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judges 9:8 15 explanation

    judges 9:8 15 explanation

    But where was there such devotedness in doing His Father's will? 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. c. Let fire come from Abimelech and devour the men of Shechem: Jothams warning to the men of Shechem was that their unwise choice would come back to hurt them. The way of instruction by parables is an ancient way, and very useful, especially to give reproofs by. If in truth you anoint me as king over you, According to our folly He may answer us, as well as withhold an answer. 5 Samson went down to Timnah. 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. And as I say, from the top of Gerizim you've got a good lead on anybody that might want to chase you. Abimelech the son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem--The idolatry which had been stealthily creeping into Israel during the latter years of Gideon was now openly professed; Shechem was wholly inhabited by its adherents; at least, idolaters had the ascendency. They said to the olive tree, Be our king. 9 But the olive tree answered, But now this shall be the thing which we will do to Gibeah; we will go up by lot against it; and we will take ten men of an hundred throughout all the tribes of Israel, and an hundred of a thousand, and a thousand out of ten thousand, to fetch victual for the people, that they may do, when they come to Gibeah of Benjamin, according to all the folly that they have wrought in Israel. He was pretty tough on these false teachers and those that would destroy faith in the heart of a child. . 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. Here is the proof of the time when all this occurred. 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. What Every Christian Should Know about the Protestant Reformation. The answer however was incorrect. 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. 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 who were with him, and lying there in wait. "Wilt not thou possess that which Chemosh thy god giveth thee to possess? Now when they told Jotham: Jotham was the only son of Gideon to escape the massacre at the stone (Judges 9:5). So, heres the secret the end of Judges chapter 8 here shows us how Israel did wrong to God. And its then in chapter 9 where we see the evil that Israel does to Gideons household. Now, Ill say one last thing about this section that we just read. Gideon the judge is dead. And now the people again do evil in the sight of the Lord. 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. Dear Pilgrims Christianity is singular and not plural all things plural become corrupt Jesus begins each letter/epistle in Revelation to a church (plural) but He ends each letter/epistle addressing individual/s (singular) (i.e. We ought to be serving Hamor and his family, let them be the kings. Ambitious of sovereign power, and having plied successfully the arts of a demagogue with his maternal relatives and friends, he acquired both the influence and money by which he raised himself to a throne. The besieged city--the strong tower within--the men and women crowding its battlements--the fire applied to the doors, and even the huge fragments of stone dropping from the hands of one of the garrison on the heads of the assailants, are all well represented to the life--just as they are here described in the narrative of inspired truth [GOSS]. How triumphantly has it been done in Christ our Lord, but in how different a way! Judges 9 Commentary So, heres the secret the end of Judges chapter 8 here shows us how Israel did wrong to God. (1.) They were filled with thoughts of destruction against Benjamin, and the remembrance that he was their brother had not even entered their minds before. The sound travels. Meanwhile the man, morally speaking, is ruined his testimony to His name being worse than lost. c. Where indeed is your mouth now: When Zebul knew that Gaal was at a disadvantage, he could not resist rebuking him for his proud, arrogant words against Abimelech, an enemy he could not defeat. Isaiah 32:2. 51-53. all the men and women, . it is no new thing to faith; Jesus knew it to the bottom. JOTHAM BY A PARABLE REPROACHES THEM. Which is above the city of Shechem and it is sort of a natural amphitheater. They will get you Baptized. And the angel of Jehovah appeared unto the woman" with the promise that a child should be born, at the same time enjoining that she was to drink no wine nor strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing; and that, when the child was born, no razor was to come upon his head. When Zebul, the ruler of the city, heard the I have been reading/studying the Bible all my life; I am now 74 years old and in a wheelchair. 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. "Thus saith Jephthah," was his answer, "Israel took not away the land of Moab, nor the land of the children of Ammon." 2. The writer of Judges used an interesting word to say that Abimelech had reigned over Israel. i. When Zebul, the ruler of the city, heard the words of Gaal the son of Ebed, his anger was aroused. 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. "It shall be that whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me." 13. wine, which cheereth God and man--not certainly in the same manner. Jehovah listens, and His angel appears to the woman, who summons her husband, when both see the angel as he repeats his message with its solemn injunction. a. i. With the help of some worthless Shechemites, Abimelech killed all his brothers (except one who escaped) and established himself king in Shechem. "And they compassed him in, and laid wait for him all night in the gate of the city, and were quiet all the night, saying, In the morning, when it is day, we shall kill him. Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible. Then come and take shelter in my shade; . go out, now, and fight with them ( Judges 9:29-38 ). went to Beer--the modern village El-Bireh, on the ridge which bounds the northern prospect of Jerusalem. But the crisis came; and we see that at last, pressed by the harlot's toils, he tells out the secret of Jehovah. 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. . Man is as weak and erring as God is mighty and good: these two things characterise the book from beginning to end. Great merits often meet with very ill returns. And Abimelech fought against the city all that day; and he took the city, and killed the people that were therein, and he beat down the city, and sowed it with salt. But what a God we have to do with, as Samson had! Samson felt it easier to die for His name than to live thus in Philistia. For on the contrary after Samson's days, the sufferings of the children of Israel reached even a higher degree than they had ever attained under Samson or before. So, the men of Shechem agreed to accept Abimelech as the new leader perhaps even the king of Israel. Gideon had left many sons that were an honour to his name and family, and these they had barbarously murdered; one son he had left that was the blemish of his name and family, for he was the son of his maid-servant, whom all that had any respect to Gideon's honour would endeavour to conceal, yet him they made their king. He made us. "Then went Samson to Gaza, and saw there an harlot;" yet here, though fallen lower than ever, we find power put forth under these deplorable circumstances. Note, Those who expect God to hear their prayers must be willing to hear reason, to hear a faithful reproof, and to hear the complaints and appeals of wronged innocency. So he stands up there and really tells them off and rebukes them for what they have done.Actually, he preaches sort of a parabolic type of a message. But the time came when God would act upon that promise, and when those that disputed the title of God must pay the penalty. Abimelech and the Shechemites, that had strengthened one another's hands in this villany, would certainly be a plague and ruin one to another. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. The promise of the bramble, take shelter in my shade, was intended as ironic and ridiculous. But, (2.) Anything like full deliverance must await that day, itself a type of the day of Jehovah. Should I cease my sweetness and my good fruit, They don't have their sound pollution like we have here. a. The Shechemites who supported him were also destroyed, as Jotham had predicted (50-57). WebWhen God uses men as instruments in his hand to do his work, he means one thing, and they another. And he found a new jawbone of an ass and put forth his hand, and took it, and slew a thousand men therewith. 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? Whatever might be wrought now was but the beginning of deliverance for Israel. (Judges 15:4-5). You shall rise early and rush upon the city: Zebul advised Abimelech to organize a surprise attack against the rebels of Shechem. "It was of Jehovah, that he sought an occasion against the Philistines: for at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel. 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. Abimelech was the bramble; and the ceders of Lebanon, all the nobles and people of Israel. He has no doubt secrets of grace above all difficulties and wrongs: of this we cannot doubt for a moment; and indeed we have abundant proofs of it here. 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. Even his father and mother knew nothing about their son's movements. And Abimelech chased him, and he fled from him; and many fell wounded, to the very entrance of the gate. 3. If Ammon could or would not seek to recover it previously, they had no title to claim now from Israel. 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! made Abimelech king, by the plain of the pillar--rather, "by the oak near a raised mound"--so that the ceremony of coronation might be conspicuous to a crowd. Thus it was proved that Israel had, in whatever light regarded, a valid title, not only from long-continued possession, but from a right founded on their conquest of one of the enemies devoted to destruction by God Himself, but an enemy who had wantonly attacked them, when they would have left him unharmed, as they would the Ammonite now. But God takes means to make them feel what such a state comes to. And he said to God the people were under my rule, because I can really do a good job here, you know. Otherwise you will be prompted again when opening a new browser window or new a tab. Dear Searching (i.e. The truest deliverance from self is in that work where all was judged, and evil put away for ever. They went and made Abimelech king: It is almost hard to tell who was worse; Abimelech who did the murdering, or the men of Shechem who approved of it. ., p. 2018 David Guzik No distribution beyond personal use without permission. Bad as were the features we have seen, we have to see even worse still; yet he was heard and answered when he called. So Abimelech and all the people who were with him rose by night, and lay in wait against Shechem in four companies. 