The Consequences of Forgetting God

Dating the narratives of the book of Judges is a very difficult thing to do.

Most scholars don't agree on exactly when all of these narratives fit together in a chronological arrangement.

And the author doesn't really clue us in much to that.

But it is safe to at least assume that nearly two centuries, if not more, have passed between the time that the settlement of the land of Canaan began after the Joshua generation to this time of Abimelech and Shechem and this whole scene in chapter 9.

And I want you to think about that for just a moment, how quickly things can change, let alone change over the course of 200 years.

Our old nation is nearly 250 years old, 250 years almost, at least since the Revolutionary War.

And we would say our nation today looks very different than it looked 250 years ago.

The culture is very different.

The way we think about God is very different.

The way we live, the amount of people is very different.

Now, put yourselves now in Israel's shoes.

It's been probably a couple of hundred years now since the very beginning.

A couple of hundred years of degrading as far as their spiritual lives are concerned.

And the condition of Israel couldn't be more different at this point in chapter 9.

It is a far cry away from where we began the book of Judges.

In the beginning, the nation is unified.

They're united together.

The people were concerned to seek the Lord's will and counsel in the way that they were going to go about actually settling the land.

Remember all the leaders in the very first verse of the book.

They've gathered together to pray, to seek the Lord's direction.

That's what's happening in the beginning.

They flourished under the leadership of Judah.

Judah, the ones that God seemed to have been using, even prophesying, would be leading the nation moving forward.

And they were committed to worshiping and serving the Lord their God.

But the Israel of chapter 9 doesn't resemble the Israel of chapter 1 at all.

They're not unified as God's people.

They're acting actually independently of one another.

All of these stories that we're reading, all of these narratives, it's using the term for Israel, but it's not really referring to the nation as a whole.

It's these little pockets of conflict.

These pockets where people are just not united as a nation anymore.

Everybody's doing their own thing now.

They're acting independently of one another.

There's no concern for God's plans among the people.

Not a single mention of going to the tabernacle in Shiloh to seek the Lord's direction on what they should be doing.

They're not concerned about that anymore.

They've completely turned away from Yahweh to serve the Baals instead.

And rather than following Judah's leadership as a united nation, regional groups, as we see in chapter 9,

are now anointing kings of their own.

They're mimicking the pagan tribal groups that are around them.

And then finally, there's no more talk of settling the land.

Have you picked up on that?

The further we get into this book, the more distant the whole concept of a land of promise becomes.

Nobody's talking about it.

Nobody seems concerned about it.

The thought of a promised land flowing with milk and honey seems to be a distant dream that no one really cares about or believes in anymore.

They've mingled with the people of the land.

And God's people have been thoroughly Canaanized.

And on the surface, this narrative that follows Abimelech, it fills out a place in the book.

At least at first.

There are hints of this cycle of apostasy that characterizes the book.

But the story is missing some key components of that.

We find that the people have turned away from God, as we typically see stated.

But there's no outside enemy oppressing them in this story.

The enemy actually comes from the inside, not the outside.

There's no cry for help to God regarding their condition.

There's no deliverer chosen by God to save the people.

There's no period of rest that follows.

The wheels have essentially fallen off of even the cycle where Israel's apostasy seems nearly complete.

So what exactly is this section here for?

What's it meant to teach us?

The chapter is about what happens when we live as if God isn't there and as if his instructions do not matter.

What does it look like when God's people actually abandon God?

What is the nature of their lives?

What characterizes what happens to them?

What is the outflow of that?

And what we find in Judges is that when the people were faithful to Yahweh, they flourished.

They enjoyed intimate fellowship with God through the means of worship that he had ordained.

They received the blessings from his hand.

But they became more attracted to the bells.

They became more attracted to the life that was lived by those who worshiped Baal rather than God.

They forsook the Lord.

And while they might have enjoyed a season of pleasure during that time,

as Hebrews 11 tells us, there is indeed pleasure and sin for a season.

We get to chapter 9 and they're discovering very quickly, at least the people around Shechem,

that life under Baal is not as great as they had imagined.

That's what this chapter is about.

Instead of a life of blessing, they're surrounded by death and destruction.

And this passage is a warning for all who are being drawn away from God to pursue a life without him.

And the lesson is that true flourishing derives from faithfulness to God,

while the ways of this world will only bring about death.

That's the big picture.

Now, the details of the narrative are tied together by three specific texts

that help us understand and apply the story as a whole.

