 --> 00:23:32,600 When that happens, be very careful. 428 00:23:33,280 --> 00:23:36,800 There are people who go and apply for a job and they don't 429 00:23:36,800 --> 00:23:41,160 even have the job yet. They try to convince their would 430 00:23:41,160 --> 00:23:44,360 be a boss, how lucky they would. You'd be lucky if you hire me 431 00:23:44,360 --> 00:23:48,560 kind of thing. He's saying this to his mother's 432 00:23:48,560 --> 00:23:52,360 brothers and his family uncles. Hey, look, I'm bringing lots to 433 00:23:52,360 --> 00:23:54,040 the table. Get me as your next leader. 434 00:23:55,240 --> 00:23:58,240 If people come to you and flatter you, why you why they 435 00:23:58,240 --> 00:24:00,320 should put you in such and such a position? 436 00:24:00,760 --> 00:24:04,760 General rule, don't go for it. I've sat with different leaders 437 00:24:04,960 --> 00:24:08,280 who've hired someone for their workplace or organization only 438 00:24:08,280 --> 00:24:11,360 so badly to wish they had never hired that guy for that job. 439 00:24:12,640 --> 00:24:16,280 It's a lot harder to terminate someone than it is to hire them. 440 00:24:16,920 --> 00:24:20,240 Just count the stories of workplaces hiring the wrong 441 00:24:20,240 --> 00:24:23,280 people and and thinking they were the right people only to 442 00:24:23,280 --> 00:24:24,840 find out, oh, they had an agenda. 443 00:24:25,200 --> 00:24:28,040 They're not here for the for the industry or for the 444 00:24:28,080 --> 00:24:29,840 organization. They're here just to gain 445 00:24:29,840 --> 00:24:31,520 control. Happens everywhere. 446 00:24:31,920 --> 00:24:36,080 Here in the story of judges is a picture of a self focused power 447 00:24:36,080 --> 00:24:39,240 hungry man. He saw an opportunity to gain a 448 00:24:39,240 --> 00:24:43,160 foothold and to take power. And here's he's requesting 449 00:24:43,160 --> 00:24:45,360 others to do the work of persuading the people in the 450 00:24:45,360 --> 00:24:50,400 town to do his favor. Hey uncles, put in a good word 451 00:24:50,400 --> 00:24:51,920 for me. I should be your king. 452 00:24:54,480 --> 00:24:59,200 Let's continue reading verse 3. And his mother's brothers, his 453 00:24:59,200 --> 00:25:02,360 uncles, spoke all these words concerning him in the hearing of 454 00:25:02,360 --> 00:25:03,960 all the men of Shechem. See, now it's spreading. 455 00:25:04,280 --> 00:25:07,960 And their heart was inclined to follow Abimelech, for they said 456 00:25:07,960 --> 00:25:11,000 He's our brother. So they gave him 70 shekels of 457 00:25:11,000 --> 00:25:14,200 silver from the temple of Bale Beareth, which with which 458 00:25:14,200 --> 00:25:18,040 Abimelech hired worthless and reckless men, and they followed 459 00:25:18,040 --> 00:25:19,200 him. Success. 460 00:25:21,640 --> 00:25:25,480 His wicked plan worked. He had convinced his uncles and 461 00:25:25,480 --> 00:25:27,360 he had gotten their support and they're spreading it now. 462 00:25:27,360 --> 00:25:29,880 He gets the following. Next, he's given money from the 463 00:25:29,880 --> 00:25:31,760 temple out of the treasury of Baal. 464 00:25:32,080 --> 00:25:35,560 He uses that money, hires for himself some maybe a bodyguard, 465 00:25:35,560 --> 00:25:38,960 some reckless men who he could use to do what he wanted them. 466 00:25:39,120 --> 00:25:41,880 He's smart. These men could be bought. 467 00:25:42,120 --> 00:25:44,320 All they cared about was how much are we getting paid? 468 00:25:44,560 --> 00:25:48,160 Let's continue on verse 5. Then he went. 469 00:25:48,840 --> 00:25:51,120 Now he has this following, he has this gang. 470 00:25:51,480 --> 00:25:55,240 He went to his father's house at Ofra and killed his brothers, 471 00:25:55,600 --> 00:25:58,600 the 70 sons of Jerebel, on us on one stone. 