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. and Zebul his officer? And if unbelief be probed home, it comes to this: it is a virtual denial of God's veracity, of His revelation, if not of His being. Judges 9:9 But the olive tree said unto them, Should I leave my fatness, wherewith by me they honour God and man, and god to be promoted over the trees? But there can be no question that the course taken by the men of Israel was calculated to increase the difficulty a thousand-fold. Is not this an instructive as well as striking fact? The truest deliverance from self is in that work where all was judged, and evil put away for ever. The condensed moral of the whole fable is this: Weak, worthless, and wicked men, will ever be foremost to thrust themselves into power; and, in the end, to bring ruin upon themselves, and on the unhappy people over whom they preside. Joatham . And so then he went to Thebez, and encamped against Thebez. Abimelech got up to mount Zalmon, with his people; and he began to with his axe to cut down the boughs from the trees, he laid them on his shoulder, and said to the people, Follow my example. i. This, at least, was right. No way. It is at least certain that the whole business was heinously evil, and none the less because Micah settles down with the persuasion, "Now know I that Jehovah will do me good, seeing I have a Levite to my priest" (ver. how the very thought of Jehovah's name seems lost at this time among the children of Israel. And the fig tree said unto them, "Should I forsake my sweetness, my good fruit? WebJudges 9:8-15 : Trees Choosing a King Study King James Version | 8 The trees went forth on a time to anoint a king over them; and they said unto the olive tree, Reign thou over Nevertheless, I have little doubt that, though the dying hour of Samson brought more honour to God than all his life, its manner was in itself a chastening in its character; and in this, too, may one discern a representation of the condition to which Israel had come similar to what was noticed in the life and person of Samson. 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! And Jotham ran away and fled; and he went to Beer and dwelt there, for fear of Abimelech his brother. And they have tracks in which the millstone rolls. What difference does it make? Samson stands alone; of Israel none with him, as with the others before him. 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. This latter view is the more probable, from the Shechemites ( Judges 9:24 ) aiding in it. b. But now, as we know, the one whom he had made partner of his sin wheedled it from him that she might sell it to the Philistines. b. 13). This is our calling; but we see even in Israel that outside the limits, the very narrow limits, in which God called them to be the executors of divine vengeance even they calmly bear and brook as they best might; and there were those that understood the mind of God, and knew perfectly well why they were not so called to do. To anoint a king over them.Evidently the thought of royalty was, so to speak, in the air. It is interesting to find from this passing allusion that the custom of anointing a king must have prevailed among the neighbouring nations. One test of the character of a man is to see how he treats those who disagree with him. Because these cookies are strictly necessary to deliver the website, refusing them will have impact how our site functions. exceedingly necessary for us to learn the fact that the dismally wretched condition that we have seen throughout all the Judges was true even from early days; and therefore the Spirit of God giving us this as a sort of supplement, or a conclusion, but with such marks of time as show that it was of a comparatively early date (and this can be proved before we have done with the book), is, I think, of considerable interest and importance. Here is the proof of the time when all this occurred. So they all cut down the boughs, and he came to the tower and he laid these boughs around, and set fire to them ( Judges 9:40-49 ); And actually cremated the people who had sought refuge there in the tower. Gideon had rejected, with abhorrence, the proposal to make himself or any of his family king, and there is no evidence that any of his other sons coveted the title. It is the Danites again; only the account of Samson is chronologically at the close, whereas the new tale, as we have remarked, was comparatively early. Zebul advised Abimelech to come and attack the city. They went into the house of their god, and ate and drank, and cursed Abimelech: The men of Shechem were so confident that their new leader Gaal could protect them against Abimelech that they started throwing drunken parties and openly cursing Abimelech and challenging him to a fight (Increase your army and come out!). Not till they desired a king like the nations. 