WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.400 So tonight's reading is from Judges 9 and it's long so we're gonna break it into two readings. 00:00:06.400 --> 00:00:09.279 So we'll read and then sing and then read again. 00:00:10.040 --> 00:00:12.599 We'll read verses 1 to 28 to begin. 00:00:13.480 --> 00:00:17.480 Now this is carrying on the story of Gideon through his son. 00:00:17.480 --> 00:00:22.080 So Gideon's died now and we're reading now about, especially about his two sons. 00:00:23.160 --> 00:00:25.160 Now Abimalech, 00:00:25.160 --> 00:00:30.879 The son of Jerubbal went to Shechem to his mother's relatives and said to them, 00:00:30.879 --> 00:00:33.280 into the whole clan of his mother's family, 00:00:33.280 --> 00:00:36.320 Say in the ears of all the leaders of Shechem, 00:00:36.320 --> 00:00:42.480 Which is better for you that all seventy of the sons of Jerubbal rule over you, 00:00:42.480 --> 00:00:44.320 or that one rule over you. 00:00:44.320 --> 00:00:47.120 Remember also that I am your bone and your flesh. 00:00:47.120 --> 00:00:50.760 And his mother's relatives spoke all these words on his behalf, 00:00:50.760 --> 00:00:53.159 in the ears of all the leaders of Shechem, 00:00:53.159 --> 00:00:56.199 and their hearts inclined to follow Abimalech. 00:00:56.199 --> 00:00:58.199 For they said, He is our brother, 00:00:58.199 --> 00:01:02.719 and they gave him seventy pieces of silver out of the house of Baal-Bareeth, 00:01:02.719 --> 00:01:07.239 with which Abimalech hired worthless and reckless fellows who followed him. 00:01:07.239 --> 00:01:09.560 And he went to his father's house at Ofra, 00:01:09.560 --> 00:01:12.920 and he killed his brothers, the sons of Jerubbal. 00:01:12.920 --> 00:01:15.560 Seventy men on one stone. 00:01:15.560 --> 00:01:19.359 But Jotham, the youngest son of Jerubbal, was left, 00:01:19.359 --> 00:01:20.959 for he hid himself, 00:01:20.959 --> 00:01:23.399 and all the leaders of Shechem came together, 00:01:23.399 --> 00:01:25.799 and all of Beth-Milo, 00:01:25.799 --> 00:01:28.039 and they went and they made Abimalech king, 00:01:28.039 --> 00:01:30.519 by the oak of the pillar at Shechem. 00:01:30.519 --> 00:01:32.039 When it was told to Jotham, 00:01:32.039 --> 00:01:34.799 he went and stood on top of Mount Gerazim, 00:01:34.799 --> 00:01:37.119 and he cried aloud and said to them, 00:01:37.119 --> 00:01:39.079 Listen to me, you leaders of Shechem, 00:01:39.079 --> 00:01:40.879 that God may listen to you. 00:01:40.879 --> 00:01:44.479 The trees once went out to anoint a king over them, 00:01:44.479 --> 00:01:46.199 and they said to the olive tree, 00:01:46.199 --> 00:01:47.119 Rain over us. 00:01:47.119 --> 00:01:48.479 But the olive tree said to them, 00:01:48.479 --> 00:01:50.119 Shall I leave my abundance, 00:01:50.120 --> 00:01:52.439 by which gods and men are honored, 00:01:52.439 --> 00:01:55.640 and go to hold sway over the trees? 00:01:55.640 --> 00:01:57.359 And the tree said to the fig tree, 00:01:57.359 --> 00:01:59.240 Why don't you come and rain over us? 00:01:59.240 --> 00:02:00.960 But the fig tree said to them, 00:02:00.960 --> 00:02:03.439 Shall I leave my sweetness and my good fruit, 00:02:03.439 --> 00:02:06.120 and go to hold sway over the trees? 00:02:06.120 --> 00:02:07.719 And the tree said to the vine, 00:02:07.719 --> 00:02:09.719 You come and rain over us. 00:02:09.719 --> 00:02:11.080 But the vine said to them, 00:02:11.080 --> 00:02:13.879 Shall I leave my wine that cheers God and men, 00:02:13.879 --> 00:02:16.240 and go to hold sway over the trees? 00:02:16.240 --> 00:02:18.480 Then all the trees said to the bramble, 00:02:18.479 --> 00:02:20.599 You come and rain over us. 00:02:20.599 --> 00:02:22.560 And the bramble said to the trees, 00:02:22.560 --> 00:02:25.280 If in good faith you are anointing me king over you, 00:02:25.280 --> 00:02:27.679 then come and take refuge in my shade. 00:02:27.679 --> 00:02:30.120 But if not, let fire come out of the bramble, 00:02:30.120 --> 00:02:33.120 and devour the cedars of Lebanon. 00:02:33.120 --> 00:02:35.560 Now therefore, if you acted in good faith and integrity, 00:02:35.560 --> 00:02:36.799 when you made a beam like king, 00:02:36.799 --> 00:02:39.039 and if you have dealt well with Jerubah all, 00:02:39.039 --> 00:02:40.959 and his house, and have done to him, 00:02:40.959 --> 00:02:42.519 as his deeds deserved, 00:02:42.519 --> 00:02:43.919 for my father fought for you, 00:02:43.919 --> 00:02:45.079 and he risked his life, 00:02:45.079 --> 00:02:47.759 and delivered you from the hand of Midian. 00:02:47.759 --> 00:02:50.359 And you have risen up against my father's house this day, 00:02:50.359 --> 00:02:52.039 and you've killed his sons, 00:02:52.039 --> 00:02:54.519 70 men on one stone, 00:02:54.519 --> 00:02:57.239 and you've made a beam like the son of his female servant, 00:02:57.239 --> 00:02:59.199 king over the leaders of Shechem, 00:02:59.199 --> 00:03:01.079 because he is your relative. 00:03:01.079 --> 00:03:03.280 If you then have acted in good faith, 00:03:03.280 --> 00:03:05.319 and integrity with Jerubah all, 00:03:05.319 --> 00:03:06.959 and with his house this day, 00:03:06.959 --> 00:03:08.879 then rejoice in a beam like, 00:03:08.879 --> 00:03:11.280 and let him also rejoice in you. 00:03:11.280 --> 00:03:15.039 But if not, let fire come out from a beam like, 00:03:15.039 --> 00:03:17.359 and devour the leaders of Shechem, 00:03:17.360 --> 00:03:18.840 and Beth Milo, 00:03:18.840 --> 00:03:20.840 and let fire come out from the leaders of Shechem, 00:03:20.840 --> 00:03:24.040 and from Beth Milo, and devour a beam like, 00:03:24.040 --> 00:03:26.200 and Jotham ran away, and he fled, 00:03:26.200 --> 00:03:27.720 and he went to Beir, 00:03:27.720 --> 00:03:28.920 and lived there, 00:03:28.920 --> 00:03:31.960 because of a beam like his brother, 00:03:31.960 --> 00:03:34.400 and a beam like ruled over Israel for three years, 00:03:34.400 --> 00:03:37.000 and God's son, and evil spirit between a beam like, 00:03:37.000 --> 00:03:38.600 and the leaders of Shechem, 00:03:38.600 --> 00:03:39.560 and the leaders of Shechem, 00:03:39.560 --> 00:03:41.880 dealt treacherously with a beam like, 00:03:41.880 --> 00:03:44.640 that the violence done to the 70 sons of Jerubah all, 00:03:44.640 --> 00:03:45.680 might