and all the wickedness of the men of Shechem did God requite on their heads: and on them came the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal.
That the "men of Israel" (Judges 9:55) would follow such a man as Abimelech provides a sad commentary on the moral and spiritual level of God’s people at this time. This is what incomplete obedience to God’s Law and compromise with His enemies produced. From another perspective, God used Abimelech to punish the Canaanites in Shechem and its vicinity. In this sense he was God’s instrument. Perhaps this is part of the reason the Spirit of God chose to record as much of Abimelech’s life as we have here. [Note: See T. Crichton Mitchell, "Abimelech-the Bramble King," Preacher’s Magazine 58:3 (March-May 1983):16-19, 61.] 