But a certain woman dropped an upper millstone on Abimelech’s head and crushed his skull. ~Judges 9:53
Yep! You read that right. And you might be asking yourself, what in the world? How is this supposed to inspire me? I’ll get to that. But first…context. Read Judges 8:29 to 10.
A Reckless King
Most of us know the story of Gideon, but have rarely heard of Abimelech, one of Gideon’s seventy sons, who was born to his concubine from Shechem. In a grab for power after Gideon died, Abimelech hired worthless and reckless men to kill his brothers so he could become king. All died, except the youngest son, Jotham, because he hid himself.
After reigning over Israel for 3 years, God sent a spirit of ill will between Abimelech and the men of Shechem. Abimelech attacked and captured Shechem by burning the city’s stronghold to the ground – the tower of Shechem – killing a thousand men and women who sought refuge there during the battle. Next, he set his sights on Thebez, another city a short distance away. He encamped against Thebez and took it. Like Shechem, there was a strong tower in the city, and all of the men and women – all the people of the city – fled there, shut themselves in, and went up to the top of the tower.
A Woman of Courage
There are many “named” courageous women in the Bible: Abigail, Rahab, Queen Esther, Deborah, and others. But there is one woman who remains nameless, whose act of courage saved a city. Trapped in the tower, like their neighbors from Shechem, the people of Thebez had nowhere to go. Their fate seemed inevitable, when scripture suddenly mentions an unnamed woman, the woman of Thebez, who ended the reign of the power-hungry tyrant Abimelech. She seized an opportunity to drop a millstone from the top of the tower when Abimelech unwisely ventured near the tower wall, crushing his skull. He lay there dying, begging his armorbearer to kill him so that it would be known that he was not killed by a woman – a disgrace to a warrior. Yet, God made sure that her mighty act was recorded in scripture to be shared from one generation to the next.
A God of Justice
Never lose sight of the fact that God is a God of justice and righteousness. Abimelech was not a true king. He established his reign through murder. God repaid the wickedness of Abimelech, which he had done to his father by killing his seventy brothers (Judges 9:56). And, God did this through a woman.
We have a rough spiritual war awaiting us every day, and there is no place for the faint-hearted or weak-minded in this war. We either stand, as commanded by Paul (Eph. 6), or we’ll find ourselves trapped in fear, in a self-imposed tower, surrounded by spiritual enemies.
The woman of Thebez shows us that we must be mindful of how close our enemy is and what weapons we have on hand to defeat him. So, take courage and stand! God’s justice will always prevail. No need for millstones when you have the spiritual weapons of the authority of the Name of Jesus, the authority and power of His word, the far-reaching impact of the Holy Spirit, the atmosphere changing influence of worship, and the supernatural weapon of prayer. Our weapons are mighty and powerful for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God…You just have to use them!
God Bless You - JCM
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