The Tragedy of a Self-Made King

Let's turn to the Lord in prayer.

Fathers, we come to this moment, especially in light of the songs that we just sang this morning.

! We're mindful of how unworthy we are before a holy God.

And what we really deserve in terms of your punishment on us because of sin.

But also reminded of the fact that where sin abounds, their grace abounds all the more.

Thank you for grace, Lord.

Thank you for the gift of your Son, Jesus Christ.

For the offer of salvation that is given to us through His death, through His resurrection,

through Him paying the price of our sin, rising again, offering us life through His name,

through faith in Christ.

And Lord, we praise you for forgiveness that's possible.

Not because we have earned it, but because of grace.

And Lord, even now, as we look into your Word,

we're reminded of the fact that even in looking at your Word, we need grace.

Your grace to help us to understand what your Word says.

Your grace to bring conviction to our hearts

and to help us, by your power, to walk in obedience,

to walk in your steps, and to please you.

Lord, this passage this morning

reminds us of the incredible power of families

and the incredible opportunity that we have as parents, moms and dads,

to build into our families not only an affection for the Word of God,

but helping them see the pattern of how that life is meant to be lived.

Lord, I pray that you would help us in that process,

not only to understand what your Word says, but to live it out.

And that we can trust and rest in your grace

to do the work that we cannot do in the hearts of our children,

in the hearts of our loved ones,

in the hearts of our friends.

And so we pray that you would do that work even now.

Prepare our hearts and go before us

and do the work of leading us into truth

and helping us to walk in it.

We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

It's good to see each of you this morning.

Thanks for letting our family be away for the last couple of weeks.

We had a great time together.

Just kind of kicking back and relaxing a little bit,

but also in being able to go to a few places,

both in Pennsylvania and New York.

And so thanks for the opportunity to do that.

It's great to be a part of a church where you have gifted men

who can kind of bring the Word for you

and kind of carry that load.

So I'm grateful for our men at Maranatha

who can do that and for the faithfulness to the Scripture

and for the way that they help lead our hearts in that way.

One of the things that's been maybe a bit surprising to me

as we have worked through this series

and have been introduced to the book of Judges

is this theme that keeps coming up over and over again

that I probably knew something about,

but it's really come out in force

and it's really been surprising

and that is the importance of families.

The importance of leadership in our homes,

moms and dads who love the Bible,

who are teaching the Scriptures to their children

and are helping to model that for their families

and the beauty of that and the promise of that

and the blessing of that

that God uses His Word instrumentally

to accomplish His purposes.

We've seen that.

And I know it's not maybe as clear as it could be or should be,

but the pattern of the judges is the same way.

When we think about judges,

we think of courtroom officials.

We think of those who are kind of legislating the law,

helping to bring a verdict

and helping to stand as a champion of the law

for the people that are there,

representing the law to the people.

And in a similar way,

the pattern has been set for us also

in the book of Deuteronomy for judges as well.

And instead of courtroom officials,

judges in the Old Testament,

by design,

were meant to be local leaders.

Really, they were to be family heads,

heads of households,

fathers,

who were helping to provide that leadership,

that proximate,

immediate,

present leadership

for their families.

And what law did they have

to work from?

Well, they had the law of God,

the law of Moses,

the Pentateuch,

the first five books of the Bible.

And in presenting that word,

that law,

to their children,

they would be able to enjoy the benefits

of that relationship

that they have with God.

That covenant promised relationship

with God

was strengthened

and perpetuated

and blessed

by God

as they followed

his instructions.

And of course,

Joshua becomes the first test case.

He becomes kind of that first example

as the people are moving

into the promised land

of one who's committed

to the law of God

and modeling for the people

what that kind of life looks like.

We saw that in Joshua 1.8

where it says this,

this book of the law

shall not depart from your mouth,

but you shall meditate on it

day and night

so that you may be careful

to do according to all

that is written in it

for then

you will make your way prosperous

and then

you will have good success.

And God was faithful

to allow Joshua

and those who followed

his leadership

to enjoy the benefits

of that conquest

moving into the promised land

and saying

God is faithful.

He's faithful to his word

and when faithful men

follow God's word faithfully

then there's the blessing,

the fruit of that

that bears

in the lives of the nation

and the blessing

that God gives to a people.

And that's why

at the close of Joshua's life

we find this statement

from him

choose you this day

whom you will serve

but as for me

and my household

will serve the Lord.

That's the model,

that's the pattern

that has been set for us.

And so our family

over the last couple of weeks

got a chance

to kind of see

a taste of that

as I went back to Pittsburgh

it was the first time

in a very long time

I've been back to Pittsburgh

and my grandpa and grandma

were instrumental

in planting a church

there in Pittsburgh.

