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Judges Chapter Nine                            

 

Judges 9

Chapter Contents

Abimelech murders his brethren and is made king. (1-6) Jotham rebukes the Shechemites. (7-21) The Shechemites conspire against Abimelech. (22-29) Abimelech destroys Shechem. (30-49) Abimelech slain. (50-57)

Commentary on Judges 9:1-6

(Read Judges 9:1-6)

The men of Shechem chose Abimelech king. God was not consulted whether they should have any king much less who it should be. If parents could see what their children would do and what they are to suffer their joy in them often would be turned into sorrow: we may be thankful that we cannot know what shall happen. Above all we should fear and watch against sin; for our evil conduct may produce fatal effects upon our families after we are in our graves.

Commentary on Judges 9:7-21

(Read Judges 9:7-21)

There was no occasion for the trees to choose a king they are all the trees of the Lord which he has planted. Nor was there any occasion for Israel to set a king over them for the Lord was their King. Those 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. All these fruit-trees gave much the same reason for their refusal to be promoted over the trees; or as the margin reads it to go up and down for the trees. To rule involves a man in a great deal both of toil and care. Those who are preferred to public trust and power must forego all private interests and advantages for the good of others. And those advanced to honour and dignity are in great danger of losing their fruitfulness. For which reason they that desire to do good are afraid of being too great. Jotham compares Abimelech to the bramble or thistle a worthless plant whose end is to be burned. Such a one was Abimelech.

Commentary on Judges 9:22-29

(Read Judges 9:22-29)

Abimelech is seated in the throne his father refused. But how long does this glory last? Stay but three years and see the bramble withered and burned. The prosperity of the wicked is short and fickle. The Shechemites are plagued by no other hand than Abimelech's. They raised him unjustly to the throne; they first feel the weight of his sceptre.

Commentary on Judges 9:30-49

(Read Judges 9:30-49)

Abimelech intended to punish the Schechemites for slighting him now but God punished them for their serving him formerly in the murder of Gideon's sons. When God uses men as instruments in his hand to do his work he means one thing and they another. That which they hoped would have been for their welfare proved a snare and a trap as those will certainly find who run to idols for shelter; such will prove a refuge of lies.

Commentary on Judges 9:50-57

(Read Judges 9:50-57)

The Shechemites were ruined by Abimelech; now he is reckoned with who was their leader in villany. Evil pursues sinners and sometimes overtakes them when not only at ease but triumphant. Though wickedness may prosper a while it will not prosper always. The history of mankind if truly told would greatly resemble that of this chapter. The records of what are called splendid events present to us such contests for power. Such scenes though praised of men fully explain the Scripture doctrine of the deceitfulness and desperate wickedness of the human heart the force of men's lust and the effect of Satan's influence. Lord thou has given us thy word of truth and righteousness O pour upon us thy spirit of purity peace and love and write thy holy law in our hearts.

── Matthew HenryConcise Commentary on Judges

 

Judges 9

Verse 2

[2] Speak I pray you in the ears of all the men of Shechem Whether is better for you either that all the sons of Jerubbaal which are threescore and ten persons reign over you or that one reign over you? remember also that I am your bone and your flesh.

Reign — He supposed they would take that government which their father refused; and that the multitude of his sons would occasion divisions and confusions which they might avoid by chusing him king; and so they might enjoy the monarchy which they had long desired.

Your bone and flesh — Your kinsman of the same tribe and city with you; which will be no small honour and advantage to you.

Verse 3

[3] And his mother's brethren spake of him in the ears of all the men of Shechem all these words: and their hearts inclined to follow Abimelech; for they said He is our brother.

Brethren — That is kinsmen.

He is our brother — They were easily persuaded to believe what served their own interest.

Verse 4

[4] And they gave him threescore and ten pieces of silver out of the house of Baalberith wherewith Abimelech hired vain and light persons which followed him.

Pieces of silver — Not shekels which were too small a sum for this purpose; but far larger pieces the exact worth whereof it is not possible for us now to know.

The house of Baal-berith — Out of his sacred treasury; having since Gideon's death built this temple (which he would never have suffered whilst he lived) and endowed it with considerable revenues.

Light persons — Unsettled idle and necessitous persons the proper instruments of tyranny and cruelty.

Verse 5

[5] And he went unto his father's house at Ophrah and slew his brethren the sons of Jerubbaal being threescore and ten persons upon one stone: notwithstanding yet Jotham the youngest son of Jerubbaal was left; for he hid himself.

His brethren — The only persons who were likely to hinder him in establishing his tyranny.

Threescore and ten — Wanting one who is here expressed.

Jotham was left — Whereby he would signify that this was an act of justice in cutting them all off in an orderly manner for some supposed crime probably as designing sedition and rebellion.

Verse 6

[6] And all the men of Shechem gathered together and all the house of Millo and went and made Abimelech king by the plain of the pillar that was in Shechem.

House of Millo — Some eminent and potent family living in Shechem or near it.

King — Over all Israel verse 22 which was a strange presumption for the inhabitants of one city; but they had many advantages for it; as the eager and general and constant inclination of the Israelites to kingly government; Abimelech's being the son of Gideon to whom and to his sons they offered the kingdom. And though the father could and did refuse it for himself; yet they might imagine that he could not give away his sons' right conveyed to them by the Israelites in their offer; the universal defection of the Israelites from God to Baal whose great patron and champion Abimelech pretended to be; the power and prevalency of the tribe of Ephraim in which Shechem was whose proud and imperious spirit would make them readily close with a king of their own brethren; and Abimelech's getting the start of all others having the crown actually put upon his head and an army already raised to maintain his tyranny.

Of the pillar — Or by the oak of the pillar by the oak where Joshua erected a pillar as a witness of the covenant renewed between God and Israel Joshua 24:26. This place they chose to signify that they still owned God and their covenant with him; and did not worship Baal in opposition to God but in conjunction with him or in subordination to him.

Verse 7

[7] And when they told it to Jotham he went and stood in the top of mount Gerizim and lifted up his voice and cried and said unto them Hearken unto me ye men of Shechem that God may hearken unto you.

Mount Gerizim — Which lay near Shechem. The valley between Gerizim and Ebal was a famous place employed for the solemn reading of the law and its blessings and curses: and it is probable it was still used even by the superstitious and idolatrous Israelites for such occasions who delighted to use the same places which their ancestors had used.

Cried — So that they who stood in the valley might hear him though not suddenly come at him to take him.

Men of Shechem — Who were here met together upon a solemn occasion as Josephus notes Abimelech being absent.

That God may hearken — When you cry unto him for mercy; so he conjures and persuades them to give him patient audience.

Verse 8

[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 trees … — A parabolical discourse usual among the ancients especially in the eastern parts.

To anoint — To make a king which was done among the Israelites and some others with the ceremony of anointing.

Olive-tree — By which he understands Gideon.

Verse 9

[9] But the olive tree said unto them Should I leave my fatness wherewith by me they honour God and man and go to be promoted over the trees?

Honour God — In whose worship oil was used for divers things; as about the lamps and offerings and for anointing sacred persons and things.

And man — For oil was used in the constitution of kings and priests and prophets and for a present to great persons and to anoint the head and face.

Promoted — Heb. to move hither and thither to wander to and fro to exchange my sweet tranquility for incessant cares and travels.

Verse 10

[10] And the trees said to the fig tree Come thou and reign over us.

Fig-tree — Gideon refused this honour both for himself and for his sons; and the sons of Gideon whom Abimelech had slain upon pretence of their affecting the kingdom were as far from such thoughts as their father.

Verse 13

[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?

