Judges 9:22 - Meaning and Application

Abimelech ruled for three years without any real trouble. The text does not say that he judged Israel or did any good for his country, only that he kept the title and honor of a king. Not only the people of Shechem, but people from other places, also paid him respect. They must have wanted a king badly if they were satisfied with a ruler like this.

But the triumph of the wicked is brief. In only three years, all that glory would be brought low and treated with contempt, like a hired worker’s short season of labor (Isaiah 16:14). The ruin of these partners in evil came from the righteous hand of God, who has the right to punish sin. He sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the people of Shechem (Judges 9:23), meaning they became suspicious of one another and turned against each other.

Abimelech likely treated the people who had set him up with contempt, and may have favored other cities that were now more useful to him. Then they grew unhappy with his rule, blamed how he acted, and complained about what he demanded from them. This was from God. He allowed the devil, the great troublemaker, to stir up conflict between them, and he is an evil spirit whom God restrains and sometimes uses to carry out his purposes. Their own sinful desires were also like evil spirits within them. From such inner evil come fights and quarrels.

When God gives people over to their own sin, their sin itself becomes part of their punishment. God is not the author of their sin, but their punishment still comes from him. The quarrel between God, Abimelech, and the people of Shechem was because of the murder of Gideon’s sons (Judges 9:24). God meant to bring the violence done to them back upon Abimelech, who killed them, and upon the men of Shechem, who helped him.

God will always call people to account for innocent blood, sooner or later. He will repay those who shed it, and they will get blood to drink, because they deserve it. He also counts accomplices guilty along with the main offenders. The men of Shechem supported Abimelech’s claim, helped him in his bloody plan, and showed their approval by making him king after the murder, so they would fall with him, through him, and before him. Those who join together in wickedness often end up tearing each other apart. Bloodshed cannot hold a lasting alliance together.

The people of Shechem began to turn against Abimelech, perhaps without a clear reason, except that they were unstable and always ready for change. They dealt treacherously with him (Judges 9:23). It is not said that they repented of their sin in helping to make him king. If they had truly repented, then refusing him would have been right. But they turned on him only because pride or envy had stirred up a private grudge. The same people who had lifted him up were the first to abandon him and try to pull him down.

It is no surprise that people who were unfaithful to Gideon would also be unfaithful to Abimelech. What can keep steady those who will not be held by gratitude, even for someone like Gideon? It is right with God that those who teach others to act falsely should later be betrayed by the very people they trained to be false. They tried to seize Abimelech when he was at Arumah, his home place (Judges 9:41). Expecting him to come into the city, they set men in ambush for him (Judges 9:25), hoping to capture the man they had recently made their prince.

When he did not come, the men in ambush took the chance to rob travelers. That would only make the people more unhappy with Abimelech, since they could see he could not, or would not, protect them from highway robbers. They also brought in Gaal and made him their leader against Abimelech (Judges 9:26). Gaal is called the son of Ebed, which means “servant,” and that may point to how lowly his background was. Like Abimelech on his mother’s side, he was also the son of a servant on his father’s side. Here was one thornbush opposing another.

We have reason to think Gaal was a Canaanite, since he tried to win the Shechemites over to the descendants of Hamor, the old ruler of that city in Jacob’s day. He was a bold and ambitious man, and he fit their purpose well when they wanted to quarrel with Abimelech. They also fit his purpose, so he joined them to stir up trouble, and they trusted him.

They also did all they could to shame Abimelech’s name (Judges 9:27). They were very merry in his absence, glad that he was out of the way and hoping to be free of him now that they had another leader. They even went into the house of their god to celebrate their harvest feast there. They ate, drank, and cursed Abimelech, not only speaking badly of him at their table and in their drunken songs, but also wishing evil on him in their prayers to their idol. They drank to his downfall and shouted as loudly for his ruin as they had once shouted for his success.

The very temple from which they had taken money to support him was now the place where they met to curse him and plan his destruction. If they had turned away from their idol-god along with their image-king, they might have had hope of success. But while they stayed attached to the false god, the false king would cling to them and ruin them. How can Satan drive out Satan?

