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The Problem with Kings
Abimelech, son of Gideon and of the enslaved woman from the Bent Place (where Joseph was buried), suggested to his mother’s people that they might support his campaign to be king. His mother’s people proposed this idea to the landholders of the Bent Place, and all agreed. Seventy pieces of silver were taken from the city’s temple of the Covenant God and given to Abimelech.
Flush with cash, Abimelech hired a ruthless crew, and together they went and killed Gideon’s sons (Abimelech’s half-brothers). Seventy men were killed for the price of seventy pieces of silver. Only one son escaped: Jotham, Gideon’s youngest, who stood on the Blessing Mountain and proclaimed,
“No one wants to lead you people anyway! If kings were trees, neither the olive tree nor the fig tree nor even the grape vine would consent to being crowned. Only the bramble, with its harsh thorns and its propensity for building obstacles, would agree to become king. On a side note,” Jotham continued, “if all seventy of my brothers sinned against the Bent Place, then rest assured I can understand your actions. If not, then may the gods of your neighbors rise up against you.” Then Jotham fled to save his life.
With all the sons of Gideon out of the picture, the campaign donors from the Bent Place came together and crowned Abimelech king.
As often happens with the purchase of power, the landholders of the Bent Place became discontent over time. They began robbing travelers in the mountain passes near the Bent Place. They vetted potential new kings who might do more for them than Abimelech. When Abimelech learned of their disloyalty, he took his troops to the Bent Place. First he slaughtered all the commoners of the place, lying in wait to kill them as they left the city in the morning to tend the fields. Then he surrounded the temple of the Covenant God, where all the landholders had gathered to hide, and he burned it to the ground.
From the Bent Place, Abimelech and his troops went to the nearby city of the Strong God’s temple, and they encamped against the city. When the people retreated to the city’s towering temple, Abimelech and his troops fought to burn down its door. One woman, who had brought her millstones into the tower in the event of a long siege, threw the upper millstone from the roof onto Abimelech. As he lay dying, Abimelech instructed his armor bearer to put him out of his misery with a sword, lest he die to the sound of people mocking him for being killed by a millstone.
Thus a woman who worshiped the Strong God defeated the king who was funded by landholders who worshiped the Covenant God. And the One God Who Is & Shall Be considered the question of kings to be put to rest.
a retelling of Judges 9
Outcry
The One Who Is & Shall Be said to Abraham: “I am sending angels to the place of Violent Fire, to assess the veracity of the people’s cries against it. If their cries are true, I will destroy it.”
Abraham pleaded: “Surely you have more integrity than those who are stoking the Violent Fire. Perhaps you will find fifty or even ten who are still tossing pails of water at the Violent Fire.”
So the One Who Is & Shall Be agreed to search for any relief efforts in the midst of the Violent Fire. When the angels arrived at the place of Violent Fire, Lot offered them shelter, food, drink, and a rag to wash their feet, but he discouraged them from staying more than one night in the place of Violent Fire.
When it became known that Lot had welcomed angels into his home, the Violent Fire raged against him. “Messengers of relief are not welcome in this place,” they shouted. “No knowledge can be allowed except the knowledge of Violent Fire. Send out your angels so we might scorch any hope of reprieve they have to offer.”
Lot went outside to defend his guests, saying, “Isn’t it enough that my whole family resides in the Violent Fire? My daughters grew up in this place; they have chosen husbands from this place. God knows, the Violent Fire will burn them one day.”
But the Violent Fire swelled and sparked: “No judgment against the Fire can be allowed! No hint of relief can be tolerated! If you listen to angels, we cannot tolerate you.” And the Violent Fire rose to consume Lot where he stood with his back to the door.
From inside Lot’s home, the angels reached out their hands and pulled him out of the Violent Fire’s reach. They warned him, “The Violent Fire will not stop until every possible hope of relief has evaporated. We must leave this place of Violent Fire, because the One Who Is & Shall Be cannot nurture life in a place without hope.”
Lot’s family expressed doubt. “It won’t get worse,” said his daughters’ fiancées. “At least the Violent Fire was warm,” said his wife longingly as she looked back over her shoulder. Even Lot said to the angels, “There’s too much to risk if we resettle somewhere new.”
But the One Who Is & Shall Be extinguished the place of Violent Fire. Abraham saw the smoke billowing up from that place and grieved that the angels had found no signs of mercy or hope there.
a retelling of Genesis 18:16 – 19:29
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