Jdg 9:22-40 God Sent an Evil Spirit Between Abimelech and the Men of Shechem

[Study Aired May 17, 2021]

Jdg 9:22  When Abimelech had reigned three years over Israel, 
Jdg 9:23  Then God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem; and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech: 
Jdg 9:24  That the cruelty done to the threescore and ten sons of Jerubbaal might come, and their blood be laid upon Abimelech their brother, which slew them; and upon the men of Shechem, which aided him in the killing of his brethren. 
Jdg 9:25  And the men of Shechem set liers in wait for him in the top of the mountains, and they robbed all that came along that way by them: and it was told Abimelech. 
Jdg 9:26  And Gaal the son of Ebed came with his brethren, and went over to Shechem: and the men of Shechem put their confidence in him. 
Jdg 9:27  And they went out into the fields, and gathered their vineyards, and trode the grapes, and made merry, and went into the house of their god, and did eat and drink, and cursed Abimelech. 
Jdg 9:28  And Gaal the son of Ebed said, Who is Abimelech, and who is Shechem, that we should serve him? is not he the son of Jerubbaal? and Zebul his officer? serve the men of Hamor the father of Shechem: for why should we serve him? 
Jdg 9:29  And would to God this people were under my hand! then would I remove Abimelech. And he said to Abimelech, Increase thine army, and come out. 
Jdg 9:30  And when Zebul the ruler of the city heard the words of Gaal the son of Ebed, his anger was kindled. 
Jdg 9:31  And he sent messengers unto Abimelech privily, saying, Behold, Gaal the son of Ebed and his brethren be come to Shechem; and, behold, they fortify the city against thee. 
Jdg 9:32  Now therefore up by night, thou and the people that is with thee, and lie in wait in the field: 
Jdg 9:33  And it shall be, that in the morning, as soon as the sun is up, thou shalt rise early, and set upon the city: and, behold, when he and the people that is with him come out against thee, then mayest thou do to them as thou shalt find occasion. 
Jdg 9:34  And Abimelech rose up, and all the people that were with him, by night, and they laid wait against Shechem in four companies. 
Jdg 9:35  And Gaal the son of Ebed went out, and stood in the entering of the gate of the city: and Abimelech rose up, and the people that were with him, from lying in wait. 
Jdg 9:36  And when Gaal saw the people, he said to Zebul, Behold, there come people down from the top of the mountains. And Zebul said unto him, Thou seest the shadow of the mountains as if they were men. 
Jdg 9:37  And Gaal spake again and said, See there come people down by the middle of the land, and another company come along by the plain of Meonenim. 
Jdg 9:38  Then said Zebul unto him, Where is now thy mouth, wherewith thou saidst, Who is Abimelech, that we should serve him? is not this the people that thou hast despised? go out, I pray now, and fight with them. 
Jdg 9:39  And Gaal went out before the men of Shechem, and fought with Abimelech. 
Jdg 9:40  And Abimelech chased him, and he fled before him, and many were overthrown and wounded, even unto the entering of the gate.

In the first part of Judges Chapter 9, we reviewed how Abimelech became king in Shechem and got the necessary resources from the men of Shechem to hire vain and light men to follow him. Instead of plural leadership, the people of Shechem chose Abimelech and the result was the slaying of the seventy sons of Gideon. However, God left a remnant by the name of Jotham, the youngest son of Gideon who proclaimed that fire would come from Abimelech and devour the men of Shechem and Millo and vice versa.

The review for today is the beginning of the fulfillment of this prophesy by Jotham that fire from Abimelech would consume the men of Shechem and Millo and vice versa.    

Jdg 9:22  When Abimelech had reigned three years over Israel, 

Abimelech represents the old man within each of us. His reign of three years over us refers to the period in our lives where we are held in bondage by the dictates of the flesh, or the old man, even though we have started our journey with Christ. The three years therefore symbolize the fact that this period of the experience of evil in our lives is all part of the process of becoming spiritually complete through judgment.

