be seated. Good morning. My name is Matthew Capone, and I'm the pastor here at Cheyenne
Mountain Presbyterian Church. It's my joy to bring God's word to you today. A special welcome if you
are new or visiting with us. We're glad that you're here, and we're glad that you're here not
because we're trying to fill seats, but because we're following Jesus together as one community.
And as we follow Jesus together, we've become convinced that there's no one so good they don't
need God's grace, and no one so bad that they can't have it, which is why we come back week after week
to hear what God has to say to us in his word. We're continuing our series in the book of Judges,
and you'll remember that the book of Judges is about many things. It's about our need for constant
renewal and revival among God's people. It's about our need for a faithful and true king, a king who
can do what no human can do, which is to change the hearts of men. It's about the power of spirit-filled
leadership, and it's about God's grace for hard-hearted people, people like you and me.
This week, we're continuing the same story we began last week, the story of Abimelech,
and you'll remember that we talked about the fact that we often get the leaders we deserve. The people of
Shechem chose Abimelech, and Jotham calls them out saying, hey, look, you chose the bramble
instead of the olive tree, the fig tree, and the vine. Our question this week, our focus is, what is our
hope when we find ourselves under wicked rulers? Abimelech, he's now in charge. He's made the king.
Where do we look when we find ourselves with Abimelech-type leaders, leaders who care about
themselves rather than their people? I'm going to do the same thing I did last week. I'm going to tell
you the story, and then we're going to draw out a few principles. With that, I invite you to turn with
me now to God's Word. We're in Judges 9, starting in verse 22. You can turn with me in your worship guide.
You can turn on your phone. You can turn in your Bible. No matter where you turn, remember that this
is God's Word, and God tells us that his Word is more precious than gold, even the finest gold,
and it's sweeter even than honey, honey that comes straight from the honeycomb. So that's why we read
now Judges 9, starting at verse 22. Abimelech ruled over Israel three years, and God sent an evil spirit
between Abimelech and the leaders of Shechem, and the leaders of Shechem dealt treacherously with
Abimelech, that the violence done to the seventy sons of Jerobel might come, and their blood be laid
on Abimelech their brother who killed them, and on the men of Shechem who strengthened his hands to kill
his brothers. And the leaders of Shechem put men in ambush against him on the mountaintops,
and they robbed all who passed by them along that way. And it was told to Abimelech.
Verse 26. And Gael the son of Ebed moved into Shechem with his relatives, and the leaders of
Shechem put confidence in him. And they went out into the field and gathered the grapes from their
vineyards and trod them and held a festival. And they went into the house of their god and ate and
drank and reviled Abimelech. And Gael the son of Ebed said, Who is Abimelech, and who are we of
Shechem that we should serve him? Is he not the son of Jerobel, and is not Zebel his officer? Serve the
men of Hamor, the father of Shechem. But why should we serve him? Would that this people were under my
hand. Then I would remove Abimelech. I would say to Abimelech, increase your army and come out.
Verse 30. When Zebel the ruler of the city heard the words of Gael the son of Ebed, his anger was kindled.
And he sent messengers to Abimelech secretly, saying, Behold, Gael the son of Ebed and his
relatives have come to Shechem, and they are stirring up the city against you. Now therefore,
go by night, you and the people who are with you, and set an ambush in the field. Then in the morning,
as soon as the sun is up, rise early and rush upon the city. And when he and the people who are with
him come out against you, you may do to them as your hand finds to do. Verse 34. So Abimelech and all
the men who were with him rose up by night and set an ambush against Shechem in four companies.
And Gael the son of Ebed went out and stood in the entrance of the gate of the city. And Abimelech
and the people who were with him rose from the ambush. And when Gael saw the people, he said to Zebel,
look, people are coming down from the mountaintops. And Zebel said to him, you mistake the shadow of
the mountaintops for men. Gael spoke again and said, look, people are coming down from the center of
the land, and one company is coming down from the direction of the Divener's Oak. Then Zebel said to
him, where is your mouth now, you who said, who is Abimelech that we should serve him? Are not these the
people whom you despised? Go out now and fight with them. And Gael went out at the head of the
leaders of Shechem and fought with Abimelech. And Abimelech chased him, and he fled before him.