So what I want to do is I want to start by just working through, really just quickly,

just working through the whole story all the way through the end of chapter 9, okay?

Kind of like what we do with the scripture readings.

In fact, you'll be pleased to know that I actually wrote no manuscript for this part of the sermon,

so we won't be here for three hours just on this one part.

But I do want you to at least see a sketch of the outline of this story.

We need to understand what's happening.

And then once we do that, we're going to come back,

and we're going to look at three key texts that kind of tie it all together

and give us the purpose of our study for the day, okay?

So let's look at this structure.

The first thing that we find is in verses 1 through 6,

we find Abimelech's conspiracy.

And these are in the screen.

If you'd like to keep a note of them, you can.

This is Abimelech's conspiracy.

Let's read it again.

Now Abimelech, the son of Jerobel, 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 Jerobel rule over you?

Or that one rule over you?

Remember also that I am your bone and your flesh.

I mean, it's pretty clear to see what he's saying here, right?

We are introduced to Abimelech earlier in chapter 8 in verse 30.

Now Gideon had 70 sons, his own offspring, for he had many wives,

and his concubine who was in Shechem also bore him a son,

and he called his name Abimelech, okay?

So we're introduced to Abimelech there.

We find out that his mother was a concubine of Gideon's,

that she belonged to the people of Shechem,

and now not wanting to share any possible power or rule with his 70 brothers,

he goes to his mother's relatives in Shechem,

and he says, listen, do you want all of these guys ruling over you,

or do you just want one king?

And by the way, if you think it's good to have one king,

wouldn't one of your own people make a great king?

I am yours.

What an honor it would be for you Shechemites

if somebody from Shechem was the king and was the ruler who was ruling over us,

and that sounded pretty attractive to them.

Look at verse 3.

His mother's relatives spoke all the 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.

Isn't that such a foolish way to choose a ruler?

There's no talk of qualification.

There's no talk of competency.

It's just, he's one of us.

Sure, he can be king.

And then they were complicit in what he had plans to do.

They gave him 70 pieces of silver out of the house of their false god, Belbereth,

with which Abimelech hired worthless and reckless fellows who followed him.

And he went to his father's house at Ophrah,

and he killed all of his brothers.

Now, there's irony in that, isn't there?

He goes to his supposed relatives in Shechem,

and he says, I'm your brother.

Let me be your king, and I'll deal with my other brothers by killing them.

Okay, there's a bit of foreshadowing here, right?

Right?

Like, surely, somebody in Shechem thought,

if he's willing to murder the other brothers,

at what point is he going to turn on us as his brothers as well?

But they're not thinking like that, are they?

They're thinking so carnally at this moment.

He kills all of his brothers,

but Jotham, the youngest, was left, and he hid himself.

And then the leaders made Abimelech their king.

So, Abimelech's conspiracy.

Here's the next part of the outline.

Jotham's curse.

Jotham's curse.

In two parts to this, first we see the fable told.

Look at verse 7.

When it was told, Jotham,

he went and stood on top of Mount Gerizim,

and he cried aloud and said to them,

Listen to me, you leaders of Shechem,

that God may listen to you.

And he tells this story.

The trees once went out to anoint a king over them,

and they said to the olive tree,

Reign over us.

But the olive tree said to them,

Shall I leave my abundance,

by which gods and men are honored,

and go hold sway over the trees?

So the tree said to the fig tree,

You come and reign over us.

But the fig tree said to them,

Shall I leave my sweetness,

and my good fruit,

and go hold sway over the trees?

So the tree said to the vine,

You come and reign over us.

But the vine said to them,

Shall I leave my wine,

that cheers God and men,

and go hold sway over the trees?

Then all the trees said to the bramble,

a bush,

You come and reign over us.

And the bramble said to the trees,

If in good faith you are anointing me king over you,

then come and take refuge in my shade.

An irony,

because a bramble has no shade.

But if not,

let fire come out from the bramble,

and devour the cedars of Lebanon.

So you can imagine,

Abimelech and the people of Shechem,

and of Beth Milo,

which is probably attached to Shechem in some way,

they're gathered over here at the Diviner's Oak,

and they are in the process of anointing Abimelech

as their king,

and then they hear this voice crying out

from a distance on Mount Gerizim,

and he tells this weird story about trees

that they're desperate to find the king,

and it becomes clear what this story is about.

The trees here are the people of Shechem.

