Both saint and sinner.

They rebel but don’t ask for ____.

The Lord hadn’t _________ them.

The child was to have special _________.

They came into the ________ of the Lord.

Sin is not outside God’s ___________.

Samson’s rejection led to _____.

God’s people __________ their saviour.

Delilah was _______ to betray Samson.

God’s saviour is captured and ________.

God’s saviour is __________.

Through his death, Samson ______ the enemy.

What a wonderful _______!

Last week – the story of Gideon, who refused the offer of ______________

1. Abimelech wants to be King 

But Gideon replied, “I will not rule over you, nor will my son. The Lord will rule over you! 

Gideon had ________ sons by many wives down in the town of Ophrah. 

But up in Shechem, Gideon’s other son  ___________________  decided he would make himself King. 

In Shechem they had replaced the true God with a local god called _____________     __________________ . 

In the story of Abimelech, there is no external enemy like the Midianites, but rather it is going to be ___________________ versus ____________________ a virtual civil war in the land! 

2. The Son From Hell 

Abimelech persuaded the people of the town of ___________________ to support his quest for the Kingship. 

To do this, he had to kill his  ______________ brothers down in Ophrah. 

But the youngest of the brothers called _______________  got away. 

He stood on Mt Gerizim and recited a “fable”, which turned out to be a prophecy from God. 

Of the four trees, ________________ didn’t want to become King, but the ______________ did want to be King. 

One day some real nasty types showed up in Shechem, this was _____________ and his gang. 

Gaal wanted Shechem to get rid of _____________________  and reassert its independence. 

3. Jotham’s prophecy comes true 

Abimelech reacted to Gaal’s challenge by turning up at night and surrounding  the town of _______________________ .

Gaal thought he saw them but the town governor lied to him, saying it was just  _______________________ on the hillside. 

So Gaal had to engage Abimelech and his forces in a fight to the death. 

Abimelech proceeded to _________________ as many people as he could and he burnt down the Temple of ________________  _______________ .

Not satisfied, Abimelech went off to do the same to the town of Thebez, but a woman hurled down a  ____________________ which crushed him. 

In this way the prophecy which _________________ spoke came true. 

CONCLUSION: 

Israel won’t get the right King until they get a man who is totally loyal to God and his covenant, and this is ______________ .