262. Tell you what, let's switch that.
Let's sing 263 first, okay? 263 first. The Lord's our rock, in Him we
hide, Shelter in the time of storm. Secure whatever will be
tied, Shelter in the time of storm. Oh, Jesus is a rock in
a weary land, a weary land, a weary land. Oh, Jesus is a rock in
a weary land, a shelter in the time of storm. A shade by day,
defense by night, a shelter in the time of storm. No fear's alarm, no foe's affright,
a shelter in the time of storm. Oh, Jesus is a rock in a weary
land, a weary land, a weary land. Oh, Jesus is a rock in a weary
land, a shelter in the time of storm. The raging storms may
round us be A shelter in the time of storm We'll never leave
our safe retreat, a shelter in the time of storm. Oh, Jesus is a rock in a weary
land, a weary land, a weary land. Oh, Jesus is a rock in a weary
land, a shelter in the time of storm. O rock divine, O refuge
dear, A shelter in the time of storm. Be thou our helper ever
near, a shelter in the time of storm. Oh, Jesus is a rock and
a weary land, a weary land, a weary land. Oh, Jesus is a rock and
a weary land, a shelter in the time of storm. Thank you. comfort to sing that with all
the stuff going on. Actually goes well nicely with
our text which is Judges chapter 9. I thought it would be nice
to read our text because I'm not going to cover every single
verse but we'll look at at them, but this will give you a good
sense of everything that's going on, because it's 57 verses. Judges 9, and Abimelech, and
that name means my father is king. Abimelech, the son of Jerubael,
went to Shechem unto his mother's brethren and communed with them. and with all the family of the
house of his mother's father, saying, speak, I pray you, in
the ears of all the men of Shechem, whether is better for you, either
that all the sons of Jerubael, which are three score and 10
persons, I'm just gonna say 70 persons, that they reign over
you, or that one reign over you. Remember also that I am your
bone and your flesh. And his mother's brethren spake
of him in the ears of all the men of Shechem, all these words. And their hearts inclined to
follow Abimelech. And they said, he is our brother.
And they gave him three score and 10 pieces of silver out of
the house of Baal-biruth, wherewith Abimelech hired vain and light
persons which followed him. These are worthless men, reckless
men. And he went unto his father's
house at Ophrah and slew his brethren, the sons of Jerubael,
being 70 persons upon one stone. Notwithstanding, yet Jotham,
the youngest son of Jerubael, was left, for he hid himself. And all the men of Shechem gathered
together in all the house of Melo, and went and made Abimelech
king by the plane of the pillar that was in Shechem. And when
they told it to Jotham, he went and stood in the top of Mount
Gerizim, and lifted up his voice, and cried, and said unto them,
Hearken unto me, ye men of Shechem, that God may hearken unto you.
The trees went forth on a time to anoint a king over them. And
they said unto the olive tree, rain thou over us. But the olive
tree said unto them, should I leave my fatness, wherewith by me they
honor God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees? And
the tree said to the fig tree, come thou and rain over us. But
the fig tree said unto them, should I forsake my sweetness
and my good fruit and go to be promoted over the trees? Then
said the trees unto the vine, come thou and reign over us.
And the vine said unto them, should I leave my wine, which
cheereth God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees?
Then said all the trees unto the bramble, come thou and reign
over us. This is a thistle tree. And the
bramble said unto the trees, if in truth ye anoint me king
over you, then come and put your trust in my shadow. And if not,
let fire come out of the bramble and devour the cedars of Lebanon. Now therefore, if ye have done
truly and sincerely in that ye have made Abimelech king, and
if ye have dealt well with Drubal and his house, and have done
unto him according to the deserving of his hands, For my father fought
for you, and adventured his life far, and delivered you out of
the hand of Midian. And ye are risen up against my
father's house this day, and have slain his sons, seventy
persons upon one stone, and have made Abimelech the son of his
maidservant, king over the men of Shechem, because he is your
brother. for no other reason but that
he's your brother. If ye then have dealt truly and sincerely
with Drubal, and with his house this day, then rejoice ye in
Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you. But if not, let fire
come out from Abimelech, and devour the men of Shechem, and
the house of Melo, and let fire come out from the men of Shechem,
and from the house of Melo, and devour Abimelech. And Jotham
ran away, and fled, and went to Beir, which means well, and
dwelt there for fear of Abimelech his brother. When Abimelech had
reigned three years over Israel, so it wasn't very long, just
three years, then God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech
and the men of Shechem, and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously
with Abimelech, that the cruelty done to the threescore and ten
sons of Jerubal might come, and their blood be laid upon Abimelech
their brother, which slew them, and upon the men of Shechem,
which aided him in the killing of his brethren. And the men
of Shechem set liars in wait, people laying in wait, for him
in the top of the mountains. And they robbed all that came
along that way by them. And it was told Abimelech, and
Gael, the son of Ebed, came with his brethren and went over to
Shechem and the men of Shechem put their confidence in him.
