Judges 9:7-167And 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; (Judges 9:7‑16)
A very wicked man wanted to be king in Israel. He was not chosen by God as the Judges were, and he did not help, free Israel from their enemies. But with money, he hired men to follow him, and did most cruelly to his brothers for fear they would hinder him. One brother, the youngest, named Dothan, escaped and hid himself.
The day the men of Shechem gathered together to make this wicked man their king, Dothan climbed up on the mountain above them and called to them to listen to him. There is a great rock which is still called “Jothan’s Rock”, and it is said a man’s voice can be heard very plainly in the valley below. It was from the same mountain that Joshua had the blessings read to all the big company of Israel (Joshua 8:32-3532And he wrote there upon the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he wrote in the presence of the children of Israel. 33And all Israel, and their elders, and officers, and their judges, stood on this side the ark and on that side before the priests the Levites, which bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord, as well the stranger, as he that was born among them; half of them over against mount Gerizim, and half of them over against mount Ebal; as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded before, that they should bless the people of Israel. 34And afterward he read all the words of the law, the blessings and cursings, according to all that is written in the book of the law. 35There was not a word of all that Moses commanded, which Joshua read not before all the congregation of Israel, with the women, and the little ones, and the strangers that were conversant among them. (Joshua 8:32‑35)).
The story Jothan told was what is called a fable, because trees which cannot talk are told of as though they could, to teach a lesson. This was the story:
Once the trees wanted a king over them: First, they asked the olive tree, saying, “Rule thou over us.” But the olive tree said it would not be well for it to leave the growing of its good fruit and oil to be the king.
Next, they asked the fig tree. But the fig tree said it did not want to stop growing its sweet fruit to serve as king.
Then, they asked the grape vine. But the vine did not want to stop growing its nice fruit, either. So, at last, they asked the bramble bush to be their king. A bramble bush is full of prickers, and of no good use for anything. It was very willing to be king over the trees, and said all must come under its shadow, and if any would not do so it would send fire to destroy them, even the great cedar tree! What a cruel, boastful ruler the bramble bush would be!
Jothan wanted to show the people that they were making as bad a choice of a king, as if the good trees would choose a thorny bramble bush to rule them. He told them to refuse the wicked king, and God would help them.
Yet they did not take Jothan’s good advice, and he had to run away.
Three years after, the wicked king was killed in a battle.
God has always sent warning to His people, as he did by Jothan. He again gave. Israel judges to save them from the enemies. But there were many sad, evil deeds done, because the people worshiped idols more and more, instead of obeying the Lord.
ML 08/07/1938