472 00:25:59,080 --> 00:26:02,480 But Jotham, the youngest son of Jerebel, was left because he hid 473 00:26:02,480 --> 00:26:05,480 himself. And all the men of Shechem 474 00:26:05,480 --> 00:26:08,720 gathered together, all of Beth Milo, and they went and made 475 00:26:08,720 --> 00:26:11,560 Abimelech king beside the terebin's tree at the pillar. 476 00:26:11,560 --> 00:26:13,880 That wasn't Shechem. The deed was done. 477 00:26:14,640 --> 00:26:18,160 Abimelech had gotten the support he wanted, his uncles had gotten 478 00:26:18,160 --> 00:26:20,600 the men of Shechem on board and they had gotten a good 479 00:26:20,600 --> 00:26:23,120 following. He got the financial backing, he 480 00:26:23,120 --> 00:26:26,280 got his gang together, he got rid of the possible competition, 481 00:26:26,280 --> 00:26:29,640 his half brothers, and they had made him king. 482 00:26:29,920 --> 00:26:32,800 He was not really truly a king, but he had the title now. 483 00:26:32,920 --> 00:26:36,880 What could go wrong, right? He had all that he wanted and 484 00:26:36,880 --> 00:26:39,400 that he needed. He was king and proud of it. 485 00:26:39,400 --> 00:26:42,240 He was at the top. The youngest son, Jotham, had 486 00:26:42,240 --> 00:26:44,960 escaped. He had not gotten killed when 487 00:26:45,000 --> 00:26:47,360 all his other brothers had gotten killed and he'd gotten 488 00:26:47,360 --> 00:26:48,880 away. He went into hiding. 489 00:26:49,080 --> 00:26:51,680 When he heard what happened, he gave a warning and we find this 490 00:26:51,680 --> 00:26:55,320 warning in chapter in Chapter 9, verse 7 to 21. 491 00:26:55,320 --> 00:26:58,120 I don't believe you have that on on the PowerPoint, but Judges 97 492 00:26:58,120 --> 00:27:03,280 to 21 beginning verse 7. Now when they told Jotham, he 493 00:27:03,280 --> 00:27:05,680 went and stood on top of Mount Garrett's team and lifted his 494 00:27:05,680 --> 00:27:08,200 voice and crowd out and said to them, listen to me. 495 00:27:08,200 --> 00:27:10,600 You men have Shechem that God may listen to you. 496 00:27:11,040 --> 00:27:13,480 The trees once went forth to anoint the king over them, and 497 00:27:13,480 --> 00:27:15,440 they said to the olive tree, Reign over us. 498 00:27:15,960 --> 00:27:18,760 But the olive tree said to them, Should I cease giving my oil, 499 00:27:19,000 --> 00:27:22,640 with which my which which they honor God and men, and go to 500 00:27:22,640 --> 00:27:25,520 sway over trees. Then the trees said to the fig 501 00:27:25,520 --> 00:27:27,280 tree, You come and reign over us. 502 00:27:27,680 --> 00:27:30,160 But the fig tree said to them, Should I cease my sweetness and 503 00:27:30,160 --> 00:27:31,960 my good fruit, and go to sway over trees? 504 00:27:32,440 --> 00:27:34,560 Then the tree said to the vine, You come and reign over us. 505 00:27:34,560 --> 00:27:37,200 But the vine said to them, Should I cease my new wine, 506 00:27:37,200 --> 00:27:39,720 which cheers both God and men, go to sway over trees. 507 00:27:40,120 --> 00:27:42,480 Then all the trees said to the Bramble, You come and reign over 508 00:27:42,480 --> 00:27:43,920 us. And the Bramble said to the 509 00:27:43,920 --> 00:27:47,040 trees, If in truth you anoint me as your king, then come and take 510 00:27:47,040 --> 00:27:49,640 shelter in my shade, but if not, let fire come out of the Bramble 511 00:27:49,840 --> 00:27:52,320 and devour the Cedars of Lebanon. 512 00:27:52,760 --> 00:27:55,600 That was the parable that Jotham told to the men of Shechem. 513 00:27:56,640 --> 00:27:59,240 Then he explains it. He says Now therefore we're 16. 514 00:27:59,480 --> 00:28:02,560 If you have acted in truth and sincerity and making the demo 515 00:28:02,560 --> 00:28:05,520 like king, and if you have dwelt with, dealt well with Jerry 516 00:28:05,520 --> 00:28:08,200 Bello and his house and have done to him what he deserves. 