Abimelech Loses The Throne

 Abimelech had staged a coup, seizing control of Israel, but after three years, many of his co-conspirators rebelled against him, resulting in his attacking and wiping out most of the people of Shechem.  Many of the conspirators were related to or had come from the nearby city of Thebes, and in his effort to quell the opposition, Abimelech attacked Thebes as well, as Judges 9:50-51.  “Then went Abimelech to Thebez, and encamped against Thebez, and took it.  But there was a strong tower within the city, and thither fled all the men and women, and all they of the city, and shut it to them, and gat them up to the top of the tower.”

 

Burning the stronghold at Shechem had been so effective Abimelech decided to try the same thing at Thebez.  Things didn’t go as well at Thebez, as Judges 9:51-54 tells us.  “And Abimelech came unto the tower, and fought against it, and went hard unto the door of the tower to burn it with fire.  And a certain woman cast a piece of a millstone upon Abimelech's head, and all to brake his skull.  Then he called hastily unto the young man his armourbearer, and said unto him, Draw thy sword, and slay me, that men say not of me, A woman slew him. And his young man thrust him through, and he died.”

 

As they were piling wood around the the base of the tower, a woman threw a piece of a broken millstone from the top of the tower, hitting Abimelech in the head, severely injuring him.  Embarrassed at the thought of being killed by a woman, he had one of his body guards kill him.  With him dead, there was no reason to continue the fight, and the people returned to their homes, in Judges 9:55.  “And when the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, they departed every man unto his place.”

 

In Judges 9:19-20, Jotham had warned that the murder of Gideon’s sons would result in the conspirators killing each other.  “If ye then have dealt truly and sincerely with Jerubbaal and with his house this day, then rejoice ye in Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you: But if not, let fire come out from Abimelech, and devour the men of Shechem, and the house of Millo; and let fire come out from the men of Shechem, and from the house of Millo, and devour Abimelech.”  That is exactly what happened, as Judges 9:56-57 points out.  “Thus God rendered the wickedness of Abimelech, which he did unto his father, in slaying his seventy brethren: And all the evil of the men of Shechem did God render upon their heads: and upon them came the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal.

 

Being king did not enable Abimelech to escape God’s judgment.  After his death, Israel reverted to the original government God had intended, following the law for the next forty five years under the leadership of Tola and Jair, as described in Judges 10:1-5.  “And after Abimelech there arose to defend Israel Tola the son of Puah the son of Dodo, a man of Issachar, and he dwelt in Shamir in mount Ephraim.  And he judged Israel twenty and three years, and died, and was buried in Shamir.  And after him arose Jair, a Gileadite, and judged Israel twenty and two years.  And he had thirty sons that rode on thirty ass colts, and they had thirty cities, which are called Havothjair unto this day, which are in the land of Gilead.  And Jair died, and was buried in Camon.

 

It would be another two hundred fifty years before Israel would again call for king.