We got to go back

and see that church.

We got to go back

and reminisce

a little bit

about the faithful ministry

of that pastor

who came to that church

the word of God

that raised up people

and the health

of that congregation

that produced itself

and the effects of it

were still visible

in the building

and the property

that was there.

But then the pastor

that came after him

did not prioritize

the scripture

and so now it's a shell

of what it was

when my grandparents

were first there.

It's a reminder again

of this principle

the word of God

embracing the word

presenting the word

teaching the word

patterning the word

and the benefits of that

is what we see

in Joshua's life.

Our next stop

was in Lock Haven

in Pennsylvania

and I was

my dad was

an assistant pastor

in Lock Haven

50 years ago

and this was the

first time

in 50 years

I was able to go back

to that church

and it was amazing

that some of those people

that were there

during my dad's ministry

they're still there

and I recognized them

it was amazing

to be able to go

to certain classrooms

and remember

specific things

that were taught to me

from specific teachers

and I try not to

prolong this too much

but one experience

I was probably

about three years old

when this happened

and one of my teachers

said

I told one of my teachers

I know Jesus sinned

and she's like

uh uh

Jesus did not

not sin

but I was sure

he sinned

because I remembered

the story

about Jesus

staying in Jerusalem

when his parents

went back

to Nazareth

and I was sure

that was the example

and you know

I

isn't it neat

how God uses

teachers

to help

help correct us

and uh

and sometimes

sometimes we

we err

and uh

we have

we have teachers

that still love us

through that process

but

but faithful people

faithful

servants of the Lord

still at that church

and uh

and seeing that

the benefits of

of ministry

faithful ministry

from the word of God

that's still happening there

their third stop

was in New York

and we were in

Allegheny, New York

that was where my

my grandpa Ross

was a pastor

for many many years

and again

uh

the people that are

still there

many of them

were people that

I went to their pool

and I

I swam with their kids

and and there they are

still still there

faithful

faithful servants

of the Lord

and the

the pattern

of faithful ministry

from faithful people

and the results

of that

the benefits

the blessings

of that

that are bearing out

in

in that place

it was a

it was an important

reminder

to me

it's also a reminder

as we step into

into

uh

Judges chapter 9

Judges 9 · chapter mention

I would encourage you

to open

with me

if you would

to Judges chapter 9

Judges 9 · chapter mention

if you're using

the Pew Bible

it's on page

208

208

in the Pew Bible

it was a reminder

to me that

that God

himself

is our father

and we find that

all the way

kind of embedded

in the law

Exodus chapter 4

Exodus 4:22

verse 22 says

thus says the Lord

Israel

is my

firstborn son

Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy 14 · chapter mention

chapter 14

1

you are sons

of the Lord

your God

Deuteronomy 32

6

is he not

your father

who created you

who made you

and established you

we see the

this

this

this

this

relationship

that God

has with his

people

God is

father

the heavenly

father

and we recognize

his leadership

over us

in that way

and this morning

we're gonna see

we're gonna see

again

not the

the good leadership

of our heavenly

father

but we're gonna see

I believe

this this pattern

of failed leadership

that begins to work

its way out

in Abimelech

this this character

that we'll look at

in in Judges

Judges 9 · chapter mention

chapter 9

and and we see

in Abimelech

the tragedy

of self-made rule

the tragedy

of self-made rule

Abimelech

propped himself up

his ambition

his desire

his empire building

his spirit

is gonna come

front and center

to us

we're gonna see

that he will demand

to be to be

to be made king

and his

the tragedy

written over his life

is a tragedy

of this self-made rule

grasping for power

rather than submitting

to God

rather than following

his directions

and it came

as we're gonna see

as a product

of compromise

and I'm gonna try

to focus on this

briefly

so we can

so we can really

get through this material

in a way

that's beneficial

but if you're there

with me

in Judges chapter 9

Judges 9 · chapter mention

I'm gonna read

the first five verses

we're gonna concentrate

about 90%

of our time

on these five verses

so when it gets

to the end

you're like

ah

we only have

10 minutes to go

and he still has

50 verses left

well that's okay

we're gonna

we'll get

we'll get through

okay

we'll get through

I just wanna

to prepare you

for this

here we go

verse 1

now Abimelech

the son of Jerubal

went to Shechem

to his mother's

relatives

and said to them

and to the whole clan