They're trying to find a king,

and they're trying to find their king,

but none of the qualified people want to be their king.

And so what do they do?

They find the bramble.

The bramble represented by Abimelech.

Abimelech who has no shade.

A bramble who provides no fruit.

Thorns and thistles is what he is represented by here,

and that's who they make their king.

And he says,

if you do this in good faith,

great.

If you don't,

if you turn on me,

fire will come from the bramble,

and we'll destroy you.

This is an interesting story.

Now, we need to at least acknowledge

the problem here is not that they want a king.

That's actually a good thing.

It's actually a necessary thing in the themes of judges.

Dale Ralph Davis says,

the fable does not stress the worthlessness of kingship,

but the worthlessness of Abimelech.

The concern is not that the worthy candidates

depreciate the offer of kingship,

but that the bramble accepts it.

That's the emphasis here is on the bramble, right?

Okay, then we find the fable interpreted or explained.

Verse 16.

Jotham says,

Now, therefore,

if you acted in good faith and integrity

when you made Abimelech king,

and if you have dealt well with Jerobel and his house

and have done to him as his deeds deserved,

for my father fought for you and risked his life

and delivered you from the hand of Midian,

and you have risen up against my father's house this day

and have killed his son,

70 men on one stone,

and have made Abimelech the son of his female servant king

over the leaders of Shechem,

because he's your relative.

If you then have acted in good faith and integrity

with Jerobel and his house this day,

then rejoice in Abimelech and let him also rejoice in you.

But if not,

let fire come out from Abimelech

and devour the leaders of Shechem and Beth Milo,

and let fire come out from the leaders of Shechem

and from Beth Milo to devour Abimelech.

And then Jotham does what any good preacher does.

He ran away and fled and went to Beer

and lived there because of Abimelech, his brother.

Jotham drops the bomb,

and he hightails it out of there

so that they couldn't get to him.

I heard somebody say,

I think it was on a Bible Talk podcast,

they said sometimes ministry is like being the pilot

of a Delta aircraft.

Everybody's happy to get on the plane

and they get where they need to go

and everything's good.

And when they get off,

they're clapping for the pilot.

Thank you so much for such a wonderful flight.

He said sometimes it's actually more like a B-52 bomber.

You fly in and you drop the bomb

and then you just try to get back to your wife and kids

as fast as you can safely, right?

We see a little bit of that with Jotham here.

He proclaims his warning,

he makes his prophecy,

and he hightails it out there so that he can live.

All right, that moves us to the next big section,

God's judgment.

So three primary sections.

We've got Abimelech's conspiracy,

Jotham's curse,

and then God's judgment.

And this is where we see fire

come from all the people involved.

First, there's fire from Shechem.

Verse 25,

the leaders of Shechem put men in ambush

against Abimelech on the mountaintops

and they robbed all who passed by them

along that way

and it was told to Abimelech.

Then we're introduced in verses 26 to 29,

this outsider named Gaal or Gal,

the son of Ebed,

he moves into Shechem with his relatives

and in a night of drunken, false worship,

he lifts up his voice against Abimelech.

He rallies the people of Shechem to his side.

Everybody now wants to mutiny

against Abimelech as their king,

but Abimelech has an insider who informs them

and that's what we're told about

in verses 25 to 29,

fire from Shechem.

Then we get to verses 30 to 49,

just a large section here.

We see fire from Abimelech,

fire from Abimelech.

First against Gaal or Gal.

Notice verse 30,

when Zebel, the ruler of the city,

heard the words of Gaal, the son of Ebed,

his anger was kindled

and he sent messengers to Abimelech secretly saying,

behold, Gaal, 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.

Jump to verse 34.

So Abimelech and all the men

who were with him rose up by night.

They set an ambush against Shechem

and four companies.

Gaal, the son of Ebed,

went out and stood in the entrance

of the gate of the city

and Abimelech,

the people who were with him,

rose from the ambush.

And when Gaal saw the people,

he said to Zebel,

look, people are coming down

from the mountains.

And Zebel says,

ah, it's just a shadow.

Don't worry about it.

37, Gaal spoke again and said,

look, people are coming down

from the center of the land

and one company is coming

from the direction of the diviner's oak.

And then Zebel speaks up,

where is your mouth now?

You who said,

who is Abimelech,

that we should serve him.

Skip down to verse 40.

And Abimelech chased him

and he fled before him

and many fell wounded

up to the entrance of the gate.