And they went out into the fields and gathered their vineyards
and trod the grapes and made merry and went into the house
of their God and did eat and drink and cursed Abimelech. And Gael, the son of Ebed, said,
Who is Abimelech, and who is Shechem, that we should serve
him? Is not he the son of Jerubal? And Zebal his officer, Serve
the men of Hamor, the father of Shechem, for why should we
serve him? And would to God this people
were under my hand, then would I remove Abimelech. And he said
to Abimelech, increase thine army and come out." He was just
making boasts there in his wine. And when Zebal, the ruler of
the city, heard the words of Gael, the son of Ebed, his anger
was kindled. And he sent messengers unto Abimelech
Priveleys, saying, Behold, Gael, the son of Ebed, and his brethren,
be come to Shechem, and behold, they fortify the city against
thee. Now therefore up by night, thou
and the people that is with thee, and lie in wait in the field.
And it shall be that in the morning, as soon as the sun is up, thou
shalt rise early and set upon the city. And behold, when he
and the people that is with him come out against thee, then mayest
thou do to them as thou shalt find occasion. And Abimelech
rose up, and all the people that were with him by night, and they
laid weight against Shechem in four companies. And Gael the
son of Ebed went out, and stood in the entering of the gate of
the city. And Abimelech rose up, and the people that were
with him from lying in wait. And when Gael saw the people,
he said to Zebal, Behold, there come people down from the top
of the mountains. And Zebal said unto him, Thou
seest the shadow of the mountains, as if they were men. And Gael
spake again, and said, See, there, there come people down by the
middle of the land, and another company come along by the plain
of Mio-nenum. Then said Zebulun to him, Where
is now thy mouth wherewith thou saidst, Who is Abimelech, that
we should serve him? Is not this the people that thou
hast despised? Go out, I pray thou, and fight
with them. And Gael went out. before the
men of Shechem and fought with Abimelech. And Abimelech chased
him, and he fled before him. And many were overthrown and
wounded, even unto the entering of the gate. And Abimelech dwelt
at Arumah. And Zebal thrust out Gael and
his brethren that they should not dwell in Shechem. And it
came to pass on the morrow that the people went out into the
field, and they told Abimelech. And he took the people and divided
them into three companies. and laid weight in the field,
and looked, and behold, the people were come forth out of the city.
And he rose up against them and smote them. And Abimelech and
the company that was with him rushed forward and stood in the
entering of the gate of the city. And the two other companies ran
upon all the people that were in the fields and slew them.
And Abimelech fought against the city all that day. And he
took the city and slew the people that was therein and beat down
the city and sowed it with salt. And when all the men of the Tower
of Shechem heard that, they entered into and hold of the house of
the god Bereth. And it was told Abimelech that
all the men of the Tower of Shechem were gathered together. And Abimelech
got him up to the mount Zalman, he and all the people that were
with him. And Abimelech took an axe in his hand, and cut down
a bow from the trees, and took it, and laid it on his shoulder,
and said unto the people that were with him, What ye have seen
me do, make haste, and do as I have done.' And all the people
likewise cut down every man his bow, and followed Abimelech,
and put them to the hold, and set the hold on fire upon them,
so that all the men of the tower of Shechem died also, about a
thousand men and women. Then when Abimelech to the bets
is how it's pronounced thieves or the bets and encamped against
the bets and took it. And there was a strong tower
within the city and thither fled all the men and women and all
they have the city and shut it to them and got them up to the
top of the tower. And Abimelech came onto the tower
and fought against it and went hard onto the door of the tower
to burn it with fire. And a certain woman cast a piece
of a millstone upon Abimelech's head, and all to break his skull. Then he called hastily unto the
young man, his armor bearer, and said unto him, draw thy sword
and slay me, that men say not of me. A woman slew him, and
his young man thrust him through, and he died." It didn't work,
because David even makes mention of this when His general's name just escaped
me, but when he was having Uriah slain, he went close to the city
and it was made mention that this man died from a woman, so
it didn't work. And when the men of Israel saw
that Abimelech was dead, they departed every man unto his place. Thus God rendered the wickedness
of Abimelech, which he did unto his father, and slaying his seventy
brethren. And all the evil of the men of
Shechem did God render upon their heads. And upon them came the
curse of Jotham, the son of Jerubal." That's lengthy. You won't be
looking at every verse, but it'll also allow me to kind of skim
through some of the verses when we're going through it. But now
that you have some familiarity, but the gospel's in there. The
gospel's in there. So I look forward to this with
you. Let's go to the Lord in prayer.