Luk 13:31  The same day there came certain of the Pharisees, saying unto him, Get thee out, and depart hence: for Herod will kill thee.
Luk 13:32  And he said unto them, Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to day and to morrow, and the third day I shall be perfected.

This experience of evil when our old man dominates us is part of the perfecting process of the Lord as we walk with Him. We mature through judgment, and so God seeks for an occasion to judge us. In this case, He sends an evil spirit to precipitate the opportunity to judge us as follows:

Jdg 9:23  Then God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem; and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech: 

As indicated in the previous review, the men of Shechem represent the churches or Babylon. This verse says that the purpose of God sending an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem was for the purpose of using the men of Shechem to deal treacherously with Abimelech. That is to say God causes a conflict between us (represented by Abimelech) and Babylon while we are in Babylon which forces us to leave Babylon with the purpose of gradually putting to death our old man. For our old man (Abimelech) cannot die while we are in union with Babylon. In other words, we cannot sing the Lord’s song in a strange land, so we must leave Babylon. On our own we cannot leave, and God sends an evil spirit to facilitate our exit through judgment so that our old man (Abimelech) can be dealt with treacherously.

Rev 18:4  And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.

Psa 137:1  By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.
Psa 137:2  We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof.
Psa 137:3  For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion.
Psa 137:4  How shall we sing the LORD’S song in a strange land?

What we have to bear in mind is that the conflict between Abimelech and the men of Shechem is one of God’s four judgments. The purpose of all judgments which the elect experience is to learn righteousness. Here God is using the sword as judgment to bring about His purpose. The sword, on a positive note, is the word of God. However, in this context, we are looking at the negative application of sword which includes the physical use of sword for the destruction of lives, false doctrines, bitter words against each other, lies, etc.

Isa 26:8  Yea, in the way of thy judgments, O LORD, have we waited for thee; the desire of our soul is to thy name, and to the remembrance of thee.
Isa 26:9  With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.

Eze 14:21  For thus saith the Lord GOD; How much more when I send my four sore judgments upon Jerusalem, the sword, and the famine, and the noisome beast, and the pestilence, to cut off from it man and beast?

Jdg 7:22  And the three hundred blew the trumpets, and the LORD set every man’s sword against his fellow, even throughout all the host: and the host fled to Bethshittah in Zererath, and to the border of Abelmeholah, unto Tabbath.

1Sa 14:20  And Saul and all the people that were with him assembled themselves, and they came to the battle: and, behold, every man’s sword was against his fellow, and there was a very great discomfiture.

Eze 38:21  And I will call for a sword against him throughout all my mountains, saith the Lord GOD: every man’s sword shall be against his brother.

Zec 8:10  For before these days there was no hire for man, nor any hire for beast; neither was there any peace to him that went out or came in because of the affliction: for I set all men every one against his neighbour.

Jdg 9:24  That the cruelty done to the threescore and ten sons of Jerubbaal might come, and their blood be laid upon Abimelech their brother, which slew them; and upon the men of Shechem, which aided him in the killing of his brethren.

The seventy sons of Jerubbaal (Gideon) represent the prophets in the Old Testament and our Lord Jesus Christ and His elect in the New Testaments. This verse is therefore another way of saying that the blood of the prophets and that of Jesus Christ will be required of this generation, which includes us. We are all therefore guilty for the killing of our Lord Jesus Christ as our old man (Abimelech) detests the reigning of our Lord Jesus in our hearts.

Luk 11:50  That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation;
Luk 11:51  From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation.

Jdg 9:25  And the men of Shechem set liers in wait for him in the top of the mountains, and they robbed all that came along that way by them: and it was told Abimelech. 

A mountain or mountain top signifies the place of worship, whether we are worshiping idols or Christ, as indicated by the woman at the well with Jesus.

Joh 4:19  The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet.
Joh 4:20  Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.

What is being said here in this verse is that it is in the church (men of Shechem) that we are robbed by these false apostles who lie or deceive us.  These lies are what strengthen our old man.

2Co 11:13  For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.
2Co 11:14  And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.
2Co 11:15  Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.

