Tag Archives: Cruel

Ammonites

103 – Ammonites

2 Samuel 10:1-19 I Chronicles 19:1-20:37

In all of David’s conquest, he didn’t attack the Ammonites because the king had been kind to him when he was running from Saul. One day, the king of the Ammonites died and his son ruled in his place. 

David sent a group of men with a message of comfort to the new king. When the men got there, the Ammonite leaders said to their king, “These men aren’t here to show David’s concern for you. They aren’t here to show respect for your father. They’re spying on us. They’re scouting out our city to see where we’re weak.” 

So the new king took the men and shaved off half of each man’s beard. He then cut off their robes, exposing the lower half of their bodies. The men went back to Israel deeply humiliated.

David heard about this great insult and sent word to his men. “Stay in Jericho until your beards grow back. Then return to us.”

The Ammonites finally realized what they had done. They had made David extremely angry. So they started building up their army. They even hired 33,000 soldiers from other countries.

David sent Joab and his army to fight against the Ammonites. When they were in place, the Ammonite army moved to a position where they were on one side of the Israelites, with the foreign soldiers on the other.  Joab realized he was in between the two, with front lines on both sides. Therefore he split the army. He selected his best troops to fight with him and attack the foreign soldiers. Everyone else was to fight the Ammonites under the command of his brother.

Joab said to his brother, “Both of us will be ready to help the other if there’s a need. Be brave and fight hard. We must protect our people and the cities of God. May the Lord’s will be done.”

The battle was decisive. Joab and his elite troops hit the foreign armies so hard that they turned and ran. When the Ammonites saw this, they retreated back into their walled cities. With this, Joab took his army back to Jerusalem.

The foreign army reorganized and came back to fight again. This time, David went with his men and totally defeated them, killing over 40,000 men. Those who escaped went back to their country and never returned again. David waited until spring to finish defeating the Ammonites.

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Amman Citadel fortifications, from the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands, a valuable teaching resource produced by BiblePlaces.com
Amman theater from above, from the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands, a valuable teaching resource produced by BiblePlaces.com
Amman Citadel northern wall from West, from the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands, a valuable teaching resource produced by BiblePlaces.com
Ammonite wall, from the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands, a valuable teaching resource produced by BiblePlaces.com

David Made King

99 – David Made King

2 Samuel 3:1 – 5:4 I Chronicles 11:1-3

The kingdom of Ish-bosheth continued to grow weaker. Still, Abner’s influence grew stronger. One day the king said to him, “Why did you sleep with my father’s concubine?”

Abner got angry and said, “How dare you! My loyalty to your father is the only thing that has kept me from handing you over to David. Now you’re accusing me of sinning with this woman. That’s it! I’m going to establish David as king over all of Israel.” Ish-bosheth was speechless.

Abner sent a message to David. “I’m ready to give you the kingdom of Israel. Let’s work out the agreements.” 

David said, “One thing has to happen first before I’ll work out any agreement with you. If you come, you must bring my wife Michal, Saul’s daughter. Don’t come without her.”

Guards went and got Michal, and took her away from her new husband. As they walked down the road, the husband followed behind them, crying as he walked. Finally, Abner turned and yelled, “Go home!” So the man turned and went home.

Abner got the elders of Israel to agree that David was king of Israel. He then went and told David. Together they had a banquet to celebrate the news.

Abner then said, “I’ll go and make the final arrangements for your coronation. Then you’ll be king over the whole nation.” So David sent him away in peace.

Joab had been away while all of this was happening. He returned just after Abner had left. He went to David and said, “Why did you let Abner escape? Don’t you realize that all of this is just a trick to entrap you?”

Then, without the king knowing it, Joab sent a message to Abner. “Please, come back to Hebron.” When Abner got back, Joab asked him to step aside so they could have a private conversation. Once they did, Joab stabbed Abner in the stomach. He fell to the ground and died.