Cheareth God — Wherewith God is well pleased because it was offered to God.

Verse 14

[14] Then said all the trees unto the bramble Come thou and reign over us.

Bramble — Or thorn fitly representing Abimelech the son of a concubine and a person of small use and great cruelty.

Verse 15

[15] And the bramble said unto the trees If in truth ye anoint me king over you then come and put your trust in my shadow: and if not let fire come out of the bramble and devour the cedars of Lebanon.

If in truth — If you deal truly and justly in making me king.

Then trust — Then you may expect protection under my government.

Devour the cedars — In stead of protection you shall receive destruction by me; especially you cedars that is nobles such as the house of Millo who have been most forward in this work.

Verse 18

[18] And ye are risen up against my father's house this day and have slain his sons threescore and ten persons upon one stone and have made Abimelech the son of his maidservant king over the men of Shechem because he is your brother;)

Ye have slain — Abimelech's fact is justly charged upon them as done by their consent approbation and assistance.

Maidservant — His concubine whom he so calls by way of reproach.

Over Shechem — By which limitation of their power and his kingdom he reflects contempt upon him and chargeth them with presumption that having only power over their own city they durst impose a king upon all Israel.

Verse 20

[20] But if not let fire come out from Abimelech and devour the men of Shechem and the house of Millo; and let fire come out from the men of Shechem and from the house of Millo and devour Abimelech.

Devour Abimelech — This is not so much a prediction as an imprecation which being grounded upon just cause had its effect as others in like case had.

Verse 21

[21] And Jotham ran away and fled and went to Beer and dwelt there for fear of Abimelech his brother.

And fled — Which he might easily do having the advantage of the hill and because the people were not forward to pursue a man whom they knew to have such just cause to speak and so little power to do them hurt.

To Beer — A place remote from Shechem and out of Abimelech's reach.

Verse 22

[22] When Abimelech had reigned three years over Israel

Over Israel — For though the men of Shechem were the first authors of Abimelech's advancement the rest of the people easily consented to that form of government which they so much desired.

Verse 23

[23] Then God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem; and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech:

God sent — God gave the devil commission to work upon their minds.

Verse 24

[24] That the cruelty done to the threescore and ten sons of Jerubbaal might come and their blood be laid upon Abimelech their brother which slew them; and upon the men of Shechem which aided him in the killing of his brethren.

The cruelty — That is the punishment of the cruelty.

Verse 25

[25] And the men of Shechem set liers in wait for him in the top of the mountains and they robbed all that came along that way by them: and it was told Abimelech.

For him — To seize his person.

Robbed all — Such as favoured or served Abimelech; for to such only their commission reached though it may be they went beyond their bounds and robbed all passengers promiscuously.

Verse 26

[26] And Gaal the son of Ebed came with his brethren and went over to Shechem: and the men of Shechem put their confidence in him.

Gaal — It is not known who he was; but it is evident he was a man very considerable for wealth and strength and interest; and ill-pleased with Abimelech's power.

Went to Shechem — By his presence and council to animate and assist them against Abimelech.

Verse 27

[27] And they went out into the fields and gathered their vineyards and trode the grapes and made merry and went into the house of their god and did eat and drink and cursed Abimelech.

Went out — Which 'till his coming they durst not do for fear of Abimelech.

Made merry — Both from the custom of rejoicing and singing songs in vintage time and for the hopes of their redemption from Abimelech's tyranny. Their goals-Baal-berith verse 4 either to beg his help against Abimelech or to give him thanks for the hopes of recovering their liberty.

Eat and drink — To the honour of their idols and out of the oblations made to them as they used to do to the honour of Jehovah and out of his sacrifices.

Cursed — Either by reviling him after their manner or rather in a more solemn and religious manner cursing him by their god as Goliath did David.

Verse 28

[28] And Gaal the son of Ebed said Who is Abimelech and who is Shechem that we should serve him? is not he the son of Jerubbaal? and Zebul his officer? serve the men of Hamor the father of Shechem: for why should we serve him?

Who is Abimelech — What is he but a base-born person a cruel tyrant and one every way unworthy to govern you? Who is Shechem - That is Abimelech named in the foregoing words and described in those which follow. He is called Shechem for the Shechemite. The sense is who is this Shechemite? For so he was by the mother's side born of a woman of your city and she but his concubine and servant; why should you submit to one so basely descended? Of Jerubbaal - Of Gideon a person famous only by his fierceness against that Baal which you justly honour and reverence whose altar he overthrew and whose worship he endeavoured to abolish.

And Zebul — And you are so mean spirited that you do not only submit to him but suffer his very servants to bear rule over you; and particularly this ignoble and hateful Zebul.

Serve … — If you love bondage call in the old master and lord of the place; chuse not an upstart as Abimelech is; but rather take one of the old flock one descended from Hamor Genesis 34:2 who did not carry himself like a tyrant as Abimelech did; but like a father of his city. This he might speak sincerely as being himself a Canaanite and Shechemite and possibly came from one of those little ones whom Simeon and Levi spared when they slew all the grown males Genesis 34:29. And it may be that he was one of the royal blood a descendent of Hamor who hereby sought to insinuate himself into the government as it follows verse 29. Would to God that this people were under my hand; which he might judge the people more likely to chuse both because they were now united with the Canaanites in religion; and because their present distress might oblige them to put themselves under him a valiant and expert commander.

Verse 29

[29] And would to God this people were under my hand! then would I remove Abimelech. And he said to Abimelech Increase thine army and come out.

My hand — That is under my command; I wish you would unanimously submit to me as your captain and governor; for he found them divided; and some of them hearkening after Abimelech whom they had lately rejected according to the levity of the popular humour.

I would remove — As you have driven him out of your city I would drive him out of your country.

He said — He sent this message or challenge to him.

Increase thine army — I desire not to surprise thee at any disadvantage; strengthen thyself as much as thou canst and come out into the open field that thou and I may decide it by our arms.

Verse 35

[35] 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.

And stood — To put his army in order and to conduct them against Abimelech whom he supposed to be at a great distance.

Verse 36

[36] And when Gaal saw the people he said to Zebul Behold there come people down from the top of the mountains. And Zebul said unto him Thou seest the shadow of the mountains as if they were men.

To Zebul — Who concealed the anger which he had conceived verse 30 and pretended compliance with him in this expedition that he might draw him forth into the field where Abimelech might have the opportunity of fighting with him and overthrowing him.

The shadow — For in the morning as this was and in the evening the shadows are longest and move quickest.

Verse 38

[38] Then said Zebul unto him Where is now thy mouth wherewith thou saidst Who is Abimelech that we should serve him? is not this the people that thou hast despised? go out I pray now and fight with them.

Where is now … — Now shew thyself a man and fight valiantly for thyself and people.

Verse 40

[40] And Abimelech chased him and he fled before him and many were overthrown and wounded even unto the entering of the gate.

He fled — Being surprised by the unexpected coming of Abimelech and probably not fully prepared for the encounter.

Verse 41

[41] And Abimelech dwelt at Arumah: and Zebul thrust out Gaal and his brethren that they should not dwell in Shechem.

Dwelt at Arumah — He did not prosecute his victory but retreated to Arumah to see whether the Shechemites would not of themselves return to his government or else that being hereby grown secure he might have the greater advantage against them.

Thrust out — It seems the same night. Probably the multitude which is generally light and unstable were now enraged against Gaal suspecting him of cowardice or ill-conduct. Zebul's interest was not so considerable with them that he could prevail with them either to kill Gaal and his brethren or to yield themselves to Abimelech; and therefore he still complies with the people and waits for a fairer opportunity.

