judges 9:8 15 explanation

Difficulties, where they exist for us, would only exercise faith in God. The bramble was too low to give shelter to any tree; and so far from being able to consume others, that the smallest fire will reduce it to ashes, and that in the shortest time. It does not matter what the line taken may be, no good end will ever be owned by God unless the way be according to His word and righteousness. In short Samson appears to me a man with as little, or as low, an appreciation of what it was to fight the battles of the Lord, as God had been pleased to use in any epoch throughout inspired history. So says he: "When Israel came up from Egypt, and walked through the wilderness unto the Red Sea, and came to Kadesh, then Israel sent messengers unto the king of Edom, saying, Let me, I pray thee, pass through thy land; but the king of Edom would not hearken thereto. Go out and take him on. So it was. "It was of Jehovah, that he sought an occasion against the Philistines: for at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel. And Samson lay till midnight, and arose at midnight, and took the doors of the gate of the city, and the two posts, and went away with them, bar and all, and put them upon his shoulders, and carried them up to the top of an hill that is before Hebron." 12 Then said the trees unto the vine, Come thou, and reign over us. After the death of Gideon, this Abimelech who was the son of his concubine in Shechem. The last chapter of the book shows us the ways and means in which their hearts were drawn out, in order to repair the dismal gap which divine judgment had wrought in Benjamin, and indeed in Israel. "And so they came to the vine and said, "Rule over us. The Assyrian bas-reliefs afford counterparts of the scene here described so vivid and exact, that we might almost suppose them to be representations of the same historic events. Still this became their relationship, yet the children of Israel have the answer from Jehovah, "Go up against him." Man is as weak and erring as God is mighty and good: these two things characterise the book from beginning to end. with all the family of the house of his mother's father--Here is a striking instance of the evils of polygamy--one son has connections and interests totally alien to those of his brothers. They had won the land by the provoked fight which the Amorite had drawn them into. We have nothing like a Moses in Samson. Verse by Verse Commentaries We see that God was faithful; but the fidelity even of those whom He used in deliverance is another matter. So Abimelech and all the people who were with him rose by night, and lay in wait against Shechem in four companies. Thus God repaid the wickedness of Abimelech: We can be certain that God will repay wickedness, either in this life or the life to come. If you have acted in truth and sincerity: Jotham raised this just for the sake of argument. Judges Commentary Here God had to rebuke the people, even when morally right in the main, until the wrong their state and haste mixed up with it was purged out. God does not permit Israel, because this one or that is an enemy, to take the place of enemies to them. Joshua 8; Joshua 24). God's Word is the Truth see John 17:17). WebMatthew Henry's Commentary on Judges 9:8-15 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 The consequence was that he allowed himself to be drawn into an ambush, was defeated, the city of Shechem destroyed and strewn with salt. 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. The olive and fig trees and the grape vine represented productive human beings-oil, figs, and wine being among the most important products of Canaan. The chief administrator in Shechem pretended to be on their side, but secretly he sent news to Abimelech (26-33). You said, you know, if he were just here I'd handle him.". Verse Judges 9:15. 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. i. He hereby exposes the ridiculous ambition of Abimelech, whom he compares to the bramble or thistle, Judges 9:14; Judges 9:14. But God clave an hollow place that was in the jaw, and there came water thereout; and when he had drunk, his spirit came again, and he revived: wherefore he called the name thereof En-hakkore, which is in Lehi unto this day." Judges 9 ""Should I forsake the wine and so forth that cheers God and man to rule you? Judges 15 Bible Commentary And Jotham ran away, and he fled, to Beer, and dwelt there, for the fear of Abimelech his brother. Perhaps I am mistaken, and he is not a prophet. It is the Danites again; only the account of Samson is chronologically at the close, whereas the new tale, as we have remarked, was comparatively early. "And Samson went down to Timnath, and saw a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines, and he came up, and told his father and his mother, and said, I have seen a woman in Timnath of the daughters of the Philistines: now therefore get her for me to wife" (Judges 14:1-20). Even the man who above all others perhaps illustrates the danger of rash vows in the joy of a divine deliverance, and that affecting him in the nearest possible way, was the very reverse of rash in entering on his service for the people of Israel. It's an interesting thing to me how far sound travels over there in that land. If you do not want that we track your visit to our site you can disable tracking in your browser here: We also use different external services like Google Webfonts, Google Maps, and external Video providers. how many there are in these days of audacious free-thinking who are disposed to sit in judgment on His word, and give His revelation no credit for telling us the truth as it was and is. And go to sway over trees? Gaal . The great point of the preface is that "in those days there was no king in Israel" the opening words of Judges 18:1-31. did he ever strive against Israel, or did he ever fight against them, while Israel dwelt in Heshbon and her towns, and in Aroer and her towns, and in all the cities that be along by the coasts of Arnon, three hundred years?" And all the evil of the men of Shechem God returned on their own heads, and on them came the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal. (3.) Here's old Abimelech down there, you know, trying to set the door on fire and she "knock" drops the millstone and cracks his skull. . The fire smoldered for three years but at last manifested itself. (Morgan). How unlike to the shadow of a great rock in a weary land, which a good magistrate is compared to! 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. go out, now, and fight with them ( Judges 9:29-38 ). Now you know, they used to say of the sailors "a girl in every port." The man thus went forth in the confidence of his strength, and to outward appearance did things just to make the enemy feel what he could do, with as little exercise toward God as could well be found in one that feared Him. Click to enable/disable _gid - Google Analytics Cookie. The Ammonites had lost them before the children of Israel took them from others whom they might lawfully attack and despoil; but God had forbidden that the children of Israel should spoil either Ammon, or Moab, or Edom. Others may have shown as mighty works, as great displays of power; nay, even the blessed Lord Jesus Himself said, "Greater works than these shall ye do." By contrast Abimelech is like a bramble: he can give neither shelter nor protection. WebIn Judges 9:8-15, Jotham conveys a message about the trees speaking amongst themselves while seeking a king. Nevertheless he "was a mighty man of valour," who lived a kind of freebooter's life the chief of a reckless company of outcasts and desperadoes. 