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In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
Abimelech, son of Jerub-Baal, went to his mother's brothers in Shechem and said to them and to all his mother's clan, "Ask all the citizens of Shechem, 'Which is better for you: to have all seventy of Jerub-Baal's sons rule over you, or just one man?' Remember, I am your flesh and blood."
When the brothers repeated all this to the citizens of Shechem, they were inclined to follow Abimelech, for they said, "He is our brother." They gave him seventy shekels of silver from the temple of Baal-Berith, and Abimelech used it to hire reckless adventurers, who became his followers. He went to his father's home in Ophrah and on one stone murdered his seventy brothers, the sons of Jerub-Baal. But Jotham, the youngest son of Jerub-Baal, escaped by hiding. Then all the citizens of Shechem and Beth Millo gathered beside the great tree at the pillar in Shechem to crown Abimelech king.
When Jotham was told about this, he climbed up on the top of Mount Gerizim and shouted to them, "Listen to me, citizens of Shechem, so that God may listen to you. One day the trees went out to anoint a king for themselves. They said to the olive tree, 'Be our king.'”
"But the olive tree answered, 'Should I give up my oil, by which both gods and men are honored, to hold sway over the trees?'”
"Next, the trees said to the fig tree, 'Come and be our king.'”
"But the fig tree replied, 'Should I give up my fruit, so good and sweet, to hold sway over the trees?'”
"Then the trees said to the vine, 'Come and be our king.'”
"But the vine answered, 'Should I give up my wine, which cheers both gods and men, to hold sway over the trees?'”
"Finally all the trees said to the thornbush, 'Come and be our king.'”
"The thornbush said to the trees, 'If you really want to anoint me king over you, come and take refuge in my shade; but if not, then let fire come out of the thornbush and consume the cedars of Lebanon!'”
"Now if you have acted honorably and in good faith when you made Abimelech king, and if you have been fair to Jerub-Baal and his family, and if you have treated him as he deserves - and to think that my father fought for you, risked his life to rescue you from the hand of Midian (but today you have revolted against my father's family, murdered his seventy sons on a single stone, and made Abimelech, the son of his slave girl, king over the citizens of Shechem because he is your brother) - if then you have acted honorably and in good faith toward Jerub-Baal and his family today, may Abimelech be your joy, and may you be his, too! But if you have not, let fire come out from Abimelech and consume you, citizens of Shechem and Beth Millo, and let fire come out from you, citizens of Shechem and Beth Millo, and consume Abimelech!"
Then Jotham fled, escaping to Beer, and he lived there because he was afraid of his brother Abimelech.
After Abimelech had governed Israel three years, God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the citizens of Shechem, who acted treacherously against Abimelech. 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 Abimelech and on the citizens of Shechem, who had helped him murder his brothers. In opposition to him, these citizens of Shechem set men on the hilltops to ambush and rob everyone who passed by, and this was reported to Abimelech.
Now Gaal son of Ebed moved with his brothers into Shechem, and its citizens put their confidence in him. After they had gone out into the fields and gathered the grapes and trodden them, they held a festival in the temple of their god. While they were eating and drinking, they cursed Abimelech. Then Gaal, son of Ebed, said, "Who is Abimelech, and who is Shechem, that we should be subject to him? Isn't he Jerub-Baal's son, and isn't Zebul his deputy? Serve the men of Hamor, Shechem's father! Why should we serve Abimelech? If only this people were under my command! Then I would get rid of him. I would say to Abimelech, 'Call out your whole army!'"
When Zebul, the governor of the city, heard what Gaal, son of Ebed said, he was very angry. Under cover he sent messengers to Abimelech, saying, "Gaal, son of Ebed, and his brothers have come to Shechem and are stirring up the city against you. Now then, during the night you and your men should come and lie in wait in the fields. In the morning at sunrise, advance against the city. When Gaal and his men come out against you, do whatever your hand finds to do."
So Abimelech and all his troops set out by night and took up concealed positions near Shechem in four companies. Now Gaal, son of Ebed, had gone out and was standing at the entrance to the city gate just as Abimelech and his soldiers came out from their hiding place.
When Gaal saw them, he said to Zebul, "Look, people are coming down from the tops of the mountains!"
