God's Justice

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.