Good or Evil

 DEVOTION

JUDGES

GOOD OR EVIL

Judges 9:1-6

9:1 Abimelech son of Jerub-Baal went to his mother's brothers in Shechem and said to them and to all his mother's clan, 2 "Ask all the citizens of Shechem, 'Which is better for you: to have all seventy of Jerub-Baal's sons rule over you, or just one man?' Remember, I am your flesh and blood." 3 When the brothers repeated all this to the citizens of Shechem, they were inclined to follow Abimelech, for they said, "He is our brother." 4 They gave him seventy shekels of silver from the temple of Baal-Berith, and Abimelech used it to hire reckless adventurers, who became his followers. 5 He went to his father's home in Ophrah and on one stone murdered his seventy brothers, the sons of Jerub-Baal. But Jotham, the youngest son of Jerub-Baal, escaped by hiding. 6 Then all the citizens of Shechem and Beth Millo gathered beside the great tree at the pillar in Shechem to crown Abimelech king.

NIV

What a wicked man, driven by ambition, ridding himself of any of his brothers who might be in line to rule after their father Gideon died. We remember that Abimelech was born from a concubine, or slave woman of Gideon. As far as all the other seventy sons born from many of his wives, however, Abimelech would not have been considered a rightful heir. To kill all those sons of Gideon so that he would be the only one to rule over Shechem was as evil as any man could be. Then to hire vain, worthless men, which is the two Hebrew words used here as reckless adventurers, was typical of someone with no moral compass, but a selfish, self-centered man. So the town of Shechem crowned Abimelech king. Have we studied history enough to know there have been many man-made kings in many countries throughout the world, and even to this day? Some of them may have been decent or fair in their reign over people, but there have been many who reigned from evil hearts. We have been blessed to have a King who knows evil, but is void of it, as He is completely pure and holy. In addition, all the kings of the earth go by the way of the earth, experiencing death and burial to return to dust. But our King also died, but was resurrected to live forever, and He reigns over us with justice. That one statement of Abimelech was prophetic about it being better that one man rule over us. We have our Lord and our Savior, Jesus, to rule over us, and he is our only ruler. He has told us we cannot serve two rulers, but only one. How can we let anything from this world rule over us, abiding by its rules for life? How can we allow anything from this world to affect our attitudes, our emotions, or feelings, for anything in the world has evil motives? If we love the Lord with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength, then we have nothing left to serve the realm of this world. We know evil, and are capable of it, although it is not our desire, for we desire the Lord. He is the only one who truly loves us and cares for us, provides for us, heals us, and inspires us to live in accordance with his good pleasure. Every person must make that choice, to serve good or evil. The people of Shechem chose evil, and we have chosen good.