come, 00:03:45.680 --> 00:03:48.200 and their blood be laid on a beam like their brother, 00:03:48.200 --> 00:03:49.240 who killed them, 00:03:49.240 --> 00:03:50.360 and on the men of Shechem, 00:03:50.360 --> 00:03:52.920 who strengthened his hand to kill his brothers, 00:03:52.920 --> 00:03:55.040 and the leaders of Shechem put men in ambush, 00:03:55.040 --> 00:03:56.840 against him on the mountaintops, 00:03:56.840 --> 00:03:59.879 and they robbed all who passed by them that way, 00:03:59.879 --> 00:04:02.040 and it was told to a beam like, 00:04:02.040 --> 00:04:03.520 and God all the son of Abed, 00:04:03.520 --> 00:04:05.319 moved into Shechem with his relatives, 00:04:05.319 --> 00:04:10.000 and the leaders of Shechem put their confidence in him, 00:04:10.000 --> 00:04:11.640 and they went out into the field, 00:04:11.640 --> 00:04:13.480 and gathered the grapes from their vineyards, 00:04:13.480 --> 00:04:15.480 and trod them, and held a festival, 00:04:15.479 --> 00:04:16.920 and they went into the house of their God, 00:04:16.920 --> 00:04:18.039 and they ate, and they drank, 00:04:18.039 --> 00:04:20.079 and they reviled a beam like, 00:04:20.079 --> 00:04:22.240 and God all the son of Abed said, 00:04:22.240 --> 00:04:25.199 who is a beam like, and who are we of Shechem, 00:04:25.199 --> 00:04:26.879 that we should serve him? 00:04:26.879 --> 00:04:28.920 Is he not the son of Jerubah all, 00:04:28.920 --> 00:04:31.279 and is not Zabul his officer? 00:04:31.279 --> 00:04:34.039 Serve the men of Hamalor, the father of Shechem, 00:04:34.039 --> 00:04:35.839 but why should we serve him? 00:04:38.959 --> 00:04:40.839 This is God's holy word. 00:04:40.839 --> 00:04:43.719 We'll pick back up with that in just a minute. 00:04:43.720 --> 00:04:47.880 Let's read together from verse 39 to 57 00:04:47.880 --> 00:04:49.200 of Judges chapter nine. 00:04:53.520 --> 00:04:58.520 And Ga'al went out at the head of the leaders of Shechem, 00:04:59.240 --> 00:05:00.960 and he fought with Abimelech, 00:05:00.960 --> 00:05:04.280 and Abimelech chased him, and he fled before him, 00:05:04.280 --> 00:05:09.000 and many fell wounded, up to the entrance of the gate, 00:05:09.000 --> 00:05:10.960 and Abimelech lived at Aruma, 00:05:10.959 --> 00:05:13.879 and Zabul drove out Ga'al and his relatives, 00:05:13.879 --> 00:05:16.399 so that they could not dwell at Shechem. 00:05:16.399 --> 00:05:18.879 On the following day, the people went out into the field, 00:05:18.879 --> 00:05:20.759 and Abimelech was told. 00:05:20.759 --> 00:05:23.120 He took his people, and he divided them into three companies, 00:05:23.120 --> 00:05:25.439 and he set an ambush in the fields, 00:05:25.439 --> 00:05:28.439 and he looked, and he saw the people coming out of the city, 00:05:28.439 --> 00:05:31.039 so he rose against them, and he killed them. 00:05:31.039 --> 00:05:34.159 Abimelech and the company that was with him rushed forward, 00:05:34.159 --> 00:05:36.799 and stood at the entrance of the gate of the city, 00:05:36.799 --> 00:05:39.639 while the two companies rushed upon all who were in the field, 00:05:39.639 --> 00:05:43.800 and killed them, and Abimelech fought against the city, 00:05:43.800 --> 00:05:45.079 all that day. 00:05:45.079 --> 00:05:47.919 He captured the city, and killed the people who were in it, 00:05:47.919 --> 00:05:51.560 and he raised the city, and he sowed it with salt. 00:05:51.560 --> 00:05:54.079 When all the leaders of the Tower of Shechem heard of it, 00:05:54.079 --> 00:05:58.240 they entered the stronghold of the house of El-Bereef. 00:05:58.240 --> 00:06:00.000 Abimelech was told that all the leaders 00:06:00.000 --> 00:06:02.519 of the Tower of Shechem were gathered together, 00:06:02.519 --> 00:06:05.479 and Abimelech went up to Mount Zalman. 00:06:05.479 --> 00:06:07.120 He and all the people who were with him, 00:06:07.120 --> 00:06:08.839 and Abimelech took an axe in his hand, 00:06:08.839 --> 00:06:11.159 and he cut down a bundle of brushwood, 00:06:11.159 --> 00:06:13.799 and he took it up, and he laid it on his shoulder, 00:06:13.799 --> 00:06:15.879 and he said to the men who were with him, 00:06:15.879 --> 00:06:19.919 what you have seen me do, hurry, and do as I have done. 00:06:19.919 --> 00:06:22.759 So every one of the people cut down his bundle, 00:06:22.759 --> 00:06:25.799 and following Abimelech put it against the stronghold, 00:06:25.799 --> 00:06:28.519 and they set the stronghold on fire over them, 00:06:28.519 --> 00:06:32.319 so that all the people of the Tower of Shechem also died, 00:06:32.319 --> 00:06:34.959 about 1,000 men and women. 00:06:34.959 --> 00:06:37.079 And then Abimelech went to Thabez, 00:06:37.079 --> 00:06:40.079 and camped against Thabez, and captured it. 00:06:40.079 --> 00:06:41.719 But there was a strong tower within the city, 00:06:41.719 --> 00:06:44.359 and all the men and women, and all the leaders of the city, 00:06:44.359 --> 00:06:46.599 fled to it and shut themselves in it, 00:06:46.599 --> 00:06:48.759 and they went up to the roof of the Tower, 00:06:48.759 --> 00:06:51.079 and Abimelech came to the Tower and fought against it, 00:06:51.079 --> 00:06:53.120 and he drew near to the door of the Tower 00:06:53.120 --> 00:06:55.079 to burn it with fire. 00:06:55.079 --> 00:06:57.639 And a certain woman threw an upper millstone 00:06:57.639 --> 00:07:00.839 on Abimelech's head, and crushed his skull. 00:07:00.839 --> 00:07:03.120 Then he called quickly to the young man, his armor bearer, 00:07:03.120 --> 00:07:05.919 and said to him, draw your sword and kill me, 00:07:05.920 --> 00:07:08.960 lest they say of me, a woman killed him. 00:07:08.960 --> 00:07:12.120 And his young man thrust him through, and he died. 00:07:12.120 --> 00:07:14.480 And when the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, 00:07:14.480 --> 00:07:16.400 everyone departed to his home. 00:07:16.400 --> 00:07:19.439 Thus God returned the evil of Abimelech, 00:07:19.439 --> 00:07:21.439 which he committed against his father, 00:07:21.439 --> 00:07:23.280 and killing his 70 brothers. 00:07:23.280 --> 00:07:26.120 And God also made all the evil of the men of Shechem 00:07:26.120 --> 00:07:29.879 return on their heads, and upon them came the curse of Jotham, 00:07:29.879 --> 00:07:31.960 the son of Jerubal. 