Under Gods Command
Proverbs 16:5 – The LORD detest all the proud of heart. Be sure of this: They will not go unpunished.
Pride is the inner voice that whispers, “My way is best” It is resisting God’s leadership and believing that your are able to live without his help. Whenever you find yourself wanting to do it your way and looking down on other people, you are being pulled by pride. Only when you eliminate pride can God help you become all he meant you to be.
Under Gods Command
The Death of Abimelech
Judges 9:56-57 Thus God repaid the wickedness that Abimelech had done to his father by murdering his seventy brothers. God also made the men of Shechem pay for all their wickedness. The curse of Jotham son of Jerub-Baal came on them.
Gideon, Abimelech’s father, succeeded in military battles, but sometimes failed in his personal struggles. Gideon was not condemned for taking a concubine (8:31), but the family problems that resulted from this relationship are clearly stated. In the end, Abimelech killed 69 of his 70 half brothers, tore apart a nation, and then was killed himself.
Lets Bring it home: From Gideon’s life we learn that no matter how much good we do for God’s kingdom, sin in our lives will still produce powerful, damaging consequences.
Under Gods Command
Proverbs 13:10 Pride only breeds quarrels, but wisdom is found in those who take advice.
“I was wrong” or “I need advice” are difficult phrases to utter because they require humility. Pride is an ingredient in every quarrel. It stirs up conflict and divides people. Humility, by contrast, heals. Guard against pride. If you find yourself constantly arguing, examine your life for pride. Be open to the advice of others, ask for help when you need it, and be willing to admit your mistakes.
Under Gods Command
The Death of Abimelech
Judges 9:50-55 Next Abimelech went to Thebez and besieged it and captured it. Inside the city, however, was a strong tower, to which all the men and women-all the people of the city-fled. They locked themselves in and climbed up on the tower roof. Abimelech went to the tower and stormed it. But as he approached the entrance to the tower to set it on fire, a woman dropped a millstone on his head and cracked his skull. Hurriedly he called to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword and kill me, so that they can’t say, ‘A women killed him’ “So his servant ran him through, and he died. When the Israelites saw that Abimelech was dead, they went home.
In times of battle, women were sometimes asked to join the men at the city wall to drop heavy objects on the soldiers below. A millstone would have been an ideal object for this purpose. It was a round stone about 18 inches in diameter with a hole in the center. Millstones were used to grind grain into flour. The grain was placed between to millstones. The top millstone was turned, crushing the grain. Abimelech’s death was especially humiliating: he was killed by a woman, not by fighting; and he was killed by a farm implement instead of a weapon. Abimelech therefore asked his armor-bearer to stab him with his sword before he died from the flow of the millstone.
Under Gods Command
Proverbs 12:16 A fool show his annoyance at once, but a prudent man overlooks an insult.
When someone annoys or insults you, it is natural to retaliate. But this solves nothing and only encourages trouble. Instead, answer slowly and quietly. Your positive response will achieve positive results. Remember Proverbs 15:01: A gentle answer turns away wrath.
Under Gods Command
Abimelech
Judges 9:22-24 After Abimelech had governed Israel three years, God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the citizens of Shechem, who acted treacherously against Abimelech. God did this in order that the crime against Jerub-Baal’s seventy sons, the shedding of their blood, might be avenged on their brother Abimelech and on the citizens of Shechem, who had helped him murder his brothers.
Abimelech was the opposite of what God wanted in a judge, but it was three years before God moved against him. Fulfilling Jotham’s parable. Those three years must have seemed like forever to Jotham. Why wasn’t Abimelech punished sooner for his evil ways?
Lets bring it home: We are not alone when we wonder why evil seems to prevail. God promises to deal with sin, but in his time, not ours. Actually it is good news that God doesn’t punish us immediately because we all have sinned and deserve God’s punishment. God, in his mercy, often spares us from immediate punishment and allows us time to turn from our sins and turn to him in repentance. Trusting God for justice means (1) we must first recognize our own sins and repent. (2) we may face a difficult time of waiting for the wicked to be punished. But in God’s time, all evil will be destroyed.
