When You Don't Teach What You Know

 

    Have you ever had important life information and kept it to yourself?  Maybe you thought no on would understand, care, or believe you.  Maybe you didn't have the confidence to speak up.  There are many reasons why a person keeps their mouth shut.  In most cases it is better than speaking too much, but life lessons need to be taught to try to prevent others from entering harm.

    Gideon became a great politician, but he never taught his children on the importance of relying on God.  He failed to teach them some valid life lessons like how to love each other even if they had different mothers.  Things like there is a time and a place for competition, but not to the point of murder.

    Abimelech was one of Gideon's sons.  He went to the nation's leaders after Gideon's death to convince them that it would be better to have one unified leader over 70 different voices.  He got the permission to get rid of the competition, but how could they ever really trust him after he killed his own siblings.  

    Jotham who was the youngest, managed to escape.  That did not stop Abimelech declaring he was king.  At Abimelech's celebration Jotham yelled out a parable letting the people know that they were making a mistake.  He was hurt to see how his father was being dishonored by the people of Shechem.  He cursed the people and fled.  

    Three years passed before God sent an evil spirit to divide the people from Abimelech.  A man named Gaal gained the people's trust.  Abimelech destroyed and salted Shechem in retaliation.  When he burned the city, it killed 1,000 people.  He was on the war path when a woman dropped a millstone on his head.  After he died, his army went back home.  It did not seem like he was missed much.  Jotham's curse affected the people of Shechem next.

    God used evil to repay evil, but the evil did not come from Him.  There is nothing evil about God.  Satan introduced that to humans.  However, God can use evil whenever He wants because He is God.  Sometimes, only sometimes, it takes evil to remove another evil.  Gideon didn't teach God's ways to his family or people and this was the results.  Your story doesn't end with your death.

Judges 9