00:07:34.160 --> 00:07:35.600 Thank you very much, Corey. 00:07:35.600 --> 00:07:37.040 That was a very long chapter. 00:07:37.040 --> 00:07:40.680 And as we make our way through the Book of Judges, 00:07:40.680 --> 00:07:43.760 we've had a lot of long stories, and there are always 00:07:43.760 --> 00:07:46.640 many things we can point out and talk about. 00:07:46.640 --> 00:07:48.000 So we have to be a bit selective. 00:07:48.000 --> 00:07:49.680 And today, there are three things 00:07:49.680 --> 00:07:51.360 that I would like to talk about. 00:07:51.360 --> 00:07:54.520 And the first thing is how we are like Gideon. 00:07:54.520 --> 00:07:59.080 We are like him good, faithful, but also bad, sinful. 00:07:59.080 --> 00:08:01.439 He falls into sin towards the end of his life. 00:08:01.439 --> 00:08:03.800 And we can see that in his sons as well. 00:08:03.800 --> 00:08:08.120 We are like Gideon's sons, like Abimelech, who kills 00:08:08.120 --> 00:08:11.000 his brothers, but also like Jotham sometimes, 00:08:11.000 --> 00:08:14.520 who praises God and who rebukes his brother. 00:08:14.520 --> 00:08:19.120 Have you ever felt like that, committed to God, yet struggling 00:08:19.120 --> 00:08:23.400 with sin, like a sinner and a saint at the same time? 00:08:23.400 --> 00:08:26.280 Like maybe Gollum from Lord of the Rings, 00:08:26.280 --> 00:08:30.840 something evil in you, like Jackal and Mr. Hyde. 00:08:30.840 --> 00:08:33.519 At night, you're a different person than in the day. 00:08:33.519 --> 00:08:35.480 That's one thing we want to look at. 00:08:35.480 --> 00:08:40.000 And the second thing is the nature of sin, evil. 00:08:40.000 --> 00:08:42.960 How it's always self-destructive. 00:08:42.960 --> 00:08:47.480 How it always seeks to kill and destroy wherever it is. 00:08:47.480 --> 00:08:48.919 And the third thing is that we will 00:08:48.919 --> 00:08:52.519 see that this story points us to a king, 00:08:52.519 --> 00:08:56.120 to a righteous leader who will destroy and get rid of sin 00:08:56.120 --> 00:08:59.840 and lead us in justice and in love 00:08:59.840 --> 00:09:02.519 and who seeks to rule over our own lives. 00:09:02.519 --> 00:09:03.960 So let's start with the first thing. 00:09:03.960 --> 00:09:07.759 Let's start to look at Gideon and his sons. 00:09:07.759 --> 00:09:12.799 The text, as Cori said, is a continuation of the Gideon story. 00:09:12.799 --> 00:09:15.039 So last week, we read that Gideon 00:09:15.039 --> 00:09:19.679 denied the people's request for him to become king over them. 00:09:19.679 --> 00:09:23.360 In the end of chapter 8, he says that he won't rule 00:09:23.360 --> 00:09:25.079 over the Israelites. 00:09:25.079 --> 00:09:27.519 He says, nor his son, nor his grandson, 00:09:27.519 --> 00:09:31.199 won't rule over them, but only the Lord, only Yahweh. 00:09:31.200 --> 00:09:35.200 And you think, fair enough, that sounds good, Gideon. 00:09:35.200 --> 00:09:37.200 But then he proceeds to make an ephod. 00:09:37.200 --> 00:09:40.240 He makes an idol out of gold, and he 00:09:40.240 --> 00:09:44.400 leads the Israelites into idolatry. 00:09:44.400 --> 00:09:46.040 He has many wives. 00:09:46.040 --> 00:09:47.879 He has 70 sons. 00:09:47.879 --> 00:09:50.800 And he basically lives like a king 00:09:50.800 --> 00:09:53.280 without officially being the king. 00:09:53.280 --> 00:09:55.840 He gets the qualities of a king without taking 00:09:55.840 --> 00:09:59.000 the responsibilities of a king. 00:09:59.000 --> 00:10:01.399 And that is kind of continued in this chapter. 00:10:01.399 --> 00:10:04.200 In chapter 9, we read about his sons. 00:10:04.200 --> 00:10:08.159 And I already mentioned we are like Abimelech sometimes, 00:10:08.159 --> 00:10:11.080 and we are like Jotham sometimes. 00:10:11.080 --> 00:10:16.120 Gideon had 70 sons with a lot of different women. 00:10:16.120 --> 00:10:18.039 And one of them, one of those women, 00:10:18.039 --> 00:10:21.039 was from a city called Shechem. 00:10:21.039 --> 00:10:25.480 And that's the woman who gives birth to Abimelech. 00:10:25.480 --> 00:10:27.480 And Abimelech, he grows up, and he 00:10:27.480 --> 00:10:31.360 goes to Shechem, to his hometown, where his mother is from. 00:10:31.360 --> 00:10:35.240 And he convinces the people there to take him as a leader. 00:10:35.240 --> 00:10:37.519 And because his mother is from Shechem, 00:10:37.519 --> 00:10:39.759 he tells them, let me rule over you. 00:10:39.759 --> 00:10:40.759 I'm your brother. 00:10:40.759 --> 00:10:43.320 So the people say, fair enough, you are related to us. 00:10:43.320 --> 00:10:46.519 You can rule over us. 00:10:46.519 --> 00:10:49.960 And Abimelech goes, and he takes money out of the temple there. 00:10:49.960 --> 00:10:53.440 And he hires mercenaries. 00:10:53.440 --> 00:10:56.759 He hires worthless people, the Texas. 00:10:56.759 --> 00:11:00.240 And he slaughters his 70 brothers on one stone. 00:11:00.240 --> 00:11:04.039 And only one of them escapes, which is Jotham. 00:11:04.039 --> 00:11:07.379 And we can see that the whole chapter 00:11:07.379 --> 00:11:11.000 is a chapter of ambiguity. 00:11:11.000 --> 00:11:13.759 Because on one hand, we have Gideon, 00:11:13.759 --> 00:11:16.679 who in this chapter is called Jerubal, which 00:11:16.679 --> 00:11:18.600 means the Baal fighter. 00:11:18.600 --> 00:11:21.759 And on the other hand, Gideon builds an ephod, 00:11:21.759 --> 00:11:23.439 which is clearly an idol. 00:11:23.439 --> 00:11:24.279 He has wives. 00:11:24.279 --> 00:11:24.879 He has children. 00:11:24.879 --> 00:11:29.200 He doesn't live like a person who fears God in his law. 00:11:29.200 --> 00:11:33.240 And then we also see in this chapter 00:11:33.240 --> 00:11:36.480 the fight between Yahweh and Baal. 00:11:36.480 --> 00:11:39.399 We see the fight between the God of the Bible and Baal, 00:11:39.399 --> 00:11:43.439 the gods of the Canaanites. 00:11:43.439 --> 00:11:44.759 One thing that I want to point out 00:11:44.759 --> 00:11:50.120 is that the money that Abimelech takes from the temple 00:11:50.120 --> 00:11:53.679 is from the house of Baal Berit, which in English 00:11:53.679 --> 00:11:55.799 means Baal of the Covenant. 00:11:55.799 --> 00:11:59.639 And that's important, because we usually 00:11:59.639 --> 00:12:03.479 talk about the God in the Bible as a God of the Covenant. 