If you'd open your Bibles to the ninth chapter of the book of Judges, we're going to be looking tonight at verses 26 to 57. We'll be reading the text as we work our way through it. As we go to prayer tonight, we want to report that the body of Brian Gross was found this afternoon. God did allow them to find the body, so we're going to include Robin and Phil and the family in prayer. Will you join with me, please, in prayer? Our Father, you are a sovereign God. We're seeing that in the book of Judges. You're sovereign in things we understand. You're sovereign in things we don't understand. We know that you're a God who can be trusted in any situation or circumstance. We especially want to praise you tonight for the fact that Brian was a believer in Jesus Christ, and we can have confidence in knowing that he's home with you. But we realize there is a real void to the family and to friends who knew him and loved him. And we especially want to pray that you would fill up that void with your amazing grace and love. We pray that you would surround Phil and Robin and the family with your grace. We pray for Brian's wife that she'll have a real sense also of thy presence and of thy peace. We pray that you would do what only you can do as God, minister in a situation that is very difficult. And we want to commit tonight's text to you. We pray that you would use this passage tonight to speak to our minds and hearts. And for that, we will thank you and praise you in Jesus' name, amen. I read a true story of a woman who bought an expensive coat in New York. And she lost a button, so she went back to the shop where she bought the coat and asked if she could purchase a new button. And they told her they did not have extra buttons. So the woman wrote the company that made the coat and asked for that specific button that was on the coat. And the company recognized that the button that she asked for matched the button on a coat that had been stolen. So the company decided to contact the police department, and the police department contacted the woman, and the woman led the detectives to the shop that sold her the coat. Come to find out, the owner who was running the shop was buying stolen goods, and he was selling them to customers, and in due time, he ended up in jail. Sometimes the wheel of justice turns slow, but you can be sure that when it comes to the providential plan of God, it's always turning. God is a God who will not let people get away with things forever. Vengeance is His, and He promises, I will repay. There are many people who, including some believers, who think their sin and rebellion is going completely unnoticed and unchecked. Some never do anything about the sin issue. Some keep right on with their gossip. Some keep right on with their hatred. Some keep right on with their lies, their greed, and their lust. And they think they'll never be a day of accountability. Yet when you read the scriptures, you see truth about the pending judgment of God. You know that's not true. For unbelievers, there is a horrible judgment called the great white throne judgment. For believers, there's an intimidating reward or loss of reward judgment called the Bema Seed Judgment. God is certainly a gracious God and He gives people plenty of time to make adjustments in life. He gives plenty of time for people to make things right, but if they don't deal with things, God can and will deal with them. The fact of the matter is God only lets people get away with things for so long and then he tracks them down and that's what happens right here to Abimelech and the Shechemites. What we see when we go through these verses tonight is that after God had sovereignly used evil things for his purposes, he sovereignly tracks down and punishes those who do the evil. It's amazing to me how God always see to it that one will reap what he sows. It doesn't happen instantly, but it always happens eventually. In the book of Job, there's a verse in chapter 20, verse 5, that says the triumph of the wicked is short. We may recall as we come to this story tonight that for three years, Abimelech ruled over Israel. He was nothing more than a ruthless, cold-blooded killer. He killed all but one of Gideon's sons. And he was supported by the people of Shechem in doing it. They actually funded his evil activity. Even though Jotham, Gideon's only son, had escaped and warned them that if you don't do right in the sight of God, you're going to pay. In fact, you'll notice in chapter 9, verse 20, he makes a prediction. If you don't do right, you're going to burn. But in spite of Jotham's warnings, the Shechemites let Abimelech continue to be their king. And during that time, Abimelech lived in Arumah, according to verse 41, a city located about five miles southeast of Shechem. However, at the end of three years, the Shechemites were beginning to see and sense his true intentions. He wasn't living