Verse 42

[42] And it came to pass on the morrow that the people went out into the field; and they told Abimelech.

Went out — to their usual employments about their land.

Verse 43

[43] And he took the people and divided them into three companies and laid wait in the field and looked and behold the people were come forth out of the city; and he rose up against them and smote them.

Three companies — Whereof he kept one with himself verse 44 and put the rest under other commanders.

Verse 44

[44] And Abimelech and the company that was with him rushed forward and stood in the entering of the gate of the city: and the two other companies ran upon all the people that were in the fields and slew them.

Entering of the gate — To prevent their retreat into the city and give the other two companies opportunity to cut them off.

Verse 45

[45] And Abimelech fought against the city all that day; and he took the city and slew the people that was therein and beat down the city and sowed it with salt.

With salt — In token of his desire of their utter and irrecoverable destruction.

Verse 46

[46] And when all the men of the tower of Shechem heard that they entered into an hold of the house of the god Berith.

The tower — A strong place belonging to the city of Shechem made for its defence without the city.

Berith — Or Baal-berith verse 4. Hither they fled out of the town belonging to it fearing the same event with Shechem; and here they thought to be secure; partly by the strength of the place partly by the religion of it thinking that either their god would protect them there or that Abimelech would spare them out of pity to that god.

Verse 48

[48] And Abimelech gat him up to mount Zalmon he and all the people that were with him; and Abimelech took an axe in his hand and cut down a bough from the trees and took it and laid it on his shoulder and said unto the people that were with him What ye have seen me do make haste and do as I have done.

Zalmon — A place so called from its shadiness.

Verse 50

[50] Then went Abimelech to Thebez and encamped against Thebez and took it.

Thebez — Another town near to Shechem; and as it seems within its territory.

Verse 51

[51] But there was a strong tower within the city and thither fled all the men and women and all they of the city and shut it to them and gat them up to the top of the tower.

And all — All that were not slain in the taking of the town.

Top of the tower — Which was flat and plain after their manner of building.

Verse 53

[53] And a certain woman cast a piece of a millstone upon Abimelech's head and all to brake his skull.

Mill-stone — Such great stones no doubt they carried up with them whereby they might defend themselves or offend those who assaulted them. Here the justice of God is remarkable in suiting the punishment to his sin. He slew his brethren upon a stone verse 5 and he loseth his own life by a stone.

Verse 54

[54] Then he called hastily unto the young man his armourbearer and said unto him Draw thy sword and slay me that men say not of me A woman slew him. And his young man thrust him through and he died.

A women — Which was esteemed a matter of disgrace.

Verse 56

[56] Thus God rendered the wickedness of Abimelech which he did unto his father in slaying his seventy brethren:

Wickedness — In rooting out as far as he could the name and memory of his father.

Verse 57

[57] And all the evil of the men of Shechem did God render upon their heads: and upon them came the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal.

Render upon their heads — Thus God preserved the honour of his government and gave warning to all ages to expect blood for blood.

── John WesleyExplanatory Notes on Judges

 

09 Chapter 9

 

Verses 1-22

Judges 9:1-22

Abimelech the son of Jerubbaal.

The election of the usurper to be king

I. Contrasts in the history of God’s own people. After Gideon--Abimelech!

II. The best of fathers may have the worst of sons.

III. useful purposes are served in recording a wicked man’s life in the book of God.

1. The record is given as a curse and not as a blessing.

2. Such a record illustrates the truth of God’s testimony respecting human character.

3. It shows by practical example the frightfully evil nature of sin when allowed to develop itself unchecked.

4. Wicked deeds recorded are beacons set up to warn us from the rocks and whirlpools of sin.

IV. God can bring accusers against the wicked when they fancy themselves most secure. (J. P. Millar.)

Abimelech the adventurer

Abimelech is the Oriental adventurer and uses the methods of another age than ours; yet we have our examples and if they are less scandalous in some ways if they are apart from bloodshed and savagery they are still sufficiently trying to those who cherish the faith of Divine justice and providence. How many have to see with amazement the adventurer triumph by means of seventy pieces of silver from the house of Baal or even from a holier treasury. He in a selfish and cruel game seems to have speedy and complete success denied to the best and purest cause. Fighting for his own hand in wicked or contemptuous hardness and arrogant conceit he finds support applause an open way. Being no prophet he has honour in his own town. He knows the art of the stealthy insinuation the lying promise and the flattering murmur; he has skill to make the favour of one leading person a step to securing another. When a few important people have been hoodwinked he too becomes important and “success” is assured. The Bible most entirely honest of books frankly sets before us this adventurer Abimelech in the midst of the judges of Israel as low a specimen of “success” as need be looked for; and we trace the well-known means by which such a person is promoted. “His mother’s brethren spake of him ” etc. That there was little to say that he was a man of no character mattered not the least. The thing was to create an impression so that Abimelech’s scheme might be introduced and forced. So far he could intrigue and then the first steps gained he could mount. But there was in him none of the mental power that afterwards marked Jehu none of the charm that survives with the name of Absalom. It was a jealousy pride ambition he played as the most jealous proud and ambitious; yet for three years the Hebrews of the league blinded by the desire to have their nation like others suffered him to bear the name of king. And by this sovereignty the Israelites who acknowledged it were doubly and trebly compromised. Not only did they accept a man without a record they believed in one who was an enemy to his country’s religion--one therefore quite ready to trample upon its liberty. This is really the beginning of a worse oppression than that of Jabin or of Midian. It shows on the part of Hebrews generally as well as those who tamely submitted to Abimelech’s lordship a most abject state of mind. (R. A. Watson M. A.)

Ambition destroys the finer feelings of men

The love of power and supremacy absorbed consumed Napoleon. Before this duty honour love humanity fell prostrate. Josephine we are told was dear to him; but the devoted wife who had stood firm and faithful in the day of his doubtful fortunes was cast off in his prosperity to make room for a stranger who might be more subservient to his power. He was affectionate we are told to his brothers and mother; but his brothers the moment they ceased to be his tools were disgraced; and his mother it is said was not allowed to sit in the presence of her imperial son. He sometimes softened we are told by the sight of the field of battle strewn with the wounded and dead. But if the Moloch of his ambition claimed new heaps of slain to-morrow it was never denied. With all his sensibility he gave millions to the sword with as little compunction as he would have brushed away so many insects which had infested his march. (H. E. Channing.)

The trees went forth . . . to anoint a king.