00:12:03.479 --> 00:12:07.079 So the God we believe in, he works through Covenants. 00:12:07.079 --> 00:12:11.120 He enters into agreement with his people. 00:12:11.120 --> 00:12:16.799 And he says, if you accept this, then we are in a covenant. 00:12:16.799 --> 00:12:19.759 Now Baal doesn't do that. 00:12:19.759 --> 00:12:22.759 So what we see in this story, what is going on, 00:12:22.759 --> 00:12:26.879 is there's some sort of mixture of religion in Shechem. 00:12:26.879 --> 00:12:29.000 They say Baal of the Covenant. 00:12:29.000 --> 00:12:32.720 But that doesn't make any sense, because Baal doesn't do that. 00:12:32.720 --> 00:12:34.759 The God of the Jews does that. 00:12:34.759 --> 00:12:36.840 But they have walked so far away from him 00:12:36.840 --> 00:12:38.279 that they've mixed that together. 00:12:42.639 --> 00:12:43.759 So what's going on? 00:12:43.759 --> 00:12:46.960 It's the same theme that we've seen the whole book of Judges. 00:12:46.960 --> 00:12:50.559 It's the war between Yahweh, the God of the Bible, 00:12:50.559 --> 00:12:52.959 and Baal, the idols. 00:12:52.959 --> 00:12:55.079 And in this chapter, we get a few different ways 00:12:55.079 --> 00:12:57.000 of how that plays out. 00:12:57.000 --> 00:12:58.719 And one of them is the relationship 00:12:58.719 --> 00:13:02.439 between Abimelech and Jotham. 00:13:02.439 --> 00:13:04.959 Abimelech is representing Baal, and Jotham 00:13:04.959 --> 00:13:07.359 is representing Yahweh. 00:13:07.359 --> 00:13:09.439 And you can see that even in their names. 00:13:09.439 --> 00:13:13.159 Abimelech is drawn towards the city of Shechem, 00:13:13.159 --> 00:13:16.559 false religion, and a desire to rule over the people. 00:13:16.559 --> 00:13:18.839 And as Robin pointed out last week, 00:13:18.840 --> 00:13:21.960 Abimelech means, my father is king. 00:13:21.960 --> 00:13:25.200 So Gideon called his son, my father is king. 00:13:25.200 --> 00:13:28.680 But Gideon is the one who denied the people's requests 00:13:28.680 --> 00:13:30.120 to be king. 00:13:30.120 --> 00:13:32.440 And his youngest son is called Jotham, 00:13:32.440 --> 00:13:34.600 which means Yahweh is perfect. 00:13:34.600 --> 00:13:37.759 So you see Abimelech on one side, my father is king, 00:13:37.759 --> 00:13:41.040 Jotham on the other side, Yahweh is perfect. 00:13:41.040 --> 00:13:45.440 And they're both like their father, aren't they? 00:13:45.440 --> 00:13:47.440 One of them is Bedeon and God-fearing, 00:13:47.440 --> 00:13:49.840 like the God-fearing Gideon. 00:13:49.840 --> 00:13:52.400 And the other one, like Gideon who falls into sin 00:13:52.400 --> 00:13:55.880 and who becomes cold towards God's laws. 00:13:55.880 --> 00:13:59.320 Jotham who's faithful to God and Abimelech, 00:13:59.320 --> 00:14:02.960 who just goes off the rails and wants to be king. 00:14:02.960 --> 00:14:06.720 And maybe you will agree with me that often, 00:14:06.720 --> 00:14:08.880 we feel like Jotham, right? 00:14:08.880 --> 00:14:10.800 Yahweh is perfect. 00:14:10.800 --> 00:14:13.760 We go to church on a Sunday and we praise him together 00:14:13.760 --> 00:14:15.160 with our family, with our friends, 00:14:15.159 --> 00:14:18.120 with our church family here. 00:14:18.120 --> 00:14:23.839 But then during the week, it all kind of starts to change. 00:14:23.839 --> 00:14:29.039 And the Abimelech in us comes out of us. 00:14:29.039 --> 00:14:33.079 And in our hearts, in our minds, we are actually 00:14:33.079 --> 00:14:35.120 quite a bit like him. 00:14:35.120 --> 00:14:38.360 Maybe you say, I'm not like Abimelech 00:14:38.360 --> 00:14:41.879 because I haven't slaughtered my 70 brothers on a stone. 00:14:41.879 --> 00:14:42.600 And that's good. 00:14:42.600 --> 00:14:44.079 I hope you haven't. 00:14:44.080 --> 00:14:50.000 But I think symbolically, we have killed people with our words. 00:14:50.000 --> 00:14:55.080 We have killed our brothers and sisters with our thoughts. 00:14:55.080 --> 00:14:57.080 And if we think about it, we are not 00:14:57.080 --> 00:15:00.160 that different to Abimelech. 00:15:00.160 --> 00:15:05.240 Greedy, self-righteous, selfish. 00:15:05.240 --> 00:15:06.680 It's all about me. 00:15:06.680 --> 00:15:08.600 I want to be the king of my life. 00:15:08.600 --> 00:15:09.879 I want to call the shots. 00:15:09.879 --> 00:15:14.159 I want to rule over my life and make the decisions. 00:15:16.720 --> 00:15:21.159 So as Abimelech kills all his brothers, 00:15:21.159 --> 00:15:23.360 and it's almost like a sacrifice on a stone, 00:15:23.360 --> 00:15:25.039 he slaughters them. 00:15:25.039 --> 00:15:28.240 Only one of them, the youngest one, escapes Jotham. 00:15:28.240 --> 00:15:30.799 And then we get the centerpiece of the passage, 00:15:30.799 --> 00:15:35.639 which is a prophecy in form of a story, a fable. 00:15:35.639 --> 00:15:39.679 Jotham tells us a story about speaking trees 00:15:39.679 --> 00:15:40.479 and a bramble. 00:15:40.479 --> 00:15:42.959 So if you thought Tolkien and Lord of the Rings 00:15:42.959 --> 00:15:46.039 was the first person to write about speaking trees, that's 00:15:46.039 --> 00:15:46.759 actually not right. 00:15:46.759 --> 00:15:48.759 Jotham here in the Old Testament, 00:15:48.759 --> 00:15:52.359 he tells us a story about speaking trees as well. 00:15:52.359 --> 00:15:55.079 And he goes up on the mountain. 00:15:55.079 --> 00:15:58.839 And we're going to talk about that mountain later a little bit. 00:15:58.839 --> 00:16:04.399 And he tells them this story about a few trees and a bramble. 00:16:04.399 --> 00:16:06.959 And they try to decide who becomes king. 00:16:06.959 --> 00:16:09.399 And the story is not very complicated. 00:16:09.399 --> 00:16:13.480 Basically, he compares the people of Shechem to trees 00:16:13.480 --> 00:16:15.840 who are good and productive. 00:16:15.840 --> 00:16:18.079 And they bring fruit. 00:16:18.079 --> 00:16:21.079 But they don't want to rule over others. 00:16:21.079 --> 00:16:23.480 And then the bramble comes. 00:16:23.480 --> 00:16:26.600 The bramble, a thorny, dry bush that 00:16:26.600 --> 00:16:29.600 doesn't produce good fruit. 00:16:29.600 --> 00:16:32.879 And the bramble, he says, I want to be king. 00:16:32.879 --> 00:16:36.439 But the bramble actually is dangerous, 00:16:36.440 --> 00:16:41.080 because you see in the dry heat in Israel, 00:16:41.080 --> 00:16:45.080 in the country where they are, it can start a wildfire. 