David was devastated when he heard about what had happened. He put a curse on Joab and his descendants. The king knew that Joab had killed Abner to avenge his brother’s death. Still, he made him and his men rip their clothes, put on sackcloth, and mourn Abner. 

David then walked behind the funeral procession, and cried openly at the gravesite. He wouldn’t eat anything for the rest of the day. He said to his soldiers, “A great leader of Israel has died today.”

All of Israel took note of what David did, and they were convinced that he had nothing to do with Abner’s death.

Two men went into the house of Ish-bosheth and killed him while he was in bed taking an afternoon nap. They cut off his head and took it to King David saying, “Your enemy is dead.”

David said, “When I was in Ziklag, a man came and told me he was merciful to King Saul by killing him before the Philistines could torture him. He thought he was bringing me good news, but I had him put to death. Now you come and tell me you killed the king of Israel while he was sleeping in his bed.” David had both men killed. He then had their hands and feet cut off and their bodies were hung near the pool of Hebron.

All the tribes of Israel met in Hebron and made David their king. He was 37 years old.

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Death of Saul & Jonathan

97 – Death of Saul & Jonathan

1 Samuel 31:1-13 I Chronicles 10:1-19

The war between the Philistines and Israel was fierce. Many Israelites died and the others ran from the battlefield. Three of Saul’s sons were killed, including Jonathan. 

An arrow hit Saul and he knew he was about to die.  He turned to the man who carried his armor. “Pull out your sword and kill me. If these pagans find me alive, they’ll torture me until I’m dead.”

The armor-bearer refused to kill his king, so Saul fell on his own sword and died. When his armor-bearer saw this, he fell on his sword and died.

A man came along who was a soldier for Israel, but from another country. He saw that Saul was dead, so he took the king’s crown off his head so he could take it to David.

When the people who lived in that area saw the total destruction of Saul’s army, they left their cities and ran for their lives. The Philistines entered those cities and took them over.

The next day, they went back into the field to plunder the dead bodies. That was when they found Saul and his sons. They cut off Saul’s head and hung his body from a city wall. They then hung the bodies of his sons next to him. They sent his armor back to their country and put it in the temple of their gods. News of Saul’s death spread throughout their country. 

 Back when Saul became king, his first act was to rescue a city being threatened by the Ammonites. They had said they were going to gouge out the right eye of everyone in the city. When that city heard about Saul’s body hanging from a wall, they traveled all night to get to it. They took it down from the wall, as well as the bodies of his sons. Once they buried them, they fasted for seven days.

The man with Saul’s crown went to Ziklag to tell David about the death of King Saul and his sons. David said, “How do you know that Saul and Jonathan are dead?”

A man said, “I was walking through the battlefield when the king saw me. He yelled, ‘Come over here and kill me with your sword. These ungodly dogs will be here in a few minutes. If they find me alive, they’ll torture me.’ So I did as I was told. I took my sword and killed him. I then brought his crown to you.”

David ripped his clothes and cried out in pain. He and his men mourned the death of Saul and Jonathan. David then said to the man who came with the news. “You’ve admitted that you killed the Lord’s anointed.” He turned to one of his men. “Pull out your sword and kill this man.”

David continued to mourn the death of King Saul and Jonathan.

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Harod Valley from Mount Gilboa, from the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands, a valuable teaching resource produced by BiblePlaces.com
Mount Gilboa aerial from west, from the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands, a valuable teaching resource produced by BiblePlaces.com

Running from Saul

91 – Running from Saul

1 Samuel 21:1-22:23

David escaped from Saul with only a few men to help him. They went to Ahimelech, the priest who was in charge of the Ark of God. The priest said, “Why are you here?”

“The king sent me on a special mission. He told me not to tell anyone about where I’m going. I left so fast that we don’t have anything to eat. Please give us some bread.”

Ahimelech said, “The only bread we have is the old showbread taken from the holy place. Only priests are allowed to eat it.”