The parable of the trees

This Divine parable is full of interest. It is the oldest complete example of a parable blending with literal history. It was spoken by Jotham the youngest son of Gideon to expose the unworthy conduct of the Israelites and to arrest them in their course. The olive the vine and the fig-tree in the metaphorical application would be his father his brethren and himself none of whom would be king. The bramble would be Abimelech who would either reign or destroy and who would in the end as the parable teaches introduce so wretched a system as to entail upon himself and people mutual destruction. And so it happened. And such is the eternal law. He whose throne is reached through falsehood and blood who has no foundation of virtue and right and worth to rest upon must continue to cement with fresh crime the edifice he has reared and so to add to the fire of vengeance that is secretly gathering around him until at length some additional blow breaks the cover under which it has been smouldering and it bursts upon the wicked tyrant and destroys as it was with this Abimelech both reign and life. Such is the lesson yielded by this parable in its letter as a warning against that destructive ambition which has so often desolated the earth in ancient and in modern times. Before quitting this part of the subject allow me to call your attention to the difference between metaphor and correspondence. Metaphor is a certain likeness which is perceived by the mind between two natural things which have in other respects no connection with one another. Correspondence is the analogy which exists between two things one spiritual and the other natural and which answer to one another in all their uses and in all respects. We might go further and attempt to show that in all cases of true and complete correspondences the spiritual is to the natural as the cause to the effect the soul to the body; but upon this we cannot now enlarge. We have dwelt upon the parable as a metaphor. The olive-tree stands in this respect for Gideon. Like him it was most valuable and honoured and like him it would not reign. In other respects there was no connection or relation between them and both were natural visible objects. We come now to the spiritual sense of the parable and to bring this out we must employ not metaphor but correspondence. Perceptions or acknowledged principles of truth or error grow up in the mind like trees in the soil and answer to trees in all their progress. Instruction is like seed. Instruction in Divine things is the seed of all that is great and good in the soul. “The seed ” the Divine Saviour said “is the Word of God” (Luke 8:11). If we watch the reception and growth of knowledge in the mind until it becomes a clear and enlarged view and at length a productive principle we shall discern the closest analogy to the progression of a tree from seed to fruit. In our text however we have not only the subject of trees in general placed before us but three trees especially are singled out as valuable but declining to reign--the olive the fig-tree and the vine: and one as worthless determined to rule or to destroy--the bramble. Let us examine these singly; and first the olive. It is the tree most esteemed in Eastern countries and especially in Palestine. Its wood yields a precious gum its fruits are delightful and nutritious and its oil which is as it were the essence of the fruit pressed out is used in food also to give light and as holy oil in the offerings of worship. As trees correspond to truths perceived as principles in the mind the most worthy tree will correspond to the most valuable principle that is the wisdom which teaches love to the Lord. This principle when it has grown up in the soul and given us to know the true character of our heavenly Father shows us that He is not only loving but love itself infinite love unutterably tender unchangeably merciful good to all whose tender mercies are over all His works. This is the celestial olive-tree which yields the oil honoured both by God and man. It is of the olive-tree corresponding to the interior wisdom which conjoins the soul and its God together and through which holy love descends that we are informed in our text it refused to be king over the trees. The Divine Word teaches us by this that the spirit of rule is opposed to the spirit of love. Love desires to aid to serve to bless but not to rule. If placed in positions of government and responsibility it accepts them that it may minister not that it may reign. If it were to enter into the desire of ruling it would lose its fatness; or in other words its richness and its joy. The fig-tree is next brought under notice. It was one of the most common fruit trees in Palestine growing often on the wayside. It corresponds therefore to that natural perception which teaches the ordinary virtues of daily life. But even the common virtues of life to be genuine must be separated from the love of dominion. It is not always so. But unless this is really the case there is no sweetness in doing good. Our good in fact is not good but self in a disguise. A person will sometimes be liberal in his support of charities. He will profess the utmost sympathy for the poor. He will be generous in his support of public institutions for education and general improvement. His fig-tree seems to hear fine fruit and yet it is quite possible that the love of applause the desire to be paid by the suffrages of his fellow-citizens being given to confer upon him political power may be his aim. And if so his figs have no sweetness and are not good fruit. And oh what is the applause of men compared with the sweetness of heaven? What are fruits worth if they are only gilded dust? (Jeremiah 24:8). Such then is the lesson conveyed in the reply of the fig-tree spiritually understood. Should we leave the sweetness of heavenly virtue and the real goodness of works which will abide the scrutiny of eternity for the empty pageantry of place and power sought only from the love of rule and entailing bitterness here and misery hereafter? “Then said the trees unto the vine Come thou and reign over us.” Vines correspond to the truths of faith. The Church especially as to its principles of faith is commonly called in the Scriptures a vineyard. The reason is no doubt that the influence of principles of true faith is to the mind what wine is to the body--it strengthens the exhausted and cheers the weary. There are more that be with us than all that be against us: why then should we faint or despair? A God of love has created and prepared us for our work. His creation consists of innumerable channels through which His benevolence descends. Loving friends are around and a heaven of love before us. All things cheer us on. The mountains run down with new wine. The vine in our text speaks of its wine as cheering God and man. And when we perceive that wine is the emblem of encouraging truth we appreciate the force of the Divine words. For when man is cheered by truth and saved God rejoices with him. But the vine intimates that if she sought to be ruler over the trees she would leave her wine. “Should I leave my wine which cheereth God and man and go to be promoted over the trees?” And so it is. If any one by means of heavenly truth seeks dominion his truth ceases to be saving. It is poison not wine to him. We come now however to a plant of very different character and you will find the reply quite different. “Then said all the trees to the bramble Come thou and reign over us.” The reply takes it for granted that he is willing and expresses his determination either to rule or destroy. This bramble is a low bushy tree with strong thorns and whose wood is of a fiery nature easily set in flames. It is the emblem of the lust of dominion which is also essentially unbelieving. The ambitious man believes in nothing but himself and his cunning. Everything which will contribute to his earthly aggrandisement is welcome; but he hates what will not come down to his level. Let us hear him. “If in truth ye anoint me king over you then come and put your trust in my shadow: and if not let fire come out of the bramble and devour the cedars of Lebanon.” What an extraordinary invitation was that! The olive the vine the fig-tree the lofty cedar and all the noble trees of the forest were to come and put themselves under the shadow of this contemptible shrub! How ridiculous an idea! Yet it is paralleled in all respects by the demands of ambition. It will deign to lend its protection to Divine things only they must be subservient and it must be chief. This principle in politicians makes religion an instrument of state policy; the ministers of religion a superior kind of police. But woe to the religion which stoops to it. It loses its own native life and vigour: it leaves its oil and its figs and its wine. The principle in an ambitious priest uses all the semblances of earnest piety to attain his selfish ends. He cares however nothing for them in themselves. That which he cannot bend to his selfish rule he burns to destroy. He says like this miserable plant “If not let fire come out of the bramble and devour the cedars of Lebanon.” He burns with the mad rage of frenzy against whatever will not stoop to gratify his insane whim to rule over all things. From the whole of this Divine lesson we may gather the most invaluable impressions. We cannot too strongly imbue ourselves with the conviction that all heaven breathes humility and everything heavenly is humble. The moment any sacred principle is turned to a selfish purpose it loses its richness its sweetness its holiness and worth. Love becomes flattery virtue hypocrisy faith deception. Oh let us shun this awful desolating soul-destroying sin. And on the contrary let us attend to Him who is at once the humblest and the highest. Bring often to mind the impressive and beautiful scene when surrounded by His disciples He took a little child and placed it in the midst of them. It was the day following that of the grand scene of the Transfiguration. (J. Bayley Ph. D.)

The parable of Jotham

I. Its intention and success. When William Penn was carrying on negotiations with the Indians he used to gain their respect and attention by exhibiting to them his skill as a swordsman. This was an acquirement which the red man could appreciate. So Jotham here clothes the truths he wishes to utter in the form of parable and gains the attention of the men of Shechem by his skilful use of imagery.

II. The contents of the parable. In it we have the national life of Israel set forth under the similitude of the natural life of the tree. In the kingdom of trees we notice--

1. The individuality of each tree.

2. The diversities of size and form and worth found among them.

3. The manifest dependence of some trees upon others.

III. The teaching which underlies it. The parable implies that there were men in Israel at this time who possessed the qualifications necessary to a good ruler set forth in the excellences peculiar to the trees mentioned. But these men the most fitted to rule refused to do so because there is no honour in ruling where excellence is held in dishonour. They were in the soil of private life which was congenial to their nature and to be transplanted to a soil in which only a bramble could flourish would be to lose their power of imparting light and sweetness. The nation the city or the congregation in which a bramble is held in estimation is not the soil in which to plant an olive-tree a vine or a fig-tree.