4. the house of Baal-berith--either the temple, or the place where this idol was worshipped; Baal-berith, "god of the covenant," by invocation of whom the league of cities was formed. But what a Nazarite was Samson! We come to look at a parable, the parable of the trees. II. I take it therefore, that in the present case there is nothing to stumble the simplest believer, though no doubt there may be to one who knows not God and His word. "Then the Spirit of Jehovah came upon Jephthah, and he passed over Gilead, and Manasseh, and passed over Mizpeh of Gilead, and from Mizpeh of Gilead he passed over unto the children of Ammon. The last chapter of the book shows us the ways and means in which their hearts were drawn out, in order to repair the dismal gap which divine judgment had wrought in Benjamin, and indeed in Israel. But the time came when God would act upon that promise, and when those that disputed the title of God must pay the penalty. Ceremony is easy and attractive to the flesh, and there may be the more, as there usually is, where there is least power or reality. (Judges 9:1-57), On Tola and Jair (Judges 10:1-18) we need not pause; but in Jephthah again we have solemn issues brought out But here again is found the same brand of what was worthless or untowardly in the instruments that God used in a day of declension "Jephthah the Gileadite," we are told in Judges 11:1-40, "was a mighty man of valour, and he was the son of an harlot." The word of God is always in itself not only right, but fraught with light. Click to enable/disable Google reCaptcha. But it need surprise none that the proper history of this judge terminates according to the mind of God here; for what has the Lord to tell in the next chapter? The associations of such sites were very tenacious and it is of interest to note that Rehoboam went to Shechem, following the death of Solomon, to secure the acclimation of the Israelites although the city itself was in ruins at the time (1 Kings 12:1, 25). (Cundall). Web35 And Gaal the son of Ebed went out, and stood in the entering of the gate of the city: and Abimelech rose up, and the people that were with him, from lying in wait. This was as if a man should run into a stack of straw or barrel of gunpowder, to secure himself from a raging fire. Who troubles himself with the Koran or the Shastres, save their votaries? The fact was that some other races and peoples had dispossessed the Ammonites of these lands. A stronger proof there could not be desired, that the people, as a whole, were far from God. i. That God may listen to you! You can check these in your browser security settings. Again we see the man, and his character in its weakness is before us, even at that solemn moment. He understood the importance of leading through the example of ones own actions. Such was the point to which things had come (an inglorious one it was for those concerned), that the best thing for Israel and Judah, the best thing for God's glory and for Samson himself, was that he should die. See Psalm 58:9. 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! ", After having thus completely refuted his claim over the land on the ground of its being Ammonite, whereas in point of fact it had been won from them by the Amorite, and as such had passed into Israel's hand, now he gives them a warning from the blows that God had inflicted on a mightier king than himself. Alas! We use cookies to let us know when you visit our websites, how you interact with us, to enrich your user experience, and to customize your relationship with our website. And the king of the children of Ammon answered unto the messengers of Jephthah, Because Israel took away my land, when they came up out of Egypt, from Arnon even unto Jabbok, and unto Jordan: now therefore restore those lands again peaceably." We know that men make it a question for ingenious minds to speculate on. 11 But the fig tree said unto them, Should I forsake my sweetness, and my good fruit, and go to be promoted over the trees? In it, 1. Really he said, "Put a millstone on her neck, throw him in the sea." That, which they hoped would have been for their welfare, proved a snare The fig-tree must lose its sweetness, its sweet retirement, sweet repose, and sweet conversation and contemplation, if it go to be promoted over the trees, and must undergo a constant fatigue. a. 3. Those whose extraction and education are ever so high know not to what difficulties and straits they may be reduced. Then went Samson down, and his father and his mother, to Timnath, and came to the vineyards of Timnath: and, behold, a young lion roared against him." And as naturally as possible too they take it. But the same tender being made to the bramble he accepted it with vain-glorious exultation. If Ammon could or would not seek to recover it previously, they had no title to claim now from Israel. It seems therefore that the two extremes of moral weakness and of outward strength find each its height in this extraordinary character. 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? threescore and ten persons--A round number is used, but it is evident that two are wanting to complete that number. He said, "Man, you know, put them in concrete and dump them in the ocean you know." 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. The king of Ammon had no just claim whatever. The chief administrator in Shechem pretended to be on their side, but secretly he sent news to Abimelech (26-33). Abimelech slew his brethren on one stone, either by dashing them from one rock, or sacrificing them on one stone altar, in revenge for the demolition of Baal's altar by their father. These cookies collect information that is used either in aggregate form to help us understand how our website is being used or how effective our marketing campaigns are, or to help us customize our website and application for you in order to enhance your experience. 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. The Assyrian bas-reliefs afford counterparts of the scene here described so vivid and exact, that we might almost suppose them to be representations of the same historic events.

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