Introduction

Every Christian has been called and sent by Jesus to declare and display his gospel to the world. This means that every single Christian is a missionary…including you. One thing that will help you live as an effective missionary in our current cultural climate is a healthy understanding of the doctrine of Hell. This used to be a doctrine that I accepted, but didn’t much enjoy. Now, thanks to a growing grasp of the the Scriptures and helpful teaching from pastors like Tim Keller, it is a doctrine that I love. The article that follows us taken from a sermon I preached in 2008 from the book of Judges. It is my hope that after reading it you too will grow to love the doctrine of Hell and be moved to explain it to the people you love.

God’s Retribution on Abimelek and Shechem

Judges 8:32-9:3 set the stage for the drama that will follow. Gideon has just died and as soon as he died the Israelites started the cycle all over again. They returned to idolatry, prostituting themselves to false gods even after Yahweh had once again miraculously delivered them from yet another oppressor. Gideon had seventy sons, one of whom was named Abimelek. Abimelek was not like his other brothers. He was only half-Israelite. He was born to a Canaanite woman whom Gideon had taken as a wife despite the fact that Yahweh prohibited his people to marry those who worship false gods. As we’ll see as the story unfolds, Gideon’s rebellion against Yahweh would have severe consequences for his family and his people. And it all begins here with Abimelek going to his mother’s family in Shechem and asking them to make him king. Abimelek argues that it would be in Shechem’s best interest to make him king. After all, he says, it would be better to have one man rule over you than 70. I am the logical choice because “I am your flesh and blood.” The people of Shechem found his argument convincing. “He is related to us,” they said. So they decided to support his claim to the throne and make him their king. But first they would need to eliminate his 70 brothers from the picture. They gave Abimilek seventy shekels of silver from the treasury of Baal’s temple. Abimilek then used the money from their idol worship to hire what my translation calls, “reckless scoundrels.” They were mercenaries. They were murderers for hire. They were the Biblical version of Boba Fett. Abimilek took his new crew of Boba Fetts and went to Ophrah, Gideon’s hometown. Then, there, on one stone, he murdered his 70 brothers one after the other. Imagine the horror of this scene. One brother murdering every one of his other brothers one after another, after another, after another, after another in the same place, on the same stone. As horrific as it is it’s also a little ironic. Abimelek convinced the people of Shechem to make him their king because he was their own flesh and blood. And now we see how Abimelek treats his own flesh and blood. The people of Shechem didn’t seem to recognize the irony though. So when Abimelek returned home the people of Shechem gathered around him and crowned him as king.

What they didn’t know at this point was that one of Abimelek’s 70 brothers had escaped by hiding. His name was Jotham, the youngest of all of Gideon’s sons. When he heard that the people of Shechem had crowned his brother king he climbed to the top of Mount Gerizim and he shouted to them, “Listen to me, citizens of Shechem, so that God may listen to you.” Then he told them a fable about a group of trees who try to select a king. First they go to an olive tree and say, “be our king,” but the olive tree says “no.” So then they go to the fig tree and say, “be our king,” but the fig tray says “no.” Next they go to the vine and say, “Be our king,” but the vine also says “no.” Finally they go to a thorn bush and ask him to be their king. Look how the thorn bush responds in verse 15, “The thorn bush said to the trees, ‘If you really want to anoint me king over you, come and take refuge in my shade; but if not, then let fire come out of the thorn bush and consume the cedars of Lebanon!’” Now this fable is a little weird for us but the point would have been obvious to them. They lived in an agrarian society. How could a group of trees take shade under a thorn bush? They couldn’t. And even if they tried to get close enough to do it what would happen? They would be priced by its thorns. The thorn bush here represents Abimelek and the trees represent the people of Shechem. They have chosen a king who cannot give them refuge, they have chosen a king who will only harm them, they have chosen a king that will consume them in his fire. In case there was any confusion about what this fable meant Jotham made the application quite clear in the form of a curse. Read verses 16-20. “Have you have acted honorably and in good faith by making Abimelek king? Have you been fair to Jerub–Baal and his family? Have you treated him as he deserves? Remember that my father fought for you and risked his life to rescue you from the hand of Midian. But today you have revolted against my father’s family. You have murdered his seventy sons on a single stone and have made Abimelek, the son of his female slave, king over the citizens of Shechem because he is related to you. So have you acted honorably and in good faith toward Jerub–Baal and his family today? If you have, may Abimelek be your joy, and may you be his, too! But if you have not, let fire come out from Abimelek and consume you, the citizens of Shechem and Beth Millo, and let fire come out from you, the citizens of Shechem and Beth Millo, and consume Abimelek!” Both Abimelek and the people of Shechem have done evil. They have murdered the innocent and they have done evil to Gideon, the man who God used to deliver them from their oppressors. Because of this, Jotham promises that Yahweh will bring justice to both Abimelek and Shechem. He will cause them to consume one another like fire. These are very strong words, and after saying them Jotham fled out of fear for his brother. And after what his brother did to the rest of his family I can’t blame him. That’s not a punk move. That’s wisdom.