Lessons:

1. The honour of a leader depends not upon the fact that he is chosen to rule but upon who chooses him.

2. It is the man who gives honour to the position and not the position which gives honour to the man.

3. In choosing a position in the world we should be most solicitous to obtain that which will be favourable to the development of our character and that in which character will be appreciated.

4. The ruler of a nation is a mirror in which is reflected the character of the people.

5. The true leaders of men have resources within for themselves and therefore for others. Such men can afford to remain in obscurity their mind is to them kingdom they are their own society. (A London Minister.)

The parable of the trees

(to Young Men):--This parable of Jotham is it is supposed the very oldest in existence. We reach here in a literary sense almost to the source of fictitious writing. It is a question sometimes put to religious teachers “Do you object to works of fiction?” For myself I can answer at once. “I do not.” If I did I should condemn perhaps all the peoples that ever lived simple and cultured alike. In the snow hut of the Laplanders in the warm wooden house of the Norse peasant in the sunny islands of the Southern Sea and all through the burning East genius has in this way expressed itself and men have been pleased and improved by its ministries. But question me further. Ask me if I object to much of the sensational literature of the day and I answer “I do”; not because it is fictitious but because of the evil in more or less degree which it contains and because it is sorry nourishment for human minds or hearts. To return to Jotham’s parable. “The trees went forth on a time to anoint a king over them.” There must have been a good deal of talk among them before it came to that much wagging of arboreous tongues twittering of leaf and groaning of branch. They did not need a king. But the procession has started. We must follow and make part of it if we want to see and hear.

I. Now there is a halt before an olive-tree. And they said to the olive-tree “Reign thou over us.” A splendid offer to be the anointed king over the whole vegetable world! We listen to hear the reply couched in the deprecating cautious phraseology usual in such cases. No such answer is given; but a clear distinct refusal of the proffered honour. “Should I leave my fatness?” etc. Must I tear up my roots from the kindly soil where I have had my home for a thousand years and cease to receive the secret but willing ministries of the earth and close up the channels along which they have come? Must I shake the hard grain of my body by locomotion and have my leaves withered in a triumphal progress and see my berries grow scant and shrivelled and produce no more oil for God or man and all this that I may be a king? Wise olive-tree! Keep thy roots where they have struck and spread! Build up in concentric rings as the years come and go the hard pile of the serviceable wood! Store the secret fragrance! Distil the precious oil for many uses! Give men the annual harvest and God the continual glory of thy growing! Can we miss the lesson? Usefulness is better than honour. Usefulness if it be of the higher kind is attained through long growing and long striving. But when it is attained when there is a normal regulated usefulness flowing steadily out of a man’s life when he serves God and man where he is and by what he is the offer of promotion ought to carry with it some very strong and clear enforcements to induce him to think of acceptance.

II. Here is a fig-tree by the wayside. It belongs to an old and most respectable family. It traces its pedigree up to Eden. It leads a useful life and yet it has much less to give up and leave than the olive. But no! The fig-tree has not much but it has something substantial and good. It has beautiful leaves of deep shining green and better still--for the fig-tree makes no mention of its leaves--it has figs which carry in them a wonderful sweetness when they are fully ripe. Sweetness is the one quality which the fig-tree felt that it possessed. There is in some human souls a sweetness which imparts a fig-tree flavour to the whole life. When you meet one who possesses this gift moving about among rough ways and persons consider that you see something far more than merely pleasant something of exceeding value to the world.

III. “Then said the trees unto the vine Come thou and reign over us.” Surely there will be no refusal now! The vine cannot stand alone it needs to be propped. It will leap at the offer of a throne up which to climb and on which to hang its nodding clusters. It can only do one thing: it can bear clusters of grapes. Ah! but that one thing is of force and value enough to keep the vine steady under temptation. “ Should I leave my wine ” etc. As there are some human lives with sweetness in them as their main element so there are some with this brighter racier quality which “cheers” and animates the spirits of others. Be a vine if you can be nothing more; distil and distribute the wine of life.

IV. Now at length we go to the coronation. The trees have found a king. “Then said all the trees unto the bramble Come thou and reign over us.” Accepted as soon as offered! The bramble needs no time for deliberation. It accepts the crown at once. Look at the bramble or spiky thorn of Palestine with its long straggling branches. It has no “fatness” to leave like the olive-tree; no “sweetness ” like the fig-tree; no clusters like the vine. It casts no shadow like the oak. It has nothing but sharp piercing spikes and of these it has abundance; every branch is full of them--and yet hear how the mean creature speaks! “If in truth ye anoint me king over you”--as if it were the most natural thing in the world that they should; as if it were thinking of its ripe baskets of fruit and of the weary pilgrims it had sheltered. “if in truth ye anoint me king!” Think of it in presence of them all! The cedar nodding his dark plumes; the oak with castled strength of stem and branch; the beech in its sylvan beauty; the palm-tree with its cylindrical stem and feathery leaves and bounteous burden of dates; “and the fir-tree and the pine-tree and the box together”; and those that have declined the honour--to all these it says “Come and put your trust in my shadow!” The unbounded impudence of this address is remarkable and would be amusing if it were not connected with peril to the whole arboreous kingdom. This peril the bramble knows and has the art to hold it out in audacious menace. “If not think of it well. You have gone too far to go back you are now in my power; and that the noblest among you shall feel the first in case of the least show of opposition.” Society in all its sections is full of bramble men who are striving for every sort of personal elevation and advantage. By the picture in this parable I want you to scorn the principles they act upon; and to despise the honours and advantages they win! (A. Raleigh D. D.)

Jotham’s parable

We find instruction in the parable by regarding the answers put into the mouth of this tree and that when they are invited to wave to and fro over the others. There are honours which are dearly purchased high positions which cannot be assumed without renouncing the true end and fruition of life. One for example who is quietly and with increasing efficiency doing his part in a sphere to which he is adapted must set aside the gains of long discipline if he is to become a social leader. He can do good where he is. Not so certain is it that he will be able to serve his fellows well in public office. It is one thing to enjoy the deference paid to a leader while the first enthusiasm on his behalf continues but it is quite another thing to satisfy all the demands made as years go on and new needs arise When any one is invited to take a position of authority he is bound to consider carefully his own aptitude. He needs also to consider those who are to be subjects or constituents and make sure that they are of the kind his rule will fit. The olive looks at the cedar and the terebinth and the palm. Will they admit his sovereignty by and by though now they vote for it? Men are taken with the candidate who makes a good impression by emphasising what will please and suppressing opinions that may provoke dissent. When they know him how will it be? When criticism begins will the olive not be despised for its gnarled stem its crooked branches and dusky foliage? The fable does not make the refusal of olive and fig-tree and vine rest on the comfort they enjoy in the humbler place. That would be a mean and disbonourable reason for refusing to serve. Men who decline public office because they love an easy life find here no countenance. It is for the sake of its fatness the oil it yields grateful to God and man in sacrifice and anointing that the olive-tree declines. The fig-tree has its sweetness and the vine its grapes to yield. And so men despising self-indulgence and comfort may be justified in putting aside a call to office. The fruit of a personal character developed in humble unobtrusive natural life is seen to be better than the more showy clusters forced by public demands. Yet on the other hand if one will not leave his books another his scientific hobbies a third his fireside a fourth his manufactory in order to take his place among the magistrates of a city or the legislators of a land the danger of bramble supremacy is near. Next a wretched Abimelech will appear; and what can be done but set him on high and put the reins in his hand? Unquestionably the claims of Church or country deserve most careful weighing and even if there is a risk that character may lose its tender bloom the sacrifice must be made in obedience to an urgent call. For a time at least the need of society at large must rule the loyal life. The fable of Jotham in so far as it flings sarcasm at the persons who desire eminence for the sake of it and not for the good they will be able to do is an example of that wisdom which is as unpopular now as ever it has been in human history and the moral needs every day to be kept full in view. It is desire for distinction and power the opportunity of waving to and fro over the trees the right to use this handle and that to their names that will be found to make many eager not the distinct wish to accomplish something which the times and the country need. Those who solicit public office are far too often selfish not self-denying and even in the Church there is much vain ambition. But people will have it so. The crowd follows him who is eager for the suffrages of the crowd and showers flattery and promises as he goes. Men are lifted into places they cannot fill and after keeping their seats unsteadily for a time they have to disappear into ignominy. (R. A. Watson M. A.)