This was old bread they took from the altar when they put new bread there. The priest said, “I suppose you can have the old bread, but only if your men have kept themselves clean before the Lord.”

David said, “We’re all on a mission for the king, so of course we’ve all kept ourselves holy before the Lord.”

So Ahimelech gave them the old bread. David noticed that Doeg, the Edomite, saw this whole thing. He was the chief shepherd for Saul.

David said to Ahimelech, “I left so fast that I forgot to bring my weapons. Do you have a spear or sword that I could use?”

“The only sword I have is the one you took from Goliath. You can have that one back. It’s all I have.”

David took the sword and continued his escape from Saul. He went to Gath, a city of the Philistines. There, he would be out of Saul’s reach. But people told the king of the Philistines, “This is David, the one they sing about: ‘Saul has killed his thousands, but David has killed his tens of thousands.’ ”

When David heard this, he immediately pretended like he was insane. People of that day didn’t hurt those who were insane because they were afraid there might be an evil spirit in them. David fell down and started clawing on the doorpost. He let drool flow into his beard. When the king saw this, he said, “This man is crazy. Get him out of here!”

David left Gath and hid in a cave. His brothers brought him all their relatives so they’d be safe from Saul. David took his parents to Moab and left them in the protection of the king there.

Soon men started arriving to join David. These were men who were in some kind of trouble or overwhelmed with debt. Finally there were 400 men who rallied around David, and he became their leader.

Meanwhile, Doeg, the Edomite, went to Saul and said, “I saw Ahimelech give David food and the sword of Goliath.”

Saul sent for Ahimelech and all 85 priests that were with him. “Why did you help this son of Jesse? You know he wants to kill me.”

Ahimelech said, “I thought he was your faithful servant. After all, he’s your son-in-law. I didn’t know there was trouble between you.”

Saul turned to his guards. “Kill these men, all of them. They’re on David’s side.”

The guards were shocked. They didn’t move because they weren’t about to kill the priest of the Lord.

Saul then turned to Doeg, the Edomite. “Kill all of these men and everything they own.” So, Doeg killed all of the priests, their wives, their children, and even their livestock. Only one son of Ahimelech was able to escape. He ran and told David all that happened.

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Givat Shapira, possible Nob, Iron Age fortress, from the Pictorial Library of Bible Lands, a valuable teaching resource produced by BiblePlaces.com
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Peace for an Eye

82 – Peace for an Eye

1 Samuel 11:1-15

Saul went back to his hometown after he was made king and the ceremony was over. God moved several fighting men to go with him. Others laughed at the thought of him being their king. They showed their disgust by refusing to give him a gift. Saul ignored this and went back to work on the family farm.

At that same time, the Ammonite army went to fight against a city in Israel. The leaders of the city said to the Ammonite king, “We’re willing to surrender to you. What are your terms?” \

The king said, “Here are my terms. I’m going to use you to insult all of Israel. I’ll do this by gouging out the right eye of everyone who lives in your city.”

The leaders of the city sent back a message. “Give us seven days to consider your demands. We’ll use that time to see if anyone in Israel is able to help us. If not, we’ll submit to your terms.”

The city leaders sent messengers to all of Israel. When the news of this came to Saul’s town, the people began to moan and cry. Saul came in to town with his oxen after finishing a day’s work in the field. He looked around and said, “Why is everyone crying?”

They told him the terms of the Ammonite king. Anger burned within Saul when he heard these words, and the Spirit of God took control of his spirit. He turned and killed his own oxen. He cut them into pieces and sent them throughout Israel with this message. “Look at this piece of meat. This is what your ox will look like if you don’t come immediately and fight. Every man is to march behind Saul and Samuel. There are no exceptions.”

 As soon as people heard this message, the fear of the Lord filled them. 330,000 men united to follow Saul into battle. 

He sent a message to the city that was under the threat of the Ammonites. “We’re bringing an army to defend you. We’ll be there before midmorning.”