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. If the Amorite got them from Ammon in the first instance, as was no doubt the fact, this was an affair not between Israel and Ammon, but between Ammon and Sihon. Web8 From there he went up to Peniel[ a] and made the same request of them, but they answered as the men of Sukkoth had. Well, site uncertain) where he hid from his brothers wrath. His abortive rule, however, ran roughshod over the divine requirements for that office. (Wolf), ii. The Canaanites might have retreated from it; the Ammonites might have sought other lands. If man had the writing of the story, would he have dared to speak out thus plainly? They had won the land by the provoked fight which the Amorite had drawn them into. WebJudges 9:8. [3.] And so they'd have their stone ground wheat by these millstones. "He judged Israel twenty years," is the repetition of the word at this point. . 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. And we see that those who cared not for the injured name of Jehovah have all their feelings drawn out when man was wronged. WebThe 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 From the temple of Baal-Berith: Abimelech received his pay from the temple dedicated to Baal. Not till they desired a king like the nations. What a picture of the true state of things! Eastern people are exceedingly fond of parables and use them for conveying reproofs, which they could not give in any other way. And Samson said, With the jawbone of an ass, heaps upon heaps, with the jaw of an ass have I slain a thousand men.". i. 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." Not as if He could not care for His own; but our strength, comfort, and blessing are in His name. Do we know what a thing obedience is in God's eyes, even though it may be displayed in the simplest manner? 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. We have here the only testimony that appears to have been borne against the wicked confederacy of Abimelech and the men of Shechem. Is not this an instructive as well as striking fact? On human grounds there might be a just right of conquest; but all this would not do for God, who must decide everything even in the battles of His people. The trees went forth on a time to anoint a king over them; and they said unto the olive tree, Reign thou over us. One test of the character of a man is to see how he treats those who disagree with him. The story of Abimelech connects directly with the story of Gideon. Then follows the story of his companions and the riddle a riddle which he was clever enough to put, but which he had little faith to understand or appropriate himself. i. After this we see the Philistines the object of the severest chastisement from Samson, who smote "them hip and thigh with a great slaughter, and went down and dwelt at the top of the rock Etam." Judges 9:1-6 . Respectfully submitted as my Scriptural understanding, I share with you what His Spirit has shared with my spirit. 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 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. Thus Beth-millo may be identical with the tower of Shechem. (Cundall). Let fire come out - The propriety of the image is strictly preserved, for even the thorns of the worthless bramble might kindle a flame which would burn the stately cedars to the ground. 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. The top of Gerizim is not so high in the rear of the town, as it is nearer to the plain. a. about a thousand men and women ( Judges 9:49 ). For You have been a shelter for me, a strong tower from the enemy. 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. all those stories that Jesus told that provide so much of how we understand our faith. Then Abimelech went to Thebez, and he encamped against Thebez and took it. Their faith was owned; but it was of a sadly mingled and imperfect character. One could understand three thousand men of the Philistines; but to what a deplorable pass in Israel were things come, when three thousand men of the worthiest tribe were thus obedient to the Philistines, and joined against the strong deliverer to hand him over, bound a prisoner, to the tender mercies of those that hated him and despised them! b. Zebul said to him, You see the shadows of the mountains as if they were men: Zebul deceived Gaal, allowing Abimelechs troops to take position. Then Abimelech went up to Mount Zalmon, he and all the people who were with him. Jothams fable was a parable with a moral (cf. What a figure of, but contrast with, His death who only pursued to that final point His absolute devotedness to the will of God, not doing it only but suffering it to the uttermost, and thus righteously by His death securing what no living obedience could have touched! It was Samson feeling for himself, yet not unpitied of the Lord; for there was One above Samson Who heard. Abimelech probably grew up in Shechem (Judges 8:31). His secret was to keep his hair uncut, with all strength annexed to it. Is it not evident that Samson feebly knew what God was teaching him by the lion which he slew, and by the lion's carcase which he found with the honey in it? There was the plain and sure title of Jephthah. Abimelech was no doubt the son of a concubine; but here we descend lower still. 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. Let none expect to do ill and fare well. But there is one thing that God's Spirit always assumes the perfect goodness and the unswerving holiness of God. Trust in his shadow!--more likely to be scratched if they came near him--more likely to be injured by him than benefited. 