Forms of usefulness in life

What special advantages of life what particular forms of usefulness and comfort Jotham had in view if he had any in choosing these particular trees it is not easy to say. But it is obvious that he meant in a general way to point out that there are two or three functions or employments or ways of spending life so much worth a man’s while continuing that he is wise in refusing to abandon them for the sake of what may seem a better position. It is very desirable that men should see the advantages of their own position for nothing is more enervating than a craving after change and nothing more delusive than the fancy that almost any other position would be better than our own. The “fatness” which the olive was not disposed to forsake in exchange for high position may very naturally be supposed to symbolise the usefulness which belongs to many obscure positions in life. If we are filling a place that somebody must fill if we are doing work which some one must do then we should be cautious how we seek change. Moreover in the life of most of us the usefulness of our daily occupation is by no means the whole measure of our usefulness. We are mixed up in life with persons who are entangled in difficulties who are full of faults who are needing help: wherever we go in whatever occupation we spend our time we find this to be the case; and he is a happy man who can disentangle the sinner from the meshes of his sin and pluck his feet out of the net who can let some tempted person have the strengthening influence of his society who can give advice that saves from misery or loss. Again many lives are soured and rendered wretched to all connected with them because it is not recognised that sweetness is that to which they are specially called. The fig-tree did not think it was a necessary of life; it did not flatter itself men could not live without figs; but it was modestly and reasonably conscious that by bearing figs year after year it did add an element of a most desirable kind to the life of man. Taking the mere word of the fable the “sweetness” of the fig every one knows what a blessing in a household is even one sweet temper one disposition that is not ruffled that does not take offence that does not think every one else in the wrong that does not vaunt itself but is quiet reasonable patient meek. Peremptoriness is not always equivalent to efficiency. Any one who has tried to catch an unbridled horse in a field knows how little persuasive power there is in violent language. The assumption of a tone of authority or infallibility defeats the ends of persuasion quite as certainly as the admission of a tone of entreaty destroys the authority of one who should rightfully command. But a third lesson for individuals in private life which we gather from this fable is how contemptible a thing is display and worldly honour and what is called style. People will not be content to live comfortably to be moderate in their expenses quiet in their ways; but must be doing as other people do must commit the same extravagancies even though they have really no taste for them; must deny themselves the enjoyments they prefer that they may seem to enjoy themselves like their neighbours; bind themselves religiously to do many troublesome things for no other reason whatever than that it is expected of them. The consequence is that the spirit becomes false and the life is worn out by useless forms and meaningless labour; the useful services which might be rendered are neglected and time cannot be found for them. In conclusion Jotham shall not have spoken this parable in vain for us if we carry away from its perusal the settled conviction that in life there is something better than mere show or the mere attainment of the rewards accorded by the world to its successful men. The real value of human life does not lie on the surface; lies indeed so deep that very many people never see it at all. There are circumstances so afflicting and straitened so very tormenting and hampering that we are apt to think we do well if only we do not cry out and let all the world know how we suffer; but there is a better thing to do always and that is to set ourselves with patience and humble self-crucifixion to think of others and do our best for them. In the worst circumstances in circumstances so perplexing we know not how to act there always remains some duty we are aware of some kind and loving thing we can do and by doing which other duties become clearer. (Marcus Dods D. D.)

The olive-tree said . . . Should I leave my fatness?--

The refusing of leadership

I. The varieties which God has made among men.

II. The temptations to which we are exposed to be untrue to our distinctive nature and position.

III. The evil which would arise from our going out of our true place to obtain a vulgar power.

IV. The wise conduct of some in resisting the injurious temptations addressed to them.

V. Those who refuse formal rule may be kings in their spheres notwithstanding--nay all the more.

VI. The world’s king is often the bramble after all. (W. Morison D. D.)

The faithful olive-tree

The fable teaches that temptations will come to us all however sweet or useful or fruitful even as they came to the fig the olive and the vine. These temptations may take the shape of proffered honours; if not a crown yet some form of preferment or power may be the bribe.

I. Apparent promotions are not to be snatched at. The question is to be asked “Should I?” Let us never do what would be unbecoming unsuitable unwise (Genesis 39:9). Emphasis is to be laid on the “I.” “Should I?” If God has given me peculiar gifts or special grace does it become me to trifle with these endowments? Should I give them up to gain honour for myself? (Nehemiah 6:11). A higher position may seem desirable but would it be right to gain it by such cost? (Jeremiah 45:5). It will involve duties and cares. “Go up and down among the trees” implies that there would be care oversight travelling etc. These duties will be quite new to me; for like an olive I have been hitherto planted in one place. Should I run into new temptations new difficulties etc. of my own wanton will? Can I expect God’s blessing upon such strange work? Put the question in the case of wealth honour power which are set before us. Should we grasp at them at the risk of being less at peace less holy less prayerful less useful?

II. Actual advantages are not to be trifled with. “Should I leave my fatness?” I have this great boon should I lightly lose it? It is the greatest advantage in life to be useful both to God and man: “By me they honour God and man.” We ought heartily to prize this high privilege. To leave this for anything which the world can offer would be great loss (Jeremiah 18:14; Jeremiah 2:13). Our possession of fatness meets the temptation to become a king. We are happy enough in Christ in His service with His people and in the prospect of the reward. We cannot better ourselves by the move; let us stay as we are. We may also meet it by the reflection that the prospect is startling: “Should I leave my fatness? “ For an olive to do this would be unnatural: for a believer to leave holy living would be worse (John 6:68). That the retrospect would be terrible: “leave my fatness.” What must it be to have left grace and truth and holiness and Christ? Remember Judas. That even an hour of such leaving would be a loss. What would an olive do even for a day if it left its fatness? That it would all end in disappointment; for nothing could compensate for leaving the Lord. All else is death (Jeremiah 17:13). That to abide firmly and reject all baits is like the saints the martyrs and their Lord; but to prefer honour to grace is a mere bramble folly.