Zebul replied, "You mistake the shadows of the mountains for men."
But Gaal spoke up again: "Look, people are coming down from the center of the land, and a company is coming from the direction of the soothsayers' tree."
Then Zebul said to him, "Where is your big talk now, you who said, 'Who is Abimelech that we should be subject to him?' Aren't these the men you ridiculed? Go out and fight them!"
So Gaal led out the citizens of Shechem and fought Abimelech. Abimelech chased him, and many fell wounded in the flight — all the way to the entrance to the gate. Abimelech stayed in Arumah, and Zebul drove Gaal and his brothers out of Shechem.
The next day the people of Shechem went out to the fields, and this was reported to Abimelech. So he took his men, divided them into three companies and set an ambush in the fields. When he saw the people coming out of the city, he rose to attack them. Abimelech and the companies with him rushed forward to a position at the entrance to the city gate. Then two companies rushed upon those in the fields and struck them down. All that day, Abimelech pressed his attack against the city until he had captured it and killed its people. Then he destroyed the city and scattered salt over it.
On hearing this, the citizens in the tower of Shechem went into the stronghold of the temple of El-Berith. When Abimelech heard that they had assembled there, he and all his men went up Mount Zalmon. He took an ax and cut off some branches, which he lifted to his shoulders. He ordered the men with him, "Quick! Do what you have seen me do!" So all the men cut branches and followed Abimelech. They piled them against the stronghold and set it on fire over the people inside. So all the people in the tower of Shechem, about a thousand men and women, also died.
Next Abimelech went to Thebez and besieged it and captured it. Inside the city, however, was a strong tower, to which all the men and women—all the people of the city— fled. They locked themselves in and climbed up on the tower roof. Abimelech went to the tower and stormed it. But as he approached the entrance to the tower to set it on fire, a woman dropped an upper millstone on his head and cracked his skull.
Hurriedly he called to his armor-bearer, "Draw your sword and kill me, so that they can't say, 'A woman killed him.'" So his servant ran him through, and he died. When the Israelites saw that Abimelech was dead, they went home.
Thus God repaid the wickedness that Abimelech had done to his father by murdering his seventy brothers. God also made the men of Shechem pay for all their wickedness. The curse of Jotham, son of Jerub-Baal, came on them.
Judges 9
This ends our reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
As we turn to today’s text from the Book of Judges, chapter 9, we find Israel having been freed from the oppressive rule of Midian thanks to the leadership of Gideon, a man who had been hand-selected by the Lord to serve and fight in His name. In return for his faithfulness and loyalty, God handed the nation of Midian into the hands of Gideon and the Israelites.
Well, after Gideon died, we find Israel yearning for a different kind of leadership: a king. With this, we need to keep in mind that all leaders up to this point had been selected by God to carry out His will and in each incident, the Israelites experienced deliverance from the hands of an oppressor. Ultimately, Gideon had told his brother and sisters that they were, first and foremost, under the rule of the Lord (Judges 8:23) and yet we still see the Israelites seeking to be led by a man rather than their Lord.
This all got started when Gideon’s son, Abimelech, petitions the people of Shechem to make him their ruler, saying this “to all his mother's clan”:
"Ask all the citizens of Shechem, 'Which is better for you: to have all seventy of Jerub-Baal's sons rule over you, or just one man?' Remember, I am your flesh and blood."
And so we see that Abimielech’s mother’s brothers repeated the words “to the citizens of Shechem” who became “inclined to follow Abimelech” who they saw as their “brother”. Further, they paid Abimelech “seventy shekels of silver from the temple of Baal-Berith” which he then used to “hire reckless adventurers, who became his followers”.
After this, Abimelech, with the endorsement of the people of Shechem, “went to his father's home in Ophrah and on one stone murdered his seventy brothers”, the sons of Gideon. Only one, “the youngest son” Jotham, managed to escape “by hiding. Abimelech followed this slaughtering of his siblings by assembling “all the citizens of Shechem and Beth Millo” beside “the great tree at the pillar in Shechem to crown (him) king”.
We need to note Abimelech’s troubling display of ruthlessness as he sought power and authority. In deep contrast to how his father ruled under God’s authority and guidance, Abimelech established his own form of rule through bloodshed and intimidation, not even hesitating to murder his own siblings in order to ascend in power. Additionally, he gladly took payment from the temple of the false god Baal...a seventy shekel payoff from the people of Shechem who were just as guilty as Abimelech after they endorsed his murderous idea.
