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." 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 He had far too often made a wretched use of them in times that were past; and even now, in spite of the work of God in his soul, was there nothing weightier, was there nothing deeper, was there nothing to lament over more than the loss of those two eyes? Of course, that's where Jesus was addressing so many people, and also they're at the Temple Mount where Jesus addressed so many people.So this Jotham, son of Gideon, the one that Abimelech didn't kill, went up to the top of Mount Gerizim, and here is Shechem down below. 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. Alas! He would've been a good Mafia exterminator. They don't have their sound pollution like we have here. But all of the other sons of Gideon were killed. The king of Ammon had no just claim whatever. Abimelech then killed all of his seventy brothers other than the youngest one of his brothers who escaped. Is it not increasingly true that we can go no lower, whether we look at the people of God or the last deliverer in the book of Judges? be consumed; Psalm 58:9, Or ever your pots be made hot with thorns; Ecclesiastes 7:6, the crackling of thorns under a pot.. Now when Jotham heard that they had made Abimelech king, he went to the top of mount Gerizim ( Judges 9:5-7 ). 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. But these millstones, probably, many of them weigh, that I have seen, weigh as much as four, five hundred pounds.Interesting that Jesus said concerning teachers that would destroy the faith in the heart of a child, it would be better for them if a millstone were hung around their neck and they were tossed in the Sea of Galilee that they to offend one of these little children. The slaughter of the Shechemites, ver. The writer of Judges used an interesting word to say that Abimelech had reigned over Israel. And he said to the men of Shechem, [Now look fellas] who is Abimelech, and who is Shechem, that we should serve them? From the answer of the olive tree we learn that usefulness is better than honour. His history is of interest primarily because of the light it throws on this period of Israels national life and the continuing decline in Israel. . It was bad enough when Gideon had only three hundred that God would employ. 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. b. But his father and his mother knew not that it was of Jehovah, that he sought an occasion against the Philistines.". But God was about to magnify Himself and His own ways. WebJudges 9:8 - Matthew Poole's Concise Commentary On The Bible A parabolical discourse, usual among the ancients, especially in the eastern parts; wherein, under the names of trees, men are represented. And the Sea of Galilee, same thing, the sound really carries. 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). b. It was told Abimelech, that all the men of the tower of Shechem were gathered together. 10 And the trees said to the fig tree, Come thou, and reign over us. Commentary Judges Chapter 7 And the children of Israel enquired of Jehovah, for the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days.". Judges 9 We have nothing like a Moses in Samson. 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. He said, "Man, you know, put them in concrete and dump them in the ocean you know." 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. So, Jotham got away from them. It was a great way about, and extremely inconvenient. Do we know what a thing obedience is in God's eyes, even though it may be displayed in the simplest manner? 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? Judges 9:8 Commentaries: "Once the trees went forth to 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. Here the LORD showed His faithfulness to Samson by supplying the needs of His servant. 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. Israel had not taken these lands from Ammon at all They had taken them from the Amorite. 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. There he is. Modern history records a case, in which soldiers on the hill shouted to the people in the city and endeavored to instigate them to an insurrection. Start you journey by obeying God's First Commandment given to New Testament Believers in Christ found in Acts 2:38. We need 2 cookies to store this setting. Judges 9:9. 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. I. It was the business of the Ammonites to have defended their claims as best they could against the Amorites. "And Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, stood before it in those days, saying, Shall I yet again go out to battle against the children of Benjamin my brother, or shall I cease? He not only turned with the grossest insults on their speech, but fell on themselves, and slew at the passage of Jordan forty and two thousand men of one of the chief tribes of Israel. Now of course, he's calling, in an essence this Abimelech a bramble and you guys have, you know, you're settling for a bramble to rule over you.And having finished his rebuke and his speech, rebuking them for the evil that they have recompensed to Gideon. i. i. They decide on matters first, and the case becomes only another instance of man's folly in dealing with evil. "For the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb: and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.". 