Judges 9, Proverbs 17, Hebrews 2

Judges 9 is a gruesome, sad chapter. Israel followed the wrong man. Shechem followed the wrong man. Greed seemed to know no end, for a while. But eventually the gravy train ended, tempers flared, war broke out again, and judgment came against all who had put their trust in men, money, and power instead of God.

Hard lesson. The wisdom of Proverbs teaches that "he who is glad at calamity will not go unpunished" (v.5) and "an evil man seeks only rebellion; therefore a cruel messenger will be sent against him." (v.11) Abimelech learned these lessons the hard way.

Don't Drift Away. "Therefore we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift away." (v.1) We are in no less danger than Gideon and Abimelech of drifting away.

We have a Brother who will not betray us, but will come to our aid and intercede for us as our high priest. We need to stay in close fellowship with Him so that we don't allow anything to come between us and cause us to drift away.