Our gracious Lord, we thank you, Father. We thank you for your
grace and mercy. that you, Lord, are a strong
tower for us. You are indeed the rock in whom
we take shade. Lord, we are blessed of you,
and we have nothing, no blessing at all but you. And we thank
you, Father, for your grace and mercy toward us in the Lord Jesus
Christ. Father, we thank you for your
word. We thank you, Lord, how that you teach us and keep us
and instruct us by your word of righteousness, of truth, of
promise, of faith, of the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, we thank
you for this. We pray that you would bless
this hour to your people, that you would comfort us in the Lord
Jesus Christ and teach us and keep us in the way, and that
you would make this word profitable to us as we have need. And Lord,
we think of our brethren who are not with us today, and we
think especially of Brother Scott in the hospital and the wound
that he is healing from, we ask, Lord, that you would heal him,
that you would prevent the infection from getting any worse, that
you would stop it, and that you would deliver him from further
damage to his foot and leg, and that you would give him skill
and ability to to recover, Lord, to be able to move about and
retain his freedom and ability, Lord, to care for himself. Lord,
you know all things and you do all things well. And though the
providences that we see do at times seem to be a dark cloud,
we know, Lord, that you have a blessing in him. a blessing
which shall break upon our heads for our good and for your glory
and praise. And Lord, you know the struggles
that we have, you know our sicknesses and our infirmities and the things
which prevent us from coming as often as we would, Lord. We pray that you would indeed
bless us, heal us, forgive us of our sins, cleanse us of all
all iniquities and unrighteousnesses, Lord, and set our hearts and
minds upon the Lord Jesus Christ. For there is none like him, fairer
than 10,000, precious above all, Lord, make him everything to
us. I pray that you bless your people now this hour and this
work here, that your name would be exalted and glorified faithfully,
Lord. It's in Christ's name we pray
and give thanks. Amen. All right, it's a long one, huh? Our second hymn will be 262,
Trusting Jesus. 262. There you go, let's all stand. Good idea. ? Simply trusting every day ? ?
Trusting through a stormy way ? ? Even when my faith is small
? ? Trusting Jesus that is all ? ? Trusting as the moments fly
? Trusting as the days go by, trusting Him whate'er befall,
trusting Jesus, that is all. Brightly doth his spirit shine
into this poor heart of mine. While he leads, I cannot fall,
trusting Jesus at his soul. trusting as the moments fly,
trusting as the days go by, trusting Him whate'er befall, trusting
Jesus, that is all. Singing if my way is clear, praying
if the path be drear, if in danger for him call, trusting Jesus
that is all. trusting as the moments fly,
trusting as the days go by, trusting Him whate'er befall, trusting
Jesus, that is all. Trusting Him while life shall
last, trusting Him till earth be past. Still within the Jasper
wall, trusting Jesus, that is all. ? Trusting as the moments
fly ? ? Trusting as the days go by ? ? Trusting Him whate'er
befall ? ? Trusting Jesus that is all ? Thank you. Judges chapter 9, this chapter
covers the slaying or how it is that Israel did not show kindness
to the house of Jerubael. And it came by the hand of Jerubael's
illegitimate son, Abimelech, who was the son of a concubine
of Gideon in the city of Shechem. And after Abimelech slays his
brethren, the youngest son of Gideon, who's Jotham, He stands
up on a mount and he's moved by the Lord and he speaks a word
of prophecy. A word that the Lord blesses
and brings to pass just like he said it. And we see the fulfillment
of the Lord to do what is just and right. And there's a lot
of important lessons that we can learn from this chapter,
but I'm just gonna focus on three with you today. First is, just
as we sung that hymn, trust your Lord. Even in the midst of evil
and darkness, you trust the Lord your God. You walk in the spirit,
looking to walk in the spirit and trust him. The second is,
even in the midst of darkness, your God sends his word. He declares his faithful word. And though it wasn't a lot, the
Lord brought it to pass. He brought forth his word of
promise and judged those who did wickedly. And then third,
the Lord we see at the end of the chapter how that the Lord
saves his people and our strong tower the Lord Jesus Christ. We see a picture of our salvation
the Lord Jesus Christ. So first, trust in your Lord. The first thing that you will
notice when we read this chapter, and as we're going through it,
you're seeing the depravity of man. You're seeing the wickedness
that is in man's hearts, his folly, his dark deeds, his faulty
logic, and just the things that he does is just very telling
of the wicked heart that is in all of us, all of us. According
to the scriptures, you may not think I wouldn't do that. Well,
yes, you would. And yes, I would if the Lord
permitted it. We would, we are capable of doing
these very things or things just as evil and darkness. And so
our Lord tells us that out of the heart of men proceed all
manner of evil. And he mentions thoughts, murders,
foolishness, and adultery, and all kinds of things in between.