The people of the city were overjoyed. They sent a message to the Ammonite king and said, “We’ll come out to you tomorrow. You can then do whatever you want with us.”

Before sunrise, Saul’s army attacked the Ammonite camp.  The Israelites kept killing Ammonites all morning and into the afternoon. Only a few escaped.

After this great victory, the people said to Samuel, “Who are those men who were disgusted about Saul being our king? Give us their names and we’ll kill them.”

Saul spoke up, “No! Don’t kill them! Today is a special day. Today, the Lord delivered Israel.”

Samuel said, “I have a better idea. Let’s unite together and once again make Saul our king.” So the people united together and rejoiced as they made Saul their king.

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Prelude to War

73 – Prelude to War

Judges 19:1-30

Once, during the time of the judges, civil war broke out throughout the nation of Israel. All the tribes united against the tribe of Benjamin and almost eliminated them. It all started with a woman leaving a man.A certain Levite got a woman to become his concubine. One day she left him and went back to the home of her parents. After four months, the man decided to go and be nice to her in hopes that she would return to his house.

When he got there, her father welcomed him into his home. The two men became friends, so the Levite stayed for three days. 

He got up early on the fourth day to go home. The girl’s father said, “Have a good breakfast before you leave. It will help you have a better day as you travel.”

So they ate together and enjoyed their friendship. Time went by and finally it was late in the afternoon. The father said, “It’s too late to leave now. Wait until morning when you can have an early start.”

The Levite stayed the night, and in the morning the girl’s father said, “Have a good breakfast before you leave. It will help you have a better day as you travel.” Again, they ate and talked until late afternoon. The father said, “It’s too late to leave now. Wait until morning when you can have an early start.”

This time, the man was determined to leave. He set out with his concubine, but didn’t get far before they realized they needed to spend the night somewhere.

They traveled on to a city controlled by the tribe of Benjamin. They stood around hoping someone would invite them into their home. At first, no one responded, but finally an old man saw them and invited them into his house.

They were enjoying each other’s company that evening, when suddenly a gang of men surrounded the old man’s house. They beat on the door and said, “Send out that man who is staying with you. We want to have sex with him.”

The old man yelled back, “This man is a guest in my house. I won’t let you abuse him. I’ll send out my virgin daughter and the man’s concubine. Do what you want with them, but you can’t have the man.”

The men outside wouldn’t listen. They became more violent and insisted on having sex with the man. Finally the Levite grabbed his concubine and pushed her out the door.

The gang of men took turns raping her for the rest of the night. Early in the morning, they let her go. She crawled back to the house and collapsed outside the door.

The Levite woke up and got ready to continue his trip. He saw his concubine at the door. “Get up. It’s time to go.” She didn’t move, so he put her on his donkey and went home.

When they got there, he realized she was dead. He cut her body into twelve pieces, and then sent them to every area of Israel. When the people saw this, they said, “Nothing like this has ever happened in the nation of Israel.”

It became the topic of discussion in every town. Finally the people knew they had to take action against the tribe of Benjamin.

Continued in the next story

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Grandson of Moses

72 – Grandson of Moses

Judges 17:1 – 18:31

During the time of the Judges, a man named Micah stole 1,100 pieces of silver from his mother. Then he found out that she had put a curse on whoever took it. So he gave it back.

She said, “Oh, son. I didn’t know it was you. I was going to give it to you anyway. But he refused to keep it. So she took some of it and made an idol for her son to put in his home. With the rest, Micah made some special clothes for worship, and provisions for a priest.

A young man named Jonathan was a Levite from Bethlehem. He left home looking for a place to settle down. He stayed the night in Micah’s house and the two of them became friends. Finally Micah said, “Stay here and I’ll make you the priest for my idol. I’ll give you everything you need—clothes, meals, a place to stay—and I’ll even give you a salary.” Jonathan agreed, and soon he became like one of the family.