in Shechem, he seemed to be interested in other things, and they were beginning to lose their luster with this guy as their leader. I just read an interesting article this week called, Eternally Jobless. It's an article that describes the hopelessness that many Americans have right now of even finding a job. And to make matters worse, people who are nearing retirement age are working longer, which is not freeing up jobs for the younger generation. In fact, this article said that 44% of all workers are intending to work full-time or part-time after age 65. If I can get that half bath in my office, I'll go on for a few more years. But if it's just a hole in the ground, I'll think about retiring. What's so interesting about this is that younger people voted last in the presidential election for the candidate that they thought would bring about hope and change. And now many of them are totally disillusioned with the one who promised hope and change, and they've lost hope of even finding a job. One young man said, I feel worthless. People are disillusioned with all the political promises that are made to them that aren't coming true. And that is exactly the atmosphere that existed with the Shechemites. They were becoming totally disillusioned with Abimelech and all of his rhetoric and all of his promises. They weren't coming true. And God was the one stirring up all of this difficult turmoil. Abimelech's lies were about to catch up to him. So when you come to this text of scripture tonight, there are six trackdown realities I want to show you. Trackdown reality number one, God raises up another leader. Notice verse 26, what we read in Judges chapter 9. Now Gaol, the son of Abed, came with his relatives and crossed over into Shechem, and the men of Shechem put their trust in him. They went out into the field, and gathered the grapes of their vineyards, and trod them, and held a festival. And they went into the house of their god, and ate, and drank, and cursed Abimelech. Now the reason why all of this stuff is happening is because of what happened in verse 23. God sent an evil spirit. He sent a demonic spirit to cause friction between Abimelech and the Shechemites. God is sovereign in everything that's happening. Things we know and things we can see, things we don't know and things we can't see. At all time, God was sovereign in everything that was going on. And at the time of the days of judges, God brought this Canaanite man into the picture. His name was Ga'al. Dr. Fawcett said that he was a roving Shechemite captain of free booters. We don't know a whole lot about this guy. Ga'al was the son of a bed. He crossed the Jordan River, probably a Canaanite. And he came into Shechem with his brothers who were fellow fighters, as Leon Wood said. And he apparently was somewhat of a charismatic type of guy. He was an upbeat type of man. He held some charisma over these people. And as a result of that, the text says, the men of Shechem put their trust in him. As one commentator said, he'll turn out to be nothing but a big mouth bully. But the fact of the matter is he persuaded them with his rhetoric and they put their trust in him. Now I want you to notice there's no place here where they're trusting God. There's no place here where God is even in the equation. They're not trusting God at all. Now they're putting their trust in some godless Canaanite. I do not believe, ladies and gentlemen, that there is any political leader that can straighten out the present disastrous mess that exists in the United States of America. I do not believe there is a political man on this earth who, in and of himself, can straighten out the economics, the morality, or the spirituality. The only person who could possibly straighten this out would be Almighty God. And the only way He would straighten it out would be if somebody would say, we've got to turn back to the God of the Bible. We've got to go back to Him and ask for His help. The problem we have is the same problem the Shechemites had. Most didn't trust God. They're putting their trust in some charismatic person. The one with the smooth talk often wins. And the men of Shechem trusted in Ga'al. And Ga'al's timing couldn't have been better. Of course, God's directing this. It was the time of the Shechemite grape harvest. And so the people, according to verse 27, went out, they harvested their grapes, and they threw a big party. They were supposed to offer praise to God after the harvest season, but they're offering praise to their own God. They're in their own idolatrous temple. They are eating, and they're drinking, and they're partying, and they're worshiping their own idols. And at this meeting, they cursed Abimelech. They denounced allegiance to Abimelech. They said derogatory things about him. Of course, what they don't realize is the reason why we even have these grapes, is because Gideon had chased those