Please turn with me to Judges as we begin reading in chapter 8 at the end, verse 33, and reading a fairly healthy portion of Scripture through chapter 9, the entire portion being the text, this narrative being our text for this evening. Judges chapter 8, beginning at verse 33 through chapter 9. As we now give our attention to the reading of the Word of God. No sooner had Gideon died than the Israelites again prostituted themselves to the Baals. They set up Baal-Berith as their God and did not remember the Lord their God who had rescued them from the hands of all their enemies on every side. They also failed to show kindness to the family of Jerob Baal, that is Gideon, for all the good things he had done for them. Abimelech, son of Jerob Baal, went to his mother's brothers in Shechem and said to them and to all his mother's clan, Ask all the citizens of Shechem, which is better for you, to have all seventy of Jerob Baal's sons rule over you, or just one man? Remember, I am your flesh and blood. When the brothers repeated all this to the citizens of Shechem, they were inclined to follow Abimelech, for they said, He is our brother. They gave him seventy shekels of silver from the temple of Baal-berith, and Abimelech used it to hire reckless adventurers who became his followers. He went to his father's home in Ophrah, and on one stone murdered his seventy brothers, the sons of Jerob-baal. But Jotham, the youngest son of Jerob-baal, escaped by hiding. Then all the citizens of Shechem and Beth Milo gathered beside the great tree at the pillar in Shechem to crown Abimelech king. When Jotham was told about this, he climbed up on the top of Mount Gerizim and shouted to them, Listen to me, citizens of Shechem, so that God may listen to you. One day the trees went out to anoint a king for themselves. They said to the olive tree, Be our king. But the olive tree answered, Should I give up my oil, by which both gods and men are honored, to hold sway over the trees? Next the tree said to the fig tree, Come and be our king. But the fig tree replied, Should I give up my fruit, so good and sweet, to hold sway over the trees? Then the tree said to the vine, Come and be our king. But the vine answered, Should I give up my wine, which cheers both gods and men, to hold sway over the trees? Finally, all the trees said to the thornbush, Come and be our king. The thornbush said to the trees, If you really want to anoint me king over you, come and take refuge in my shade. But if not, then let fire come out of the thornbush and consume the cedars of Lebanon. Now, if you have acted honorably and in good faith when you made Abimelech king, and if you have been fair to Jeroboam and his family, and if you have treated him as he deserves, and to think that my father fought for you, risked his life to rescue from the hand of Midian. But today you have revolted against my father's family, murdered his 70 sons on a single stone, and made Abimelech, the son of his slave girl, king over the citizens of Shechem because he is your brother. If then you have acted honorably and in good faith toward Jeroboam and his family today, may Abimelech be your joy and may you be his too. But if you have not, let fire come out from Abimelech and consume you, citizens of Shechem and Beth Milo, and let fire come out from you, citizens of Shechem and Beth Milo, and consume Abimelech. Then Jotham fled, escaping Tobir, and he lived there because he was afraid of his brother Abimelech. After Abimelech had governed Israel three years, God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the citizens of Shechem, who acted treacherously against Abimelech. God did this in order that the crime against Jerob Baal's 70 sons, the shedding of their blood, might be avenged on their brother Abimelech and on the citizens of Shechem who had helped him murder his brothers. In opposition to him, the citizens of Shechem set men on the hilltops to ambush and rob everyone who passed by, and this was reported to Abimelech. Now Gaal, son of Ebed, moved with his brothers into Shechem, and its citizens put their confidence in him. After they had gone out into the fields and gathered the grapes and trodden them, they held a festival in the temple of their god. While they were eating and drinking, they cursed Abimelech. Then Gaal, son of Ebed, said, Who is Abimelech, and who is Shechem, that we should be subject to him? Isn't he Jerob Baal's son, and isn't Zebal his deputy? Serve the men of Hamor, Shechem's father. Why should we serve Abimelech? If only this people were under my command, then I would get rid of him. I would say to Abimelech, call out your whole army. When Zebal, the governor of the city, heard what Gaal, son of Ebed, said, he was very angry. Undercover, he sent messengers to Abimelech, saying, Gaal, son of Ebed, and his brothers have come to Shechem and are stirring up the city against you. Now then, during the night, you and your men should come