Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - The Danger of Getting What You Want | Historical Books | Judges 9:22-57

Episode Date: March 4, 2025

What would happen if you got what you wanted? Is God absent when our misplaced desires seem to reward us? How has God saved you from yourself? In today's episode, Tanya shares how Judges 9:22-57 reminds us that God is the only one who can fulfill our desires. We love hearing from you all! If you're listening on Spotify, drop a comment below to let us know where you're listening from. Read the Bible with us in 2025! This year, we’re exploring the Historical Books—Joshua, Judges, 1 & 2 Samuel, and 1 & 2 Kings. Download your reading plan now. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it so that others can find it, too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passages: Judges 9:22-57

Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life in the time it takes to get to work. I'm Tanya Wilmuth. So no surprise, we all live in a world that constantly tells us to chase our desires. And those can be success or recognition or control over our own story. And let's be honest again, social media is filled with people curating their image, crafting their narrative, and doing whatever it takes to get ahead. But have you ever stopped to ask? Okay, what happens if I actually get everything I want? What happens if everything I see here on social media or everything that I desire actually comes true? Now that's the question that judges nine forces us to consider. Abimelech wasn't content with the life he had. He wanted to be king. He wanted to be in charge of Israel. And when he finally got what he was content. He was in content with the life he had. He wanted to be king. He wanted to be in charge of Israel. And when he finally got what he wanted, it led to destruction, not just for him, but for everyone around him. Today we're going to look

at Abimelik's life and ask ourselves, are we chasing things that God actually desires for us? Or are we more like a mibelik, getting what we want, but losing what truly matters? Until this chapter in judges, there has been a recognizable cycle in the whole book. It goes like this. Sin, oppression, crying out, God raising up a leader, victory, and peace. God's mercy shines through. But Judges Nine breaks that pattern, giving us one of the darkest accounts in Israel's history. Unlike the other leaders and judges,

who were called by God without seeking the role, Abimeluk took the title by force, murdering all but one of his 70 brothers. His name, meaning my father is king, reveals his ambition. He makes no effort to even appear humble, arguing that Israel would be better off under a single ruler, namely himself. Abimelik's story is a cautionary tale about what happens if we get what we truly desire.

His surviving half-brother Jotham delivers a parable that essentially tells Israel, if you have been fair in making a Bimulik king, and, let's be honest, you haven't, then may you find blessing in his rule. But if not, and let's be real, you haven't been fair, then may be fair. May you destroy each other? Now, before we dive deeper into this story, let's take a moment and just pause. What do we truly desire? This passage reminds us to pray that God would align our desires even for what we're learning today with his.

Let's pause and do that now. Lord, I can relate too much to Israel, wanting things that aren't truly best for me. I want a life free of struggles. I want to look like I have it all together. I want things to come easily. But Lord, you know what I truly need. Help me to want what you want. Help me see you in this story.

And remind me to see your beauty and to lean on you to shape my desires. Amen. So let's talk about Abimelech's three desires, or three of his desires. So Abelik wanted to feel like a king. Though he was not appointed by God, Abimelot claimed the throne by force. Maybe not the throne, but rule by force, right?

He wanted to be seen as powerful. We can relate. We want recognition without effort. We want admiration without sacrifice. We want to be present for our families while still glued to our phones. We want to be seen as generous while clinging to our money. We want to follow Jesus. without having a prayerful relationship with him.

We want, but we don't want it enough. Is God absent when Abelah gets what he wants? Is he absent when our misplaced desire soon to reward us? Hmm. Psalm 145.19 says, He fulfills the desire of those who fear him. He also hears them and saves them. But what kind of desires does God fulfill?

Does he give us anything our hearts want? The writer of Hebrews in 1116 tells us to desire a heavenly country. That means to desire a home beyond what is right here and right now, and getting everything we can to make it feel like home right now. Paul says in Philemon 123 that his desire is to be with Christ. The only way to ensure our desires are right is to ask God to shape them. Okay, secondly, Abimelik wanted more power. Being judge wasn't enough.

He wanted total control. When the people of Shachem turned against him, he burned their city and slaughtered their inhabitants. How does such cruelty happen? Where was God? And where is God when terrible things happened today? James 1.14 to 15 warns us. Each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death

the more we entertain sinful desires without repentance the more control they have over us the more we justify selfishness gossip addiction the more we become enslaved to them abemalek also wanted to control his story after shechem he attacked fibes but when he approached its tower to burn it down, a woman dropped a millstone on his head, crushing his skull. In his final moment, he cared only about his legacy, and he demanded that his armor bear drive a sword through him to kill him so he could avoid the shame of dying by a woman's hand. The narrator then kind of answers, the question that we have that's brewing. It says, thus, God returned the evil of a Bimilik, which he committed against his father and killing his

70 brothers, and God also made all the evil of the men of Shechem return on their heads. Judges 9, 56, and 57. Where was God? He was there all among. What about us? Where is God in our story? We opened this passage by asking God to shape our desires. So what does he desire for us? In Matthew 913, Jesus tells the Pharisees, Those who are well have no need of a physician. But those who are sick, go and learn what this means. I desire mercy and not sacrifice, for I came not to call the righteous but sinners. Jesus isn't looking for people who merely check religious boxes.

He longs for hearts broken over misplaced desires. He is present, but do we truly want him to be? Do we trust him with who we are becoming, with our fears? Do we trust him with our story? What if Abamalek had repented? What if, instead of saying, I don't want to be known for dying at the hands of a woman, he had said,

I want you to know how God's hand saved me from myself. How has God saved you from yourself? How do you want him to? Ask him to be the Lord of your desires. Jeremiah 29, 13, and 14 reminds us, You will seek me and find me When you seek me with all your heart I will be found by you

Declares the Lord