Jdg 9:26  And Gaal the son of Ebed came with his brethren, and went over to Shechem: and the men of Shechem put their confidence in him.

In our time in Babylon, we put our confidence in the “men of God” whose preaching caused us to be attracted to fleshly desires, making us worse off than when we started. According to Strong, the meaning of the name ‘Gaal’ is loathing. Loathing means hatred or intense dislike. Therefore in this verse, Gaal represents the leaders in the churches whose preaching promotes intense dislike for the truth of the word of God. What these men of God preach is of the world, and since we were worldly at that time of our lives, we put our confidence in them.

1Jn 4:5  They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them.
1Jn 4:6  We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.

Jdg 9:27  And they went out into the fields, and gathered their vineyards, and trode the grapes, and made merry, and went into the house of their god, and did eat and drink, and cursed Abimelech. 

The field means the world. “They went out into the fields” means that our walk during our time in Babylon was worldly as we loved pleasure more than the truth of God’s word. This verse is the same as what Peter said:

2Pe 2:12  But these, like irrational animals, creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed, blaspheming about matters of which they are ignorant, will also be destroyed in their destruction,
2Pe 2:13  suffering wrong as the wage for their wrongdoing. They count it pleasure to revel in the daytime. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions, while they feast with you.
2Pe 2:14  They have eyes full of adultery, insatiable for sin. They entice unsteady souls. They have hearts trained in greed. Accursed children! (ESV)

Jdg 9:28  And Gaal the son of Ebed said, Who is Abimelech, and who is Shechem, that we should serve him? is not he the son of Jerubbaal? and Zebul his officer? serve the men of Hamor the father of Shechem: for why should we serve him? 

Gaal’s statement, “Who is Abimelech that the men of Shechem including himself should serve him” shows our mindset while we were in Babylon. We thought that we had the power to deal with our old man (Abimelech) and, therefore our sins, at our own discretion. This notion was based on the notion that as long as Christ died for our sins, we do not need to die and that our old man is already dead with Him. We did not consider that the old man only dies through God’s judgment of our sins. What this means is that we did not consider suffering as part of the ways that God deals with us.

We quoted Romans 6:6 as showing that Christ has already died for us as follows:

Rom 6:6  We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.
Rom 6:7  For one who has died has been set free from sin.
Rom 6:8  Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.
Rom 6:9  We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him.
Rom 6:10  For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God.
Rom 6:11  So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

We forgot that in verse 8 above, there is a caveat. All the verses above are dependent on verse 8 – that is, our old man is crucified only if we have died with Christ.  We die with Christ through suffering by filling up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in our flesh.

Col 1:24  Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:

Jdg 9:29  And would to God this people were under my hand! then would I remove Abimelech. And he said to Abimelech, Increase thine army, and come out. 

All of us when we were in Babylon supported this spirit of the Nicolaitans. According to Strong, the word ‘Nicolaitan’ means to dominate. So the spirit of the Nicolatians is the spirit which makes us think we must dominate the children of God or rule over them instead of being a servant to the people of God. That was the spirit of Gaal and is the spirit of the leaders of Babylon who want the people of God to serve them instead of being their servants as Jesus stated.

Rev 2:6  But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

Mat 20:26  It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant,
Mat 20:27  and whoever would be first among you must be your slave,
Mat 20:28  even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (ESV)

Apostle John also warned us of this spirit when he talked about Diotrephes who was dominating the church to which John wrote.

3Jn 1:9  I wrote unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not.
3Jn 1:10  Wherefore, if I come, I will remember his deeds which he doeth, prating against us with malicious words: and not content therewith, neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and forbiddeth them that would, and casteth them out of the church.

Again, in this verse, Gaal thought that he could easily deal with Abimelech by saying to him to increase his army and come out. Our old man, representing Abimelech, cannot be destroyed by our own self-will or effort or by our own timing. Everything is of the Lord, and He deals with our old man gradually through our fiery trials.

Rom 9:16  So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.

Jdg 9:30  And when Zebul the ruler of the city heard the words of Gaal the son of Ebed, his anger was kindled. 