And many fell wounded up to the entrance of the gate. And Abimelech lived at Eremah, and Zebel drove
out Gael and his relatives so that they could not dwell at Shechem. Verse 42. On the following day,
the people went out into the field, and Abimelech was told. He took his people and divided them into
three companies and set an ambush in the fields. And he looked and saw the people coming out of the
city. So he rose against them and killed them. Abimelech and the company that was with him rushed
forward and stood at the entrance of the gate of the city, while the two companies rushed upon all who
were in the field and killed them. And Abimelech fought against the city all that day. He captured
the city and killed the people who were in it. And he raised the city and sowed it with salt.
Verse 46. When all the leaders of the tower of Shechem heard of it, they entered the stronghold of
the house of Elbereth. Abimelech was told that all the leaders of the tower of Shechem were gathered
together. And Abimelech went up to Mount Zalman, he and all the people who were with him. And Abimelech
took an ax in his hand and cut down a bundle of brushwood and took it up and laid it on his shoulder.
And he said to the men who were with him, what you have seen me do, hurry and do as I have done.
So every one of the people cut down his bundle and following Abimelech put it against the stronghold.
And they set the stronghold on fire over them so that all the people of the tower of Shechem also died,
about a thousand men and women. Verse 50. Then Abimelech went to Thebes and encamped against
Thebes and captured it. But there was a strong tower within the city and all the men and women and all
the leaders of the city flew to it and shut themselves in. And they went up to the roof of
the tower. And Abimelech came to the tower and fought against it and drew near to the door of the
tower to burn it with fire. And a certain woman threw an upper millstone on Abimelech's head and
crushed his skull. Then he called quickly to the young man, his armor bearer, and said to him,
draw your sword and kill me, lest they say of me, a woman killed him. And his young man thrust him
through and he died. And when the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, everyone departed to his
home. Thus, God returned the evil of Abimelech, which he committed against his father in killing
his 70 brothers. And God also made all the evil of the men of Shechem return on their heads.
And upon them came the curse of Jotham, the son of Jeroboam. I invite you to pray with me
as we come to this portion of God's word.
Our father in heaven, we thank you this morning that even when the world seems chaotic, you are
still in control. And when things seem disorganized, you still have a plan. We ask that you would remind
us of that by your word, that you would greatly encourage us and challenge us. Most of all, we
would see more than we have before your power, your authority, your love, your mercy. And so we
ask that you would send your Holy Spirit, that you'd open our eyes, soften our hearts, that we'd be able
to see and believe and understand what you have for us in your word. And we ask all these things in
the mighty name of Jesus Christ. Amen. There's been a lot of focus in recent years on what might be
called sustainable meat consumption. And one piece of that movement is what is called nose-to-tail dining.
And the idea of nose-to-tail dining is pretty simple. It's that you use as many cuts from an animal
as possible. And so it includes unpopular pieces. It includes, hey, let's not just eat the steaks from
this animal. We also want to eat its brain. We don't just want to eat the brain. We also want to
eat the liver. We're going to eat things like pig's ears. And the goal here is that nothing goes to waste.
Now, whatever you think about that, there is something praiseworthy about 100% efficiency or as close as you
can get to 100%. Some people call this zero waste. The goal is to use absolutely everything, to leave as
little waste as possible. I bring all of that up because as we enter into more and more of the
downward spiral in the book of Judges, we are reminded of this. When it comes to the events of this world,
God is a nose-to-tail cook. In other words, when it comes to the events of this world, God will use
everything. There is nothing that happens. There's no event that you read about in the news or you watch
yourself that God is not using for his purposes. Nothing that happens in this world goes to waste.
And even when it seems like things are spiraling in various directions, God is still working. So much
so that God even works evil for his own purposes. Even events that are unpopular. Even events that are
wicked. Of course, we don't have to go far in this passage to see plenty of evil. You'll remember last
week, Abimelech allied himself with the men of Shechem. He had that whisper campaign among his mom's
relatives. He said, look, go and speak to the other leaders and tell them, hey, you know, you don't
want to be ruled by 70 men. You want to be ruled by one. And don't you want to be ruled by someone who's
your relative? Listening to this, then they go and you'll remember they kill 69 of his 70 brothers.
So there's this massacre. Abimelech's involved in murdering his own family. There's the one brother,
Jotham, who survives. And you'll remember the passage last week ends with this curse from Jotham.
