Original Entry Date 12/28/2014: We are going to look at the book of Judges and read a snippet about Abimelech. Let’s read a quick summary as to who Abimelech was and what was going on exactly at this point in the Bible. After we reading the summary we will jump into the scripture.
Summary pulled from an online article: “Abimelech was a son of Gideon, the King of Israel, and his concubine from Shechem. He sought to rule over Shechem by killing all other sons of Gideon, who were all slain except for Gideon’s youngest son, Jotham. Abimelech then became the King of Shechem, ruling for three years before a conspiracy arose against him. He commanded by force, murdered his opposition, and led in such a manner that even his subjects sought to overthrow him.
A civil war broke out, leading to a battle at a town called Thebez …”
Judges 9:50-53 NKJV:
Then Abimelech went to Thebez, and he encamped against Thebez and took it. 51 But there was a strong tower in the city, and all the men and women—all the people of the city—fled there and shut themselves in; then they went up to the top of the tower. 52 So Abimelech came as far as the tower and fought against it; and he drew near the door of the tower to burn it with fire. 53 But a certain woman dropped an upper millstone on Abimelech’s head and crushed his skull.
Let’s picture Abimelech as the enemy and how he tries to come in to devour and destroy what he can. The men and women are the followers of Christ; the Body of Christ and the Strong Tower, of course, would be God or as the following verse reveals “The Name of the Lord!”
Proverbs 18:10 NKJV:
The name of the Lord is a strong tower; The righteous run to it and are safe.
Psalm 61:3 NKJV:
For You have been a shelter for me, A strong tower from the enemy.
Now here is the best part, the Millstone! I looked up the definition to be sure because when I read Millstone I read it as a rock. Here is the definition of Millstone:
Wow! I read those definitions and that is exactly how Jesus describes Himself through a parable to the chief priests and Pharisees in Matthew!
Matthew 21:43-45 NKJV:
“Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits of it. 44 And whoever falls on this stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder.”
45 Now when the chief priests and Pharisees heard His parables, they perceived that He was speaking of them.
If you read in Luke that same parable, Jesus is describing Himself as the Chief Cornerstone, He doesn’t say Millstone exactly but you see the connection there: Christ is the Rock, He has come to build His Kingdom on top of Himself since He has been placed as the Chief Cornerstone.
The final detail I will point out is that the dropping of the Millstone is also in Revelation.
Revelation 18:21 NKJV:
Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, “Thus with violence the great city Babylon shall be thrown down, and shall not be found anymore.
