Judges 9-10
Time will run out
Abimelech became a king by killing his own brothers with the help of Shechemites, citizens of the Shechem. Only the youngest, Jotham was able to run away. But before he ran away for good he told the people that Abimelech is not the right king and he reminded the people of his father,
"For my father [Gideon] fought for you and risked his life and delivered you from the hand of Midian, and you have risen up against my father's house this day and have killed his sons." (verse 17,18)
Not too long after the citizens of Shechem started turning against Abimelech saying
"Who is Abimelech, and who are we of Shechem, that we should serve him?... is not Zebul his officer?" (verse 28)
Zebul heard all this and passed it along to Abimelech. This started a war between Abimelech, his men versus the city of Shechem. Abimelech won this battle, and he went into neighboring cities to also destroy them. HE went from one city to the next killing women and men, then he got to Thebez another city that he wanted to destroy, the citizens of that city fled to the tower within the city and went up to the roof and hid there, Abimelech was going to come near and set the towel on fire when,
"A certain women threw an upper millstone on Abimelech's head and crushed his skull." (verse 53)
It was such a disgrace to die by the hand of a woman that Abimelech while dyeing called up a young man and told him to pierce him with the sword so Abimelech would die from the hand of a man.
God punished Abimelech and the people of Shechem for all the evil they have done to Jotham's brothers.
After that we see that Israelite didn't turn to God, they continued to worship many other gods, and Philistines and Ammonites began to oppress the people of Israel, but the people still didn't turn to God. Once Philistines and Ammonites crossed Jordan to fight against the tribes of Benjamin and Judah then the people of Israel called out to God, but God said,
"Did I not save you from the Egyptians and from the Amorites, from the Ammonites and from the Philistines...The Sidonians also, and the Amalekites and the Moanites... Yet you have forsaken me and served other gods; therefore I will save you no more. Go and cry out to the gods whom you have chosen; let them save you in the time of your distress."(verse 11-14)
Today...
Just like the people of Israel we do this to God all the time today--we call out to God when we have really messed up, and when we're in big trouble, we expect God to help us and If he doesn't then we blame Him for the consequences that we deserve.
But as we see here there is a point where God will no longer let His name be blasphemed. The time of grace and forgiveness will run out just like Revelation tells us. I've also heard testimonies when people died and God took His grace away from them, they died knowing that they're going to hell without being able to repent, that privilege was taken away from them because of how many times they turned away from God and blasphemed His name, and deliberately did what they knew was wrong.
Repenting is a privilege that we have today, but that will not be forever. Time will run out.
Abimelech became a king by killing his own brothers with the help of Shechemites, citizens of the Shechem. Only the youngest, Jotham was able to run away. But before he ran away for good he told the people that Abimelech is not the right king and he reminded the people of his father,
"For my father [Gideon] fought for you and risked his life and delivered you from the hand of Midian, and you have risen up against my father's house this day and have killed his sons." (verse 17,18)
Not too long after the citizens of Shechem started turning against Abimelech saying
"Who is Abimelech, and who are we of Shechem, that we should serve him?... is not Zebul his officer?" (verse 28)
Zebul heard all this and passed it along to Abimelech. This started a war between Abimelech, his men versus the city of Shechem. Abimelech won this battle, and he went into neighboring cities to also destroy them. HE went from one city to the next killing women and men, then he got to Thebez another city that he wanted to destroy, the citizens of that city fled to the tower within the city and went up to the roof and hid there, Abimelech was going to come near and set the towel on fire when,
"A certain women threw an upper millstone on Abimelech's head and crushed his skull." (verse 53)
It was such a disgrace to die by the hand of a woman that Abimelech while dyeing called up a young man and told him to pierce him with the sword so Abimelech would die from the hand of a man.
God punished Abimelech and the people of Shechem for all the evil they have done to Jotham's brothers.
After that we see that Israelite didn't turn to God, they continued to worship many other gods, and Philistines and Ammonites began to oppress the people of Israel, but the people still didn't turn to God. Once Philistines and Ammonites crossed Jordan to fight against the tribes of Benjamin and Judah then the people of Israel called out to God, but God said,
"Did I not save you from the Egyptians and from the Amorites, from the Ammonites and from the Philistines...The Sidonians also, and the Amalekites and the Moanites... Yet you have forsaken me and served other gods; therefore I will save you no more. Go and cry out to the gods whom you have chosen; let them save you in the time of your distress."(verse 11-14)
Today...
Just like the people of Israel we do this to God all the time today--we call out to God when we have really messed up, and when we're in big trouble, we expect God to help us and If he doesn't then we blame Him for the consequences that we deserve.
But as we see here there is a point where God will no longer let His name be blasphemed. The time of grace and forgiveness will run out just like Revelation tells us. I've also heard testimonies when people died and God took His grace away from them, they died knowing that they're going to hell without being able to repent, that privilege was taken away from them because of how many times they turned away from God and blasphemed His name, and deliberately did what they knew was wrong.
Repenting is a privilege that we have today, but that will not be forever. Time will run out.
Repentance is a privilege and we can't do it by our own, it's God's gift Holy Spirit tells us to repent. So, it's not up to us when we want to repent but it's up to God. How it says in Hebrews 4:7b "To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts."
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