00:16:45.080 --> 00:16:46.960 It's dangerous. 00:16:46.960 --> 00:16:50.200 So the bramble, he uses that as a threat against the other trees 00:16:50.200 --> 00:16:53.840 and says, come and take refuge in my shade. 00:16:53.840 --> 00:16:57.120 But if not, let fire come out of the bramble 00:16:57.120 --> 00:17:00.000 and devour the cedars of Lebanon. 00:17:00.000 --> 00:17:01.240 So what does the fable mean? 00:17:01.240 --> 00:17:03.400 What's the point of this story? 00:17:03.399 --> 00:17:06.440 It means that Abimelech is becoming king. 00:17:06.440 --> 00:17:08.200 Abimelech is the bramble. 00:17:08.200 --> 00:17:10.480 But he's not becoming king because he's 00:17:10.480 --> 00:17:12.200 the most suitable option. 00:17:12.200 --> 00:17:16.240 He's not becoming king because he's called by God, 00:17:16.240 --> 00:17:18.639 but actually becomes king by crime, 00:17:18.639 --> 00:17:21.160 because of his greediness, because of his threats, 00:17:21.160 --> 00:17:23.200 because of his lies. 00:17:23.200 --> 00:17:28.240 And Jotham is saying, you're the bramble Abimelech. 00:17:28.240 --> 00:17:30.519 You're lying and you're deceiving. 00:17:30.519 --> 00:17:33.240 And at the end of the day, you're worthless. 00:17:33.240 --> 00:17:34.640 And you're dangerous. 00:17:34.640 --> 00:17:38.120 And you will destroy yourself and others. 00:17:38.120 --> 00:17:41.880 And why does he say that? 00:17:41.880 --> 00:17:43.920 In order to understand that, we have to talk a little bit 00:17:43.920 --> 00:17:44.799 about sin. 00:17:44.799 --> 00:17:48.920 We have to talk a little bit about what evil is, what evil does. 00:17:48.920 --> 00:17:55.720 And in the Old Testament, in Joshua, 00:17:55.720 --> 00:17:59.920 we get a little story which also takes place in Shekhar 00:17:59.920 --> 00:18:03.160 at the same place where the crown Abimelech king. 00:18:03.160 --> 00:18:07.960 So the crown Abimelech king by the oak of the pillar at Shekhar. 00:18:07.960 --> 00:18:11.160 And in the same place, in Joshua chapter 24, 00:18:11.160 --> 00:18:16.400 the book Just Before Judges, we read that they gathered in Shekhar 00:18:16.400 --> 00:18:18.960 and Joshua talks to the people of Israel. 00:18:18.960 --> 00:18:21.920 And he reminds them of all the good things God had done 00:18:21.920 --> 00:18:26.759 and how he delivered them from the Egyptians, how 00:18:26.759 --> 00:18:28.560 he brought them out of slavery. 00:18:28.559 --> 00:18:33.639 And then he asks the people and says, will you serve this God? 00:18:33.639 --> 00:18:36.039 And the people say, yes, we will serve this God. 00:18:36.039 --> 00:18:38.639 And Joshua says, well, you have to mean it. 00:18:38.639 --> 00:18:41.399 I'm not sure if you actually are serious about that. 00:18:41.399 --> 00:18:44.720 And he asks them again, will you serve the Lord? 00:18:44.720 --> 00:18:48.039 And the people say, yes, we will serve the Lord. 00:18:48.039 --> 00:18:51.759 And then Joshua says to them, you're witnesses against yourselves 00:18:51.759 --> 00:18:54.240 that you have chosen the Lord to serve him. 00:18:54.240 --> 00:18:56.679 And they said, we are witnesses. 00:18:56.680 --> 00:18:59.440 And then Joshua makes a covenant with them. 00:18:59.440 --> 00:19:02.160 They all agree they will serve the Lord. 00:19:02.160 --> 00:19:07.039 And he puts up a big stone, which is supposed to remember them, 00:19:07.039 --> 00:19:09.039 to remind them of their promises. 00:19:09.039 --> 00:19:13.240 And that is this pillar where Abimelech is crowned king. 00:19:15.920 --> 00:19:19.400 And why is that important? 00:19:19.400 --> 00:19:24.039 It's important because there, that is the place where they 00:19:24.039 --> 00:19:25.080 made a covenant. 00:19:25.079 --> 00:19:28.679 But that is also the place where they break the covenant, 00:19:28.679 --> 00:19:32.279 where they mess it all up, where they fall into sin 00:19:32.279 --> 00:19:36.759 and walk further away from God and further away. 00:19:36.759 --> 00:19:42.439 And as if that is not enough, the mountain where Jotham goes up 00:19:42.439 --> 00:19:47.799 to tell the story about the trees is one of the mountains 00:19:47.799 --> 00:19:50.759 where the covenant blessings and curses that we read about 00:19:50.759 --> 00:19:55.079 in the Old Testament in Deuteronomy 27 are being read from. 00:19:55.079 --> 00:20:00.319 So we get a passage where some people go up on Mount Garizim, 00:20:00.319 --> 00:20:02.119 the other people on Mount Ebald. 00:20:02.119 --> 00:20:04.240 And in between is the city of Shechem. 00:20:04.240 --> 00:20:08.279 And from there, they proclaim the covenant blessings and curses. 00:20:08.279 --> 00:20:11.960 So if you keep the covenant, you will be blessed. 00:20:11.960 --> 00:20:15.279 If you break the covenant, you will be cursed. 00:20:15.279 --> 00:20:17.400 And everyone knows about that. 00:20:17.400 --> 00:20:21.920 So in Judges 9, in the story we are looking at today, 00:20:21.920 --> 00:20:25.600 they break the covenant. 00:20:25.600 --> 00:20:27.160 They sin. 00:20:27.160 --> 00:20:32.640 And what they're not aware of is that sin always has repercussions. 00:20:32.640 --> 00:20:37.200 Sin is always destructive. 00:20:37.200 --> 00:20:43.720 So a few curses that they mention is, 00:20:43.720 --> 00:20:46.519 you must not dishonor father and mother. 00:20:46.519 --> 00:20:50.720 So Abimelech does that because he kills his brothers. 00:20:50.720 --> 00:20:53.319 You must not take a bribe to shed innocent blood. 00:20:53.319 --> 00:20:54.720 Abimelech does that. 00:20:54.720 --> 00:20:56.920 He pays people to kill his brothers. 00:20:56.920 --> 00:20:59.839 And you must not break any other rules of the law. 00:20:59.839 --> 00:21:02.559 Abimelech breaks quite a few rules. 00:21:02.559 --> 00:21:06.519 So Jotham prophesies that something's going to happen 00:21:06.519 --> 00:21:10.440 because sin will always have consequences. 00:21:10.440 --> 00:21:12.440 And it's really interesting what Jotham says here 00:21:12.440 --> 00:21:15.359 because it's important for us. 00:21:15.359 --> 00:21:18.919 Jotham says, if you then have acted in good faith 00:21:18.919 --> 00:21:22.559 and integrity with Jerobal and with his house this day, 00:21:22.559 --> 00:21:25.919 then rejoice in Abimelech and let him also rejoice in you. 00:21:25.919 --> 00:21:29.439 But if not, let fire come out from Abimelech 00:21:29.439 --> 00:21:32.000 and devour the leaders of Shechem and Bethmelo. 