Judgment Begins

Abimelech reigns for three years, and not just as king of Shechem but as king of Israel! His coronation by the Shechemites seems to be accepted by the nation as a whole, though his enthronement in Shechem on the Manasseh-Ephraim border may mean little to the far-flung tribes. In any case, as Matthew Henry notes, “It is not said, ‘He judged Israel,’ or did any service at all to his country, [only that] he enjoyed the title and dignity of a king.”

Then God makes His first—and, indeed, His only—appearance in the narrative of chapter 9. He sends “a spirit of ill will between Abimelech and the men of Shechem … that the crime done to the seventy sons of Jerubbaal might be settled and their blood be laid on Abimelech their brother, who killed them, and on the men of Shechem, who aided him in the killing of his brothers.” As if there were any doubt, God here makes known His opinion of Abimelech’s ascent to kingship—He holds him guilty in the slaughter of Gideon’s sons and the Shechemites guilty as accessories. Thus, He sends “a spirit of ill will” to sow discord between them. This is judgment for the evil-doers—but it is deliverance for the people of Israel. Henry writes that Abimelech and the Shechemites “grew jealous one of another and ill-affected one to another. He slighted those that set him up, and perhaps countenanced other cities which now began to come into his interests more than he did theirs; and then they grew uneasy at his government, blamed his conduct, and quarreled at his impositions.” The result is that the Shechemites begin to deal treacherously with Abimelech. Treachery is the opposite of truth and sincerity, but since neither Abimelech nor the Shechemites have dealt with Gideon’s family in truth and sincerity, it is hardly surprising that they should deal with one another in such a way.

The Shechemites, we are told, set men in ambush against Abimelech on the tops of the mountains around Shechem. They hope to catch him as he journeys and presumably kill him. These may be some of Abimelech’s old “worthless and reckless” henchmen (9:4), for when their wait for him becomes tedious they fall to robbing all who pass by. Thus, their character is revealed to us while their presence is revealed to Abimelech.