Verse 22 tells us that Abimelek reigned over Israel for three years. This is the shortest term of oppression or judgeship in this entire book. Verses 23 and 24 explain why, “God stirred up animosity between Abimelek and the citizens of Shechem so that they acted treacherously against Abimelek. God did this in order that the crime against Jerub–Baal’s seventy sons, the shedding of their blood, might be avenged on their brother Abimelek and on the citizens of Shechem, who had helped him murder his brothers.” The rest of this chapter is going to be terribly violent. And according to these verses Yahweh is behind it all. Because Yahweh is a God of perfect righteousness and perfect justice it is his nature and his will to bring justice to injustice and make the wrong right. And that is precisely what he will do with Abimelek and the people of Shechem.

The story unfolds as a man named Gaal moves into Shechem. Gaal begins to draw followers after himself by making the same argument that Abimelek made. He claims to have closer genealogical ties to the people of Shechem than Abimelek does. For that reason he thinks he should be king in Abimelek’s place. Look at how he makes his case in verses 28 and 29, ““Who is Abimelek, and who is Shechem, that we should be subject to him? Isn’t he Jerub–Baal’s son, and isn’t Zebul his deputy? Serve the people of Hamor, Shechem’s father! Why should we serve Abimelek? If only this people were under my command! Then I would get rid of him. I would say to Abimelek, ‘Call out your whole army!’” This cat talks a big game, doesn’t he? He almost sounds as arrogant as Kanye West, but not quite. Well, you know what happens when you talk that kind of trash, don’t you? People hear about it. And that’s what happened here. Abimilek’s right-hand man, Zebul, heard about it and secretly sent word to Abimilek. He told Abimilek to set up an ambush against Gaal and his supporters. Abimilek did. And the next morning many of Gaal’s followers were slain and Gaal himself was driven out of Shechem. You would think that would be the end of it, right? The threat was eliminated. But Abimilek was not done. Just like his father, Gideon, Abimilek wanted revenge. So the next day he waited for the people of Shechem to come out into the fields where he and his army waited to make another ambush. When the people came out Abimilek and his men attacked them and killed everyone they saw. Again, you would think that would be enough. But Abimilek was still thirsty for revenge. He heard that some of the citizens of the city had run to the temple of Baal for safety. So he gathered his army and had every one of them collect branches from the nearby trees. They laid these branches around the temple, lit them on fire, and burned the temple down with the people still inside. One thousand people were burned alive by the king who was supposed to rule them. Again, you would think that would be enough. But Abimilek still hungered for revenge. And Yahweh was still bringing justice. The only citizens that remained had fled to a strong tower in a nearby town. Abimilek chased them into the town, besieged the town, and captured it. Then he headed for the strong tower where the people had locked themselves inside and climbed to the top of the roof. Abimilek approached the tower preparing to burn it down just as he had burnt the temple down. But just as he was about to light the fire a woman dropped a millstone from the top of the roof. It landed directly on his head and crushed his skull. Yet even in death Abimilek was still concerned about his image. So he turned to his armor bearer and said, “Draw your sword and kill me, so that they can’t say, ‘A woman killed him.’” His servant ran through him and he died. Ironically, despite Abimilek’s best efforts the Bible mentions twice that he was in fact killed by a woman. Not only that, but he was killed by a single stone, just as he had killed his brothers on a single stone. But even more important than what happened is why it happened. Look at verses 56 and 57, “Thus God repaid the wickedness that Abimelek had done to his father by murdering his seventy brothers. God also made the people of Shechem pay for all their wickedness. The curse of Jotham son of Jerub–Baal came on them.” This series of violent events was orchestrated by God himself to punish Abimilek for his evil, to punish the people of Shechem for their wickedness, and to bring justice on behalf of the 70 innocent brothers who were murdered in cold blood. The story of Abimilek makes it very clear that God is a God of justice. He will not wink at evil, he will not overlook the guilty. He will bring justice and he will make the wrong things right.

