Judges 9 - Part 60 

April 7, 2021

Good evening, and welcome to Searching The Scriptures! This will be Judges 9 - Part 60 and today’s date is April 7, 2021. I’ll read from Judges 9:50-57,

Then went Abimelech to Thebez, and encamped against Thebez, and took it. {51} But there was a strong tower within the city, and thither fled all the men and women, and all they of the city, and shut [it] to them, and gat them up to the top of the tower. {52} And Abimelech came unto the tower, and fought against it, and went hard unto the door of the tower to burn it with fire. {53} And a certain woman cast a piece of a millstone upon Abimelech's head, and all to brake his skull. {54} Then he called hastily unto the young man his armourbearer, and said unto him, Draw thy sword, and slay me, that men say not of me, A woman slew him. And his young man thrust him through, and he died. {55} And when the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, they departed every man unto his place. {56} Thus God rendered the wickedness of Abimelech, which he did unto his father, in slaying his seventy brethren: {57} And all the evil of the men of Shechem did God render upon their heads: and upon them came the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal.

In our examination of Judges 9, we have arrived at verse 52 which states:

And Abimelech came unto the tower, and fought against it, and went hard unto the door of the tower to burn it with fire. 

We have learned that this town of Thebez [Tebets:H8405] (which is in proximity to Shechem, and Shechem can typify either the world or the elect) is very much associated with fine linen, or the elect who have indeed been clothed with fine linen, exemplifying the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. Likewise fine linen was used in the construction of the Temple and in particular the vail of the Temple.  This would also extend to the singers in the Temple during its dedication, who were also wearing fine linen. Moreover, the furnishings in King Ahasuerus’ palace include this term as well, and please remember  King Ahashuerus is a spiritual portrait of Christ as Esther becomes His Queen (and His Bride), symbolizing the Bride of Christ. We also want to keep in mind that Abimelech’s upcoming death at the hand of a woman is similar to Sisera’s death at the hand of Jael as we saw in Judges 4. 

Since we have already considered the two words, came and the tower in a previous study when we were researching verse 46, let’s proceed to the phrase, and fought against it, and went hard, which is made up of two Hebrew words:

And Fought [laham:H3898/TWOT*:1105/1105] Against It And Went Hard [nagas:H5066/TWOT:1297] 

These two expressions are only found together again in verse 20 of 2 Samuel 11:18-21, which we have encountered before in Part 58 regarding the city of Thebez in the context of David’s plot to have Uriah the Hittite (Bathsheba’s husband) killed, in order to cover up his sin of adultery:

Then Joab sent and told David all the things concerning the war; {19} And charged the messenger, saying, When thou hast made an end of telling the matters of the war unto the king, {20} And if so be that the king's wrath arise, and he say unto thee, Wherefore approached ye so nigh [nagas:H5066/TWOT:1297]  unto the city when ye did fight [laham:H3898/TWOT:1105/1105] ? knew ye not that they would shoot from the wall? {21} Who smote Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth? did not a woman cast a piece of a millstone upon him from the wall, that he died in Thebez? why went ye nigh the wall? then say thou, Thy servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.

*Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (TWOT)

The Door [pethach:H6607/TWOT:1854a]

The next term, the door [of this Tower in Thebez - also pointing to God Himself] or pethach has also cropped up before in this chapter, and is associated with the Savior as these next citations underscore:

Psalm 24:7 and 9 gloriously proclaim: Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors [pethach:H6607/TWOT:1854a]; and the King of glory shall come in. ... {9} Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift [them] up, ye everlasting doors [pethach:H6607/TWOT:1854a]; and the King of glory shall come in.

Proverbs 1:21 speaks of Wisdom (which likewise personifies the Lord Jesus as 1 Corinthians 1:24 affirms): She crieth in the chief place of concourse, in the openings [pethach:H6607/TWOT:1854a]  of the gates: in the city she uttereth her words, [saying],

Parabolically The Door alludes to the Lord Jesus Christ, Who is The Door, as verses 7 and 9 of John 10:1-18 highlight:

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. {2} But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. {3} To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. {4} And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice. {5} And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers. {6} This parable spake Jesus unto them: but they understood not what things they were which he spake unto them. {7} Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door [thura:G2374] of the sheep. {8} All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them. {9} I am the door [thura:G2374]: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. {10} The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have [it] more abundantly. {11} I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. {12} But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. {13}  The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep. {14} I am the good shepherd, and know my [sheep], and am known of mine. {15} As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep. {16} And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, [and] one shepherd. {17} Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. {18} No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father.

Let’s read Judges 9:52 again: And Abimelech came unto the tower, and fought against it, and went hard unto the door of the tower to burn it with fire. 

Please note that Abimelech (as a type of Satan) is attacking not only the Tower (God Himself and all His elect) but specifically the door of the tower (Christ), with the intention to burn it with fire, which are the next two expressions that we want to investigate:  

To Burn [saraph:H8313/TWOT:2292] It With Fire [’esh:H784/TWOT:172]

These two expressions surface together in 75 citations, and we will consider some of them to see how God employs them. In the vast majority of cases these two words are used in connection with God’s judgment either against heathen nations or their gods as well as with judgment beginning at God’s house first. I only found one other notice that was similar to what we find here in Judges 9:52 and it is in verse 32 of Jeremiah 36:20-32, in which king Jehoiakim of Judah burns the Word of God page by page in the fire: 

And they went in to the king into the court, but they laid up the roll in the chamber of Elishama the scribe, and told all the words in the ears of the king. {21} So the king sent Jehudi to fetch the roll: and he took it out of Elishama the scribe's chamber. And Jehudi read it in the ears of the king, and in the ears of all the princes which stood beside the king. {22} Now the king sat in the winterhouse in the ninth month: and [there was a fire] on the hearth burning before him. {23} And it came to pass, [that] when Jehudi had read three or four leaves, he cut it with the penknife, and cast [it] into the fire [’esh:H784/TWOT:172] that [was] on the hearth, until all the roll was consumed in the fire [’esh:H784/TWOT:172] that [was] on the hearth. {24} Yet they were not afraid, nor rent their garments, [neither] the king, nor any of his servants that heard all these words. {25} Nevertheless Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah had made intercession to the king that he would not burn the roll: but he would not hear them. {26} But the king commanded Jerahmeel the son of Hammelech, and Seraiah the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel, to take Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet: but the LORD hid them. {27} Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, after that the king had burned [saraph:H8313/TWOT:2292] the roll, and the words which Baruch wrote at the mouth of Jeremiah, saying, {28} Take thee again another roll, and write in it all the former words that were in the first roll, which Jehoiakim the king of Judah hath burned. {29} And thou shalt say to Jehoiakim king of Judah, Thus saith the LORD; Thou hast burned this roll, saying, Why hast thou written therein, saying, The king of Babylon shall certainly come and destroy this land, and shall cause to cease from thence man and beast? {30} Therefore thus saith the LORD of Jehoiakim king of Judah; He shall have none to sit upon the throne of David: and his dead body shall be cast out in the day to the heat, and in the night to the frost. {31} And I will punish him and his seed and his servants for their iniquity; and I will bring upon them, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and upon the men of Judah, all the evil that I have pronounced against them; but they hearkened not. {32} Then took Jeremiah another roll, and gave it to Baruch the scribe, the son of Neriah; who wrote therein from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the book which Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned [saraph:H8313/TWOT:2292] in the fire [’esh:H784/TWOT:172]: and there were added besides unto them many like words.

Incidentally, the word for had burned or saraph is the root or shoresh of some other words in this word family, such as (H8314), which is identically spelled and found, for example, in the following references:

Verses 6 and 8 of Numbers 21:4-9 include this word which is translated as fiery and thee a fiery respectively in this account in which the Work and Faith of the Lord Jesus Christ is characterized by the brass serpent that was lifted up:  

And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the Red sea, to compass the land of Edom: and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way. {5} And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for [there is] no bread, neither [is there any] water; and our soul loatheth this light bread. {6} And the LORD sent fiery [saraph:H8314/TWOT:2292 a, b]  serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died. {7} Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people. {8} And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery [saraph:H8314/TWOT:2292 a, b] serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live. {9} And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.

There is a commentary to this event in verse 14 of John 3:10-21, as Jesus is approached by Nicodemus at night: Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? {11} Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness. {12} If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you [of] heavenly things? {13} And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, [even] the Son of man which is in heaven. {14} And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: {15} That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. {16} For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. {17} For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. {18} He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. {19} And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. {20} For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. {21} But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.

Another place where on discovers this term seraph or the plural form seraphim (depicting God as The Judge) is in verses 2 and 6 of Isaiah 6:1-7, In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. {2} Above it stood the seraphims [saraph:H8314/TWOT:2292 a, b]: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. {3} And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, [is] the LORD of hosts: the whole earth [is] full of his glory. {4} And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. {5} Then said I, Woe [is] me! for I am undone; because I [am] a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts. {6} Then flew one of the seraphims [saraph:H8314/TWOT:2292 a, b] unto me, having a live coal in his hand, [which] he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: {7} And he laid [it] upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.

These seraphims depict God as Judge, which is one of the reasons that Isaiah exclaims that he is undone, but then the grace of God shines through the curse of the Law (which all men are under). God in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ is represented by the burning coal on the Altar (in fact Christ is typified by both the live coal as well as the Altar). Isaiah’s lips are thereby purged (illustrating his soul) and his sin is eradicated by virtue of Christ’s atonement for him and everyone of God’s saints  from the foundation of the world. 

Well, on that most blessed note, we will have to conclude today’s study. Lord willing, in our next lesson, we will examine verse 53 and this unnamed woman that was responsible for Abimelech’s death by dropping  a piece of a millstone on his head: And a certain woman cast a piece of a millstone upon Abimelech's head, and all to brake his skull. 

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Judges 9 - Part 61 

April 9, 2021

Good evening, and welcome to Searching The Scriptures! This will be Judges 9 - Part 61 and today’s date is April 9, 2021. I’ll read from Judges 9:50-57,

Then went Abimelech to Thebez, and encamped against Thebez, and took it. {51} But there was a strong tower within the city, and thither fled all the men and women, and all they of the city, and shut [it] to them, and gat them up to the top of the tower. {52} And Abimelech came unto the tower, and fought against it, and went hard unto the door of the tower to burn it with fire. {53} And a certain woman cast a piece of a millstone upon Abimelech's head, and all to brake his skull. {54} Then he called hastily unto the young man his armourbearer, and said unto him, Draw thy sword, and slay me, that men say not of me, A woman slew him. And his young man thrust him through, and he died. {55} And when the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, they departed every man unto his place. {56} Thus God rendered the wickedness of Abimelech, which he did unto his father, in slaying his seventy brethren: {57} And all the evil of the men of Shechem did God render upon their heads: and upon them came the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal.

As I mentioned at the close of our last study, today we want to address verse 53 which states: And a certain woman cast a piece of a millstone upon Abimelech's head, and all to brake his skull. 

And A Certain [’echad:H259/TWOT*:61] Woman [’ishshah:H802/TWOT:137a] 

As I mentioned previously this woman is a spiritual representation of God’s elect just as the Tower in which they are occupying is a portrait of God and his saints, as well as the name of this city, Thebez, that has to do with fine linen, which in turn also typifies the redeemed. As such this woman also parallels Jael (the wife of Heber) as we saw back in Judges 4. 

*Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (TWOT)

The following Scriptures illustrate some of the ways that God employs these two terms, and a certain or ’echad  [which is primarily translated as (the number) one] and woman or  ’ishshah:

Judges 13:2 is the only other reference in the book of Judges in which these two words are found together regarding the mother and father of Samson: And there was a certain [’echad:H259/TWOT:61] man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name [was] Manoah; and his wife [’ishshah:H802/TWOT:137a] [was] barren, and bare not.

Genesis 2:24 proclaims the unity of the marriage relationship: Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife [’ishshah:H802/TWOT:137a]: and they shall be one [’echad:H259/TWOT:61] flesh.

Verse 32 of Ephesians 5:22-33 picks up this major Biblical theme (and word bridge between Genesis 2:24 and Ephesians 5:32) and highlights the spiritual matrimony between Christ and His church:

Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. {23} For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. {24} Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so [let] the wives [be] to their own husbands in every thing. {25} Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; {26} That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, {27} That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. {28} So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. {29} For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: {30} For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. {31} For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. {32} This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church. {33} Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife [see] that she reverence [her] husband.

Exodus 26:5-6 and 17 curiously find expression in both the curtains as well as in the tenons, which are the two parts of a wooden dovetail joint: Fifty loops shalt thou make in the one [’echad:H259/TWOT:61]  curtain, and fifty loops shalt thou make in the edge of the curtain that [is] in the coupling of the second; that the loops may take hold one [’ishshah:H802/TWOT:137a] of another. {6} And thou shalt make fifty taches of gold, and couple the curtains together with [’ishshah:H802/TWOT:137a] the taches: and it shall be one tabernacle. ... {17} Two tenons [shall there be] in one [’echad:H259/TWOT:61]  board, set in order one [’ishshah:H802/TWOT:137a] against another: thus shalt thou make for all the boards of the tabernacle.

These two expressions are also found in Ruth 1:4 with regard to Naomi’s two daughters-in-law: And they took them wives [’ishshah:H802/TWOT:137a] of the women [’ishshah:H802/TWOT:137a] of Moab; the name of the one [’echad:H259/TWOT:61]  [was] Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth: and they dwelled there about ten years.

They surface as well in the historical parable found in verse 17 of 1 Kings 3:16-28 with respect to the two harlots that approached King Solomon for justice regarding their grievance, which also served to underscore the wisdom that God had blessed David’s son with:  

Then came there two women, [that were] harlots, unto the king, and stood before him. {17} And the one [’echad:H259/TWOT:61]  woman [’ishshah:H802/TWOT:137a]  said, O my lord, I and this woman [’ishshah:H802/TWOT:137a] dwell in one [’echad:H259/TWOT:61]   house; and I was delivered of a child with her in the house. {18} And it came to pass the third day after that I was delivered, that this woman was delivered also: and we [were] together; [there was] no stranger with us in the house, save we two in the house. {19} And this woman's child died in the night; because she overlaid it. {20} And she arose at midnight, and took my son from beside me, while thine handmaid slept, and laid it in her bosom, and laid her dead child in my bosom. {21} And when I rose in the morning to give my child suck, behold, it was dead: but when I had considered it in the morning, behold, it was not my son, which I did bear. {22} And the other woman said, Nay; but the living [is] my son, and the dead [is] thy son. And this said, No; but the dead [is] thy son, and the living [is] my son. Thus they spake before the king. {23} Then said the king, The one saith, This [is] my son that liveth, and thy son [is] the dead: and the other saith, Nay; but thy son [is] the dead, and my son [is] the living. {24} And the king said, Bring me a sword. And they brought a sword before the king. {25} And the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other. {26} Then spake the woman whose the living child [was] unto the king, for her bowels yearned upon her son, and she said, O my lord, give her the living child, and in no wise slay it. But the other said, Let it be neither mine nor thine, [but] divide [it]. {27} Then the king answered and said, Give her the living child, and in no wise slay it: she [is] the mother thereof. {28} And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged; and they feared the king: for they saw that the wisdom of God [was] in him, to do judgment.

We also discover these two words in the historical parable in verse 1 of  2 Kings 4:1-7, Now there cried a certain [’echad:H259/TWOT:61] woman [’ishshah:H802/TWOT:137a] of the wives [’ishshah:H802/TWOT:137a] of the sons of the prophets unto Elisha, saying, Thy servant my husband is dead; and thou knowest that thy servant did fear the LORD: and the creditor is come to take unto him my two sons to be bondmen. {2} And Elisha said unto her, What shall I do for thee? tell me, what hast thou in the house? And she said, Thine handmaid hath not any thing in the house, save a pot of oil. {3} Then he said, Go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbours, [even] empty vessels; borrow not a few. {4} And when thou art come in, thou shalt shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons, and shalt pour out into all those vessels, and thou shalt set aside that which is full. {5} So she went from him, and shut the door upon her and upon her sons, who brought [the vessels] to her; and she poured out. {6} And it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said unto her son, Bring me yet a vessel. And he said unto her, [There is] not a vessel more. And the oil stayed. {7} Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, Go, sell the oil, and pay thy debt, and live thou and thy children of the rest.

Lastly, verse 13 of Esther 3:1-15 includes these two expressions in this account of Haman’s (who typifies Satan) attempt to destroy God’s people in yet another historical parable:

After these things did king Ahasuerus promote Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and advanced him, and set his seat above all the princes that [were] with him. {2} And all the king's servants, that [were] in the king's gate, bowed, and reverenced Haman: for the king had so commanded concerning him. But Mordecai bowed not, nor did [him] reverence. {3} Then the king's servants, which [were] in the king's gate, said unto Mordecai, Why transgressest thou the king's commandment? {4} Now it came to pass, when they spake daily unto him, and he hearkened not unto them, that they told Haman, to see whether Mordecai's matters would stand: for he had told them that he [was] a Jew. {5} And when Haman saw that Mordecai bowed not, nor did him reverence, then was Haman full of wrath. {6} And he thought scorn to lay hands on Mordecai alone; for they had shewed him the people of Mordecai: wherefore Haman sought to destroy all the Jews that [were] throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus, [even] the people of Mordecai. {7} In the first month, that [is], the month Nisan, in the twelfth year of king Ahasuerus, they cast Pur, that [is], the lot, before Haman from day to day, and from month to month, [to] the twelfth [month], that [is], the month Adar. {8} And Haman said unto king Ahasuerus, There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the people in all the provinces of thy kingdom; and their laws [are] diverse from all people; neither keep they the king's laws: therefore it [is] not for the king's profit to suffer them. {9} If it please the king, let it be written that they may be destroyed: and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver to the hands of those that have the charge of the business, to bring [it] into the king's treasuries. {10} And the king took his ring from his hand, and gave it unto Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the Jews' enemy. {11} And the king said unto Haman, The silver [is] given to thee, the people also, to do with them as it seemeth good to thee. {12} Then were the king's scribes called on the thirteenth day of the first month, and there was written according to all that Haman had commanded unto the king's lieutenants, and to the governors that [were] over every province, and to the rulers of every people of every province according to the writing thereof, and [to] every people after their language; in the name of king Ahasuerus was it written, and sealed with the king's ring. {13} And the letters were sent by posts into all the king's provinces, to destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish, all Jews, both young and old, little children and women [’ishshah:H802/TWOT:137a], in one [’echad:H259/TWOT:61] day, [even] upon the thirteenth [day] of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, and [to take] the spoil of them for a prey. {14} The copy of the writing for a commandment to be given in every province was published unto all people, that they should be ready against that day. {15} The posts went out, being hastened by the king's commandment, and the decree was given in Shushan the palace. And the king and Haman sat down to drink; but the city Shushan was perplexed. 

We have already considered the three terms, cast a piece of a millstone, which only surface together again in 2 Samuel 11:21, but we have not looked at these terms individually, starting with the word, cast or shalak.

Cast [shalak:H7993/TWOT:2398]

These next Scriptures illustrate some of the ways that God utilizes this word:

Joshua 8:29 describes the fate of the king of Ai:  And the king of Ai he hanged on a tree until eventide: and as soon as the sun was down, Joshua commanded that they should take his carcase down from the tree, and cast [shalak:H7993/TWOT:2398] it at the entering of the gate of the city, and raise thereon a great heap of stones, [that remaineth] unto this day.

Joshua 10:11 and 27 offer this portrait of God’s judgment:  And it came to pass, as they fled from before Israel, [and] were in the going down to Bethhoron, that the LORD cast down [shalak:H7993/TWOT:2398]

 great stones from heaven upon them unto Azekah, and they died: [they were] more which died with hailstones than [they] whom the children of Israel slew with the sword. ... {27} And it came to pass at the time of the going down of the sun, [that] Joshua commanded, and they took them down off the trees, and cast [shalak:H7993/TWOT:2398] them into the cave wherein they had been hid, and laid great stones in the cave's mouth, [which remain] until this very day.

This expression arises in Ecclesiastes 3:5-6 which has to do with God’s various times and seasons: A time to cast away [shalak:H7993/TWOT:2398] stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; {6} A time to get seek, and a time to lose perish; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; [shalak:H7993/TWOT:2398]

A Piece [pelach:H6400/TWOT:1773a] 

Besides Judges 9:53 and 2 Samuel 11:21, the term a piece or pelach only emerges again in these next passages:

1 Samuel 30:12 records the account of an Egyptian that David’s soldiers found in a field:   And they gave him a piece [pelach:H6400/TWOT:1773a] of a cake of figs, and two clusters of raisins: and when he had eaten, his spirit came again to him: for he had eaten no bread, nor drunk [any] water, three days and three nights.

Job 41:24 offers part of a lengthy description of leviathan or Satan: His heart is as firm as a stone; yea, as hard as a piece [pelach:H6400/TWOT:1773a] of the nether [millstone].

Song of Solomon 4:3 affirms: Thy lips [are] like a thread of scarlet, and thy speech [is] comely: thy temples [are] like a piece [pelach:H6400/TWOT:1773a] of a pomegranate within thy locks.

Song of Solomon 6:7 likewise asserts: As a piece [pelach:H6400/TWOT:1773a]  of a pomegranate [are] thy temples within thy locks.

Of A Millstone [rekeb:H7393/TWOT:2163a]

This Hebrew word for millstone is only found in one other verse - Deuteronomy 24:6 - in which it is rendered as the upper millstone in this admonition because the upper millstone in particular was attached to a donkey or some other animal, so that as the animal went around the nether or lower millstone (which was fixed) the grain on the surface of the lower millstone would be ground into whole grain flour, as an important food source, parabolically highlighting the Bread of Life or Manna during wilderness sojourn:  

No man shall take the nether or the upper millstone [rekeb:H7393/TWOT:2163a] to pledge: for he taketh [a man's] life to pledge.

This account of Abimelech’s death by a piece of a millstone at the hands of a woman, reminds us of something we read in the New Testament - in verse 6 of Matthew 18:3-6 - concerning one of the chief characteristics of God’s elect people; in this illustration those who oppose the kingdom of God are spiritually condemned to drowning in the sea (a figure of hell, which is the grave) with a millstone around their necks as it were: 

And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. {4} Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven. {5} And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me. {6} But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone [mylos:G3458] were hanged about his neck, and [that] he were drowned in the depth of the sea. 

