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Gideon's Compromise and God's Design for Marriage 0:09 Good morning. Welcome to Stand on the Word. Thanks for joining me this morning as our journey takes us to Judges chapter 9 verse 23. God sent a spirit of ill will between Abimelech and the son and the men0:21 of Shechem, and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech. Now last time in our discussion of Gideon, we looked at his poor judgment and lack of discernment in his making of the ephod0:33 of the gold that he had taken from the Midianites. It became an idol for the people, turning their hearts away from God. Well, there was another example of of poor judgment that we didn't look at last time,0:45 and that was his many wives. That is that was and is counter to God's plan. I'm hard pressed to point to an example in scripture or elsewhere for that matter, where multiple0:57 wives produces a good result. From the start, God's design for marriage was for 1 man and 1 woman to be in a lifelong, monogamous relationship. In fact, Jesus affirmed1:09 affirmed God's design for marriage in Matthew chapter 19 when he was confronted by the Pharisees. In fact, let me just read that verse 3, chapter 19 of Matthew. The Pharisees also came to him, testing him, and saying to1:21 him, is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason? And he answered and said to them, have you not read that he who made them at the beginning made them male and female, and said for this reason, a man1:32 shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the 2 shall become 1 flesh? So then they are no longer 2, but 1 flesh. Therefore, what god has joined together, let not man separate. Now in1:44 those 4 verses, Jesus addresses 3 of the most contentious issues of our day. Number 1, the origins of life. God is the author of life. Therefore, we shouldn't be taking1:56 it. Abortion. Alright? 2, gender. There's only 2. And 3, marriage. Male and female. The idea that 2 men or 2 women could be married is2:07 thoroughly thoroughly refuted by the bible. Now just to be clear, these are not political issues that we're attempting to shed biblical light on. These are These are2:19 first and foremost spiritual and biblical issues that have been made into political issues with the goal there's a goal behind that, and that is removing god's authority2:32 from the discussion. Okay. Let me move on. From his many wives, he had 70 sons. Wow. Can you remember I I can't even imagine trying to find birthday cards for all of2:43 those. But those many wives were apparently not enough. Isn't that interesting? Once we go outside of god's design, we're never satisfied. He had a concubine. A concubine was a secondary wife or2:56 an acknowledged mistress. She was in the city of Shechem. That's where where she lived. Now this is the city that's between, it's in the valley between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim.3:08 At at the time, it was occupied primarily by Canaanites. Now the Bible doesn't say this specifically, but scholars believe that she was most likely, this concubine, was a Canaanite,3:21 which god specifically told the Israelites when they came into the land not to intermarry. She produced a son. The son's name was Abimelech.Abimelech's Treachery and Jotham's Warning Parable 3:33 Alright. Let's begin verse 1 chapter 9. Then Abimelech, the son of Jerubbaal, which was Gideon, went to Shechem, to his mother's brothers, and3:45 spoke with them and with all the family of the house of his mother's father, saying, please speak in the hearing of all the men of Shechem. Which is better for you, than all3:56 70 of the sons of Jerobo Jerabbal reign over you or that 1 reign over you? Remember that I'm your own flesh and and bone. And4:08 his mother's brothers spoke all these words concerning him in the hearing of the men of Shekem, and their heart was inclined to follow Abimelech, for they said, he is our brother. So they gave him 70 shekels of silver4:20 from4:34 the of value. So here's the situation. He he goes back to Shechem, to these people. He says, look. Would you rather 70 sons roll over you or me? I'm4:46 I'm I'm related to you. Verse 7, verse 5. Then Then he went to his father's house at Ophrah and killed his brothers, the 70 sons of Jerubbaal4:58 on a stone. But Jotham, the youngest son of Jerubbaal, Jerubbaal was left because he hid himself, and all the men of Shechem gathered together, all of Beth Milo, and5:10 they they went and made Abimelech king beside the terebin tree at the pillar that was in Shechem. So Gideon's youngest son, had escaped the sword.5:29 Bramble bush. Olive tree, a fig, and a bramble bush. Look at verse 7. Now, when they told Jotham, he went and stood on top of Mount Gerazim. Now, remember that this is the mount of blessing5:41 that stands opposite of Ebal looking down on Shekem. And this was a place of the blessing and the cursings. And he lifted up his voice and cried out and said to them, listen to me, you men of Shechem, that5:52 God may listen to you. The tree once went forth to anoint a king over them, and they said to the olive tree, reign over us. But the olive tree said to them, should I cease giving my oil with6:04 which they honor god and men and go to sway over trees? Then the tree said to the fig tree, you come and reign over us. But the fig tree said to them, should I cease my sweetness and my good fruit and go to sway over6:15 trees? Then the tree said to the vine, you come and reign over us, but the vine said, should I cease my new wine which cheers both god and men and go sway over trees? Then all the trees said to the bramble, you6:27 come and reign over us. And the bramble said to the trees, if in truth you anoint me as king over you, then come and take shelter in my shade, but if not, let fire come down on of the