Abimelech: the Wanna-Be King

Because Gideon has been discussed at some length, the next major figure in the book of Judges that will be looked at is Abimelech, the son of Gidean and the wanna-be king of Israel.  His story exemplifies two major epochs of Israelite history: their increasing decline into disobedience and apostasy, which carries forward to their eventual desire to herald a king to rule over them.

Abimelech's story is chronicled in Judges 9.  An all-too-brief summary of Abimelech: Abimelech is one of 70 of Gideon's sons.  He tries to prop himself up as king over all Israel by killing all but one, Jotham, of his brothers.  Thus the kingdom of Israel is in his hands, not by the will of God but by his own bloody volition.  His brief reign, just three years, was marked with continual warring and death.  He died drenched in blood and his end came just as his reign had: by the sword.

The story of Abimelech points to the downward spiral of disobedience and apostasy.  Essentially, Abimelech is a product of his environment, but more so, he represents more of what can happen when good, godly men fail to stand up and lead their people.  In this case, Gideon, the previous judge and Abimelech's father failed to train his son in the way of the Lord, and the whole nation suffered for it.

This is a major turning point in the story of the judges as each subsequent judge is more sinful than the last and less sufficient in their delivering while offering fewer years of peace and rest for the people.  Abimelech also serves to foreshadow the story of Saul, in the Israelites' earnest desire for a king.  His story serves as a literary marker in the narrative of Israelite history and an important testimony that man should not seek to assert himself as the leader for selfish ambitions, but needs to wait for God's prompting.

God of Provision

There are countless stories in the Holy Scriptures of God miraculously caring for and providing for His people.  A favorite of mine is in Exodus 16, when God provides daily food for the Israelites in the wilderness in the form of quail and manna.  This story is remarkable not only because of God's active hand of provision in the lives of His people, but also because of the context it occurs within.

Think of the circumstance.  God had just saved the people from slavery under the Egyptians in the Exodus through the Red Sea and out of Egypt.  He (the Lord) has just given them sweet water to drink by casting a log into the river.  And yet the people are grumbling and complaining that God has led them into the wilderness to die of hunger and that it would have been better if they would have just stayed in Egypt.

But God, who is rich in mercy and compassion for His grumbling people, determines to provide for them daily food of quail and manna to sustain them as they make their way through the Sinai peninsula to receive the Law.  And on the first day, when God provides all this for the people, they are so stunned that they do not even know what to do, so that Moses has to tell them that God is providing for them.

You see, God wants to provide for us.  He truly does.  And His desire has far-less to do with any goodness or righteousness that is within us and more to do with who God is and that He is a God of love and compassion.  And even as unbelieving as the Israelites were, and later became, God was faithful and fervent in His compassion and care for His people just as is faithful in His provision to His people still to this day.

This is as wonderful for us today as it was for the Israelites in the wilderness.  God has, does, and will provide for us in our very time of highest need.  The appropriate response to this is humility, reverence, thankfulness, and utter praise.  For God has no obligation to care for us apart from His goodness.  Therefore, we should be in awe, full of praise and thankfulness at the provision of God!

Hezekiah & What to do when your faith is Tested

Sometimes in life faith is tested.  Really tested.  When all the world seems poised against us and our core will be challenged.  In these moments, when the rubber meets the road and the strength and source of our faith is shaken, it is good to know that God is there, and He will show up in our greatest hour of need.

Although most of the Bible deals with this very thing; however, for the purposes of this brief discussion, only the story of Hezekiah and Sennacherib will be examined.  This story is chronicled in both 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles.

Sennacherib is the king of Assyria, at their heights of power they were the most powerful and feared nation in all of the Ancient Near East.  Sennacherib was a fierce king, well-renown for his viciousness.  He had nearly conquered all of Israel during Hezekiah's reign over Judah, the southern kingdom.

Sennecharib had already destroyed the northern kingdom of Israel and shipped the northern tribes of Israelites as exiles back to Assyria when he sent a diplomatic envoy to Hezekiah to send him a message.  Sennacherib, in no ambiguous terms, told Hezekiah to surrender of his own volition.  The heart of the Assyrian king's message was that Hezekiah should not trust in his god, for none of the gods of the previously deposed nations had been able to stay their hand of destruction.

To be sure, Sennacherib called out Hezekiah.  But more importantly, Sennacherib called out God by thinking of God as just another deity who would fail to stop his conquest.  Sennacherib was wrong; dead wrong.  For after he made such an audacious and prideful message against the God of Israel, 185,000 of the Assyrians fell dead in one night.  And upon Sennacherib's retreat back to the Assyrian capital, his two sons assassinated him while he was in his temple worshiping his god.

What is striking about this story is that, following Sennecharib's challenge, Hezekiah tore his clothes and prayed.  This should be our posture when we are faced with the same sorts of challenges to our faith: pray and seek God's counsel.  Additionally, God did not sit by idly but He showed up in force to destroy Sennacharib for his pride.  This is a sound indication that God is the God of all the universe.  We should take the mind of Hezekiah and when life strikes us, we should fall prostrate in faith before the Holy Lord.  Praise be to God, who will support us when we seek His face and presence in humility and faith!