It is our own words which will serve as fuel for the destruction of the Babylon within each of us as we see Zebul angered by the words of Gaal. Outwardly, religious organizations (Babylon) are setting themselves up for their destruction by their own words. The destruction of Babylon is a looming disaster ready to happen, and it is not going to take long as we see how the world is heating up for the kingdom of this world to become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ.

Rev 18:5  For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.
Rev 18:6  Reward her even as she rewarded you, and double unto her double according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled fill to her double.
Rev 18:7  How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.
Rev 18:8  Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.
Rev 18:9  And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning,
Rev 18:10  Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come.
Rev 18:11  And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more:

Jdg 9:31  And he sent messengers unto Abimelech privily, saying, Behold, Gaal the son of Ebed and his brethren be come to Shechem; and, behold, they fortify the city against thee. 

As stated by Zebul, the words of Gaal end up fortifying the city against Abimelech. So the words we heard from Babylon fortified us against our old man’s destruction. In other words, our old man was strengthened by the words we heard in Babylon making it impossible for the old man to be destroyed while we were still in Babylon. This is spoken of by the Lord as follows:

Rev 9:3  And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.

Rev 9:9  And they had breastplates, as it were breastplates of iron; and the sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses running to battle.

Both the messengers and the hearers in Babylon are described as locusts with breastplates of iron. The fortification of the city is the same as the locusts with breastplates of iron.  What the breastplate of iron means is that, in Babylon, our hearts and minds are strengthened by the false doctrines we hear such that it is impossible for the truth of the words of God to penetrate into our hearts as our hearts and minds are like iron.

Jdg 9:32  Now therefore up by night, thou and the people that is with thee, and lie in wait in the field: 

Abimelech is being advised by Zebul to rise up in the night and lie in wait in the field. It is during the night that we are met by the woman who is dressed as a prostitute who seduces us causing our old man (Abimelech) to lie in wait in the field (the world) where we conform to the standards of the world.

Pro 7:9  in the twilight, in the evening, at the time of night and darkness.
Pro 7:10  And behold, the woman meets him, dressed as a prostitute, wily of heart.
Pro 7:11  She is loud and wayward; her feet do not stay at home;
Pro 7:12  now in the street, now in the market, and at every corner she lies in wait.
Pro 7:13  She seizes him and kisses him, and with bold face she says to him,
Pro 7:14  “I had to offer sacrifices, and today I have paid my vows;
Pro 7:15  so now I have come out to meet you, to seek you eagerly, and I have found you.
Pro 7:16  I have spread my couch with coverings, colored linens from Egyptian linen;
Pro 7:17  I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.
Pro 7:18  Come, let us take our fill of love till morning; let us delight ourselves with love.
Pro 7:19  For my husband is not at home; he has gone on a long journey;
Pro 7:20  he took a bag of money with him; at full moon he will come home.”
Pro 7:21  With much seductive speech she persuades him; with her smooth talk she compels him.

Jdg 9:33  And it shall be, that in the morning, as soon as the sun is up, thou shalt rise early, and set upon the city: and, behold, when he and the people that is with him come out against thee, then mayest thou do to them as thou shalt find occasion. 

The morning signifies the time that the daystar (Jesus) comes to us, and His coming is with judgment for what we have done in the night. It is the period that God finds an occasion to judge us with the view of learning righteousness. In this story, God is using Abimelech as the instrument to judge the men of Shechem and vice versa. That is what it means by every man’s sword shall be against his brother.

2Pe 1:19  We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:

Eze 38:21  And I will call for a sword against him throughout all my mountains, saith the Lord GOD: every man’s sword shall be against his brother.

Zec 8:10  For before these days there was no hire for man, nor any hire for beast; neither was there any peace to him that went out or came in because of the affliction: for I set all men every one against his neighbour.

Jdg 9:34  And Abimelech rose up, and all the people that were with him, by night, and they laid wait against Shechem in four companies.

It is while we are in darkness as a result of the night that Christ prepares for our judgment using all His resources (four companies).