It comes from our heart. It comes from our heart. We're
the cause. Sin came into the world through
Adam. And we're born of Adam. And so sin just flows right on
through us. We drink it like water. Now Abimelech
This illegitimate son goes to his mother's family, he goes
to his dad, her dad, and we pick up in verse two, which says,
speak, I pray you, in the ears of all the men of Shechem, what's
better for you? Either that all the sons of Jerubael,
which are 70 persons, that they reign over you, or that one reign
over you? And remember that I am your bone
and your flesh. Now, you're familiar with what
we read in chapter 8, so we know this argument here is a complete
lie. It's a fabrication. It's not
true at all because back in verse 23, Gideon said that when the
men of Israel asked Gideon to rule over them, he said in verse
23, I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over
you, the Lord shall rule over you. And his sons were respecting
what their dad said. They were honorable men, and
they weren't trying to rule over anybody in Israel. But as soon
as Gideon died, the heart of the people turned away from their
judge, the Savior, the Savior that God had raised up for them.
And we were told that they went immediately to an idol god, Baal-Beerith,
the Lord of the Covenant. He was patterned after the true
and living God, but it was lies. It was all lies. And so their
hearts had already left the Lord, and they turned as soon as they
could away from the Lord. And so they listened to Abimelech,
and to help Abimelech with this venture that he's going on and
fabricating, they go to the house of their false god, get 70 pieces
of silver, and give it to him. And we're told that he hired
vain and light persons, which means these were worthless men.
These were reckless men. They just jumped into it and
were happy to cause mischief and sin. And together, they all
slew the 70 sons of Gideon on one stone. And we're told in
verse six that after this, all the men of Shechem gathered together
in all the house of Melo and went and made Abimelech king
by the plane of the pillar that was in Shechem. But these good
times, so they felt, so they thought, they didn't last long.
And it wasn't long before they turned against one another. And they began to bite and devour
one another. And that's because the whole
foundation was of the flesh. It was all of the flesh. And
so it came to nothing. And Abimelech and the men of
Shechem, they were of the same family, of the bone and flesh. They were one, but they turned
against one another. And so the Lord destroyed them
for their wicked deeds. He brought justice upon their
heads. Now when I read this chapter,
it made me think of the times in which we live and times in
which man has Always lift, really. These cycles and these things
come up readily. And I thought of the red horse
in Revelation 6, verse 4, which says, there went out another
horse that was red, and power was given to him that sat thereon
to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one
another. And there was given unto him a great sword. And so
we see these men. with this very truth where peace
was taken from them. The Lord sent an evil spirit
that made them bitter toward one another and they destroyed
one another. And it strikes me that Abimelech
and Shechem, they're of one family, of one family. And they knew,
this family, all this family knew were the works of the flesh. They only knew the works of the
flesh, because they have not the Spirit of God. They don't
have the Spirit of the Lord. In Christ, we are one family. The Lord has made us one family,
and He's given us His Spirit. and instructs us, don't look
to the flesh, don't lean on the flesh, don't deal with your brethren
in the flesh because the flesh bites and devours and destroys
and just wrecks things and hurts people and it harms your brethren. Paul had said in Galatians 5,
15, and 16, that if ye bite and devour one another, take heed
that ye be not consumed one of another. This I say then, walk
in the spirit and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
It's impossible. It's impossible. I mean, this
flesh is this flesh, but when we're walking in the spirit,
when we're looking to Christ and loving him and loving one
another and don't want to do those things that are so easy
to the flesh, you'll do those things that are kind and gracious
and generous and forgiving and hoping all things, believing
all things for your brethren. Instead, the Lord teaches us
that in as much as you've done it unto the least of these my
brethren, you've done it unto me. Whatever you do to a brother,
you've done it to Christ, whether for good or for bad, you've done
it to Christ. And a lot of times we'll try
to justify it and say, well, they're not brethren, and therefore
it's okay. Well, no, it isn't, and we don't
have that liberty to judge whether someone is or isn't. All we know
is what they've confessed, and we should love them and be kind
and generous to them, regardless of what we think, because the
Lord is kind and generous and gracious and forgiving, to me
and to you, to us. He's very merciful and patient.
