The Treachery of Rebels and the Providence of God Text: Judges 9:22-41
Introduction: God in the Gutter
We have a tendency to sanitize God. We like to imagine Him occupying Himself only with the grand, the majestic, and the holy. We picture Him managing galaxies, directing the worship of angels, and perhaps listening in on the prayers of the particularly pious. But when it comes to the grubby, sordid business of human politics, with all its backstabbing, vainglory, and drunken boasting, we assume He keeps a respectable distance. We think He is above all that.
But the book of Judges, and this passage in particular, disabuses us of this tidy notion. Here we find God, not at a distance, but right in the thick of it. He is not a passive observer of human depravity; He is the sovereign director of it. He is the one who sends the evil spirit. He is the one who ensures that the violence done comes back on the heads of the violent. This is not the God of the deists, who wound up the clock and walked away. This is the God of Scripture, who works all things, even the treacherous dealings of wicked men, according to the counsel of His will.
This story is a cesspool of human sin. We have Abimelech, the murderous usurper. We have the lords of Shechem, faithless kingmakers. We have Gaal, the loudmouthed populist. And we have Zebul, the cunning political operator. There is not a righteous man among them. And yet, God is here. He is using their sin, their ambition, and their folly to bring about His perfect and righteous justice. This should be a profound comfort to us, and a stark warning. A comfort, because it means that no matter how chaotic our world gets, God is still on the throne. And a warning, because God is not mocked. Whatsoever a man, or a city, sows, that will he also reap.
The Text
And Abimelech governed over Israel three years. Then God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the lords of Shechem; and the lords of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech, so that the violence done to the seventy sons of Jerubbaal might come, and their blood might be laid on Abimelech their brother, who killed them, and on the lords of Shechem, who strengthened his hands to kill his brothers. And the lords of Shechem set men in ambush against him on the tops of the mountains, and they robbed all who might pass by them along the road; and it was told to Abimelech. Then Gaal the son of Ebed came with his relatives, and they crossed over into Shechem; and the lords of Shechem put their trust in him. And they went out into the field and gathered the grapes of their vineyards and trod them and celebrated a festival; and they came into the house of their god and ate and drank and cursed Abimelech. Then Gaal the son of Ebed said, "Who is Abimelech, and who is Shechem, that we should serve him? Is he not the son of Jerubbaal, and is Zebul not his officer? Serve the men of Hamor the father of Shechem; but why should we serve him? Would, therefore, that this people were under my hand! Then I would remove Abimelech." And he said to Abimelech, "Increase your army and come out." Then Zebul the ruler of the city heard the words of Gaal the son of Ebed, and his anger burned. And he sent messengers to Abimelech deceitfully, saying, "Behold, Gaal the son of Ebed and his relatives have come to Shechem; and behold, they are stirring up the city against you. So now, arise by night, you and the people who are with you, and lie in wait in the field. And it will be in the morning, as soon as the sun is up, that you shall rise early and rush upon the city; and behold, he and the people who are with him will come out against you, and you shall do to them whatever your hand finds pleasing." So Abimelech and all the people who were with him arose by night and lay in wait against Shechem in four companies. And Gaal the son of Ebed went out and stood in the entrance of the city gate; and Abimelech and the people who were with him arose from the ambush. Then Gaal saw the people and said to Zebul, "Behold, people are coming down from the tops of the mountains." But Zebul said to him, "You are seeing the shadow of the mountains as if they were men." Yet Gaal spoke again and said, "Behold, people are coming down from the highest part of the land, and one company comes by the way of the soothsayers' oak." Then Zebul said to him, "Where is your boasting now with which you said, 'Who is Abimelech that we should serve him?' Is this not the people whom you rejected? Go out now and fight with them!" So Gaal went out before the lords of Shechem and fought with Abimelech. And Abimelech pursued him, and he fled before him; and many fell slain up to the entrance of the gate. Then Abimelech remained at Arumah, but Zebul drove out Gaal and his relatives so that they could not remain in Shechem.
(Judges 9:22-41 LSB)
The Divine Poison Pill (vv. 22-25)
The story picks up after a three-year honeymoon period. Abimelech's bloody consolidation of power has held, but the foundation is rotten.
"Then God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the lords of Shechem; and the lords of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech..." (Judges 9:23)
Let us be very clear about what this says. God sent the evil spirit. This is not a case of God simply permitting something. The text is active. This is an instrument of divine judgment. This is not a demon from hell acting on its own initiative. It is a spirit of discord, of strife, of paranoia, sent by the sovereign Lord of Heaven to dissolve a wicked alliance. God is the one who turns the thieves against each other. He put a spiritual poison pill into their relationship, set a three-year timer, and now it has gone off.
And why? The text is explicit. It was "so that the violence done to the seventy sons of Jerubbaal might come" back on their own heads. This is the principle of lex talionis, an eye for an eye. This is God's perfect, retributive justice. The Shechemites had "strengthened his hands to kill his brothers." They were accessories to mass murder. They thought they had gotten away with it. But God does not forget. The invoice for their sin was in the mail, and it was about to come due. Their treachery against Abimelech is the first payment. They start ambushing and robbing travelers on the roads, undermining Abimelech's authority and tax revenue. The very men who helped him seize power are now the ones destabilizing his kingdom.