At that same time, the tribe of Dan was looking for a permanent place for their people. In all of the years since Joshua, they hadn’t found a place of their own. They decided to send out five soldiers as spies.

The spies camped near Micah’s house, and Jonathan went out to visit with them. They said, “You have a Bethlehem accent. What are you doing here?”

He told them about his job and how well Micah treated him. When they found out that he was a Levite and a priest, they said, “Please, ask God if we’ll be successful.”

He said, “Don’t worry about a thing. The Lord is with you.”

The men left and continued their search. Finally they found a wonderful place, where the people were peaceable and unprotected. The spies went back to their tribe and said, “We’ve found a place for us to live! It’s a good land and the people will be easy to conquer.”

So the people of Dan sent 600 men to conquer the city. When they got to Micah’s house, the five spies said to the others, “The man who owns that house has an idol, clothes for worship, and even a priest. We could use those things in our new city.”

So the 600 men went to Micah’s house. Jonathan came out to greet them. While he stood there, the five spies went into the house and took the idol and all the stuff that went along with it.

Jonathan said, “What are you doing?”

They said, “Shut up and listen carefully. You have a choice. You can stay here and be a priest for one man, or you can come with us and be a priest for a whole tribe. You can tell us what God wants us to do.”

Jonathan thought this sounded like a good opportunity, so he agreed to go with them. He even helped them take all the things of worship from Micah’s home.

When Micah found out what happened, he organized some men and chased after the Danites. As soon as he saw them, he yelled at them. Immediately they stopped, turned, and faced the men following them. They yelled back, “Why are you following us?”

Micah said, “How can you say that? You took my god and my priest. I have nothing left.”

The men from Dan said, “Stop yelling at us or we’ll take something else from you. We’ll take your life and kill your family.”

Micah saw there was nothing he could do. So he turned and went home. 

The Danites continued on their military campaign. They attacked the peaceable people and killed them all. They burned down their city and built a new one. They called it Dan, and it became their permanent home.

Jonathan and his descendants were priests for the Danites for hundreds of years. They helped them worship that idol until the Assyrians took them into captivity.  Jonathan was the grandson of Moses.

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Aerial view of High Place at Dan, from the Photo Companion to the Bible, a valuable teaching resource produced by BiblePlaces.com

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John telling the story at the altar at Dan

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Remains of mud-brick “Abraham Gate” at Dan, from the Photo Companion to the Bible, a valuable teaching resource produced by BiblePlaces.com

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Another ancient city gate at Dan

Samson & Delilah

71 – Samson & Delilah

Judges 16:1-31

In time, Samson fell in love with a woman named Delilah. When the Philistines found out about this, a group of their leaders met with her. They said, “Each of us will pay you 1,100 pieces of silver if you can find out the secret of his strength. Once we know that, we’ll be able to kill him.”

So she asked Samson, “How can someone tie you up in a way that makes you powerless?”

“Oh,” he said, “I’ll be like any other man if someone ties me up with seven brand new bowstrings.”

The Philistines gave her seven fresh bowstrings, and hid some guards in her room. She tied Samson up with the bowstrings, and then shouted, “Samson, the Philistines are here!” He jumped up and snapped the bowstrings as if they were pieces of yarn touched by a fire. 

Delilah said, “You lied to me! Why would you make fun of me like that? Please tell me how you can be tied up.”

He said, “The key is new ropes, but only ones that haven’t been used for anything else. If I’m tied up with new ropes, I’ll be like other people.”

So she took some new ropes and tied him up. Guards were still in their hiding place. She yelled, “Samson, quick! The Philistines are here!” He jumped up and snapped the ropes like they were pieces of threads.

She said, “I’m nothing but a joke to you. Why do you keep lying to me? Now tell me how you can be tied up.”

He said, “It’s my hair. If you weave my seven braids with the web of a loom, I’ll be as weak as any other man.”

So she waited until he was asleep and carefully wove his seven braids into the loom. Then she yelled, “Samson! The Philistines are here.” He woke up and pulled his hair away from the loom.

