Judges 9 AMP
“Now Abimelech the son of Jerubbaal (Gideon) went to Shechem to
his mother’s relatives, and said to them and to the whole clan of the household
of his mother’s father, “Speak now in the hearing of all the leaders of Shechem, ‘Which
is better for you, that seventy men, all of the sons of Jerubbaal rule over
you, or that one man rule over you?’ Also, remember that I am your own bone and flesh.” So his mother’s relatives spoke all these words
concerning him so that all the leaders of Shechem could hear; and their hearts
were inclined to follow Abimelech, for they said, “He is our relative.”
And they gave him seventy pieces of silver from the house of
Baal-berith, with which Abimelech hired worthless and undisciplined men, and
they followed (supported) him. Then he went to his father’s house at Ophrah and murdered his
brothers the sons of Jerubbaal, seventy men, [in a public execution] on one
stone. But Jotham the youngest son of Jerubbaal was left alive, because he had hidden himself.
All the men of Shechem and all of Beth-millo
assembled together, and they went and made Abimelech king, by the oak
(terebinth) of the pillar (memorial stone) at Shechem.” (Verses
1-6)
Long before Israel
asked God for a king and received King Saul a part of Israel, Abimelech (of the
tribe of Manesseh) made himself king over his part of his tribe. What a sad thing to see how Gideon’s son did
not follow the Lord. Gideon did not
raise his sons in the way of the Lord and he himself got away from true worship
as well (Judges 8:27). This resulted in
his son (the son of his handmaid, by the way, not his wife) deciding to seize
power and set himself up over the rest of his clan and family. He did this by killing 70 men, all his
brothers. That way none of them could
contest his kingship. Fortunately, one
of Abimelech’s brothers escaped the slaughter.
“When they told Jotham, he went and stood at the top of Mount
Gerizim and shouted to them, “Hear me, O men of Shechem, so that God may hear
you. Once the trees went forth to anoint a king over them, and they
said to the olive tree, ‘Reign over us!’ But the olive tree said to them, ‘Should I give up my fatness by
which God and men are honored, and go to wave over the trees?’ Then the trees said to the fig tree, ‘You come
and reign over us!’ But the
fig tree said to them, ‘Should I give up my sweetness and my good fruit, and go
to wave over the trees?’ Then
the trees said to the vine, ‘You come and reign over us.’ And the vine replied, ‘Should I give up my new
wine, which makes God and men happy, and go to wave over the trees?’
Then all the trees said to the bramble,
‘You come and reign over us.’ So the bramble said to the trees, ‘If in truth you are anointing
me king over you, then come and take refuge in my shade; but if not, let fire
come out of the bramble and devour the cedars of Lebanon.’” (Verses
7-15)
I love this
story! Right in the middle of the
stories of Israel’s judges we find the story of a prophet! When he was told that the men of Shechem made
Abimelech king he became emboldened and stood on the top of Mt. Gerizim and
shouted a metaphor. Now, being on Mt.
Gerizim is significant because it is the mountain that God directed Joshua to
shout the blessings to be upon Israel if the followed the Lord whereas Mt. Ebal
(the mountain where the curses were pronounced) was directly across from Mt.
Gerizim. The two mountains were so well
spaced with relation to each other that a natural amplitheater was
established. So for Jotham to shout his
prophecy from Mt. Gerizim there could be no doubt that everyone in Shechem
(built between the two mountains) would hear his words.
After telling
Abimelech and the inhabitants of Shechem his parable he went ahead and made it
plain to them that it applied to them and what would happen to them.
“’…may fire come out from Abimelech and devour the people of
Shechem and Beth-millo; and may fire come out from the people of Shechem and
Beth-millo, and devour Abimelech.’ Then Jotham escaped and fled, and went to Beer
and lived there because of Abimelech his brother.”
(Verses 20-21)
In reading the rest of
Judges 9 we find that this is the very thing that happened to Abimelech and all
of Shechem. All because someone wanted
to be king over them and they accepted him as king…instead of the Lord as their
King (1 Sam. 12:12).
So, who is your
king? Who have you given authority and
power to? When kings followed the Lord
and put Him first then they treated all their subjects with respect, helped,
protected, and lead them in decisions for all the people. When kings did not follow the Lord they
exerted their power over people for selfish gains, made forced labor, and took
what they wanted from their subjects.
How much better it would be for the family of Gideon if they had not
strayed from worshipping the Lord. How
much better it would be for the tribe of Gideon (Manesseh) and all of Israel if
they had kept the Lord as their king, but instead they suffered under many evil
kings throughout the ages.
This story showed me
how important it is to stand firm in my faith and worship and not let anything
distract me in my relationship with the Lord, Who is my King.
Who is YOUR king?
