NIV Once-A-Day Bible Men And Women Of The Bible DevotionalSample

PRAY FOR THE DAY

Abimelek was a cold-blooded man. To secure his own future, he ended the lives of 69 half-brothers, Gideon’s children. (Abimelek was Gideon’s son by a concubine in Shechem.) Killing so many is not easy. It takes planning, teamwork and a certain heartless poise. One must be deaf to cries for mercy, one victim after another. One must regard the murders as a job, a task, a career step. The messiness of the killing field must not deter one from his purpose: to secure political control.
Abimelek could handle mass murder, but apparently he couldn’t count. By God’s mercy, one half-brother, Jotham, escaped. Didn’t Abimelek count the corpses? Didn’t he know one was still alive? Only three years after the massacre at Ophrah, a speech by Jotham and a rebellious spirit among the people of Shechem toppled Abimelek, who died dishonorably, the victim of a dropped millstone. In more ways than one, Abimelek had never learned to look up.
Viciousness still claims its victims. Peace is still a fragile truce with evil. The day is coming, however, when a just God will judge brutality and vindicate the suffering of the innocent. Until that time, injustice, evil and bloodshed can and should compel us to pray for the day of the Lord.

PRAYER
Lord, bring about your justice . . .

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Abimelek’s story is told in Judges 8:31 — ​9:57. He is also mentioned in 2 Samuel 11:21.