Abimelech: "Life under the Bramble Bush"

At the end of Judges 8 we have the report of the death of Gideon and the difficulties that arose afterward.  Recall that at the end of his life Gideon had refused to be made king over the people, but then seemed to enjoy the trappings and benefits of kingship.  The text tells us that he had a large number of sons, seventy to be exact, for he had many wives.  We do not know any more of the details than that.  But kings did tend to take more wives than commoners, so that they could build the larger harems as a sign of their power.  These judges were caught up in that for they were wealthy aristocrats who could do it (the poor could not afford many wives).  We shall read in Judges 10:4 that Jair had thirty sons; and not to be outdone, Abdon had forty sons and thirty grandsons (12:14).  All of this was outlawed in Deuteronomy 17 which prohibited kings from multiplying wives for themselves.  Nothing good would come from that paganization of the houses of Israel.  But Gideon got caught up in it and had many sons.

When Gideon died, the Israelites very quickly fell back into their old ways of worshiping false gods--the text says playing the harlot with the baals because the form of worship was so perverse (v. 33).  While Gideon was alive he apparently was able to keep the people from participating in Canaanite worship; but when he was gone there was no one who had that hold over them.  Besides, Gideon had not exactly held the line against extravagant sexual activity for the sake of power and fertility in his own life--he just did not do it in the name of worship.  Not only did the people go back to idolatry, though, they turned against the house of Jerub-baal (Gideon) and did not show any kindness for all the good Gideon had done.  We do not know what all was involved with the sudden turning against the family, but it is clear that they were rejecting Gideon's family as leaders.

Gideon had one more son, but not through one of his "legitimate" wives.  Abimelech was born to a concubine in Shechem.  Ironically, his name means "my father is king."  But Gideon was never king.  Perhaps the name was given to the child in the hopes that Gideon would be king, and that this man would follow him to the throne.

But there would have been a major problem with that--seventy major problems.  If a son of Gideon was to take over, there were seventy legitimate sons in line first.  In that culture Abimelech, being the son of a concubine, was not even in the running for it.  He simply was not qualified for the position, if there even was one.  Therefore, because the people showed no kindness to the house of his father, and because he was the son of a concubine, Abimelech had no future in public leadership.

If his background shows that he was unqualified to take over the leadership, the way he seized the power shows that he should have been disqualified.  According to chapter 9 Gideon went to Shechem to meet with all the family of his mother, the concubine.  It was fairly easy for him to gain their support for his kingship: he reasoned that it would be better if one of Gideon's sons reigned rather than all seventy, and why not Abimelech who was, after all, their flesh and blood.  It may be that the people of Shechem felt like the poor relatives since their daughter was only made a concubine, a slave wife of sorts, for Gideon.  At any rate, they threw their support solidly behind their favorite son, not knowing what he had devised.

The people of Shechem gave Abimelech seventy shekels of silver from the temple of Baal-berith; and Abimelech hired some thugs who would help him secure the power.  They came to his father's house at Ophrah and killed the seventy sons of Gideon on one stone.  This does not seem to be a pitched battle, but instead an execution-like slaughter. However, one of the sons, Jotham the youngest, hid himself and escaped death.

If we analyze this man a little further, we can only conclude that he must have been driven by jealousy and ambition.  He wanted what was not his right to have, but he would stop at nothing to have it.  As long as Gideon's sons were alive, the path was not clear for him to the throne.          

After this all the men of Shechem gathered together and made Abimelech king.  It is clear that this was all orchestrated by Abimelech, who had first gone to them with the choice of him or the seventy sons.  Now that the seventy sons were out of the way, it was he who would rule over them.

But I suspect that they saw this as a victory over Gideon's legitimate sons, and a vindication of the son of the concubine, Abimelech.  It is not clear if they knew what had happened in Ophrah or not--some of these tribes do not care about such things, only that their man is left standing.  But by his ruthless murder of the seventy sons, Abimelech had set in motion a time of real conflict to follow.

We see something of this in the patriarchal family of Abraham, where the descendants of Ishmael, the son of the slave wife Hagar, became bitter rivals of the Israelites, the descendants of Isaac through Sarah the legitimate wife.  But in the case of Abimelech, the people of Shechem had enthroned a mass murderer as their king--never a safe choice.   He should have been taken into custody and condemned for the killings; he certainly was disqualified from being the leader of the Israelites in this region, the people of Israel were suppose to be a holy nation, not murderers.

Abimelech was driven by the desire to promote himself.  He never did anything that was beneficial or useful for others.  Everything he did was for his own benefit, for his own advancement.  That is the wrong kind of person to have as a leader--in any arena, whether religious, or political, or economic.