This same word for millstone as a picture of judgment is in keeping with our present, prolonged day of judgment according to Revelation 18:21-22, which is the only other citation besides Matthew 18:6 (and its parallel account in Luke 17:2) in which this expression millstone or mylos or emerges, referring to both God’s judgment and the cessation of the grinding of grain by means of a millstone, which is a figure of the Gospel going forth during the day of salvation:

And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone [mylos:G3458],  and cast [it] into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all. {22} And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft [he be], shall be found any more in thee; and the sound of a millstone [mylos:G3458]  shall be heard no more at all in thee;

We’ll have to stop here as we have run out of time. Lord willing, in our next lesson, we will consider the second half of verse 53.

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Judges 9 - Part 62 

 April 12 , 2021

Good evening, and welcome to Searching The Scriptures! This will be Judges 9 - Part 62 and today’s date is April 12 , 2021. I’ll read from Judges 9:50-57,

Then went Abimelech to Thebez, and encamped against Thebez, and took it. {51} But there was a strong tower within the city, and thither fled all the men and women, and all they of the city, and shut [it] to them, and gat them up to the top of the tower. {52} And Abimelech came unto the tower, and fought against it, and went hard unto the door of the tower to burn it with fire. {53} And a certain woman cast a piece of a millstone upon Abimelech's head, and all to brake his skull. {54} Then he called hastily unto the young man his armourbearer, and said unto him, Draw thy sword, and slay me, that men say not of me, A woman slew him. And his young man thrust him through, and he died. {55} And when the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, they departed every man unto his place. {56} Thus God rendered the wickedness of Abimelech, which he did unto his father, in slaying his seventy brethren: {57} And all the evil of the men of Shechem did God render upon their heads: and upon them came the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal.

Of A Millstone [rekeb:H7393/TWOT:2163a] 

In our previous lesson we began looking at some of the citations that included this term, of a millstone. Here are a few more references that include this Hebrew word, of a millstone or rekeb which is overwhelmingly translated as chariots; then we will consider the rest of verse 53. 

In Psalm 68:17 we see this word being used in connection with the Kingdom of God: The chariots [rekeb:H7393/TWOT:2163a] of God [are] twenty thousand, [even] thousands of angels: the Lord [is] among them, [as in] Sinai, in the holy [place].

The focus of Jeremiah 51:21 is that of God using His people in the day of judgment, even as He did during the day of salvation:  And with thee will I break in pieces the horse and his rider [rekeb:H7392/TWOT:2163 - the root word for H7393]; and with thee will I break in pieces the chariot [rekeb:H7393/TWOT:2163a] and his rider; [rekeb:H7392/TWOT:2163 - the root word for H7393] 

Similarly, 2 Kings 6:14-15, and 17 also uses this expression to depict the Kingdom of God: Therefore sent he thither horses, and chariots [rekeb:H7393/TWOT:2163a],  and a great host: and they came by night, and compassed the city about. {15} And when the servant of the man of God was risen early, and gone forth, behold, an host compassed the city both with horses and chariots. [rekeb:H7393/TWOT:2163a]  And his servant said unto him, Alas, my master! how shall we do? ... {17} And Elisha prayed, and said, LORD, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain [was] full of horses and chariots [rekeb:H7393/TWOT:2163a] of fire round about Elisha.

That is a very comforting passage for us to reflect on, when we are overwhelmed by circumstances, or we might be feeling downcast. Well, let’s move on to the last two words in verse 53, since we have already considered the terms, Abimelech and head: and all to brake his skull. These two expressions only surface together in this passage, so we will have to examine them individually.

And All To Brake [rasas:H7533/TWOT: 2212] 

The following citations reveal some of the ways that God has chosen to employ this term, and all to brake or rasas: 

In Genesis 25:22 it surfaces as struggled together: And the children struggled together [rasas:H7533/TWOT: 2212] within her; and she said, If [it be] so, why [am] I thus? And she went to enquire of the LORD.

We will also be encountering this word again once we arrive at  Judges 10:8, Lord willing, in which it is rendered as and oppressed, referring to the Ammonites and Philistines that God used to bring His judgment against Israel for going after false gods: 

And that year they vexed and oppressed [rasas:H7533/TWOT: 2212] the children of Israel: eighteen years, all the children of Israel that [were] on the other side Jordan in the land of the Amorites, which [is] in Gilead.

In verses 3-4 of 1 Samuel 12:1-25 this expression is used twice as oppressed: And Samuel said unto all Israel, Behold, I have hearkened unto your voice in all that ye said unto me, and have made a king over you. {2} And now, behold, the king walketh before you: and I am old and grayheaded; and, behold, my sons [are] with you: and I have walked before you from my childhood unto this day. {3} Behold, here I [am]: witness against me before the LORD, and before his anointed: whose ox have I taken? or whose ass have I taken? or whom have I defrauded? whom have I oppressed? [rasas:H7533/TWOT: 2212] or of whose hand have I received [any] bribe to blind mine eyes therewith? and I will restore it you. {4} And they said, Thou hast not defrauded us, nor oppressed [rasas:H7533/TWOT: 2212] us, neither hast thou taken ought of any man's hand.  {5} And he said unto them, The LORD [is] witness against you, and his anointed [is] witness this day, that ye have not found ought in my hand. And they answered, [He is] witness. {6} And Samuel said unto the people, [It is] the LORD that advanced Moses and Aaron, and that brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt. {7} Now therefore stand still, that I may reason with you before the LORD of all the righteous acts of the LORD, which he did to you and to your fathers. {8} When Jacob was come into Egypt, and your fathers cried unto the LORD, then the LORD sent Moses and Aaron, which brought forth your fathers out of Egypt, and made them dwell in this place. {9} And when they forgat the LORD their God, he sold them into the hand of Sisera, captain of the host of Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab, and they fought against them. {10} And they cried unto the LORD, and said, We have sinned, because we have forsaken the LORD, and have served Baalim and Ashtaroth: but now deliver us out of the hand of our enemies, and we will serve thee. {11} And the LORD sent Jerubbaal, and Bedan, and Jephthah, and Samuel, and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side, and ye dwelled safe. {12} And when ye saw that Nahash the king of the children of Ammon came against you, ye said unto me, Nay; but a king shall reign over us: when the LORD your God [was] your king. {13} Now therefore behold the king whom ye have chosen, [and] whom ye have desired! and, behold, the LORD hath set a king over you. {14} If ye will fear the LORD, and serve him, and obey his voice, and not rebel against the commandment of the LORD, then shall both ye and also the king that reigneth over you continue following the LORD your God: {15} But if ye will not obey the voice of the LORD, but rebel against the commandment of the LORD, then shall the hand of the LORD be against you, as [it was] against your fathers. {16} Now therefore stand and see this great thing, which the LORD will do before your eyes. {17} [Is it] not wheat harvest to day? I will call unto the LORD, and he shall send thunder and rain; that ye may perceive and see that your wickedness [is] great, which ye have done in the sight of the LORD, in asking you a king. {18} So Samuel called unto the LORD; and the LORD sent thunder and rain that day: and all the people greatly feared the LORD and Samuel. {19} And all the people said unto Samuel, Pray for thy servants unto the LORD thy God, that we die not: for we have added unto all our sins [this] evil, to ask us a king. {20} And Samuel said unto the people, Fear not: ye have done all this wickedness: yet turn not aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart; {21} And turn ye not aside: for [then should ye go] after vain [things], which cannot profit nor deliver; for they [are] vain. {22} For the LORD will not forsake his people for his great name's sake: because it hath pleased the LORD to make you his people. {23} Moreover as for me, God forbid that I should sin against the LORD in ceasing to pray for you: but I will teach you the good and the right way: {24} Only fear the LORD, and serve him in truth with all your heart: for consider how great [things] he hath done for you. {25} But if ye shall still do wickedly, ye shall be consumed, both ye and your king.

This expression also crops up in Psalm 74:14 with regard to leviathan, who typifies Satan throughout history; this word is translated as brakest: Thou brakest [rasas:H7533/TWOT: 2212] the heads of leviathan in pieces, [and] gavest him [to be] meat to the people inhabiting the wilderness.

Verses 3-4 of Isaiah 42:1-7 speak of the Lord Jesus Christ; Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, [in whom] my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. {2} He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street. {3} A bruised [rasas:H7533/TWOT: 2212]  reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth. {4} He shall not fail nor be discouraged [rasas:H7533/TWOT: 2212], till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law. {5} Thus saith God the LORD, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein: {6} I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles; {7} To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, [and] them that sit in darkness out of the prison house. 

Verse 6 of Isaiah 58:1-14 expresses this word again as oppressed, in this chapter which really defines, among other things, the spiritual meaning of fasting, which is to give the Gospel during the day of salvation: 

Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins. {2} Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God: they ask of me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching to God. {3} Wherefore have we fasted, [say they], and thou seest not? [wherefore] have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labours. {4} Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as [ye do this] day, to make your voice to be heard on high. {5} Is it such a fast that I have chosen? a day for a man to afflict his soul? [is it] to bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes [under him]? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to the LORD? {6} [Is] not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed [rasas:H7533/TWOT: 2212] go free, and that ye break every yoke? {7} [Is it] not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh? {8} Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the LORD shall be thy rereward. {9} Then shalt thou call, and the LORD shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I [am]. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity; {10} And [if] thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness [be] as the noonday: {11} And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not. {12} And [they that shall be] of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in. {13} If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, [from] doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking [thine own] words: {14} Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken [it].

It looks like we have run out of time. Lord willing, in our next study we will examine the last term in verse 53, his skull.

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Judges 9 - Part 63 

 April 14 , 2021

Good evening, and welcome to Searching The Scriptures! This will be Judges 9 - Part 63 and today’s date is April 14 , 2021. I’ll read from Judges 9:50-57,

Then went Abimelech to Thebez, and encamped against Thebez, and took it. {51} But there was a strong tower within the city, and thither fled all the men and women, and all they of the city, and shut [it] to them, and gat them up to the top of the tower. {52} And Abimelech came unto the tower, and fought against it, and went hard unto the door of the tower to burn it with fire. {53} And a certain woman cast a piece of a millstone upon Abimelech's head, and all to brake his skull. {54} Then he called hastily unto the young man his armourbearer, and said unto him, Draw thy sword, and slay me, that men say not of me, A woman slew him. And his young man thrust him through, and he died. {55} And when the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, they departed every man unto his place. {56} Thus God rendered the wickedness of Abimelech, which he did unto his father, in slaying his seventy brethren: {57} And all the evil of the men of Shechem did God render upon their heads: and upon them came the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal.

We have arrived at the last word in verse 53, his skull, and then we will investigate verse 54.

His Skull [gulgoleth:H1538/TWOT*:3531] 

Most of the time this term, his skull, or gulgoleth is translated polls or man; it only appears again as skull with regard to the gruesome death of Jezebel (one of the most wicked women in the Bible) as verse 35 of 2 Kings 9:30-37 illustrates:

And when Jehu was come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard [of it]; and she painted her face, and tired her head, and looked out at a window. 

*Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (TWOT)

{31} And as Jehu entered in at the gate, she said, [Had] Zimri peace, who slew his master? {32} And he lifted up his face to the window, and said, Who [is] on my side? who? And there looked out to him two [or] three eunuchs. {33} And he said, Throw her down. So they threw her down: and [some] of her blood was sprinkled on the wall, and on the horses: and he trode her under foot. {34} And when he was come in, he did eat and drink, and said, Go, see now this cursed [woman], and bury her: for she [is] a king's daughter. And they went to bury her: but they found no more of her than the skull [gulgoleth:H1538/TWOT:3531], and the feet, and the palms of [her] hands. {36} Wherefore they came again, and told him. And he said, This [is] the word of the LORD, which he spake by his servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, In the portion of Jezreel shall dogs eat the flesh of Jezebel: {37} And the carcase of Jezebel shall be as dung upon the face of the field in the portion of Jezreel; [so] that they shall not say, This [is] Jezebel.

Verse 10 of 1 Chronicles 10:1-9 records what the Philistines did with the head of King Saul, which is how this word is translated here: 

Now the Philistines fought against Israel; and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain in mount Gilboa. {2} And the Philistines followed hard after Saul, and after his sons; and the Philistines slew Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Malchishua, the sons of Saul. {3} And the battle went sore against Saul, and the archers hit him, and he was wounded of the archers. {4} Then said Saul to his armourbearer, Draw [shalaph:H8025/TWOT:2402] thy sword [chereb:H2719/TWOT:732a], and thrust me through therewith; lest these uncircumcised come and abuse me. But his armourbearer would not; for he was sore afraid. So Saul took a sword, and fell upon it. {5} And when his armourbearer saw that Saul was dead, he fell likewise on the sword, and died. {6} So Saul died, and his three sons, and all his house died together. {7} And when all the men of Israel that [were] in the valley saw that they fled, and that Saul and his sons were dead, then they forsook their cities, and fled: and the Philistines came and dwelt in them. {8} And it came to pass on the morrow, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his sons fallen in mount Gilboa. {9} And when they had stripped him, they took his head, and his armour, and sent into the land of the Philistines round about, to carry tidings unto their idols, and to the people. {10} And they put his armour in the house of their gods, and fastened his head [gulgoleth:H1538/TWOT:3531] in the temple of Dagon.

Exodus 16:16 expresses this word for every man, with respect to the gathering of the manna - which points spiritually to Christ as the Bread of Life: This [is] the thing which the LORD hath commanded, Gather of it every man according to his eating, an omer for every man [gulgoleth:H1538/TWOT:3531], [according to] the number of your persons; take ye every man for [them] which [are] in his tents.

This is also the case in Exodus 38:26, in which this word is again rendered for every man: A bekah for every man [gulgoleth:H1538/TWOT:3531], [that is], half a shekel, after the shekel of the sanctuary, for every one that went to be numbered, from twenty years old and upward, for six hundred thousand and three thousand and five hundred and fifty [men].

Numbers 1:2 includes this term as by their polls: Take ye the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel, after their families, by the house of their fathers, with the number of [their] names, every male by their polls; [gulgoleth:H1538/TWOT:3531]

Next we want to investigate verse 54 which states: Then he called hastily unto the young man his armourbearer, and said unto him, Draw thy sword, and slay me, that men say not of me, A woman slew him. 

Then He Called [qara:H7121/TWOT:2063] Hastily [m@herah:H4120/TWOT:1152d] 

The first phrase in this passage is made up of two Hebrew words, Then he called or qara’ and hastily or m@herah. They only appear together again in verse 38 of 1 Samuel 20:35-42, which has to do with the covenant that David and Jonathan make, when David was forced to flee from Saul who was determined to kill him; these two words are translated as cried and make speed: 

And it came to pass in the morning, that Jonathan went out into the field at the time appointed with David, and a little lad with him. {36} And he said unto his lad, Run, find out now the arrows which I shoot. [And] as the lad ran, he shot an arrow beyond him. {37} And when the lad was come to the place of the arrow which Jonathan had shot, Jonathan cried after the lad, and said, [Is] not the arrow beyond thee? {38} And Jonathan cried [qara:H7121/TWOT:2063] after the lad, Make speed [m@herah:H4120/TWOT:1152d], haste, stay not. And Jonathan's lad gathered up the arrows, and came to his master. {39} But the lad knew not any thing: only Jonathan and David knew the matter. {40} And Jonathan gave his artillery unto his lad, and said unto him, Go, carry [them] to the city. {41} [And] as soon as the lad was gone, David arose out of [a place] toward the south, and fell on his face to the ground, and bowed himself three times: and they kissed one another, and wept one with another, until David exceeded. {42} And Jonathan said to David, Go in peace, forasmuch as we have sworn both of us in the name of the LORD, saying, The LORD be between me and thee, and between my seed and thy seed for ever. And he arose and departed: and Jonathan went into the city.

The Young Man [na’ar:H5288/TWOT:1389a] His Armourbearer [nasa’:H5375/TWOT:1421] 

The next two expressions in verse 54 are the young man or na’ar and his armourbearer or  nasa’. They surface together in ten other Scriptures, and we will consider one of them, since it is quite lengthy and is found in verse 50 of Deuteronomy 28:15-68, which is a formidable indictment against Israel for their disobedience to God, incurring God’s wrath upon them, and picturing that judgment first begins at the house of God, when God allowed Satan to rule there over the course of the 23 years of the Great Tribulation (May 21, 1988 - May 21, 2011)

But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee: {16} Cursed [shalt] thou [be] in the city, and cursed [shalt] thou [be] in the field. {17} Cursed [shall be] thy basket and thy store. {18} Cursed [shall be] the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy land, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep. {19} Cursed [shalt] thou [be] when thou comest in, and cursed [shalt] thou [be] when thou goest out. {20} The LORD shall send upon thee cursing, vexation, and rebuke, in all that thou settest thine hand unto for to do, until thou be destroyed, and until thou perish quickly; because of the wickedness of thy doings, whereby thou hast forsaken me. {21} The LORD shall make the pestilence cleave unto thee, until he have consumed thee from off the land, whither thou goest to possess it. {22} The LORD shall smite thee with a consumption, and with a fever, and with an inflammation, and with an extreme burning, and with the sword, and with blasting, and with mildew; and they shall pursue thee until thou perish. {23} And thy heaven that [is] over thy head shall be brass, and the earth that is under thee [shall be] iron. {24} The LORD shall make the rain of thy land powder and dust: from heaven shall it come down upon thee, until thou be destroyed. {25} The LORD shall cause thee to be smitten before thine enemies: thou shalt go out one way against them, and flee seven ways before them: and shalt be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth. {26} And thy carcase shall be meat unto all fowls of the air, and unto the beasts of the earth, and no man shall fray [them] away. {27} The LORD will smite thee with the botch of Egypt, and with the emerods, and with the scab, and with the itch, whereof thou canst not be healed. {28} The LORD shall smite thee with madness, and blindness, and astonishment of heart: {29} And thou shalt grope at noonday, as the blind gropeth in darkness, and thou shalt not prosper in thy ways: and thou shalt be only oppressed and spoiled evermore, and no man shall save [thee]. {30} Thou shalt betroth a wife, and another man shall lie with her: thou shalt build an house, and thou shalt not dwell therein: thou shalt plant a vineyard, and shalt not gather the grapes thereof. {31} Thine ox [shall be] slain before thine eyes, and thou shalt not eat thereof: thine ass [shall be] violently taken away from before thy face, and shall not be restored to thee: thy sheep [shall be] given unto thine enemies, and thou shalt have none to rescue [them]. {32} Thy sons and thy daughters [shall be] given unto another people, and thine eyes shall look, and fail [with longing] for them all the day long: and [there shall be] no might in thine hand. {33} The fruit of thy land, and all thy labours, shall a nation which thou knowest not eat up; and thou shalt be only oppressed and crushed alway: {34} So that thou shalt be mad for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see. {35} The LORD shall smite thee in the knees, and in the legs, with a sore botch that cannot be healed, from the sole of thy foot unto the top of thy head. {36} The LORD shall bring thee, and thy king which thou shalt set over thee, unto a nation which neither thou nor thy fathers have known; and there shalt thou serve other gods, wood and stone. {37} And thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword, among all nations whither the LORD shall lead thee. {38} Thou shalt carry much seed out into the field, and shalt gather [but] little in; for the locust shall consume it. {39} Thou shalt plant vineyards, and dress [them], but shalt neither drink [of] the wine, nor gather [the grapes]; for the worms shall eat them. {40} Thou shalt have olive trees throughout all thy coasts, but thou shalt not anoint [thyself] with the oil; for thine olive shall cast [his fruit]. {41} Thou shalt beget sons and daughters, but thou shalt not enjoy them; for they shall go into captivity. {42} All thy trees and fruit of thy land shall the locust consume. {43} The stranger that [is] within thee shall get up above thee very high; and thou shalt come down very low. {44} He shall lend to thee, and thou shalt not lend to him: he shall be the head, and thou shalt be the tail. {45} Moreover all these curses shall come upon thee, and shall pursue thee, and overtake thee, till thou be destroyed; because thou hearkenedst not unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded thee: {46} And they shall be upon thee for a sign and for a wonder, and upon thy seed for ever. {47} Because thou servedst not the LORD thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all [things]; {48} Therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies which the LORD shall send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all [things]: and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he have destroyed thee. {49} The LORD shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of the earth, [as swift] as the eagle flieth; a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand; {50} A nation of fierce countenance, which shall not regard [nasa’:H5375/TWOT:1421] the person of the old, nor shew favour to the young: [na’ar:H5288/TWOT:1389a] {51} And he shall eat the fruit of thy cattle, and the fruit of thy land, until thou be destroyed: which [also] shall not leave thee [either] corn, wine, or oil, [or] the increase of thy kine, or flocks of thy sheep, until he have destroyed thee. {52} And he shall besiege thee in all thy gates, until thy high and fenced walls come down, wherein thou trustedst, throughout all thy land: and he shall besiege thee in all thy gates throughout all thy land, which the LORD thy God hath given thee. {53} And thou shalt eat the fruit of thine own body, the flesh of thy sons and of thy daughters, which the LORD thy God hath given thee, in the siege, and in the straitness, wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee: {54} [So that] the man [that is] tender among you, and very delicate, his eye shall be evil toward his brother, and toward the wife of his bosom, and toward the remnant of his children which he shall leave: {55} So that he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his children whom he shall eat: because he hath nothing left him in the siege, and in the straitness, wherewith thine enemies shall distress thee in all thy gates. {56} The tender and delicate woman among you, which would not adventure to set the sole of her foot upon the ground for delicateness and tenderness, her eye shall be evil toward the husband of her bosom, and toward her son, and toward her daughter, {57} And toward her young one that cometh out from between her feet, and toward her children which she shall bear: for she shall eat them for want of all [things] secretly in the siege and straitness, wherewith thine enemy shall distress thee in thy gates. {58} If thou wilt not observe to do all the words of this law that are written in this book, that thou mayest fear this glorious and fearful name, THE LORD THY GOD; {59} Then the LORD will make thy plagues wonderful, and the plagues of thy seed, [even] great plagues, and of long continuance, and sore sicknesses, and of long continuance. {60} Moreover he will bring upon thee all the diseases of Egypt, which thou wast afraid of; and they shall cleave unto thee. {61} Also every sickness, and every plague, which [is] not written in the book of this law, them will the LORD bring upon thee, until thou be destroyed. {62} And ye shall be left few in number, whereas ye were as the stars of heaven for multitude; because thou wouldest not obey the voice of the LORD thy God. {63} And it shall come to pass, [that] as the LORD rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you; so the LORD will rejoice over you to destroy you, and to bring you to nought; and ye shall be plucked from off the land whither thou goest to possess it. {64} And the LORD shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other; and there thou shalt serve other gods, which neither thou nor thy fathers have known, [even] wood and stone. {65} And among these nations shalt thou find no ease, neither shall the sole of thy foot have rest: but the LORD shall give thee there a trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind: {66} And thy life shall hang in doubt before thee; and thou shalt fear day and night, and shalt have none assurance of thy life: {67} In the morning thou shalt say, Would God it were even! and at even thou shalt say, Would God it were morning! for the fear of thine heart wherewith thou shalt fear, and for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see. {68} And the LORD shall bring thee into Egypt again with ships, by the way whereof I spake unto thee, Thou shalt see it no more again: and there ye shall be sold unto your enemies for bondmen and bondwomen, and no man shall buy [you].

