. He was crucified in weakness, but rose in the power of God; but there, instead of folly, instead of shame, instead of unhallowed alliance with the enemies of God, how does unsullied perfection shine in Him of whom we boast! Judges 9:10 is this the tribe that men praise? 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. And he sent messengers unto Abimelech privately, saying, Behold, Gaal the son of Ebed and his brothers are come to Shechem; and they are fortifying the city against you. Is not this an instructive as well as striking fact? They will get you Baptized. By proceeding, you consent to our cookie usage. Usefulness, if it be of the higher kind, is attained through long growing and long But the same tender being made to the bramble he accepted it with vain-glorious exultation. If, therefore, they took him for their king, they might rest assured that desolation and blood would mark the whole of his reign. 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.". There was another whom God would employ at a later date to destroy the power of the Philistines, a man of another spirit, and of a hand very different from Samson's. We have value because God says we do. Moreover they spontaneously burst into flames in hot weather and sometimes caused much damage consequently (Judges 9:15). Those that bear fruit for the public good are justly respected and honoured by all that are wise more than those that affect to make a figure. Verse by Verse Commentaries There he encounters a new trial, which sets before us the state of Israel in the most painful light. For the people of Shechem, even a secure tower could not protect them. The fire smoldered for three years but at last manifested itself. (Morgan). He didnt believe that 68 of his brothers were murdered for the sake of truth and sincerity. 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. And Samson called unto Jehovah, and said, O Lord God, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes." Trust in his shadow!--more likely to be scratched if they came near him--more likely to be injured by him than benefited. Most of the resources below are newer works (written after 1970) which previously were available only for purchase in book form or in a Bible computer program. Here the rashness of the man enters the scene, the consequence of which is a display of what was painful in the extreme. But the olive tree said to them, Now Abimelech reigned for three years. Not so: they took the insult patiently; and these were persons who were called to be the witnesses of earthly righteousness. i. Do we know what a thing obedience is in God's eyes, even though it may be displayed in the simplest manner? WebThose who bear fruit for the public good, are justly respected and honoured by all that are wise, more than those who merely make a figure. "So they came to the fig trees and said, "Rule over us." i. Bad as were the features we have seen, we have to see even worse still; yet he was heard and answered when he called. But alas! Let no man question that Samson was in prison or that he lost his eyes for nothing. So Abimelech was wiped out. Thus He bids the men of Judah go; but the men of Judah were shamefully beaten, and were forced to weep before Jehovah. But the wages of transgressors are hard, and the guilty man falls under the strange woman's spell again and again. There had been in ancient times a link between Ammon and Moab with the children of Israel: a cloud of dishonour and of shame overhung them; yet a link there was, and God would have this at least to be never forgotten. 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. But, for fear of Abimelech, he lived in exile, in some remote obscure place. Jotham (lit. The world was large enough for all. So low were things now in Israel, that even this man becomes an instrument of God's deliverance; and so evidently in all this was God stamping on the people His moral sentence of their state. 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. 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. 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. 21 And Jotham ran away, and fled, and went to Beer, and dwelt there, for fear of Abimelech his brother. Such then was the bloody crisis at which a deliverer of Israel arrives in his unsparing resentment. In due time the child was born, "and the Spirit of Jehovah began to move him at times in the camp of Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol." (Judges 12:1-15) Jephthah might little desire such a conflict; nevertheless, where do we see meekness, where patience? And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. 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. 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? The result was that the Amorite lost his land. The Holy Ghost is given for this as for other purposes. Though Abimelech sought a place of leadership in Israel, God did not raise him up as a judge. And he was sore athirst, and called on Jehovah, and said, Thou hast given this great deliverance into the hand of thy servant: and now shall I die for thirst, and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised? b. is that, whatever might be the victory over the lion and whatever the sweetness of the honey, the effort to connect himself with the woman of Timnath turns out no small trouble to the man of might, whose anger was kindled at the treachery which sold his riddle, and, when his wife was given to the companion he had used as his friend, issued in such vexation for the Philistines as is known to us all. By contrast Abimelech is like a bramble: he can give neither shelter nor protection. Judges 15 Judges 16 Judges 17 Judges 18 Judges 19 Judges 20 Judges 21 Share Tweet Save Popular Articles. With a little exertion of voice, he could easily have been heard by the people of the city; for the hill so overhangs the valley, that a person from the side or summit would have no difficulty in speaking to listeners at the base. 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. i. The promise of the bramble, take shelter in my shade, was intended as ironic and ridiculous. And the Sea of Galilee, same thing, the sound really carries. Reign over us! "Whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, shall surely be Jehovah's, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering." 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? "Wilt not thou possess that which Chemosh thy god giveth thee to possess? [Note: For parallels to this fable in ancient Near Eastern literature, see W. C. van Wyk, "The Fable of Jotham in its Ancient Near Eastern Setting," in Studies in Wisdom Literature, pp. He leaves it to the event to determine whether they had done well, whereby he lodges the appeal with the divine providence. 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). Then I would remove Abimelech. So he said to Abimelech, Increase your army and come out!. 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. No way. Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon follow. WebWhen God uses men as instruments in his hand to do his work, he means one thing, and they another. "And Samson went down to Timnath, and saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines, and he came up, and told his father and his mother, and said, I have seen a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines: now therefore get her for me to wife" (Judges 14:1-20). 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. . Man is as weak and erring as God is mighty and good: these two things characterise the book from beginning to end. Here he told a parable to rebuke the men of Shechem for their choice of Abimelech as a king. says Jephthah, "Jehovah God of Israel hath dispossessed the Amorites from before his people Israel, and shouldest thou possess it?" The sound just carries very well. Changes will take effect once you reload the page. But we are sanctified by the Spirit unto the obedience and the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus, and are called to obey, as the wife her husband. His father and mother remonstrate in vain. Men then, as now, feel not for a lie or a libel of God; they are sensitive when their own rights are touched. We know that the spirit of ease and self-indulgence readily finds a lion in the way can make one where none is; but here was a real lion that roared against the self-willed youth. . And go to sway over trees? "Then the Philistines went up, and pitched in Judah, and spread themselves in Lehi. Scanty honour paid he to his parents, but ardently gave himself up to the pursuance of his own plans. The king of the Ammonites did not speak candidly. We have here one of the strangest and most humbling of histories recorded in Scripture, and withal singularly marking that very truth that we have so often ere this referred to: how little moral strength keeps pace with physical power as it wrought in and by Samson. what shadow or protection can there be in a bramble? "To the church of" and "He who has an ear let him hear" Yes indeed God is ever present both as a protector and also as a Judge for we each make our own bed and we must all sleep in the bed we make for ourselves!
Public Reserve Tickets Mcg, Articles J
Public Reserve Tickets Mcg, Articles J