Truly, there’s much we need to learn from Abimelech because I’m afraid that we too have a tendency to sometimes get power hungry or controlling to the point where we’re willing to run over anything or anyone who might get in the way of us getting what we want. We might not murder someone like Abimelech did but demeaning the character of others, back-stabbing people, or spreading false rumors to make ourselves look better is a sin nonetheless.
In the end translation, we should never force any issue in life without seeking whether or not it’s in alignment with the Lord’s will. He will always put us where He wants us to be in order to accomplish His purposes.
Going back to our scripture passage, we find Jotham, Gideon’s youngest son who had survived Abimelech’s sanctioned execution, climbing Mount Gerizim and addressing the people of Shechem as they were ready to crown Abimelech king. After getting their attention, Jotham tells them a parable illustrating the mistake they had made as well as the consequences that were yet to come.
In the story, the trees represented the people of Shechem who were determined to have a ruler over them. We find the trees first ask an olive tree to lead them, followed by a fig tree, and then a vine…all of which rebutted the offer to rule.
Why?
Because God had made them for a different purpose.
The olive tree realized that its oil was needed to honor others…for that was God’s purpose for it.
The fig tree bore good and sweet fruit that was needed to nourish others…for that was God had purposed it for.
And the vine yielded wine that was used for many functions including religious events because it was how God had purposed it.
And so unable to convince the olive tree, fig tree, or vine to rule over them, the trees turned to the thornbush…a dried up, jagging tumbleweed that had no real purpose and was very prone to catch fire. We find the trees asking the thornbush to rule them and in response, it rather sarcastically tells the trees to come into its shade if they really wanted to anoint it king. If they didn’t do so, then it would indicate that they didn’t really want the thornbush to lead them, in which case it would just consume them with fire.
Here we find that the thornbush had no commitment to anyone, including itself. It didn’t turn down the offer to rule because it had any kind of special purpose. Additionally, it didn’t go out of its way to show it really wanted to reign. In fact, it was just as willing to destroy the trees as it was to lead them.
Unfortunately, we see where Jotham’s parable was a complete overshadowing of what Abimelech’s actions once he assumed responsibility over Shechem.
As for us today, there’s much we can glean from the story of the trees and their quest for a ruler, especially when it comes to realizing God’s purpose for each of our lives. For we all have one. We just need to seek it and then be ready to carry it out once He reveals it to us.
Part of finding our purpose involves identifying the special gifts and talents that God has provided. This is paramount because the Lord will call us to use those gifts to carry out His will every day and we should never cease to seek what He desires…then do what is needed to meet those desires. Like the olive tree, fig tree, and vine, we can bless others with the special things God equips us to provide others.
Conversely, we could also easily become a thornbush if we fail to live with any purpose in life, never allowing the Lord to guide what we do. In that place, we will find ourselves dried up and void of His Spirit…useless and pointless.
As we see in this chapter of Judges, Shechem would end up appointing Abimelech as king and in the end, they would destroy each other just as Jotham had predicted. Abimelech refused to allow God to lead Him and therefore never realized the purposes He had for him. Further, Shechem rejected the Lord’s rule and chose instead to allow a murderous, power-grabbing son of a Gideon to take control, a man who thought nothing of committing fratricide on his own siblings before committing genocide on the people he was given the privilege to rule.
If Shechem had only just led God lead them, it all would have gone so differently. The same applies to Abimelech who could have just chosen to submit himself to the Lord as his father Gideon had done.
Friends, let’s commit ourselves to not repeat the mistakes of the past today. For in the course of human history since biblical times, there have been way too many other Abimelechs and Shechems in the world...rulers and their people who were unwilling to surrender to the will of God.
We can stop that trend by all doing the following three things each and every day:
1. Seek God’s purpose.
2. Carry out that purpose after He reveals it to us.
3. Continue working within His purpose until you accomplish what He wants you to do…then simply go back to step 1 and start again.
Rest assured of one thing. There will never be a time when the Lord doesn’t have a purpose for you and your life.
You can believe and trust in that.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.
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