Through the Bible – Day 86

₁Abimelech the son of Gideon went to Shechem. While there, he met with his mother's relatives ₂and told them to say to the leaders of Shechem, “Do you think it would be good to have all seventy of Gideon's sons ruling us? Wouldn't you rather have just one man as king? Abimelech would make a good king, and he's related to us.”

₃Abimelech's uncles talked it over with the leaders of Shechem who agreed, “Yes, it would be better for one of our relatives to be king.” ₄Then they gave Abimelech seventy pieces of silver from the temple of their god Baal Berith.

Abimelech used the silver to hire a gang of rough soldiers who would do anything for money. ₅Abimelech and his soldiers went to his father's home in Ophrah and brought out Gideon's other sons to a large rock, where they murdered all seventy. Gideon's youngest son Jotham hid from the soldiers, but he was the only one who escaped.

₆The leaders of Shechem, including the priests and the military officers, met at the tree next to the sacred rock in Shechem to crown Abimelech king. ₇Jotham heard what they were doing. So he climbed to the top of Mount Gerizim and shouted down to the people who were there at the meeting:

After Jotham had finished telling this story, he said:

₂₁Jotham ran off and went to live in the town of Beer, where he could be safe from his brother Abimelech.

₂₂Abimelech had been a military commander of Israel for three years, _23-24when God decided to punish him and the leaders of Shechem for killing Gideon's seventy sons.

So God turned the leaders of Shechem against Abimelech. ₂₅Then they sent some men to hide on the hilltops and watch for Abimelech and his troops, while they sent others to rob everyone who went by on the road. But Abimelech found out what they were doing.

₂₆One day, Gaal son of Ebed went to live in Shechem. His brothers moved there too, and soon the leaders of Shechem started trusting him.

₂₇The time came for the grape harvest, and the people of Shechem went into their vineyards and picked the grapes. They put the grapes in their wine-pits and walked on them to squeeze out the juice in order to make wine. Then they went into the temple of their god and threw a big party. There was a lot of eating and drinking, and before long they were cursing Abimelech.

₂₈Gaal said:

₃₀Zebul was angry when he found out what Gaal had said. ₃₁And so he sent some messengers to Abimelech. But they had to pretend to be doing something else, or they would not have been allowed to leave Shechem. Zebul told the messengers to say:

₃₄So one night, Abimelech led his soldiers to Shechem. He divided them into four groups, and they all hid near the town.

₃₅The next morning, Gaal went out and stood in the opening of the town gate. Abimelech and his soldiers left their hiding places, ₃₆and Gaal saw them. Zebul was standing there with Gaal, and Gaal remarked, “Zebul, that looks like a crowd of people coming down from the mountaintops.”

“No,” Zebul answered, “it's just the shadows of the mountains. It only looks like people moving.”

₃₇“But Zebul, look over there,” Gaal said. “There's a crowd coming down from the sacred mountain, and another group is coming along the road from the tree where people talk with the spirits of the dead.”

₃₈Then Zebul replied, “What good is all your boasting now? You were the one who said Abimelech shouldn't be the ruler of Shechem. Out there is the army that you made fun of. So go out and fight them!”

₃₉Gaal and the leaders of Shechem went out and fought Abimelech. ₄₀Soon the people of Shechem turned and ran back into the town. However, Abimelech and his troops were close behind and killed many of them along the way.

₄₁Abimelech stayed at Arumah, and Zebul forced Gaal and his brothers out of Shechem.

₄₂The next morning, the people of Shechem were getting ready to work in their fields as usual, but someone told Abimelech about it. ₄₃Abimelech divided his army into three groups and set up an ambush in the fields near Shechem. When the people came out of the town, he and his army rushed out from their hiding places and attacked. ₄₄Abimelech and the troops with him ran to the town gate and took control of it, while two other groups attacked and killed the people who were in the fields. ₄₅He and his troops fought in Shechem all day, until they had killed everyone in town. Then he and his men tore down the houses and buildings and scattered salt everywhere.

₄₆Earlier that day, the leaders of the temple of El Berith at Shechem had heard about the attack. So they went into the temple fortress, ₄₇but Abimelech found out where they were. ₄₈He led his troops to Mount Zalmon, where he took an axe and chopped off a tree branch. He lifted the branch on to his shoulder and shouted, “Hurry! Cut off a branch just as I did.”

₄₉When they all had branches, they followed Abimelech back to Shechem. They piled the branches against the fortress and set them on fire, burning down the fortress and killing about one thousand men and women.

₅₀After destroying Shechem, Abimelech went to Thebez. He surrounded the town and captured it. ₅₁But there was a tall fortress in the middle of the town, and the town leaders and everyone else went inside. Then they barred the gates and went up to the flat roof.

₅₂Abimelech and his army rushed to the fortress and tried to force their way inside. Abimelech himself was about to set the heavy wooden doors on fire, ₅₃when a woman on the roof dropped a large rock on his head and cracked his skull. ₅₄The soldier who carried his weapons was nearby, and Abimelech told him, “Take out your sword and kill me. I don't want people to say that I was killed by a woman!”

