Abimelech, my father is a king

Gideon refused to rule over Israel as a king (Judges 8:23). Actually, he desired very much to be their king and yet, he could not admit it. Besides seventy sons born from many wives, he also fathered a son from a Shechem woman, who was his concubine, not his wife. Gideon called this son, Abimelech, literally meaning my father is a king. This son revealed the secret ambition of Gideon. Abimelech himself embodied such an ambition.

After the death of Gideon, the Israelites did not remember how God had fought for them. They worshipped Baalberith instead (Judges 8:33). They also did not show kindness to the family of Gideon (Judges 8:35). Abimelech immediately seized the opportunity. He persuaded his kinsmen in Shechem to support him. They in turn called on the people of Shechem to rally behind Abimelech. The people took 70 pieces of silver out of the temple of Baalberith to hire a gang of mobsters to follow him. Abimelech went to his father's city Ophrah. There he killed his seventy brothers upon a stone. Only one managed to flee. He was Jotham, the youngest son of Gideon (Judges 9:5). Afterwards, the people of Shechem made Abimelech king by the oak of the pillar at Shechem (Judges 9:6).

When Jotham knew that Abimelech was made king, he went up to the top of Mount Gerizim to curse Abimelech and the people of Shechem. His curse came in the form of a fable of trees (Judges 9:8-15). The trees, meaning the people of Shechem, invited several candidates, olive, fig and vine to be their king but they declined. At last the trees asked the bramble, meaning Abimelech, who heartily accepted.
And the bramble said to the trees, 'If in good faith 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.' (Judges 9:15)
Bramble cannot offer any shade but easily catches fire. Therefore, it was suicidal for the people of Shechem to make Abimelech their king. Jotham continued to explain his fable.
Now therefore, if you acted in good faith and honor when you made Abimelech king, and if you have dealt well with Jerubbaal and his house, and have done to him as his deeds deserved --
for my father fought for you, and risked his life, and rescued you from the hand of Midian;
and you have risen up against my father's house this day, and have slain his sons, seventy men on one stone, and have made Abimelech, the son of his maidservant, king over the citizens of Shechem, because he is your kinsman --
if you then have acted in good faith and honor with Jerubbaal and with his house this day, then rejoice in Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you;
but if not, let fire come out from Abimelech, and devour the citizens of Shechem, and Bethmillo; and let fire come out from the citizens of Shechem, and from Bethmillo, and devour Abimelech (Judges 9:16-20).
After cursing them, Jotham fled to Beer.

The people of Shechem did not act in good faith and honour. They had been ungrateful to the good Gideon had done them. They supported Abimelech to butcher the seventy sons of Gideon because he was their 'brother'. Worst of all, they made such a cruel brother-killer king over them, his brothers! Their fate was sealed.
As the events unfolded, Abimelech gradually lost the support of the people of Shechem (Judges 9:23). In suppressing a band of rebels, Abimelech began to kill the civilians of Shechem randomly. Later, he razed Shechem to the ground and scattered salt all over it (Judges 9:45). People fled and hid in the Tower of Shechem. Abimelech chased after them and burned down the Tower, killing a thousand men and women (Judges 9:49).
Abimelech seemed to have lost control over his urge to slaughter. He came to the city of Thebez. People again fled to a strong tower inside the city. Again Abimelech came to burn down the tower. This time, he was less successful. A woman dropped a millstone and mortally wounded his skull (Judges 9:53). Abimelech could not stand the shame to die in the hand of a woman. He committed suicide. Abimelech ruled only three years (Judges 9:22). The curse of Jotham came true.
Thus God requited the crime of Abimelech, which he committed against his father in killing his seventy brothers;
and God also made all the wickedness of the men of Shechem fall back upon their heads, and upon them came the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal (Judges 9:26-27).

Abimelech was a son of Gideon. He must have inherited most of the bad genes from Gideon. He demonstrated to us what it means to be a bad king. Richard Dawkins should be happy to make use of Abimelech as a prime example for his book, the Selfish Gene (1976).
In previous generations, Israel faced external threats. Now, troubles could arise from within. Instead of a good judge elected by God to deliver them from external enemies, the Israelites were able to choose a tyrant to sit upon their heads to butcher them.

Dear Lord, let us be grateful to Your kindness, hopeful in Your promise and honest to our ambitions. May we not be ruthless and opportunistic. Otherwise, we will be doing a lot of harm to ourselves and others. Amen.