Israel’s first king
a bit of Bible trivia for anyone reading this blog: Who was Israel’s first king? Yup, that’s an easy one! Everyone knows that Samuel annointed Saul the first king of Israel (1 Sam. 10)
Why would I give such a blatantly simple trivia question? After all, anyone who has been to Sunday School has been taught about King Saul, and how he very quickly turned away from God. But what most people don’t know, is that Saul was not in fact, the first king of Israel. I was reading in the book of Judges today and came across some interesting information in Chapter 9. Take a look especially at v. 6:
Then all the citizens of Shechem and Beth Millo gathered beside the great tree at the pillar in Shechem to crown Abimelech king.
Abimelech was not a good king. He was the son of Gideon (one of Israel’s great heroes), but did not have the faith of his father! He was one of 70 brothers, and he started his reign by slaughtering his siblings (other than his youngest brother, Jotham, who escaped).
What’s my point in this blog? To be honest, I’m not sure if I really have one…other than that it’s a very interesting bit of Bible trivia. Perhaps, the best point that I can make is that we all have mistaken ideas about what the Bible says, and the only way that we can correct our mistaken notions is to actually open up our Bibles and read them! Another thing to note: there are some really interesting stories in there! Yeah, there’s some parts that aren’t the most exciting (I recently read through Deuteronomy, and I have to admit that it’s not my favourite part of Scripture – that said, I think it’s important for us to read the bits that aren’t as exciting too! But I digress…), but if we can get through them, there are some absolutely amazing parts! I try to read through the Bible in different translations – this also helps me to get different things out of Scripture. In my blog, I usually quote from the NIV or NLT, but right now, I’m reading my devotions from The Message. Each translation has its strengths and weaknesses, so reading from one translation one time and a different translation the next, different themes and ideas may “pop out” that you might never have noticed before.
For any of my readers who have never read the Bible (or for those of you who just haven’t for a while) – my recommendation today is READ IT!! It’s a GOOD BOOK!!
Just a point about who king first:
Abimelech was crowned by the people; Saul (and later David) was annointed by Samuel the prophet acting in accordance with God’s command.
Without that heavenly imprimatur, Abimelech was not king; he had no legitamacy with the nation as a whole. Saul did. After Saul lost it, God’s blessing passed to David and his descendents.
Michael: thanks for your comment. I definately agree with you that without God’s blessing, Abimelech did not have a legitimate right to be king. The fact remains, however, that he DID carry that title in Israel for 3 years (whether legitimately or not). It is also interesting to note that the name “Abimelech” translates as “my father, the king”. Was Gideon making the claim that he should have been king (even though he turned the title down), and therefore Abimelech might have thought he had an inhereted right to rule? (not making a point, just speculating)
Bryan:
I could call myself ‘king’ and carry the title for 3 years, but that wouldn’t make me King.
‘Abimelech’ is a pretty common Hebrew name. The reference, of course, is to God.