What an opinion he had of them! Then three thousand men of Judah went to the top of the rock Etam, and said to Samson, Knowest thou not that the Philistines are rulers over us?" Now you know, they used to say of the sailors "a girl in every port." If you do not want that we track your visit to our site you can disable tracking in your browser here: We also use different external services like Google Webfonts, Google Maps, and external Video providers. Who's Abimelech? Ah! Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 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. The Parable of the Trees: Intro (Judges 9:8-15) And so then he went to Thebez, and encamped against Thebez. The king of Ammon had no just claim whatever. He hereby applauds the generous modesty of Gideon, and the other judges who were before him, and perhaps of the sons of Gideon, who had declined accepting the state and power of kings when they might have had them, and likewise shows that it is in general the temper of all wise and good men to decline preferment and to choose rather to be useful than to be great. And the men of Shechem set men in ambush against him on the tops of the mountains, and they robbed all who passed by them along that way; and it was told Abimelech. But the olive tree said to them, Click to enable/disable essential site cookies. Please be aware that this might heavily reduce the functionality and appearance of our site. So Gaal spake again and said, Look there are people coming down by the middle of the land, another company is coming along the plain of Meonenim. And be assured, brethren, that in an evil world patience is morally much beyond power. The same word means whosoever. 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. Abimelech probably grew up in Shechem (Judges 8:31). For the people of Shechem, even a secure tower could not protect them. The top of Gerizim is not so high in the rear of the town, as it is nearer to the plain. In every point of view therefore the ground taken by Israel was solid, and could not be disputed righteously. (30-33) The role of Zebul, the ruler of the city. Here sound decibels are rising year by year and all of the sounds that we're subjected to the sound pollution. This would have the effect of reducing the number of travelers and caravans in such a troubled area, thus emptying the pockets of Abimelech as well as hitting as his pride, for he could not guarantee the safety of travel in his domain. (Cundall), Now Gaal the son of Ebed came with his brothers and went over to Shechem; and the men of Shechem put their confidence in him. But this was far from the true and full history of the case. 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. It was the energy of His Spirit who thought of His people showing out by the way, as we have remarked, in that wayward man the fallen state to which they were reduced by their own sin, with the highest claims outwardly but morally in as low a condition as could then be conceived. 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. Treat Satan as Satan when he betrays himself; and what can he do against the name of the Lord? And he said to them: Listen to me, you men of Shechem, So all the men of Israel were gathered against the city, knit together as one man. We have value because God says we do. i. So Abimelech and all the people who were with him rose by night, and lay in wait: Abimelech agreed with and followed the plan suggested by Zebul. In the latter case it is nothing but flesh, which becomes manifest in the long run; but even in the case of him who is truthful, whatever is carnal, whatever lets out that nature which is already judged, the confession of whose judgment is the very starting-point of a Christian, but which it is his calling to act upon and treat as a dead and condemned thing to the end if he forgets this, then, in the measure in which he does so, it brings in that which the Lord must infallibly deal with. WebIn Judges 9:8-15, Jotham conveys a message about the trees speaking amongst themselves while seeking a king. And so he said if you would just commit yourself to me I would remove Abimelech. But the fig tree said to them, 36 And when Gaal saw the people, he said to Zebul, Behold, there come people down from the top of the mountains. Joshua 8; Joshua 24). And he took thereof in his hands, and went on eating, and came to his father and mother, and he gave them, and they did eat: but he told not them that he had taken the honey out of the carcase of the lion. Judges 9:8 Others may have shown as mighty works, as great displays of power; nay, even the blessed Lord Jesus Himself said, "Greater works than these shall ye do." "If your conduct towards the house of Gideon be such as can be justified at any bar of justice, honour, or conscience, much good may it do you with your new king." "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." WebJudges Commentary - Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible (Complete) Bible Study Tools Join PLUS Login. In other words, let there come strife between the men of Shechem and Abimelech. Undoubtedly there are many things in scripture of which we are ignorant; but then we are not entitled to interpret the word of God by ourselves. i. Click to enable/disable Google reCaptcha. How often it is ourselves who make the difficulties of which the enemy greedily avails himself against our own souls and His glory! 