Judges 9:1-21
Abimelech’s Conspiracy
1 Then Abimelech the son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem, to his mother’s brothers, and spoke with them and with all the family of the house of his mother’s father, saying, 2 “Please speak in the hearing of all the men of Shechem: ‘Which is better for you, that all seventy of the sons of Jerubbaal reign over you, or that one reign over you?’ Remember that I am your own flesh and bone.”
3 And his mother’s brothers spoke all these words concerning him in the hearing of all the men of Shechem; and their heart was inclined to follow Abimelech, for they said, “He is our brother.” 4 So they gave him seventy shekels of silver from the temple of Baal-Berith, with which Abimelech hired worthless and reckless men; and they followed him. 5 Then he went to his father’s house at Ophrah and killed his brothers, the seventy sons of Jerubbaal, on one stone. But Jotham the youngest son of Jerubbaal was left, because he hid himself. 6 And all the men of Shechem gathered together, all of Beth Millo, and they went and made Abimelech king beside the terebinth tree at the pillar that was in Shechem.
The Parable of the Trees
7 Now when they told Jotham, he went and stood on top of Mount Gerizim, and lifted his voice and cried out. And he said to them:
“Listen to me, you men of Shechem,
That God may listen to you!
8 “The trees once went forth to anoint a king over them.
And they said to the olive tree,
‘Reign over us!’
9 But the olive tree said to them,
‘Should I cease giving my oil,
With which they honor God and men,
And go to sway over trees?’
10 “Then the trees said to the fig tree,
‘You come and reign over us!’
11 But the fig tree said to them,
‘Should I cease my sweetness and my good fruit,
And go to sway over trees?’
12 “Then the trees said to the vine,
‘You come and reign over us!’
13 But the vine said to them,
‘Should I cease my new wine,
Which cheers both God and men,
And go to sway over trees?’
14 “Then all the trees said to the bramble,
‘You come and reign over us!’
15 And the bramble said to the trees,
‘If in truth you anoint me as king over you,
Then come and take shelter in my shade;
But if not, let fire come out of the bramble
And devour the cedars of Lebanon!’
16 “Now therefore, if you have acted in truth and sincerity in making Abimelech king, and if you have dealt well with Jerubbaal and his house, and have done to him as he deserves— 17 for my father fought for you, risked his life, and delivered you out of the hand of Midian; 18 but you have risen up against my father’s house this day, and killed his seventy sons on one stone, and made Abimelech, the son of his female servant, king over the men of Shechem, because he is your brother— 19 if then you have acted in truth and sincerity with Jerubbaal and with his house this day, then rejoice in Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you. 20 But if not, let fire come from Abimelech and devour the men of Shechem and Beth Millo; and let fire come from the men of Shechem and from Beth Millo and devour Abimelech!” 21 And Jotham ran away and fled; and he went to Beer and dwelt there, for fear of Abimelech his brother.
Abimelech the son of a concubine of Jerubbaal (Gideon) went to Shechem, to speak to his mother’s brothers and his mother’s father, his family, to conspire against his own brothers that he might take all control and power for himself. They agreed to serve only him after he eliminated the competition and Abimelech hired muscle as assassins, worthless and reckless men who were willing to follow at a price. The money (seventy shekels of silver) to hire these rogue came from his family from the pagan temple of Baal-Berith, for they served idols and not the LORD God, another reason they went along with this ungodly plot to secure their idolatrous lifestyle as they eliminated any godly descendants of Gideon. This motly crew managed to slaughter the seventy sons of Jerubbaal minus one (Jotham the youngest son) who hid from the carnage and escaped to tell the tale. After the people crowned the murderer their king, Jotham prophesied this parable song against them to the men of Shechem. They were likened to trees and thorns in this ballad, telling them to listen to him, that God may listen to them for what they had allowed. The various trees one by one made excuses not to rule over the other trees, from the olive to the fig to the grape vine. They all wanted to keep on producing fruit of their own and not be bothered with the rest. But when they implored the bramble bush of thorns to rule, it cunningly accepted with full revelation of what that would mean to the others. They would have to remain under its rule as their sovereign king as in the shade of thorns in the day or would be burned up in wrath. This parable was then explained as the error of making Abimelech their ruler as he asked if they truly acted in truth and sincerity. If not, then they would face the fires of destruction from “Abimelech and devour the men of Shechem and Beth Millo; and let fire come from the men of Shechem and from Beth Millo and devour Abimelech.” They would consume each other in the fiery wrath of God for destroying the line of the judge Gideon for their murderous complicity in their conspiracy of discontent with God’s chosen ones. Then Jotham ran quickly away to avoid being murdered as his sixty-nine brothers had been by brother Abimelech. This is a picture of those Christ had warned of who would destroy and murder the Son of God and Man who came to rescue them from the fire of judgment as they had murdered the prophets (Luke 13:34, Acts 7:52, 1 Thessalonians 2:15) before Him. The trees of paganism and idolatry still hold sway over many who will reject Him instead of finding refuge under His wings of grace. That is the conspiracy of discontent to do as men will instead of God’s will like the fruit trees and grapevine did in this parable. How far better it is to have the King who gathers us into His own vine (John 15:5, 7-8) and feeds us under such gracious sovereign rule for our good!
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