Judges 9:46-49 Fort and a sanctuary!

 46On hearing of this, all the leaders in the tower of Shechem entered the inner chamber of the temple of El-berith.j 47And when Abimelech was told that all the leaders in the tower of Shechem were gathered there, 48he and all his men went up to Mount Zalmon. Abimelech took his axe in his hand and cut a branch from the trees, which he lifted to his shoulder, saying to his men, “Hurry and do what you have seen me do.”

49So each man also cut his own branch and followed Abimelech. Then they piled the branches against the inner chamber and set it on fire above them, killing everyone in the tower of Shechem, about a thousand men and women.

“Though Abimelech was an ungodly and violent man, he did understand some basic principles of leadership. He understood the importance of leading through the example of one’s own actions. He could tell his troops to do as I have done, and they did.”

“With this, Abimelech massacred the last survivors of the city of Shechem, killing about a thousand men and women. This graphically fulfilled the warning of Jotham earlier in the chapter (Judges 9:19-20).” (Guzik)

“This was as if a man should run into a stack of straw or barrel of gunpowder, to secure himself from a raging fire. Their covenant with Baal, that image of jealousy (Ezekiel 8:3), was the cause of their ruin. They looked upon this hold as both a fort and a sanctuary; but it saved them not.” (Trapp)

temple of El-berith, (El-berith  was another name for Baal-berith ; see verse 4.)

4So they gave him seventy shekels of silverb from the temple of Baal-berith,…

Baal-berith couldn’t save them! But look at our God!

Proverbs 18: 10The name of the LORD is a strong tower;

the righteous run to it and are safe.

Psalm 61: 3For You have been my refuge,

a tower of strength against the enemy.

Is the Lord your strong tower, your refuge and your strength?

Blessings