Judges Chapter 11 Part One (Verses 1-13)

JEPHTHAH AND THE AMMONITES

Introduction
This chapter of Judges contains an enormous amount of information that might seem superfluous and tedious to all but historians. But, it helps us immensely to understand why certain decisions were made if we will take the time to digest all which is recorded.

Also, it is here in which we find the very controversial matter of Jephthah making a vow to God which ended up with a horrible unintended consequence: the sacrifice of his daughter. I say this is controversial because what actually happened has been hotly debated within Christian (and Jewish circles to a lesser degree) for a long time, with strong sentiment on both sides of the argument. We will join that fracas in due time.

While the aforementioned incident is usually the focal point of Bible study and discussion for this chapter, if we look closer, we will see there is actually another (and perhaps more important) issue to deal with. It is an issue which has profound implications in our current era. These concern the claims of Israel's neighbors on the land God gave to Israel through Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. But first, this chapter introduces us to Jephthah.

A. Jephthah negotiates with the Ammonites

1. (Judges 11:1-3) Jephthah's background before his rise to leadership
Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a valiant warrior, but he was the son of a harlot. And Gilead was the father of Jephthah. Gilead's wife bore him sons; and when his wife's sons grew up, they drove Jephthah out and said to him, "You shall not have an inheritance in our father's house, for you are the son of another woman. So Jephthah fled from his brothers and lived in the land of Tob; and worthless fellows gathered themselves about Jephthah, and they went out with him.

Now Jephthah the Gileadite was a valiant warrior, but he was the son of a harlot: Verse one says Jephthah (his name means "he opens") was a brave soldier, but he was also the son of a prostitute. His father was a Hebrew man, Gilead, who sired other sons as well by means of his legal wife (presumably she was a Hebrew). But when Gilead's other sons grew up, they drove Jephthah away because they did not want to share their family inheritance with him.

Let us immediately clear up some erroneous doctrine about Jephthah. First, he was an illegitimate child of Gilead. He was a son born to a prostitute. The Hebrew words say he was born to an ishshah zonah. Ishshah means female (or woman) and zonah means one who commits fornication, a harlot or a prostitute. Some Rabbis have made it a tradition that Jephthah's mother was actually Gilead's concubine. That is absolutely false. There is no hint of such a thing. This doctrine was only arrived at to try to find merit for Jephthah because later passages accord him much honor. Zonah is the common Hebrew word for prostitute, and it is used in no other way. Jephthah's mother was a prostitute, not a concubine.

Sadly, it was not all the uncommon for a man in that era to produce illegitimate children with a prostitute. Usually, the father had little to nothing to do with the illegitimate child. If the child could be proved to be the man's offspring, he typically had no interest in legitimizing the child. What is also demonstrated here is a prostitute was common and leading men of Israel partook of these women rather routinely. There was no social stigma for having sex with a harlot while being married, even among the Hebrews. This should give us some insight as to how low Israel had sunk by this time. But it was also not something which was openly discussed nor admitted. So the odds of any child of a harlot being claimed by his or her father was near zero.

Illegitimate children of harlots were the lowest of the low in Israelite society (and most other societies as well). They were ignored and scorned, had no rights, received no schooling and were social outcasts. They lived miserable poverty stricken lives.

You shall not have an inheritance in our father's house: Gilead must have had an attack of conscience and must have made it clear to his legitimate sons that Jephthah was to be accorded family status such that he would inherit some of the family's wealth. Gilead's legitimate children were not happy about this. Not only would Jephthah take away from their portion but it also brought this social misfit too near to this family of aristocrats for comfort. I suspect we all know of family situations where a well-to-do person with children gets divorced or is widowed and then remarries to someone who has children from a previous marriage. This produces a blended family of biological and step children. Often the natural children of the affluent parent do not like the idea of sharing an inheritance with their stepbrothers and stepsisters. So this sort of thing is an age-old problem.

So Jephthah fled from his brothers and lived in the land of Tob: Jephthah left the area of Gilead and went to a place called Tob, which means "good". There he formed a gang. Jephthah must have gain quite a reputation as a fighter and leader of fighters because he would soon be in demand to rescue Israel from yet another oppression of foreigners.