After he tells this parable, he says, look, if this has not been in good faith, and we know it hasn't
been done in good faith, may you destroy each other. May Abimelech destroy the men of Shechem.
May the men of Shechem destroy Abimelech. It's those events, it's that curse, which we now begin to see
unfold in this passage. Very quickly in verse 23, we see God sends an evil spirit. And so these two
groups that were in an alliance are suddenly turned against each other. No longer is Abimelech
working hand in glove with the men of Shechem, the leaders of Shechem. Now they're working at cross
purposes. And we're told that God does this, verse 24, so that there would be justice. This justice
happens quickly in verses 26 through 29. Gael, the son of Ebed, shows up on the scene and he says,
look, what are you doing serving Abimelech? Yeah, he's got some relatives here in town, but guess who
my relatives are? My relatives are the founders of Shechem. So my relations trump his relations.
But it turns out that Abimelech has an inside man. Abimelech's inside man, Zebel, hears these words
from Gael, and he gives the heads up to Abimelech. Not only does he give Abimelech the heads up, he says,
look, you need to set an ambush and take care of this guy before he takes care of you. Abimelech does
that very thing. He sets up an ambush. He catches Gael, son of Ebed, off guard, and Gael ends up being
cast out. He ends up being driven away. That's not enough for Abimelech, though, and so he comes back
for a second round. He wants a second ambush. He lays ambush on the city again and takes care of
the people who are there. Even that is not enough for Abimelech, and so he goes after this other city
that we haven't heard of before that is close to Shechem, and he decides he's going to run the same
play he ran in Shechem. Shechem, he sets fire to this temple, this pagan temple, and just burns all the
leaders. He's on a rampage, so he decides it's time to run the same play in the next city.
He also sets fire to their tower, except this time there is a strategically positioned woman
with a millstone. She drops it on Abimelech, and so that he doesn't bear the shame of being killed
by a woman, he asks someone to drive him through with a sword. Okay, this is a long reading and a long
chapter. If you didn't track with all of that, the point is this. Abimelech and the men of Shechem,
who were in an alliance to destroy all other sons of Gideon, both meet justice. Abimelech
and the leaders of Shechem are killed. We end on those two notes. Verse 56, judgment on Abimelech.
Verse 57, judgment on the leaders of Shechem. And so in all the events that we're reading about in
this chapter, there's two key points, two key focus verses. You have verses 56 and 57, which says
God brought justice. You have verses 23 and 24 that God sets up. It says he sent an evil spirit
so that he could bring justice.
It all goes back to the curse of Jotham from last week in verse 20. Remember he said,
may you destroy each other. Remember our question, what's our hope when we're under wicked leaders?
What's the hope of the people of Israel as they're reminded of this story of Abimelech?
Where should they set their eyes when they find themselves in the future under Abimelech type kings?
And the first is this, God is at work whether we see him or not.
God is at work whether we see him or not. For the last couple chapters, the story of Judges has been
completely haphazard. It seems like violent and wicked men are getting their way.
God is at work. And we're told at the very end here, verse 56, thus God, verse 57, and God.
God's hands have been in control this entire time. God has never given up Israel.
God has always been at work and in control from the very beginning.
It's not just verses 56 and 57.
As I mentioned just a minute ago, it's verses 23 and 24.
Verse 23, God sent an evil spirit.
Verse 24,
that justice might be done.
No matter how wicked things get,
no matter how chaotic they seem,
in the rulers of this world,
God is working his purposes.
God is a nose-to-tail cook.
You guys will see this on page 8 of your worship guide.
However God is related to evil,
he is never tainted by it,
is always sovereign over it,
and causes it to serve,
in the end,
his own just purposes.
There is great comfort for us
all in that.
And of course,
as we live,
not in the time of judges,
but in 2024,
we are not unfamiliar
with violence and chaos
and wicked leaders.
We could look
to the ongoing conflict
between Israel and Hamas.
We are warming up
for another contentious
election season.
We now have a standoff
between some of our states
and our federal government
on our southern border.
There is a massacre
that happened against Christians
in Nigeria on Christmas Day.
God is in control.
God is working his purposes.
He's not far off.
He's not distant.
He's not forgotten.
He's not absent.
