Judges 9:15-21

Judges 9:15

And 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.

 

Now the bramble bush responds to the trees.  Abimelech had not yet been appointed king which means there might have been some holdouts among the leaders of Shechem.  The bramble tells the trees to put trust in his shadow.  He was no doubt referring to his shadow of protection but it would turn out that the shadow was something that held no substance, like a shadow of a person in sunlight.  He told them that if they did not anoint him king, then his fierce wrath would be like a fire kindled inside the bramble bush which would be hot enough to cause a forest fire and even destroy the most noble men of Shechem which would be represented by the cedars of Lebanon.

 

Judges 9:16

Now 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;

 

Now the parable continues with a few requirements.  If they would make a man like Abimelech king in their sincerity even knowing what a base man he was.  If they had dealt well with the house of Gideon and treated them with the respect they deserved and had dealt with them according to what Gideon had done for them in defeating the Midianites.

 

Judges 9:17

(For my father fought for you, and adventured his life far, and delivered you out of the hand of Midian:

 

He then tells them that Gideon had volunteered to go against the Midianites thus putting his own life in danger for the deliverance of Israel from the Midianites.  The army of the Midianites was large and fierce and it took courage to go against them and defeat them.

 

Judges 9:18

And 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;)

 

Now Jotham brings in a statement of reality that these men of Shechem had risen up against the house of Gideon.  Jotham was an eyewitness to the slaughter so they could not deny it.  They had killed 69 sons of Gideon because Jotham was alive but their intention was to kill every last son.  He now brings them the details of how they accomplished the slaughter by killing them upon one stone.  Jotham calls the mother of Abimelech a maidservant which was a derogatory title because she was a concubine of Gideon.  Then he attaches the fact that they have made Abimelech their king because he was of their household.

 

Judges 9:19

If 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:

 

If the people of Shechem honestly believed that they have done good and acted truthfully in regards to the house of Gideon, then they should be rejoicing in Abimelech their king and let their king rejoice in the people that he is ruling.  Let them all live in peace and have a prosperous life.  It should be a covenant of joy between the king and his people.

 

Judges 9:20

But 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.

 

If they did not deal well with the house of Gideon, then may they have the curse of confusion on them.  Let the king’s wrath be poured out upon the men of Shechem and let the men retaliate against the king and let their wrath be poured out upon the king.  In other words, Jotham was basically prophesying total confusion and anarchy in Shechem.

 

Judges 9:21

And Jotham ran away, and fled, and went to Beer, and dwelt there, for fear of Abimelech his brother.

 

Once Jotham had delivered the message, he had departed the place where he was at and fled to Beer.  Beer was about 30 miles (48 km) northeast of Mount Gerizim.  He went there because he was in fear that Abimelech would chase him down and kill him thus completing the killing of all seventy of the sons.

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