and lie in wait in the fields. In the morning, at sunrise, advance against the city. When Gaal and his men come out against you, do whatever your hand finds to do. So Abimelech and all his troops set out by night and took up concealed positions near Shechem in four companies. Now Gaal, son of Ebed, had gone out and was standing at the entrance to the city gate just as Abimelech and his soldiers came out from their hiding place. When Gaal saw them, he said to Zebo, Look, people are coming down from the tops of the mountains. Zebal replied, You mistake the shadows of the mountains for men. But Gaal spoke up again, Look, people are coming down from the center of the land, and a company is coming from the direction of the soothsayer's tree. Then Zebal said to him, Where is your big talk now, you who said, Who is Abimelech that we should be subject to him? Aren't these the men you ridiculed? Go out and fight them. So Gaal led out the citizens of Shechem and fought Abimelech. Abimelech chased him, and many fell wounded in the flight all the way to the entrance to the gate. Abimelech stayed in Aruma, and Zebul drove Gaal and his brothers out of Shechem. The next day the people of Shechem went out to the fields, and this was reported to Abimelech. So he took his men, divided them into three companies, and set an ambush in the fields. When he saw the people coming out of the city, he rose to attack them. Abimelech and the companies with him rushed forward to a position at the entrance to the city gate. Then two companies rushed upon those in the fields and struck them down. All that day, Abimelech pressed his attack against the city until he had captured it and killed its people. Then he destroyed the city and scattered salt over it. On hearing this, the citizens in the tower of Shechem went into the stronghold of the temple of El-Berith. When Abimelech heard that they had assembled there, he and all his men went up Mount Zelmon. He took an axe and cut off some branches, which he lifted to his shoulders. He ordered the men with him, Quick, do what you have seen me do. So all the men cut branches and followed Abimelech. They piled them against the stronghold and set it on fire over the people inside. So all the people in the tower of Shechem, about a thousand men and women, also died. Next Abimelech went to Thebes and besieged it and captured it. Inside the city, however, was a strong tower to which all the men and women, all the people of the city, fled. They locked themselves in and climbed up on the tower roof. Abimelech went to the tower and stormed it, but as he approached the entrance to the tower to set it on fire, a woman dropped an upper millstone on his head and cracked his skull. Hurriedly, he called to his armor-bearer, Draw your sword and kill me so that they can't say a woman killed him. So his servant ran him through and he died. When the Israelites saw that Abimelech was dead, they went home. Thus God repaid the wickedness that Abimelech had done to his father by murdering his seventy brothers. God also made the men of Shechem pay for all their wickedness. The curse of Jotham, son of Jeroboam, came on them. Beloved of the Lord Jesus Christ, in this passage of Scripture, once again we are faced with hard times of oppression in the life of Israel, or at least in a portion of Israel. But this time, you see, we don't have a judge to look to for help. Although this section still deals a bit with our hero, Gideon. He's gone. But God has seen fit that we should now see here the degeneration that comes after Gideon within his own family. This time the people suffered from the inside. There were no earthly forces oppressing them like the Midianites were before. Because of their sin and because of their falling away from the Lord, the people of Israel were turning on each other. Last time, about a month ago, we talked about how the light of messianic reformation was darkened by Gideon's attitude and actions. He said, no, I will not be your king, neither shall my son be your king. But then he turns around to name the son of his slave, his female slave, his concubine, my father is king, Abimelech. And he makes an ephod, that part of the priestly garment reserved only for the priest to be used periodically when needed to seek God's will. But they turned it into a sort of a magic eight ball, a daily horoscope. And then with this text, it becomes clear that Gideon's ephod was like one healthy cancer cell that invaded other parts of the body so that the deadly disease of apostasy spread toward a tragic end. And although this passage is packed with action, it's packed with a power-hungry bad guy, it's packed with attempted revolution against the governing authorities, it's packed with gruesome killing, again, the makings of a Hollywood thriller, as God's people, we are to be reminded through these events that the need for deliverance was still there. Because Gideon wasn't enough. In fact, things got