The nature of Abimelech is captured powerfully by the young survivor Jotham.  When Jotham heard about the crowning of his half brother, he went and stood on Mount Gerizim nearby and cried out against them with a parable.  His parable told of the trees of the land that went forth to anoint a king over them.  They first asked the olive tree, but the olive tree refused to go and sway over the other trees.  It had to keep producing its oil with which God and men were honored.  They then asked the fig tree.  But the fig tree refused to leave producing the sweetness and the good fruit just to sway over other trees.  They then asked the vine, but the vine also refused to leave its work of producing wine that cheers the heart of God and man.  So at last they came to the bramble bush.  The bramble bush agreed to be king over the trees, with this condition: they should all come and take shelter in his shade, or fire would come out of the bramble and devour even the cedars of Lebanon.

There are many aspects of this parable that could be discussed at great length, but a few points will capture the meaning.  First, the trees that refused to rule over the other trees all had something important to do.  They all were too busy being productive--they produced the staples and the luxuries that people so desired.  If they went to rule over the trees they could not continue being productive, and the nation would suffer a great loss.   Second, the trees that were being productive were doing what they were made to do.  They had a distinct nature, and that nature was to produce olives, figs and grapes.  They lived within their God-given purpose.   Third, the bramble bush produced nothing for the good of life--no fruit, no shade, no comfort, no beauty.  In fact, one could say it was in its nature to be a serious problem for life.  After all, in the Bible thorns and thistles and brambles and nettles are all symbols of the curse; and even in the Gospels such plants choke out the good seed.  So it is not simply that the bramble bush is worthless like the tares that compete with the wheat--it is wicked in that it destroys life.  Fourth, nothing could take shelter under a bramble bush.  If any tree tried to grow under a bramble bush, it would die.  The bramble bush would choke it out, and the roots of the bramble bush would take up all the water so that the others would perish.  It would produce nothing, and it would prevent good plants from producing fruit if they were under the bramble.  And fifth, life under the bramble bush would be very dangerous even if a plant could survive for a while.  The bramble is dry and burns very easily.  If a fire broke out, it would rage with the bramble and consume any other tree that was nearby.  Clearly, the choice of a bramble bush to be king over the trees was the wrong thing to do.

The point was painfully clear.  Abimelech was the bramble bush.  He was a wicked and worthless man.  He would produce nothing for the nation.  He would only take what he wanted and choke off the very life of the people under him.  And if angered his rage would consume the whole tribe.  Thus, we could write four principles about the wrong type of leader from this parable:

1. A wicked, worthless person is most eager to lord it over others because he had nothing to produce for the good of the people.

2. A wicked, worthless person in a leadership position takes everything from the people so that they eventually are choked off.

3. A wicked, worthless person in a leadership position is a menace to the well being of the people.

4. A wicked, worthless person in a leadership position will be the means of the destruction of the nation.

It is clear that Jotham was talking about this fellow Abimelech.  But the description of the bramble bush fits so many others, most notably in our day someone like a Saddam Hussein.  Nothing good can come from giving absolute power to a wicked, worthless person.

By contrast we could write some positive principles:

1. A righteous person in a leadership position does not seek to lord it over other people because he or she is content to do what needs to be done to provide for the people.

2. A righteous person in a leadership position is not selfish and self-promoting, does not take things and build up wealth and power so that the people suffer under the burden.

3. A righteous person in a leadership position brings a sense of safety and security to the people, so that they are not threatened and frightened or endangered by the leadership.

4. A righteous person in a leadership role will not jeopardize the future of the people but promote it.

Jotham concluded his parable with a clear warning.  If Abimelech was the right man, they should rejoice with him.  But if he was an evil usurper who murdered people to get to the throne, then nothing but pain and destruction lay ahead.  The people of Shechem would destroy Abimelech, and Abimelech would destroy the people of Shechem.  The flash fire would blaze up and all would affected. 

Then Jotham fled for his life.  Times were not safe with the murderer in power.

Well, as you read the rest of the ninth chapter of Judges you will see the fruit of such a miserable choice.  People who want such a man as king over them will pay dearly for it--something about living by the sword and dying by the sword.  A division arose between Abimelech and the people who put him in power, a division brought about by God's judgment on their wickedness.  The men of Shechem set an ambush for their king, but he heard about it.  Then another man wanted to be king, and he rallied an army to fight Abimelech, but Abimelech chased him off.  Abimelech then chased the people into a tower and quickly set it on fire so that about a thousand people died inside.  But, a woman dropped a millstone from the wall onto Abimelech and crushed his skull.  Rather than die in such shame (by the hand of a woman he thought to be shameful), he had his armorbearer thrust the sword into him so that he died.  And all the people then went home to their places.

Thus the denunciation of Jotham came to pass, and the participants in this horrible episode were all punished for their wickedness.  This was not the way that leadership was to develop; this was a warning for all time that life under a bramble bush is painful and disastrous.  What the Old Testament teaches again and again is that people should be about their work, producing what they can for the good of the people, and if God chooses them for a leadership role he will make it known.  And if that should happen, the person chosen must never forget that he or she is called to be a righteous leader, a servant of the LORD.