In this video listen to Judges 9 read by David Alley, followed by comments and prayer.

In Judges 9 the story of Gideon continues as an excursus telling about his sons. Abimelech was an illegitimate son of Gideon from Shechem, who convinced this town to support his initiative. With their support, Abimelech killed 69 of his 70 brothers in an attempt to take total control of Israel. He wanted to be effectively the king.

But his father’s words in 8:23 were to prove prophetic when he said that neither he, nor his son would be king. Jotham, the remaining son of Gideon told a parable and added a prophetic curse to it. He predicted that fire from Abimelech would destroy Shechem and fire from Shec ...