Judges 9:22

THE TREACHERY OF THE SHECHEMITES (Judges 9:22-25)

"And Abimelech was prince over Israel three years. And God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem; and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech: that the violence done to the threescore and ten sons of Jerubbaal might come, and that their blood might be laid upon Abimelech their brother, who slew them, and upon the men of Shechem, who strengthened his hands to slay his brethren. And the men of Shechem set liers-in-wait for him on the tops of the mountains, and they robbed all that came along that way by them, and it was told Abimelech."

The pagan priests of Baal who ran Shechem, its tower, and the House of Millo were a coveteous and greedy gang of criminals. This first appears in their paltry donation of seventy pieces of silver to `finance' Abimelech's campaign for the kingship; and here is another outcropping of their inordinate greed in that they instituted a system of highway robbery along the great caravan route that came through Shechem. They also hoped that an opportunity might come for killing Abimelech, as indicated by their `liers-in-wait.'

This could have resulted in Abimelech's transfer of his residence to Arumah (Judges 9:41), from which `capital' he appointed Zebul as his deputy governor of Shechem.

"Abimelech was prince over Israel three years" (Judges 9:22). It is not said here that he was "king," nor that he was over "all Israel." His `kingship' was a very limited affair. This in no way contradicts Judges 8:23; because, as Barnes said, "The Shechemites alone made him king, and the rest of Israel submitted to his dominion, without allowing him the title of king."[17]

"And God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem" (Judges 9:23). "All preternatural and inexplicable phenomena in the Sacred Scriptures are ascribed to Yahweh, whether of weal or of woe, yet never in such a way as to exculpate the guilty or to impute moral evil to Yahweh."[18] There is no dualism in the Bible. Satan does not share control of the universe with God. Nothing is capable of happening in the entire universe unless it is in harmony with the permissive will or the direct purpose of Almighty God.

The earthly reason for God's permission for the evil spirit to enter the men of Shechem is here clearly stated to be the achievement of the heavenly vengeance upon the murderer and all of his accomplices in their killing of the sons of Gideon.

"They set liers-in-wait for him" (Judges 9:25). In our comment above, we supposed that these were for the purpose of murdering Abimelech if the opportunity arose, but Boling might be correct in his view that their purpose was to prevent Abimelech's discovery of their campaign of highway robbery of the caravans. "These lookouts were to warn of the approach of Abimelech, but someone turned informer, thanks to that `evil spirit,'"[19]