LEARNING DAILY

 

Judges 9:56, Thus, God repaid the wickedness of Abimelech, which he had done to his father by killing his seventy brothers.

 

I have been trying to slow down when reading the Bible in order get as much out of it as I can. In doing so verses seem to jump out and make me wonder what it means. It also has helped me see different aspects of God’s character. For example, Judges 9:56 states that “God repaid the wickedness of Abimelech”. I had to think through this statement and put it together with the rest of God’s Word.

 

This goes back to the beginning of Judges 9 where we are told Abimelech “hired worthless and reckless men to follow him” and they went and killed Abimelech’s 70 brothers. Abimelech was the son of Gideon and his concubine in Shechem; Gideon was a better leader on the battlefield, it seems. What Abimelech did was a disgrace to his father’s character. Abimelech’s reasoning for doing this was centered in the thought it was better for Shechem to be ruled over by one man than to be governed by seventy. Once the deed was done, Abimelech was made king. A problem with this is not all the brothers were killed; one brother named Jotham escaped, saw the “coronation” of Abimelech from a distance, and shouted a fable to them. The fable basically said the people would pay for making a worthless Abimelech king. Eventually God sent a “spirit of ill will” to come between Abimelech and the people.

 

With that background in mind, let’s return to the thought of God repays people for their evil ways. Throughout the Bible, we read that God says evil is not to be paid by evil; God tells us “Vengeance is mine, I will repay”. Perhaps the most known verses for this are Deuteronomy 32:35 and Romans 12: 17-19. The word “vengeance is from the Greek ekdikesis and means God’s vengeance is not revenge but is related to justice and His punishing those who do wrong; it can be thought of as His punishment” (Life in the Spirit Study Bible). For example, God punished Sodom and Gomorrah for their sinfulness and refusal to change their lifestyle. Jonah went to them to tell the people of Nineveh God would destroy them if they did not repent. They repented and God spared them.

 

God will bring about His justice for wrong doing in this life or at the end of the age when the Lord Jesus returns to judge all who have refused to repent and believe in Him through faith! The Gospel found in God’s Word promises God’s forgiveness when a person admits their sinfulness; Romans 3:10 is straightforward saying, “There is none righteous, no, not one”. All people are sinners who must come to that knowledge and accept the salvation Jesus Christ offers to them. By accepting this and placing their faith in Him, their name is written in the Lamb’s book of life. This must be understood because judgment is coming to those who refuse to do so.

 

All of us need to be thankful that God made a way to satisfy His justice of salvation through Jesus Christ. More on this next time.