Delilah said, “How can you say you love me when you don’t trust me? Three times now you’ve laughed at me by telling me a lie. Why can’t you trust me with the secret of your strength?”

She kept this up day after day. She begged and nagged him until she wore him down. Finally, he told her the truth. He said, “I’m what our people call a Nazirite. I’ve been one since birth. My hair has never been cut, and that’s the secret of my strength. If someone shaves my head, I’ll be like any other man.”

Delilah realized that he had finally told her the truth. She sent for the Philistine rulers. “Come. I finally got the truth out of him. Be sure to bring my money with you.” So they came with her money.

That night, he fell asleep with his head on her lap. A man came out of hiding and cut off his seven braids. As he did, Samson’s strength left him. Then she yelled, “Samson, the Philistines are here!”

He jumped up to defend himself, but he didn’t know the Lord wasn’t with him.

The Philistines grabbed him and he couldn’t break loose. They held him down on the ground and poked out his eyes. They then took him to prison, where he was forced to push a grain millstone.

While he was in prison, Samson’s hair started to grow back. In time, the Philistines gathered to worship in the temple of their god. They ate and drank until they were drunk. Someone yelled, “Go get Samson. That’ll give us a good laugh.”

The place was packed as a boy led Samson into the temple. He said to the boy, “Take me to the supporting pillars.”

Samson called out to God. “Oh Lord God. Give me strength just one more time. Allow me to pay back the Philistines for taking my eyes. I’ll die with them.”

He then grabbed the two supporting pillars and pushed on them with all he had. They gave way and the temple fell on the Philistines, including all their leaders. More people died in Samson’s death, then he had killed in all of his life. He had been a judge in Israel for 20 years.

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Jan and Noel Maughmer, BibleTelling Seminar in Israel, Beth Shemesh, March 2019
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Foxes and a Jawbone

70 – Foxes and a Jawbone

Judges 15:1-20

Samson’s father-in-law gave his daughter to a man who attended the wedding party. He figured Samson didn’t want her any more since he went home without her.

Later, Samson went back to visit his wife with a gift. His father-in-law said, “What do you want?”

“I’ve come to visit my wife in her room.” 

The man said, “Oh, you can’t do that. I thought you hated my daughter, so I gave her to another man. But don’t worry. I have a younger daughter. You can have her. Everyone knows that she’s more beautiful than her sister.”

Samson became angry and said, “I’m going to hurt some Philistines—a lot of them—and I’m going to enjoy it.”

He caught 300 foxes and put them in pairs, and tied a torch to the tails of each pair. He then lit the torches as he set the foxes loose in different Philistine fields.

The foxes ran, burning everything they came across. This not only destroyed standing grain, but also piles of grain that had already been harvested. They even destroyed vineyards and olive groves. The Philistines found out that it was Samson who did this. They blamed his father-in-law because he had made Samson angry by giving away his wife.

They took him and his daughter and burned them to death. This made Samson even more furious. He found each man who had a part in this and tore him apart, limb-by-limb. Many people died. Once he was done, he left Philistia, and went back and hid in a cave in Israel. 

The Philistines invaded Israel with an army. The Israelites said, “Why are you attacking us?”

“You’re protecting Samson. He must be punished for what he’s done.” 

3,000 Israelites went to the cave where Samson was hiding. They said, “We’re taking you back to the Philistines. They have ruled over us in peace, but now you’ve stirred them up.”

He said, “I’ll go with you if you swear you won’t kill me.”

They said, “We won’t kill you, but we will tie you up.” They tied him with two new ropes and led him away. Once the Philistines had him, they shouted with joy.

Instantly the Spirit of the Lord filled him and he tore the ropes off his hands. He grabbed the jawbone of a donkey and ran into the Philistine crowd, killing 1,000 of them.

After his victory, he threw away the jawbone. He looked up and shouted, “Lord, you gave me victory. I’ve killed 1,000 men. Now, are you going to let me die of thirst?”