III. Temptation should be turned to account. Let us take deeper root. The mere proposal to leave our fatness should make us hold the faster to it. Let us be on the watch that we lose not our joy which is our fatness. If we would not leave it neither can we bear that it should leave us. Let us yield more fatness and bear more fruit: he who gains largely is all the further removed from loss. The more we increase in grace the less are we likely to leave it. Let us feel the more content and speak the more lovingly of our gracious state that none may dare to entice us. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

The fig-tree said . . . Should I forsake my sweetness?--

Self-fulfilment

There was to the fig-tree no excellency like that of meeting adequately its own ends and of fulfilling its own inborn purpose. The fig-tree was not created to be a king among the trees. That was not its selected part or its appointed task. The oak and the cedar might be great in strength the ash and the willow might be exalted for beauty but in its own way of being great the fig-tree had a dignity all its own; measured by what it was meant to be and by what it was meant to do it might rest secure for all time of usefulness and of honour. The real measure of the success or failure of each life is thoroughly and exactly the measure of its self-fulfilment. Centuries afterwards a Greek philosopher laid hold of this same principle and he gave to it a more philosophical interpretation a profounder application to the life of man; but Aristotle did not teach the lesson of it more finely he did not illustrate it more happily than had been done before in this passage. The measure of the success or failure of each life is thoroughly and exactly the measure of its self-fulfilment. As with the fig-tree it is the excellency of man to live and to be fruitful in those powers which are distinctly his own; to be rational because he alone is truly rational; to be moral because he alone is moral; to be spiritual because he alone within the earth is breathed upon from a higher world and hears with a deeper hearing a music and a song which hath not been uttered Nature and God alike ask of man not the life of the tree or of the brute or of the angel but the life of man as man. For man to turn from the culture of that rational and moral life which is distinctively his own for man to yield his own peculiar task for him to forsake the high inheritances of rational freedom and of moral purpose is to tear from his own experience to cut from out his history the very justification of his existence in the world. Let him look well to that. It is not his life to be merely strong. When we look for strength we will not look to him. We will not look for strength to man but to the deep-settled hills laid strong and sure among the rocks; to the wild waters of the flood as they beat and scream in their ruin of the land; to the winds of heaven as they fall sharply upon the sea; to the great fish within the deep; to the huge beast within the forest; to a thousand things in earth and sky; but we will not look for strength to man. Nor is it man’s life or woman’s to be merely beautiful. When we look for beauty we will not look to man but we will look far out upon some deep blue quiet of the hills to the unfolding glories of the new day to the sweet radiance of those tears which the dying night has left upon the flowers; we will look to corals of the sea to diamonds from the under-world to the waving shadows of the forest and the fields. To these we will look for beauty but not to man. Let man keep and wear the graces which as man are his; let woman be dowered in those beauties which are all and peculiarly her own; but let that motive die within us which has no task for man or woman but those sad and empty services of flesh those weak apparent shows of lust or ease or wealth. Oh for men whose first and thorough task will be that of being men! Oh for women whose souls and hearts are set deeply in the purpose of being and of serving under woman’s name in those causes which are all her own among those dignities and sanctities which make with men her queenliness and saintliness for ever! If there is need to-day for a humanity which is human--for manly men for womanly women for childlike children--there is need also for a churchly Church. Institutions as well as individuals have their primary uses and their distinctive life. The Church too if she is to continue among men must act truly and deeply from her own powers must be strong in a Church’s spirit instinct and eager with the Church’s mission. The life of the Church may have its social aspect it may have in a sense its business aspect it has been forced to have in certain quarters an aspect which is purely political; but the measure of her exclusive and especial triumphs along lines like these is exactly the measure of man’s detestation of her cause. The Church to be the Church must be primarily and essentially religious. There are individual Churches which are not successful in any sense but the Church which is successful in the life God sends her out to live that Church which in a religious sense is a success must be a success in all senses and for all wise and honourable work. (E. G. Murphy.)

The bramble said.--

Bramble rule; or the people and their leaders

I. That the people have a conscious want of leaders and they are not particular in their choice of them.

1. The people in every age have needed leaders in every department of life--mercantile artistic political and especially religious. The uncultured masses have ever been ignorant credulous servile.

2. And they are conscious of their want. This arises from--

3. That the people are not particular in their choice of leaders. They do not generally follow the greatest men. Men of inferior capacity and uncultivated nature are scarcely qualified to appreciate the highest form of greatness. Great men to them are masters whom they martyr.

II. That inferior men are often more ready to assume the responsibility of leadership than great ones. The greater a man is the less taste he has for a conventional greatness the greater resources he has in himself and more disposed is he to work in the glorious realms of principles than amidst the din of social parties. Great men build their own thrones and establish their own empires.

III. That leadership in the hands of inferior men is ever fraught with mischief.

1. Small men can do great mischief.

2. The higher the office they reach the greater the mischief they can effect.

Learn--

1. The sad condition of the world.

2. The transcendent worth of the gospel. Christ is just the Leader needed. (Homilist.)

Pulpit brambles; or a vacant Church making a choice of a minister

1. Jotham’s parable is full of interest.

2. The principle contained in the parable is that the highest places ought to be occupied by the best of men and that the bramble people should never be allowed to occupy a position of greatness.

3. From Jotham’s parable the following remarks are suggested--

Conclusion--

1. That the ministerial life is one of great sacrifice.

2. That most frequently the ministerial brambles are blessed with unanimous calls.

3. That the men of small talent almost without exception are full of vanity.

4. That the great force of the bramble pulpit is in destruction.

5. Some of our large Churches have frequently been deservedly punished when they have lost their old minister. (Homilist.)

King Bramble and his subjects

Why were the trees so willing to enthrone “Bramble”? The trees argued: “If we make Bramble king he will never find fault and never dare chide us for shortcomings--he is so puny and worthless compared with us.” So men reason all over the globe. Do you know why men possessing just as much good common-sense as you have still cling to idols in heathen lands? Many of them know as well as we do that their idols are worthless. Why keep them? Because with these for gods they make religion as base and sensual as they desire. But we need not search heathen lands. In our own midst are people who serve King Bramble rather than King Jesus.

I. The bramble of intemperance. Do you suppose that any boy ever starts out in life with the intention of being a drunkard? He who yields in the least degree is in danger of being overpowered and ruined by this King Bramble.

II. Bramble of mammon. Just enough affords more happiness than too much.

III. Most dangerous bramble of all is self. We all need to pray for deliverance from the evil which is in our own hearts. One of the most cunning devices by which Satan entraps men is that of making them worship themselves rather than God. (A. F. Vedder.)

The bramble

1. How proud the bramble was! “Come and put your trust in my shadow.” Are boys and girls proud? I think so. And yet they have no more reason to be proud than the foolish bramble. They are entirely dependent on the bounty of a gracious Providence and He hates pride. But why are we proud? We cannot boast of our clothes--these are given to us by animals. Why what is more beautiful than the butterfly that flits about in the sunshine or the tiny flower growing by the roadside? Both insect and flower appear in better coats than we.

2. Another thing we may notice about the bramble--its insufficiency for shelter. It said to all the trees: “Come put your trust in my shadow.” The lesson to be learnt from this parable is the folly of false trust. The Bible in many places warns us against false trusts. It warns us against trusting ourselves. “The heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked.” He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool.” Some trust in riches. This is not safe. For riches sometimes take to themselves wings and fly away; moreover they profit not in the day of wrath. Then in whom shall we trust? In the Lord for we read: “It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes.” We should trust in Him for our salvation. There is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved.

3. Then the weakness of the bramble reminds us of its insufficiency for defence. Such a plant could easily be trodden down. The careless ox cannot crush the cedar or the olive or the fig-tree so easily as it can crush the bramble. A defence indicates the existence of enemies. You and I have enemies and it is necessary that we should be guarded against them. They are round us--on every hand. Jesus Christ is not only a shelter but a defence.