517 00:28:08,520 --> 00:28:10,920 For my father fought for you, risked his life and delivered 518 00:28:10,920 --> 00:28:13,280 you out of the hand of Midian. But you've risen up against my 519 00:28:13,280 --> 00:28:15,840 father's house this day and killed his seventy sons on one 520 00:28:15,840 --> 00:28:19,520 stone, and made Abimelech the son of his female servant, king 521 00:28:19,520 --> 00:28:21,320 over the men of Shechem, because he's your brother. 522 00:28:21,600 --> 00:28:25,280 If then you've acted in truth and sincerity with Jaribel, with 523 00:28:25,280 --> 00:28:27,840 his house this day, then rejoice in Abimelech. 524 00:28:27,960 --> 00:28:32,000 Let him rejoice in you. But if not, let fire come from 525 00:28:32,000 --> 00:28:34,360 Abimelech and devour the men of Shechem and Beth Milo, And let 526 00:28:34,360 --> 00:28:36,560 fire come from the men of Shechem, and from Beth Milo and 527 00:28:36,560 --> 00:28:43,280 devour Abimelech in verse 21. And Jonathan ran away and fled 528 00:28:43,280 --> 00:28:45,760 and went to Beer and dwelt there for fear of Abimelech. 529 00:28:45,760 --> 00:28:49,200 His brother Jotham, the youngest, pronounced a curse on 530 00:28:49,200 --> 00:28:51,480 what had happened, and he fled because he was afraid for his 531 00:28:51,480 --> 00:28:53,680 life. Let's read verse 22. 532 00:28:53,680 --> 00:28:56,560 Now Continue reading. After Abimelech had reigned over 533 00:28:56,720 --> 00:29:00,080 Israel three years, God sent a spirit of ill will between 534 00:29:00,080 --> 00:29:01,800 Abimelech and the men of Shechem. 535 00:29:02,120 --> 00:29:04,640 And the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech, 536 00:29:06,000 --> 00:29:09,160 that the crime done to the 70 sons of Jerebel might be settled 537 00:29:09,280 --> 00:29:11,640 and their blood be laid on Abimelech, their brother who 538 00:29:11,640 --> 00:29:14,440 killed them, and on the men of Shechem who aided him in the 539 00:29:14,440 --> 00:29:17,320 killing of his brothers. And the men of Shechem sent men 540 00:29:17,320 --> 00:29:20,400 an ambush against him on the tops of the mountains, and they 541 00:29:20,400 --> 00:29:22,880 robbed all who passed by them along the way. 542 00:29:23,240 --> 00:29:27,040 And it was told Abimelech 3 years, that's it, That's all he 543 00:29:27,040 --> 00:29:29,880 got. And it didn't go well. 544 00:29:31,320 --> 00:29:33,040 Was it worth it? Of course not. 545 00:29:33,120 --> 00:29:35,640 In the light of eternity, something like Abimelech did is 546 00:29:35,640 --> 00:29:39,120 never worth it. It tells us that God sent his 547 00:29:39,120 --> 00:29:41,840 spirit of ill will between Abimelech and the men of 548 00:29:41,840 --> 00:29:44,520 Shechem, and it says they dealt treacherously with him. 549 00:29:44,520 --> 00:29:48,000 Yes, evil spirits exist. There was a spirit of ill will 550 00:29:48,000 --> 00:29:51,720 sent by God to go between Abimelech and these people. 551 00:29:52,040 --> 00:29:54,920 God wasn't watching. He was putting the wheels in 552 00:29:54,920 --> 00:29:57,520 motion to bring Abimelech to justice. 553 00:29:58,000 --> 00:30:01,480 It has been said that the wheels of justice grind slowly and 554 00:30:01,480 --> 00:30:04,880 sometimes they do, but they do eventually bring justice. 555 00:30:05,160 --> 00:30:09,320 God was getting ready to let Abimelech reap what he had sown. 556 00:30:09,800 --> 00:30:13,440 He had sown treachery and murder and he would reap disaster. 557 00:30:13,920 --> 00:30:16,720 It tells us the men set an ambush against the him on the 558 00:30:16,720 --> 00:30:19,480 tops of the mountains. Commentators write that this was 559 00:30:19,480 --> 00:30:23,520 These were travel routes here and caravans and travelers would 560 00:30:23,520 --> 00:30:26,560 come through them and maybe had to pay tolls and taxes for 561 00:30:26,560 --> 00:30:31,840 passing through these areas. And so now Bimlex doesn't get 562 00:30:31,840 --> 00:30:33,560 these revenues and they're getting robbed. 