WebJotham imputes the slaying of his brothers to the citizens of Shechem, as a crime which they themselves had committed ( Judges 9:18 ), because they had given Abimelech money out of their temple of Baal to carry out his designs against the sons of Jerubbaal ( Judges 9:4 ). This was as if a man should run into a stack of straw or barrel of gunpowder, to secure himself from a raging fire. Then Abimelech went to Thebez, and he encamped against Thebez and took it. Who doubted the unfriendliness of Moab and of Edom? They will get you Baptized. The bramble said to the trees, If in truth you are anointing me as king over you, come and take refuge in my shade; but if not, may fire come out from the bramble and consume the cedars of Lebanon. Serve the men of Hamor the father of Shechem; but why should we serve him? Thus men boast of a false gift. So it was pressed on Israel then. What was it when there was only one, and such an one as Samson? What difference does it make? Nederlandstalige Bijbelstudies door Stan Marinussen, Copyright - Enduring Word       |      . a. "Then all the children of Israel went out, and the congregation was gathered together as one man.". You always can block or delete cookies by changing your browser settings and force blocking all cookies on this website. He predicted that fire would come forth from Abimelech and devour them. And all of the men of Shechem gathered together, and all the house of Millo, and they went, and made Abimelech king, by the plain of the pillar that was in Shechem. Judges 9:8 Commentaries: "Once the trees went forth to anoint a king over them, and they said to the olive tree, 'Reign over us!' The trees went forth on a time to anoint a king over them; and they said unto the olive tree, Reign thou over us. (8) The trees went forth. What he felt was that these lands had once been his lands, and that the children of Israel now possessed them. Respectfully submitted as my Scriptural understanding, I share with you what His Spirit has shared with my spirit. But if it was his hidden power, it acted also as a test; and now the enemy possessed it, disclosed to a harlot, who had wrung it for gold from his foolish heart. Whatever might have been his low state through unchecked animal nature, whatever his delinquencies before, so long as he kept his secret with God, strength never failed him from God, be the strain what it might. Contrariwise it was courted and continued down to the captivity. But when God and His word are in question, it ought to be a simple matter for a child of God. Let us not forget that we have got a nature exempt from nothing we deplore in Samson, and the person that does not believe it may live to prove it, especially if a believer, who should know himself better; whilst he who does take it home to his soul is thereby enabled to judge himself by the Spirit before God. And this is just as true of the saint as of the man who rashly or lightly bears the name of the Lord Jesus. And this, I need scarce say, is still more due on the score of brotherly relation and divine love, not merely on the ground of that which we might expect for our own souls. (Judges 11:1-40). You've been saying who's Abimelech? No way. And devour the cedars of Lebanon!. Then can we joy in Him, and it is our strength for all service, and is the spring of worship. But that which does good to every saint and to every soul is the unqualified confidence in God and His word, which, if it does not reproduce itself in hearts purified by faith, at least deals with the consciences of all others till utterly blinded by Satan. The more you read and the more you live the Word the more you gain confidence in the Word and in your life. how many there are in these days of audacious free-thinking who are disposed to sit in judgment on His word, and give His revelation no credit for telling us the truth as it was and is. Well, site uncertain) where he hid from his brothers wrath. we next hear of Samson's visit to the Philistine woman who pleased him well: no small sin for an Israelite, as it is worse for a Christian, to marry one of the world. Now; in Abimelech's history we see that he had begun with the most intense selfishness taking an utterly reckless advantage of those who had a better claim to represent their father than himself. Judah! Chapter 9Now here's what happened. So Abimelech chased him, and many were overthrown and wounded, even to the entering of the gate. b. Then God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem--In the course of providence, jealousy, distrust, secret disaffection, and smothered rebellion appeared among his subjects disappointed and disgusted with his tyranny; and God permitted those disorders to punish the complicated crimes of the royal fratricide and idolatrous usurper. 