Ethan: Welcome to Immerse: the daily bible reading experience.
Day 100 and 75
Gideon then crossed the Jordan River with his 300 men, and though exhausted,
they continued to chase the enemy.
When they reached eth Gideon asked the leaders of the town,
please give my warriors some food.
They are very tired.
I am chasing Zeba and Alana, the kings of Midian.
The officials of ETH replied, catch zeba and salana first,
and then we will feed your army.
So Gideon said, after the Lord gives me victory over Zeba and salana, I will
return and tear your flesh with the thorns and briars from the wilderness.
From there, Gideon went up to penal and again asked for food,
but he got the same answer.
So he said to the people of penal, After I return in victory,
I will tear down this tower.
By this time, Zeba and Alana were in car Core with about 15,000 warriors.
All that remained of the Allied Armies of the East for 120,000
had already been killed.
Gideon circled around by the caravan route east of Nova and Jaha taking
the Midianite army by surprise.
Zeba and Alana, the two Midianite Kings fled.
Gideon chased them down and captured all their warriors.
After this, Gideon returned from the battle by way of here.
As pass there, he captured a young man from ETH and demanded that he
write down the names of all the 77 officials and elders in the town.
Gideon then returned to ETH and said to the leaders, here are Zeba and Al Mana.
When we were here before, you taunted me saying, catch Zeba and Alana first, and
then we will feed your exhausted army.
Then Gideon took the elders of the town and taught them a lesson,
punishing them with thorns and briars from the wilderness.
He also tore down the tower of penile and killed all the men in the town.
Then Gideon asked Zeba and Salana, the men you killed at Tabor.
What were they like?
Like you, they replied.
They all had the look of a King's son.
They were my brothers, the sons of my own mother, Gideon Exclaimed.
As surely as the Lord lives, I wouldn't kill you if you hadn't killed them.
Turning tother.
His oldest son, he said kill them, but G Ether did not draw his sword
for he was only a boy and was afraid.
Then Zeba and Sal Gideon.
Be a man, kill us yourself.
So Gideon killed them both and took the royal ornaments from
the necks of their camels.
Then the Israelites said to Gideon, be our ruler.
You and your son, and your grandson will be our rulers for
you have rescued us from Midian.
But Gideon replied, I will not rule over you, nor will my son.
The Lord will rule over you.
However, I do have one request that each of you give me an earring from the plunder
you collected from your fallen enemies.
The enemies being ishmaelite all wore gold earrings gladly.
They replied, they spread out a cloak and each one threw in a gold earring
he had gathered from the plunder.
The weight of the gold earrings was 43 pounds, not including the
royal ornaments and pendants.
The purple clothing worn by the kings of Midian or the chains
around the necks of their camels.
Gideon made a sacred EOD from the gold and put it in opera, his hometown, but
soon all the Israelites prostituted themselves by worshiping it, and it
became a trap for Gideon and his family.
That is the story of how the people of Israel defeated
Midn, which never recovered.
Throughout the rest of Gideon's lifetime, about 40 years,
there was peace in the land.
Then Gideon's son of Joe returned home.
He had 70 sons born to him for, he had many wives.
He also had a concubine in Chechem who gave birth to a son whom he named Ab.
Gideon died when he was very old and he was buried in the grave of his father.
Joe Ash at Opera.
In the land of the clan of Abai Ezer,
as soon as Gideon died, the Israelites prostituted themselves
by worshiping the images of Baal, making Baal beith their God.
They forgot the Lord their God, who had rescued them from all
their enemies surrounding them.
Nor did they show any loyalty to the family of Jira, Baal that is Gideon.
Despite all the good he had done for Israel.
One day, Gideon's son Alac went to Shechem to visit his
uncles, his mother's brothers.
He said to them and to the rest of his mother's family, ask the leading citizens
of Shechem whether they want to be ruled by all 70 of Gideon's sons or by one man.
And remember that I am your own flesh and blood.
So AB Bialek uncles gave his message to all the citizens of Shechem on his behalf.
And after listening to this proposal, the people of Shechem decided in favor of
Ab Bialek because he was their relative.
They gave him 70 silver coins from the Temple of Baal Beath, which
he used to hire some reckless troublemakers who agreed to follow him.
He went to his father's home at opera, and there on one stone, they killed all 70
of his half brothers, the sons of Gideon.
The youngest brother Jotham, escaped and hid then all the leading citizens
of Shechem and Beth Milow called a meeting under the yo beside the pillar
at Shechem and made ab bialek their king.
When Jotham heard about this, he climbed the top of Mount GM
and shouted, listened to me.
Citizens of Shechem.
Listen to me, if you want God to listen to you.
Once upon a time, the trees decided to choose a king.
First they said to the olive tree, be our king.
But the olive tree refused saying, should I quit producing the olive oil?
That blesses both God and people just to wave back and forth over the trees.
Then they said to the fig tree, you be our king.
But the fig tree also refused saying, Should I quit producing
my sweet fruit just to wave back and forth over the trees.
Then they said to the grapevine, you be our king.
But the grapevine also refused saying, should I quit producing the wine?
That cheers both God and people just to wave back and forth over the trees.
Then all the trees finally turned to the thorn bush and
said, come, you be our king.
And the thorn bush replied to the trees.
If you truly want to make me your king, come and take shelter in my shade.
If not, let fire come out from me and devour the cedars of Lebanon Jotham.