Under Gods Command
Proverbs 11:27 He who seeks good finds goodwill, but evil comes to him who searches for it.
What are your goals? What is your reputation? How does your life affect others? If the answer to all three questions is doing good and helping others, you will obtain the blessed favor of God and men. If the answer is to serve yourself and cause trouble for others, then certain punishment is coming from God and men.
This proverb offers blessing or trouble. Which will you choose? The key is how you treat others. If you are good to men, you will be blessed. David and Peter wrote, “For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no deviousness: Let him avoid evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it. For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil”.
If you are selfish or hurtful to others, if you are critical or negative, if you are bitter or envious, or if you sow discord or irritate others, then you are in for a painful and troubled life. It is that simple. As the saying declares, “What goes around comes around
Under Gods Command
Abimelech
Judges 9:6-20 Then all the citizens of Shechem and Beth Millo gathered beside the great tree at the pillar in Shechem to crown Abimelech King. When Jotham was told about this, he climbed up on the top of Mount Gerizim and shouted to them, “Listen to me, citizens of Shechem, so that God may listen to your. One day the trees went out to anoint a king for themselves. They said to the olive tree, ‘Be our king’. “But the olive tree answered, ‘Should I give up my oil, by which both gods and men are honored, to hold sway over the trees?’ “Next, the trees said to the fig tree, ‘Come and be our king.’ “But the fig tree replied, ‘Should I give up my fruit, so good and sweet, to hold sway over the trees?’ “Finally all the trees said to the thorn-bush, ‘Come and be our king.’ “The Thornbush said to the trees, ‘If you really want to anoint me king over you, come and take refuge in my shade; but if not, then let fire come out of the thorn-bush and consume the cedars of Lebanon!’ “Now if you have acted honorably and in good faith when you made Abimelech king, and if you have been fair to Jerub-Baal and his family, and if you have treated him as he deserves-and to think that my father fought for you, risked his life to rescue you from the hand of Midian (but today you have revolted against my father’s family, murdered his seventy sons on a single stone, and made Abimelech, the son of his slave girl, king over the citizens of Shechem because he is your brother)-if then you have acted honorably and in good faith toward Jerub-Baal and his family today, may Abimelech be your joy, and may you be his, too! But if you have not, let fire come out from Abimelech and consume you, citizens of Shechem and Beth Millo, and let fire come out from you, citizens of Shechem and Beth Milo, and consume Abimelech!”
In Jotham’s parable the trees represented Gideon’s 70 sons, and the thorn-bush represented Abimelech. 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 thorn-bush, could offer Israel no real protection or security.
Jotham told the story about the trees in order to help the people set good priorities. He did not want them to appoint a leader of low character.
Lets bring it home: As we serve in leadership positions, we should examine our motives. Do we just want praise, prestige, or power? In the parable, the good trees chose to be productive and to provide benefits to people. Make sure these are your priorities as you aspire to leadership.
Under Gods Command
Practice what you Preach
Romans 2:17-24 Now you, if you call yourself a Jew; if you rely on the law and brag about your relationship to God; If you know his will and approve of what is superior because you are instructed by the law, if you are convinced that you are a guide for the blind, a light for those who are in the dark, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of infants, because you have in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth, you, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal? You who say that people should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who brag about the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law? As it is written. “God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentles because of you.
Those of us who have grown up in Christian families are the religiously privileged of today. Paul’s condemnation applies to us if we do not live up to what we know. Paul explained to the Jews that they need to teach themselves, not others, by their law. They know the law so well that they had learned how to excuse their own actions while criticizing others. We face this today in our daily walk. We need to remember that we cannot please God without a proper relationship with him. As Jesus pointed out, even withholding what rightfully belongs to someone else is stealing, and looking on another persons with lustful, adulterous intent is adultery. Before we accused others, we must look at ourselves and see if that sin, in any form, exists within us. If we claim to be one of God’s people, our life should reflect what God is like. When you disobey God, you dishonor his name. People may even blaspheme or profane God’s name because of you. What do people think about God from watching your life.
Under Gods command 