563 00:30:33,560 --> 00:30:38,440 And so Bimlex is told what's going on and he's going to deal 564 00:30:38,440 --> 00:30:41,760 with it. There's something for us to 565 00:30:41,760 --> 00:30:44,440 learn here. If you're dealing with a person 566 00:30:44,440 --> 00:30:48,320 who's friendly to you, who wants to be on your team, but he has 567 00:30:48,320 --> 00:30:51,960 no problem being mean to other people, trampling on them, and 568 00:30:51,960 --> 00:30:54,080 just being proud and arrogant, then watch out. 569 00:30:54,480 --> 00:30:57,960 They may be your friend early on, in the early stages, they 570 00:30:57,960 --> 00:31:00,600 may not be robbing you. They may be treating you better 571 00:31:00,600 --> 00:31:01,760 than others. But watch out. 572 00:31:01,760 --> 00:31:04,880 As soon as they find it to their benefit to be mean to you, 573 00:31:05,360 --> 00:31:08,320 reject you, malign you, discredit you, they will. 574 00:31:08,800 --> 00:31:12,120 That's what people do in these kinds of scenarios. 575 00:31:12,760 --> 00:31:16,960 Abimelech was an evil man and he had hired evil people and they 576 00:31:16,960 --> 00:31:22,640 got along well, but only so long, all within a span of three 577 00:31:22,640 --> 00:31:26,400 years. Let's continue reading Chapter 578 00:31:26,400 --> 00:31:29,560 9, verse 26. Now GAIL, the son of Ebet, came 579 00:31:29,560 --> 00:31:31,760 with his brothers and went over to Shechem. 580 00:31:31,760 --> 00:31:34,480 I don't know who he was. I didn't do a lot of study on 581 00:31:34,480 --> 00:31:36,520 him, any study. In fact, it just just in the 582 00:31:36,520 --> 00:31:39,760 story here and says the men of Shechem put their confidence in 583 00:31:39,760 --> 00:31:41,680 him. You see the shift, the loyalty 584 00:31:41,680 --> 00:31:45,280 to Abimelech is now shifted to ebed and now the trail begins 585 00:31:45,480 --> 00:31:47,160 betrayal. So they went out into the 586 00:31:47,160 --> 00:31:50,000 fields, verse 27, and gathered grapes from the vineyards and 587 00:31:50,000 --> 00:31:53,120 tried them and made merry and they went into the House of 588 00:31:53,120 --> 00:31:55,960 their God and ate and drank and cursed Abimelech. 589 00:31:56,160 --> 00:31:59,280 Then GAIL, the son of Ebet said, who's Abimelech and who's 590 00:31:59,280 --> 00:32:00,640 Shechem that we should serve him? 591 00:32:00,920 --> 00:32:04,200 Is he not the son of Jerebel? This is about Zebulu's officer. 592 00:32:04,200 --> 00:32:06,200 Serve the men of Hammer, the father of Shechem. 593 00:32:06,360 --> 00:32:09,520 Why should we serve him? If only this people were under 594 00:32:09,520 --> 00:32:12,320 my authority, then I would remove Abimelech. 595 00:32:12,600 --> 00:32:15,240 So he said to Abimelech, increase your army and come out 596 00:32:16,560 --> 00:32:20,280 open defiance. Abimelech now was facing the 597 00:32:20,280 --> 00:32:23,080 exact thing that he had done to his own family. 598 00:32:24,160 --> 00:32:25,880 He would now face open rebellion. 599 00:32:26,440 --> 00:32:29,800 For first time in Israel there was internal war. 600 00:32:30,840 --> 00:32:33,800 We read the fighting broke out between Abimelech and Gale and 601 00:32:33,800 --> 00:32:36,520 the Abimelech did have the upper hand initially, but in the end 602 00:32:36,520 --> 00:32:40,920 he met his demise. Abimelech did fight against Gale 603 00:32:40,920 --> 00:32:43,200 in a number of cities, overpowered the opposition, but 604 00:32:43,200 --> 00:32:44,720 then he came to a place where he met his. 605 00:32:44,720 --> 00:32:48,520 And in Judges Chapter 9 verse 50 we find in the town of Thebes. 606 00:32:48,960 --> 00:32:51,960 Then Abimelech went to Thebes and he camped against Thebes and 607 00:32:51,960 --> 00:32:54,040 took it. But there was a strong tower in 608 00:32:54,040 --> 00:32:56,920 the city, and all the men and women, all the people of the 609 00:32:56,920 --> 00:32:58,760 city, fled there and shut themselves in. 610 00:32:59,400 --> 00:33:01,120 Then they went up to the top of the tower. 