Sermon Tone Analysis

Chapter 9

Abimelek (v.1-21)

Abimelek was one of Gideon’s sons, who was born to a concubine

In this social environment, Abimelech was no doubt shunned by his half-brothers (cf.

his retaliation, 9:5) but he was accepted by his mother’s family who lived in Shechem.

Abimelek killed his 70 brothers for 70 pieces of silver

The temple treasury pays out seventy shekels for the seventy lives of Gideon’s sons.

This is an indication of how cheaply they were valued (compare a fifty-shekel-per-male ransom price in Lev 27:3 and the typical twenty shekels for which a slave might be bought).

The comment that the sons of Gideon were executed “on one stone” suggests ritual execution.

Sacrifices usually took place on an altar and a large rock was at times used for a makeshift altar

Jotham escaped and then came back and spoke to the people of Shechem questioning whether they chose the right person or not as their king

Olive, Fig, Grapevine

These are three of the most productive members of the economy of Palestine.

Olive oil, figs and wine are among the staple products of the region and constituted the primary exports.

They therefore represented domestic prosperity and successful foreign relationships—both the result of a competent king’s rule.

The trees were seeking a king, but were turned down, in turn, by (a) the olive tree (v.

8), the most ancient of trees which is busy producing oil to be used to honor both gods and men (v.

9); (b) the fig tree (v.

10), the most common of trees in Israel whose fruit is a staple food (v.

11); and (c) the vine (v.

12), whose vintage produces wine which cheers both gods (i.e., in libations) and men (v.

13).

Abimelech was compared to a thornbush

In desperation the trees invited the thornbush (the buckthorn or bramblebush was used to kindle cooking fires in the wilderness areas of Palestine) to be their king (v.

14).

The qualified acceptance by the thornbush was conditioned on the trees taking refuge in its shade (v.

15).

Jotham employed extreme irony in this statement, for the puny thornbush at the foot of other trees scarcely casts a shadow.

The threat of fire coming out of the thornbush, however, was real for farmers feared the wildfires that could spread quickly through the dried tinder of thornbushes.

Many consider this to be prickly boxwood, which, with its very tiny leaves, has no shade to offer unless one would sit in the middle of a thicket of it—a very unpleasant experience.

In the dry climate of Palestine fires can be frequent in the brush.

Such brush fires would in turn generate enough heat to kindle a fire among the larger trees.

The Aramaic Wisdom of Ahiqar contains a conversation between the bramble and the pomegranate tree.

Jotham’s curse

Jotham pointed out how terrible of a king Abimelek was to the people.

His running away showed that they did not agree with him

The Downfall of Abimelek (v.

22-57)

Abimelek had been ruler for 3 years and this is when God sent a spirit

A similar phrase can be seen in 1 Kings 22:1-23.

with the lying spirit in vs 22

God simply permitted or gave permission to the spirit to do what it wanted to do, but it was only because the door was already open through the deceit and treachoury in the people’s hearts

If there is a spirit/demon in your life it’s because you or someone in your family line gave it permission through sing or willingly inviting it in

Gaal went against Abimelech and tried to revolt against him, but Zebul, the governor of the city, warned Abimelech.

Which led to Abimelech sending troops out at night for a surprise attack

But then Abimelech took it too far and started attacking the people while they were working in the fields Judges 9:42-45

However, Abimelech’s anger had not receded and his fear of further Shechemite revolt led him to ambush the people while they worked in the fields.

Two companies carried out the slaughter while Abimelech secured the city gate with a third company.

By evening he had captured the city and destroyed it, having killed its inhabitants.

He then scattered salt over it, symbolic of a sentence of infertility so it might remain barren forever (cf.

Deut.

29:23; Jer.

17:6).

Archeology has confirmed this 12th-century destruction of Shechem, which remained a ruin till rebuilt by Jeroboam I as his capital (1 Kings 12:25).