2 Samuel 11:21). (Wolf), ii. Abimelech was the bramble; and the ceders of Lebanon, all the nobles and people of Israel. It was bad enough when Gideon had only three hundred that God would employ. He took the city and killed the people who were in it; and he demolished the city and sowed it with salt: Abimelech then turned his fury against the people of Shechem, and killed as many of them as he could, and he demolished their city. You may be tried; but be assured that you will be helped out of the trial. There was, there could be, none any longer as Israel was. . This again makes the case of Israel still more clear, because it might have been supposed that surely the Amorite must be put out of the way, seeing that that most wicked race was devoted expressly to destruction. It is the expression of the agent of divine power in no way the seal of redemption or the earnest of the inheritance, as we know Him dwelling in us now since the shedding of the blood of Jesus. But what a Nazarite was Samson! Nevertheless they were beaten the next day; for they must be disciplined before the Lord before He could use them to deal with their brother. The story of Abimelech connects directly with the story of Gideon. But there is one thing that God's Spirit always assumes the perfect goodness and the unswerving holiness of God. Of all the deliverers that grace ever raised up, there was not one who for personal prowess was to be compared with Samson; but of all those, where was the man who fell so habitually below even that which would have disgraced an ordinary Israelite? Carried away by his uncurbed feelings (to whatever end God might turn all, for He always governs), he was mighty to act; but as to intelligence, little more than an unconscious instrument. If his only desire is to destroy those who disagree, then he is much like the bramble plenty of good points, but no real substance for good. serve the men of Hamor the father of Shechem: for why should we serve him? The word of God is always in itself not only right, but fraught with light. I. And as naturally as possible too they take it. c. Draw your sword and kill me, lest men say of me, A woman killed him.: Abimelech considered it manlier to be killed by his own armor bearer; but he was still dead afterward. If in truth you anoint me as king over you, Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers, Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament. Then Abimelech the son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem, to his mothers brothers, and spoke with them and with all the family of the house of his mothers father, saying, 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. And his mothers 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.. Here is the proof of the time when all this occurred. He gives a parable how that the trees of the forest came to the olive tree and they said, "Rule over us. Parable of the Trees - Judges 9:8-15. You will never understand the Bible otherwise. Let fire come out of the bramble.Some suppose that there is a reference to the ancient notions of the spontaneous ignition of the boughs of the bramble when rubbed together by the wind. These features reflect the authors unambiguous stance toward the nation and the characters: Israel has been totally Canaanized; Baal has contended for himself and prevailed." Obviously the bramble represented Abimelech, the trees and vine more noble individuals, and the cedars of Lebanon the upright leaders of Shechem. The grossness of such conduct is left to tell its own tale; and yet God, by the man that was thus pursuing his own self-willed course, meant to overrule the occasion for His glory, snapping the more violently the ties which Samson's ungoverned passion and low thoughts induced him to form. Still the overt thing to Samson seems to have been that they were his enemies. It makes wise the simple; it enlightens the eyes. Judges 9 Commentary So, heres the secret the end of Judges chapter 8 here shows us how Israel did wrong to God. The acoustics are quite interesting in many areas of the land. . Now they could deal with guilty Benjamin. The writer of Judges used an interesting word to say that Abimelech had reigned over Israel. Gaal probably was not prepared for a siege; so he had little choice but to leave the city walls behind and confront Abimelech out in the open. (Wolf). It is well sometimes for all those who teach that they should be obliged to learn; well that they should be forced to feel that they do not know; an excellent moral lesson that they should confess it not only be conscious of it, but own it; for indeed the necessary claim of scripture is that it be confided in as the word of God, though it does not thence follow that we are competent to explain all. God would magnify His power, but only as a witness now and then; nothing more. This certainly stimulated him though I am far from insinuating no better underneath. Changes will take effect once you reload the page. i. . But this will always prompt you to