Judges chapter 9
Gideon decided he wanted a lot of wives. He was not content with that, but had at least one but probably more concubines. Gideon had 70 sons by his wives and another by a concubine named Abimelech. Having an appetite for more than what God intends us to have will never lead to God's purpose. He can still work with us and through us, but we can change the original intent of our lives for him. This is exactly what Gideon did.
We see with the wives and the concubines, Gideon in some ways lived like the king for Israel he said he wouldn't be. He should have taken his own advice, lived simply, and just judged Israel. After Gideon dies, it appears to leave a great vacuum in leadership in Israel. The bible records that they were already following after Baalim again. In this godless vacuum, Abimelech rises up with the support of his direct bloodline through his mother, and attacks and kills all of his half brothers but one. Jotham, the youngest of Gideon's sons, escapes, and prophecies the troubling end to Abimelech's life. Abimelech is not a full blooded son of Gideon, and Jotham makes sure everyone knows it.
Abimelech doesn't have a peaceful reign in Israel for his 3 years of rule. There are those that don't want him to rule and it causes a civil war of sorts with the surrounding cities and villages. They rise up against him, and then he strikes out at them. This goes back and forth for some time until you can almost see, as if you are waiting for the other shoe to drop, the end of Abimelech coming.
After all of this fighting, and during an attack on a raised tower of sorts, a woman drops a great rock on his head. He doesn't want the dishonor of being finished by a woman and asks that one of his men run him through. In the end the people of Shechem and Abimelech got exactly Jotham said would come. God fulfills his word.
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