So remember that with one another. He says, be ye kind one to another,
tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God, for Christ's
sake, hath forgiven you. And so when difficulties arise
in this world, remember, you have your brethren. Because iniquity shall abound,
the love of many shall wax cold. And we know that, the Lord warns
us of that. And we know when cold winds blow
in and things get hard and difficult and contrary, we go into self-preservation
mode. Well, go into the mode of remembering
your brethren and think of the things that they need, lest we
become hard and cracked and cold and indifferent as well. Let
us therefore not be weary in well-doing, As we have therefore
opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them
who are of the household of faith. Now to bear such fruit of the
Spirit. We don't have that ability in
this flesh. It's not a fleshly thing. Sure,
we can be disciplined and we can do better in the flesh as
we tell ourselves, but the true fruit of the Spirit is born in
us. That fruit is set and brought
forth by the Spirit of God. Look to Christ. Look to your
Savior. Seek Him continually. Pray without
ceasing, the Word says, meaning as you're Rising up in the morning
from your bed as you're getting ready and brushing your teeth
as you're eating your breakfast think on Your brethren thank
the Lord give him. Thanks always and and pray to
him. He hears your prayers Don't be
content with the lust of the flesh right when you see wickedness
about you when everyone else is doing it Don't you be content? You trust the Lord. That's what
He's saying to you. You trust Him and you walk in
the light which He has given you. That faith in the Lord Jesus
Christ. Next we see how the Lord takes
care of you. He sends you His word. So in
this dark time that's recorded for us here in Israel's history
which follows the slaying of Gideon's 70 sons, this unkindness
that they showed to his house, the Lord sends His word and that
word is is declared, it's preached faithfully by this young man
named Jotham. And the name Jotham means the
Lord is perfect. And the sense is, he's righteous,
he is upright. What the Lord does is just and
perfect. He's faithful to deliver his
people from the rule of wicked persons. We see that here. Some
time went on, a good three years went on, But the Lord faithfully
delivered his people out from under the rule of these wicked
persons." Now, this is a parable. This is a parable. And when you
read this parable, you'll notice that what's highlighted to us
is that the noblest of the trees, the profitable trees, the productive
trees, those who were good trees, They all turned down ruling over
the other trees. But as soon as those trees turned
to a worthless thing, the bramble, the thistle, whatever it is,
a bush or a tree, it isn't much. As soon as they turned to that,
that wicked one said, I'll do it. No problem. I am happy to
do it. And it shows the depravity of
our heart. It also shows that this was an
underlying theme. This didn't necessarily just
pop up in Abba Melech's mind, but the people in Israel wanted
a king just like all the other nations around them. It doesn't
say it here, but we know it's an underlying current. They're
looking and observing these other kings. They want somebody that's
ready to go at a moment's notice rather than waiting on the Lord
to provide and to deliver them. And so in verse seven, we see
this depravity here declared, verse seven. And when they told
it to Jotham that Abimelech had been made a king, he went and
stood in the top of Mount Gerizim and lifted up his voice and cried
and said unto them, hearken unto me, ye men of Shechem, that God
may hearken unto you. The trees went forth on a time
to anoint a king over them. So this was going on. This was
in the hearts of the people to make themselves a king. And they
first go to the olive tree, and the olive tree says, I'm making
good fat things, good oils for the people. And then they turn
to the fig tree, and the fig tree says, well, I'm making good
sweet things for the people. I'm not going to stop doing that.
And then they turn to the vine, and the vine, which is the grape,
says, I'm making alcohol here. I'm making things that make the
heart merry and cheer the fame. And so I'm not going to go do
that. And so because they found no satisfaction in those honorable
things, they turned to the worst sort of character possible. And they just did this because
they wanted to be rid of the Lord reigning them. And depending
on the Lord to reign up a judge. And waiting on the Lord, they
wanted to be like everyone else in the world. And it really betrays
the thoughts of this natural heart, doesn't it? It just betrays
when we think, this is what I would do if I had this extra time or
this extra money instead of giving and being part of the church,
this is what I would do. And it just shows the wickedness
in our hearts, what we are by nature. It's the old man of flesh.
It's how he thinks and what he would do. And so all the trees
said unto the bramble, come thou and reign over us. And the bramble
said unto the trees, if in truth ye anoint me king over you, then
come and put your trust in my shadow. What kind of shadow would
this bramble tree have? What kind of little rinky-dink
shadow would this bramble tree have? You'd have to Put your
face in the dust to get in the shadow of that thing, which is
turning to the flesh. You know, when the girls were
younger, Michelle and I took the girls to Virginia, where
is Colonial Williamsburg. It was one of the early colonies.
