Click to read Judges 9
Synopsis
Abimelech was one of the sons of Gideon. His mother was a Canaanite slave girl who was a concubine of Gideon. With Gideon dead, Abimelech wanted to take his place. He schemed with his mother's clan in the city of Shechem for support. They were Cannanites and were glad to unite against Israel.
Gideon declared that the king of Israel was to be God. Yet Abimelech wanted to usurp that position. In executing his plan, he killed all but one of the 70 half-brothers. The citizens of Shechem were so corrupted that they even gave money from the temple to fund Abimelech's evil quest.
Jotham was the only one of Gideon's sons that managed to escape the execution. He stood up and proclaimed the parable of the trees to the Shechem people. It had an important message to all. The trees represented the sons of Gideon and the thornbush described Abimelech. The different trees represented productive people while the thornbush offered no fruit, and was worthless. This came true for the people of Shechem eventually as trouble and destruction visited them in the hand of the one they help to become king!
While Abimelech seemed to have succeeded and was crowned king, God would not allow this injustice to pass without His proper judgment. Through the same people who helped him to gain his crown, God used them to go against Abimelech.
Major Verses
V7-20 - Jotham used the parable of the trees to warn the people to chose a good king and not one that was selfish. He issued a curse (v16-20) that came true in the end. The olive, fig trees and vine represented trees that are productive. His point was that a productive person would be too busy doing good to want to be thinking about power politics. On the other hand, a worthless person, represented by the thornbush, would be glad to accept that honor but like the thornbush, he has no fruit to offer the people. He was saying that Abimelech would not be able to protect Israel and offer the nation any security and thus should not be king.
What I Learn
We need to be wise in appointing leaders. And if we are leaders, we need to examine our motives for so doing. Are we doing it for praise, prestige, influence and power ? We must ask God for His wisdom to guide us in our ways as leaders and to pray for the leaders appointed over us.
V22-24 & 56-57- God allowed Abimelech to go about his evil for 3 years before acting against him. We wonder why God delayed his judgment on him, as He does on people we thought should have been punished earlier. Why is this so? Why did God take 3 years to act? God punished both Abimelech and the citizens of Shechem eventually.
What I learn
God promises to deal with sin. He will deal with it in His time, and not according to our timetable. Think about it as good news for us - that God is merciful when He does not punish us immediately though we deserve the punishment. In His mercy, He often spares us from immediate judgment and allows us time to repent. While His mercy prevails, let there be no mistake to think that He will not judge sin.
Summary
God is in control always. In His time, He will reward or punish those who please Him and those who sin against Him. As leaders, we must always guard against wrong motives that displeases God.
Up next ......
Next week we learn about Jephthah ....
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