Please note the repetition of the phrase, until thou be destroyed (or perish or consumed) 11 times, underscoring God’s wrath upon His own house first.

The next phrase in verse 54 is: draw thy sword and slay, which consists of three Hebrew words; incidentally the same words for draw and sword were  alsao utilized in 1 Chronicles 10:4 when Saul asked his armourbearer to kill him so the Philistines would not abuse him, which is similar to this incident with Abimelech and his armourbearer.

Draw [shalaph:H8025/TWOT:2402] Thy Sword [chereb:H2719/TWOT:732a] And Slay [muwth:H4191/TWOT:1169]

These three expressions are only found again in 1 Samuel 17:51 which records David’s victory over Goliath - another spiritual portrait of Christ’s victory over Satan: Therefore David ran, and stood upon the Philistine, and took his sword [chereb:H2719/TWOT:732a], and drew [shalaph:H8025/TWOT:2402] it out of the sheath thereof, and slew [muwth:H4191/TWOT:1169] him, and cut off his head therewith. And when the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they fled.

We will have to stop here as we have run out of time. Lord willing in our next lesson, we will continue our examination of verse 54.

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Judges 9 - Part 64 

April 16, 2021

Good evening, and welcome to Searching The Scriptures! This will be Judges 9 - Part 64 and today’s date is April 16 , 2021. I’ll read from Judges 9:50-57,

Then went Abimelech to Thebez, and encamped against Thebez, and took it. {51} But there was a strong tower within the city, and thither fled all the men and women, and all they of the city, and shut [it] to them, and gat them up to the top of the tower. {52} And Abimelech came unto the tower, and fought against it, and went hard unto the door of the tower to burn it with fire. {53} And a certain woman cast a piece of a millstone upon Abimelech's head, and all to brake his skull. {54} Then he called hastily unto the young man his armourbearer, and said unto him, Draw thy sword, and slay me, that men say not of me, A woman slew him. And his young man thrust him through, and he died. {55} And when the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, they departed every man unto his place. {56} Thus God rendered the wickedness of Abimelech, which he did unto his father, in slaying his seventy brethren: {57} And all the evil of the men of Shechem did God render upon their heads: and upon them came the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal.

We have arrived at the last part of verse 54 which records Abimelech’s last words to his armourbearer: ...Draw thy sword, and slay me, that men say not of me, A woman slew him.  I mentioned this previously but it’s worth repeating that this certain woman that cast a piece of a millstone upon Abimelech’s head typifies God’s elect. Furthermore this incident is repeated in 2 Samuel 11:21a, 

Who smote Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth? did not a woman cast a piece of a millstone upon him from the wall, that he died in Thebez?... 

This certain woman also identifies with Jael, as I have noted since she too typifies God’s elect. We saw this dramatically in Judges 4:9 and 18-22 as Judge Deborah (who typifies the Word of God) tells Barak (Who exemplifies the Lord Jesus Christ):

And she said, I [Deborah] will surely go with thee [Barak]: notwithstanding the journey that thou takest shall not be for thine honour; for the LORD shall sell Sisera into the hand of a woman. And Deborah arose, and went with Barak to Kedesh. ... {17} Howbeit Sisera fled away on his feet to the tent of Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite: for [there was] peace between Jabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite. {18} And Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said unto him, Turn in, my lord, turn in to me; fear not. And when he had turned in unto her into the tent, she covered him with a mantle. {19} And he said unto her, Give me, I pray thee, a little water to drink; for I am thirsty. And she opened a bottle of milk, and gave him drink, and covered him. {20} Again he said unto her, Stand in the door of the tent, and it shall be, when any man doth come and enquire of thee, and say, Is there any man here? that thou shalt say, No. {21} Then Jael Heber's wife took a nail of the tent, and took an hammer in her hand, and went softly unto him, and smote the nail into his temples, and fastened it into the ground: for he was fast asleep and weary. So he died. {22} And, behold, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him, and said unto him, Come, and I will shew thee the man whom thou seekest. And when he came into her [tent], behold, Sisera lay dead, and the nail [was] in his temples. 

The fact that both this unnamed woman as well as Jael defeated Abimelech and Sisera respectively by a blow to their heads is spiritually significant and reminds us of what we read in Genesis 3:15 that records the opposition between the Kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan, as represented by the seed (Christ)

of the woman (the elect), and the seed of the serpent (Satan), or those within the kingdom of Satan: 

And I will put enmity between thee [Satan] and the woman [elect], and between thy seed [kingdom of Satan] and her seed [Christ]; it [He] shall bruise thy [Satan] head, and thou shalt bruise his [Christ] heel. 

Thrust Him Through [daqar:H1856/TWOT*:449]

*Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (TWOT)

The last word that we want to consider in verse 54 -  since we have already investigated the terms, his young man along with and he died - is thrust him through. This expression is found in the following 9 references: 

1 Samuel 31:4 (and the parallel verse in 1 Chronicles 10:4)  is similar to this account of Abimelech, as king Saul himself spiritually represents the churches and denominations [i.e., the house of God] that came under God’s wrath during the Great Tribulation; please note how the phrase and thrust me through is repeated: 

Then said Saul unto his armourbearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through [daqar:H1856/TWOT:449] therewith; lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through [daqar:H1856/TWOT:449], and abuse [`alal:H5953/TWOT:1627, 1627b, 1628] me. But his armourbearer would not; for he was sore afraid. Therefore Saul took a sword, and fell upon it.

Incidentally we will encounter the word, and abuse, again once we get to Judges 19:25 where it appears again in that historical parable regarding judgment beginning at God’s house first and typified by the abuse and subsequent death of the Levite’s concubine in that chapter:

But the men would not hearken to him: so the man took his concubine, and brought her forth unto them; and they knew her, and abused [`alal:H5953/TWOT:1627, 1627b, 1628] her all the night until the morning: and when the day began to spring, they let her go.

Here are some more examples of the term, thrust me through:

Verse 8 of Numbers 25:1-18 recounts the incident of Phinehas’s zeal to uphold the Word of God: And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab. {2} And they called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods: and the people did eat, and bowed down to their gods. {3} And Israel joined himself unto Baalpeor: and the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel. {4} And the LORD said unto Moses, Take all the heads of the people, and hang them up before the LORD against the sun, that the fierce anger of the LORD may be turned away from Israel. {5} And Moses said unto the judges of Israel, Slay ye every one his men that were joined unto Baalpeor. {6} And, behold, one of the children of Israel came and brought unto his brethren a Midianitish woman in the sight of Moses, and in the sight of all the congregation of the children of Israel, who [were] weeping [before] the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. {7} And when Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw [it], he rose up from among the congregation, and took a javelin in his hand; {8} And he went after the man of Israel into the tent, and thrust [daqar:H1856/TWOT:449] both of them through, the man of Israel, and the woman through her belly. So the plague was stayed from the children of Israel. {9} And those that died in the plague were twenty and four thousand. {10} And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, {11} Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, hath turned my wrath away from the children of Israel, while he was zealous for my sake among them, that I consumed not the children of Israel in my jealousy. {12} Wherefore say, Behold, I give unto him my covenant of peace: {13} And he shall have it, and his seed after him, [even] the covenant of an everlasting priesthood; because he was zealous for his God, and made an atonement for the children of Israel. {14} Now the name of the Israelite that was slain, [even] that was slain with the Midianitish woman, [was] Zimri, the son of Salu, a prince of a chief house among the Simeonites. {15} And the name of the Midianitish woman that was slain [was] Cozbi, the daughter of Zur; he [was] head over a people, [and] of a chief house in Midian. {16} And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, {17} Vex the Midianites, and smite them: {18} For they vex you with their wiles, wherewith they have beguiled you in the matter of Peor, and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of a prince of Midian, their sister, which was slain in the day of the plague for Peor's sake.

Verse 15 of Isaiah 13:6-16  includes this term as well in this chapter that is all about our current day of judgment: Howl ye; for the day of the LORD [is] at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty. {7} Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man's heart shall melt: {8} And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travaileth: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces [shall be as] flames. {9} Behold, the day of the LORD cometh, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. {10} For the stars of heaven and the constellations thereof shall not give their light: the sun shall be darkened in his going forth, and the moon shall not cause her light to shine. {11} And I will punish the world for [their] evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible. {12} I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man than the golden wedge of Ophir. {13} Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger. {14} And it shall be as the chased roe, and as a sheep that no man taketh up: they shall every man turn to his own people, and flee every one into his own land. {15} Every one that is found shall be thrust through [daqar:H1856/TWOT:449]; and every one that is joined [unto them] shall fall by the sword. {16} Their children also shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes; their houses shall be spoiled, and their wives ravished.

Verse 10 of  Jeremiah 37:1-10 renders this word as [but] wounded as God makes a point of informing Israel that even if the Chaldean army was reduced to only wounded men they would be sufficient to destroy Israel, because God’s judgment had fallen upon is own house first: 

And king Zedekiah the son of Josiah reigned instead of Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, whom Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon made king in the land of Judah. {2} But neither he, nor his servants, nor the people of the land, did hearken unto the words of the LORD, which he spake by the prophet Jeremiah. {3} And Zedekiah the king sent Jehucal the son of Shelemiah and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest to the prophet Jeremiah, saying, Pray now unto the LORD our God for us. {4} Now Jeremiah came in and went out among the people: for they had not put him into prison. {5} Then Pharaoh's army was come forth out of Egypt: and when the Chaldeans that besieged Jerusalem heard tidings of them, they departed from Jerusalem. {6} Then came the word of the LORD unto the prophet Jeremiah, saying, {7} Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; Thus shall ye say to the king of Judah, that sent you unto me to enquire of me; Behold, Pharaoh's army, which is come forth to help you, shall return to Egypt into their own land. {8} And the Chaldeans shall come again, and fight against this city, and take it, and burn it with fire. {9} Thus saith the LORD; Deceive not yourselves, saying, The Chaldeans shall surely depart from us: for they shall not depart. {10} For though ye had smitten the whole army of the Chaldeans that fight against you, and there remained [but] wounded [daqar:H1856/TWOT:449] men among them, [yet] should they rise up every man in his tent, and burn this city with fire.