00:21:32.000 --> 00:21:33.919 And let fire come out from the leaders of Shechem 00:21:33.919 --> 00:21:37.399 and from Bethmelo and devour Abimelech. 00:21:37.399 --> 00:21:42.599 And in this little statement we learn a lot about what sin does. 00:21:42.599 --> 00:21:45.199 And that's the second thing I want to talk to. 00:21:45.200 --> 00:21:49.400 I want to talk to you about, which is the nature of sin. 00:21:49.400 --> 00:21:52.160 That sin is always self-destructive 00:21:52.160 --> 00:21:55.360 but also destructive for the people around you. 00:21:55.360 --> 00:22:01.200 Sin is like a cancer that spreads in your life if you don't fight it. 00:22:01.200 --> 00:22:04.360 Sin seeks to destroy you 00:22:04.360 --> 00:22:08.720 and sin seeks to destroy your family, your marriage, your friends, 00:22:08.720 --> 00:22:09.920 everything around you. 00:22:09.920 --> 00:22:11.559 That is what sin does. 00:22:11.559 --> 00:22:16.000 Sin will ultimately always lead to death. 00:22:16.000 --> 00:22:21.119 In Romans 1 we get a very helpful verse that describes 00:22:21.119 --> 00:22:24.359 how God sometimes deals with that. 00:22:24.359 --> 00:22:28.759 It says that since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, 00:22:28.759 --> 00:22:33.200 God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. 00:22:33.200 --> 00:22:38.359 And that means that one way in which God punishes sinners is 00:22:38.359 --> 00:22:43.199 that just letting them do whatever they want. 00:22:43.199 --> 00:22:45.479 Have you ever thought about that? 00:22:45.479 --> 00:22:49.079 Letting someone do whatever they want is a punishment. 00:22:49.079 --> 00:22:52.599 Maybe there are some children here tonight who think, but that's great. 00:22:52.599 --> 00:22:55.959 Nobody tells me what to do. I can do whatever I like. 00:22:55.959 --> 00:23:02.119 But if you're a parent, a grandparent, someone who has babysit as watched children, 00:23:02.119 --> 00:23:06.639 you know that it's not very loving to let your child do whatever it wants to do. 00:23:06.640 --> 00:23:10.400 It's not loving to let your child eat chocolate for breakfast every day. 00:23:10.400 --> 00:23:12.480 It's not good for them. 00:23:12.480 --> 00:23:13.600 And that's the same here. 00:23:13.600 --> 00:23:21.280 It's not loving to leave people to their own devices. 00:23:21.280 --> 00:23:23.640 And that's what this story is teaching us. 00:23:23.640 --> 00:23:28.400 God leaves a bimilek and the people of Shachem says, 00:23:28.400 --> 00:23:31.759 if you think that what you're doing is great, then do it. 00:23:31.759 --> 00:23:33.120 But you have rejected me. 00:23:33.120 --> 00:23:36.280 You don't want to hear my warning, so therefore you do it. 00:23:36.279 --> 00:23:38.599 That's how He's punishing. 00:23:38.599 --> 00:23:42.480 And in our world, in our culture, isn't that the same? 00:23:42.480 --> 00:23:48.879 The vast majority of people will tell you that they have a right to do whatever they like. 00:23:48.879 --> 00:23:50.559 Isn't it my right to do whatever I like? 00:23:50.559 --> 00:23:55.599 Isn't it my right to just go and live my life in the way I like to do it? 00:23:55.599 --> 00:23:58.799 As long as it hurts, nobody, right? 00:23:58.799 --> 00:24:03.119 But the problem is that sin will always hurt you. 00:24:03.119 --> 00:24:05.279 That it will leave you broken. 00:24:05.279 --> 00:24:07.319 It will leave you in despair. 00:24:07.319 --> 00:24:09.480 And it will leave you hopeless. 00:24:09.480 --> 00:24:15.799 And it will destroy your families, your marriages, your relationships, and finally yourself. 00:24:15.799 --> 00:24:20.720 And sometimes you think, well, that's a problem of modernity. 00:24:20.720 --> 00:24:24.200 People like that, people in the past didn't struggle with that. 00:24:24.200 --> 00:24:27.799 But it's been the same ever since Genesis 1. 00:24:27.799 --> 00:24:31.160 Go and read about the ancient Romans and the ancient Greeks. 00:24:31.160 --> 00:24:35.119 Modernity, our times, will seem harmless compared to what they did. 00:24:35.119 --> 00:24:36.799 There's nothing new under the sun. 00:24:36.799 --> 00:24:42.279 There's nothing new that we want to be ruled by our desires. 00:24:42.279 --> 00:24:47.319 And there's nothing new about the fact that our desires don't line up with God's desires. 00:24:47.319 --> 00:24:51.159 We are sinful people, meaning we like to do what we want. 00:24:51.159 --> 00:24:52.319 I want to be king. 00:24:52.319 --> 00:24:54.719 I'm a bimalek, right? 00:24:54.719 --> 00:25:02.279 And like Romans 1 says, if we don't acknowledge God, then if we reject God, that's what that 00:25:02.279 --> 00:25:05.480 means, then He can leave us to our own devices. 00:25:05.480 --> 00:25:08.559 And that is not where we want to end up. 00:25:08.559 --> 00:25:13.759 And I'm not here to make you scared, to make you afraid or anything like that. 00:25:13.759 --> 00:25:19.720 But I'm just realizing that this text is warning us that sin is destructive. 00:25:19.720 --> 00:25:23.720 A bimalek, he rejects God. 00:25:23.720 --> 00:25:26.879 Therefore God lets him alone, he lets him be, he leaves him. 00:25:26.880 --> 00:25:32.320 And there is a clear warning that there are going to be repercussions of his sin. 00:25:32.320 --> 00:25:39.360 The Westminster Catechism, which we refer to quite often in our tradition, it says that 00:25:39.360 --> 00:25:44.480 God punishes by leaving people in the blindness of their own minds with hardness in their 00:25:44.480 --> 00:25:48.880 hearts, with leaving them in their sinful affections. 00:25:48.880 --> 00:25:53.200 And sometimes that can happen to Christians, who have been Christians for many years, who 00:25:53.200 --> 00:25:59.160 have grown numb to their sinful patterns in their lives, who feel indifferent about it, 00:25:59.160 --> 00:26:02.039 who don't care about it anymore. 