The Drunken Demagogue (vv. 26-29)
Into this simmering pot of resentment steps a man named Gaal. He is a classic rabble-rouser.
"And they came into the house of their god and ate and drank and cursed Abimelech. Then Gaal the son of Ebed said, 'Who is Abimelech, and who is Shechem, that we should serve him?'" (Judges 9:27-28)
Notice the setting. They are in the temple of their pagan god, Baal-berith, the "lord of the covenant," the very place from which they took the silver to fund Abimelech's massacre. Fueled by wine and idolatry, their courage swells. Gaal launches into a populist tirade. He uses classic rhetorical tricks. "Who is Abimelech?" He's an outsider, the son of Gideon's concubine. He appeals to their local pride, their original identity as "men of Hamor," the original pagan inhabitants of Shechem. It's a call to return to their roots, which in this case are idolatrous and rebellious roots.
And then comes the boast, the mark of every fool. "Would, therefore, that this people were under my hand! Then I would remove Abimelech." And then, as if Abimelech were present, he shouts, "Increase your army and come out!" This is pure, unadulterated bluster. It is the talk of a man whose courage is entirely liquid. He is writing checks with his mouth that his body has no intention of cashing.
The Cunning and the Foolish (vv. 30-38)
Gaal's big talk does not go unnoticed. Zebul, Abimelech's man in the city, hears it, and his anger burns. But he is not a fool like Gaal. He is a shrewd operator.
"And he sent messengers to Abimelech deceitfully..." (Judges 9:31)
Zebul plays a double game. To Gaal's face, he is passive, perhaps even sympathetic. But in secret, he is laying a trap. He sends word to Abimelech, detailing the threat and outlining a precise military strategy. Arise by night, set an ambush, and attack at dawn. He is loyal, and he is competent.
The next morning provides one of the most delicious scenes of mockery in all of Scripture. Gaal is standing at the city gate, probably nursing a hangover, when he sees Abimelech's troops advancing. He says to Zebul, "Behold, people are coming down from the tops of the mountains." Zebul's reply is pure gold. "You are seeing the shadow of the mountains as if they were men." He is gaslighting him. He is playing him for a fool, making him doubt his own eyes. He is letting the trap draw tighter.
After Gaal insists, Zebul drops the act and springs the rhetorical trap. "Then Zebul said to him, 'Where is your boasting now with which you said, "Who is Abimelech that we should serve him?" Is this not the people whom you rejected? Go out now and fight with them!'" Zebul throws Gaal's own drunken words right back in his face. He publicly shames him. He calls his bluff. The time for talking is over. The loudmouth is now forced to fight.
The Coward's Rout (vv. 39-41)
The result is exactly what you would expect.
"So Gaal went out... and fought with Abimelech. And Abimelech pursued him, and he fled before him..." (Judges 9:39-40)
Gaal, the great challenger, is the first to run. His rebellion collapses in a humiliating rout. Abimelech's forces chase him right back to the city gate, cutting down many of the foolish Shechemites who followed him. The rebellion is crushed before it ever truly began.
And the chapter of Gaal son of Ebed is closed. "Zebul drove out Gaal and his relatives so that they could not remain in Shechem." The trash was taken out. The loudmouthed instigator is unceremoniously expelled from the city he sought to rule. He appears on the stage of history just long enough to be used by God to advance His purposes, and then he is gone. He is a pawn in a much larger game, a game whose rules are set by God alone.
The King We Need
This entire episode is a picture of the politics of fallen man. It is a kingdom of brambles, just as Jotham prophesied. Abimelech is a king who murders his brothers to gain a throne. The Shechemites are subjects whose loyalty is bought with blood money and lasts only as long as it is convenient. Gaal is a would-be king who offers nothing but drunken boasts and empty promises. It is a world of treachery, ambition, and violence, where men grasp for power and are consumed by it.
And God is sovereign over all of it. He is not wringing His hands. He is weaving even these dark threads into the tapestry of His justice. He uses the treachery of Shechem to begin the judgment of Abimelech. He uses the foolish pride of Gaal to expose the weakness of Shechem. He uses the cunning of Zebul to put down the rebellion. The wicked are used to punish the wicked, and in the end, God's righteousness will be vindicated.
This should drive us to our knees in gratitude for the King we actually have. Jesus Christ is not Abimelech. He did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many. He did not ascend to His throne over the bodies of His brothers, but by offering His own body for His brothers. He is not Gaal. His words are not empty boasts, but creative fiats. He said, "It is finished," and it was. He is not like the lords of Shechem, whose covenants are treacherous and self-serving. He is the Lord of a better covenant, sealed with His own blood, a covenant He will never break.
The justice that we see beginning to unfold here, this cycle of sin leading to judgment, finds its ultimate fulfillment and its final end at the cross. There, the full penalty for all our treachery, all our boasting, all our rebellion, was laid upon the one true King. God sent a spirit of strife between sinful men to bring about their temporal judgment. But He sent His own Spirit to us, the Spirit of adoption and peace, to bring us into His eternal kingdom. We are all prone to be Shechemites and Gaals, but through faith in Christ, we are made sons of the King.