God’s Revenge

God’s Revenge

Q: Who killed all but one of his 70 brothers in order to be in power?

• a. Jotham
• b. Abimelech
• c. Saul

In the movie The Lion King, Scar kills his brother, Mufasa, and scares away Mufasa’s son and heir, Simba, in order to become king. Things don’t go well under Scar’s rule, and eventually Simba returns to take his rightful throne.

Gideon, who led 300 men against the Midianites, had 71 sons by many wives. One son, Abimelech, was born to Gideon’s servant woman. Abimelech was a lot like Scar. He was ambitious but wicked. The people of Shechem agreed he could be their leader, but he killed 69 of his 70 brothers in order to take charge. Only Jotham escaped.

Abimelech’s desire for power made him a ruthless leader. He not only killed his brothers, but he also destroyed whole cities that refused his leadership. He set the tower of Shechem on fire, and a thousand people who had gathered there died. He went to Thebez to capture it next. All the people there fled to the city tower. When Abimelech went to set it on fire, a woman standing on the tower roof dropped a millstone on his head and cracked his skull.

Abimelech knew he was dying. He asked his armor bearer to kill him with a sword so no one could say a woman killed him. The armor bearer did what Abimelech asked.

Abimelech coveted power, and it took control of him. He caused a lot of harm and was only stopped by death.

For You

It’s okay to have goals and strive to reach them, but it’s not okay to hurt others to achieve those goals. Surrender your goals to God, and he will help you reach them if they are part of what he wants for your life.

Answer: b

One day Gideon’s son Abimelech . . . [hired] some reckless troublemakers who agreed to follow him. He went to his father’s home at Ophrah, and there, on one stone, they killed all seventy of his half brothers, the sons of Gideon. But the youngest brother, Jotham, escaped and hid.   Judges 9:1, 4-5

(The Whole Story: Judges 9)