22 After Abimelek had governed Israel three years, 23 God stirred up animosity between Abimelek and the citizens of Shechem so that they acted treacherously against Abimelek. 24 God did this in order that the crime against Jerub-Baal’s seventy sons, the shedding of their blood, might be avenged on their brother Abimelek and on the citizens of Shechem, who had helped him murder his brothers.
It was three years before God moved against Abimelech. Why didn’t God punish him sooner for his evil ways? God promises to deal with sin, but it is in his time. Actually, if you think about it, it is good that God does not punish us immediately because we all deserve punishment because we have all sinned. God, in his mercy, often spares us from immediate punishment. This allows us time to turn from sin and turn to God in repentance. Trust God for justice and trust in God’s time that all evil will be destroyed.