bramble6:39 out of the bramble and devour the cedars of Lebanon. So the olive tree provided oil for the tabernacle, the fig, the food for people, the vine, wine that6:51 cheered the heart, and then the bramble, well, it was a nuisance, and it was burned in the fire. So recall that, the people had asked Gideon and his sons to be their king, but7:03 he said no. Well, Abimelech, seeing the void of leadership, seeks to advance himself, and this is this is typical. You know, it's it's gonna7:15 be filled by something. Right? And so he seeks to do that. And, technically, Abimelech is the first king in Israel. He sees the first to carry that title. Now his role is7:27 limited. It's centered around Shekem. He's selected by the leaders of, predominantly a Canaanite city unlike Saul who was selected by god for the entire nation.7:38 Abimelech holds this position for 3 years. Look at verse 23. God sent a spirit of ill will between Abimalek and the men of Shekem and the men of Shekem dealt treacherously with Abimalek. He says, the theGod's Justice: The Fall of Abimelech and Shechem 7:50 word that Jotham sent forth. That the crime done to the 7 this is verse 24. That the crime done to the 70 sons of Jerubbaal might be settled and their8:02 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. Again, this was the fulfillment of Jotham's prophetic or insightful8:13 word about the outcome of evil. You know, god's presence, his presence through the church restrains sin and the evil,8:26 that feeds and drives it. Okay? God god's that that's why it's it's so important for the the church to be present. Now, if you remove that and that's what we've kinda seen the church retreating.8:38 If you remove that, then evil abounds. You know, we hear we hear a lot today about karma. Alright? That's comes from this from Eastern religions and basically says you give, get what you give.8:50 Now, you know, it says your your intentional actions result in what comes your way. You know, there there's some truth in this but it's not karma. Alright? It is the consequence of our9:01 choices. Evil follows evil. We do evil and evil comes upon us but it's not karma. It's just the way god created things. Abimalek was an evil and a ruthless man and we see his fate and9:13 those in league with him. The men of Shechem turned on Abimelech, throwing in with another worthless character, Gaal, the son of Abed, who appears9:25 to be all hat and no cattle. Look at verse 28. Then Gaal, the son of Ebed, said, who is Abimelech, and who is Shechem that we should serve9:37 him? Is he not the son of Jerubbaal, and is not Zebul his officer? Serve the men of Hamor, who was the founder of Shechem, the9:48 father of Shechem, but why should we serve him? Referring to Abimelech. If only these people were under my authority, then I would remove Abimelech. So he said to Abimelech,10:00 increase your army and come out. So he gets what he asked for. He gets a confrontation with Abimelech, and what does he do? He tucks tucks tail and he runs. Meanwhile, Abimelech destroys Shechem. Verse10:12 45. So Abimelech fought against the city all day. He took the city and killed the people who were in it, and he demolished the city and sold it with salt. As the leaders retreated to the tower, apparently connected to10:24 the temple of the local demonic deity, Abimelech sets it on fire. Verse 49. So each of the men likewise cut down his own bowel and followed Abimelech, but put them against the stronghold10:36 and set the stronghold on fire above them so that all the people of the Tower of Shechem died, about 1000 men and women. Now on a roll, Abimelech goes to Thebes, which10:48 is a an ancient city in that region about 10 to 15 miles away. He uses the same tactic as the people run into the tower. He's going to set it on fire, but something11:00 happens. Verse 52. So Abimelech came as far as the tower and fought against it, and he drew near to the door of the tower to burn it with fire. Tower and fought against it, and he drew near to the door of the tower to11:06 burn it with fire. But verse 53, a certain woman dropped an upper millstone on Abimelech's head and crushed his skull. Headache. Then he called quickly to11:18 the young man, his armor bearer, and said to him, draw your sword and kill me, lest men say of me, a woman killed me. You're dead. It doesn't matter. So his young man11:30 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. Thus, God11:42 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 on11:54 their own heads, and on them came the curse of Jotham, the son of Zerubbabel. While justice may sometimes appear slow in coming, God does12:06 not allow evil to go unanswered. Father, we thank you for your word. And, Lord, we just thank you. We we we thank you for the Holy Spirit that is leading us on this journey. And12:18 again, we just pray that you would help us, Lord, to to understand your word and how to rightfully apply it to our lives in this world in which we live, that we might be a light in the darkness.12:30 Lord, give us boldness and courage to live out our faith in a real and authentic way that it might touch the lives of others. For we pray and ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.12:42 Alright. Thanks for being with me this morning. And until next time, keep standing on the word.12:49 Today's study comes from the Stand on the Word Bible Reading Plan, available for free at frc dot org slash bible. By following along in just a few minutes a day, you13:01 can read through the entire Bible in just 2 years. Learn more and request the free reading guide at FRC dot org slash Bible.In this video 0:00 Gideon's Compromise and God's Design for Marriage3:33 Abimelech's Treachery and Jotham's Warning Parable7:40 God's Justice: The Fall of Abimelech and Shechem
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