Judges 9:1-4 - Abimelech son of Jerub-Baal went to his mother's brothers in Shechem and said to them and to
all his mother's clan, "Ask all the
citizens of Shechem, 'Which is better for you: to have all seventy of
Jerub-Baal's sons rule over you, or just one man?' Remember, I am your flesh
and blood." When the
brothers repeated all this to the citizens of Shechem, they were inclined to
follow Abimelech, for they said, "He is our brother." They gave him seventy shekels of
silver from the temple of Baal-Berith, and Abimelech used it to
hire reckless adventurers, who became his followers.
The cycle of disobedience continues full swing…for Israel
had fallen back into worshiping other Gods.
In particular …they had become addicted to worshiping Baal-Berith…whose
idol was in the image of a fly! One
commentary said they were so consumed with this image that they carried his
idol around in their pockets. And so
Abimelech…..saw the opportunity to become king….so pumped up by his own vision
of greatness that he murdered his own brothers…and paid people to be his
followers from the temple funds.
It was destined to fail from the beginning…and is a perfect
example of why we should never take matters into our own hands. This pride filled….egomaniac
….controlled by the lust for a fly…. is allowed to be king for three years. But….he ends up destroying the town of Shechem….and
is eventually killed ….partially by a huge millstone that is thrown from a
tower…then finished off by his own armor bearer’s sword.
It reminds me how I always make the biggest messes for God
to clean up when I do something without asking him first …..or maybe because I
just don’t wait long enough on his answer.
It is our human flesh that wants an answer immediately….that drives the
lust to have closure to a problem. I think he must surely want me to just go
ahead and choose...when actually he is just seeing if I trust him enough to
wait on his timing. And what is really
neat about God….is that he doesn’t leave me in my mistake forever! He reaches down at just the right moment and
saves me from myself….over and over…just like these Israelites! He smiles at me
and says…let’s try this again …my way.
Father…thank you for all the times you have saved me…in
spite of the fact that I have gone on without you…and forgot to ask you what to
do….or just not had the patience to wait on you to give me an answer. Help me to stop and ask you what to do…and
then have the trust I need to wait on your reply. Give me ears to listen…to really
hear your voice in everything I find myself involved in. Show my eyes where to focus in your word to
find the answers to the questions I need answered. Give my soul a peace…to accept what you ask
me to do...even if I think it will be hard. Amen.
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