worse after him. The last words of the book of Judges ring loud and clear everyone did as he saw fit or everyone did that which was right in his own eyes but also beloved we are to be reminded that those who look for and build on another foundation other than Jesus Christ will be punished this passage if you notice this a clear description of what sin does to sin. Sin destroys. Sin can even destroy sin in a sense. It's like a revolving door. What goes around comes around. And therefore our eyes are ultimately to be raised so that we gaze upon the cross once again where the oppressing power of sin has been destroyed forever by the perfect judge. And for that reason, we want to consider tonight this Word of God. The Lord's judgment frustrates the leftovers of Gideon's downfall. Now I know as you've become accustomed with me once in a while I have a mouthful when it comes to a theme and it's our goal tonight to unpack this theme by considering these three points, the peril of forgetting, the problem of leadership, and the process of judgment. Again we begin by reading verses 33 and 34 and 35 of chapter 8. No sooner had Gideon died Then the Israelites again prostituted themselves to the Baals. They set up Baal-berith as their god and did not remember the Lord their God who had rescued them from the hands of all their enemies on every side. They also failed to show kindness to the family of Jerob Baal, that is Gideon, for all the good things he had done for them. Again, beloved, what a sad, sad commentary. It appears that while Gideon lived, the people were somewhat restrained in their worship. Even though, as we saw before, that Gideon had changed the Lord's rules for worship by making an unauthorized ephod and by providing an alternative location for worship, we can still say that their worship was still concentrated on their covenant God. Even though they worshipped Him in a way other than He had commanded, Jehovah was still their focus in their faulty worship. Now I'm not saying that this justifies their mode of worship because it doesn't. The end does not justify the means. But the point is that while Gideon lived, those he judged who had been oppressed by the Midianites did not serve the Baals. But just as soon as Gideon was out of sight, he and his God were out of mind. The sons of Israel left the comforts of their marriage bed with their covenant God and they went out seeking other strange bedfellows, namely the Baals. They prostituted themselves, the text says. What a description, huh? What a terrible description label to have over your head. They prostituted themselves by looking for a replacement for their true bridegroom. And as verse 33 says, they set up Baal Barith as their God. Barith is the Hebrew word for covenant. In other words, this Baal was known as Covenant Baal. The people made a covenant with Baal, thereby rejecting the only one true covenant God, the only one who can truly establish covenant and keep it, Jehovah. You see, they tried to make their worship of Baal an imitation of the worship of Jehovah. That all it was, was an adulteration of that worship in which Baal is put in the place of Jehovah. And their worship became nothing more than a cheap imitation, worse than going from a true diamond to a zirconium. But how could this be? How could this happen after Gideon, that is, Jerob Baal, the Baal fighter, had put an end to Baal worship? Well, verse 34 tells us in very brief language that they did not remember the Lord their God. They did not remember Him and therefore they did not remember all He had done for them. Again, Gideon was out of sight and the Lord was out of mind. Whatever happened in the past was the past. This is a new day. We have to change with the times. You know, the breeze is blowing in a different direction. We have to go with the new and the improved. We need to get in sync with what everyone else is doing, and that includes their gods and their styles of worship. And well, you know, the Baals, well, it just feels right. They did not remember the Lord their God. Sure, they had rest and peace for 40 years, but how quickly 40 years of peace and tranquility wiped out their memory of seven deadly years of oppression and starvation and rough mountain living. But the sons of Israel also stopped showing kindness to the family of Jeroboam for all he had done. They did not remember God's grace, and therefore they also threw out His instrument of grace. You see, when you reject God's instrument of grace, you also reject His grace. When you reject God's means of grace, the means by which He pours out His grace on His people, The preaching of the Word and the faithful administration and participation in the sacraments. Then you also reject God's grace. But notice that from here on throughout chapter 9, Gideon is no longer called Gideon, but Jerob Baal. Before he was called Jerob Baal in a positive sense because he had gone out and fought with Baal and won. But