So first,

there's fire from Shechem,

then there's fire from Abimelech

and it begins with this,

this kind of external figure

that has come in

and has created this stir

amongst the city,

turning the people against Abimelech.

But then the fire moves on

from against Gaal

to against Shechem itself.

Verse 42,

on the following day,

the people went out into the field.

Abimelech was told

and he took his people

and divided them

into three companies

and he set an ambush in the field

and he looked

and saw the people

coming out of the city.

So he rose against them

and he killed them.

Now the picture is changing now.

First, it's against this guy

who essentially

has opened up his big mouth

in a drunken stupor

and has incited war

with Abimelech.

But now,

on the next day,

Abimelech sits outside the city.

He just waits for the citizens

to come out

and do their work in the field

and as soon as they come out

to go about their business,

he kills them all.

He just absolutely

lays waste to the people.

A few of them were told

escape to a tower

in verse 46.

All the leaders

of the tower of Shechem

heard of it.

They entered the stronghold

of the house of Bareth

and basically,

Abimelech and his men,

they get a bunch of trees,

they lay them up

against the stronghold

of the tower

and if you skip down

to verse 49,

we see,

so every one of the people

cut down his bundle

following Abimelech,

put it against the stronghold.

They set the stronghold on fire

so that all the people

of the tower of Shechem

also died,

about a thousand men and women.

Abimelech kills them all.

He raises the city,

sows it with salt.

It doesn't get rebuilt

for a long time

in the Old Testament narrative.

Shechem now

has faced the wrath

of their king, Abimelech.

But what's going to happen

to Abimelech?

Well, there's a final point.

We see fire from this place

called Thebes,

which isn't mentioned

up to this point in the text,

but it's concluding for us

what happens to Abimelech.

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 fled to it

and shut themselves in

and they went up

to the roof of the tower.

Abimelech came to the tower

and fought against it

and drew near to the door

to 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 he said to him,

Draw your sword

and kill me

lest they say of me

a woman killed me.

And this young man

thrust him through

and he died.

It is quite funny, isn't it?

It's actually a foreshadow

I think of Saul.

So much of this story

points us to what

Israel's going to do

as a whole

when they want Saul

as their king.

He's not God's man.

He's Israel's man.

And his life ends

much the same way.

It's not at the hands

of a woman

but he is about to die

but he can't handle

the dishonor of that

so he asks for his armor bearer

to take his life for him.

We see some foreshadowing

but then perhaps

the most humorous part

is verse 55

also tragic.

When the men of Israel

saw that Abimelech was dead

everyone departed

to his home.

This wasn't about God.

It wasn't about Israel.

This wasn't about

what was good for the people.

This was a wicked man

who should have never

been in leadership

but somebody put him there.

And everybody knows it

and they're going along with it

because they're afraid of him

and the second that they find

that he's dead

they just drop their weapons.

They say,

alright, we don't have to do this anymore

and they go home

and they live their lives.

Interesting, isn't it?

Alright, well that's the story, okay?

Let's look at three texts

that kind of tie all of this together

and help us understand

what this is really about, okay?

Number one,

God was forgotten.

God was forgotten.

Go back to chapter 8, would you?

And look with me at verses 33 to 35 again.

As soon as Gideon died,

the people of Israel turned again

and they whored after the Baals

and made Belbereth their God.

And the people of Israel

did not remember the Lord their God

who had delivered them

from the hand of all their enemies

on every side.

And they did not show steadfast love

to the family of Jerobel,

that is Gideon,

in return for all the good

that he had done to Israel.

This whole episode

with Abimelech and Shechem

originates here.

We're told that Israel

once again

did not remember

the Lord their God

or all the times

that he had saved them

from their enemies.

That doesn't mean

that they literally

forgot who Yahweh was

or had some sort of amnesia

about the ways

he had delivered them.

It means that as a people,

they willfully rejected him

despite all that he had done.

They forgot him.

They rejected him.

They denied him.

They attempted to live their life

without him.

Says Del Ralph Davis.

It means that

what they knew of Yahweh

exercised no control over them.

It held no grip

on their loyalties.

They could answer

the catechism questions

about God,

but that knowledge

did not determine

their commitment

or keep them

from adopting

Belbareth as their God.

The nature

of their forgetfulness

is defined first

in this text

by their pursuit

of the Baals,

adopting Belbareth

as their official,

formal deity.

In the language

that the author uses

need not be missed.

