As we go through today’s reading, think about what God’s point of view might have been in these stories.

Gideon left seventy sons behind when he died. His son Abimelek killed most of his half brothers in one day in an attempt to take over Israel, but one brother, Jotham, escaped. Jotham followed Abimelek back to Shechem and cursed him before fleeing and going into hiding.

Jotham’s curse was expressed through a parable that ended with a twist. He suggested to the people of Shechem that if killing Gideon’s sons and making Abimelek their king was a good idea, they should enjoy each other for a long time.

But if  what they had done was a bad idea, he prophesied that Abimelek and Shechem would destroy each other and a lot of fire would be involved.

Shechem Revolts

Abimelek governed the region around Shechem for three years before God intervened to avenge the death of Gideon’s seventy sons. He stirred up animosity between Abimelek and the people of Shechem because they had conspired together in mass murder. The people of Shechem made it hard for Abimelek to maintain law and order because they ambushed and robbed everyone who passed by their town.

A man named Gaal moved to Shechem with his clan and joined in the local unrest about Abimelek. He sided with the people of Shechem and said that he would like to call out both the king and his deputy Zebul and lead Shechem in a revolt against them. The people admired Gaal and decided to follow him.

The city manager Zebul sent word to Abimelek that he needed to come and put down this uprising. Abimelek brought his army and hid in the mountains in front of Shechem. At sunrise Gaal took a stroll outside Shechem’s gate and was startled to see armed men coming toward the city from several directions.

“Then Zebul said to him, ‘Where is your big talk now, you who said, ‘Who is Abimelek that we should be subject to him? Aren’t these the men you ridiculed? Go out and fight them!’” Judges 9:38

Mutual Destruction

Gaal led the men of Shechem out to fight Abimelek in the fields, but Abimelek drove them back to the city gate and killed many of them. Zebul closed Shechem’s gate against Gaal and his men, leaving them to fend for themselves.

The next morning more townspeople tried to escape from Shechem, but Abimelek surrounded them and his army spent that day destroying the city and killing its inhabitants. Then he salted the ground so nothing could grow there.

In a final assault Abimelek went to the tower of Shechem where a thousand men and women had taken shelter. He lit a fire that consumed the tower and killed everyone inside. He intended to burn up another tower, but a woman threw a millstone down from the roof and broke his skull. His servant finished him with a sword.

“Thus God repaid the wickedness that Abimelek had done to his father by murdering his seventy brothers. God also made the people of Shechem pay for all their wickedness. The curse of Jotham, son of Jerub-Baal came on them.” Judges 9:56-57

Tola and Jair

 Abimelek wasn’t one of the judges, but his life marked an era in Israel’s history and after his time God raised up a new judge in Issachar named Tola. He led Israel for twenty-three years.

After Tola, God chose a man named Jair to lead Israel for twenty-two years. He lived in Gilead, east of the Jordan River and he was a wealthy man with thirty sons, each of whom had a donkey of his own to ride. They controlled thirty towns in Gilead, the eastern part of Manasseh. Jair was respected and his burial place was noted in the Bible.

These two judges must have led Israel in ways that pleased the Lord because there is no mention of wars or invasions by enemies during their lifetimes. God always wanted Israel to live in peace and prosperity in the Promised Land; it was only when they chose other gods that they fell on hard times.

Sin and Suffering

Judges 10:6-9 describes the things Israel did to lose God’s blessing and protection.

“They served the Baals and the Ashtoreths, and the gods of Aram, the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the Ammonites and the gods of the Philistines. And because the Israelites forsook the Lord and no longer served him, he became angry with them. He sold them into the hands of the Philistines and the Ammonites, who that year shattered and crushed them. For eighteen years they oppressed all the Israelites on the east side of the Jordan in Gilead, the land of the Amorites. The Ammonites also crossed the Jordan to fight against Judah, Benjamin and Ephraim; Israel was in great distress.” 

They cried out to God, but he was not inclined to help them. He was deeply offended by the way they disrespected him.

“The Lord replied, “When the Egyptians, the Amorites, the Ammonites, the Philistines, the Sidonians, the Amalekites and the Maonites oppressed you and you cried to me for help, did I not save you from their hands? But you have forsaken me and served other gods, so I will no longer save you. Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen. Let them save you when you are in trouble!” Judges 10:11-14

Misery Leads to Repentance

Judges 10:15-16 reveals Israel’s attempts to reconcile with God and how it touched his heart.

“But the Israelites said to the Lord, ‘We have sinned. Do with us whatever you think best, but please rescue us now.’ Then they got rid of the foreign gods among them and served the Lord. And he could bear Israel’s misery no longer.”

Sin and estrangement from God are miserable experiences, but when God needs to get people’s attention he sometimes lets them become miserable. Here is what he says in Hosea 5:4-6, 14-15.

“Their deeds do not permit them to return to their God. A spirit of prostitution is in their heart; they do not acknowledge the Lord. Israel’s arrogance testifies against them; the Israelites, even Ephraim, stumble in their sin; Judah also stumbles with them . . . I will be like a lion to Ephraim, like a great lion to Judah. I will tear them to pieces and go away; I will carry them off, with no one to rescue them. Then I will go back to my place until they admit their guilt. And they will seek my face; in their misery they will earnestly seek me.”

 Letting people suffer for their sins is not God’s preference, but he will do it when he needs to.

God’s Heart on Display

We get to experience something of the range of God’s emotions when we read the Old Testament. Are you surprised that God has emotions?

People are made in his image and we have deep feelings so we shouldn’t be surprised that God does, too. The ability to feel things deeply originated with God and in Genesis 6:6 we discovered that people can actually break God’s heart.

“The Lord was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain.”

But people also bring God great joy.

“The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.” Zephaniah 3:17

God’s Point of View

Most of us read the Bible from our own point of view. We want to know what’s in it for us and we want to harness God’s power so we can use it for our personal happiness. We get alarmed when we see him punish people or let them suffer; we worry about “the God of the Old Testament” who gets angry sometimes. We would rather think about Jesus in the New Testament.

But is it fair to read God’s book without considering his point of view?

Read this passage from Judges 10:11-14 again – this time from God’s point of view – and see if you can identify the emotions behind his words:

“The Lord replied, “When the Egyptians, the Amorites, the Ammonites, the Philistines, the Sidonians, the Amalekites and the Maonites oppressed you and you cried to me for help, did I not save you from their hands? But you have forsaken me and served other gods, so I will no longer save you. Go and cry out to the gods you have chosen. Let them save you when you are in trouble!”

Does the passage have more meaning when you think about how God felt when he spoke?

Try reading Scripture from God’s point of view more often as you continue through the Old Testament. See if it changes how you think about  God himself.