And Gaal went out before the men of Shechem, and fought with Abimelech.
Abimelech was the son of Gideon's maid, and he had Gideon's sons murdered in order to make himself ruler of Israel, gathering worthless followers around him. Shechem was a very ancient place where Jacob stopped when he returned from Padan-aram to Canaan, and Abimelech later utterly destroyed it.
The verse belongs to the events surrounding Jotham's parable and to Shechem's rebellion against the king, and the parable condemned the Shechemites' choice of Abimelech. It shows Gaal going out at the head of and leading the men of Shechem to fight Abimelech in that rebellion and destruction of Shechem.
The conflict between Gaal and Abimelech and Abimelech's attack on the rebels fulfilled Jotham's words, and the ensuing events brought punishment on both Abimelech and the Shechemites who had supported him. Those doing valuable work for God do not seek rule over fellow believers, so ambition to be exalted over others shows a person is unfit to rule.
Abimelech was the son of Gideon's maid, and he had Gideon's sons murdered in order to make himself ruler of Israel, gathering worthless followers around him. Shechem was a very ancient place where Jacob stopped when he returned from Padan-aram to Canaan, and Abimelech later utterly destroyed it.
The verse belongs to the events surrounding Jotham's parable and to Shechem's rebellion against the king, and the parable condemned the Shechemites' choice of Abimelech. It shows Gaal going out at the head of and leading the men of Shechem to fight Abimelech in that rebellion and destruction of Shechem.
The conflict between Gaal and Abimelech and Abimelech's attack on the rebels fulfilled Jotham's words, and the ensuing events brought punishment on both Abimelech and the Shechemites who had supported him. Those doing valuable work for God do not seek rule over fellow believers, so ambition to be exalted over others shows a person is unfit to rule.