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." No doubt it was a wonderful display of physical force on the one hand; as on the other those he vanquished were the unrelenting enemies of God's people. a. 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." The death of Abimelech, fulfilling Jotham's curse, ver. For a good useful man some would even dare to die. But again, "And it came to pass afterward that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah." His father and mother remonstrate in vain. b. Where was their humiliation and grief before the Lord? Years might pass, hundreds of years roll over, but moral principles and even natural relationships do not lose their power. Now when all the men of the tower of Shechem had heard that, they entered the stronghold of the temple of the god Berith. They spread abroad the revolting tale; they readily respond to the call for their advice and counsel. We could not go lower than Samson; but we have what was. Salem Media Group. "Art thou any thing better than Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab? And so Abimelech came to the tower, he fought against it, he was up against the door trying to burn it with fire. Commonly, it is only a matter of time until the same violence is turned against those who helped him come to power. For "the righteous Lord loveth righteousness"; and in its measure it is very striking to see the way in which this came out even in the case of the worldly uncircumcised enemy. Those whose extraction and education are ever so high know not to what difficulties and straits they may be reduced. I. Why Does God Compare Our Relationship with Him to That of a Bride and He didnt believe that 68 of his brothers were murdered for the sake of truth and sincerity. So Abimelech fought against the city all that day; he took the city and killed the people who were in it; and he demolished the city and sowed it with salt. His very birth was peculiar, and the circumstances too before it; for there never had been as yet a time when Israel had been so enslaved; and undoubtedly the deliverer, as we have traced regularly hitherto, so here again to the last, is seen to be according to the estate of the people, with whatever might or success God might be pleased to clothe him. If through the unction from the Holy One we know all, it is equally true that we all are but learners. 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. Now he said, You have done a good thing, great. Yet he is still alive when the tragic deed was done which had nearly uprooted the tribe of Benjamin in its results. 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. And they bound him with two new cords, and brought him up from the rock. This shows the problem of following a man who comes to power through violence. He leaves it to the event to determine whether they had done well, whereby he lodges the appeal with the divine providence. After Abimelech had reigned over Israel three years, God sent a spirit of ill will between Abimelech and the men of Shechem; and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech, that the crime done to the seventy sons of Jerubbaal might be settled and their blood be laid on Abimelech their brother, who killed them, and on the men of Shechem, who aided him in the killing of his brothers. ( Judges 9:28 ). and where such a sufferer? 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. If we turn away our ear from hearing the law, our prayer will be an abomination,Proverbs 28:9. 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. Now the house was full of men and women; and all the lords of the Philistines were there; and there were upon the roof about three thousand men and women, that beheld while Samson made sport. And the children of Israel enquired of Jehovah, for the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days.". Please see our Privacy Policy for cookie usage details. The end was that he met with the judgment least of all to be coveted by man, most of all detestable to a proud spirit like his own. 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. Never indeed is good the fruit of man's will, but of God's. But the good was hard to reach or even to discern, the evil abundant and obvious, "And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years." Click on Abimelech for more of the story. 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. In him we have a man who took advantage of the reputation for the power of God that had wrought by his father; but where anything of the sort is used for self, and not for God, bitter disappointment must be the result; and if there be anything more marked than another in his history, it is the solemnity of divine retribution. But this will always prompt you to accept/refuse cookies when revisiting our site. (3.) Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon follow. "As they did unto me, so have I done unto them." Judah! If God permits him for a season to do his own will, what shame and pain he must reap ere long! 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. TO ANOINT A KING, i.e. He went to Thebez and attacked the city and the tower there. 9 So he said to the men of Peniel, When I return in triumph, I will tear down this tower. And its sound just really carries over there. I need not dwell on the deplorable details. WebHebrews 8:7-9 Commentary Hebrews 8:10-11 Commentary Hebrews 8:12-13 Commentary Hebrews 9:1-2 Commentary Hebrews 9:3-5 Commentary Hebrews 9:6-7 Commentary Hebrews 9:8-10 Commentary Hebrews 9:11-12 Commentary Hebrews 9:13-14 Commentary Hebrews 9:15-17 Commentary Hebrews 9:18-20 Commentary

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