People of the World where are you going? Turn back to God! Back to your faithful principles!
A WARNING FROM HISTORY
A Warning From History. But Sihon did not trust Israel to pass through his territory; so Sihon gathered together all his people and camped at Jahaz and fought against Israel.
The LORD, the God of Israel, gave Sihon and all his people into the hand of Israel, and they defeated them; so Israel took possession of all the land of the Amorites, the inhabitants of that country
TURNING TO A REJECTED LEADER
Turning To A Rejected Leader. Gilead’s wife bore him sons, and when his wife’s sons grew up, they drove Jephthah out and said to him, “You shall not have an inheritance in our father’s house, because you are the son of another woman.”
FURTHER DISOBEDIENCE AND OPPRESSION
Further Disobedience And Oppression. Then the Israelites again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD; they served the Baals, the Ashtaroth (female deities), the gods of Aram (Syria), the gods of Sidon, the gods of Moab, the gods of the Ammonites, and the gods of the Philistines. They abandoned the LORD and did not serve Him.
THE BURNING OF THE BRAMBLE
The Burning Of The Bramble. So Abimelech came to the tower and fought against it, and approached the entrance of the tower to burn it down with fire. But a certain woman threw an upper millstone [down] on Abimelech’s head and crushed his skull.
Then he called quickly to the young man who was his armor bearer, and said to him, “Draw your sword and kill me, so that it will not be said of me, ‘A woman killed him.'” So the young man pierced him through, and he died.
THE DOWNFALL OF ABIMELECH
The Downfall of Abimelech. Then God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the leaders of Shechem; and the leaders of Shechem acted treacherously against Abimelech,
so that the violence done to the seventy sons of Jerubbaal (Gideon) might come [on the guilty], and that their [innocent] blood might be laid on Abimelech their brother, who had killed them, and on the leaders of Shechem, who strengthened his hands (encouraged him) to kill his brothers.
THE BRAMBLE KING
The Bramble King. So the bramble said to the trees, ‘If in truth you are anointing me king over you, then come and take refuge in my shade; but if not, let fire come out of the bramble and devour the cedars of Lebanon.’
“THROUGH SLAUGHTER TO A THRONE”
“Through slaughter to a throne” Then he went to his father’s house at Ophrah and murdered his brothers the sons of Jerubbaal, seventy men, [in a public execution] on one stone. But Jotham the youngest son of Jerubbaal was left alive, because he had hidden himself.
THE SNARE OF SUCCESS
The snare of success. Gideon made [all the golden earrings into] an ephod [a sacred, high priest’s garment], and put it in his city of Ophrah, and all Israel worshiped it as an idol there, and it became a trap for Gideon and his household.
GIDEON DEFEATS ZEBAH AND ZALMUNNA
Gideon Defeats Zebah and Zalmunna. When Zebah and Zalmunna fled, he pursued them and captured the two kings of Midian, Zebah and Zalmunna, and terrified the entire army.
THE SWORD OF JEHOVAH AND OF GIDEON
The Sword Of Jehovah And Of Gideon. When three companies blew the trumpets and broke the pitchers, they held the torches in their left hands, and the trumpets in their right hands to blow, and they shouted, “A sword for the LORD and for Gideon!”