2. (Judges 11:4-8) The elders of Gilead call upon the leadership of Jephthah
It came about after a while that the sons of Ammon fought against Israel. When the sons of Ammon fought against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to get Jephthah from the land of Tob; and they said to Jephthah, "Come and be our chief that we may fight against the sons of Ammon." Then Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, "Did you not hate me and drive me from my father's house? So why have you come to me now when you are in trouble?" The elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, "For this reason we have now returned to you, that you may go with us and fight with the sons of Ammon and become head over all the inhabitants of Gilead."

It came about after a while that the sons of Ammon fought against Israel: Verse four sets the story into motion. The oppressive Ammonites made war against Israel. The council of the leaders of Gilead went to Jephthah to ask him to come and lead Gilead against Ammon. Naturally, Jephthah is not immediately keen to come to the aid of the people who had banished him and treated him so badly. Without doubt, some of his estranged family members were part of the council and among those who approached him.

Equally, without doubt, Jephthah MUST have been their last resort. It took some swallowing of a lot of pride to approach Jephthah and seek his help. Not only that, but the price they would pay for this acceptance of the challenge was going to be huge--the sons of Gilead would have to bow down to the son of a common harlot.


3. (Judges 11:9-11) Jephthah's response to the leaders of Gilead
So Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, "If you take me back to fight against the sons of Ammon and the LORD gives them up to me, will I become your head?" The elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, "The LORD is witness between us; surely we will do as you have said." Then Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead and the people made him head and chief over them; and Jephthah spoke all his words before the LORD at Mizpah  

So Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead: Jephthah made them repeat their promise to him and then made a covenant with him by invoking God's name to seal the deal. Even that was not good enough. Jephthah accompanied the council of the elders back to their army headquarters at Mizpah. (Mizpah means watchtower and is where Laban and Jacob make a covenant in Genesis 31.) In a religious ceremony at Mizpah, the elders repeated Jephthah's demands, which they again accepted with a vow.


4. (Judges 11:12-13) Jephthah negotiates with the King of the Ammonites
Now Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the sons of Ammon, saying, "What is between you and me, that you have come to me to fight aginst my land?" The king of the sons of Ammon said to the messengers of Jephthah, "Because Israel took away my land when they came up from Egypt, from the Arnon as far as the Jabbok and the Jordan; therefore, return them peaceably now." 

Now Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the sons of Ammon: With the agreement now publicly and spiritually acknowledged, Jephthah proceeded with the assigned mission. Surprisingly, we find Jephthah is a clever man and not some ignorant street thug. Jephthah's first step is to try and negotiate with the Ammonites. He tried to reason with the Ammonites in an effort to avoid war and loss of life, if it was possible. I suspect he knew this had little chance of success, but it was worth a try. He showed himself to be a skilled negotiator, quite intellectual and a clear thinker. But he was also a tough guy who does not back down.

Working through messengers, he communicated a simple question to the king of the Ammonites: "what do you want and why are you coming to my land to fight?" This message makes a couple of things clear. Jephthah did not represent himself as a hired man but as a patriot. Second, it made clear that as far as he was concerned, there was no reasonable dispute over the land; the land was Israel's.

Israel took away my land when they came up from Egypt: In verse 13, we get the Ammonite's response. Israel took this land from us and we lay claim to it and want it back. The king says the wrongful taking took place during the Exodus from Egypt and goes on to describe the area he contends to be his. The area includes from the south, from the Arnon, which was the border between Moab to the south and Ammon to the north. Then the northern border of the disputed territory was described as the Jabok, which was the ancient border between Ammon on its south side and Gilead to the north. The eastern boundary was the Jordan River.

The king of Ammon says to give them back the land, and then there will not be war. Now things are going to get a little complicated and very historical. Hang in there because it is going to be quite relevant.

The king of Ammon's claim is nonsense and has no basis in fact. The truth is that the Ammonites had NEVER held this particular territory because the Arnon River served as the border between Moab and the Amorites. (The Amorites and the Ammonites are not the same thing and are in no way related to each other.)

