The Man Who Would Be King

When Gideon died, one of his sons, Abimelech, attempted to usurp the title King of Israel — an office and position reserved for God (Judges 9). Abimelech’s short reign was marked by treachery and bloodshed. It was a foretaste of what would happen to the Israelites if they rejected God as their king.

Abimelech was a son of Gideon (Judges 8:31), but he did not share his father’s love for God. In sharp contrast to the judges who acknowledged God as the only true king over Israel, Abimelech aggressively sought the throne of Israel for his own ends.

Viewing his 70 brothers as potential rivals, Abimelech murdered all but one of them. He was supported in this wickedness by his mother’s family and the leaders of Shechem. Only Jotham, the youngest, escaped. Abimelech then had himself crowned king (Judges 9:5-6).

When news of this reached Jotham, he climbed up to a rock ledge on the south side of the nearby Mt. Gerizim, and cried out God’s warning to the people of Shechem below (verse 7). From this natural pulpit, Jotham related a fable about trees vying for supremacy: "One day the trees went out to anoint a king for themselves" (see verses 8-15).

The olive tree, the fig tree and the vine rejected the offer of kingship. They were content to grow where God had planted them and to produce the kind of fruit God desired. The implication here is that these righteous trees refused to tear their roots from the soil and soar above the other trees in a presumptuous act of self-promotion.

"Gideon...represented one of the good trees invited to become king [Judges 8:22], though exact identifications are not needed. Noble, capable leaders like Gideon believed that the theocracy, not a monarchy, was the best form of government" (The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, vol. 3, pp. 439-440).

The thornbush represented Abimelech, who craved power and prestige (Judges 9:15). Its invitation to "take refuge in my shade" refers to the traditional role of the king, who offered special protection to those traveling on his behalf. They were said to be "in his shade" (Hosea 14:7; see also Isaiah 30:2 and Daniel 4:12). In reality, as the original audience knew very well, a  thornbush cannot give shade. "Jotham’s point was this: a productive person would be too busy doing good to want to bother with power politics. A worthless person, on the other hand, would be glad to accept the honor — but he would destroy the people he ruled. Abimelech, like a thornbush, could offer Israel no real protection or security" (Life Application Bible, NIV, commentary on Judges 9:7-15).

The words "let fire come out of the thornbush and consume the cedars of Lebanon" (Judges 9:15) refer to the wrath of Abimelech, which would come upon the leaders of Shechem. This is exactly what happened: Abimelech eventually destroyed Shechem (verse 45) and burned its leaders in the city tower (verses 46-49). God’s prophecy against Abimelech (verse 20) also came true: This renegade Israelite was finally killed at Thebez (verses 50-54). His brief flirtation with kingship had cost him his life.

Throughout Israel’s history, Abimelech was remembered as the man who was killed by a woman (2 Samuel 11:21). The man who would be king became an object of scorn and derision.

The Downward Spiral of Sin

This brief structural analysis of the book of Judges demonstrates that the finer we tune ourselves to its literary design, the more we can appreciate the spiritual lessons it contains.

The central section of this book relates the stories of six judges God raised up to deliver Israel from their enemies. These stories — with their pattern of Israel’s sin, sorrow, repentance and restoration — illustrate what is often called the "cycle of sin." The overall pattern in Judges can be described as a downward spiral toward moral degeneracy.

The first story concerns Othniel, Caleb’s nephew (Judges 3:7-11). In this story, six elements occur:

1. The Israelites do evil.
2. God allows them to become the captives of their enemies.
3. The Israelites repent and cry out to God.
4. God raises up a judge and deliverer (Othniel, in this case).
5. God delivers the enemy leader into the hand of the judge.
6. The land has rest and peace under the judge’s leadership.

The other stories are also based around these six elements. When several stories are built on the same literary structure, the small divergences from that structure are important indicators of what is being communicated theologically.

"The Spirit of the Lord came upon [Othniel], so that he became Israel’s judge and went to war" (Judges 3:10).

Othniel’s is the model story — the one by which to view the others. All the stories have the first two elements: the people sinning and becoming captives. However, the later stories get progressively further from the model in the other elements. This progressive departure from the model story is a literary device used to reflect the moral decline of Israel.

The story of Ehud follows the literary model almost exactly (verses 12-30).

In the next episode, however, Barak, a capable military leader, displays an initial lack of faith. Having been told by Deborah, a prophetess and judge, that God would deliver the enemy into his hands, Barak is still not prepared to deliver Israel until he has the additional assurance of Deborah’s presence at the battle (Judges 4:4-8). Consequently, the honor of killing the enemy leader, Sisera, goes not to Barak but to a woman, Jael (verses 9, 15-21).

The next judge, Gideon, requires more than the presence of a judge and prophetess before he is prepared to deliver the nation — he needs several signs from God (Judges 6:17, 36-37, 39). With the background of Barak’s experiences in mind, it is not surprising that the glory of capturing two of the Midianite leaders, Oreb and Zeeb, goes not to Gideon but to the Ephraimites (Judges 7:24–8:3).

Jephthah’s story deviates further from the literary structure. The people, rather than God, elect Jephthah as their leader. And although God does grant Jephthah victory over his enemies, Jephthah’s triumphal return home is transformed into personal despair and anguish because of a rash vow he had made (Judges 11:30-31). Moreover, the land does not have peace under Jephthah’s leadership.

The final episode, that of Samson, represents the most radical departure from the ideal model of deliverance. The people do not even cry out to God for help, the land does not have rest under Samson’s leadership and Samson himself only begins to deliver Israel from the enemy (Judges 13:1-5). Also, if Barak displays moral laxity in placing too much dependence upon the presence of a faithful prophetess, Deborah, how much more so Samson, who puts too much trust in a Philistine profiteer, Delilah (Judges 16:4-21).

We can, and should, be encouraged that, despite their failings, Barak, Gideon, Jephthah and Samson are all mentioned as examples of faith in Hebrews 11. But the emphasis in the book of Judges is on the moral decay of Israel — from when the Israelites served God under Joshua and the elders who outlived him (Judges 2:7) to a turbulent period of spiritual rebellion and anarchy when "everyone did what was right in his own eyes" (Judges 21:25, NKJV).

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Copyright 2002