Chapter 91. Judges 9:1-221And Abimelech the son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem unto his mother's brethren, and communed with them, and with all the family of the house of his mother's father, saying, 2Speak, I pray you, in the ears of all the men of Shechem, Whether is better for you, either that all the sons of Jerubbaal, which are threescore and ten persons, reign over you, or that one reign over you? remember also that I am your bone and your flesh. 3And his mother's brethren spake of him in the ears of all the men of Shechem all these words: and their hearts inclined to follow Abimelech; for they said, He is our brother. 4And they gave him threescore and ten pieces of silver out of the house of Baal-berith, wherewith Abimelech hired vain and light persons, which followed him. 5And he went unto his father's house at Ophrah, and slew his brethren the sons of Jerubbaal, being threescore and ten persons, upon one stone: notwithstanding yet Jotham the youngest son of Jerubbaal was left; for he hid himself. 6And all the men of Shechem gathered together, and all the house of Millo, and went, and made Abimelech king, by the plain of the pillar that was in Shechem. 7And when they told it to Jotham, he went and stood in the top of mount Gerizim, and lifted up his voice, and cried, and said unto them, Hearken unto me, ye men of Shechem, that God may hearken unto you. 8The trees went forth on a time to anoint a king over them; and they said unto the olive tree, Reign thou over us. 9But the olive tree said unto them, Should I leave my fatness, wherewith by me they honor God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees? 10And the trees said to the fig tree, Come thou, and reign over us. 11But the fig tree said unto them, Should I forsake my sweetness, and my good fruit, and go to be promoted over the trees? 12Then said the trees unto the vine, Come thou, and reign over us. 13And the vine said unto them, Should I leave my wine, which cheereth God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees? 14Then said all the trees unto the bramble, Come thou, and reign over us. 15And the bramble said unto the trees, If in truth ye anoint me king over you, then come and put your trust in my shadow: and if not, let fire come out of the bramble, and devour the cedars of Lebanon. 16Now therefore, if ye have done truly and sincerely, in that ye have made Abimelech king, and if ye have dealt well with Jerubbaal and his house, and have done unto him according to the deserving of his hands; 17(For my father fought for you, and adventured his life far, and delivered you out of the hand of Midian: 18And ye are risen up against my father's house this day, and have slain his sons, threescore and ten persons, upon one stone, and have made Abimelech, the son of his maidservant, king over the men of Shechem, because he is your brother;) 19If ye then have dealt truly and sincerely with Jerubbaal and with his house this day, then rejoice ye in Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you: 20But if not, let fire come out from Abimelech, and devour the men of Shechem, and the house of Millo; and let fire come out from the men of Shechem, and from the house of Millo, and devour Abimelech. 21And Jotham ran away, and fled, and went to Beer, and dwelt there, for fear of Abimelech his brother. 22When Abimelech had reigned three years over Israel, (Judges 9:1‑22). Jotham’s Parable.
AFTER Gideon’s death, the Israelites forsook God entirely, and turned to idolatry. They did not profit by their bitter experience with the Midianites, and went on as if they had no account to take of a Holy God who saw their wicked ways. Gideon had many sons; the name of one was Abimelech. He was a very ambitious man and wanted to be king. He went to Shechem, where his mother’s people lived and asked his relatives to use their influence with the people. The men of Shechem were pleased with Abimelech, and attended to what he said, and gave him money, promising to make him king. With this money lie hired some wicked men who followed him wherever he went. Then he went to Ophrah and killed his brothers, seventy in all, upon one stone, except the youngest of all, Jotham, who hid himself and escaped. When the brothers were dead, the men of Shechem made Abimelech king. Jotham, hearing of it, went and stood on Mount Gerizim, and called with a loud voice to the people of Shechem to listen to him while he told them an allegory: The trees of the forest, one day, said he, went out to find a king who would reign over them. They said to the olive tree: “Reign thou over us.” But the olive tree answered: Shall I leave my fatness with which they honor God and man, and be promoted over other trees? The trees came next to the fig tree and asked him to be their king. But the fig tree answered: Should I leave my sweetness and my good fruit, and go to be promoted over the trees? They passed on to the vine and said: “Come thou and reign over us.” But the vine said to them: “Should I leave my wine which cheers God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees?” Last they came to the bramble, and said: “Come thou and reign over us.” The bramble answered: If you really want me to rule over you, come and put your trust in my shadow: and if not, fire will come and burn all the trees, even the cedars of Lebanon.
Jotham was trying by this story to show the Israelites how foolish they were to take such a man as Abimelech for their ruler, and what the result would be. If those who were like the olive tree, the fig tree and the vine—fruit-bearing— (that is, whose works were pleasing to God, and for the good of the people,) refused to rule, because, as Gideon had said, God should reign over His people, what would the rule of such a one be except to bring them to destruction?
When Jesus was on the earth, He told His disciples that He was as one that served in their midst. If we follow His example, seeking always what good we can do to others, in honor preferring one another, (as we are told in Rom. 12:1010Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honor preferring one another; (Romans 12:10)), we shall then be far more pleasing to Him, and He has said, “Every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.”. Luke 18:1414I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. (Luke 18:14).
Jotham continued to speak to the Shechemites from Mount Gerizim, saying: If you have done well in making Abimelech king, and if you have treated my father’s house well, (for my father fought for you, risked his life and delivered you from the Midianites. and yet you have killed his seventy sons) then, you may rejoice in Abimelech, and he in you, but, if not, let fire come from Abimelech and destroy the men of Shechem, and let fire come from the men of Shechem and destroy Abimelech.
Then Jotham ran away, and went to live in Beer, for fear of his brother Abimelech.
It was not long before these words of Jotham’s became true, as we shall see in our next chapter.
May the Lord keep us from wanting to appear to be above others! for pride is an abomination in the Lord’s sight. In the sixth chapter of Proverbs God puts pride, lies and murder in the same list of the things which He hates. It was the root of Abimelech’s wicked crimes. Let us watch that we may be kept from it, humbly following in the footsteps of Jesus, who although He was God, yet “took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men; and being found in fashion as a man, He humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also has highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven, in earth and under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father!” Phil. 2:7-117But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 8And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. 9Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: 10That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:7‑11).
ML 04/28/1912