Judges Chapter 10 Part Two (Verses 7-18)

2. (Judges 10:7-9) Israel's servitude
The anger of the LORD burned against Israel, and He sold them into the hands of the Philistines and into the hands of the sons of Ammon. They afflicted and crushed the sons of Israel that year; for eighteen years they afflicted all the sons of Israel who were beyond the Jordan in Gilead in the land of the Amorites. The sons of Ammon crossed the Jordan to fight also against Judah, Benjamin and the house of Ephraim, so that Israel was greatly distressed.

The anger of the LORD burned against Israel:  The consequence of Israel's mixed worship rituals was God's anger blazing up. He turned the Hebrews, who lived on the west side of the Jordan (in Canaan) over to the Philistines to be oppressed. The Hebrews on the east side of the river (in the Trans-Jordan) were put under the oppression of the Ammonites. Furthermore, the Ammonites crossed over the Jordan and fought against the southern Israelite tribes of Judah and Benjamin and the northern tribe of Ephraim. In other words, this cycle of sin and apostasy led to the most widespread simultaneous oppression at the hands of gentile nations thus far.

3. (Judges 10:10-14) Israel calls to the LORD; God's response to Israel
Then the sons of Israel cried out to the LORD, saying, "We have sinned against You, for indeed, we have forsaken our God and served the Baals." The LORD said to the sons of Israel, "Did I not deliver you from the Egyptians, the Amorites, the sons of Ammon, and the Philistines? Also, when the Sidonians, the Amalekites and the Maonites oppressed you, you cried to Me, and I delivered you from their hands. Yet you have forsaken Me and served other gods; therefore I will no longer deliver you. Go and cry out to the gods which you have chosen; let them deliver you in the time of your distress."

Then the sons of Israel cried out to the LORD: The people of Israel may have had short-term memory loss, but they were not dumb. In their misery, they decide as a last resort to cry out to God to save them from their misery. But, God knows the heart condition of every man. He tells the Israelites He is not going to save them.

This period of intense tribulation upon Israel had gone on for 18 years before Israel began to look to the God of Israel for help. Even when God's people finally looked to Him for help, He saw they were not sincere. It is common among humans that we do not really want change. We only want our circumstances to be different and more to our liking. God says since they enjoyed serving the gods of their neighbors, then they should go to them and ask to be rescued.

A lesson for us
We have an excellent teaching point here for every Believer, if we are willing to accept it. The lesson is on the nature of confession and repentance. Crying out to God for help and mercy, by itself, has utterly no merit. God will not pay attention. Our relationship with Him must be on firm footing, or He closes His ears to our pleadings. If our relationship with Him has been severely compromised, then action on our part (real change) is required. God will not yield to our prayers if we pray with pitiful emotions or pious words.


The first action is to be confession--sincere confession.
(Side note: the word sincere comes from the conjunction sin (meaning without) and cera (meaning wax). In ancient times, when folks went to a pottery shop to buy a piece of pottery, the shop would often hide blemishes to the piece by filling in the gaps with wax. When the buyer brought home the pottery and and heated it up, the wax would melt, and the pot would be useless. To test if a piece of pottery would have wax, the buyer would place the pottery in the hot sun. If the piece showed no signs of melting wax, they knew the pottery was not flawed.) This is how God wants us to be--to be without wax. We are to be truthful and genuine. There should be no wax to fill in the gaps to our repentance.

But what is confession?
Confession is agreeing with the LORD that you have broken His commandments; thus, you have sinned against Him. Confession is humbly admitting God is right and you are wrong. Confession is telling God what He already knows about you. But confession by itself is not sufficient. It must be followed by repentance. Repentance is not a promise or intent to do better. Repentance is active change, but the change must be in accordance with God's laws. It should not be in accordance with our sense of goodness or morality. Repentance is ceasing to do what is wrong in God's eyes. It is to do what is right in God's eyes. How do we know which is which? Read His instruction manual. Read the ENTIRE BIBLE!


4. (Judges 10:15-16) Repentance from Israel, mercy from God
The sons of Israel said to the LORD, "We have sinned, do to us whatever seems good to You; only please deliver us this day." So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the LORD; and He could bear the misery of Israel no longer.

The sons of Israel said to the LORD: Israel's response to God's refusal to help them is actually kind of funny, if it were not so sad. "Do whatever seems good to You; only please deliver us today." This statement is the biblical version of, "I will gladly pay you Thursday for a hamburger today." It is as though Israel is asking God for Him to save them today and accepting an "I owe you" in return. They will start doing right at a later and more convenient time.

