Abimelech Fighting Against the Tower - Judges 9:52

In the book of Judges we learned, “then went Abimelech to Thebez, and encamped against Thebez, and took it But there was a strong tower within the city, and there fled all the men and women, and all they of the city, and shut it to them, and got them up to the top of the tower”, and in chapter nine and verse fifty-two of Judges, we learn, “Abimelech came unto the tower, and fought against it”, where we read,

And Abimelech came unto the tower, and fought against it, 

and went hard unto the door of the tower to burn it with fire.

The verse reads, “And Abimelech came unto the tower, and fought against it, …” The writer began with the words, “and Abimelech” whose name means “Melek is father or my father is king” and was “the son of Gideon by a concubine: “came unto the tower” which means ”arrived and proceeded forth to the elevated stage or pulpit”, “and fought against it” or “and did battle and war in opposition to it, the elevated stage”. The writer shared how “Abimelech” himself proceeded toward the elevated stage and did battle in opposition to it. 

The verse goes on to say, “… and went hard unto the door of the tower to burn it with fire.” The writer continued with the words, “and went hard unto the door” which means “and departed, proceeded forth and approached the entrance and opening” “of the tower” or “pertaining to the elevated stage or pulpit” “to burn it with fire” which means “to kindle and consume it, the elevated stage, by the use of fiery fire”. The writer shared how “Abimelech” proceeded forth and approached the opening of the elevated stage to set it on fiery fire. 

When we consider the words in this verse, we discover how “Abimelech” himself got involved in the destruction of the people of “Thebez”. He ran to the elevated stage where the people of the city were assembled, did battle against it and rushed to the entrance so he could set the stage on fire. We shall see more of what happens in our next verse, but for now, let us be mindful that all these things were under the supervision and purposes of Jehovah God. God loves the people of Israel, and these activities were working to free them from oppression. God is working in our lives as well, and because we all have sinned and come short of the glory of God (See Romans 3:23) and the wages of sin is death, (See Romans 6:23) He sent His Son Jesus to die on the cross for the sins of all mankind and raised Him from the dead after three days. When we put our faith and trust in Him as our “Savior and Lord”, He will forgive our sins, grant us everlasting life and put His Holy Spirit within us to guide us into all truth and give us the ability to discern when He is working in our lives and the lives of others to bring them to salvation. (See Mark 16:16) 

Next time we learn how, “a certain woman cast a piece of a millstone upon Abimelech's head”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

See more devotionals on the website "thewordfortodaywithray.com" or look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".