of his mother's family

say in the ears

of all the leaders

of Shechem

which is better

for you

that all 70 sons

of Jerubal

rule over you

or that I

that one rule over you

remember also

that I am

your bone

and your flesh

and his mother's

relatives

spoke all these words

on his behalf

in the ears

of all the leaders

of Shechem

and their hearts

inclined to follow

Abimelech

for they said

he is our brother

and they gave him

70 pieces of silver

out of the house

of Baal-berit

which

with which

Abimelech hired

worthless

and reckless fellows

who followed after him

and he went to his

father's house

at Ophrah

and killed his brothers

the sons of Jerubal

70 men

on one stone

but Jotham

the youngest son

of Jerubal

was left

for he hid

himself

as we enter

this scene

I wonder what

questions

might be running

through your mind

and the same

kinds of questions

that were running

through my mind

after reading

this amazing story

of Gideon

and this example

of faith

and how God

raised him up

and the spirit

of the Lord

was upon him

and great victory

was wrought

and then we get

to Abimelech

and we're like

what in the world

just happened

where did this

come from

who is this guy

what is going on

how did a man

who is used

of God

Gideon

how did he

leave a family

in such a mess

how is that

even possible

and I think

the answer

that we're going

to find

is sobering one

it's a sobering

answer

that we find

it's embedded

in our text

it's obvious

for us

it's here

it's accessible

we don't have

to make

stories

we don't have

to draw out

things that aren't

available to us

we just look

in the word of God

and the clues

are embedded

here for us

and Pastor David

so faithfully

last week

looked at the life

of Gideon

and I don't want

to hijack

all the things

that he said

but in order

for us to really

appreciate

what's going on

here

we look at

this life

of Abimelech

and by the way

he's the only

example

in the book

of Judges

where there is

a father

son

who are

kind of

leading

one right

after the other

so it provides

this perfect

test case

for us

to see

this example

I believe

of failed

leadership

failed training

he is a product

Abimelech

is a product

of his training

he is the

outworking

of his

conditioning

and he just

carries things

to maturity

we see

here in the

first several

verses

he's the

product

of a

compromised

legacy

that's

point

number

one

Abimelech

is the

product

of a

compromised

legacy

his father

Gideon

in the

compromised

legacy

that then

leads

to Abimelech

remember

that the

book of

Judges

is this

historical

record

for us

it's a

way for

us to

see

what the

family

pattern

looks like

right up

close

and here

it is

it's laid

out for

us in

this book

to see

not only

the power

of a

family

that's

walking

after the

Lord

but also

the danger

the path

that Gideon

sets

is just

a road

that Abimelech

takes to

its ultimate

culmination

it's the only

time like I

said in the

book of

Judges

where we

find this

father son

leadership

duo

and it's

here for a

reason for

us to

understand

the warnings

to fathers

the warnings

to parents

to follow

after

to submit

to the

word of

God

Gideon's

story

and Abimelech's

story are

interwoven

it becomes

this unmistakable

conclusion of

what we find

when God's

word is not

the voice of

authority in

our life

and I want to

just draw your

attention to

the first few

verses of

chapter 9

here

we're going to

see this

name that's

used for

Gideon

and what

is that

name

Jerubal

the name

Jerubal

shows up

four times

in the

first five

verses

twice

in verses

one and

two

and twice

in verse

five

verse one

now Abimelech

the son of

Jerubal

went to

Shechem

verse two

which is

better for

you

that all

seventy

sons of

Jerubal

rule over

you

or that

one

rule over

you

then

verse

five

he went

to his

father's

house

at

Ophrah

he killed

his brothers

the sons

of

Jerubal

seventy

men

on one

stone

but Jotham

the youngest

son of

Jerubal

was left

remember

Jerubal

means

let

Baal

contend

or

let

Baal

plead

his own

case

or

let

Baal

defend

himself

and

remember

how

Gideon

gets that

name

well he

gets that

name

because

he goes

into

his

father's

house

and he

removes

the

Baals

and the

Ashteras

he cuts

them down

interestingly

Gideon's

name

means

hewer

it means

one

who

cuts

down

and what

does he

do

his first

act

of Gideon

is to

cut down

the

Baals

and to

cut down

the pole

the Ashtera

he's a

hewer

but after

his victory

we find

this very

noticeable

this very

noticeable

transaction

that happens

all the way

up through

this story

he's been

known as

Gideon

but then

after his

victory

we find

something

astonishing

that takes

place

in verse

27

of chapter

8

Gideon

makes

an

ephod

of it

and he

puts