But God is a God of tough love. He was not going to save them until they turned back from their wicked ways, discontinue their love affair with the Canaanite gods and turn back to Him in full devotion. The sad reality is when we abandon God, we live a life compromised by evil. They will come a day when we will need Him. The God-principle and pattern we see demonstrated here is that even after we confess our sin to Him, and even after we begin the painful process of letting of the evil in our lives, we will live with its earthly consequences for a long time.

So they put away their foreign gods from among them: Only AFTER Israel confessed, demonstrated true repentance by getting rid of their foreign gods AND returning to proper worship of God did the LORD now look down upon His people in pity and respond. We cannot continue to wallow in the same sin whose consequence we want to be rescued from and expect God to act.

Do you think it was a simple matter for Israel to divest iteself of those foreign gods?
It would have created all sorts of serious societal problems and family divisions. Not every Israelite would have agreed to this plan of action. Not everyone would have approached this new path to the same degree or with the same enthusiasm. Not every person in a family would have been willing to change their theology. How do you supposed it went when a Hebrew man told his Canaanite business partner that he would no longer acknowledge his gods? What do you think happened when the Israelites who lived in the mostly mixed ethnic villages that formed the land of Canaan announced they would no longer participate in the celebrations to the god which were so much a part of their Canaanite friends' lives? Once we have wandered down the path of tolerance to evil, it is difficult to turn around and climb back up to holy ground. We will be accused or hypocrisy, intolerance, unkindness, ignorance and even heresy.   


5. (Judges 10:17-18) Israel gathers, but without a leader
Then the sons of Ammon were summoned and they camped in Gilead. And the sons of Israel gathered together and camped in Mizpah. The people, the leaders of Gilead, said to one another, "Who is the man who will begin to fight against the sons of Ammon? He shall become head over all the inhabitants of Gilead."

Then the sons of Ammon were summoned: Verse 17 changes course and describes two armies. One was Ammon's army who assembled in Gilead in the Trans-Jordan. The other army was Israel's which was more of a militia. They assembled at Mizpah on the west side of the Jordan River. The time for confrontation between Israel and its eastern oppressor was at hand. But something was missing. Israel did not have a field general.

Who is the man who will begin to fight against the sons of Ammon: Israel's chiefs sat in council trying to decide who would lead them into battle. They decided in order to get a military general capable of achieving victory, they would have to offer him something valuable. That something of value was that if this general succeeded, he would become the head over all the Israelites who lived in Gilead.

Notice these council chiefs did not have in mind a Judge, who would be raised up by God. A Judge ruled by divine guidance and not by human agreement. Second, Gilead was not an allotted tribal territory. In other words, Gilead was not one of the 12 well-defined districts which had been assigned by Moses and Joshua to one of the 12 tribes of Israel. Rather, this was a political region set up by men. These men who formed the military general search committee could use the term "head" or "chief" when describing the position which this candidate would assume (if he was victorious), but in reality they all knew this person would be a king.

Judges Chapter 10 Part One (Verses 1-6)

Introduction
As a preface to this short chapter, let me mention we probably should pause and study the Book of Ruth at this point. This is about the time in history when the story of Ruth occurs (although, it may have taken place as early as the end of Gideon's life). Ruth's adventures took place during the time of the Judges, before Samson came on to the scene. But for the sake of continuity, we are going to stay in the Book of Judges.

This week, we begin a three chapter series on the exploits of a fellow named Jephthah. But before we begin his story, we are introduced to two of the five "minor" Judges. They are called "minor" because almost nothing is recorded about them. Compared to the seven Judges who have reasonably extensive narratives explaining their actions and purposes, the other five Judges were not as important.

The five minor Judges lived before or even possibly during the same time as Jephthah. Jephthah's era of operation is towards the end of the four century period called the time of the Judges.

Hopefully, it is becoming clear to everyone that the time of the Judges was a time of transition. The transition I am referring to was from a time when Israel operated under a typical Middle Eastern tribal structure in which each tribe sought mainly to care for its own interests (the time immediately following Joshua) to the time when Israel would recognize their need for a king and thus would operate more like a nation-state. Transition periods within societies are invariably messy and uneasy times of turmoil and unrest. People instinctively feel a sense of instability and change.

