Gideon (also called Jerub-Baal) had experienced what life is like when you yield all authority over your life to God. It was for this reason that he refused the plea of his people to become their king. They wanted someone strong to rule them as a protector, but Gideon had only been able to do what he did because God was ruling over and protecting his people. After Gideon’s death, however, the cycle kicks in again and we find a struggle for authority amongst his sons. One of Gideon’s sons, Abimelech, vied for authority over Israel and, to this end, he had all the other sons of Gideon murdered. In other words, he steps in to play a power game that Gideon, after his experience of God’s power, was unable to play. The point of the long and gruesome story of Abimelech’s struggle for power in Judges 9 is stated at the end of the chapter in verse 56: “Thus God repaid the wickedness that Abimelech had done to his father by murdering his seventy brothers.” In other words, God ultimately wielded his authority over the pitiful struggle of Abimelech for control. This power-game is being played out all over the world right now. It is the endless struggle of one person over another for recognition and control. It is very difficult not to get drawn into this, and so, we must be vigilant about rooting this out in our own hearts when it sets in. Refuse to play that game. Our calling is not to horde power for ourselves but to empower others to be what God made them to be.
Ask God to bring to the surface any wrong desires and motives in you so that you can be free of them.
Read Judges 9