accept/refuse cookies when revisiting our site. And so the guy thrust him through anyhow and so they didn't say a woman killed him. Again we see the man, and his character in its weakness is before us, even at that solemn moment. Their keenest feelings were in favour of the Levite and his concubine, wounded to the quick by the abominations of the men of Gibeah; and therefore, whatever of human affection may be in evidence, we certainly learn how little faith Jehovah could then find in the land of Israel. And when Gaal saw the people, he said to Zebul, Look, people are coming down from the tops of the mountains! But Zebul said to him, You see the shadows of the mountains as if they were men. So Gaal spoke again and said, See, people are coming down from the center of the land, and another company is coming from the Diviners Terebinth Tree. Then Zebul said to him, Where indeed is your mouth now, with which you said, Who is Abimelech, that we should serve him? Are not these the people whom you despised? For we must remember carefully this, in looking at the dealings of God with the holy land and with His people Israel, God had always destined the land of Palestine for the chosen people. God might be said to be "cheered" by it, when the sacrifices were accepted, as He is said also to be honored by oil ( Judges 9:9 ). This is exceedingly instructive. By contrast Abimelech is like a bramble: he can give neither shelter nor protection. i. Strife between Abimelech and the Shechemites, ver. So in this rash vow says Jephthah, "it shall be that whatsoever," etc. Nevertheless we learn even from the lowest He deigned to work by that, while doubtless there was a most humiliating condition in Israel, God's rights were maintained for His people. Nevertheless he "was a mighty man of valour," who lived a kind of freebooter's life the chief of a reckless company of outcasts and desperadoes. Ah! Jephthah takes the greatest pains to prove, when he comes forward, that he has clear right on his side. He leaves it to the event to determine whether they had done well, whereby he lodges the appeal with the divine providence. It was a sign they had provoked God to depart from them that neither any prophet was sent nor any remarkable judgment, to awaken this stupid people, and to stop the progress of this threatening mischief. I have taken no ground beyond your own, my brethren; but surely this is a ground that calls you to assert the very same inestimable privilege that I boast as by grace a man of faith. The extent of Abimelechs kingdom was very limited; only Shechem, Beth-millo, Arumah (Judges 9:41) and Thebez (Judges 9:50) are mentioned as under his jurisdiction and it is unlikely that it extended beyond a portion of western Manasseh. (Cundall), iii. But there was a strong tower in the city, and all the men and women; all the people of the city; fled there and shut themselves in; then they went up to the top of the tower. Bad as were the features we have seen, we have to see even worse still; yet he was heard and answered when he called. Outwardly indeed he was separate. Who's Abimelech? The man thus went forth in the confidence of his strength, and to outward appearance did things just to make the enemy feel what he could do, with as little exercise toward God as could well be found in one that feared Him. Often God finds a way to do it both in this life and the life to come. And he looked, and there were the people, coming out of the city; and he rose against them and attacked them. If they had, as he was sure they had, dealt basely and wickedly in this matter, let them never expect to prosper, Judges 9:20; Judges 9:20. God's Word is the Truth see John 17:17). WebGod split the hollow place that is in Lehi, and water came out, and he drank; and his spirit returned, and he revived: This is an example of the principle that Gods work, done Gods way, will always be provided for by God. Zebul advised Abimelech to come and attack the city. Since I understand Jotham to be a prophet, he is presumably relaying a message from God. 13 And the vine said unto them, Should I leave my wine, which cheereth God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees? . He would destroy all the people of Shechem, both those who went out to work in the fields and those back in the town who took shelter in the city stronghold (42-49). Then he called quickly to the young man, his armorbearer, and said to him, Draw your sword and kill me, lest men say of me, A woman killed him. So his young man thrust him through, and he died. The case before us, in Judges 17:1-13; Judges 18:1-31, is one where God was openly, deliberately, and systematically dishonoured. They looked upon this hold as both a fort and a sanctuary; but it saved them not. (Trapp). Yet long after his death, the credit continued to be given to the woman (cf. The men of Shechem (Judges 9:2-3) supported the plan because it was