He writes that

they hoard

after the Baals,

spiritually prostituting

themselves

to a false deity

in hopes that they might

receive some fortune,

some good

from that God

in their dissatisfaction

with Yahweh.

The language,

it pictures God

as a loving husband

whose spouse

has not forgotten

who he is,

but has willingly

chosen to find

life

and love

and security

in another man.

And that man

isn't even capable

of providing those things,

but it doesn't stop

his spouse

from leaving him,

from forgetting him

to pursue

this other person

and pursue

this other individual.

In other words,

despite his steadfast

love toward them,

Israel was determined

to live a life

away from

Yahweh

and his love

and his law.

But the text

also defines

their forgetfulness

by a lack

of love

and loyalty

to the family

of God's servant,

Gideon.

Don't miss

the author's use

of the name

Jerobel here.

Look again

at verse 34

and they,

or verse 35,

and they did not

show steadfast love

to the family

of Jerobel.

Now remember,

that name,

it's supposed

to reflect Gideon

as God's agent

for fighting

against the worship

of Baal.

The oppression

from Midian

that we've been studying

for so many weeks now,

it was God's judgment

against Israel's idolatry

and Gideon

was used

to bring about

their salvation

and this name

was to remind them

of all that God

had done

in fighting

against Baal

and the Baal worship

to show his steadfast love

for his people.

So when we read

the term

Jerobel

as a proper name

for Gideon

in the book of Judges,

it's always there

for a very specific reason.

It's not there by chance.

It should bring

our thoughts

to the issue

of our worship.

Now the treatment

of Jerobel's family,

particularly

the 70 sons,

is the product

then

of forsaking

God.

It's the evidence

of it.

The root problem

is that they've forgotten

God.

The fruit

of that problem

is that they are

no longer showing

steadfast love

and loyalty

to God's servant

whom he used

to deliver them.

They've completely

forgotten God

and they couldn't

care less

about being loyal

and loving

toward Gideon

and his family.

Therefore,

when God

returns the evil

of Abimelech

and Shechem

against them,

it is ultimately

about them

not remembering

the Lord their God.

Now,

the bottom line here

is that Israel

did not want

to live

in worship

and obedience

to the Lord.

they wanted

Baal

and they wanted

Baalism

more.

And their

whoring after

the Baals

caused them

to deal

treacherously

with Gideon's

sons,

which led

to their

judgment

and death

rather than life.

God

So this story

simply displays

the consequences

of forgetting

God.

What does it

look like

when God's

people forget

him

and forsake

him

and determine

that they're

going to live

a life

apart from

him?

This is what

it looks like.

Number two,

God was in

control.

God was

forgotten.

God was

in control.

Flip to

chapter 9

and look

with me

at verses

23 and

24.

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

70 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.

But look

again at

verse 23

at the

very beginning.

God

sent

an evil

spirit

between

Abimelech

and the

leaders.

Now aside

from the

opening statement

of Jotham's

curse,

God is not

mentioned at

all in this

narrative

until we

get here.

We find

he's forgotten

at the end

of chapter 8

but suddenly

comes back

to the surface

here.

And what is

it that it's

telling us?

Oh God

is still

there.

Oh God

is actually

in control

of this

whole thing.

He's still

acting.

He's still

seeing.

He's still

being God

here.

Forgetting

God

always

involves

self

deception.

Always.

We think

that if we

insist

God doesn't

exist

or choose

to adopt

a different

God as

our own

that we

can

effectively

remove

God's

power

and authority

in our

lives.

That's

self

deception.

We deceive

ourselves

into thinking

that God

needs our

permission

to judge

or to

act

but in

reality

God

is God

whether we

acknowledge

him

or not.

And Abimelech

and the leaders

of Shechem

they were

behaving

as if

Yahweh

and his

law

no longer

had any

authority

over them.