Behind the scenes,
God is still at work.
This passage does not merely
or simply tell us
that God is still in control
of this world.
He's still working his will.
It actually tells us
what his purposes are.
His purpose here
is to bring justice.
Why did the evil spirit come?
Verse 23.
We're told in the very next verse.
Verse 24.
So that the blood
might come upon their heads.
And then we're told
the same thing
at the very end.
This long story of conflict
comes at the very beginning
and the end
with a reminder
of God's work.
And so when we ask ourselves,
how can God allow this
or that
to continue in our country?
How can God
allow this action
or that action
to continue around the world?
One of the answers
that comes from this passage
is this.
He will not
allow it
forever.
Wickedness
may flourish
for a time.
It will not
flourish
in the end.
Murderers
and violent men
succeed
for a time.
they will not
succeed
forever.
God may
seem
far off.
He is not.
God may
appear blind,
but he sees.
God
is bringing
justice
to this world.
God
brought a justice
to Abimelech.
God brings justice
to the leaders
of Shechem.
God
will bring
justice
fully
and finally
one day.
And so
in this passage
we get a small
picture of that.
There are many
places
in Scripture
where we see
just a little glimpse
of the future
brought into the present.
this is one
of those
small glimpses.
We see
God's future
judgment
acted out
in a small
way
on these
evil actors
in this story.
And it
reminds us
of God's
coming judgment
one day.
And so
what is
our hope
when we
find ourselves
with wicked
rulers?
What is
our hope
when we
find a world
filled with
chaos and
evil?
Yes,
first,
it is
that God
is at work
whether we
see him
or not.
And it
is second
that God
is bringing
justice.
God
will
judge
in part
now
and fully
one
day.
And so
we see
that God
is at work.
He's using
wicked
rulers
for a time
to accomplish
his purposes
and
but
their judgment
is coming.
Abimelech
survives
only for
a time.
You can
think of
whatever wicked
ruler you
might want
to right
now.
They will
flourish
for a time.
They will
not flourish
forever.
We could
even think
of what's
happening
right now
at the
exposure
of Jeffrey
Epstein
ultimately
right?
All secrets
revealed
all hearts
exposed.
Wickedness
and evil
will not
survive
forever.
Now
sometimes
people will
tell you
things like
this.
They'll
say look
God is
sovereign.
He's in
control.
And so
therefore
shame
on you
Christian
for having
any interest
in politics.
Shame
on you
Christian
for worrying
about the
state of
this world.
Of course
anyone who
tells you
that is
often
disingenuous
because when
something that
they care
about happens
they're suddenly
ringing the
bell that
everyone needs
to join
them in
their
cause.
When we
talk about
God's
sovereignty,
his control
in this
world,
it does
not mean
that suddenly
we stop
caring about
what's
happening
around us.
It does
not mean
that somehow
we become
uninvolved
in working
for a better
world.
But it
does change
our framework.
It does
change our
hope and
our focus.
Remember our
question is
what is our
hope when we
have wicked
leaders?
One pastor
gives these
wonderful
categories that
I love.
He says
basically the
difference
between those
who hope
in God
and those
who don't
hope in
God is
this.
It is
the difference
between
sorrow
and despair.
When we
as Christians
see wickedness
flourishing in
this world,
it is good
and right
to be
filled with
sorrow.
But we
never
despair.
Because we
know God's
working everything
for his
purposes,
right?
When we
look and
see the
world around
us,
it does
not mean
that we
can't act,
that we
can't take
the responsibilities
and privileges
that have been
given to us
to move
forward.
It does
mean no
matter what
happens,
we don't
give up.
no matter
what happens,
we are not
filled with
despair.
The Bible
thankfully speaks
to both sides
of this.
We're told in
Psalm 119
about appropriate
sorrow.
The psalmist
says this,
my eyes shed
streams of
tears because
people do not
keep your
law.
In other
words,
the psalmist
is filled
with grief.
He looks
around at the
world,
he sees
people rebelling
against God
and it fills
him with
tears.
He doesn't
say,
God's
sovereign,
he's in
control,
silly me
for caring
about any
of these
things.
No,
he cares
deeply
about them
and he's
not crushed
because he
knows the
other side.
There's another
promise in
the psalm.
Psalm 46
reminds us
God is our
refuge and
strength,
a very
present help
in trouble.