it in

the city

in

Afra

and all

Israel

hoored

after it

there

so it

became

a snare

to Gideon

and to

his

family

Gideon

hacked

down

cut down

the Baal

and the

Ashtera

and now

Gideon

is raising

up

this

ephod

whatever

this

ephod

is

we'll get

to that

in just

a moment

and

right out

of the

gate

the next

time

we're

introduced

to Gideon

in verse 29

he's now

Jerubal

not Gideon

verse 29

Jerubal

the son of

Joash

went and

lived

in his own

house

and now

in chapter 9

we will not

find him

referred to

Gideon

again

he will only

be referred

to

by this

new name

by this

name

Jerubal

the one

who contends

with Baal

four times

in the first

five verses

once in

verse 16

once in

verse 19

once in

verse 24

once in

verse 28

and once

in verse 57

we find

in Gideon

confused

and compromised

legacy

a man

who

got to

enjoy

and experience

the benefits

of God's

power

through his

life

and because

of this

compromise

that's taking

place in

his heart

the legacy

of pointing

to God

and referring

to his

wonder

and calling

attention

to his

glory

and saying

God has

accomplished

great things

instead of

that

now

he's raised

up this

ephod

and the rest

is history

his legacy

is no longer

about

showcasing

the wonder

of God

but drawing

attention

to himself

and so

it shouldn't

be any

surprise

that Abimelech

picks up

from the

pattern

of his

father

and carries

it

through

to the

next

stage

we find

also

he was

not just

a product

of his

compromised

legacy

but a

product

of his

compromised

worship

and the two

are really

intertwined

here

verses 3

and 4

chapter 9

says

and his

mother's

relatives

spoke

all these

words

on his

behalf

in the

ears

of all

the

leaders

of Shechem

and their

hearts

inclined

to follow

Abimelech

for they

said

he is

our

brother

and they

gave him

70 pieces

of silver

out of the

house

of

Baalberit

with which

Abimelech

hired worthless

and reckless

fellows

who followed

after him

there's several

observations

I want to

just draw

briefly

from

these couple

of verses

and we

might ask

ourselves

this question

again

why does

Abimelech

find himself

to be so

friendly now

with this

pagan world

how is he

able to

be chum

buddies

with the

pagan men

the leaders

of this

city

of Shechem

how has he

departed so

far

from his

family legacy

again the

answer

is sobering

the clues

are given

in our

text

the money

that Abimelech

receives

for his

campaign

that we

will look

at in a

little bit

more as

we go

this campaign

comes from

this treasury

of Baalberit

it should

sound strangely

familiar

Baalberit

we see that

in chapter 8

verse 33

as soon

as Gideon

died

the people

of Israel

turned again

and whored

after the

Baals

and made

Baalberit

their god

did you

notice that

how long

did it take

for the

nation

to abandon

God

and to

follow after

Baal

and Baalberit

how long

immediately

as soon

as Gideon

is dead

this

new allegiance

they've

abandoned

God

they've

turned

to

Baalberit

Baalberit

means

the god

of the

covenant

the lord

of the

covenant

now

you should

understand

the significance

of that

because

Yahweh

is the

covenant

lord

and they

have

abandoned

the covenant

lord

for the

lord

of the

covenant

the

Baal

Berit

in this

house

of

this

Baal

covenant

they

have

displaced

Yahweh

their

own

covenant

god

for the

god

of the

covenant

how did

this

happen

how did

pagan

worship

arrive

how is

it such

a natural

tendency

it was

because the

pattern

was set

long before

Abimelech

ever came

on the

scene

and we

I think

we probably

say it

happened

probably

as early

as what

we find

in

chapter 8

verse 22

it happened

as soon

as this

victory

that God

had given

to

Gideon

as soon

as that

victory

takes place

and ephod

goes up

we find

from chapter

8

verse 28

Midian

was subdued

before the

people of

Israel

they raised

their heads

no more

and the

land had

rest for

40 years

in the

days of

Gideon

I would

submit to

you that

probably

for about

40 years

Gideon

is leading

them

with this

ephod

along this

path

and whatever

this ephod

was

whatever

Gideon's

motivation

would have

been

it was

not

after

God's

pattern

it was

not

according

to God's

instructions

they were

not

following

the law

you see

Shiloh

was where

this

tabernacle

was supposed

to be set

it was

supposed

to be

the

capital

city

as it

were

of

worship

Gideon

thinks

I've got

a better

plan

I'm going

to set

up this

place

of worship

in my

hometown

it's more

convenient

it's easier

for me

we're going

to do

it there

and whatever

the ephod

was that

he designed

was not

the ephod

that was

designated

the ephod

that was

designated

was something

that the

priests

were to

wear

they were

supposed

to go

about

their

priestly