Additionally, we see these various Judges we are studying operated only in specific regions of Canaan, with only some of the tribes involved in each case. Essentially, God was raising up Judges to deal with local problems with His people (which usually centered on idolatry and the oppression of a foreign government) and not problems which faced all 12 tribes equally or simultaneously. We also see the period of the Judges was one of Israel's steadily declining morality, values and faithfulness to God. It was a period when their dedication to follow God's commands was replaced by a dedication to follow some evolving mix of Torah, pagan religion practices, men's doctrines and then rationalizing them all to fit with whatever the current wants, needs and societal conditions dictated.

TWO MINOR JUDGES AND MORE OPPRESSION

A. Two "minor" Judges

1. (Judges 10:1-2) Tola
Now after Abimelech died, Tola the son of Puah, the son of Dodo, a man of Issachar, arose to save Israel; and he lived in Shamir in the hill country of Ephraim. He judged Israel twenty-three years. Then he died and was buried in Shamir.

Tola: Chapter ten begins by briefly introducing us to two of the five so-called "minor" judges. There is relatively little detail about either person. We are told Tola saved Israel, but that is about it. He ruled them for twenty-three years. He was from the tribe of Issachar; however, he lived in the hills of Ephraim. 

In other words, he did NOT live in the territory given by allotment to Issachar. This fits with the geopolitical map of those days in which Issachar only occupied a few cities and towns within their own territory. They moved into and shared places in their brother's territories. The reason for this is quite simple: The Canaanites who occupied their allotted land were too strong for them to dislodge.

Tola resided in the general area where Abimelech operated. When the text says he "arose to save Israel" could have something to do with dealing with the aftermath of the Abimelech debacle. But that is just my speculation.


2. (Judges 10:3-5) Jair
After him, Jair the Gileadite arose and judged Israel twenty-two years. He had thirty sons who rode on thirty donkeys, and they had thirty cities in the land of Gilead that are called Havvoth-jair to this day. And Jair died and was buried in Kamon.

Jair: Jair is only identified as being from Gilead, and no family heritage is given. Some think he was from the tribe of Manasseh. However, this is only concluded because Gilead was in the area of the half tribe of Manasseh, on the eastern side of the Jordan River. We have to be very careful with these identities especially by this time in Israel's history. A lot of intermarriage among the Israelite tribes had taken place, and movement of families and whole clans from their allotted territory into another had also occurred. Being from Gilead could mean he was from the tribe of Gad, or simply that his family of whatever tribe was living in Gilead. Thus, he may have been more identified by where he lived than what tribe he belonged to. 

He had thirty sons: What we do know about Jair is that he came from a high social status. He judged the area for 22 years (one less than Tola before him). He held sway over 30 cities, each one governed by one of his thirty sons. If he had thirty sons, Jair most likely would have had at least as many daughters, meaning he had many wives. This also means he lived as royalty. This is further confirmed by the statement in which his thirty sons rode on thirty donkeys. Donkeys were highly esteemed as riding animals and often carried special recognition. Jair and his family would have been a well-known and large royal family. Although Jair was only a judge, he acted very much like a king.

The small mention of Jair and his royal lifestyle gives us every reason to believe he followed in the kingly lifestyle observed by Gideon and his sons. This was fully brought into play as overt royalty by Abimelech. This ought to help us see the significant change which occurred with Gideon, when he elevated himself into a status and lifestyle well beyond that of any Judge before him. This was prodded along by those who Gideon had delivered pleading with him to assume the role as their king. He refused to take on the title, but it is self-evident he accepted the trappings of royalty Jair therefore had a precedent and likely was also asked to be a king.

The first Trans-Jordan Judge
Jair was the first Judge to operate in the Trans-Jordan. There were fewer Hebrews on the east side of the river. They were generally more isolated from the Baal worship centers which were more concentrated in Canaan where the nine and a half tribes lived. Very probably, the two and a half tribes who took up residence on the east side of the Jordan River had considerably less temptation to fall into idolatry than their brothers on the west bank.