God’s Retribution on You and Me

So what does all of this mean for you and me? First, it means that we should rejoice that the God of the universe is a righteous and just God. We should rejoice that he turns injustice into justice. We should rejoice that he takes what is wrong and makes it right. But it also means that we should be quite concerned. Shechem received their violent judgment because they made someone king who was not truly the king. We do the same thing. We live as though we are king of our lives instead of living with Jesus as the king of our lives. We serve our will and our desires instead of Jesus’ will. We trust in ourselves to rule our lives instead of trusting in Jesus to rule our lives. We have made our own kings. We have made ourselves kings. If the people of Shechem deserved God’s judgment for that don’t we deserve the same?

Second, Abimilek received his violent judgment because he murdered his brothers, 70 of them. Well, you and I are murderers, too. We have murdered our brothers and our sisters and we have murdered at least as many as Abimilek. These are not my words but the words of Jesus. Listen to what Jesus says in Matthew 5:21 and 22, “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment. But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the Sanhedrin. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.” Jesus equates anger with murder and says that they are both worthy of the same judgment, they are both worthy of the fires of Hell. Jesus calls you, and you, and you, and you, and me, a murderer. Now let me be clear that the emotion of anger itself is not evil. God himself is said to be angry over 500 times in the Scriptures. Anger is a God-given emotion that often arises in us spontaneously. It’s not the emotion of anger that makes you a murderer. It’s why you become angry and how you respond to that initial emotion. It’s good to be angered by injustices against the innocent. It’s good to be angered when the world is not as it ought to be. But these are not the things that we are most angered by. Our anger is not like Gods. Our anger is almost always rooted in selfishness or pride or jealousy or envy. I can’t believe he did this to me. I can’t believe she said that about me. I can’t believe that he prospers while I suffer. I can’t believe they didn’t give me what I want, what I need, what I deserve. Our anger is not like God’s. Our anger is almost always rooted in the flesh and not in the Spirit. Our anger is not like God’s. It is almost always used as a means to destroy relationships while God’s is used to restore them. Our anger is not like God’s. We do not express it properly. Sometimes we do not express it at all and other times we express it to the wrong person. We allow it to control us and guide us. And it is not justified. It is murder. And we are murderers. You are a murderer. I know that we don’t like to think of ourselves that way. I know that we resist that label. But when you think about it it’s not difficult to see how the two are equivalent. Murder is not just killing someone, murder is the premeditated, deliberate, and malicious taking of a human life. And God says that murder must be punished by death. And the reason God gives for this is that murder not only destroys the person but it destroys the image of God within that person. Anger is murder in principle because anger devalues people and it devalues the image of God expressed in them. When we are inappropriately angry with people we try to take their identity and their value as God’s image bearer away from them. We can do this silently, we can do this vocally, we can do this physically. The ultimate physical expression of anger is murder. But even if we never express this anger physically or vocally we have already devalued a human being and the image of God in them.  In principle, we have murdered them and we have earned judgment for our murder.

So not only have you rejected Jesus as king and made yourself king you have used your power as king to commit murder after murder after murder after murder. You saw what God did to Shechem and Abimilek to bring justice to them. What do you expect God will do with you? If God is a god of justice, if God is a god who makes the wrong things right, how will he bring justice to you? How will he make your wrong right? Obviously your retribution is not going to come through political means in the same way it came to Abimilek and Shechem. It’s going to come quite differently. Jesus says that those who make themselves kings and those who murder people with anger will find their justice in the fires of Hell. God is a God of justice and because God is a God of justice he cannot wink at your evil or my evil, he cannot overlook your guilt or my guilt. He must punish us. He must sentence us for our wickedness. And the place that God has chosen for that sentence to be served is a place called Hell.

