With a Subtitle: Abimelech’s pride blinded him to God’s work until judgment finally came.
A brief Excerpt: Judges 9:54 recounts the tragic end of Abimelech, a man so blinded by pride that he never recognized God’s judgment. His story reminds believers to examine their lives and remain sensitive to God’s guidance.
Scripture
Our verse for today comes from Judges 9:54, “Then he called quickly to the young man, his armorbearer, and said to him, ‘Draw your sword and kill me, lest men say of me, “A woman killed him.”‘”
Background
Sometimes we just don’t get it, do we? Sometimes we are so blind to what’s going on that we cannot see what is plainly evident all around us. And the worst of it is, this ignorance can go on indefinitely. We might spend months or even years oblivious to the simple, if sometimes painful, truths that we have missed. And nothing less could be said about Abimelech and his plight in our verse today. His father, Gideon, had led Israel’s defeat of Midian and ushered in forty years of peace for their land. But immediately after Gideon’s death, Israel turns its back on God, and Abimelech conspires with his concubine mother and his uncles to take over the rule of Israel. So in his thirst for power, he and his followers go to his father’s house and kill all but one of his seventy brothers, and thus begins the reign of Abimelech over Israel. But after a few years, the people turn against him, and in the battle that ensues, we arrive at our verse for today. Abimelech is attempting to burn down the tower when a woman throws a millstone down and crushes his head. And he ends his life the way he lived it, void of any insight or reflection into what God was doing around him. He cares only that he not be known as the man who was killed by a woman. He never could see the pain that polygamy and lust caused. He dismissed the brutal murders of his own family. He couldn’t care less whether Israel followed God or not, and he probably had no clue as to why his own people turned against him. He never saw God, and the scarier part for us is, he never saw what God wasn’t doing in his life, even as obvious as it was.
Application
So, are you aware of how you are walking with or away from the Lord? Can you see what He isn’t doing in and through you? Are you reigning over your own life and can’t understand why there is no peace or fulfillment? Before the millstone drops on you, open your heart to understanding where you might not be. Consider whether you get it or not, and then do something about it.
Charge
As we seek Him today, ask God if He’s doing all He wants to in your life. Examine your situations and circumstances and look for God’s promptings in your heart. Don’t continue as you are just because you always have.
Salvation – Eternal Life in Less Than 150 Words
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