duties

in the

tabernacle

before the

altar

Gideon

thought he

had a

better way

he thought

he had

a better

design

so Gideon

re-centers

this worship

in his

hometown

and he

sets up

his own

means of

interfacing

with God

whatever that

meant

and in

that way

he replaced

this token

of worship

he replaced

it with

this token

of worship

this degraded

worship

which of

course

is

idolatry

any

worship

that's

not

according

to

God's

pattern

any

worship

that's

outside

of

God's

design

is not

true

worship

it's

polluted

worship

it's

corrupt

worship

and so

in that

way

Gideon

becomes

as it

were

the

first

designated

leader

in Israel

to promote

idolatry

from the

front

now

this is

interesting

look with

me

in chapter

8

verse

24

I'll try

to make

this

quick

it says

this

and Gideon

said to

them

let me

let me

make a

request

of you

every

one of

you

give me

the

earrings

from

your

spoil

for

they

had

golden

earrings

because

they

were

Ishmaelites

and they

answered

we will

willingly

give

them

and

they

spread

out

a

cloak

and every

man

threw

in

the

earrings

of

the

spoil

and the

weight

of the

golden

earrings

that he

requested

was

1700

shekels

of gold

besides the

crescent ornaments

the pendants

the purple

garments

worn by the

kings of

Midian

and besides

the collars

that were

around the

necks of

the camels

this was

a

treasure

for

kings

and just

for

comparison

1700

shekels

is

43

pounds

of

gold

equivalent

to about

two and a

half

million

dollars

today

it should

sound

strangely

familiar

Gideon

says

hey

give me

your

earrings

and the

people say

oh

fine

they give

him his

earrings

and out

pops

an

ephod

well

that's

what

happens

in

Exodus

32

right

Exodus

32

1-4

says

the people

gathered

themselves

to Aaron

and said

to him

make gods

for us

who shall

go before

us

so

Aaron

said to

them

take off

the rings

of gold

that are

on your

ears

of your

wives

your sons

and your

daughters

and bring

them to

me

so all

the people

took off

the rings

of gold

that were

in their

ears

and brought

them to

Aaron

he received

the gold

from their

hand

and fashioned

it with

a graving

tool

made

and made

a golden

calf

and they

said

these are

your gods

oh Israel

who brought

you up

out of the

land

of Egypt

the similarities

are unmistakable

give me your

gold earrings

so they do

and out pops

a golden

calf

well

Gideon does

the same

thing

give me

your earrings

1700

shekels

of gold

34 pounds

of gold

and out

pops

an ephod

for the

first time

idolatry

is the

officially

sponsored

by a

leader

of Israel

compromised

worship

we could

talk about

so many

other things

but

but the

compromise

is embedded

in his

heart

in Gideon's

heart

and so

it should

be no

surprise

that Abimelech

then takes

it to

its

fulfillment

he's also

a product

of compromised

rule

a product

of compromised

rule

going back

to chapter 9

Judges chapter 9

Judges 9 · chapter mention

we see this

and now Abimelech

the son of Jerubal

went to Shechem

to his mother's

relatives

and said to them

and to the whole

clan of his

mother's family

say in the ears

of all the

leaders of Shechem

which is better

for you

that all 70

of the sons

of Jerubal

rule over you

or that one

rule over you

remember also

that I am

bone

your bone

and of your

flesh

so he makes

his way

to Shechem

Afra was

about 30

miles away

he makes

his way

kind of

to the

trade

center

of Israel

the nation

of Israel

had Shechem

as kind of

the crossroads

it was the

center

of transaction

Gideon

is from

the tribe

of Manasseh

and if you

have your

study guides

for this

morning

you can

kind of

see on

the back

kind of

where

in the

world

is Ephraim

and Manasseh

located

and you

can kind

of see

it's right

there in

the center

you can

see that

Ephraim

and Manasseh

are very

close together

well Shechem

happened to

be on

the edge

not only

of Manasseh

but bordering

Ephraim

and so

it was really

easy for

these

leaders

to give

allegiance

to

Abimelech

Shechem

was one

of the

most

important

crossroads

in Israel's

central

country

it sat

in this

narrow

pass

between

Mount

Gerizim

and Mount

Ebal

which we'll

talk about

in just a

moment

and all

of the

major

crossroads

converged

there

if you

controlled

Shechem

you controlled

Israel

Abimelech

knew that

he knew

this was

the power

center

and he

goes to

a group

of leaders

who we

find out

actually have

the ability

the authority

to make him

king as we'll

see in

verse 6

he's going

to the

power

center

he's

demanding

he's

demanding

to be

king

from them

but

the rule

that was

offered

to his

father

and at

least

kind of

declined

in terms

of lip

service

is going

to be an

offer

or even

a proposal

for that

matter