now since they had embraced once again and gotten into bed as it were with the Baals. Any memory of Gideon at all will be with hatred and spite, not as their friend, but as their enemy, as the Baal fighter. Yet we need to quickly add, beloved, that Gideon himself set the stage for this backsliding. Remember his ephod. Scripture says Israel played the harlot with it. Gideon himself set the stage for their compromising worship by compromising Himself. His leftovers were a snare to the people. And beloved, therefore, we are to be reminded here, in our day, we are to be careful of what we leave our children. Will you leave your children a legacy of faith? Or a legacy of compromise? Will you leave your children a legacy of good habits of family worship and involvement in Christ's church and a demonstration of love and trust and obedience to the Lord or will you leave them a legacy that says, what? What's that all about? It doesn't make any sense. Once again, God's people had rejected Him. You see, the first stop in covenant obedience, the first stop in covenant obedience is to remember what the Lord has done. The psalmist says in Psalm 66, verse 16, Come and hear all who fear God, and I will tell of what He has done for my soul. You see, only when you remember what God has done for you, and you believe in Him by grace, only then by the power and the operation of the Holy Spirit will you obey Him. Only then will you understand the value of living for Him. Only then will you understand that you deserve eternal death, but by the grace and mercy of God, your possession is eternal life. Only then will you understand the joy of living in Him. The cross is a reminder. And I'm not talking now about the big wooden one up here. I'm talking about the cross as it is visible in the sacraments, in the Holy Baptism, and in the Lord's Table. And the cross as it is preached from the pulpit. The cross is a reminder which we need all the time of what God has done for His people through Jesus Christ. We consider, as we have recently, the passion and death of Christ and His work is to be etched in our minds and it is to be inscribed on our hearts. For those who do not remember, there will be no thankful obedience. But in order to remember what He has done, you need to know it. By faith, you need to know that Jesus Christ has taken the place of His people and He has opened the doors of heaven that they might enter in. Do you know it? Has He done this for you? See, the Bible is clear. God says that for those who remember Him, He will remember their sins no more. But for those who do not remember Him, He will remember their sins. And one day, Jesus Christ, the righteous judge, will say to them, Depart from me, for I never knew you. That's the peril of forgetting. But now we have to be honest, don't we, that sometimes it's easy to forget God, isn't it? Sometimes in our daily life it's easy to forget that we are children of God as we somehow blend in with society. Maybe as young people, we're walking the mall with our friends. Or maybe as we're sitting in the movie theater watching a movie that we have no business seeing. Or maybe as someone cuts us off on the freeway when we're driving along in our car and we're tempted to get mad at them and cut them off again. Or simply as we are in the public eye in any way, it's easy to forget sometimes, isn't it? To forget the Lord and to forget that we belong to Him. But may we never forget. But instead, may we always give evidence by what we say and what we do that we remember the Lord and what He has done for us. In the second place, we see that when the rightful king is rejected, then there comes the problem of leadership. Now this makes sense, doesn't it? When the rightful king is rejected, you're going to have a problem with leadership. Abimelech, you recall, was Gideon's son from his concubine, his slave woman in Shechem. Now this was a Canaanite town most likely consisting of both Canaanites and Israelites, and it was obviously under the judgeship of Gideon while he was living. And in addition to Abimelech, we know that Gideon had 70 other sons. And for some reason, Abimelech goes to his mother's family in Shechem and he offers to rule them. Scripture doesn't give us any explanation why he does this. There is no indication of any threat that would warrant the need for a king. Because of the outcome for his 70 half-brothers, maybe Abimelech was simply looking for an opportunity to get rid of them. But Abimelech himself makes the Shechemites think that they need him. Look guys, Gideon is gone. And it only makes sense that someone from the line of Gideon is going to continue to be in charge here. Well, it's going to either be the 70 of them, the sons of Jerob Baal, that Baal fighter, that enemy, or me. Now obviously you don't want 70 rulers. That's no good. That's never been good for anything. They can't get along. I'm all you need. And besides, I'm not really one of