good for them, not because it was morally good or right. The first and gravest departure is that Jehovah could be so forgotten and so shamelessly dishonoured as to set up in His name a rival; and the more seriously it was set about, so much the worse. All rights reserved. There is such a thing as to be taught of God. Either they could not reach him or they were so far convinced that they would not add the guilt of his blood to all the rest. Abimelech was no doubt the son of a concubine; but here we descend lower still. It is chiseled out to where it's round, has a hole in the middle of it and then the stick or the post would go through the center of the millstone and it would roll. I presume that the reason why these incidents are not given before in the order of time may have been that, if inserted earlier, it would have completely interrupted the course of the history, and the main instruction of the book of Judges. 13. wine, which cheereth God and man--not certainly in the same manner. They are not allowed to enter on campaigns out of their own head. Let no man question that Samson was in prison or that he lost his eyes for nothing. God does not permit Israel, because this one or that is an enemy, to take the place of enemies to them. "As they did unto me, so have I done unto them." Really he said, "Put a millstone on her neck, throw him in the sea." But all of the other sons of Gideon were killed. . His secret was to keep his hair uncut, with all strength annexed to it. God gave the devil commission to enter into or work upon their minds and hearts; knowing that he of himself, and by his own inclinations, would fill them with mistakes, and jealousies, and dissensions, and heart-burnings, which would end in civil wars and mutual ruin. (Poole). When he approached the vineyards of Timnah, he saw a roaring young lion attacking him. For "it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking, that he cast away the jawbone out of his hand, and called that place Ramathlehi. I have been reading/studying the Bible all my life; I am now 74 years old and in a wheelchair. Thus God repaid the wickedness of Abimelech, which he had done to his father by killing his seventy brothers. b. And the Sea of Galilee, same thing, the sound really carries. So dangerous is apt to be the reaction against one ever so honest; the more you have trusted, when you begin to doubt, the worse it is apt to be, even with poor erring man, who knows not what a serious thing it is. Article Images Copyright 2023 Getty Images unless otherwise indicated. And it sounds sort of farfetched or preposterous but there are many places in the land where the acoustics are just natural; acoustics are really fantastic.If you're standing up on the Herodium there could be children playing two miles away and you can hear their conversations to each other. . 6. all the men of Shechem . If they could not make them good, if they had lost their land, and could not recover it, what had Israel to do with their affairs? As the children are playing you hear them laughing, screaming and all a couple miles away. The woman then tells her husband of the angel's visit, and they both entreat Jehovah, Manoah particularly, that the man of God might be sent again. The king of Ammon had forgotten, or had never enquired after the real righteousness of the case. It appears to me that the Spirit of God brings in this little notice of his judging Israel here in order to show that this is the normal close of his history. All these fruit-trees gave much the same reason for their refusal to be promoted over the trees; or, as the margin reads "And Israel sent messengers unto Sihon king of the Amorites, the king of Heshbon; and Israel said unto him Let us pass, we pray thee, through thy land into my place." and they said unto the olive tree, reign thou over us; a fit emblem of a good man, endowed with excellent virtues and qualifications for good, as David king of Israel, who is compared to such a tree, Psalm 52:8, Jarchi applies this to Othniel the first judge; but it may be better applied to Gideon, an excellent good man, full of fruits of righteousness, and eminently useful, and to whom kingly government was offered, and was refused by him; and the men of Shechem could scarcely fail of thinking of him, and applying it to him, as Jotham was delivering his fable. ". "What is this that thou hast done unto us? If this be so, the captivity might be the Assyrian, and not that of the Philistines. We have seen before, from the earlier part of the book, the remarkable manner in which, either personally or in the weapons that were employed, God was acting mysteriously at this period of Israel's history. And they called for Samson out of the prison house; and he made them sport: and they set him between the pillars. WebJudges 9:8. 