So the soldier ran his sword through Abimelech. ₅₅And when the Israelite soldiers saw that their leader was dead, they went back home.

₅₆That's how God punished Abimelech for killing his brothers and bringing shame on his father's family. ₅₇God also punished the people of Shechem for helping Abimelech. Everything happened just as Jotham's curse said it would.

₁Tola was the next person to rescue Israel. He belonged to the Issachar tribe, but he lived in Shamir, a town in the hill country of Ephraim. His father was Puah, and his grandfather was Dodo. ₂Tola was a leader of Israel for twenty-three years, then he died and was buried in Shamir.

₃The next leader of Israel was Jair, who lived in Gilead. He was a leader for twenty-two years. ₄He had thirty sons, and each son had his own mule and was in charge of one town in Gilead. Those thirty towns are still called The Settlements of Jair. ₅When he died, he was buried in the town of Kamon.

₆Before long, the Israelites began disobeying the LORD by worshipping Baal, Astarte, and gods from Syria, Sidon, Moab, Ammon, and Philistia.

₇The LORD was angry with Israel and decided to let Philistia and Ammon conquer them. ₈So the same year that Jair died, Israel's army was crushed by these two nations. For eighteen years, Ammon was cruel to the Israelites who lived in Gilead, the region east of the River Jordan that had once belonged to the Amorites. ₉Then the Ammonites began crossing the Jordan and attacking the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, and Ephraim. Life was miserable for the Israelites. ₁₀They begged the LORD for help and confessed, “We were unfaithful to you, our LORD. We stopped worshipping you and started worshipping idols of Baal.”

_11-12The LORD answered:

₁₅“We have been unfaithful,” the Israelites admitted. “If we must be punished, do it yourself, but please rescue us from the Ammonites.”

₁₆Then the Israelites got rid of the idols of the foreign gods, and they began worshipping only the LORD. Finally, there came a time when the LORD could no longer stand to see them suffer.

₁₇The rulers of Ammon called their soldiers together and led them to Gilead, where they set up camp.

The Israelites gathered at Mizpah and set up camp there. ₁₈The leaders of Gilead asked each other, “Who can lead an attack on the Ammonites?” Then they agreed, “If we can find someone who can lead the attack, we'll make him the ruler of Gilead.”

₂₁While everyone else was being baptized, Jesus himself was baptized. Then as he prayed, the sky opened up, ₂₂and the Holy Spirit came down upon him in the form of a dove. A voice from heaven said, “You are my own dear Son, and I am pleased with you.”

₂₃When Jesus began to preach, he was about thirty years old. Everyone thought he was the son of Joseph. But his family went back through Heli, ₂₄Matthat, Levi, Melchi, Jannai, Joseph, ₂₅Mattathias, Amos, Nahum, Esli, Naggai, ₂₆Maath, Mattathias, Semein, Josech, Joda;

₂₇Joanan, Rhesa, Zerubbabel, Shealtiel, Neri, ₂₈Melchi, Addi, Cosam, Elmadam, Er, ₂₉Joshua, Eliezer, Jorim, Matthat, Levi;

₃₀Simeon, Judah, Joseph, Jonam, Eliakim, ₃₁Melea, Menna, Mattatha, Nathan, David, ₃₂Jesse, Obed, Boaz, Salmon, Nahshon;

₃₃Amminadab, Admin, Arni, Hezron, Perez, Judah, ₃₄Jacob, Isaac, Abraham, Terah, Nahor, ₃₅Serug, Reu, Peleg, Eber, Shelah;

₃₆Cainan, Arphaxad, Shem, Noah, Lamech, ₃₇Methuselah, Enoch, Jared, Mahalaleel, Kenan, ₃₈Enosh, and Seth.

The family of Jesus went all the way back to Adam and then to God.

₁When Jesus returned from the River Jordan, the power of the Holy Spirit was with him, and the Spirit led him into the desert. ₂For forty days Jesus was tested by the devil, and during that time he went without eating. When it was all over, he was hungry.

₃The devil said to Jesus, “If you are God's Son, tell this stone to turn into bread.”

₄Jesus answered, “The Scriptures say, ‘No one can live only on food.’ ”

₅Then the devil led Jesus up to a high place and quickly showed him all the nations on earth. ₆The devil said, “I will give all this power and glory to you. It has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. ₇Just worship me, and you can have it all.”

₈Jesus answered, “The Scriptures say:

₉Finally, the devil took Jesus to Jerusalem and had him stand on top of the temple. The devil said, “If you are God's Son, jump off. _10-11The Scriptures say:

₁₂Jesus answered, “The Scriptures also say, ‘Don't try to test the Lord your God!’ ”

₁₃After the devil had finished testing Jesus in every way possible, he left him for a while.

₁₄Jesus returned to Galilee with the power of the Spirit. News about him spread everywhere. ₁₅He taught in the Jewish meeting places, and everyone praised him.