them. I'm one of you. You know my mother? You know her family? They're upstanding citizens of the community. I don't want you to think of me as Gideon's son. I want you to think of me as your son. it's kind of hard to figure out why they fell for this, but then when we think about it, it's not so strange, is it? Because the desire for a king had been there for a long time. Remember? Gideon had turned it down. But the idea of having a king like the nations around them looked good. Remember, in those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did as he saw fit. We need someone to bring us together. We need a king to follow. And Abimelech made it seem like his 70 brothers had some sort of a plan to take over, so the Shechemites, they don't have a choice, but they have to choose. And of course, there was again no evidence of this. But by choosing Abimelech of necessity, the 70 must be killed quickly before they catch on, before they revolt. Remember, I trust, that when you read the account of Israel's kings later on, because of the extreme wickedness, it seemed common that when someone assassinated the king and took over rule for himself and he killed every other member of the royal family so that he wouldn't be threatened by them. But here's Abimelech, a leftover from Gideon and with some financial assistance from the benevolent fund of the first BBT, the first Baal-Berith temple of Shechem. In execution style, no doubt. One by one, he and a mob of ruthless adventurers kill all but one of his brothers. This action alone should have told the Shechemites what kind of a king he would be. Don't get in his way. You wanted a king, well, brothers, you got one. And it's going to be his way or no way. But the men of Shechem go ahead and make Abimelech king anyway. And just as they are about to celebrate with a reception at the Shechem Hilton, they hear a voice coming down from Mount Gerizim. Now this mountain, according to the command of the Lord through Moses in Deuteronomy 11, verse 29, was to be the Mount of Blessing, where blessings were to be spoken. But from the Mount of Blessing, Jotham speaks a curse upon those who have rejected their rightful king. He tells in the fable about the trees that wanted a king, the olive tree, the fig tree, and the vine, which were the three great representatives of fruit-bearing trees in Palestine. the olive tree with its rich olive oil, the fig tree with its succulent sweet fruit, and the vine, of course, from which that wonderful wine would come. They represented as well all those who took their purpose in life seriously, the purpose for which they had been made. They took it seriously before God and before man. And these reject the offer to become king of the trees, just like Gideon did. The trees, then desperate for a king like the Israelites were, look to the thorn bush and make it an offer it cannot refuse. But you see, the thorn bush doesn't give any fruit. You can't find any shade or protection under it. Basically, it's a scavenger that can live in barren places or in cracks or rocks and it sucks what little water there is to be found and takes it away from other plants. It is a prickly thistle that wounds anyone who touches it. Its only real use is for burning. It can easily be lit on fire. And in Jotham's fable, the thorn bush says to the trees in verse 15, If you really want to anoint me king over you, come and take refuge in my shade. But if not, then let fire come out of the thorn bush and consume the cedars of Lebanon. In other words, okay, if you really want me as king, then come and enjoy what little shade I can give if you dare. Come on, trust me. Let me put my prickly arms around you and take care of you. Again, the thorn bush easily catches on fire and therefore it could be a threat to the noblest of all trees, the cedars of Lebanon. It's a danger. Jotham's point is that in their unrighteous desire for an earthly king, they settled for one who, we might say, had really pulled the wool over their eyes. Abimelech was worthless. He was good for nothing. All he would bring them was pain and suffering. God gave them over to the lusts of their fleshly desires for a king and gave them a king who was not satisfied with God's plan for his life like the olive tree, fig tree, or vine whose desire it was to fulfill their life's calling in service to God and man. Instead, God allowed them to have a king who was power hungry, who did more damage than good, who was not built upon the firm foundation of the Lord, but instead embraced Baal. And it was only a matter of time that without God's restraining hand, this satisfaction would set in. Jotham calls God to be the judge of their motives. If they acted honorably and in good faith, the text says, Or as another version says, if they acted in truth and sincerity in how they dealt with Jeroboam and his family after all Gideon did for them, if they acted in truth and sincerity in making Abimelech king, may