Bad Leaders Gone Worse

This is the Bible study page for the Thursday Night Bible Study Group meeting August 10 to study further into Judges 9.  Let the weirdness begin!  The people of this chapter are amazingly bizarre and stupid.  There's really very little sense to what they do or why, at least on a strategic level.

Read through the rest of the chapter.  We left off at verse 21, so 22 through 57 is what remains.  We may not get through it all, but you should be familiar with it anyway.  At this point, the writer/editor of Judges slows back down, and goes into agonizing detail, and possible repetition.  Read the verses in several different versions.  There will be some plot elements repeated but with some possibly glaring inconsistencies.

Once you have gone through the passage on your own, read through some commentaries.  They will most likely ignore the inconsistent repetition, but not always.  Be sure to revise your notes and questions before going back through with the questions below.

• Verse 22 sounds a little like the "King Formula" found in Samuel and Kings, but is missing some things.  For an example look at 2 Kings 8:26, and see what's missing in Judges 9:22.  Why do you think the writer/editor would leave out those elements?
• God sends an "evil spirit".  We sort of dealt with this in Samuel with Saul, but there are other places where this seems to happen as well.  Why do you think God would operate using "evil spirits"?
• The "baals" of Shechem deal treacherously with Abimelech, by setting bandits in the hills to rob people passing by.  And it was told to Abimelech.  Why do you think it makes good sense to leaders of a city to encourage bandits around your city?
• Now another character, Gaal, shows up.  He has a lot in common with Abimelech in character.  They have a grape-harvest festival in the temple, and Gaal tells them to "Serve the men of Hamor, father of Shechem!"  But where is Gaal from?  How did he get to Shechem?
• Verse 28 is the first time we hear of Zebul.  It turns out he runs Shechem for Abimelech, or is at least supportive of Abimelech.  So, why do you think he's active on behalf of Abimelech now, but lets the "baals" of Shechem set ambushes in the hills before?  Doesn't he run the show there?
• Zebul sends messengers to Abimelech "deceitfully" or "secretly" or whatever.  If you have access to one, read verse 31 in the NLT or New Revised Standard Version.  If not, look at footnotes in any version except NIV.  You will need a commentary for this one.  If Zebul is being secretive, why do you think he would feel the need?
• Zebul gives Abimelech instruction about how to ambush the people of the city.  Why do you think Abimelech would need that?
• In verse 34, the people with Abimelech are in four companies.  In verse 41, they're in Arumah, and in verse 43, they come back and divide into 3 companies.  This is a confusing description of battle.  What do you think is happening, how do you work it out in your mind?
• One of the problems with the battle description in verses 31 through 49 is the leaving and returning. Why would Abimelech care if the people went out of the city about their business?
• How do you think the people going out into the fields in verse 42 is different from what was supposed to happen back up at verse 34 and following?
• How is it that Shechem can be razed and sowed with salt, but the "Tower of Shechem" and the stronghold of the temple of Baal Berith are missed?  The baals of Shechem aren't even in the city?  What do you think is going on here?
• The tactic used by Abimelech is to set the stronghold on fire, and it works.  All the people in the stronghold of the Temple of Baal Berith die in it.  Shechem is thoroughly destroyed, and by fire.  Considering the curse of Jotham, why do you think this is an important detail?
• Abimelech turns his attention to Thebez.  Why do you think he considered Thebez at all?
• This fight goes well, except for the stronghold.  Notice this stronghold is inside the city.  Abimelech tries the same tactic with this stronghold that he used on the temple in Shechem.  How do you think a woman was able to get a "millstone" to the roof (and why would she), and then throw it over the side, and actually hit Abimelech? 
• Abimelech is actually struck in the head, his skull crushed, and he still calls for his "bearer of stuff" to kill him.  What does that tell you about his head wound?
• If Abimelech's death reminds you of anyone else's, whose death does it remind you of?
• Notice the "ending formula" for kings is missing here as well.  Abimelech is not buried in the tomb of his father, as Gideon was.  And no son of Abimelech reigned in his place.  What do you think this missing piece (no succession linkage) might have meant to the initial audience of Judges in the time of the kings of Judah?
• The writer/editor of Judges concludes with the dissolution of the army after Abimelech's death, and with the tying together of Jotham's curse and the results of Shechem and Abimelech.  What do you think is the writer/editor's point for his 600 BC audience?

Consider the life and choices of Abimelech, but also of the leaders of Shechem.  Where have you made some wrong choices or followed some flawed leaders?  And, how can we keep this sort of stuff from happening to us?