They were pleased with Gaal’s bold challenge to Abimelech (Judges 9:28, 29). They enjoyed hearing this arrogant upstart speak with contempt about Abimelech, Gideon, and Zebul, Abimelech’s officer and ruler over the city. He spoke of Abimelech in a way that also insulted their own city. He called Gideon by the name Jerubbaal and treated that name with contempt, though it came from Gideon’s act of tearing down Baal’s altar. He also spoke against Zebul, saying they had no reason to fear these men or serve them.

People with restless and ambitious spirits often despise authority and speak evil of those in higher places. Gaal was not trying to win true freedom for Shechem, only to trade one tyrant for another. He was saying, in effect, “If only this people were under my command. I would show you what to do. I would challenge Abimelech for the crown.” He seems to have wanted his supporters to send him word whenever Abimelech was ready to fight. “Increase your army and come out. Do your worst. Let the sword decide.” The people of Shechem liked this, because they were already as tired of Abimelech as they had once been eager for him. People without conscience are usually people without constancy.

Abimelech then turned all his power against them, and in a short time he ruined them completely. The first step in their downfall was that Zebul, Abimelech’s trusted man and the ruler of the city, stayed loyal to him and passed along the Shechemites’ plans.

His anger flared up, and it flared all the more because Gaal had spoken lightly of him (Judges 9:28). If Gaal had tried to flatter him at this tense moment, he might have won him over. But since Gaal offended him, he sent word to Abimelech about everything that was being said and done against him in Shechem (Judges 9:31).

Betrayers are often betrayed by someone in their own circle. Even a king’s curse can strangely be carried on the wings of a bird. Zebul, who was really on Abimelech’s side, wisely urged him to attack right away and waste no time (Judges 9:32-33). He advised him to bring his forces close by night, surprise the city at daybreak, and press the advantage quickly. The Shechemites had no reason to expect success when the ruler of their city was secretly loyal to their enemy, yet they took no care to secure him.

Gaal, who led their faction, was then betrayed by Zebul, Abimelech’s confidant, and was mocked in a humiliating way. Abimelech followed Zebul’s advice and brought all his men near Shechem by night (Judges 9:34). In the morning Gaal went out to the city gate to see what was happening and to ask for news (Judges 9:35). Zebul, acting as a city official and seeming to greet him as a friend, was there with him. When Abimelech’s troops began to move toward the city, Gaal saw them and pointed them out to Zebul, not realizing Zebul had sent for them and was expecting them (Judges 9:36).

“Look,” he said, “I see men coming down from the mountains toward us.” But Zebul answered, “You are seeing shadows from the mountains.” With that, Zebul meant to mock Gaal as foolish and weak, a man with no judgment or courage. He also meant to keep him talking until Abimelech’s men came nearer, so they would have the advantage. Gaal was willing to believe that the first group was only a shadow, perhaps from Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim near the city. But then he saw two more groups moving quickly toward the city, and Zebul changed his tone. He reminded Gaal of the proud words he had spoken only a day or two earlier, when he had scorned Abimelech (Judges 9:38). “Where is your mouth now, that foul mouth of yours, where you said, ‘Who is Abimelech?’” Proud people are often forced very quickly to change their tune, and to fear those they once despised. Gaal had once boasted that Abimelech should come out with more troops, but now Zebul, speaking in Abimelech’s name, challenged him to go out and fight if he dared. The insolent are justly mocked in return.

Abimelech then defeated Gaal’s forces when they came out of the city (Judges 9:39-40). Gaal, shaken by Zebul’s taunting and seeing how weak his support really was, went out with what little force he had. He was soon beaten and had to run back into the city in great haste. Many were killed and wounded in that fight, which is common in popular riots, where the crowd is often led into ruin by men who promise success.

That same night, Zebul drove Gaal and the people he had brought with him out of Shechem, sending him back where he had come from (Judges 9:41). Most of the city still disliked Abimelech, as the rest of the story shows. But they were willing to let Gaal go, since his bold talk had collapsed when real danger came. People often judge whether a man is fit for work by whether he succeeds, and when he fails, they assume he is unfit. So Gaal’s influence in Shechem quickly came to an end. The man who had talked about removing Abimelech was himself removed, and we hear no more of him.