4. The bramble reminds us of sin. Sin is like a thorn. It pierces it irritates it wounds. (H. Whittaker.)

Misleading self-judgments

Many are misled because they judge themselves too much by the impression they make upon those around them. To them in that sense vox populi is vox Dei. If they are popular in their own circle they think proportionately well of themselves. But this is manifestly an empirical judgment. It depends very much on the circle to which we belong; on the mental and moral attainments of those in it; on the natural affection they cherish towards us which predisposes them in our favour; and on the ideal they hold generally of character and worth. A solid is buoyant in a liquid in proportion as it is light and the liquid heavy floating or sinking according as it is heavier or lighter bulk for bulk than the liquid it is in. And similarly we may judge of a man’s moral and intellectual weight by the kind of society he floats in. The company which will buoy up one man will not sustain another and in light frivolous society a silly empty fellow may successfully keep on the surface inflated only with his own self-conceit. In judging ourselves by the opinions of those around us therefore let us ask what their opinions are worth and how far they are determined by principles which will decide eternal destiny. (A. Rowland B. A.)


Verse 23

Judges 9:23

God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem.

Disunion

It is not said that he was judge over Israel for they were raised up by God but he ruled and usurped as tyrants use to do. And to begin first with his prosperity in that God gave him this short time to enjoy his desire and to domineer as he did it is to teach us that He doth for some little time give wicked men their longed-for desires; and yet not for that He applaudeth them therein but that they may have time to repent and to bethink themselves what they have done and how they have gone to work and how many ways they have provoked God. But to go forward: this evil spirit that was sent betwixt them being the first occasion of their overthrow was the devil by whose malice and subtlety ill-will and hatred were kindled betwixt them and this with the breaking their promise doth show us clearly that the league and friendship of the wicked is soon broken off. For why? It hath no good ground. The use whereof is that we make no such wicked and cursed leagues. Secondly that we account no otherwise of them where they be made but as of the spider’s web soon swept down; and thirdly praise God highly when we see them broken. And in that it is said that the Lord sent an evil spirit betwixt them we may note that though God be not the author of evil yet that sin which is in the wicked hidden in their hearts and never so secret He bringeth forth at His pleasure and lets it break out at His commandment ruling and overruling the same. And they that nourish it in themselves and do not give it a vent by repentance may ever justly fear and do sometime too truly find that as water pent in breaks out violently in some place or other even so the sin that is entertained in men’s hearts shall one time or other break out to their shame in their lives. But as the stink of the dunghill riseth not from the sun no more doth sin proceed from God. Also by this division betwixt them we may note that when God suffers division among the wicked or an evil spirit any way to lead them it is to punish their lewd fellowship and to revenge the sin of both parts and to make each the other’s executioner. And yet oh what a sweet liberty it is thought to be to enjoy fellowship with such? And first grudges secretly being conceived they are nourished by jealousies and suspicions exasperated by daily injuries till they break out into hatred and end in extremity. These things are commonly seen but who beholdeth God’s justice therein? or is thereby prevented from having anything to do with such? or made wise to lay a better foundation of their amity and friendship. Furthermore by this that God would have the blood of the innocent sons of Gideon revenged upon Abimelech and the men of Shechem He teacheth us that He will revenge the innocents’ cause. The Lord will bless them that bless His and curse them that curse His. (R. Rogers.)


Verse 48-49

Judges 9:48-49

And Abimelech took an axe in his hand.

The storming of the temple of Berith

1. I learn first from this subject the folly of depending upon any one form of tactics in anything we have to do for this world or for God. Look over the weaponry of olden times--javelins battle-axes habergeons--and show me a single weapon with which Abimelech and his men could have gained such complete triumph. It is no easy thing to take a temple thus armed. Yet here Abimelech and his army come up they surround this temple and they capture it without the loss of a single man on the part of Abimelech although I suppose some of the old Israelitish heroes told Abimelech: “You are only going up there to be cut to pieces.” Yet you are willing to testify to-day that by no other mode--certainly not by ordinary modes--could that temple so easily so thoroughly have been taken. What the Church most wants to learn this day is that any plan is right is lawful is best which helps to overthrow the temple of sin and capture this world for God. We are very apt to stick to the old modes of attack. We come up with the sharp keen glittering steel spear of argument expecting in that way to take the castle; but they have a thousand spears where we have ten. And so the castle of sin stands I propose a different style of tactics. Let each one go to the forest of God’s promise and invitation and hew down a branch and put it on his shoulder and let us all come around these obstinate iniquities and then with this pile kindled by the fires of a holy zeal and the flames of a consecrated life we will burn them out. What steel cannot do fire may. We want more heart in our song more heart in our almsgiving more heart in our prayers more heart in our preaching. Oh for less of Abimelech’s sword and more of Abimeleeh’s conflagration! The gospel is not a syllogism; it is not casuistry; it is not polemics or the science of squabble. It is blood-red fact; it is warm-hearted invitation; it is leaping bounding flying good news; it is efflorescent with all light; it is rubescent with all summery glow; it is arborescent with all sweet shade.

2. Still further I learn from this subject the power of example. If Abimelech had sat down on the grass and told his men to go and get the boughs and go out to the battle they would never have gone at all or if they had it would have been without any spirit or effective result; but when Abimelech goes with his own axe and hews down a branch and with Abimelech’s arm puts it on Abimelech’s shoulder and marches on then my text says all the people did the same. How natural that was! What made Garibaldi and Stonewall Jackson the most magnetic commanders of this century? They always rode ahead. Oh the overwhelming power of example! Oh start out for heaven to-day and your family will come after you and your business associates will come after you and your social friends will join you. With one branch of the tree of life for a baton marshal just as many as you can gather. Oh the infinite the semi-omnipotent power of a good or a bad example!

3. Still further I learn from this subject the advantage of concerted action. If Abimelech had merely gone out with a tree-branch the work would not have been accomplished or if ten twenty or thirty men had gone; but when all the axes are lifted and all the sharp edges fall and all these men carry each his tree-branch down and throw it about the temple the victory is gained--the temple falls. Where there is one man in the Church of God at this day shouldering his whole duty there are a great many who never lift an axe or swing a bough. It seems to me as if there were ten drones in every hive to one busy bee. What broken bone of sorrow have you ever set? Are you doing nothing? Is it possible that a man or woman sworn to be a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ is doing nothing?

4. Still further I learn from this subject the danger of false refuges. As soon as these Sheehemites got into the temple they thought they were safe. They said: “Berith will take care of us. Abimelech may batter down everything else; he cannot batter down this temple where we are now hid.” But very soon they heard the timbers crackling and they were smothered with smoke and they miserably died. And you and I are just as much tempted to false refuges. The mirror this morning may have persuaded you that you have a comely cheek; Satan may have told you that you are all right; but bear with me if I tell you that if unpardoned you are all wrong. I suppose every man is stepping into some kind of refuge. Here you step into the tower of good works. You say “I shall be safe here in this refuge.” The battlements are adorned; the steps are varnished; on the wall are pictures of all the suffering you have alleviated and all the schools you have established and all the fine things you have ever done. Up in that tower you feel you are safe. But hear you not the tramp of your unpardoned sins all around the tower? They each have a match. You are kindling the combustible material. You feel the heat and the suffocation. Oh! may you leap in time the gospel declaring “By the deeds of the law shall no flesh living be justified.” “ Well ” you say “I have been driven out of that tower; where shall I go?” Step into this tower of indifference. You say “If this tower is attacked it will be a great while before it is taken.” You feel at ease. But there is an Abimelech with ruthless assault coming on. Death and his forces are gathering around. “But ” says some one “you are engaged in a very mean business driving us from tower to tower.” Oh no! I want to tell you of a Gibraltar that never has been and never will be taken; of a bulwark that the judgment earthquakes cannot budge. The Bible refers to it when it says: “In God is thy refuge and underneath thee are the everlasting arms.” Oh! fling yourself into it (T. De Witt Talmage.)

──The Biblical Illustrator