00:26:02.039 --> 00:26:04.720 And we don't have to be that way. 00:26:04.720 --> 00:26:07.920 God does not desire for you to live in sin. 00:26:07.920 --> 00:26:10.400 God desires for you to be free of sin. 00:26:10.400 --> 00:26:20.640 It's all about God and Jesus, and Him leading you out of that. 00:26:20.640 --> 00:26:25.759 So let me ask you a couple of questions to think about that. 00:26:25.759 --> 00:26:31.360 When you look at your spiritual life at the moment, right now, would you describe it as 00:26:31.360 --> 00:26:36.280 planted next to a stream of living water, like a tree that brings fruit? 00:26:36.280 --> 00:26:43.080 Or would you describe it as a bramble in the desert, as chaff flowing in the wind, as 00:26:43.080 --> 00:26:46.920 dry and dangerous for a wildfire in your life? 00:26:46.920 --> 00:26:51.759 Do you know that God loves you no matter what, and that He doesn't want you to continue 00:26:51.759 --> 00:26:56.920 to live in sin, but that He wants you to recognize Him and to follow Him and to fight 00:26:56.920 --> 00:26:58.120 sin? 00:26:58.120 --> 00:27:01.279 That sin is not what makes your identity. 00:27:01.279 --> 00:27:03.160 It doesn't define you. 00:27:03.160 --> 00:27:06.480 What God says about you defines you. 00:27:06.480 --> 00:27:12.279 And maybe looking back over the last few years, or the last 50 years, if you've been a Christian 00:27:12.279 --> 00:27:18.639 for many years, can you see the progress that you have made in fighting sin, or do you feel 00:27:18.639 --> 00:27:20.920 indifferent towards sin in your life? 00:27:20.920 --> 00:27:23.440 Because that makes a difference. 00:27:23.440 --> 00:27:26.319 There's a well-known author called John Owen. 00:27:26.319 --> 00:27:28.240 He's lived a few years ago. 00:27:28.240 --> 00:27:30.000 He puts it like this. 00:27:30.000 --> 00:27:32.480 He asks, do you mortify? 00:27:32.480 --> 00:27:34.879 Which means do you kill your sin? 00:27:34.879 --> 00:27:37.599 Do you make it your daily work? 00:27:37.599 --> 00:27:40.160 Be always at it whilst you live. 00:27:40.160 --> 00:27:42.400 Please not a day from this work. 00:27:42.400 --> 00:27:46.680 Be killing sin, or it will be killing you. 00:27:46.680 --> 00:27:52.040 And at the same time, we have to remember that Jesus has promised to go through that 00:27:52.040 --> 00:27:58.240 fight with us, that He is with us forever, and that He has loved us even when we were 00:27:58.240 --> 00:28:01.920 still sinners, and that it's all about what He has done. 00:28:01.920 --> 00:28:03.560 And Tim Keller is very helpful here. 00:28:03.560 --> 00:28:09.720 He writes, we are more sinful and flawed in ourselves than we ever did believe. 00:28:09.720 --> 00:28:16.799 And at the very same time, we are more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we ever 00:28:16.799 --> 00:28:21.480 dared hoped. 00:28:21.480 --> 00:28:23.799 So the command is clear. 00:28:23.799 --> 00:28:30.680 We must fight sin, but we must do it with Jesus through His strength, through His victory 00:28:30.680 --> 00:28:35.079 over sin. 00:28:35.079 --> 00:28:42.799 And as the story continues, we see how Abimelech actually turns into the bramble that Jotham 00:28:42.799 --> 00:28:44.000 had prophesied. 00:28:44.000 --> 00:28:49.599 Abimelech goes about, he does his business, he rules over the people of Shechem for three 00:28:49.599 --> 00:28:54.799 years and it seems to go just fine, but then God decides to put an evil spirit between 00:28:54.799 --> 00:28:58.399 Abimelech and the people of Shechem. 00:28:58.399 --> 00:29:01.279 And then the story turns a bit complicated. 00:29:01.279 --> 00:29:03.759 And I think we skip part of that in our reading. 00:29:03.759 --> 00:29:06.160 And basically, I give you the short version, okay? 00:29:06.160 --> 00:29:08.319 There's some fellow called Ghal. 00:29:08.319 --> 00:29:11.599 He comes into the city and he wants to see Abimelech dead because he wants to be the 00:29:11.599 --> 00:29:12.599 king there. 00:29:12.599 --> 00:29:15.680 So Ghal, Abimelech, they all want to be king. 00:29:15.680 --> 00:29:21.200 And he plans to set an ambush against Abimelech, but there's another guy called Zebul, and 00:29:21.200 --> 00:29:25.279 he's also some sort of ruler in Shechem, and he warns Abimelech. 00:29:25.279 --> 00:29:26.559 So the opposite happens. 00:29:26.559 --> 00:29:30.200 Abimelech sets an ambush against Ghal and defeats him. 00:29:30.200 --> 00:29:35.000 And Abimelech goes crazy and he kills all the people in the city. 00:29:35.000 --> 00:29:39.559 And as it happens, all the leaders of Shechem, they gather in what is called the Tower of 00:29:39.559 --> 00:29:41.640 Shechem. 00:29:41.640 --> 00:29:46.440 And it's probably the same place as the temple that I talked about earlier, Bal Berid, from 00:29:46.440 --> 00:29:47.640 the beginning of the story. 00:29:47.640 --> 00:29:52.720 And it's some sort of fortress temple and all the people go and seek refuge in there. 00:29:52.720 --> 00:29:58.400 So Abimelech, he goes there and he sets it on fire and he kills, I'm not sure what the 00:29:58.400 --> 00:30:01.720 Bible said, around a thousand people, I think. 00:30:01.720 --> 00:30:05.840 And because that's so efficient, he thinks, well, let's just do that again with the next 00:30:05.840 --> 00:30:06.840 city. 00:30:06.840 --> 00:30:14.040 So he goes to Thebes, and again, all the people, they seek refuge in the tower there, right? 00:30:14.040 --> 00:30:19.400 But before Abimelech can set it on fire, a woman throws a millstone on his head and hits 00:30:19.400 --> 00:30:26.360 him, and before he dies, he asks his servant to kill him because he says, no one should 00:30:26.360 --> 00:30:27.920 say that I was killed by a woman. 00:30:27.920 --> 00:30:32.960 So you can see the arrogant and pride even in his death, how sin has made him into this 00:30:32.960 --> 00:30:39.480 person who thinks he's beyond other people. 00:30:39.480 --> 00:30:43.360 And the end of the chapter gives us the reason why all of this happened. 00:30:43.360 --> 00:30:48.400 The end of the chapter says, thus God returned the evil of Abimelech, which he committed 00:30:48.400 --> 00:30:51.320 against his father in killing his 70 brothers. 00:30:51.320 --> 00:30:55.800 You see, the consequences of sin are self-destructive. 00:30:55.799 --> 00:31:02.119 They came back, they rebounded on Abimelech, and God also made all the evil of the man 00:31:02.119 --> 00:31:06.599 of Shechem return on their heads, and upon them came the curse of Jotham, the son of 00:31:06.599 --> 00:31:09.480 Terubal. 