JUDGES – UNITED

KINGDOM & PSALMS

Quarter Three – FROM CONQUEST TO

DESTRUCTION

Adult Bible Class

2015

October - December

Lesson Three – Day 1-4

• Memory Verse: “Thus God repaid the wickedness of Abimelech, which he had done to his father by killing his seventy

brothers.” Judges 9:56

• Today’s Study --- Leadership In Crises

• In the Absence of Godly Leaders Evil will abound.

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Lesson Three – Day 1-4 • Abimelech was born to Gideon and his

concubine. • Gideon is primarily remembered for two

things: – His great victory over the Midianites (Judges 7). – His refusal to rule Israel as their king (Judges

8:23).

• However, Gideon was not all he should have been. – It took four signs for him to fight Midian (Judges

6). – Named Jerubbaal meaning ``Baal fighter''

(Judges 7:1).

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Lesson Three – Day 1-4 • Refused to be king, but took earrings and made an

Ephod to be hung in ``his'' city, Ophrah.

• Ephod was a priestly robe.

– The ephod we find associated with terâphim in Jdg 17:5, Jdg 18:14 ff., Hosea 3:4, and in connection with the Urim and Thummim or sacred lots, 1 Samuel 14:18 cf. 1 Samuel 14:41 LXX; it was carried, not ‘worn,’ by the priest, 1 Samuel 2:28; 1 Samuel 14:3; 1 Samuel 14:18 LXX (see RVm., but render carried), 1 Samuel 22:18 (omit linen with LXX. cod. B, and render carry), 1 Samuel 23:6, 1 Samuel 30:7; we gather, therefore, that it was used in consulting Jehovah to obtain an oracle.

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• But what the ephod was itself is not so clear. It may have been a rich vestment or embroidered loin-cloth, such as we see in Egyptian paintings, which the priest put on when he consulted Jehovah; this may explain the amount of gold which Gideon devoted to its making.

– In the sanctuary at Nob the ephod stood or hung near the wall, but free from it; and here Gideon set or placed his ephod in the sanctuary at Ophrah.

Lesson Three – Day 1-4

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Lesson Three – Day 1-4 • The root apparently means ‘to sheathe,’ and a

derivative is used in Isaiah 30:22 for ‘the plating of thy molten images of gold’; hence many suppose that it must have been an image, but it is very doubtful whether the plating of the image could come to mean the image itself.

– Different in some way from the oracular ephod was the ephod of linen with which Samuel and David were girt when performing religious functions: a closely fitting garment is what the meaning of the root implies.

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Lesson Three – Day 1-4 – A richer development of this was the ephod of

the High-Priest described in Exodus 28:6-12 P, shaped like a kind of waistcoat, over which he wore the jewelled pouch or breastplate containing the Urim and Thummim; in its latest development the ephod thus maintained its association with the divine oracle. See esp. Sellin, Orient. Studien Theodor Nöldeke … gewidmet 1906, ii. 701 f. and Benzinger, Hebr. Arch.2, 347 f., 359; Driver, Exodus, p. 312.

• Refused to be king, but seems to accept priesthood!

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Lesson Three – Day 1-4 • The one who delivered Israel from bondage, (bondage

brought on by their idolatry) now becomes the instrument used to return them to idolatry.

• This is a dark period in Israel's history. Israel was travelling a vicious circle:

– Apostasy.

– Oppression.

– Repentance.

– Deliverance.

– Rest.

– Back to apostasy to begin the cycle again.

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Lesson Three – Day 1-4 • They faced primarily three problems:

– Political problems: Isolated tribes caused them to become tribal, without unity.

– Social problems: They adopted Canaanite customs, manner of life and even intermarried with them.

– Religious problems: Baal worship grew out of a dissatisfaction with purity (Judges 2:11-13).

• Six Lessons we need to learn from Abimelech:

– Sons are not always like their fathers ; Doom is predicted by the Word of God ; Strife comes between “so called friends” ; God punishes both those who lead in sin and those who follow.

– Apostasy can come from within

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Lesson Three – Day 1-4 • SONS ARE NOT ALWAYS THE IMAGES OF THEIR

FATHERS.

– This natural son of Gideon was unlike his father in desiring power (Judges 8:23; 9:1-3).

• Parents are not always what they appear to be on the surface.

• Gideon neglected his child-rearing responsibilities. • Bearing a son does not make one a father!

– How could Gideon be a father to Abimelech of Shechem when he was living in Ophrah (Judges 8:29-35)?

– Fathers are responsible to God for the way their children are reared (Eph. 6:4; Prov. 22:6).

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Lesson Three – Day 1-4 • The trees look for a king. They ask the olive tree, fig

tree and vine to rule them. - Judges 9:7-21 – Ask the fruitful to rule over them. – All these refuse to rule.

• Finally they ask the bramble to rule over them. – This is not a tree, but a bush. One hated and

despised. – Bramble's only fruit is its thorns!

• It had to be removed before any productive farming could be done. Such removal only came with self-injury. – It was hazardous and harmful to anyone who drew

close to it. • Bramble gives no shade of consequence ― its only value

was to either keep something in or out of an area. 10/17/2015 From Conquest to Destruction Slide # 11

Lesson Three – Day 1-4 • STRIFE COMES BETWEEN ABIMELECH AND THE

SHECHEMITES (Judges 9:22-29). • There is a difference between a friend and an

acquaintance. – Knowing someone does not reflect friendship (cf. Prov.

19:6). – Friends love at all times (Prov. 17:17).

• Christ promises friendship to the obedient (John 15:13-15). – Christ is a friend who sticks closer than a brother (Prov.

18:24). • “Fair weather friends'' (acquaintances) will turn and rend

you when their purposes are served. • Sadly, elders, deacons, members and fellow-preachers will

do this!

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Lesson Three – Day 1-4 • GOD PUNISHES THOSE WHO LEAD IN SIN AND THOSE WHO

FOLLOW EQUALLY. • When Shechem rose up to rebel against Abimelech God allowed

Abimelech a victory ― in the beginning (Judges 9:30-49). – Victory was gained by burning up those in the tower of

Shechem. – A further victory was won against Thebez (Judges 9:50).

• The tower of Thebez could have been taken as was the tower of Shechem. – A woman cast a millstone upon Abimelech's head and his skull

was broken (Judges 9:53)! – Abimelech's armourbearer was called upon to kill him lest it

be said he was slain by a woman (Judges 9:54). • His death brought to an end this dark period in Israel's history ―

an end that only lasted until the next apostasy. • The punishment was brought by God upon both Abimelech and

the people who followed him (Judges 9:56-57). 10/17/2015 From Conquest to Destruction Slide # 13

Lesson Three – Day 1-4

• THE APOSTASY CAME FROM WITHIN. – Commonly in studying through the Judges one

sees a heathen nation being used to punish Israel. • Othniel and the Mesopotamians (Judges 3:8-11).

• Ehud and the Moabites (Judges 3:12-30).

• Shamgar and the Philistines (Judges 3:31).

• Deborah and the Canaanites (Judges 4).

• Gideon and the Midianites (Judges 6-8).

– However, troubles do not always arise from without, sometimes they come from within (cf. Acts 20:28-32).

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