Name: Year: But Gideon said to them, “I will not rule over you, nor shall my son rule over you; the LORD shall rule over you” (Judges 8:23) Read Judges 8:1-21 (1)Men of which city reprimanded Gideon for not allowing them to fight against the Midiantites? __________________________________________________ (2) What did Gideon request from the men of Succoth on behalf of his 300 men? ___________________________________________________________ (3) What are the names of the two Kings that Gideon and his men were pursuing? ________________________________________________________ (4) Men of which other city also declined Gideon’s request for help? ________________________________________________________________ (5)(a) How many members of the army remained with the 2 kings of Midian? _______________________________________________________________ (b) How many had already fallen by the sword? _________________________ (6)What happened to the men of Succoth and Penuel as a consequence of their failure to help Gideon? _____________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ (7) Why did Gideon feel that he should not spare the lives of the 2 Kings of Midian? _________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ (8)(a) Which member of his family did Gideon ask to kill the kings? ________________________________________________________________ (b) When this person refused, what did the two kings say to Gideon? ________________________________________________________________ (9) What item did Gideon take after killing the 2 kings? (a)The Kings swords (b)The Kings Gold and Silver (c)Crescent ornaments that were on their camel’s necks (d)All of the above Read Judges 8:22-35 (10)(a) why did the Israelites want Gideon and his family to rule over them? ___________________________________ (b) How did Gideon respond to this request? ____________ ________________________________________________ (11) (a) What did Gideon request from the Israelites? _____ ________________________________________________ (b) How did Gideon use what the Israelites gave to him?________________________________________________ (12) Following these events, for how many years did Israel remain faithful to the Lord? _________________________ (13) Following the death of Gideon, what did the Israelites do? _____________________________________________________________________________________________
Read Judges 9:1-21 (14)(a) Why did Abimelech seek to kill his brothers? _______________ __________________________________________________________ (b) How many did he kill? _____________________________________ (c) Who was the only one to survive and why? ____________________ __________________________________________________________ (15) According to Jotham, by allowing Abimelech to become king, what were the Israelites really guilty of? (Hint: verse 18) ________________ __________________________________________________________ (16) What did Jotham believe should happen to Abimelech as a consquence of his actions? (Hint: verse 20) ______________________ __________________________________________________________ (17)Following his speech to the Israelites where did Jotham flee to & why? _______________________________________________________ Read Judges 9:22-57 (18) What happened 3 years into the reign of Abimelech? ________ _______________________________________________________ (19) Who did the men of Shechem partner with in an attempt to kill Abimelech? __________________________________________ (20)(a) Who first alerted Abimelech to the plans of Gaal? ________ (b) What did he instruct Abimelech to do in otrder to escape death? _________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________ (21) When the men of Shechem heard what Abimelech was up to, where did they congregate? ________________________________ (22) What did Abimelech instruct his men to do in an attempt to get to the men of Schechem? _________________________________ _______________________________________________________ (23) In what way did Abimelech’s life come to an end? (a)A woman dropped a piece of millstone from a tower on him (b)He asked his armour bearer to slay him with a sword (c)His heart was pierced by a sword (d)Both A & B What Does It Mean? (The Parable of the Trees) In the parable of the trees, Jotham compares Abimelech to a bramble, a tree that was practically worthless to people. Jotham warned that Abimelech was powerless to protect the people of Israel and that making him King would only lead to disaster.