The mere fact Jair was raised up as a Judge indicates idolatry eventually came to the Trans-Jordanian Hebrews. We also know during Jair's time there was no oppression from a foreign enemy. The trouble which Jair dealt with was strictly "in-house". The Midianites had passed through this region; however, they did not stay or conquer it. 


B. Apostasy, servitude and supplication

1. (Judges 10:6) Israel's seven-fold apostasy
Then the sons of Israel again did evil in the sight of the LORD, served the Baals and the Ashtaroth, the gods of Aram, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the sons of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines; thus they forsook the LORD and did not serve Him.

Then the sons of Israel again did evil in the sight of the LORD: Verse six gives us a statement of the general conditions of ALL Israel, of all the 12 tribes, in the time time immediately following the death of the Judge Jair. The condition was one of national apostasy and the adopting of other gods. We have discussed at length what was occurring in the time of the Judges was syncretism, the melding of Canaanite pagan beliefs with the religion of the Hebrews. (Some scholars have taken to calling this the Canaanization of Israel.)

Straying from God little by little
Sometimes it is easy to forget how we arrived at a certain destination when there was never an intent to do so. That was Israel's situation. Almost immediately upon Joshua's death, Israel started to water down God's instructions to rid the land of Canaan of pagans and their gods. The LORD explicitly told Israel they were to drive out or kill all who were dedicated to the Mystery Babylon religions. Instead, Israel decided peace and brotherly love was a better course of action and that meant they should find ways to get along with these pagans. This also meant they had to show respect and tolerance for these gentiles' gods and customs.

It is interesting to note the wording the Bible uses to introduce each of the cycles of rebellion and apostasy which precipitated the need for a Judge was usually the same: "The people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD." The key thing to note is it was evil from God's point of view. In other words, there was a disconnect between how the people of Israel viewed their moral and spiritual condition and how God viewed it.

I wonder if ever in mankind's history, a people or a nation ever viewed their own actions as evil? I wonder if Israel ever thought that what they were doing (while they were doing it) was wicked and ungodly? From their perspective, they were doing what was right and good. But all too often from God's perspective, they were doing wrong. Humans have an amazing capacity to deny and rationalize our bad behavior, or to even attribute to God things we do, even though He specifically prohibits them.

The way this happens is by slowly replacing or mixing God's Word with our own thoughts and opinions. If a lie is told often enough and loud enough, eventually it is taken as truth and few even challenge it. Once a tradition (Christian, Jewish or secular) is practiced long enough, how it came into being and what it actually symbolized and whether it is in harmony with God's will is no longer questioned. Those who might be so bold as to challenge established doctrines and customs are seen as troublemakers, people who are creating disunity and even heretics. So there is always great peer pressure in communities and congregations of people to keep quiet, put your brain in neutral and just go along with the flow. 

The endless list of gods Israel worshiped: From God's perspective, the main evil Israel was committing was worshiping other gods. We get a list of the names of the other gods they were worshiping. This is not a hierarchy of gods. Rather, it is a listing of names of the chief gods worshiped by some of the nations which were located in and around Canaan.

First, the people of Israel served the two main gods of Canaan, Baal and Ashoreth. Second, they severed the gods of neighboring nations including Hadoth, Baal, Moath and Anath (Syrian gods), the gods of Sidon, the gods of the Moabites (their main god being Chemosh), the gods of Ammon (Molech was their highest deity) and the gods of the Philistines (Baal and Dagon). This is not an exhaustive list; it is simply representative. Verse six is speaking about the overall condition of Israel. It is not as though an Israelite would worship all these gods. If the person lived among the Canaanites, he worshiped the Canaanite gods. If he lived in the north near Syria, he worshiped the Syrian god Moath. If he lived next to the Philistines, he would worship Dagon, etc.

They forsook the LORD and did not serve Him: We get another key statement in verse six which is easy to overlook. Israel abandoned God and did not serve Him. Do not get the idea that the Hebrews no longer worshiped the God of Israel. (If you would have accused them of this, they would have vehemently denied it.) In their misguided minds, they had in no way abandoned God. Most still celebrated Shabbat, observed the feasts, went to the Tabernacle at specific times, offered up burnt offerings and so on. Rather, the Israelites worshiped the God of Israel AND the gods of the local pagans as well. This dual worshiped seemed to make sense to them. The problem is, God makes it very clear that we cannot worship Him AND something else. Any kind of mixing of our worship amounts to abandoning Him in His eyes...and His perspective is the only one which really matters.