Therefore,
we will not
fear,
though the
earth gives
way,
though the
mountains be
moved into
the heart
of the
sea.
And so
Christian faith
is both
of those
things.
It is a
realistic,
clear-eyed
view and
sorrow over
the state
of the
world.
It is an
appropriate
anger against
violations of
God's law
and it is
coming nowhere
close to
despair because
we know that
God holds
the world
in his
hands.
So what
is our
hope?
Our hope
is real
and so I'm
not saying
don't care,
I'm saying
don't give
up.
I'm not
saying close
your eyes,
I'm saying
don't be
crushed.
God is
working out
his will
and his
purposes no
matter what.
God is
at work
in every
politician and
political
process.
God is
not ignorant
of the
violence
around our
world.
He is
acting
and he
will
act.
I mentioned
before that
this passage
points us
forward to
God's
ultimate
judgment
at the
end of
time.
And the
uncomfortable
truth that
Christianity
teaches is
it is not
just wicked
people out
there somewhere.
No, the
Bible tells us
that wickedness
is in our
own hearts
as well.
And so as
we hope,
as we see
God working
out his
purposes,
there's a part
of us that
should cause
us to praise
him and
there's a part
of that that
rightly causes
us to
tremble.
If God
is going
to deal
with evil,
what does
that mean
for me?
And that
reminds us
again of one
of the major
themes of
Judges,
which is
God's
mercy to
hard-hearted
people.
God's
mercy to
people like
you and
me.
Yes, we
see God's
judgment here.
Yes, last
week we saw
people often get
the leaders they
deserve,
and we
can say at
least once we
got a leader
we did not
deserve.
How is it
that God
shows mercy
to the people
of Israel
over and
over?
How is it,
as we'll see
next week,
that he sends
good judges
to bad
people?
His mercy
finds its
foundation,
its focal
point in our
Lord Jesus
Christ.
That what
is true for
us, what
we look
back towards,
the people
in Judges
look forward
to, which
is that Jesus
came in real
time and real
space as a
real man.
He walked
and lived on
this earth the
perfect life that
we should have
lived.
He credited
that to us,
to those who
have faith in
him, and
then he took
the punishment
that we
deserve.
And so why
is it that we
can have hope
as God's
judgment comes?
Because God
holds not
just this
world, he
holds the
lives of
those who
trust in
him.
In
Christmas of
1939, King
George VI
gave a radio
broadcast on
Christmas Day.
Now, if you're a
student of history,
you know, on
September 3rd of
1939, Britain
had declared war
on Germany.
So they're
almost three
months into
World War II.
The realities
of war are
coming home
to them, and
there is great
trepidation and
anxiety among
the people of
Britain about
what is going
to happen
next.
Giving this
radio address,
King George
VI reads a
poem, and it
was a poem that
his daughter,
Elizabeth, had
told him about.
Elizabeth was
13 years old at
the time.
She's who we
now know, now
call Queen
Elizabeth II.
We lost her
just very
recently.
And so she
tells, this
13-year-old girl
tells her father
about this
poem, and so
he reads it to
the entire nation
of Britain on
Christmas Day.
It's on the
back of your
worship guide.
It's called
The Gate of
the Year.
And I said to
the man who
stood at the
gate of the
year, give me
a light that I
may tread
safely into
the unknown.
And he
replied, go
out into the
darkness and
put your hand
into the hand
of God.
That shall be
to you better
than a light
and safer
than a known
way.
God is at
work.
He's using
history to
accomplish his
purposes, and
he is bringing
full and final
justice.
Because of
that, for
those who have
trust and faith
in Christ,
walking with
him is better
than a light,
and it is
safer than a
known way.
Let's pray.
Our Father in
heaven, we
praise you and
we thank you
that you haven't
taken your
hands off of
the wheel of
this world,
that even when
we don't see
you, you're
still at work.
when we cry
out to you, you
hear us, and
you are working
to make all
things right.
We ask that you
would remind us of
that this morning,
that you would
grow our belief
and our faith
and our hope
and our trust,
that more and
more we would be
people who,
when we experience
sorrow, never
come near to
despair, because
we know that
you are writing
your story in
this world.
We ask these
things in the
mighty name of
Jesus Christ.
Amen.