Judges 9:42-57.  Two days ago we saw Abimelech take control of part of Israel.  He had made himself a king.  As was common in those days he killed all of his brothers so there would be no one to try and take the kingdom from him.  One half-brother escaped, however, and cursed him and his hometown, who had supported him.  After three years of rule his hometown rebelled against him.  They found a new king to rule them.  Abimelech came and fought this new leader.  Eventually the new leader was forced out.

In the Old Testament it is very serious when a person is cursed by someone else.  Whether or not a person mentions God or a god a curse is a request for God or a god to cause some disaster in the other person or groups life.  Of course a persons words do not control God but He does listen and may act on them.  The  gods (little g), on the other hand, don’t have any power do do anything at all (Psalms 119:4-7; Isaiah 44:9-20).  Jotham, the surviving brother, didn’t specifically ask God yet God heard and, as we will see today, eventually answered.

At the end of yeaterday it looked as though a rebellion was stopped and things might return to the way they had been.  Abimelech the king and Shechem his subjects.  But Abimelech wasn’t through.  Often in those time cities had walls around them and gate at the entrances.  The entrances also were ususlly through a corridor or sort of hallway, like the main entrance into Disneyland under the train bridge.  Those entrances would have little side area where soldiers could stand sort of protected if they needed to fight off an invasion.  At night the gates would be closed and guarded.  During the day people would come and go through the gate.

The next day when the gates were opened Abimelech ambushed the people when they came out to go to their fields.  He also blocked the gate so the people could not run back in.  After he dealt with the people out side the city he turned toward the city and captured it.  He killed all the people that he captured.

Most cities in those day would have places to honor their gods and if the city were large they might even have a temple to their gods.  We know from earlier in the story that this city had a temple.  Most cites in those days were built on a hill since that made it easier to defend.  If there was a hill in the town or near by that was also the place where the temple would be built.  It was a sign of honor or respect to put the god up high above everything else.  The temple in Shechem was fortified and had a strong tower attached to it.  When Abimelech started to win the battle the leading citizens ran into the fortified temple and tower.  Abimelech then brought wood from the surrounding area and burned the temple and tower down with the people in it.

So the first part of Jotham’s curse was fulfilled, pretty literally (Judges 9:20).  But again the reader of the story is left in suspense.  Shechem is gone but what about Abimelech, won’t there be justice for his 70 brothers whom he killed?    Abimelech must have inherited more than the kingdom from his father it appears he got some of his bad temper too (Remember Succoth and Penuel? (Judges 8:13-17)).  For some reason Abimelech then takes his troops to a nearby town, Thebez (10-15 miles away.  We are not sure exactly where that town was) and attacks it.  Again the people run to the tower to hide.  Again Abimelech looks as though he is going to burn down the tower with people inside.  It looks as if this guy is just going to keep on winning.  But then the story takes an unexpected turn as he approaches the tower to put wood near it a woman drops a large stone on his head and crushed his skull.  He then has the servant who carries part of his armor (sot of a caddie for war) pull out a sword and kill him.  He does not want to be remembered as the king killed by a little old lady.  Upon his death everyone went home.

A couple of things to see here.  First back to Abimelech’s anger or what ever you want to call it.  In verse 45 we are told he razed the city.  That means he pulled down the walls.  He didn’t just stop a rebellion he tore down all the building too.  And them he salted the fields.  Putting salt on a field makes the land unproductive.  Abimelech wanted to make sure this town was not rebuilt, it would be sort of a monument to his power, “Look what I destroyed.  Don’t cross me!”  Also I wonder where he got all that salt.  It would have taken a lot.  More that would have been in the town.  In those days salt would have been mined down by the Dead Sea in the south of Israel.  It looks to me like this destruction was planned.  Remember back in Judges 9:22-23 that the Shechemites were dishonoring Abimelech by robbing people as they passed by.  This would have made Abimelech look weak to people he was trying to rule.  Another thing to remember is that God is listening, regardless of who you are talking to.  Jotham wasn’t necessarily speaking to anyone, he may have just been “venting” his anger, but God sees and hears and can act.  Finally and most importantly, God does act.  But is according to His wisdom, His plan, in His time, to accomplish what He wants done.  Judges 9:23 says it was God who sent the evil spirit to stir things up between Abimelech and Shechem.  Judges 9:56-57 tell us that God heard Jotham’s curse and acted on it.  The reason was not to feed Jotham’s anger though.  We are told that God did it to “repay the wickedness” of Abimelech and the people of Shechem.  I think it’s kind of funny that it says, “God returned all the wickedness of the men of Shechem on their heads.”  I wonder as they were in that tower attached to the temple if they were praying to Baal for protection.  Maybe they thought that they were protected in such a fine fort and that Baal was protecting them.  I wonder as the walls caved in on their heads and the fire burned them if they started to curse the very temple they had built for their weak useless god (Check out an interesting story about Baal not hearing 1 Kings 18:17-40).

God is very serious about sin (not honoring Him in our lives) because it separates us from Him.  No matter how hard headed we are God can still deal with us and will.  Unfortunately if we continue not following Him it can lead to our own destruction (1 Corinthians 11:17-30 where sleep is used as a metaphor for death. Some were actually dying because they were being selfish toward other in their church).   Lord help me be careful what I wish for, especially when I am mad about something.  Help me remember to treat others the way I want to be treated.  Help me remember that I too fall way short of being perfect.  Let my words and actions build up and not destroy.  Let me be serious about sin in my own life first and gracious and truthful when I see it in the life of others.  Lord you came to make peace between you and us help me be a peace maker too.  Let me leave vengeance in your hands.