The Spirit of Entitlement
“So
they gave him seventy shekels
of silver from the temple of Baal-Berith, with which Abimelech hired worthless
and reckless men; and they followed him.” – Judges 9:4
Gideon was both a lover and a fighter. He had SEVENTY sons by his many wives. But Gideon also had one son, Abimelech, who
was the son of his concubine. The
children of a concubine did not have an inheritance from their father, whereas
children of wives did. But Abimelech had
a spirit of entitlement about him. This was
very different from the character of his father Gideon, and his seventy
step-brothers.
When the people of Israel wanted to make Gideon king, after
he had defeated their enemy the Midianites, his reply was “I will not rule over you, nor shall my son
rule over you; the Lord shall rule over you.”(Judges
8:23). Gideon had humility and
respect for God and he taught it to his sons.
Even after Gideon died, his sons did not try to rule over Israel, as
their father had already said they would not.
But along comes Abimelech. There was no humility in him. He had a sense of entitlement to rule over
Israel in spite of Gideon’s command and his illegitimacy. He had no legal inheritance from Gideon, but
realized that the seventy legitimate sons of Gideon did. Even though the seventy sons of Gideon had no
plans to rule over Israel, Abimelech felt threatened that they would. His illegitimacy created fear within him, and
fueled his spirit of entitlement.
Abimelech went to his mother and told her
to speak to her brothers and tell them to talk to the men of their city,
Shechem, and say, “‘Which is better for
you, that all seventy of the sons of Jerubbaal [Gideon] reign over you, or that
one reign over you?’ Remember that I am
your own flesh and bone.”(Judges 9:2) It was a political campaign based on
fear. Seventy men ruling over the city
would have been chaos. And as most
political campaigns go, Abimelech, having nothing good to offer of himself,
sought to win based on his being the lessor of two evils. It was a successful campaign, and they
decided to make him their ruler.
His rule over them was seeped in evil from
the beginning. They funded his
leadership with “seventy shekels of silver from the temple of
Baal-Berith”, money founded in idolatry.
With it Abimelech hired and surrounded himself with “worthless and reckless men”.
And his first act of business was evident of the evil within Abimelech
as he captured and killed 69 of the sons of Gideon on the same stone. His intent was to kill all that were
legitimate sons, yet he missed one.
Good seed produces a good crop. But if you sow thorns, you harvest the pain
of thorns. Abimelech’s evil didn’t stop at
killing Gideon’s sons. In the end,
Abimelech killed all the people of Shechem, and sowed the town with salt so
that it would grow nothing and become worthless land.
A spirit of entitlement says “You have it, I deserve it, therefore it’s
mine!” Entitlement does not seek to
earn anything, but to take it.
Entitlement is based on pride and the idolatry of self-worth.
Today we see this spirit of entitlement
rising up. We see it in the flesh
through those that don’t work and yet feel that we that do owe them a
living. They feel that we owe them food,
shelter, money, medical coverage, and all the benefits that come with earning a
living. And when they get it, we reap
the thorns. These are worthless and reckless
people with idle hands. James 4:1-2 says
“What causes quarrels and what causes
fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do
not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel.” Do we not see this in the
society we have created? 2 Thessalonians 3:10 has a cure for this, as it says “If anyone is not
willing to work, let him not eat.”
Those that
work have a sense of entitlement as well.
We feel entitled to higher and higher wages, and as we force wages to
increase for employers to keep us, we drive away our own jobs. Are we not sowing
salt in our own fields, as we do not have enough people working to keep our
economy alive?
But even
more harmful is the spirit of entitlement that is affecting us on a spiritual
level. We feel entitled to God’s love,
grace, and forgiveness even when we aren’t legitimate children. We expect God to bless us as He does His own
children.
Matthew 25:1-12
tells the story of the ten virgins, which represent people preparing for the second
coming of Jesus Christ. It says “five of
them were foolish and five were wise”.
The wise virgins not only brought their lamps, which represent their
bodies, but also brought oil, which represents the Holy Spirit which comes to
live in us when we receive salvation.
His Holy Spirit is the seal of our inheritance (2 Corinthians 1:22,
Ephesians 1:13), and makes us His legitimate children.
But the
foolish virgins had a spirit of entitlement.
They had no oil, only lamps filled with a sense of entitlement. They spoke to the wise virgins and said “Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are
going out.” But the wise virgins could not give them what they had, and
while they went to find oil, the bridegroom, Jesus Christ, came. And when He came, he took the five wise
virgins into His chamber and shut the door.
Just as Abimelech was not a legitimate son
of Gideon, those that seek to be God’s children without salvation and the
indwelling of His Holy Spirit are illegitimate as well. We are taught that we can know them by their
fruits.
Examine your relationship with God. Is it legitimate, or do you have a spirit of
entitlement? Is your fruit good, or do
you produce bramble?
“Now I
say that the heir, as long as he is a child, does not differ at all from a
slave, though he is master of all, but is under guardians and stewards until
the time appointed by the father. Even so we, when we were children, were in
bondage under the elements of the world. But when the fullness of the time had
come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem
those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. And
because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your
hearts, crying out, “Abba, Father!” Therefore you are no longer a slave but a
son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.” – Galatians 4:1-7
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