Judges 9: 22-57 Our Wickedness doesn’t go unpunished"
Abimelech’s wickedness was about to be repaid in full. Not by those whom he was wicked towards but by God.
Verse 23: “ then God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem; and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech.”
There was one man who stood against Abimelech and his name was Gaal. What happens in short is that at first appearance you think Gaal will be the one to kill Abimelech but that isn’t what happens in verse 40 it says that Abimelech chased Gaal and he fled from Abimelech.
Ever have an enemy that seemed to rise above every situation. Never really being overtaken? You think when will justice ever come?
"God is not slow about his promises as some account slowness but He is faithful to do as He says". That is TRUTH!
Abimelech does in the end get defeated.
After Abimelech dies and the men of Israel saw that he was dead , it says that they departed and each returned home. Did they care? Did they mourn this man? What a sad end!
Verse 56-57 it says; “ Thus God repaid the wickedness of Abimelech, which he had done to his father in killing his seventy brothers. Also God returned all the wickedness of the men of Shechem on their heads, and the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal came upon them.”
Let us not forget that our God, our Lord Jesus Christ, is omni present!
Prov. 15:3 “ The eyes of the Lord are in every place watching the evil and the good.”
Ps. 34:15; Prov. 5:21
We have to realize that even if we are His children He will not allow our behavior and treatment of others go unpunished.
What then is there for us to learn from Abimelech’s behavior?
That his desire to raise himself up at all cost in the end it cost him his life and he was never truly successful. What if he had waited to see what God’s plan was? What if he sought God for the next step?
What do we learn about God?
He sees all and does not leave the wicked to go unpunished. It wasn’t swift but it was JUST! Even though Jotham may have felt how much longer will this man go unpunished for lying and deceiving the people of Shechem and for killing my brothers? God was working out a Just end for Abimelech.
My prayer is that today as you carry out your daily tasks that you will not work in such a way that you hurt others just so that you can find success in what you are doing. May we serve one another and desire to seek God in what He has for us each day. May we truly walk in Him and my we find favor in His eyes as we walk through out the day carrying out the tasks of the day.
Lord I come before you and thank you for the lessons we learn from men like Abimelech. A man who sought only selfish gain and did what ever he saw right in his own eyes so that he could rule over the people. May we keep our eyes on you Lord and seek after You rather than other things. May we not forsake You for the things of this Earth. Lord help us to walk according to your ways and help us to love others as You love us.
It is in Your Precious name I pray
The name of Jesus
Amen…….
No comments:
Post a Comment