It's a cool little place, and they do a living history. I think
it's the largest living history museum, they call it, although
it's streets and all the original buildings or remakes of them
or whatever. There, and I think it's called the marketplace near
the courthouse, there is this oak tree there. The kind of oak
tree is a Compton oak tree. And it's massive. And it's beautiful. I mean, it's the thing I remember
the most about Colonial Williamsburg, actually. That's why I remember
it, because there's this beautiful tree. And I'm looking at it.
I've just come out of the courthouse. And I'm thinking, I want to go
there. And you just draw on to this beautiful tree. And I read
it's 70 feet high. It is 14 feet around the circumference
of the trunk, which means it would be three of me reaching
around about to touch hands going around that tree. And you know
how wide the canopy is? 97 feet. It's wider than it is tall. A lot of people could fit comfortably
under the shadow of that beautiful Compton oak tree. And they have like, I think,
six benches and some tying posts for horses. It's massive. It's
massive. That's shade. That's shade. And
this bramble bush says, come and put yourself, hide yourself,
put your trust in my shade. You come and hide yourself to
me. Otherwise, let fire come out
and I'll destroy you." And so you see the pride and the arrogance
of man. That's his arrogance. And so
then this prophetic word of the Lord is brought forth here. Drop
down to verse 19. If ye have dealt, verse 19, if
ye have dealt truly and sincerely with Gideon, Jerubael, and with
his house this day, then great, rejoice ye in Abimelech, and
let him also rejoice in ye. But if not, if this is deceitful,
and this is wickedness that you're doing here, let fire come out
from Abimelech and devour the men of Shechem and the house
of Melo, and let fire come out from the men of Shechem and from
the house of Melo and devour Abimelech. and then Jotham ran
away and fled and went to Beir and dwelt there for fear of Abimelech
his brother. Now what strikes me here what's
so incredible is that in this time of wickedness the Lord sends
forth his word. And it's one word, one word of
prophecy. That's all the Lord used. And
that word went out and he did exactly what this word of this
prophetic word said. They destroyed one another because
it was all built on the sin and the flesh and the wickedness
of man. And so remember that, remember
the grace of your God who gives you his word with power and glory
to the praise and honor of his name declaring to you his promises
reminding you of his blessings and how he cares for you and
what a blessing what a comfort that is to have his word he gives
you his word to take your heart from fearing and worrying about
all the things going on in the world. And there is some crazy,
crazy going on in the world right now. And it's scary for the whole
world's going nuts and doesn't know which way to go. And sometimes
it grips me and grips my attention and my imagination and my thoughts
more so than it ought to. But I'm so thankful for the Lord. And I'm so thankful for His Word.
Because when I look into His Word, I see He is sovereign and
has everything in absolute control. And He's doing exactly as He
purposes to do. And at any moment, He can just
destroy, crush the heads of these wicked people that are just doing
wicked, awful, evil things. It feels like the end of the
world, but the Lord, like that, can just destroy their head and
just restore peace and a time for His people. And even if He
doesn't, He promises to provide for you. to care for you, to
give you a heart that is resting upon your rock, the rock of your
salvation, resting in his shadow and being provided for him. Pray to him. Cry out to him about
the things, and he'll show you. What was it, Elijah that prayed
for a servant? Lord, let him see what you see. Let him see what the truth is.
And then he saw the 185,000 hosts of the Lord on the mountain. on the mountain, even though
there was a little army of enemy right there, but he saw that
the Lord had everything in control, and so the Lord does that. He
does it for his people. And this was spoken in the top
of Mount Gerizim, which is where the Lord promised to bless his
people. And he's declaring a blessing
for the people. I'll read Deuteronomy 11, 29, that says that it shall
come to pass, when the Lord thy God hath brought thee in unto
the land, whither thou goest to possess it, that's where they
are now, in the land, that thou shalt put the blessing upon Mount
Gerizim and the curse upon Mount evil. And so these words here
by Jotham, they were a curse to Shechem and a curse to Abimelech,
but to the Lord's people, it's a blessing. It's a blessing.
And so this gospel word, which curses the others who won't hear
it and get nothing from it, yet it blesses you. Praise God that
he blesses your heart and comforts you. Now in verse 22, through
24 were told that Abimelech had reigned three years over Israel. And then God sent an evil spirit
between Abimelech and the men of Shechem so that they dealt
treacherously with Abimelech. And that cruelty of the 70 sons
of Jerubel, that it would come upon their own heads, that God
would justly repay them for their wickedness and the evil that
they had done. It was three years, but the Lord
did it. The Lord dealt with it. And so then it comes to pass
that there's warring and fighting going on between some other fella
named Gale that was very proud and arrogant. And then he got
his opportunity, and he also got wiped out. And we read here
that Abimelech conquered Shechem, and he destroyed that city. But
there's a few left. So look down at verse 46. And
when all the men of the tower of Shechem heard that the city
of Shechem was destroyed and salted over, they entered into
a hold of the house of the god of Berith. They went to their
god, their idol god, their false god, the god that cannot save
them, a god who is nothing. He was no god at all. They turned
to that false god Berith for refuge. And it was told Abimelech
that all the men of the Tower of Shechem were gathered together.