raiding Midianites out of our land. We may recall that the looting Midianites would come in there and take charge of Israel and take their grapes and take everything else. But Gideon had followed the Lord and put a stop to all of that. But there's no mention of God here. God's not even in the equation. There's no mention of Gideon here. Even though God is not mentioned, though, he's right here. And even though God is not mentioned, he is sovereign in control over it all. Now, De Gaulle was a typical political opportunist. He's ready to seize the moment while he and his brothers are at this party. They hear the cursing that's taking place concerning Abimelech. They hear the bad talk. And he's ready to take full advantage of the situation. These people from Shechem were gullible, and we already know they can be swayed by slick talk. So that brings us to track down reality number two. Gaal suggests that he replace Abimelech. Notice verse 28. Then Gaal, the son of Abed, said, who's Abimelech? And who's Shechem, that we should serve him? Is he not the son of Jerubbaal? And is Zubal not his lieutenant? Serve the men of Hamor, the father of Shechem. But why should we serve him? Would, therefore, that this people were under my authority, then I would remove Abimelech. And he said to Abimelech, increase your army and come out. I'd like to say this about Gaal. He has a lot of Gaal. I made that up myself. I've thought a lot about that line this week. Abimelech did not live in Shechem, but he apparently left his military leader in Shechem, whose name was Zabal. Zabal was keeping track of everything. He's listening to the rhetoric. He's reporting to Abimelech. Now, Gaal made a proposal for a change of leadership. He said, why in the world should you serve Abimelech, who's the son of Jerubbaal, who's the, obviously, Gideon? Why should you serve a Jew? And you've got Zabal as military leader here. Why not serve the men of Hamor who is the father of Shechem? This is just like the old J. Simpson trial where he plays the race card. He's trying to stir things up. This is the kind of political maneuvering we expect to see in political election years and we expect to see it in courtrooms. Ga'al is basically saying, why should you subject yourself to a Jew? And he emphasizes the fact that Abimelech is the son of Drubal, but he doesn't bring up the fact that his mother was a Shechemite. He leaves that out of the equation because he figures these people don't think things through. And that's what corrupt politicians do. They twist things and distort things for their own gain. Corrupt politicians put their own spin on things and they spin it their way. They bring up bits and pieces of things, but they never tell the whole truth. They're able to sway a constituency by bringing up some stuff and leaving out some other stuff. Their goal is to make themselves look good, make the other guy look bad, so that they can get the applause of the people. And there's no doubt that the Shechemites did have a Canaanite background, so go all saying, hey, why don't you turn allegiance over to me? Why don't you put me in charge? I'll remove Abimelech, and you'll have better days. So he's presenting to them the idea, you shouldn't be serving the Israelites, you should be serving a Shechemite, and in his case, a Canaanite. So Gaal is making himself out to be one who is a real leader for them, real concerned about them, when in fact, that is not reality. And he claims in verse 29, if you'll turn things over to me, I'll rout him. That's exactly what Abimelech had done previously to Gideon's boys. You remember, he verbally convinced these same Shechemite people to support him. When he came in there and started using his political rhetoric, these people were silly simpletons and they followed him as he went and killed Gideon's sons. Now things are beginning to come full circle. Another man, Gaal, is doing the same thing in regard to him. The track down process of God is underway. There is a critical lesson to be learned here concerning the Shechemites. They continue to make major wrong decisions in life because they do not take time to investigate the facts. You know, there's a new website that is apparently sweeping across the United States. It's called Ben Verified. Ben Verified. The reason for this website apparently is because so many people tell lies. They've actually come up with a website so you can track down reality. Somebody makes a claim so you can go to this and they'll verify it for you. People are naive. They can be swayed. They can be duped. They're emotional. They're unstable. They're gullible. And they're not taking the time to think it through or investigate it carefully. They're listening to the rhetoric of Ga'al. He's a charismatic stranger and they assume what he says is true. And I cannot help but think of some of our political and religious leaders who say things and