Verse 4 of Jeremiah 51:1-9 utilizes this expression, and [they that are] thrust through, in this chapter which presents God’s judgment against Babylon, whom He used to bring judgment on His own house first, but in this chapter He turns around as it were, and punishes Babylon for what she did to His corporate people: 

Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, and against them that dwell in the midst of them that rise up against me, a destroying wind; {2} And will send unto Babylon fanners, that shall fan her, and shall empty her land: for in the day of trouble they shall be against her round about. {3} Against [him that] bendeth let the archer bend his bow, and against [him that] lifteth himself up in his brigandine: and spare ye not her young men; destroy ye utterly all her host. {4} Thus the slain shall fall in the land of the Chaldeans, and [they that are] thrust through [daqar:H1856/TWOT:449] in her streets. {5} For Israel [hath] not [been] forsaken, nor Judah of his God, of the LORD of hosts; though their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel. {6} Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul: be not cut off in her iniquity; for this [is] the time of the LORD'S vengeance; he will render unto her a recompence. {7} Babylon [hath been] a golden cup in the LORD'S hand, that made all the earth drunken: the nations have drunken of her wine; therefore the nations are mad. {8} Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed: howl for her; take balm for her pain, if so be she may be healed. {9} We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed: forsake her, and let us go every one into his own country: for her judgment reacheth unto heaven, and is lifted up [even] to the skies.

Verse 9 of Lamentations 4:1-12 translates this word as stricken through and is also set against the backdrop of God’s judgment beginning at His own house first: How is the gold become dim! [how] is the most fine gold changed! the stones of the sanctuary are poured out in the top of every street. {2} The precious sons of Zion, comparable to fine gold, how are they esteemed as earthen pitchers, the work of the hands of the potter! {3} Even the sea monsters draw out the breast, they give suck to their young ones: the daughter of my people [is become] cruel, like the ostriches in the wilderness. {4} The tongue of the sucking child cleaveth to the roof of his mouth for thirst: the young children ask bread, [and] no man breaketh [it] unto them. {5} They that did feed delicately are desolate in the streets: they that were brought up in scarlet embrace dunghills. {6} For the punishment of the iniquity of the daughter of my people is greater than the punishment of the sin of Sodom, that was overthrown as in a moment, and no hands stayed on her. {7} Her Nazarites were purer than snow, they were whiter than milk, they were more ruddy in body than rubies, their polishing [was] of sapphire: {8} Their visage is blacker than a coal; they are not known in the streets: their skin cleaveth to their bones; it is withered, it is become like a stick. {9} [They that be] slain with the sword are better than [they that be] slain with hunger: for these pine away, stricken through [daqar:H1856/TWOT:449] for [want of] the fruits of the field. {10} The hands of the pitiful women have sodden their own children: they were their meat in the destruction of the daughter of my people. {11} The LORD hath accomplished his fury; he hath poured out his fierce anger, and hath kindled a fire in Zion, and it hath devoured the foundations thereof. {12} The kings of the earth, and all the inhabitants of the world, would not have believed that the adversary and the enemy should have entered into the gates of Jerusalem. {13} For the sins of her prophets, [and] the iniquities of her priests, that have shed the blood of the just in the midst of her, {14} They have wandered [as] blind [men] in the streets, they have polluted themselves with blood, so that men could not touch their garments. {15} They cried unto them, Depart ye; [it is] unclean; depart, depart, touch not: when they fled away and wandered, they said among the heathen, They shall no more sojourn [there]. {16} The anger of the LORD hath divided them; he will no more regard them: they respected not the persons of the priests, they favoured not the elders. {17} As for us, our eyes as yet failed for our vain help: in our watching we have watched for a nation [that] could not save [us]. {18} They hunt our steps, that we cannot go in our streets: our end is near, our days are fulfilled; for our end is come. {19} Our persecutors are swifter than the eagles of the heaven: they pursued us upon the mountains, they laid wait for us in the wilderness. {20} The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of the LORD, was taken in their pits, of whom we said, Under his shadow we shall live among the heathen. {21} Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, that dwellest in the land of Uz; the cup also shall pass through unto thee: thou shalt be drunken, and shalt make thyself naked. {22} The punishment of thine iniquity is accomplished, O daughter of Zion; he will no more carry thee away into captivity: he will visit thine iniquity, O daughter of Edom; he will discover thy sins.

Verse 10 of Zechariah 12:1-10 similarly reveals how God will punish those who came against God’s house first: The burden of the word of the LORD for Israel, saith the LORD, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him. {2} Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah [and] against Jerusalem. {3} And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it. {4} In that day, saith the LORD, I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness: and I will open mine eyes upon the house of Judah, and will smite every horse of the people with blindness. {5} And the governors of Judah shall say in their heart, The inhabitants of Jerusalem [shall be] my strength in the LORD of hosts their God. {6} In that day will I make the governors of Judah like an hearth of fire among the wood, and like a torch of fire in a sheaf; and they shall devour all the people round about, on the right hand and on the left: and Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place, [even] in Jerusalem. {7} The LORD also shall save the tents of Judah first, that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem do not magnify [themselves] against Judah. {8} In that day shall the LORD defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David; and the house of David [shall be] as God, as the angel of the LORD before them. {9} And it shall come to pass in that day, [that] I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. {10} And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced [daqar:H1856/TWOT:449], and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for [his] only [son], and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for [his] firstborn.‍

Well, we have run out of time today. Lord willing, in our next study we will focus on verse 55. 

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Judges 9 - Part 65

 April 21, 2021

Good evening, and welcome to Searching The Scriptures! This will be Judges 9 - Part 65 and today’s date is April 21, 2021. I’ll read from Judges 9:50-57,

Then went Abimelech to Thebez, and encamped against Thebez, and took it. {51} But there was a strong tower within the city, and thither fled all the men and women, and all they of the city, and shut [it] to them, and gat them up to the top of the tower. {52} And Abimelech came unto the tower, and fought against it, and went hard unto the door of the tower to burn it with fire. {53} And a certain woman cast a piece of a millstone upon Abimelech's head, and all to brake his skull. {54} Then he called hastily unto the young man his armourbearer, and said unto him, Draw thy sword, and slay me, that men say not of me, A woman slew him. And his young man thrust him through, and he died. {55} And when the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, they departed every man unto his place. {56} Thus God rendered the wickedness of Abimelech, which he did unto his father, in slaying his seventy brethren: {57} And all the evil of the men of Shechem did God render upon their heads: and upon them came the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal.

In our examination of Judges 9 we are down to verse 55, which states: And when the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, they departed every man unto his place. As always we are interested in the spiritual significance that is in view as we have learned that Abimelech is another type of Satan as we have encountered with other individuals in the book of Judges, such as Eglon, king of Moab and Sisera, the commander of the king of Canaan’s army, whose name was Jabin.  Furthermore we have understood that Satan was defeated on May 21, 2011, when the final phase of God’s end-time program began that constitutes our present prolonged day of judgment, in which the Lord Jesus Christ is presently ruling the world (which is now under His wrath) with a rod of iron as we read in verse 15 of Revelation 19:11-16,

And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him [was] called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. {12}  His eyes [were] as a flame of fire, and on his head [were] many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. {13} And he [was] clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. {14} And the armies [which were] in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. {15} And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. {16} And he hath on [his] vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.

Satan’s defeat took place at the end of the 23-year Great Tribulation (May 21, 1988 - May 21, 2011) and mirrors the historical parable of the defeat of Belshazzar, king of Babylon, after the second Great Tribulation period, namely the 70-year Babylonian captivity. This took place in 539 BC when Cyrus (or Darius) the Medo-Persian ruler, who is a representation of the Lord Jesus Christ, overcame the Babylonian army one night in a surprise attack when Belshazzar and his lords were celebrating as we read in Daniel 5:1-31,

Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand. {2} Belshazzar, whiles he tasted the wine, commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which his father Nebuchadnezzar had taken out of the temple which [was] in Jerusalem; that the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, might drink therein. {3} Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the house of God which [was] at Jerusalem; and the king, and his princes, his wives, and his concubines, drank in them. {4} They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone. {5} In the same hour came forth fingers of a man's hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaister of the wall of the king's palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote. {6} Then the king's countenance was changed, and his thoughts troubled him, so that the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against another. {7} The king cried aloud to bring in the astrologers, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers. [And] the king spake, and said to the wise [men] of Babylon, Whosoever shall read this writing, and shew me the interpretation thereof, shall be clothed with scarlet, and [have] a chain of gold about his neck, and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom. {8} Then came in all the king's wise [men]: but they could not read the writing, nor make known to the king the interpretation thereof. {9} Then was king Belshazzar greatly troubled, and his countenance was changed in him, and his lords were astonied. {10} [Now] the queen, by reason of the words of the king and his lords, came into the banquet house: [and] the queen spake and said, O king, live for ever: let not thy thoughts trouble thee, nor let thy countenance be changed: {11} There is a man in thy kingdom, in whom [is] the spirit of the holy gods; and in the days of thy father light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, was found in him; whom the king Nebuchadnezzar thy father, the king, [I say], thy father, made master of the magicians, astrologers, Chaldeans, [and] soothsayers; {12} Forasmuch as an excellent spirit, and knowledge, and understanding, interpreting of dreams, and shewing of hard sentences, and dissolving of doubts, were found in the same Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar: now let Daniel be called, and he will shew the interpretation. {13} Then was Daniel brought in before the king. [And] the king spake and said unto Daniel, [Art] thou that Daniel, which [art] of the children of the captivity of Judah, whom the king my father brought out of Jewry? {14} I have even heard of thee, that the spirit of the gods [is] in thee, and [that] light and understanding and excellent wisdom is found in thee. {15} And now the wise [men], the astrologers, have been brought in before me, that they should read this writing, and make known unto me the interpretation thereof: but they could not shew the interpretation of the thing: {16} And I have heard of thee, that thou canst make interpretations, and dissolve doubts: now if thou canst read the writing, and make known to me the interpretation thereof, thou shalt be clothed with scarlet, and [have] a chain of gold about thy neck, and shalt be the third ruler in the kingdom. {17} Then Daniel answered and said before the king, Let thy gifts be to thyself, and give thy rewards to another; yet I will read the writing unto the king, and make known to him the interpretation. {18} O thou king, the most high God gave Nebuchadnezzar thy father a kingdom, and majesty, and glory, and honour: {19} And for the majesty that he gave him, all people, nations, and languages, trembled and feared before him: whom he would he slew; and whom he would he kept alive; and whom he would he set up; and whom he would he put down. {20} But when his heart was lifted up, and his mind hardened in pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him: {21} And he was driven from the sons of men; and his heart was made like the beasts, and his dwelling [was] with the wild asses: they fed him with grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven; till he knew that the most high God ruled in the kingdom of men, and [that] he appointeth over it whomsoever he will. {22} And thou his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thine heart, though thou knewest all this; {23} But hast lifted up thyself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of his house before thee, and thou, and thy lords, thy wives, and thy concubines, have drunk wine in them; and thou hast praised the gods of silver, and gold, of brass, iron, wood, and stone, which see not, nor hear, nor know: and the God in whose hand thy breath [is], and whose [are] all thy ways, hast thou not glorified: {24} Then was the part of the hand sent from him; and this writing was written. {25} And this [is] the writing that was written, MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN. {26} This [is] the interpretation of the thing: MENE; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it. {27} TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting. {28} PERES; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians. {29} Then commanded Belshazzar, and they clothed Daniel with scarlet, and [put] a chain of gold about his neck, and made a proclamation concerning him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom. {30} In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain. {31} And Darius the Median took the kingdom, [being] about threescore and two years old.