And yet with everything I’ve said and every argument I’ve countered I have not made Hell any less hellish. I believe we have shown that Hell does not make God unloving, or unjust, or manipulative. But by no means have we minimized the horrors and the torment of Hell. It’s true that the fire and darkness described by Jesus are probably symbolic. But that does not mean that the reality of Hell is any less painful. To the contrary, in the Bible the reality is always greater than the symbol that points to the reality. The reality of Jesus is greater than the Judges we’ve been reading about that symbolize his work and point toward him. And the torment of Hell is greater than, worse than, the symbols of fire and darkness that Jesus uses to describe it. So if you think burning alive for eternity would be painful the true pain of Hell is actually worse. The darkness represents the pain of loss, the pain of being eternally shut out from the presence of God’s grace, and mercy, and compassion. The fire represents the pain of sense, the pain of eternally bearing the wrath of God. Jesus describes this in Matthew 25:41, “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me (loss/separation), you who are cursed, into the eternal fire (sense/wrath) prepared for the devil and his angels.” Jesus’ Apostle, Paul, describes it again in 2Thessalonians 1:8-9, “He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with everlasting destruction (sense/wrath) and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might (loss/separation).”

God’s Retribution on Jesus

There is no doubt that Hell is a hellish, horrible, terrible, frightening place where human beings experience the pain of loss and the pain of sense far beyond anything we can comprehend. There is no doubt that this is a difficult teaching to accept. But we must come to grips with it. Because it is only by understanding the horrors of Hell that we can truly understand the love of God. Because you see, God sent his Son, Jesus, and Jesus willingly went to Hell for us. Jesus went to Hell so that you wouldn’t have to. As Jesus went to the Cross to die in your place he also went to the Cross to go to Hell in your place. As he hung from those wooden beams he experienced the pain of sense in the worst possible way. His body was pulled in every direction, as he tried to pull himself up to resist the stretching the nails tore through his nerves sending excruciating pain through his body and into his brain, the fatigue and pain made him unable to push himself upward, his pectoral muscles became paralyzed, and he was unable to exhale, he continued to hang in pain and torment and agony until finally he suffocated to death.

Jesus experienced the physical pain of receiving God’s wrath for our sins. He went to Hell for us. But far more painful was the pain of loss and abandonment as he was separated from the presence of his eternal Father. He cried out from the Cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” When he said those words Jesus was literally experiencing Hell. You know how much it hurts to be abandoned by someone. You know how much it hurts to be rejected by someone. When an acquaintance rejects you it hurts. When a friend rejects you hurt even worse. When your child rejects you the pain is incomparable. When a parent abandons you the pain never stops. When your husband, or your wife, leaves you and says “I don’t love you anymore” the pain is devastating. The longer a relationship is, the deeper a relationship is, the more intimate a relationship is the more traumatic and agonizing any separation becomes. And Jesus’ relationship with the Father was longer than any relationship you can imagine. They were united together for all eternity. Jesus’ relationship with the Father was deeper than we can ever comprehend. They are one in purpose and one in their very nature. Jesus’ relationship with the Father was more intimate than the most intimate human relationship. They share everything. And yet Jesus willingly allowed this relationship to be cut off. He willingly experienced the pain of separation from the perfect being, the greatest good, whom he had been united to eternally. Jesus, who was eternally united with God, willingly separated himself from God so that you, who would be eternally separated from God, could be united with him forever. In doing this Jesus went into the darkest, deepest, most despairing pit of Hell. Jesus went to Hell for us and he did it willingly so that we would not have to experience Hell ourselves.

This is love unparalleled. This is love unequaled. What are you going to do about it? I pray that you will respond to Jesus’ love by loving him, by worshiping him, and by obeying him. Not because doing this will somehow save you from Hell but because Jesus has already saved you from Hell and you cannot help but love him because he so loves you.