sway crowds and they say things that aren't true. I cannot help but think of the people who have conned other people out of their money with untrue claims that are never researched. One of the great Christian leaders at one time who was the Surgeon General of the United States was Dr. C. Everett Koop. He was a fine Christian man and for many years he was an elder in the 10th Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, which was the church of the great Bible expositor Donald Gray Barnhouse and James Montgomery Boyce. In his medical career, Dr. Coop said he performed 50,000 surgeries. He said that he would often run into people who would start lying and making up stuff about faith healing. And he said these people would get a lot of people to believe them. And one night, a woman came to him and said that she knew a woman who had gone into a hospital to be fitted for a glass eye. He said that when the surgeon turned around to get an instrument, the woman told him that when he turned back around, God had put a brand new eye in the woman's socket and the woman could see. This woman who's telling Dr. Koop this was telling this story, and she had told this story to all kinds of people who believed her. Well, Dr. Koop, when he heard this story, said to the woman, do you know the woman? And the woman said, well, no, I don't know her, but I know somebody who does. He said, give me that person's name. Because I want to talk to the person who knows the woman. I want to have a conversation with her. Well, I don't really know the person who knows her, but I know someone who knows the person who knows her. He said, I want her name. Give me her name. I will go talk to her. Come to find out this thing wasn't even true. This woman had been telling this story for years and nobody bothered to check up on it until she ran into Dr. Everett Koop. They never bothered to research anything. The Shekebites are just like that gullible woman. They just believe it because Ga'al is saying it. Listen, we must make certain that we think biblically, not hypnotically. The big problem with these Shechemites is almost as if they're in a hypnotic daze. They're not focused on the scriptures. They're not focused on understanding the will of God. But even in this bizarre situation, even when you have all this lying and this deceit, and you have these demonic distortions taking place, God is at work here. Because God is tracking down Abimelech for what he's done. Which brings us to the third reality. Zabul gets word to Abimelech about what's happening. Now you'll notice verse 30. When Zabul, the ruler of the city, heard the words of Gaal, the son of Abed, his anger burned. He sent messengers to Abimelech deceitfully, saying, Behold, Gaal, the son of Abed, and his relatives have come to Shechem, and behold, they're stirring up the city against you. Now therefore arise by night, you and the people who are with you, and lie in wait in the field. In the morning, as soon as the sun is up, you shall rise early and rush upon the city. And behold, when he and the people who are with him come out against you, you shall do to them whatever you can. So Abimelech and all the people who were with him arose by night and lay in wait against Shechem in four companies. Now keep in mind that God is in the process of tracking down Abimelech. Abimelech has no knowledge of this. God's about to pay him back for what he did to Gideon's boys. So in all of this espionage that's taking place, in all of this deceit and lies is the silent, secret, sovereign hand of Almighty God. Now, Zabul was mad because he is hearing of a potential takeover of power by Ga'al. And Zabul is Abimelech's right-hand man who is left in Shechem. And if Ga'al takes over the city, he'll probably be out of a job. So he secretly sent word to Abimelech telling him, you've got a guy in this city that's really stirring up things. He gets word to him deceitfully, the text says, which means he gave the impression to Gaal and the others that he was sending these messengers out for some other reason. But he's really sending them to Abimelech to tell him there's an insurrection movement at work here, at work. And Zabul, who apparently is a key advisor, comes up with a strategy. He says to Abimelech, here's what you do. You sneak in to the area at night and lay low in the fields outside Shechem. He says, then when the sun comes up, when it gets light, you come rushing into the city early in the morning and you'll take Gaal by surprise and you'll have victory. See, Ga'al's shooting off his mouth in the city, telling, I'm gonna go get Abimelech, you make me charge, and I'll go rout him. And so, Zebul is thinking, when he goes out, he'll run right into a buzzsaw, because you'll have Abimelech and his boys right outside there, ready to get him. Now that's certainly not like Gideon, who was directed by God to rout the Midianites. There's