they live happily ever after. Maybe it would be a blessing from the Mount of Blessing. But if not, if they have not acted in truth and sincerity, may they turn against each other. We know the outcome as we hope to see in our last point tonight, but because of their rejection of their rightful king, Jehovah. The kingship that the people wanted and that Abimelech offered was a wicked thing. It was an abomination in the eyes of the Lord. What a sad thing to happen in Shechem. Maybe you recall Shechem from earlier in Bible history. In Genesis 12, verses 6 and 7, we read that after the Lord led Abram out of Ur of the Chaldees, And the first time he appeared to him, he appeared to him under the oak in Shechem and said, I will give you all this land. And then a bit later on in Genesis chapter 35, Jacob returns after leaving Laban with his family and his flocks and his herds. He goes back, the Lord sends him back to the oak in Shechem for a covenant renewal ceremony. And then also in Joshua, a little closer to our history, In Joshua chapter 8 and 24, we find two occasions of covenant renewal ceremonies between Jehovah and His people. But the last one in Joshua 24 is the one that we might know the best. Where Joshua says, choose you this day whom you will serve, but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. And the people said, far be it from us to forsake Jehovah. We will serve the Lord. And now look what happens under the oak in Shechem. They have rejected their rightful king, Jehovah, and made Abimelech king. The kingship of the world that is divorced from God has no standard of truth, has no absolute standard of truth or of right or wrong. There are always strings attached. That's the kind of kingship Satan offered to Christ when he was tempting Jesus. Satan showed Christ all the kingdoms of the world and their glory and said, All these things I will give to you, and then the strings, if you will fall down and worship Me. Beloved, apart from Jesus Christ, the powers of this world always lead to destruction. Abimelech said that Shechem had or was going to have a problem with leadership, the 70 or him, But the problem was that the leader that they chose, the king they crowned, he himself had no eternal king. Now there are many moral applications that have been given to these verses, which really find no warrant in the text and are kind of amusing in a sense. For example, beware of those who really want leadership positions because they have nothing more productive to do with their lives. We might see that in our own government today, right? Or look out for those who crave power because likely they will use it to their advantage and to your hurt. Or someone once said, worthless men desire the honors which the wise and the good decline. I'm not convinced that these things are what this passage is teaching us. But it's also been suggested that many churches choose elders and deacons this way. And this might be a little more close to the truth. For example, we have so many elders and deacons retiring this year, so who can we find in the congregation that is willing to do it? Who can we get to accept the nomination? And that's the standard, you see. Who can we get to accept the nomination? I'm thankful to God that in this place, by His grace, we seek to apply 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1 in nominating office bearers. Beloved, the psalmist is clear. Do not trust in princes, in mortal man, in whom there is no salvation. How blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God. The Lord will reign forever. Jesus Christ was mockingly dressed as a king and he was rejected. And that makes for a definite leadership problem. Only when you bow before the throne of King Jesus and honor his rule will there be no problem with leadership because nothing else is reliable. Those who put their trust in money or prestige or power or people in princes will find out that none of that can save but only leads to destruction and agony. Finally, it's clear that Jotham had spoken the word of the Lord as we see in the Lord's process of judgment, how he carried it out. Now time doesn't permit us obviously to dissect the 35 verses of Scripture that are included in this point, but I believe the message is clear. God sends His judgment upon those who reject Him. Notice verses 23 and 24 as well as 56 and 57. God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the citizens of Shechem who acted treacherously against Abimelech. God did this in order that the crime against Jerob Baal's 70 sons, the shedding of their blood, might be avenged on their brother Abimelech and on the citizens of Shechem who had helped him murder his brothers. And then 56 and 57, Thus God repaid the wickedness that Abimelech had done to his father by murdering his 70 brothers. God also made the men of Shechem pay for all their wickedness. The curse of Jotham, son of Jeroboam, came on them. God's judgment. How