And so Abimelech goes there, and he cuts down the bow of a
tree. And he tells everyone else, you do the same thing. And they
laid that up against that tower. And that Tower of Berith, what
do you think happened? It was destroyed because their
God is no God at all. He's incompetent, incapable.
He's impotent. He has no power, no strength
to prevail against the Lord's will and the Lord's people. And
so he burns it down. And he's one of them. And he
burns it down. And in that process, 1,000 men
and women died in that fire. They died in that fire. And we
see there, this is the fiery judgment of God, which he has
promised in his word, which shall come upon the inhabitants of
the earth. But he tells you that, believe
the Lord Jesus Christ, Isaiah 26, he says, you go and you hide
yourself. And you shut the doors in Christ. You hide yourself in the provision
which I've given to you in Christ. And you stay there in Him because
for a little while there's going to be indignation and wrath passing
over. But you hide in Christ. You trust
Christ and believe Him and you'll be fine. You'll be protected.
Even if your life is taken, even if He takes your life to spare
you from the other judgment, it's okay. You have Christ. You have the inheritance of the
saints. And your eyes are going to open
and you're going to behold that beautiful one, Christ Jesus the
Lord, seated on the throne, standing up ready to receive you into
His arms, wiping every tear. So we have everything, brethren,
everything. Now, this brings us to the other
tower, the strong tower that the other people were not destroyed
in. After Abimelem destroyed those
people of Shechem, just like the prophecy said, verse 50 says
that he went to some town named the Beths. and encamped against
the Betts and took it. Now, this is a city near Shechem.
But we're not told anywhere that these people had anything to
do with what was going on with Abimelech and these other men
of Shechem. They're just innocent people
from that. They didn't partake in that sin. Now, the name means conspicuous. And I find that to be conspicuous,
actually, but the root word means brightness, as in the bleaching
white of a garment by a fuller, such as fine linen. It means
brightness. That's the root word of the bets
here. And so the picture here is that
this is the church. And it's just like the enemy
of our souls, the accuser, who we just stand out conspicuously
to. And he just wants to destroy
us, to wipe us off the face of the earth for no other reason
than the fact that we are shining bright in the garments of the
Lord Jesus Christ. We stand in the righteousness
of Christ. And so here's a picture of the
church in this wicked world that's now come under the assault of
the wicked one. For no other reason than you
just stick out like a sore thumb. You are a peculiar people. You are a peculiar people to
the rest of the world. And we read in verse 51, there
was a strong tower within the city. and thither fled all the
men and women, and all they of the city, and shut it to them,
and gat them up to the top of the tower." So far, at this point,
it's looking like what we just saw happen in Shechem. They look
like they were as subject to being burned to death and destroyed
as those people in Shechem, and that this terror was just going
to come to them as well. Now the scriptures tell us that
our Lord, your Lord, is a strong tower. He is a strong tower. In other words, you that have
fled to Jesus Christ for refuge, you have it. The Lord has raised
him up to be the very salvation of his people. In Him, all His
people who believe Him have the forgiveness of their sins. They
are righteous in the Lord Jesus Christ by the blood of Christ. And the Father loves Him. He's
well-pleased in the Son. And all that are in the Son,
all who come to the Father in the righteousness of Christ,
not trusting their own works, they are received of the Father. They receive and have the forgiveness
of sins. They have everlasting life. And all the promises of God,
all the blessings of God, are freely given in the Lord Jesus
Christ. Psalm 18, 2, the Lord is my rock,
and my fortress, and my deliverer, my God, my strength, in whom
I will trust, my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and
my high tower. These people that went to this
tower probably were afraid and were very worried. They were
worried. They had heard what had just
happened over in Shechem. And now they're running and getting
set up what seems to be the same situation. But remember, the
name of the Lord is a strong tower, and the righteous runneth
into it and is safe. You are safe. Run to the Lord. Believe Him. Trust Him. Don't
despair. If you despair, run to Christ.