Continued now, make sure you have acted honorably and in good faith by making ab
bialek your king and that you have done right by Gideon in all of his descendants.
Have you treated him with the honor he deserves for all he accomplished.
For, he fought for you and risked his life when he rescued you from the Midianites,
but today you have revolted against my father and his descendants killing his 70
sons on one stone, and you have chosen his slave woman's son, ab bialek to be your
king just because he is your relative.
If you have acted honorably and in good faith toward Gideon and his descendants
today, then may you find joy in a bialek.
And may he find joy in you.
But if you have not acted in good faith, then may fire come out from ab
bialek and devour the leading citizens of Shechem and Beth Milow and May Fire
come out from the citizens of Shechem and Beth Milow and devour ab Bialek.
Then Jotham escaped and lived in beer because he was afraid of his brother.
Alek, after Alek had ruled over Israel for three years.
God sent a spirit that stirred up trouble between Eek and the leading
citizens of Shechem and they revolted.
God was punishing aek for murdering Gideon's 70 sons and the citizens of
Shechem for supporting him in this treachery of murdering his brothers.
The citizens of Shechem said an ambush for Eek and the hilltops and
robbed everyone who passed that way.
But someone warned Ab Bialek about their plot.
One day, Gail's son of Eid moved to Shechem with his brothers
and gained the confidence of the leading citizens of Shechem.
During the Annual Harvest Festival at Shechem, held in the temple
of the local God, the wine flowed freely and everyone began cursing.
Ab Bialek, who is a bialek, Gail shouted.
He's not a true son of Shechem, so why should we be his servants?
He's merely the son of Gideon, and this zeal is merely his deputy serve.
The true sons of Haymore, the founder of Shechem.
Why should we serve a Bialek?
If I were in charge here, I would get rid of a bialek.
I would say to him, get some soldiers and come out and fight.
But when Zebo, the leader of the city, heard what Gail
was saying, he was furious.
He sent messengers to Abak and Oma telling him, Gail's son of e b I and
his brothers have come to live and check him, and now they're inciting
the city to rebel against you.
Come by night with an army and hide out in the fields in the morning.
As soon as that it's daylight.
Attack the city when Gail and those who are with him come out against you.
You can do with them as you wish.
So Abian, all his men went by night and split into four groups,
stationing themselves around Shechem.
Gail was standing at the city gates when Abbe Lakin, his army, came out of hiding.
When Gail saw them, he said to zeal, look, there are people
coming down from the hilltop.
Zeal replied, it's just the shadows on the hills that look like men.
But again, Gail said, no, people are coming down from the hills.
And another group is coming down the road past the Diviner Oak.
Then Zebo turned on him and asked, now, where is that big mouth of yours?
Wasn't it you that said, who is a Bialek and why should we be his servants?
The men you mocked are right outside the city.
Go out and fight them.
So Gail led the leading citizens of Shaka into battle against Ab Bialek.
But AB Bialek chased him, and many of Shechem's men were wounded
and fell along the road as they retreated to the city gate.
Ab Bialek returned to Arua, and Zebo drove Gail and his brothers out of Shechem.
The next day, the people of Shechem went out into the fields to battle.
When Ab Bialek heard about it, he divided his man into three groups
and set an ambush in the fields.
When Abex saw the people coming out of the city, he and his men jumped up from
their hiding places and attacked them.
Ab Bialek and his group stormed the city gate to keep the men
of Shechem from getting back in.
While Abex other two groups cut them down in the fields.
The battle went on all day before AB Abimelech finally captured the city.
He killed the people level, the city, and scattered salt all over the ground.
When the leading citizens who lived in the Tower of Shechem heard
what had happened, they ran and hid in the temple of Baal Beith.
Someone reported to ab Bilac that the citizens had gathered in the temple,
so he led his forces to Mount Salman.
He took an axe and chopped some branches from a tree, then
put them on a shoulder quick.
Do as I have done, he told his men.
So each of them cut down some branches following a Bimal X example.
They piled the branches against the walls of the temple and set them on fire.
So all the people who had lived in the Tower of Shechem
died about 1000 men and women.
Then AB Bialek attacked the town of thi and captured it, but there was a strong
tower inside the town, and all the men and women, the entire population fled to it.
They barricaded themselves in and climbed up to the roof of the tower.
AB Bialek followed them to attack the tower.
But as he prepared to set fire to the entrance, a woman on the roof
dropped a millstone that landed on Abimelech's head and crushed his skull.
He quickly said to his young armor bearer, draw your sword and kill me.
Don't let it be said that a woman killed ab bialek.
So the young man ran him through with a sword and he died.
When a Bialek man saw that he was dead, they disbanded
and returned to their homes.
In this way, God punished ab bialek for the evil he had done against his father.
By murdering his 70 brothers, God also punished the men of
Shechem for all their evil.
So the curse of Jotham, son of Gideon was fulfilled.
After Alek died, Tola son of Pira.
Son of Dodo, was the next person to rescue Israel.
He was from the tribe of Issachar, but lived in the town of Shamer
in the hill country of Ira.
He judged Israel for 23 years.
When he died, he was buried in shamer
After Tola died, Jayer from Gilead judged Israel for 22 years.
His 30 sons rode around on 30 donkeys, and they owned 30 towns in the land of Gilead,
which are still called the towns of Jer.
When Jer died, he was buried in Cayman.
This concludes today's immerse reading experience.
Thank you for joining us.