611 00:33:01,400 --> 00:33:04,000 So Abimelech came as far as the tower and fought against it. 612 00:33:04,280 --> 00:33:06,840 He drew near the door of the tower to burn it with fire. 613 00:33:07,280 --> 00:33:10,280 But a certain woman dropped an upper millstone on Abimelech's 614 00:33:10,280 --> 00:33:13,280 head and crushed his skull. Then he quickly called to the 615 00:33:13,280 --> 00:33:15,920 young man, his armor bearer, and said, Draw your sword and kill 616 00:33:15,920 --> 00:33:17,760 me, lest men save me. A woman killed him. 617 00:33:18,160 --> 00:33:20,920 So his young man thrust him through, and he died. 618 00:33:21,640 --> 00:33:24,440 And when the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, they 619 00:33:24,440 --> 00:33:29,400 departed every man to his place. Thus God repaid the wickedness 620 00:33:29,400 --> 00:33:32,240 of Abimelech, which he had done to his father by killing his 621 00:33:32,240 --> 00:33:35,760 seventy brothers and all the evil of the men of Shechem. 622 00:33:35,760 --> 00:33:39,000 God returned on their own heads, and on them came the curse of 623 00:33:39,000 --> 00:33:45,000 Jotham, the son of Jarabel at the end, who dealt Abimelech his 624 00:33:45,000 --> 00:33:48,240 last card. God, did you know something? 625 00:33:48,960 --> 00:33:51,800 With the death of Abimelech, problems were mostly gone. 626 00:33:53,200 --> 00:33:56,920 One man in so much trouble. Think of it, what pride and 627 00:33:56,920 --> 00:34:00,440 power did? Abimelech was a man filled with 628 00:34:00,440 --> 00:34:02,480 pride. He hungered for power and he 629 00:34:02,480 --> 00:34:05,440 took it, wanting to rule Israel for his own benefit. 630 00:34:05,760 --> 00:34:09,199 And God stopped him after only three years. 631 00:34:10,320 --> 00:34:13,440 The pride in Abimelech's heart led him to his quest for power, 632 00:34:13,600 --> 00:34:15,600 and when he had it, it led to his ruin. 633 00:34:16,120 --> 00:34:17,679 Notice something about Abimelech. 634 00:34:18,080 --> 00:34:23,400 He remained proud, unbending, unrepentant, and defy it to the 635 00:34:23,400 --> 00:34:25,120 bitter end. That's how he died. 636 00:34:29,000 --> 00:34:32,600 What Bimelech did was sad. But you know what's even sadder? 637 00:34:32,840 --> 00:34:36,480 It's sadder how many people in Israel were drawn down into his 638 00:34:36,480 --> 00:34:39,679 net, went down with him. How much bloodshed happened 639 00:34:39,679 --> 00:34:42,000 because of his ambitions, his arrogance, his pride, and his 640 00:34:42,000 --> 00:34:44,840 grabbing for power. What should Scripture teach us, 641 00:34:44,880 --> 00:34:47,400 teach us here? What is the take away here from 642 00:34:47,400 --> 00:34:54,239 Judges Chapter 8 and 9? Sin does not pay, sin is not 643 00:34:54,239 --> 00:34:56,920 worth it. Power and pride mixed is an 644 00:34:56,920 --> 00:35:00,320 awful combination. Paul has something to say to his 645 00:35:00,320 --> 00:35:03,440 readers, to his audience when it comes to walking with Jesus in 646 00:35:03,440 --> 00:35:07,200 Philippians chapter 2 verse 3 says let nothing be done through 647 00:35:07,200 --> 00:35:11,400 selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind. 648 00:35:11,400 --> 00:35:13,680 Let each esteem others better than himself. 649 00:35:14,120 --> 00:35:15,720 You know Jesus is a good example. 650 00:35:15,720 --> 00:35:19,400 He set aside all power, all glory, and became a humble man 651 00:35:19,400 --> 00:35:22,440 and served. We do not find anywhere in 652 00:35:22,440 --> 00:35:25,720 Scripture, at least I don't find anywhere in Scripture where 653 00:35:25,720 --> 00:35:28,720 anyone has succeeded who got tangled up with power and 654 00:35:28,720 --> 00:35:31,000 control together and at the same time finished. 