After Gideon died, his son Abimelech decided he wanted to be king. But God hadn't called him — he appointed himself. To seize power, Abimelech went to his mother's relatives in Shechem and convinced them to support him. Then he took 70 pieces of silver from the temple of Baal and used it to hire "worthless and reckless men" as his personal army.
With these hired thugs, Abimelech murdered 70 of his own brothers — Gideon's sons — on a single stone. Only the youngest, Jotham, escaped by hiding. The people of Shechem then made Abimelech their king.
Abimelech is not a judge — he is a warning. He represents what happens when someone takes authority God hasn't given, uses violence to get power, and leads by selfish ambition rather than by God's Spirit.
Jotham, the only surviving brother, told a famous parable about trees trying to pick a king (Judges 9:7-15). The thorn bush — the most worthless tree — accepted the crown. It was a warning that Abimelech was a thorn, not a true leader.
Abimelech's reign lasted only three years before everything fell apart. God sent "an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem" (Judges 9:23) — the very people who helped him take power turned against him.
Civil war broke out. Abimelech destroyed the city of Shechem and killed its people. But during his attack on the tower of Thebez, a woman dropped a millstone on his head, crushing his skull. Dying, Abimelech ordered his armor bearer to finish him off so no one could say a woman killed him.
The lesson is stark: power taken by force doesn't last. God opposed Abimelech because his authority was self-appointed, not God-given. True leadership is service, not domination.
Complete all sections to finish!
Read each section and answer the questions correctly.