Since we have already considered the expression the men of Israel, let’s proceed to the next two terms, saw and was dead, referring to Abimelech’s demise.

Saw [ra’ah:H7200/TWOT*:H2095] & Was Dead [muwth:H4191/TWOT:1169]

*Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (TWOT)

The following passages illustrate some of the ways that God utilizes these two words:

Exodus 10:28 records: And Pharaoh said unto him, Get thee from me, take heed to thyself, see [ra’ah:H7200/TWOT:H2095]  my face no more; for in [that] day thou seest [ra’ah:H7200/TWOT:H2095] my face thou shalt die. [muwth:H4191/TWOT:1169] 

Likewise Exodus 14:30 affirms: Thus the LORD saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians; and Israel saw [ra’ah:H7200/TWOT:H2095] the Egyptians dead [muwth:H4191/TWOT:1169]  upon the sea shore.

Deuteronomy 32:39 makes this announcement regarding God’s unfathomable power and autonomy: See [ra’ah:H7200/TWOT:H2095]  now that I, [even] I, [am] he, and [there is] no god with me: I kill [muwth:H4191/TWOT:1169], and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither [is there any] that can deliver out of my hand.

I mentioned earlier how Sisera was another type of Satan and Judges 4:22 chronicles his death as the hand of Jael (who typifies the elect), even as Abimelech met his fate at the hands of a woman (who also symbolizes the elect): 

And, behold, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him, and said unto him, Come, and I will shew [ra’ah:H7200/TWOT:H2095]  thee the man whom thou seekest. And when he came into her [tent], behold, Sisera lay dead [muwth:H4191/TWOT:1169], and the nail [was] in his temples.

1 Samuel 17:51 recounts David’s victory over Goliath which is another historical parable depicting Christ’s defeat over Satan: Therefore David ran, and stood upon the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of the sheath thereof, and slew him, and cut off his head therewith. And when the Philistines saw [ra’ah:H7200/TWOT:H2095]  their champion was dead [muwth:H4191/TWOT:1169], they fled.

Isaiah 66:24 spiritually typifies what is occurring in the day of judgment presently, as this world has been tuned into “hell” or the grave spiritually, and will culminate in the annihilation of both this world along with the rest of the universe at the conclusion of this prolonged day of judgment:  

And they shall go forth, and look [ra’ah:H7200/TWOT:H2095] upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die [muwth:H4191/TWOT:1169], neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh.

The last two expressions that we want to examine in verse 55 are: they departed and unto his place.

They Departed [yalak:H3212/TWOT:498]  & Unto His Place [maqowm:H4725/TWOT:1999h]

Here are some of the passages in which these two words surface together:

We encountered these two terms already in Judges 7:7, And the LORD said unto Gideon, By the three hundred men that lapped will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into thine hand: and let all the [other] people go [yalak:H3212/TWOT:498] every man [’iysh:H376/TWOT:83a] unto his place. [maqowm:H4725/TWOT:1999h] 

Lord willing, we will see these two expressions again Judges 19:13 and 28, And he said unto his servant, Come [yalak:H3212/TWOT:498], and let us draw near to one of these places [maqowm:H4725/TWOT:1999h] 

 to lodge all night, in Gibeah, or in Ramah. ... {28} And he said unto her, Up, and let us be going. [yalak:H3212/TWOT:498] But none answered. Then the man [’iysh:H376/TWOT:83a] took her [up] upon an ass, and the man [’iysh:H376/TWOT:83a] rose up, and gat [yalak:H3212/TWOT:498] him unto his place. [maqowm:H4725/TWOT:1999h] 

Genesis 22:3 acknowledges: And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went [yalak:H3212/TWOT:498] unto the place [maqowm:H4725/TWOT:1999h] 

 of which God had told him.

Numbers 23:13, 27, and 24:25 chronicles the wicked soothsayer Balaam’s encounter with Balak, king of Moab: And Balak said unto him, Come, I pray thee, with me unto another place [maqowm:H4725/TWOT:1999h] , from whence thou mayest see them: thou shalt see but the utmost part of them, and shalt not see them all: and curse me them from thence. ... {27} And Balak said unto Balaam, Come [yalak:H3212/TWOT:498], I pray thee, I will bring thee unto another place [maqowm:H4725/TWOT:1999h] 

; peradventure it will please God that thou mayest curse me them from thence… {24:25} And Balaam rose up, and went [yalak:H3212/TWOT:498] and returned to his place: [maqowm:H4725/TWOT:1999h] and Balak also went his way.

1 Samuel 3:9 records Eli’s advice to young Samuel:  Therefore Eli said unto Samuel, Go [yalak:H3212/TWOT:498], lie down: and it shall be, if he call thee, that thou shalt say, Speak, LORD; for thy servant heareth. So Samuel went [yalak:H3212/TWOT:498] and lay down in his place. [maqowm:H4725/TWOT:1999h] 

Jeremiah 7:12 is an example of God confirming that judgment must first begin at His own house first, which is what is taking place spiritually in 1 Samuel chapters 3-4,  But go [yalak:H3212/TWOT:498] ye now unto my place [maqowm:H4725/TWOT:1999h] which [was] in Shiloh, where I set my name at the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel.

2 Kings 5:11 recounts Naaman’s reaction to Elisha’s command: But Naaman was wroth, and went away [yalak:H3212/TWOT:498], and said, Behold, I thought, He will surely come out to me, and stand, and call on the name of the LORD his God, and strike his hand over the place [maqowm:H4725/TWOT:1999h], and recover the leper.

Job 27:21 teaches: The east wind carrieth him away, and he departeth [yalak:H3212/TWOT:498]: and as a storm hurleth him out of his place. [maqowm:H4725/TWOT:1999h] 

Jeremiah 45:5 admonishes: And seekest thou great things for thyself? seek [them] not: for, behold, I will bring evil upon all flesh, saith the LORD: but thy life will I give unto thee for a prey in all places [maqowm:H4725/TWOT:1999h] whither thou goest. [yalak:H3212/TWOT:498]

Verse 11 of Ezekiel 10:1-12 includes these two terms in this portrait of God as Judge; curiously the word for went or followed appears 4 times: Then I looked, and, behold, in the firmament that was above the head of the cherubims there appeared over them as it were a sapphire stone, as the appearance of the likeness of a throne. {2} And he spake unto the man clothed with linen, and said, Go in between the wheels, [even] under the cherub, and fill thine hand with coals of fire from between the cherubims, and scatter [them] over the city. And he went in in my sight. {3} Now the cherubims stood on the right side of the house, when the man went in; and the cloud filled the inner court. {4} Then the glory of the LORD went up from the cherub, [and stood] over the threshold of the house; and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was full of the brightness of the LORD'S glory. {5} And the sound of the cherubims' wings was heard [even] to the outer court, as the voice of the Almighty God when he speaketh. {6} And it came to pass, [that] when he had commanded the man clothed with linen, saying, Take fire from between the wheels, from between the cherubims; then he went in, and stood beside the wheels. {7} And [one] cherub stretched forth his hand from between the cherubims unto the fire that [was] between the cherubims, and took [thereof], and put [it] into the hands of [him that was] clothed with linen: who took [it], and went out. {8} And there appeared in the cherubims the form of a man's hand under their wings. {9} And when I looked, behold the four wheels by the cherubims, one wheel by one cherub, and another wheel by another cherub: and the appearance of the wheels [was] as the colour of a beryl stone. {10} And [as for] their appearances, they four had one likeness, as if a wheel had been in the midst of a wheel. {11} When they went [yalak:H3212/TWOT:498], they went [yalak:H3212/TWOT:498] upon their four sides; they turned not as they went, but to the place [maqowm:H4725/TWOT:1999h] whither the head looked they followed [yalak:H3212/TWOT:498] it; they turned not as they went. [yalak:H3212/TWOT:498] {12} And their whole body, and their backs, and their hands, and their wings, and the wheels, [were] full of eyes round about, [even] the wheels that they four had.

Let’s stop here. Lord willing, in our next lesson we will move on to verse 56.

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Judges 9 - Part 66

 April 26, 2021

Good evening, and welcome to Searching The Scriptures! This will be Judges 9 - Part 66 and today’s date is April 26, 2021. I’ll read from Judges 9:50-57,

Then went Abimelech to Thebez, and encamped against Thebez, and took it. {51} But there was a strong tower within the city, and thither fled all the men and women, and all they of the city, and shut [it] to them, and gat them up to the top of the tower. {52} And Abimelech came unto the tower, and fought against it, and went hard unto the door of the tower to burn it with fire. {53} And a certain woman cast a piece of a millstone upon Abimelech's head, and all to brake his skull. {54} Then he called hastily unto the young man his armourbearer, and said unto him, Draw thy sword, and slay me, that men say not of me, A woman slew him. And his young man thrust him through, and he died. {55} And when the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, they departed every man unto his place. {56} Thus God rendered the wickedness of Abimelech, which he did unto his father, in slaying his seventy brethren: {57} And all the evil of the men of Shechem did God render upon their heads: and upon them came the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal.

We are down to the last two verses in this unique chapter, but every chapter of the Bible is outstanding in its own right, as its proceeds from the “Mouth of God.” 

Thus God [’elohiym:H430/TWOT*:93c] Rendered [shuwb:H7725/TWOT:2340] The Wickedness [ra`:H7451/TWOT:2191a,c]

Let’s begin by considering the first three Hebrew terms in verse 56, Thus God rendered the wickedness, which appear together in the following eight citations:

*Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (TWOT)

All three of these words surface in verse 57 as well, as God emphasizes His judgment upon Abimelech, who represents Satan spiritually, as was discussed in our previous study: 

And all the evil [ra`:H7451/TWOT:2191a,c]

of the men of Shechem did God [’elohiym:H430/TWOT:93c] render [shuwb:H7725/TWOT:2340]  upon their heads: and upon them came the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal.

Psalm 94:23 acknowledges: And he shall bring [shuwb:H7725/TWOT:2340]  upon them their own iniquity, and shall cut them off in their own wickedness; [ra`:H7451/TWOT:2191a,c]

 [yea], the LORD our God [’elohiym:H430/TWOT:93c] shall cut them off.

Sadly, Jeremiah 35:15 is a refrain that is repeated numerous times in the Bible with regards to God’s corporate people: I have sent also unto you all my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending [them], saying, Return [shuwb:H7725/TWOT:2340]  ye now every man from his evil [ra`:H7451/TWOT:2191a,c] way, and amend your doings, and go not after other gods [’elohiym:H430/TWOT:93c]  to serve them, and ye shall dwell in the land which I have given to you and to your fathers: but ye have not inclined your ear, nor hearkened unto me.

Jeremiah 44:5 likewise affirms the same:  But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear to turn [shuwb:H7725/TWOT:2340]  from their wickedness [ra`:H7451/TWOT:2191a,c], to burn no incense unto other gods. [’elohiym:H430/TWOT:93c] 

Daniel 9:13 further adds: As [it is] written in the law of Moses, all this evil [ra`:H7451/TWOT:2191a,c] is come upon us: yet made we not our prayer before the LORD our God [’elohiym:H430/TWOT:93c], that we might turn [shuwb:H7725/TWOT:2340]  from our iniquities, and understand thy truth.