Lay it before your God and Savior. Trust Him. Put it all before
Him. He is your salvation. He is your shadow. He is the
rock. He is the strong tower, the high
tower, the fortress of the people of God. And you that runneth
to him, you are safe. You are safe. Now we're told
in verses 52 and 53, Abimelech came unto the tower and fought
against it and went hard unto the door of the tower to burn
it with fire. It seemed that he was going to
be triumphant again. He was going to burn it with
fire. And a certain woman cast a piece of a millstone upon Abimelech's
head and all to break his skull. That is peculiar wording. A certain woman. That is you,
brethren, who are the church of Christ. You are that certain
woman. You know that word certain is
the same word that was used when we're told in the scriptures
that the Lord took one of Adam's ribs and made Eve his wife. That word one is the same word
certain. You are a certain people, a peculiar
people, chosen of the Lord, chosen by Him. He went in there and
took that one rib out of Adam's side and made Eve. That word
is also the same word used when it says that you husbands and
wives, you are one flesh, one flesh. You are a certain woman
of the Lord Jesus Christ, His bride, the one whom He loves
and cares for. I know in this world there are
many examples of awful men, terrible men, but Christ your Savior,
He is perfect. He is a wonderful husband. He
is almighty. He loves you and cares for you
and provides everything you need and you are precious to Him,
precious to Him. And so this certain woman is
the church and the millstone, that is Christ. He is our only
defense. He's the only defense we need.
He's everything. And she put forth Christ and
dropped it on the head of her attacker. And so that's what
Christ does. Just like happened here, Christ
destroys the power. He destroys the advance. He destroys
the ability of your enemy to do you any harm. Nothing can
happen outside of the will of God for you. And He gives you
a heart for whatever His will is. He provides everything for
you. Now, Judges 9.55 tells us, when
the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, they departed every
man unto his place. Just like that, it was over.
And the Lord Jesus Christ has crushed the head. He's bruised
the head of the serpent. He's delivered us from from being
destroyed by him, being destroyed by him. And it says that God,
when he did that, God rendered the wickedness of Abimelech,
which he did unto his father in slaying his 70 brethren. And all the evil of the men of
Shechem did God render upon their heads. And upon them came the
curse of Jotham, the son of Jerubael. And so the wicked of this world
may seem to prevail for a time, but your God knows, and nothing's
going to prevail over His will and His purpose for His people,
whom He loves. You that trust Him and have fled
to Him, Christ Jesus your high tower, you are saved. you are
safe in the Lord Jesus Christ. And the head of the serpent shall
shortly, it says, the God of peace shall bruise Satan under
your feet shortly. Romans 16, 20. And so we see
here that in Christ you will not be ashamed. You will have
what you need. And you keep looking to the Lord
and cry out to him for he provides and he delivers you from the
hand of your enemy. He's done everything for you.
Bless his name, rejoice in him. Be glad, brethren, because he
is your high tower. You run to him and you are delivered. Amen. Let's go to the Lord in prayer.
Our gracious Lord, we thank you, Father, that we see Christ Jesus,
our Lord, that we see Him in this word, our hope, the promise
of our God in Him, the comfort, the shadow of His wings, the
provision of our Savior, the mighty Savior. He's a man of
war, and we are so thankful that we have come to Him by Your grace,
have been led to Him, to hear Him, and to hide ourselves under
His shadow, Lord. because we can't destroy our
enemy. We are nothing before the foe,
but in Christ, we have everything we need, every provision that
we need. Lord, thank you for your mercy
and grace in him. Lord, comfort the heart of your
people in this time and every time things get troublesome and
worrisome and there's threats and rumors of wars and wars and
all kinds of things, Lord. We know that you promise in your
word to provide for your people all that they need. Keep us ever
looking to Christ. Keep us loving one another, trusting
you even if times are hard and difficult. Help us to help one
another, to love one another. Because without you we can do
nothing, Lord, and we have what we have because of you. Help
us to walk in love, to walk in the Spirit, to walk in faith.
And that you will bless your people richly, Lord, in the Lord
Jesus Christ. It's in His name we pray and
give thanks. Amen. Let's all stand and sing a closing
hymn. There's so many nice hymns we
could sing, but let's sing 256. 256, it is well with my soul. When peace like a river attendeth
my way, when sorrows like sheep billows roll, whatever my lot,
Thou hast taught me to say, it is well, it is well with my soul. It is well with my soul. It is well, it is well with my
soul. Though Satan should buffet, though
trials should come, Let this blessed assurance control, That
Christ hath regarded my helpless estate, And hath shed His own
blood for my soul. It is well with my soul. It is well, it is well with my
soul. My sin, O the bliss of this glorious
love! My sin, not in part, but the
whole! is nailed to the cross, and I
bear it no more. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,
O my soul. It is well with my soul. It is well, it is well with my
soul. And Lord, haste the day when
my face shall beside the clouds be rolled back as a scroll. The trump shall resound, and
the Lord shall descend. Even so, it is well with my soul. It is well with my soul. It is well, it is well with my
soul. Thank you.