nobody in this context even consulting God. The fact of the matter is, they're just all doing what's right in their own eyes. They're making their own plans. They seem plausible. They seem reasonable from a military perspective. In fact, according to verse 34, Abimelech listened to the plan. He said, you know, that's a good idea. So he got his guys and they bivouacked into the field that night. And this will prove to really be a bad move. And even though God is not consulted in any way, what God is, is He's sovereignly involved in every bit of this. Because God is working out His sovereign plan and His sovereign will. You wouldn't see it if you didn't see it in the scriptures, but you can be sure God is working out His sovereign will. We see a lot of strange things going on in this country right now. We can't explain a lot of things. Some of them are bizarre. There's a twisting, there's a distortion of truth and reality. It's taking place on many fronts. You can know this, behind stuff we don't even see, behind stuff we don't even understand is our God. And our sovereign God is still on His throne. Whether people see it, believe it or not, He's still working out His plan. So Abimelech listens to this plan. He puts his men on the mountainside at night. They're waiting for the people to come outside in the morning, outside the gate. And their plan is, when they come out, we'll take them by surprise. Apparently, the city had walls and gates, so you couldn't just rush in there. So he said, what we'll do is we'll wait till they open those gates in the morning. We'll be ready for them, and we'll take them by surprise. We'll ambush them. Now, from a military strategy, the plan seems good. But what Abimelech doesn't know is there is a God behind this plan and the ultimate purpose of the plan is to destroy him. Which brings us to track down reality number four. Ga'al goes out to fight Abimelech. Notice verse 35. Now Ga'al, the son of Abed, went out and stood in the entrance of the city gate. And Abimelech and the people who were with him arose from the ambush. When Ga'al saw the people, he said to Zebul, look, people are coming down from the tops of the mountains. But Zebul said to him, oh, you're seeing the shadow of the mountains as if they were men. Ga'al spoke again and said, Behold, people are coming down from the highest part of the land, and one company comes by the way of the diviner's oak. Then Zebul said to him, Where is your boasting now with what you said, or with which you said? Who is Abimelech that we should serve him? Is this not the people whom you despised? Go out now and fight with them. So Ga'al went out before the leaders of Shechem and fought with Abimelech. Abimelech chased him, and he fled before him, and many fell, wounded up to the entrance of the gate. Then Abimelech remained at Arumah, but Zabal drove out Ga'al and his relatives so that they could not remain in Shechem. The next morning, Ga'al gets up, and he's just walking out in front of the city with Zabal. They go outside through the gate, and Ga'al looks up on the mountainside, and he says, hey, that looks like a bunch of guys up there. Looks like a military up there on the side of the mountains. It looks like it's an ambush. And Zabal tries to throw him off track in verse 36 by saying, ah, you're seeing things. Those really aren't military guys up there. Those are just shadows you're seeing in the mountains. By the way, that's what Satan tries to do. He tries to convince people that the pending judgment of God is a shadow. He tries to convince people that you really don't have anything to worry about when you have to face Almighty God. He tries to convince people that you can just live your life and be as good as you can, and when you face God, He's going to let you go into heaven. It is all a lie. And as Gaal looked up into that mountain, he realizes that Zabal is not telling him the truth. He said, I see people coming. So he gets his men, he goes out and fights, and things don't go well for him or the men of Shechem. Not only were things going bad, but Zabal, who probably at this point is standing on a wall or gate, is yelling down to Ga'al, where's your boasting now? You big mouth braggart. Where's your boasting now? You said you were going to go out there and take on Abimelech and you're going to rout him? Well, here's your chance. Why aren't you out there doing it? Let's see you do it. And Ga'al goes out to fight and he's going to lose. You know, there are many people just like Gaal, they talk a good game. I mean, if you listen to their mouths, they seem big and impressive. And this especially is true when it comes to God. I can't tell you the number of times I've heard somebody say, well, when I get before God, when I get before God, I'm going to tell him, you big mouth bragger, not going to tell him a thing. When people get before God, they're going to stand