It's as if

the people

of Israel

were so

foolish

as to

say

you know

what

now

we're

going to

make

Belbereth

our

God

which means

that authority

over us

transfers

now from

Yahweh

to Belbereth

so Yahweh

can't touch

us anymore

it doesn't

matter what

he says

it doesn't

matter what

he thinks

we're serving

Belbereth

now

and so

they do

the things

that are

characterized

by false

worship

but just

because you

choose another

God

doesn't make

God

any less

God

he doesn't

need your

permission

to act

in your

life

he doesn't

need your

permission

to be an

authority

in your

life

or to

judge

your

life

and God

shows

in verse

23

that he

was sovereign

over the

events of

Abimelech

and Shechem's

lives

even though

they did

not

acknowledge

him

as their

God

and he

sovereignly

allowed

their sin

to devour

their alliance

as a form

of judgment

against them

and as a

form of

justice

for Gideon's

sons

God

turned their

wickedness

against them

and he

sent an

evil spirit

between them

and I think

there's echoes

of this

in Romans

Romans 1 · chapter mention

chapter 1

where Paul

writes that

sometimes

God

gives us

over

to the

full

out

working

of sin

Romans

Romans 1:24

chapter 1

verse 24

therefore

Paul writes

God gave

them up

in the

lust of

their hearts

to impurity

verse 26

for this

reason

God gave

them up

to

dishonorable

passions

verse 28

since they

did not

see fit

to acknowledge

God

aka

since they

forgot

God

God

gave them

up

to a

debased

mind

to do

what ought

not to

be

done

when God

gives someone

up in their

sin

he removes

all divine

restraint

allowing a

person's sin

to run

its full

course

and in the

case of

Abimelech

and the leaders

of Shechem

God

sovereignly

gave them

over

to their

wickedness

so that

their sin

ran its

full course

resulting

in their

destruction

their

treachery

toward

Gideon's

sons

eventually

turned

them

against

one

another

and in

the end

they all

died

there is

no good

ending

to this

story

for Abimelech

or the people

in Shechem

there is

no happy

ending

here

it is

all

death

why

because

God

gave them

up

to their

sin

they

deceived

themselves

into thinking

that a

life apart

from God

would be

better

but they

ultimately

proved that

it's actually

far

far

worse

when it

comes to

living a

life that

forgets

God

God

the worst

thing

that can

happen

to us

is for

God to

give us

what we

want

the worst

thing

that can

happen to

you

if you

are being

drawn

to a life

of forgetting

God

and abandoning

God

and his law

and his will

the worst

thing for

you

is for

God

to say

okay

for him to

throw up his

hands so to

speak

and say

fine

if sin is

what you

want

sin is what

you can

have

and if you're

trying to live

a life apart

from God

and his

ways

you need

to understand

that there

may very

well come

a day

when he

lets you

when he

lets you

that sense

of conviction

the pleas

of the Holy

Spirit

that you

feel now

in your

life

that feeling

of guilt

and shame

for your

sin

that's gonna

go away

and all

that will

be left

is an

evil spirit

that runs

its course

and destroys

your life

God is

sovereign

whether you

believe he

is or not

and his

sovereignty

will eventually

be expressed

in judgment

if you

continue

to forget

him

so God's

forgotten

but then we

find God's

actually still

in control

but he's

in control

at least

at this

point

in judgment

number

three

God

was the

final

judge

God

was the

final

judge

verse

56

and 57

thus

God

returned

the evil

of Abimelech

which he

committed

against his

father

and 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 Jerob

Baal

so after

verse

23

God

isn't

mentioned

again

until the

story's

over

and then

we find

that

God

is given

the credit

by the

author

for everything

that happened

reminding us

that God

is the

final judge

here

now there's

not much

more to say

here than

what I've

already said

but we

should at least

acknowledge

how the

text

concludes

by emphasizing

God's

place

as the

final

judge

the

woman

in

Thebes

was an

instrument

of God's

judgment

but God

was the

judge

he was the

one working

and acting

and bringing

all of this

together

he is the

one that must

be credited

with Abimelech's

fall

which is a

working out

of holy

justice

for Gideon's

sons

it's also

a working out

of salvation

for those

like Jotham

and the

people of

Thebes

who were

subject to

the oppression

brought on

by wicked

rulers

like Abimelech

so we find

here what we

find so often

in the scriptures

that God

is glorified

in salvation

through judgment

he judges

Abimelech

and Shechem

for their

sins

and he does

so in order

to bring

salvation

to Jotham

and the people

of Thebes

and anyone

else who was

underneath his

oppressive rule

and he is

glorified in

both things

as the final

judge

God is