00:31:09.480 --> 00:31:16.599 The God of the Covenants, he put an end to all of it, and he punished the people of Shechem 00:31:16.599 --> 00:31:23.319 and Abimelech by giving them over to the consequences of their unwise choices, their self-righteousness, 00:31:23.319 --> 00:31:26.039 their utter brutality, and their violence. 00:31:26.039 --> 00:31:31.720 So sin is what killed Abimelech, and sin is what killed the people of Shechem. 00:31:31.720 --> 00:31:35.720 In some ways, this is a good end to the story, right? 00:31:35.720 --> 00:31:40.759 When we watch movies, we always like to see the bad guys die in the end, but in other 00:31:40.759 --> 00:31:44.559 ways it's really horrible, because so many people die. 00:31:44.559 --> 00:31:50.639 It feels a bit like, I don't know, Shakespeare maybe, when everything goes wrong and everyone 00:31:50.640 --> 00:31:53.800 dies. 00:31:53.800 --> 00:31:57.320 And maybe this makes you look at the story and say, well, how is this supposed to give 00:31:57.320 --> 00:31:58.960 me hope? 00:31:58.960 --> 00:32:01.759 Is God going to kill me if I do something wrong? 00:32:01.759 --> 00:32:05.880 Is there ever going to be hope of having a leader who is not morally flawed? 00:32:05.880 --> 00:32:11.520 And is there someone who can help me and free me from that sin? 00:32:11.520 --> 00:32:17.880 You see, the whole story is screaming in your face, Israel needs a king. 00:32:17.880 --> 00:32:23.960 It's screaming in your face, Israel needs a leader who is righteous, and who is just, 00:32:23.960 --> 00:32:27.840 and who cares for the people, and rules in love. 00:32:27.840 --> 00:32:31.120 Not a Gideon who leads them into idolatry again. 00:32:31.120 --> 00:32:35.560 Not Abimelech, whose lord is brothers. 00:32:35.560 --> 00:32:39.520 And the question this text is asking is, will God provide this person? 00:32:39.520 --> 00:32:43.800 Will God provide a king? 00:32:43.799 --> 00:32:49.879 Will God hold his part of the covenant, even if we don't? 00:32:49.879 --> 00:32:54.279 Will God provide a king like he is described in the Bible, righteous, who knows the law 00:32:54.279 --> 00:32:58.279 of God, who obeys it, who meditates on it day and night? 00:32:58.279 --> 00:33:02.960 A tree by the water, not a bramble in the wilderness that starts a wildfire. 00:33:02.960 --> 00:33:07.000 You see, Abimelech makes empty promises. 00:33:07.000 --> 00:33:11.720 He's the bramble that destroys himself and everyone around him. 00:33:11.720 --> 00:33:14.360 We have seen that over and over again, haven't we? 00:33:14.360 --> 00:33:20.400 Even in our Christian world, even in our evangelical world, leaders who fall into sin, and we've 00:33:20.400 --> 00:33:24.759 felt the consequences of that. 00:33:24.759 --> 00:33:28.279 And that's something to lament deeply. 00:33:28.279 --> 00:33:32.240 So again, we ask, where is that leader who keeps the covenant? 00:33:32.240 --> 00:33:37.839 Where is that leader who seeks spiritual renewal with God? 00:33:37.839 --> 00:33:41.600 And in the book of Judges, we don't get an answer to that. 00:33:41.599 --> 00:33:45.159 Could there even be a king that good? 00:33:45.159 --> 00:33:48.959 Because let's face it, we are all sinful. 00:33:48.959 --> 00:33:51.599 We all want to be king of our lives. 00:33:51.599 --> 00:33:53.679 We are all a bit like Abimelech. 00:33:53.679 --> 00:33:55.639 We all need help. 00:33:55.639 --> 00:34:01.119 We need someone who can redeem us, someone who can rule over us. 00:34:01.119 --> 00:34:04.559 We need a Gideon, but a better Gideon. 00:34:04.559 --> 00:34:11.880 We need a king who will rule in justice and peace and love in all eternity. 00:34:11.880 --> 00:34:15.279 And that sounds too good to be true sometimes, doesn't it? 00:34:15.279 --> 00:34:19.880 And to be honest, I think it is too good, but I think it is true. 00:34:19.880 --> 00:34:26.799 In Jesus Christ, we find the true king of the world, the king of kings, the one who comes 00:34:26.799 --> 00:34:30.840 into the world and he takes the punishment for all the sins. 00:34:30.840 --> 00:34:37.160 He takes away the consequences of sin, which is death, and he takes it upon himself so 00:34:37.160 --> 00:34:41.120 that we don't have to share Abimelech's fate. 00:34:41.120 --> 00:34:45.920 So if you are looking for someone who rules in perfect justice, then look at the man hanging 00:34:45.920 --> 00:34:48.440 at the cross. 00:34:48.440 --> 00:34:52.840 If you are looking for someone who rules in perfect love, then look at the man hanging 00:34:52.840 --> 00:34:54.360 at the cross. 00:34:54.360 --> 00:34:59.600 If you look for a leader who serves rather than is served, then look to the cross. 00:34:59.599 --> 00:35:04.799 If you look for a king who would rather be judged in your place rather than judge you, 00:35:04.799 --> 00:35:07.000 then look to the cross. 00:35:07.000 --> 00:35:12.279 He was crushed in our place so that we would be free from our self-destructive, sinful 00:35:12.279 --> 00:35:13.279 nature. 00:35:13.279 --> 00:35:18.239 And he rose from the dead to be the king, the righteous king of the universe, sitting 00:35:18.239 --> 00:35:23.759 right now at this moment at the right hand of God, interceding for us and ruling over 00:35:23.759 --> 00:35:26.599 his church and over his people. 00:35:26.599 --> 00:35:29.239 And that is what Abimelech teaches us. 00:35:29.239 --> 00:35:31.839 So let us pray. 00:35:31.839 --> 00:35:38.839 Holy Father, we recognize before you our sinfulness, how we have failed over and over again, and 00:35:38.839 --> 00:35:45.519 how we have been like Abimelech, wanting to rule over us and others and ignoring your 00:35:45.519 --> 00:35:47.559 commandments. 00:35:47.559 --> 00:35:55.319 And we give you so much thanks, and we praise you that you have made this big plan where 00:35:55.320 --> 00:36:02.680 you have sent your son Jesus to die at the cross and to be the servant king for us so 00:36:02.680 --> 00:36:08.960 that in him we would find new life and deliverance from sin, that you have put the crown of thorns 00:36:08.960 --> 00:36:12.800 on him so that by his blood we would be saved. 00:36:12.800 --> 00:36:18.480 Father, I pray that you would make that a reality in our life so that we would live 00:36:18.480 --> 00:36:20.440 in light of that. 00:36:20.440 --> 00:36:25.440 Give us all our sins, we pray, in our Savior's name, Jesus.