before Almighty God with their mouth shut. They will realize what a depraved sinner they have been. They're not going to push God around. They're not going to arrogantly defy God in any way. Many people just love to talk like Gaal. They love to talk about the victory they have in their lives when they know it isn't true. They love to talk about the fact that there is real spirituality when they know it isn't true. They know that they don't have real prayer. There's no real Bible study. They just like to talk like Gaal. They talk big. Well, the four companies of Abimelech, they attacked from four different directions and many of Ga'al's troops were destroyed. In fact, Zebal drove Ga'al and all of his relatives out of the city so they couldn't remain in Shechem. Now, let's keep in mind who Abimelech is here. Abimelech is an evil killer. And you're thinking, man, it looks like almost God is blessing him. I mean, he's driving the Canaanites out of his land. And when you initially look at this, you don't really see the hand of God here. What you see is here's a guy who doesn't care about God. Here's a guy who would kill people. He's ruthless. He's a liar. And it's almost like God is blessing him and giving him power. And when I see a story like that in scripture, I cannot help but think of what Proverbs said in Proverbs 16, 4. which says the Lord has made everything for its own purpose even the wicked for the day of evil. Which brings us to track down reality number five. Abimelech destroys Shechem. Notice verse 42. Now it came about the next day that the people went out to the field and it was told to Abimelech so he took his people and divided them into three companies and lay in wait in the field, when he looked and saw the people coming out from the city, he arose against them and slew them. Then Abimelech and the company who was with them dashed forward and stood in the entrance of the city gate, and the other two companies then dashed against all who were in the field and slew them. Abimelech fought against the city all that day, and he captured the city and killed the people who were in it. Then he razed the city and sowed it with salt. When all the leaders of the Tower of Shechem heard it, they entered the inner chamber of the Temple of El Berith. It was told Abimelech that all the leaders of the Tower of Shechem were gathered together. So Abimelech went up to the Mount Zalmon, he and all the people who were with him, and Abimelech took an axe in his hand and cut down a branch from the trees, and lifted it, and laid it on his shoulders. Then he said to the people who were with him, what you have seen me do, hurry and do likewise. All the people also cut down each one his branch, and followed Abimelech, and put them on the inner chamber, and set the inner chamber on fire over those inside, so that all the men of the tower of Shechem also died, about a thousand men and women. God is tracking down Abimelech, but before he does, he's going to pay back those Shechemites who supported Abimelech. So he uses evil Abimelech to destroy the city that sanctioned the killing of Gideon's innocent sons. The next day after Ga'al is routed, Abimelech took his men and divided them into three companies. Perhaps he got the idea from what his father had done, Gideon, who divided his men into three countries. And they fought the Shechemites all day. They killed the people. And in total defiance of the land, they put salt on the land so that it would destroy the possibility of productivity. They didn't even want any more grapes growing there, so they just put salt all over the land. And they trapped people. They trapped some of the leading people inside the idolatrous temple. So Abimelech goes up to the side of a mountain. He cuts down some trees and branches. He hauls it down to their idolatrous temple, and he lit these people on fire, and he burned them to death. Do you remember what Jotham predicted? Well, let's just remind ourselves. It shows up there in verse 15 of chapter 9. The bramble said to the trees, if in truth you're anointing me as king over you, come and take refuge in my shade. But if not, may fire come out of the bramble and consume the cedars of Lebanon. Jotham had made a prediction from the word of God. If you've done right, you have nothing to worry about. But if you killed Gideon's sons and they were innocent, you're going to be burned by Abimelech. And literally, they are burned. And when you look at this as an outsider, you'd say, what in the world is God doing here? He's permitting a ruthless killer to kill more. He's allowing a thousand more people to burn to death. Why in the world would God permit such a thing? Because He's paying back the Shechemites for what they did to Gideon's innocent sons. If you look at verse 57, we read of Judges 9, also God returned all the wickedness of the men of Shechem on their heads. He's paying them