Judges Chapter 9 Part Seven (Verses 34-57)

4. (Judges 9:34-41) Abimelech defeats the rebellion of the men of Shechem, organized by Gaal
So Abimelech and all the people who were with him arose by night and lay in wait against Shechem in four companies. Now Gaal the son of Ebed went out and stood in the entrance of the city gate; and Abimelech and the people who were with him arose from the abush. When Gall saw the people, he said to Zebul, "Look, people are coming down from the tops of the mountains." But Zebual said to him, "You are seeing the shadow of the mountains as if they were men." Gaal spoke again and said, "Behold, people are coming down from the highest part of the land, and one company comes by way of the diviner's oak." Then Zebul said to him, "Where is your boasting now with which your said, 'Who is Abimelech that we should serve him?' Is this now the people whom you despised? Go out now and fight with them!" So Gaal went out before the leaders of Shechem and fought with Abimelech. Abimelech chased him, and he fled before him; and many fell wounded up to the entrance of the gate. Then Abimelech remained at Arumah, but Zebul drove out Gaal and his relatives so that they could not remain in Shechem.

Now Gaal the son of Ebed went out and stood in the entrance of the city gate: In the morning, Zebul and Gaal were standing inside the open city gate. They were both looking to see if Abimelech was anywhere to be seen. Obviously, Gaal did not know that Zebul had sent for Abimelech. When Gall sees Abimelech's men moving on the mountainside, with the morning light still dim and the shadows long, Zebul tries to convince Gall that he was just seeing things. This would give Abimelech's men more time to get closer to the city before they were discovered.

Where is your boasting now: When it was not possible to conceal the plan any longer, Zebul tunred and flings Gaal's boastful words right back into his face. Zebul turns the tables and provokes Gaal to leave the safety of the thick defensive walls of Shechem to go out and take on the man he had so little regard for.

Abimelech chased him: No details are given about the battle. We are only given the outcome. We know Abimelech gave chase, Gaal took flight and many fell wounded and strewn all along the way to the city gate. Abimelech returns back to Arumah. Zebul is left to drive out what few members of Gaal's gang remain inside Shechem.


5. (Judges 9:42-45) Abimelech attacks the citizens of Shechem and conquers the city
Now it came about the next day, that the people went out to the field, and it was told to Abimelech. So he took his people and divided them into three companies, and lay in wait in the field; when he looked and saw the people coming out from the city, he arose against them and slew them. Then Abimelech and the company who was with him dashed forward and stood in the entrance of the city gates; the other two companies then dashed against all who were in the field and slew them. Abimelech fought against the city all that day, and he captured the city and klilled the people who were in it; then he razed the city and sowed it with salt.

Now it came about the next day: With Gaal now banished from Shechem, Abimelech could do almost anything he pleased in bringing full destruction to those who rebelled against him. The morning after the last of Gaal's men were expelled, the regular townsfolk of Shechem went out the cuty gates to tend their fields. They figured the fighting was over. It was time to get back to normal life. However, this was wrong. Abimelech and his men were laying wait to take revenge. As soon as the Shechemites were in the fields and deep into their hoeing, pruning and harvesting, then the attack would come.

So he took his people and divided them into three companies: Abimelech used the rather standard battle tactic of dividing his men into three groups. (This same technique was used by his father Gideon to defeat the Midianites.) The one company he led which immediately headed to the city gates where he secured the entrance to the city. By doing this, the townsfolk, out in the field, had no where to run. They were slaughtered in the fields by the other two companies of men. When this act was completed, Abimelech led his troops inside the city to begin destruction there.

Abimelech fought against the city all that day: The text says the fighting and destruction went on all day. Abimelech effected a rather senseless slaughter of all the inhabitants of Shechem, destroyed the buildings and sowed the land with salt. Sowing the land with salk is not lliteral, although it may have been ceremonial. It simply means that the land and the city became a wasteland and was unusable.