Suddenly a rock cracked open and water gushed out. Samson drank until he was refreshed. 

He was a judge over Israel for 20 years, even though the Philistines still ruled over the land.

One time, he went to a Philistine city to sleep with a prostitute. Once they heard he was in their city, they closed the gates so they could capture him at sunrise.

Around midnight, Samson got up to go home. When he got to the gate, he pulled it out of the ground and carried it away. He took it to the top of an Israeli hill and left it there, still closed and locked.

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King of Trees

66 – King of Trees

Judges 9:1-57

Gideon and his many wives produced seventy sons. He also had a son by a concubine in the town of Shechem. His name was Abimelech.

After the death of Gideon, Abimelech went to his uncles in Shechem. He said, “Talk to the officials of the city and say, ‘Do you want the seventy sons of Gideon to rule over you? Instead of them, select me. I’m a son of Gideon, but I’m also your blood relative.’”

The men of Shechem agreed to make him king of Israel. They gave him seventy silver coins from the Temple of Baal. 

With this, he hired a gang of thugs as his private army. The first thing they did was to kill the seventy sons of Gideon. But they missed one—the youngest—a man named Jotham.

The men of Shechem had a celebration to honor Abimelech. Suddenly they heard yelling off in the distance. It was Jotham. “Listen to me! The trees decided to have a king. They went to the olive tree and said, ‘Be our king.’ The olive tree said, ‘I don’t have time for such foolishness. I produce precious oil that honors God and man.’

“So they went to the fig tree and said, ‘Be our king.’ The fig tree said, ‘I don’t have time for such foolishness. I produce sweet fruit that’s enjoyed by everyone.’

“They went to the grapevine and said, ‘Be our king.’ The grapevine said, ‘I don’t have time for such foolishness. I produce wine that brings happiness to people.’

“Finally the trees went to the thorn bush. They said, ‘Be our king.’ The thorn bush said, ‘Yes, I’ll be your king. But from now on, you’re under my shade of protection. If any of you rebel, fire will come from my thorns and burn you to ashes.’

“My father risked his life for you. And how did you reward him? You killed his sons! Now you’ve made the son of a slave girl your king.

“If this is right, I wish you well. But if it’s wrong, I ask that fire come from Abimelech and burn you up.” He then ran for his life because he knew his half-brother would try to hunt him down.

Abimelech ruled over Israel for three years. Then God put a bad spirit between him and the men of Shechem. This was to bring justice for what they did to the sons of Gideon.

The men started a rebellion against the king they had set up. At one point, they threw a big party and got drunk. They started cursing Abimelech and bragging about how they were going to overthrow him.

The mayor of the city became angry at this talk and sent for Abimelech. The mayor agreed to help his army ambush the men of Shechem.

That night, Abimelech put his men in hiding outside of the city so he could attack in the morning.  At sunrise, one of the men of Shechem stood at the gate with the mayor.  Suddenly he saw some movement. He said, “Look! What is that? Is it men coming to attack us?”

The mayor said, “No. That’s only shadows from the mountain.”

A few moments later, the man saw several units of men coming at the city. He ran back into the city and yelled, “We’re under attack!”

The battle lasted several days. Finally the city was captured and the people escaped to a tower. Abimelech and his men put tree branches around the tower and burned it down. Over 1,000 men and women died there that day. Jotham’s curse on the men of Shechem had come true.

Abimelech completely destroyed the city and tore it down. He spread salt over it so nothing could grow there.

When that was done, he and his men went to destroy another rebellious city. Again the people escaped to a tower. Abimelech and his men went and got wood so they could set it on fire. As they were putting it in place, a woman looked down and saw Abimelech directly beneath her. So she dropped a piece of a millstone down on his head.

Abimelech called for one of his soldiers. “Quick, kill me with your sword! I don’t want to be known as the man who was killed by a woman!

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P66-Abimelek

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