back. You see, years before, these Shechemites had supported Abimelech in killing Gideon's sons, and God never forgot that. For several years, the Shechemites lived the good life. For several years after committing that horrific crime, they just enjoyed life. They had their great festivals. They had their parties. Life seemed to be going on just fine, and they were just doing okay. But what they didn't know is we are on a collision course with the justice of Almighty God. What they didn't know is God does not forget evil, even though it was done years before. And you may think, well, boy, that's pretty scary business there, especially if you don't know God. And it is scary business. There's a statement that Paul makes in the book of Romans in which he says to someone who does not believe on Jesus Christ, God knows the secret sins. He hasn't forgotten them. You may think you got away with it years ago. Nobody saw it. Nobody remembers it. Nobody will ever call you to accountability for that secret sin stuff that went on in your life. And Paul says, God does not forget the secret stuff. He'll bring it out to one who refuses to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. But then we say, well, that's a shame for those unbelievers. But what about a believer? Paul says in 1 Corinthians 4, verse 5, that when God judges believers, He'll bring out in their rewards or loss of rewards not only what they did, but the motive for why they did it. In other words, ladies and gentlemen, God does not forget. So wise is the person who does honest business with the Lord before God has to track them down in perfect justice. God is in this whole thing, tracking down these Shechemites. Which brings us to the final reality, Abimelech is destroyed. Notice verse 50 we read, Then Abimelech went to Thebates, and he camped against Thebates, and captured it. But there was a strong tower in the center of the city and all the men and women with all the leaders of the city fled there and shut themselves in and they went up on the roof of the tower. So Abimelech came to the tower and fought against it. and approached the entrance of the tower to burn it with fire. But a certain woman threw an upper millstone on Abimelech's head, crushing his skull. Then he called quickly to the young man, his armor bearer, and said to him, draw your sword and kill me, so that it will not be said of me, a woman slew me. So the young man pierced him through and he died. When the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, each departed to his own home. Thus, God repaid the wickedness of Abimelech, which he had done to his father in killing his 70 brothers. Also, God returned all the wickedness of the men of Shechem on their heads, and the curse of Jotham, the son of Jeroboam, came upon them. Abimelech comes out of Shechem, and once again, he seems to be on top of the political world. So he goes to another town, Thebetz. It's located about 10 miles northeast of Shechem. He camps in the vicinity. He decides he's going to capture the city. In fact, he does capture it. But right in the middle of the city is a tower. And all the men and women and leaders went into that tower. They locked themselves in. They climbed themselves up on the roof. And Abimelech decided, I'm going to do what I did to Shechem. I'm going to grab some tinder. I'm going to get some branches. We're going to go in there. We're going to burn them down. We're going to burn them to death. And in fact, I'm going to lead the charge. The indication here is Abimelech probably figured, these people are so scared they can't do anything. So I'm going to march right up there. And I'm going to set this place on fire. As Abimelech approached the tower to set it on fire, there's a woman. We don't even know her name. She tosses a millstone off the top of the tower, hits Abimelech in the head, and crushes his skull. There's a new fascinating program on the True Channel called Deadly Women. It's historical accounts of women who kill. There's some good ones in the book of Judges. We've seen a couple already. You have Jael. Jael was that woman who took a tent stake and drove it into the head of Caesarea. And now, we get this other woman who could sling a millstone. Now, there were different size of millstones, and the one that was used by hand was about 10 to 14 inches long. It was about 2 to 4 inches wide, and it weighed about 5 pounds. Probably what happened when these people locked themselves into the tower is this woman thought, I'll grab this millstone because if we're here for a while, this will be a good tool to have in here because I can grind up some food and make something for us to eat. But when she saw a bimelech approaching the tower, she tossed the millstone off the tower, and God was in this, and He directed that stone, just like He directed David's stone to hit the Philistine, He directed that stone to hit a