2. The trees once went forth to anoint a king over them: In the parable told by Jotham, the worthy trees (such as the olive, the fig, and the vine) didnt want to be king; but the unworthy bramble agreed to be king. Hear what a solemn appeal Jephthah makes to the elders before he acts. In other words, he's an outsider. 1. came with his brethren . And when all of the men of the tower of Shechem heard that, they had entered into the fortress of the house that god Berith. His victories had then been as holy as they were brilliant; for he surely needed not to have defiled his Nazariteship by an unholy marriage in order to have punished the Philistines. ', To report dead links, typos, or html errors or suggestions about making these resources more useful use the convenient, Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology, Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament, Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary, International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. 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. 2. Strife between Abimelech and the Shechemites, ver. Years might pass, hundreds of years roll over, but moral principles and even natural relationships do not lose their power. With a little exertion of voice, he could easily have been heard by the people of the city; for the hill so overhangs the valley, that a person from the side or summit would have no difficulty in speaking to listeners at the base. But when God and His word are in question, it ought to be a simple matter for a child of God. And he sent messengers unto Abimelech privately, saying, Behold, Gaal the son of Ebed and his brothers are come to Shechem; and they are fortifying the city against you. He was the power of God and the wisdom of God; but what shall we say of His obedience on the one hand, and on the other of His patience? And he bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that were therein. Which is above the city of Shechem and it is sort of a natural amphitheater. JOTHAM BY A PARABLE REPROACHES THEM. And they possessed all the coasts of the Amorites, from Arnon even unto Jabbok.". And so then he went to Thebez, and encamped against Thebez. Yahweh is perfect, honest) stood on the same mountain where six of Israels tribes had declared the blessings of abiding by the Law of Yahweh and denounced the Shechemites for their foolish and wicked actions. We have here the only testimony that appears to have been borne against the wicked confederacy of Abimelech and the men of Shechem. Pride, look what it would do, even when you're dying, you know. But what a Nazarite was Samson! But the children of Benjamin would not hearken to the voice of their brethren the children of Israel: but the children of Benjamin gathered themselves together out of the cities unto Gibeah, to go out to battle against the children of Israel.". Does the Bible Condemn Using Tarot Cards? 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. Brambles bore no fruit and offered no shelter or protection. Here then we have certain facts, apart from the historic course, introduced in these words: "There was a man of mount Ephraim." Nederlandstalige Bijbelstudies door Stan Marinussen, Copyright - Enduring Word       |      . The sound travels. (Judges 15:4-5). You may be tried; but be assured that you will be helped out of the trial. The earth is destined to be the theatre where God will display righteousness reigning; but even now, while things are out of course, and His enemy is in power, He holds to His own character, owning and using all He can. 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). a. So they gave him seventy shekels of silver from the temple of Baal-Berith: The relatives of Abimelech on his mothers side gave him some start-up money to establish his leadership. 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." So he took his people, divided them into three companies, and lay in wait in the field. Therein are involved thus the very highest and deepest privileges that God could communicate to the souls of men on earth. The Holy Ghost is given for this as for other purposes. "His wife was barren, and bare not. Through highway robbery, the Shechemites created an atmosphere of insecurity and disorder, at the same time robbing Abimelech of his taxes (22-25). His heart was glad of a better living and of a larger sphere (verses 19, 20), as he goes off from the house of Micah with the lawless children of Dan to blot out Laish with fire and sword, and call their new city after their own name, where the graven image was set up, and a succession that failed not till the day of the captivity of the land; for error takes root faster, and bears fruit more luxuriantly as well as permanently than the truth. It was flying in the face of His law and word to have an idol; it was adding profane insult to enter on its worship with such ceremony as to get a Levite consecrated priest in order to invest it with solemnity. Then three thousand men of Judah went to the top of the rock Etam, and said to Samson, Knowest thou not that the Philistines are rulers over us?" for oil and wine were used both at God's altars and at men's tables. The reason which all these fruit-trees gave for their refusal was much the same. The bramble is a worthless plant, not to be numbered among the trees, useless and fruitless, nay, hurtful and vexatious, scratching and tearing, and doing mischief; it began with the curse, and its end is to be burned. . You come and reign over us! (Psalm 61:3). "And they said unto him, We are come down to bind thee, that we may deliver thee into the hand of the Philistines. is this the tribe that men praise? It was bad enough when Gideon had only three hundred that God would employ. 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. threescore and ten persons--A round number is used, but it is evident that two are wanting to complete that number. Judges 9:8 God Himself had ordered things so. And in Thebez there was a strong tower within the city, and all the men and women, fled to the tower there in Thebez. And go to sway over trees? In it, 1. In other words, let there come strife between the men of Shechem and Abimelech. Let none expect to do ill and fare well. More he knew not, nor wished to learn. 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 ). How triumphantly has it been done in Christ our Lord, but in how different a way! And what did Israel? So Abimelech and all the people who were with him rose by night, and lay in wait: Abimelech agreed with and followed the plan suggested by Zebul. unknown) Pilgrim - You ask "HOW one comes to know the words of God to the fullest?" . All promise, no performance. 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. 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. The king of Ammon might assail the Israelites, and renew the arbitrament of the sword, but he was unrighteous in demanding the land from Israel. 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].

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