"So it was, as soon as Gideon was dead, that the children of Israel again played the harlot with the Baals, and made Baal-Berith their god." Judges 8:33. Now we see once again the down-ward spiral of the children of Israel . . . and one man in particular "Abimelech" who's power was his god. . . a great example of what happens when "self" sits on the throne of a life and we can learn a lot from this teaching on what not to do. Abimelech was truly a ledge in his own mind . . . and there was no room for the true GOD in his life.