This forced the Shechemites to retreat to a temple in El-Berith (Baal-Berith)

Abimelech went further into the city and tried to burn all the people, but Judges 9:53-56

Attempting a repeat performance of Shechem, Abimelech sought to set … fire to the tower (within the city) where the people had fled.

However, a woman dropped an upper millstone on his head and cracked his skull.

The “upper millstone” was either a cylinder-shaped stone from a handmill (about 8 or 10 inches in length and several inches thick) or the large upper stone of a regular mill (about 12 to 18 inches in diameter with a hole in the middle and several inches thick).

As he was dying Abimelech (like Saul, 1 Sam.

31:4) commanded his armor-bearer to kill him.

Abimelech did not want it said that a woman had killed him.

The followers of Abimelech (here identified as Israelites) went home when they saw that he was dead.

The curse of Jotham was fulfilled

Chapter 10

Tola (v.

1-2)

Judged Israel for 23 years

Jair (v.

3-5)

Judged for 22 years

Jephthah (v.

6-18)

The Israelites were being oppressed by the Philistines for 18 years

It wasn’t until the children repented and cried out to God that He heard them

So then the people started looking for someone to lead them

Chapter 11

Jephthah, like Gideon, was known as a mighty man of valor.

But was looked down on because his mother was a prostitute and wasn’t accepted into his father’s family

Another reason for him not being wanted would be that his family didn’t want him to have his inheritance

It should be noted that it was not any family shame or humiliation that resulted in Jephthah’s being driven out.

With the existence of temple prostitutes and polygamy it would be fairly common for children of different mothers to be in the same household.

Here the text makes it clear that it was the inheritance that motivated the expulsion.

Whether Jephthah, as the firstborn, had rights to a double portion, or whether they were dividing equally (see comment on primogeniture at 9:2), elimination of one party would increase the shares of the others.

Jephthah found some hoodlums

Even though he was shunned, the elders of Gilead wanted him to lead them.

The Ammonite king claimed that the Israelite’s stole their land

Jephthah applied his knowledge of Israel’s history (learned either from written or oral sources) to refute the Ammonite king’s claim.

In passing, Jephthah indicated that Israel had acquiesced to the refusal of Edom (cf.

Num.

20:14–21) and Moab to permit passage through their lands (Jud.

11:17–18).

However, when Israel circled the borders of Edom and Moab, and camped on the other side of the Arnon (the more usual northern border of Moab), Sihon king of the Amorites also refused Israel passage northwest to the Jordan River, and fought against Israel.

The LORD gave Israel the victory and Israel took over all the land of the Amorites … from the Arnon to the Jabbok—the land now under dispute between the Ammonites and the Gileadites (cf.

v. 13).

This area was really southern Gilead (the rest of Gilead was north of the Jabbok River), and its southern portion (from the Arnon to a line extending eastward from the north end of the Dead Sea) was periodically in Moabite hands.

He concluded that God gave Israel the land Judges 11:23-24

The Ammonite King refused to listen, so Jephthah prepared for war Judges 11:29

The purpose of the Spirit of the LORD coming on Jephthah was to provide divine enablement in his military leadership against the pagan oppressors whom the Lord had been using to chasten His people (cf.

3:10; 6:34; 13:25; 15:14).

The presence of the Holy Spirit with Old Testament leaders was primarily for the purpose of accomplishing services for God, not specifically for holy living.

Thus the presence of the Spirit with Jephthah was not necessarily related to his vow or its fulfillment, recorded in the following verses.

Jephthah’s trip through Gilead and Manasseh was apparently to recruit his army.

Jephthah’s vow

While it is law to not break your promises, if the vow went against God’s moral law (aka murder) it was not to be kept

He was going off the laws stated in Deut 23:21-23

We have to remember that the theme of Judges is that everyone did what was right within their own eyes

His statement, I have made a vow to the LORD that I cannot break, may reflect his ignorance of the legal option to redeem (with silver) persons who were thus dedicated (cf.

Lev.

27:1–8).

Also the Mosaic Law expressly prohibited human sacrifices (cf.