Rom 5:8  But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Jdg 9:35  And Gaal the son of Ebed went out, and stood in the entering of the gate of the city: and Abimelech rose up, and the people that were with him, from lying in wait. 
Jdg 9:36  And when Gaal saw the people, he said to Zebul, Behold, there come people down from the top of the mountains. And Zebul said unto him, Thou seest the shadow of the mountains as if they were men. 

In the absence of the light of Christ, we are engulfed in darkness, and we cannot see properly. In other words, we were not given eyes to see and ears to hear. That was what happened to us while we were in Babylon because we were experiencing the night of our lives. This situation is just like the story of the blind man who was touched first by Jesus, and as a result, he could see men as trees. However, after another touch by the Lord Jesus, he was able to see clearly. We all were seeing “men of God” as trees to go under their shade to rest from the scorching sun, but after having received mercy from the Lord, He touched us again, and so we are seeing clearly now.

Mar 8:22  And he cometh to Bethsaida; and they bring a blind man unto him, and besought him to touch him.
Mar 8:23  And he took the blind man by the hand, and led him out of the town; and when he had spit on his eyes, and put his hands upon him, he asked him if he saw ought.
Mar 8:24  And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking.
Mar 8:25  After that he put his hands again upon his eyes, and made him look up: and he was restored, and saw every man clearly.

In verse 36, although Gaal saw men coming down from the top of the mountains, he chose to believe the lies of Zebul that he was actually seeing the shadow of the mountains. What we are being told here is that even though sometimes we stumbled on the truth during our time in Babylon, we did not believe the truth but rather chose to believe the lies of our “men of God.”  The reason we believed in their lies instead of the truth at that time was simply because God had sent us strong delusion to believe in lies.

2Th 2:9  Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
2Th 2:10  And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
2Th 2:11  And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
2Th 2:12  That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

Jdg 9:37  And Gaal spake again and said, See there come people down by the middle of the land, and another company come along by the plain of Meonenim. 
Jdg 9:38  Then said Zebul unto him, Where is now thy mouth, wherewith thou saidst, Who is Abimelech, that we should serve him? is not this the people that thou hast despised? go out, I pray now, and fight with them.

When we start to see clearly, then it means that judgment is about to begin in our house. In essence, that was what Zebul told Gaal when he started seeing clearly that people were coming down by the middle land, and another set of people were coming by the plain of Meonenim.

1Pe 4:12  Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.
1Pe 4:13  But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.

1Pe 4:17  For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?

His glory being revealed in verse 13 is our eyes seeing and our ears hearing the words of the Lord.

Jdg 9:39  And Gaal went out before the men of Shechem, and fought with Abimelech. 
Jdg 9:40  And Abimelech chased him, and he fled before him, and many were overthrown and wounded, even unto the entering of the gate. 

The fighting between the men of Shechem, led by Gaal and Abimelech, is the fire which Jotham prophesied will consume the men of shechem and Abimelech for not dealing truly and sincerely with Gideon and his house.

Jdg 9:19  If ye then have dealt truly and sincerely with Jerubbaal and with his house this day, then rejoice ye in Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you:
Jdg 9:20  But if not, let fire come out from Abimelech, and devour the men of Shechem, and the house of Millo; and let fire come out from the men of Shechem, and from the house of Millo, and devour Abimelech.

This fire is the fighting between the men of Shechem and Abimelech which represents one of God’s four sore judgments which is the sword. As stated, being judged by the sword includes physical fighting, bitter words that people (including family members) say about us to others or say to us directly, misunderstanding between family members, etc.

1Sa 14:20  And Saul and all the people that were with him assembled themselves, and they came to the battle: and, behold, every man’s sword was against his fellow, and there was a very great discomfiture.

Eze 38:21  And I will call for a sword against him throughout all my mountains, saith the Lord GOD: every man’s sword shall be against his brother.

Zec 8:10  For before these days there was no hire for man, nor any hire for beast; neither was there any peace to him that went out or came in because of the affliction: for I set all men every one against his neighbour.

We will conclude this story of Abimelech’s fight with the men of Shechem next week.

[Author may be contacted at abarnes (at) semfinancial.com]