Have you ever watched a video of huge crowds of people and been shocked at the violence incited? What causes mob mentality? Even more important, is God okay with it?
The Israelites were in a period of transition, without one true leader like Moses or Joshua, they essentially followed the military leaders God put in place. The ones God raised up to save them from oppression.
Then the Lord raised up judges, who saved them out of the hand of those who plundered them.
Judges 2:16
Gideon had already arrived on the scene, made his mark by showing his allegiance to the Lord (tearing down the Baals and Asherah poles) and then fighting battles with miraculous results: Gideon with an army of 300 men fought an army where 120,000 swordsmen died.
Gideon ended up with multiple children, the Bible specifies 70 sons by his wives, and one from a concubine, Abimelech. To speak of only Gideon’s accomplishments does not present a whole picture, and it is unclear to Bible scholars whether or not he remained true to the Lord until his death. Either way, God did use this man for His good during his lifetime.
Now Gideon had seventy sons, his own offspring, for he had many wives. And his concubine who was in Shechem also bore him a son, and he called his name Abimelech.
Judges 8:30-31
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The Lord should rule…
Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, and my son will not rule over you; the Lord will rule over you.”
Judges 8:23
Abimelech took it upon himself, to go against what his Dad requested. After he died of course so there was no one to challenge him since the Israelites, “as soon as Gideon died, … turned again and whored after the Baals and made Baal-berith their god”. (Judges 8:33) If we look through the details of Abimelech’s life, he is very smart and cunning. He seems to understand coercion, manipulation, and deceit like a pro.
But we’re family…
His first activity is to align his brothers to him and he convinces them to put forth his name as a potential king to the city of Shechem.
Now Abimelech the son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem to his mother’s relatives and said to them and to the whole clan of his mother’s family, “Say in the ears of all the leaders of Shechem, ‘Which is better for you, that all seventy of the sons of Jerubbaal rule over you, or that one rule over you?’ Remember also that I am your bone and your flesh.”
Judges 9:1-2
Family is typically our biggest blessing in this world. While it can bring about the best friendships you’ll ever experience, for some it can also bring about overly challenging or even abusive and dangerous relationships. For those who recognize how to obtain power over others, it begins with manipulation. With the emotional pull of ‘hey, but we’re family’, it can easily be the first point to start with when trying to garner a position of control.
Sometimes family is the easiest to dupe. And once accomplished only serves to empower an individual to dupe other people since they succeeded with those who naturally are in relationship with them.
With Abimelech, look at the phrasing of his words. First, he is convincing them all to overlook what their Dad had desired, and tweaks it just a bit to infer that one person ruling wouldn’t be that bad, and who better than all of us, but one representative, me? After all, Abimelech is family.
I love my family, God has blessed us greatly. That does not mean that we have not experienced manipulations within extended family at different points in time and had to take stands against the ‘because family‘ tactic to cover over the truth of what was happening. The whole ‘because family‘ mentality, is not an excuse to use people, treat people badly, or not have to apologize AND change.
While some people have normal childhoods and can’t fathom a division of a family, it helps to look at the world we live in outside of our circle, there are: Dads who sexually abuse their children; Moms who slap their kids and tell them they’re worthless; brothers who steal from their siblings. It is out there in the world, and ‘family’ is not an excuse to remain in manipulative relationships.
With that being clarified, look how convincing Abimelech was, it says ‘their hearts inclined to follow’ him. Why? Because he was their brother. Family.
And his mother’s relatives spoke all these words on his behalf in the ears of all the leaders of Shechem, and their hearts inclined to follow Abimelech, for they said, “He is our brother.”
Judges 9:3, emphasis added
Family dynamics…
No leader rises to power without followers. Granted, here we see that Abimelech hired his own. With money from a temple to a god, no less.
And they gave him seventy pieces of silver out of the house of Baal-berith with which Abimelech hired worthless and reckless fellows, who followed him.
Judges 9:4
He hired worthless and reckless followers. Hmmm. Not exactly the upstanding brother. And just so no one could challenge his new-found, purchased authority, he decided to wipe out all possible competition.
And he went to his father’s house at Ophrah and killed his brothers the sons of Jerubbaal, seventy men, on one stone. But Jotham the youngest son of Jerubbaal was left, for he hid himself.
Judges 9:5
Joseph’s brothers sold him into slavery and in the end, forgiveness and reconciliation both occurred. Here, one brother murders his brothers (except Jotham). Two great examples that family dynamics are not always cut and dry and have the potential to turn extremely dangerous.
A mob begins as followers…
Abimelech knew followers were the key to success. In order to present as an authority, he needed to provide the illusion that he was worthy of following. He manipulated an illusion of power and leadership.