ultimately

glorified by

both salvation

and by

judgment

but could

this have

played out

differently

that's the

question

that I want

us to

conclude

with

could any

of this

been different

for Abimelech

and the

leaders of

Shechem

even better

for those

who are

here this

morning

that may

be currently

living apart

from God

is it

possible

for your

end

to be

different

from those

in the

text

well I

think we

have to go

to Jotham's

curse once

again to

find that

answer

look with

me at

verse 7

when it

was told

to Jotham

he went

and stood

on top

of Mount

Gerizim

and listened

to what

he cried

aloud

listen to

me you

leaders

of Shechem

why

that God

may listen

to you

now we

know how

the story

ends

we know

what God

was doing

we know

what the

judgment

ultimately

ends up

being

but at

this

point

as

Jotham

cries

this

out

the

door

of

repentance

is open

Jotham's

curse

was a

prophetic

warning

against

Abimelech

and Shechem

that God

fully fulfilled

but

we know

that Yahweh

is a God

who does

not delight

himself

in the death

of the

wicked

who delights

himself

rather

in giving

mercy

Ezekiel

Ezekiel 33 · chapter mention

chapter 33

and verse 11

God says

say this to them

as I live

declares the

Lord God

I have no

pleasure

in the death

of the wicked

but

that the

wicked

turn

from his

way

and live

turn back

this is the

plea of God

turn back

turn back

from your

evil ways

why will

you die

O house

of Israel

can you

imagine that

same verse

from Ezekiel

being proclaimed

to Abimelech

and to the

leaders of

Shechem

by Jotham

turn back

turn back

why would

you die

turn back

and then we

go to Micah

Micah 7 · chapter mention

chapter 7

and verse 18

where Micah

says who is a

God like you

pardoning iniquity

and passing

over transgression

for the remnant

of his inheritance

he does not

retain his anger

forever

Micah says

because he

delights

in steadfast

love

he delights

in

mercy

if they

had only

turned

at the

warning

and repented

of their

sin

there's no

reason for us

to doubt

that God

would have been

merciful

because he

is a God

of mercy

and we

believe that

ultimately

because of

the work

of Christ

on the

cross

God

proves

his steadfast

love

toward us

in that

while we

were sinners

who were

trying to

forget him

who were

trying to

leave him

Christ

died

for us

that's

Romans 5

8

he took

the wrath

of God

in our

place

so that

we can

receive

forgiveness

for every

sin

and be

eternally

reconciled

to our

creator

against which

we have

sinned

and this

salvation

is not

something

that we

can earn

simply by

doing better

with our

lives

this could

not be

earned

by Abimelech

for him

just stopping

for a moment

just to say

you know

what

maybe I'll

go about

this a

different

way

it doesn't

work

no

it is

received

by faith

in who

Jesus

is

and what

Jesus

did

and what

Jesus

said

if Abimelech

and the

Shechemites

had turned

from their

sin back

to God

upon hearing

Jotham's

warning

their end

would not

have been

destruction

and we

too

can turn

from sin

back to

God

through

faith

in Jesus

Christ

and perhaps

this sermon

is your

version

of Jotham's

curse

it's a

prophetic

warning

for you

that the

doorway

for repentance

is still

open

but if you

continue

forgetting

God

your sin

will bring

your death

your eternal

death

but if you

will repent

and believe

as Jesus

said in

John 8

if you

will believe

and hear

his words

God

will give

you

eternal

life

eternal

life

we could

simplify this

whole section

by saying

there's two

ways to

live

you can

live for

God

and live

a life

that is

blessed

and flourishes

in eternity

or you

can live

for yourself

and you'll

die

you'll be

destroyed

and you'll

spend eternity

in hell

it really

is that

simple

like Israel

we often

think of

God's word

and God's

ways

as a

restriction

on our

freedoms

as a

burden

to who

we want

to be

and how

we want

to live

our lives

and

indwelling

sin

it magnifies

this

indwelling

sin

that's

in us

it magnifies

the attractiveness

of a life

apart from

God

it leads

us to

view the

Lord

as an

oppressor

someone

standing in

the way

of our

happiness

and true

fulfillment

we think

that a

life

outside

of God's

word

and will

will be

ultimately

freeing

that it

will allow

us to

be who

we truly

are

and I

don't mean

any of that

sarcastically

I mean

that as

that is

the reality

of how we

think as

people

that is

the mantra

of our

culture

at this

point

and it

probably

exists

in some

of us

that God

is a

problem

he's

an

oppressor

he's

an

egomaniac

that's

standing in

the way

of me

being who

I

really

am

the

problem

though

is that

who you

really

are

is a

sinner

whose

sin

is

eventually

going to

destroy

you

that's

offensive

to us

though

we don't

like to

think of

it that

way

we say

no