655 00:35:31,000 --> 00:35:34,720 Well, I don't know of anyone, but there are those who remained 656 00:35:34,720 --> 00:35:39,200 humble even when they came into power and did a lot of good for 657 00:35:39,200 --> 00:35:41,680 God's glory and the benefit of their fellow human beings. 658 00:35:41,960 --> 00:35:43,840 Take for instance, the story of Joseph. 659 00:35:44,760 --> 00:35:49,120 He was sold as a young man, unjustly treated, sold as a 660 00:35:49,120 --> 00:35:53,400 slave to Egypt, unjustly treated by Potiphar's wife, imprisoned, 661 00:35:53,960 --> 00:35:56,440 forgotten in prison. One day God ordained the events 662 00:35:56,440 --> 00:36:00,720 so that he became the Prime Minister of Egypt, and he was 663 00:36:01,120 --> 00:36:05,280 placed there for a time to save Egypt out of the the famine that 664 00:36:05,280 --> 00:36:07,480 was going to come. When the famine came, his 665 00:36:07,480 --> 00:36:11,000 brothers came to buy grain. He instantly recognized them. 666 00:36:11,840 --> 00:36:13,680 He had no pride and knowledge toward them. 667 00:36:13,840 --> 00:36:16,520 He could have executed his brothers and nobody would have 668 00:36:16,520 --> 00:36:20,440 lifted a finger. He had power, He had control, 669 00:36:20,960 --> 00:36:24,520 but He had humility. You and I today can choose the 670 00:36:24,520 --> 00:36:27,800 path you want to follow. Do we want to follow the path of 671 00:36:27,800 --> 00:36:29,720 pride? We choose that. 672 00:36:30,040 --> 00:36:32,360 Do we want power? That should alarm us? 673 00:36:32,360 --> 00:36:34,600 If we do, that needs to be repented of. 674 00:36:36,440 --> 00:36:38,800 Do we want to be like Abimelech, where it's all about what I 675 00:36:38,800 --> 00:36:40,440 want? My way is the best way. 676 00:36:41,320 --> 00:36:45,120 Or can I trust Jesus, walk in his footsteps, and then connect 677 00:36:45,120 --> 00:36:47,560 with fellow believers and see what's good for the greater good 678 00:36:47,800 --> 00:36:51,760 for all of us together? When a person let's go of power 679 00:36:51,760 --> 00:36:55,880 and control, there is a sweet surrender, a sweet release, and 680 00:36:55,880 --> 00:36:58,960 the security in Christ that far surpasses anything this world 681 00:36:58,960 --> 00:37:02,360 has to offer. When we surrender to Jesus, when 682 00:37:02,360 --> 00:37:04,480 we come into relationship with Jesus, there's the sweet 683 00:37:04,480 --> 00:37:10,480 fellowship seeking after his will, the well-being of others. 684 00:37:12,000 --> 00:37:15,920 And when we seek to serve instead of be served, When we 685 00:37:15,920 --> 00:37:19,760 seek to honor others instead of seeking honor, when we lay down 686 00:37:19,760 --> 00:37:22,320 our aspirations, our desires and ambitions for the benefit of 687 00:37:22,320 --> 00:37:27,520 others, that is where the Spirit of God dwells, and that is where 688 00:37:27,520 --> 00:37:31,680 there is peace. Let's pray, Lord, we have seen 689 00:37:31,680 --> 00:37:34,640 how easy it is to give into the temptation of pride and power. 690 00:37:35,360 --> 00:37:38,520 Help us, Lord, to stay clear of the snares and traps of power 691 00:37:38,520 --> 00:37:41,360 and pride. Lord, may you be gracious to us, 692 00:37:41,360 --> 00:37:43,720 revealed to us where we have compromised and are in that 693 00:37:43,720 --> 00:37:46,280 trap. Help us Lord, and help set us 694 00:37:46,280 --> 00:37:48,400 free. We pray, Lord, that as we leave 695 00:37:48,400 --> 00:37:51,880 here today, that we will leave here walking with you, following 696 00:37:51,880 --> 00:37:56,080 your example and be like your Saints of old and avoid those 697 00:37:56,640 --> 00:38:00,160 who are like Abimelech. Help us, Lord Jesus, to be 698 00:38:00,760 --> 00:38:02,680 faithful, to be humble and obedient to you. 699 00:38:02,680 --> 00:38:04,120 We're thanking your Lord, and we pray. 700 00:38:04,240 --> 00:38:04,480 Amen.