Joel 2:13 pinpoints the difference between the appearance one gives as opposed to what is taking place, by God’s grace, in the heart (or soul) of God’s elect: And rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn [shuwb:H7725/TWOT:2340]  unto the LORD your God [’elohiym:H430/TWOT:93c]: for he [is] gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil. [ra`:H7451/TWOT:2191a,c]

Verses 8 and 10 of Jonah 3:4-10 include these two expressions: And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, and he cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown. {5} So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them. {6} For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. {7} And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water: {8} But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God [’elohiym:H430/TWOT:93c]: yea, let them turn [shuwb:H7725/TWOT:2340]  every one from his evil [ra`:H7451/TWOT:2191a,c] way, and from the violence that [is] in their hands. {9} Who can tell [if] God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not? {10} And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did [it] not.

We have already considered the rest of the terms in verse 56, so let’s proceed to verse 57 which states:

And all the evil [ra`:H7451/TWOT:2191a,c]

of the men of Shechem did God [’elohiym:H430/TWOT:93c] render [shuwb:H7725/TWOT:2340] upon their heads: and upon them came the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal.

Render [shuwb:H7725/TWOT:2340] & Upon Their Heads [ro’sh:H7218/TWOT:2097]

The two expressions, render and upon his head are found together again in 30 other passages, as the following examples illustrate:

Verse 4 of Numbers 25:1-5 contain these two words: And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab. {2} And they called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods: and the people did eat, and bowed down to their gods. {3} And Israel joined himself unto Baalpeor: and the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel. {4} And the LORD said unto Moses, Take all the heads [ro’sh:H7218/TWOT:2097] of the people, and hang them up before the LORD against the sun, that the fierce anger of the LORD may be turned away from Israel. {5} And Moses said unto the judges of Israel, Slay ye every one his men that were joined unto Baalpeor.

Verse 39 of 1 Samuel 25:2-39 is a historical parable in which David is persuaded to not seek vengeance, but rather to heed the Biblical admonition, Vengeance [is] mine, I will repay, saith the Lord, according to Romans 12:19, 

And [there was] a man in Maon, whose possessions [were] in Carmel; and the man [was] very great, and he had three thousand sheep, and a thousand goats: and he was shearing his sheep in Carmel. {3} Now the name of the man [was] Nabal; and the name of his wife Abigail: and [she was] a woman of good understanding, and of a beautiful countenance: but the man [was] churlish and evil in his doings; and he [was] of the house of Caleb. {4} And David heard in the wilderness that Nabal did shear his sheep. {5} And David sent out ten young men, and David said unto the young men, Get you up to Carmel, and go to Nabal, and greet him in my name: {6} And thus shall ye say to him that liveth [in prosperity], Peace [be] both to thee, and peace [be] to thine house, and peace [be] unto all that thou hast. {7} And now I have heard that thou hast shearers: now thy shepherds which were with us, we hurt them not, neither was there ought missing unto them, all the while they were in Carmel. {8} Ask thy young men, and they will shew thee. Wherefore let the young men find favour in thine eyes: for we come in a good day: give, I pray thee, whatsoever cometh to thine hand unto thy servants, and to thy son David. {9} And when David's young men came, they spake to Nabal according to all those words in the name of David, and ceased. {10} And Nabal answered David's servants, and said, Who [is] David? and who [is] the son of Jesse? there be many servants now a days that break away every man from his master. {11} Shall I then take my bread, and my water, and my flesh that I have killed for my shearers, and give [it] unto men, whom I know not whence they [be]? {12} So David's young men turned their way, and went again, and came and told him all those sayings. {13} And David said unto his men, Gird ye on every man his sword. And they girded on every man his sword; and David also girded on his sword: and there went up after David about four hundred men; and two hundred abode by the stuff. {14} But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal's wife, saying, Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to salute our master; and he railed on them. {15} But the men [were] very good unto us, and we were not hurt, neither missed we any thing, as long as we were conversant with them, when we were in the fields: {16} They were a wall unto us both by night and day, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep. {17} Now therefore know and consider what thou wilt do; for evil is determined against our master, and against all his household: for he [is such] a son of Belial, that [a man] cannot speak to him. {18} Then Abigail made haste, and took two hundred loaves, and two bottles of wine, and five sheep ready dressed, and five measures of parched [corn], and an hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid [them] on asses. {19} And she said unto her servants, Go on before me; behold, I come after you. But she told not her husband Nabal. {20} And it was [so, as] she rode on the ass, that she came down by the covert of the hill, and, behold, David and his men came down against her; and she met them. {21} Now David had said, Surely in vain have I kept all that this [fellow] hath in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that [pertained] unto him: and he hath requited me evil for good. {22} So and more also do God unto the enemies of David, if I leave of all that [pertain] to him by the morning light any that pisseth against the wall. {23} And when Abigail saw David, she hasted, and lighted off the ass, and fell before David on her face, and bowed herself to the ground, {24} And fell at his feet, and said, Upon me, my lord, [upon] me [let this] iniquity [be]: and let thine handmaid, I pray thee, speak in thine audience, and hear the words of thine handmaid. {25} Let not my lord, I pray thee, regard this man of Belial, [even] Nabal: for as his name [is], so [is] he; Nabal [is] his name, and folly [is] with him: but I thine handmaid saw not the young men of my lord, whom thou didst send. {26} Now therefore, my lord, [as] the LORD liveth, and [as] thy soul liveth, seeing the LORD hath withholden thee from coming to [shed] blood, and from avenging thyself with thine own hand, now let thine enemies, and they that seek evil to my lord, be as Nabal. {27} And now this blessing which thine handmaid hath brought unto my lord, let it even be given unto the young men that follow my lord. {28} I pray thee, forgive the trespass of thine handmaid: for the LORD will certainly make my lord a sure house; because my lord fighteth the battles of the LORD, and evil hath not been found in thee [all] thy days. {29} Yet a man is risen to pursue thee, and to seek thy soul: but the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life with the LORD thy God; and the souls of thine enemies, them shall he sling out, [as out] of the middle of a sling. {30} And it shall come to pass, when the LORD shall have done to my lord according to all the good that he hath spoken concerning thee, and shall have appointed thee ruler over Israel; {31} That this shall be no grief unto thee, nor offence of heart unto my lord, either that thou hast shed blood causeless, or that my lord hath avenged himself: but when the LORD shall have dealt well with my lord, then remember thine handmaid. {32} And David said to Abigail, Blessed [be] the LORD God of Israel, which sent thee this day to meet me: {33} And blessed [be] thy advice, and blessed [be] thou, which hast kept me this day from coming to [shed] blood, and from avenging myself with mine own hand. {34} For in very deed, [as] the LORD God of Israel liveth, which hath kept me back from hurting thee, except thou hadst hasted and come to meet me, surely there had not been left unto Nabal by the morning light any that pisseth against the wall. {35} So David received of her hand [that] which she had brought him, and said unto her, Go up in peace to thine house; see, I have hearkened to thy voice, and have accepted thy person. {36} And Abigail came to Nabal; and, behold, he held a feast in his house, like the feast of a king; and Nabal's heart [was] merry within him, for he [was] very drunken: wherefore she told him nothing, less or more, until the morning light. {37} But it came to pass in the morning, when the wine was gone out of Nabal, and his wife had told him these things, that his heart died within him, and he became [as] a stone. {38} And it came to pass about ten days [after], that the LORD smote Nabal, that he died. {39} And when David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, Blessed [be] the LORD, that hath pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and hath kept his servant from evil: for the LORD hath returned [shuwb:H7725/TWOT:2340] the wickedness of Nabal upon his own head. [ro’sh:H7218/TWOT:2097] And David sent and communed with Abigail, to take her to him to wife. 

Nehemiah 9:17 underscores God’s faithfulness, in spite of Israel’s rebellion: And refused to obey, neither were mindful of thy wonders that thou didst among them; but hardened their necks, and in their rebellion appointed a captain [ro’sh:H7218/TWOT:2097] to return [shuwb:H7725/TWOT:2340] to their bondage: but thou [art] a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and forsookest them not.

Esther 9:25 records God’s judgment on Haman (who symbolizes Satan) and on his ten sons (who represent those in his kingdom): But when [Esther] came before the king, he commanded by letters that his wicked device, which he devised against the Jews, should return [shuwb:H7725/TWOT:2340]  upon his own head [ro’sh:H7218/TWOT:2097], and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows.

Verse 16 of Psalm 7:11-16 states: God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry [with the wicked] every day. {12} If he turn not, he will whet his sword; he hath bent his bow, and made it ready. {13} He hath also prepared for him the instruments of death; he ordaineth his arrows against the persecutors. {14} Behold, he travaileth with iniquity, and hath conceived mischief, and brought forth falsehood. {15} He made a pit, and digged it, and is fallen into the ditch [which] he made. {16} His mischief shall return [shuwb:H7725/TWOT:2340] upon his own head [ro’sh:H7218/TWOT:2097], and his violent dealing shall come down upon his own pate.

Obadiah 1:15 speaks of the end of all the non-elect:  For the day of the LORD [is] near upon all the heathen: as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee: thy reward shall return [shuwb:H7725/TWOT:2340]  upon thine own head. [ro’sh:H7218/TWOT:2097] 

Then Came [bow’:H935/TWOT:212] & The Curse [q@lalah:H7045/TWOT:2028d]

The last two words in verse 57 and in chapter 9 are: then came and the curse, as verses 17-18 of Psalm 9:6-20 teach.  These two expressions are the fulfillment of the curse of the only surviving son of Gideon, Jotham, which he predicted against Abimelech (a portrait of Satan) as well as against the men of Shechem, (who typify the world or those in Satan’s kingdom) and of whom he has no regard for:

Set thou a wicked man over him: and let Satan stand at his right hand. {7} When he shall be judged, let him be condemned: and let his prayer become sin. {8} Let his days be few; [and] let another take his office. {9} Let his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow. {10} Let his children be continually vagabonds, and beg: let them seek [their bread] also out of their desolate places. {11} Let the extortioner catch all that he hath; and let the strangers spoil his labour. {12} Let there be none to extend mercy unto him: neither let there be any to favour his fatherless children. {13} Let his posterity be cut off; [and] in the generation following let their name be blotted out. {14} Let the iniquity of his fathers be remembered with the LORD; and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out. {15} Let them be before the LORD continually, that he may cut off the memory of them from the earth. {16} Because that he remembered not to shew mercy, but persecuted the poor and needy man, that he might even slay the broken in heart. {17} As he loved cursing [q@lalah:H2045/TWOT:2028c], so let it come [bow’:H935/TWOT:212] unto him: as he delighted not in blessing, so let it be far from him. {18} As he clothed himself with cursing [q@lalah:H2045/TWOT:2028c] like as with his garment, so let it come [bow’:H935/TWOT:212] into his bowels like water, and like oil into his bones. {19} Let it be unto him as the garment [which] covereth him, and for a girdle wherewith he is girded continually. {20} [Let] this [be] the reward of mine adversaries from the LORD, and of them that speak evil against my soul.

On that solemn note we have to conclude our study of Chapter 9. Lord willing, in our next lesson, we will proceed to Chapter 10.