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. (1.) 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. Because these cookies are strictly necessary to deliver the website, refusing them will have impact how our site functions. Chapter 9Now here's what happened. 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. Whatever then might be Samson's motives and conduct, it was the Holy One, as we are told, who prompted him against the aggressors of Israel. He went to Thebez and attacked the city and the tower there. Moreover they spontaneously burst into flames in hot weather and sometimes caused much damage consequently (Judges 9:15). If we turn away our ear from hearing the law, our prayer will be an abomination,Proverbs 28:9. If Ammon could or would not seek to recover it previously, they had no title to claim now from Israel. But returning from this to the simple tale of Samson's life, I take it as the plain fact that God meant us to learn that He saw fit at that time to deliver by an unworthy instrument, by a man who showed how low he was, if only by the moral incongruity of an Israelitish Nazarite seeking a wife from the fiercest of Israel's uncircumcised enemies. It was not for their lives, but for the truth He confessed, that His own people would have Him die. Judges Commentary His abortive rule, however, ran roughshod over the divine requirements for that office. (Wolf), ii. But the olive tree said to them, Should I cease my new wine, Ophrah, and slew his brethren--This is the first mention of a barbarous atrocity which has, with appalling frequency, been perpetrated in the despotic countries of the East--that of one son of the deceased monarch usurping the throne and hastening to confirm himself in the possession by the massacre of all the natural or legitimate competitors. Respectfully submitted as my Scriptural understanding; I share with you what His Spirit has shared with my spirit. Judges 9 Resources Judges 9:22-49 . GAAL'S CONSPIRACY. 22. When Abimelech had reigned three years --His reign did not, probably at first, extend beyond Shechem; but by stealthy and progressive encroachments he subjected some of the neighboring towns to his sway. Where was the just horror at the idolatry of Micah? This word is unique to the book and is perhaps chosen to distinguish Abimelechs ill-fated rule from that of the true judges. Eastern people are exceedingly fond of parables and use them for conveying reproofs, which they could not give in any other way. Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers, Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament. 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. 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. 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 go to sway over trees? We can easily therefore comprehend how the holy wisdom of Scripture avoids details on a fact so contrary to the mind of God, as a man dealing thus with a human being, yea, with his own daughter. The ANSWER is: "Practice makes Perfect!" WebWhen God uses men as instruments in his hand to do his work, he means one thing, and they another. But scripture claims always to be the word of God never the word of Isaiah or Ezekiel, of Peter or Paul (1 Corinthians 14:37; 2 Peter 3:15-16); for, whatever the instrument may be, it is as truly God's word as if the Holy Ghost had written it without a single instrumental means. It is intimated, [1.] . But this will always prompt you to accept/refuse cookies when revisiting our site. ., p. "And the Spirit of Jehovah came mightily upon him, and he rent him as he would have rent a kid, and he had nothing in his hand.". There being no king is in contrast with other lands which had kings, as Israel themselves subsequently. And as I say, from the top of Gerizim you've got a good lead on anybody that might want to chase you. I feel pretty assured that he saw clearer morally without them than he had seen in any sense with them. (Judges 11:1-40). I am not speaking of what men of the world may be, for they may be conscientious and honourable in their own way; but it is different with God's people. They need not be at the trouble. It was not true that the children of Israel had taken those lands as was pretended. And Jephthah vowed a vow unto Jehovah." But there follows a second tale of excessive atrocity in a moral way, which begins in Judges 19:1-30. in terms expressly similar to the beginning ofJudges 18:1-31; Judges 18:1-31: "And it came to pass in those days, when there was no king in Israel, that there was a certain Levite sojourning on the side of mount Ephraim, who took to him a concubine out of Beth-lehem-judah." It came about on the next day: With the resistance of Gaal defeated, Abimelech would find it easy to establish his control over the city of Shechem again. Samson made great destruction among the Philistines. The story of Abimelech, the men of Shechem, and Jotham shows us that there is a real and terrible price to pay for rejecting Gods warnings. His father and mother remonstrate in vain. And so the men of Shechem began to set an ambush for him and the top of the mountains, or for the people, and they robbed all of those that were going along that way and it was told to Abimelech.And then this guy Gaal, sort of a big mouth kind of a guy, said to the men, he came with his brothers and he went over to Shechem. The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe (Proverbs 18:10).