bimelech on top of his head. And he wasn't instantly killed, so he could still speak, but he knew he was dying. And I have had to wonder, I wonder if he thought to himself in his final moments of life, you know, I killed all of Gideon's sons on one stone. And now one stone has killed me. That bramble bush killer had just been tracked down by God. He knew he was dying, but he didn't want to have it said that he died by the hand of a woman, so he called his armor bearer to kill him because he didn't want to be known as the man who a woman killed. But what's so ironic is that's exactly what he's known for. God used this woman to toss a stone off her roof, and he caused that stone to hit and kill Abimelech. And when that happened, notice what the men did in verse 55, they just go home. The men just go home. Oftentimes, when you take out the kingpin satanic leader, the war ends. And we have evidence in scripture that that will happen again. God is going to take out Satan, and when Satan is ultimately taken out, the war is going to end. And the chapter ends by saying there are three realities. Number one, this was a payback from God on Abimelech. Number two, it was a payback from God on the wickedness of the Shechemites. And number three, it was a fulfillment of the prophetic prediction that was given by Jotham. Now ladies and gentlemen, I don't want you to miss what Judges 9 teaches us. You reap what you sow. What Judges 9 teaches us is God does track down people. God does cause them to be paid back for what they've done. A person can appear to get away with something for a long time, but they're never getting away with it. God doesn't forget about it. You manipulate, you lie, you push your way into power, you walk over people, you hurt people, you harm people, and God is not absent from that. He keeps monitoring that. There is a God who's not absent from crime and evil. He sees it all, He will repay it all. And sometimes we'll get to see how he's going to do it. I wonder, for example, if OJ will die with his throat slit. I wonder if Casey Anthony will end up dying with duct tape and chloroform on her face. I've wondered if Phil Spector will end up dying with a bullet in his head. I don't know. That's God's business. Only God knows. But I tell you this, God tracks down evil stuff. Now, you may be here tonight. and you flat out know you're living your life in sin and to this point nothing really bad has happened to you. You may be sitting here tonight and you know I'm not in tune with God. I'm not walking with God. I've got a good life. Things are just flowing along just fine. Last 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 years it's just been okay. I don't need to deal with anything. I don't need to face anything. I don't need to change anything. You need to take a serious look at this text. There is a God who tracks people down. Andrew Fawcett the theologian said, the longer the sin penalty is delayed, the heavier it will always be. And if you're here tonight and you've never placed your faith in Jesus Christ, you need to know this. Every sin you've ever committed in your mind, with your body, with your mouth, in thought, in action, every sin is on file before God. He has not forgot one of them. That whole case, sin case of yours is on file in the heavenlies. And if you get before God and you've not settled that sin case out of court, He will track you down, He'll punish you, and you will burn. That is why you need tonight to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved. And if you are here tonight and you're a believer, you keep in mind there is a Bema seat judgment that is coming for every one of us. Our responsibility must be to have a relationship with God that is based on truth. When we fail, you go right to God and you confess that sin. You claim the cleansing blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. You keep your relationship with the Lord pure, honest, clean, and true. Because when it comes to sin, God will always track it down. May we pray. If you're here tonight and you've never trusted Jesus Christ the Savior, oh, don't leave here tonight without settling that case. Settle your case right here tonight, right where you sit. You pray, God, I know I'm a sinner, I know it. And I thank you that Jesus Christ died for me, and right now I place my faith in him to be my Savior. Our Father, we see in this text a warning and we also see grace. We realize, Lord, that there were times in all of our lives that you could have legitimately tracked us all down. There were times in our lives where we should be and could have been dead. You'd have been right in doing that. But in your amazing grace, you permitted us an opportunity to live. You permitted us an opportunity to have a relationship with you through the Lord Jesus Christ. And all we can do tonight is say thank you so much for that. In Jesus' name, amen.