Judges 9:49
And all the people likewise cut down every man his bough, and followed Abimelech, and put them to the hold, and set the hold on fire upon them; so that all the men of the tower of Shechem died also, about a thousand men and women. And all the people likewise cut down every man his bough, and followed Abimelech, and put them to the hold, and set the hold on fire upon them; so that all the men of the tower of Shechem died also, about a thousand men and women.
Abimelech and his men each cut down a bough and followed him, laid the branches against the stronghold tower at Shechem and set it on fire, so that about a thousand men and women died in the utter destruction of Shechem. Shechem was a very ancient place where Jacob stopped when he returned from Padan-aram to Canaan. Abimelech was the son of Gideon's maid, and he had Gideon's sons, his own brothers, slain so that he himself might become ruler of Israel. The men of Shechem foolishly chose Abimelech as their ruler, and the burning belongs to the fulfillment of Jotham's parable.
The account falls within Israel's backsliding from God and the resulting suffering, oppression, captivity, and servitude, followed by the people's return to God, forgiveness, and deliverance. The burning of the tower and its people in obedience to Abimelech's order was part of the retribution that fell on Abimelech and the people who had supported him. The lesson is that those doing valuable work for the Lord do not seek to rule over fellow believers, and ambition to be exalted over others shows a person is unfit to rule.