6. (Judges 9:46-49) The massacre at the tower of Shechem
When all the leaders of the tower of Shechem heard of it, they entered the inner chamber of the temple of El-berith. It was told Abimelech that all the leaders of the tower of Shechem were gathered together. So Abimelech went up to Mount Zalmon, he and all the people who were with him; and Abimelech took an axe in his hand and cut down a branch from the trees, and lifted it and laid it on his shoulder. Then he said to the people who were with him, :What you have seen me do, hurry and do likewise." All the people also cut down each one his branch and followed Abimelech, and put them in the inner chamber and set the inner chamber on fire over those inside, so that all the men of the tower of Shechem also died, about a thousand men and women.

When all the leaders of the tower of Shechem heard of it: Now as it happens in an aristocracy, while to common folks were fighting and dying, the upper class (who lived in another area of the city) made a mad dash to a place for their special protection. They fled from their normal quarters insde the city to the fortess-temple of their called called El-berith, meaning covenant with El. El was the Canaanit word for "highest god". It was usually considered to be above Baal. While the move from inside the city was obviously because the lords of Shechem and their families felt the temple-fortress was the strongest building available to protect them. However, without a doubt, the main reason they went there was in hopes that their god, El, would protec tthem.

It was told Abimelech that all the leaders of the tower of Shechem were gathered together: When Abimelech heard about the movements of the town's leadership, he took counter measures. He led his men to a nearby hill which had a dense growth of fir tress. he and his men chopped off branches, brought them to the temple-tower now oacked with the upper crust of Shechem, laid the branchs against it and then light them on fire. The greenness of the branches would have made for a horrible smoking while it burned through the wooden door and wooden roof which were standard for that time. Thus, many were killed as they sat huddled together. Over 1000 men and women were killed at the base of El's temple.


7. (Judges 9:50-55) God's judgment on Abimelech
Then Abimelech went to Thebez, and he camped against Thebez and captured it. But there was a strong tower in the center of the city, and all the men and women with all the leaders of the city fled there and shut themselves in; and they went up on the roof of the tower. So Abimelech came to the tower and fought against it, and approached the entrance of the tower to burn it with fire. But a certain woman threw an upper millstone on Abimelech's head, crushing his skull. Then he called quickly to the young man, his armor bearer, and said to him, "Draw your sword and kill me, so that it will not be said of me, 'A woman slew him.'" So the young man pierced him through, and he died. When the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, each departed to his home.

Then Abimelech went to Thebez: With the central city of Shechem now in ruins, Abimelech moved against the neighboring coty of Thebez. This city was about nine northeast of Shechem. Thebez had apparently acted in sympathy with Shechem. The central part of Thebez was taken rapidly. Many of the people, not just the aristocracy, fled to the refuge of what is called a fortified tower.

Abimelech came to the tower and fought against it: Never one to waste a successful tactic, Abimelech used fire to force those who took refuge in the tower to come out or die by smoke and fire. But, this time, there was a different result. Abimelech approached the side of the tower to take hateful revenge by personally setting the branches against it which were lit on fire, a woman in the roof flung an upper millstone over the edge, striking Abimelech on his head and crushing his skull.

An upper millstone: An upper millstone was around 15 inches in diameter and about 3-4 inches thick. It would have weighed around 20 pounds. It must have struck at a glancing blow because if it would have hit Abimelech's head bluntly, he would have died instantly. However, Abimelech was aware enough to know it was a woman who threw the stone. He asks his armor bearer to run him through so that he would not suffer what was seen as the humiliation of being killed by a woman in battle.

8. (Judges 9:56-57) Summation: The certainty of God's judgments
Thus God repaid the wickedness of Abimelech, which he had done to his father in killing his seventy brothers. Also God returned all the wickedness of the men of Shechem on their heads, and the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal came upon them.

Verse 56 and 57 explains God pays back those for whom judgment is due. Perhaps, we as Believers, are not to pay back, but God does. God repaid Abimelech and the men of Shechem for all the wrong they had done. If God does not pay back, then His justice system is a farce. What is justice if there is no punishment for a crime. 

Paul brings up this exact principle in Galatians chapter 6:
Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. (Galatians 6:7)

God's law of retribution will not be foiled. It may not happen in this world, but it will occur in the next.