Use of mercenaries to accomplish political or military goals was common in ancient times. Abimelech’s 70 brothers were slaughtered like sacrificial animals. In effect he inaugurated his kingship by using his Israelite half brothers as his coronation sacrifices.
NIV Study Bible, FN on Judges 9:4
And it worked!
And all the leaders of Shechem came together, and all Beth-millo, and they went and made Abimelech king, by the oak of the pillar at Shechem.
Judges 9:6
The leaders and the people made him king after that. It is a weird, natural occurrence that especially with fear involved, it’s an instinct of sorts to follow someone who has followers.
One who speaks out…
The little brother pops back into the picture with a word of warning. He essentially calls out all the horrific things that just happened as well as their reasoning, “because he is your relative“. Oh, but family.
Sometimes we observe one person can step away from a family for unknown reasons, and it seems unjustified, which it very well could be. If you notice a family experiences someone stepping away and the remaining members attempt to discredit and garner support by demeaning, ridiculing, or lying about who you knew that person to be or even ever so subtly just attempts to manipulate your feelings to draw you in emotionally with a sorrowful story of innocence, you may want to take a step back from that emotion pull to seriously consider if the one speaking up is the only one bold enough to stand up to the mob… crowd… family.
His brother is actually scared to death of him and runs away, the people ignore his warning, and we learn how fickle the mob really is.
How fickle they are…
A group of citizens turn away from Abimelech and create their own mob faction and desired to implement a new leader, Gaal. Gaal wanted, desired rather, the power and control over others and tried to convince them that he could do a better job if only he was put in control.
The leaders of Shechem, who 3 years earlier had crowned Abimelech king, were now already acting treacherously, and were being stirred up along with the citizens by a new potential leader. How quickly their allegiance has shifted. Another had come along with authority, confronted them directly, had followers (Gaal’s brothers came to garner and show support), so naturally the shift to support happened all over again.
A battle ensued. It was being won by Abimelech and his troops when the remaining citizens ran to a tower for protection. What do we find his mob, now troops, did? They trapped them in there and set fire to it.
Men, women, and children. It did not matter.
The very citizens who made him king. It did not matter.
These were extended relatives of his clan. It did not matter.
What causes mob mentality…
Such a good question, what causes mob mentality? The mob mentality stems from manipulation and a desire for power. It completely dissolves an individual of their individuality, personhood, rights, etc. Both within the mob and outside of it.
A person within a mob is considered part of the group, they are accepted and work with the group to do whatever the group wants, even if it means burning people alive.
A person against the mob or even in the way of the mob is the enemy, no matter who they are. And when a mob garners power, there is no limit to the danger they present to anyone around them. We can look back through history and see the mobs burning at the stake, lynchings, even witch hunts. One person can easily ratify a group and rile them up to action even when it completely defies logic or goes against the cause they claim to stand for.
Unfortunately, the USA is currently experiencing much of the same right now. Within this last month, there was a police station that a mob tried to cement shut and start on fire, with police and administrators inside. This world is shockingly no different. The heinous sinfulnesss we see in the Bible may present itself slightly different, but stems from the same sins. It’s there. Always has been.
The Bible shares these stories not to glorify Abimelech or any leader that has sinned, but in part, to help shed light on the history that actually occurred. Mostly, it is to SEE that God is in control. He was sovereign then when it happened, He is sovereign now when it happens, and He will be sovereign when it happens again. It is no accident that this story is in our Bibles, and we would do well to learn from it instead of try to rewrite history and ignore the truth.
Hope for justice…
We can rest assured that justice is the Lord’s. This story ends with God exacting the vengeance He already stated would happen (when Jotham spoke out against Abimelech). However, as the entire Bible highlights throughout multiple books, vengeance is the Lord’s. We may not witness vengeance during our time on earth, but it will be delivered. It is not for us to exact.
So, we are left with prayer… and I don’t say that as though it is our last resort, as though it is all we are left with, like crumbs from a cookie. Not at all! It holds such power and it should be the most steady part of our daily lives, regardless of whether or not we are in distress. It IS the cookie! Yet, sometimes prayer is our only hope, our only way to seek justice.
It is the one thing that can bring our requests to the Lord, requesting Him to take vengeance and to relieve the oppression and distress from this world. The Psalms show us there is nothing inherently wrong with requesting the Lord take vengeance on evil.
When faced with these circumstances (and I’m talking to myself just as much), I hope we come with cookies in hand, not crumbs.
Last Week
Judges 2 – 8
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Sad that in some environments, anything less than unanimity is seen as a lack of unitt. How we need the Spirit’s help.in discernment and wise living!
The mob mentality is so strong, and it’s important to learn about it. Thank you for this applicable message and for hosting! Have a great week!