The next day, Abimelech attacked the city and completely destroyed it because of their treacherous dealings with him. He may have heard that the people of Shechem had driven out Gaal, the man who had led their rebellion, and they may have thought that would satisfy him. But their guilt was too serious to be paid for so lightly, and his anger was too deep to be settled by such a small act of submission. Besides, this was more Zebul’s doing than theirs, and it had left them weaker. So Abimelech decided to follow up his blow and punish their treachery fully.

He was told that the people of Shechem had gone out into the fields (Judges 9:42). Some think they were out to work the land, since they had already gathered in the harvest, except for the vintage they had just finished (Judges 9:27). If so, it shows how secure they felt. Because Abimelech had withdrawn (Judges 9:41), they thought they were safe, and this is another example of sudden ruin coming on those who say, “Peace and safety.” Others think they had gone out ready for battle. Even though Gaal had been driven out, they were not willing to lay down their arms. They still hoped for another fight in which they could recover what they had lost the day before.

Abimelech then took a strong detachment and cut off the way between the field and the city. He stood at the city gate (Judges 9:44), so they could neither flee back into Shechem nor get help from it. Then he sent two groups of men, and they were too strong for the people in the fields, whom they struck down with the sword. When we go out to do our work, we do not know that we will return home. Death can meet us in the city or in the open field.

After that, he attacked the city itself. In a fury that reached to heaven, though it was the place where he had been born, he ruined it completely. He killed the people, tore down the buildings, and, to show that he wanted it to remain a lasting ruin, he scattered salt over it, a sign of permanent desolation. Yet Abimelech did not make its destruction last forever, for Shechem was later rebuilt and became important enough that all Israel came there to make Rehoboam king (1 Kings 12:1). Even so, the place still turned out to be an ill omen. Abimelech meant to punish the Shechemites for helping in the murder of Gideon’s sons. In this, as always, God used men as tools to carry out his own work, while they meant something else entirely (Isaiah 10:6-7).

They intended to protect their own honor, but God was protecting his. Those who fled into the stronghold of their idol temple were all destroyed there. These are called the men of the tower of Shechem (Judges 9:46, 47), likely a fortress connected with the city but set some distance away. When they heard that the city had been destroyed, they withdrew into the temple stronghold, trusting, it seems, not so much in its strength as in its holiness. They put themselves under the protection of their idol, as people often walk in the name of their god. Should we not then choose to live in the house of the Lord all our days? For in trouble he will hide us in his shelter (Psalm 27:5). The name of the Lord is a strong tower (Proverbs 18:10).

But what they hoped would help them became a trap and a snare. Those who run to idols for shelter will always find a false refuge. When Abimelech had them all shut up in that stronghold, he wanted nothing more. At once the cruel plan came into his mind to set the stronghold on fire and, in effect, burn them all together like birds in a nest. He kept the plan to himself, but he set all his men to work so the attack would be carried out quickly (Judges 9:48, 49). He told them all to follow him and do as he did, just as his father had said to his men, “Look at me, and do as I do” (Judges 7:17). So he said to his own men, as a commander should, giving both the clearest direction and the strongest encouragement he could. “What you have seen me do, hurry and do the same.”

The officers in Christ’s army should teach this way by their example (Philippians 4:9). Abimelech and his men each got a branch from a nearby wood, laid their branches together against the wall of the tower, and set them on fire. The tower was likely made of wood, so they burned down the stronghold and all who were inside. Some died in the flames, and some were choked by smoke. What inventiveness people show in destroying one another. Where do these cruel wars and fights come from, except from their sinful desires?

Some think the men of the tower of Shechem were the same as the house of Millo. If so, Jotham’s fair warning was fulfilled exactly: “Let fire come out from Abimelech and consume” not only the men of Shechem in general, but especially the house of Millo (Judges 9:20). About 1,000 men and women died in these flames. Many of them, it is likely, had nothing to do with the quarrel between Abimelech and the Shechemites. They did not side with either party, yet they were caught in this civil war and died miserably. People with a divisive and restless spirit do not perish alone in their own wrongdoing. They drag many others, who follow them in innocence or simplicity, into the same ruin.