did He do it? Well, in this case, He removed His restraining hand from them. Just like with Job, where we read that the Lord allowed the devil to have his little season. It's interesting that before, Gideon took matters into his own hands to avenge for the blood of his brothers. Indeed, the two kings deserved to die, but not because they had killed Gideon's brothers, but because of all the other destruction they had done to all of God's people. But here, God Himself takes vengeance upon Abimelech and the men of Shechem for the blood of Abimelech's brothers. Paul says in Romans 12, Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath, for it is written, Vengeance is mine. I will repay, says the Lord. You see, the covenant that Abimelech and the men of Shechem had could not last. It could not survive because it was conceived in sin. And therefore, after three what appear to be somewhat peaceful years, they start to destroy each other. The men of Shechem set an ambush against Abimelech in verse 25. They rob and they plunder those passing by. And this may have been a ploy to discredit Abimelech's government, to discredit his homeland security. Because when there was no public protection, then the people would become discontented and they would rebel against him. A man named Gaal, under the influence of a few happy hour drinks, speaks out against Abimelech. And through the crafty work of Zeebel, making him think that he doesn't see what he really does see, The two sides meet, and Gaal and his men are defeated. And Abimelech, true to his nature, as he proved with his brothers of not wanting to be challenged, he goes after the city of Shechem. He kills the people as they worked in the fields, and then he burned Baal's temple and those in it. Then he moves on to Thebes, as we read, which he must have thought in some way was involved in the revolt against him. We don't know if it was or not. But the burning worked well in Shechem, so let's do it again in this town. And as he is about to light the fire, a woman drops an upper millstone on his head. An upper millstone, probably a stone about a foot long that was used to grind the grain, the top stone. Now, if you think about it, you kind of have to laugh a little bit because here this woman was running for her life with a stone. Was that the last thing she was doing before it was time to evacuate? But isn't it providential that as Gideon comes to set fire to this building, she just happens to be standing on the second floor or wherever, right above where he is standing, and she happens to have this stone in her hands? And it happens to hit his head, direct shot? No. Providence. All the work of God, delivering a crushing blow to his skull. And at the point of death, Abimelech thinks only of his own honor. He doesn't want to die at the hand of a woman. How humiliating that would be if that got on the pages of history. Well, Abimelech, we've got something to tell you. But congregation, sadly enough, his last thought is not about his soul, but about his reputation. Where will your thought and my thought be when we are facing death one day? So I was thinking about this, thinking about over the past three years that we have had the privilege of being with you and the number of funerals we've had to conduct, whether because of cancer or because of old age. If you think back over it, not one of those people, by the grace of God, faced death the way Abimelech did. They weren't worried about their reputation. Their thought was on glory. Their thought was on God, on the blessing of salvation. May that be where our thoughts are one day. But beloved, this process of judgment must be seen in the light of Jotham's double-edged curse when he says in verse 20, But if you have not, talking about if they have acted honorably and in good faith, if you have not acted honorably and in good faith, let fire come out from Abimelech and consume you, citizens of Shechem and Beth Milo, and let fire come out from you, citizens of Shechem and Beth Milo, and consume Abimelech. Fire came out from Abimelech to destroy the men of Shechem, And fire in the form of an upper millstone came right back and destroyed Abimelech. As we said earlier, this was the work of God's judgment against those who tried to take His rightful place. Galatians 6, verses 7 and 8 says, Do not be deceived. God is not mocked. For whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption. But he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. And notice again how God does this here. Evil destroyed evil. God has often allowed evil men to destroy other evil men. And evil nations to destroy other evil nations. Think back to the 300. Gideon's band of 300 versus 135,000. The first 120,000 Midianites killed each other. They wiped out each other. This unique chapter of Scripture teaches us that there is no fellowship with evil. It has no lasting foundation. It does not care for its own, but instead uses it,