Two recurring themes in Judges are conflict and idolatry. After the death of Gideon, one of his 70 sons, Abimelek, waged war on his brothers. His starting point was Shechem, the location of a major shrine to Baal.
Abimelek 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 Abimelek, for they said, “He is related to us” (Judges 9:1-3).
The name, “Jerub-Baal,” describes someone who contends with Baal. It was another name for Gideon.
“Abimelek” means “my father is king.” Even though Gideon refused to be king over the Israelites, Abimelech was willing to assume the role, despite being an illegitimate leader.
It is believed that Vladimir Putin doesn’t want to leave office, because the way Russian leaders leave office is in a coffin. Like many people who become leaders in some nations today, Abimelek became their king by killing his competitors. In his case, it was all 70 of his brothers.
Money was stored in temples, and 70 shekels of silver were given to Abimelek to hire men who were willing to kill his brothers (verse 4). The youngest brother, Jotham, escaped by hiding from the assassins (verse 5). When the dust settled, Abimelek was crowned the king by the good people of Shechem (verse 6).
Jotham’s Warning
An old fable tells the story of a little girl who found a cute baby fox. Her parents told her to let it go, because it would grow up and hurt her. Not believing her parents, the girl kept the fox under her coat.
After a while, the fox began biting the girl, but it was so cute that she put up with the pain. After several days of minor bites, the fox bit all the way through to her heart.
The citizens of Shechem were warned by Abimelek’s brother, Jotham, with a parable of his own. Like the fable of the girl and the fox, trusting Abimelek would not turn out well.
Jotham addressed the people from Mount Gerizim, the location where earlier the Israelites heard the blessing pronounced. However, this time, blessings would be replaced by curses for breaking the covenant with God.
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 humans are honored, to hold sway over the trees?’ (Judges 9:7-9).
The parable continued with the same dialogue with a fig tree and a vine (verses 10-13). At the end, the thorn bush was willing to be king.
“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!’” (Judges 9:14-15).
Before Jotham fled for his safety, he called upon the citizens of Shechem to consider their choice of Abimelek to be king. Rather than taking refuge in the shade of the thornbush, a fire from the thornbush would consume them (verses 16-20).
Reflections
The authors of the commentary I am reading noted at the beginning of their thoughts on Judges that it is a book about the decline of the Israelites. The story of the nation’s descent into idolatry is told through 12 judges, ending with the worst judge of all, Samson.
During World War II, Frank Laubach called for a million prayers for peace.
One of the men I follow on social media has taken up Laubach’s appeal and considered the effect of inflation. He challenges his readers to be part of a billion prayers for peace.
As we survey current events in America and around the world in the light of the decline of quality leaders, let’s join the team and pray for God’s purposes through leaders and nations.
YouTube Discussion
Rudy Ross, Bruce Kirby, and I discussed this passage on YouTube today.
Real Voices 