8 The trees went forth on a time to anoint a king over them; and they said unto the olive tree, Reign thou over us. The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe (Proverbs 18:10). Still more is what follows; for God fails not to deal with us on our own ground. II. And they said to the olive tree, In other words, he's an outsider. WebWhen the Spirit of the Lord came upon Samson, his cords were loosed: where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty, and those are free indeed who are thus set free. 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? There is little moral elevation in Samson, little in any way to command respect or love. This graphically fulfilled the warning of Jotham earlier in the chapter (Judges 9:19-20). 2 Samuel 11:21). (Wolf), ii. They took it quietly, and passed along their way. If you need help in understanding God's Word visit The Church of Christ they will help you. The children of Israel were in no way responsible for it. They are not allowed to enter on campaigns out of their own head. And so Abimelech came to the tower, he fought against it, he was up against the door trying to burn it with fire. Difficulties, where they exist for us, would only exercise faith in God. stood in the top of mount Gerizim and lifted up his voice--The spot he chose was, like the housetops, the public place of Shechem; and the parable [ Judges 9:8-15 ] drawn from the rivalry of the various trees was appropriate to the diversified foliage of the valley below. or, as the margin reads it, go up and down for the trees? 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. ( Judges 9:28 ). i. Undoubtedly the desire of his own importance and aggrandizement is but too manifest; but when he enters upon the service itself, he not only takes care that the right should be felt by Israel to be indisputably with them, but that this should be known and pressed on the conscience of his adversary. You come and reign over us! Where was their humiliation and grief before the Lord? a. rejoice in Abimelech: But if not, then let fire come forth from Abimelech, and devour the men of Shechem, and the house of Millo; and the fire come out from the men of Shechem, and from the house of Millo, and devour Abimelech ( Judges 9:19-20 ). And Abimelech, and the company that was with him, rushed forward, and stood at the entering of the gate of the city: and two other companies ran upon all the people that were in the fields, and they killed them. Where was the just horror at the idolatry of Micah? 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? So they gave him seventy shekels of silver from the temple of Baal-Berith: The relatives of Abimelech on his mothers side gave him some start-up money to establish his leadership. The title of the children of Israel therefore to that land was indefeasible. Jotham did not go about to raise an army out of the other cities of Israel (in which, one would think, he might have made a good interest for his father's sake), to avenge his brethren's death, much less to set up himself in competition with Abimelech, so groundless was the usurper's suggestion that the sons of Gideon aimed at dominion (Judges 9:2; Judges 9:2); but he contents himself with giving a faithful reproof to the Shechemites, and fair warning of the fatal consequences. What a wonderful understanding of God that we can obtain from Judges 9:8-15 if we take the time to learn obedience to the Word is preferred over following the traditions of men. 6 The Lords spirit empowered him and he tore the lion in two with his bare hands as easily as one would tear a young goat. Zebul advised Abimelech to come and attack the city. When he approached the vineyards of Timnah, he saw a roaring young lion attacking him. "And so they came to the vine and said, "Rule over us. All are aware there are a great many who try to explain the difficulty away or soften it down. His parable is very ingenious--that when the trees were disposed to choose a king the government was offered to those valuable trees the olive, the fig-tree, and the vine, but they refused it, choosing rather to serve than rule, to do good than bear sway. A watchman of His Word, Interesting, how can me know the words of God to the fullest. It seems therefore that the two extremes of moral weakness and of outward strength find each its height in this extraordinary character. What a picture of the true state of things! He didnt believe that 68 of his brothers were murdered for the sake of truth and sincerity. Undoubtedly the children of Moab, Ammon, and Edom, for reasons of relationship at least, were exempted from the sentence to which God subjected the races of Canaan. Nor was there any occasion for Israel to talk of setting a king over them; for the Lord was their king. But the children of Benjamin would not hearken to the voice of their brethren the children of Israel: but the children of Benjamin gathered themselves together out of the cities unto Gibeah, to go out to battle against the children of Israel.". And here we confront not simply the old offence repeated, and in the grossest form of fleshly corruption, but along with it an infatuation as extraordinary as his degradation.
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