36 And when Gaal saw the people, he said to Zebul, Behold, there come people down from the top of the mountains. It was His brethren who sought to lay hold on Him as beside Himself, His brethren who did not believe on Him. And then said Zebul unto him, Okay where's your mouth now, and you said, Who is Abimelech, that we should serve him? Yet was he a Nazarite from his mother's womb! He stands to it that they must never have an enemy unless it be God's enemy. Abimelech and the Shechemites, that had strengthened one another's hands in this villany, would certainly be a plague and ruin one to another. Dear Searching (i.e. In the next chapter (Judges 13:1-25) we begin a new kind of instrument God raised up for His purpose; and in this case the state of the people was such that God severs him to Himself as a Nazarite. I can stand on the stage and drop a pin and you can hear it sitting up there in the amphitheater with several hundred people. Such hand-stones averaged ten to fourteen inches long and weighed five pounds or more. (Wood). And shall I leave my sweetness, saith the fig-tree, and my good fruit (Judges 9:11; Judges 9:11), and go to be promoted over the trees? With the advantage of their superior position, Abimelech and his soldiers drove out Gaal and his men. And they bound him with two new cords, and brought him up from the rock. We have nothing like a Moses in Samson. And so he called to Abimelech and said, Increase your army. The olives are among the most beautiful trees that grow in the Holy Land. Their faith was owned; but it was of a sadly mingled and imperfect character. The men of Shechem put their confidence in him: The men of Shechem lost their confidence in Abimelech, so they chose a new leader named Gaal, the son of Ebed. c. Let fire come out of the bramble and devour the cedars of Lebanon: The bramble warned that he would be an oppressive ruler and destroy anyone who disagreed with him. You shall rise early and rush upon the city: Zebul advised Abimelech to organize a surprise attack against the rebels of Shechem. As ever you hope to obtain God's favour, and to be accepted of him, give me a patient and impartial hearing." There is something about the elastic atmosphere of an Eastern clime which causes it to transmit sound with wonderful celerity and distinctness [HACKETT]. what shadow or protection can there be in a bramble? . 7. he . It was a long time, we might have justly thought, in the days of Gideon, to have known seven years' subjection; but we hear of a far longer period in the case of the Philistines, the hottest and most pertinacious of the hostile neighbours of Israel, and so much the more galling as being within their border. Accepting of their offer at once: if ye in trust anoint me king over you; suspecting they were not hearty and cordial in their choice and call to the kingly authority over them: then come and put your trust in my shadow; promising protection to them as his subjects, requiring their confidence in him, and boasting of the good they should receive from him, as is common with wicked princes at their first entering on their office; but, alas! What avails the show of Jehovah's name, or form of consecrating a Levite to be priest? We know that men make it a question for ingenious minds to speculate on. (1.) 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"Then the Philistines went up, and pitched in Judah, and spread themselves in Lehi. if a man attempts: to put himself under it for shelter, he will find it will be of no use to him, but harmful, since, the nearer and closer he comes to it, the more he will be scratched and torn by it: and if not, let fire come out of the bramble, and devour the cedars of Lebanon; signifying, that if they did not heartily submit to his government, and put confidence in him, and prove faithful to him, they should smart for it, and feel his wrath and vengeance, even the greatest men among them, comparable to the cedars of Lebanon; for thorns and brambles catching fire, as they easily do, or fire being put to them, as weak as they are, and placed under the tallest and strongest cedars, will soon fetch them down to the ground; and the words of the bramble, or Abimelech, proved true to the Shechemites, he is made to speak in this parable. 14 Then said all the trees unto the bramble, Come thou, and reign over us. And Samson said unto the lad that held him by the hand, Suffer me that I may feel the pillars whereupon the house standeth, that I may lean upon them. Is not this an instructive as well as striking fact? Resent it? The reference to the men of Shechem (Judges 9:2) is literally the baals of Shechem, the word having here its original meaning of lord or owner. (Cundall). Again, it is not of course any attainment of mine that leads me to speak as I have done now. "And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of Jehovah; and Jehovah delivered them into the hand of the Philistines forty years."

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