judges 9:8 15 explanation

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? Jehovah listens, and His angel appears to the woman, who summons her husband, when both see the angel as he repeats his message with its solemn injunction. Having finished his message Jotham fled to Beer (lit. The ruin of Christianity was when two systems so distinct got confounded. WebJudges 9:8-15 New International Version 8 One day the trees went out to anoint a king for themselves. Abimelech the son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem--The idolatry which had been stealthily creeping into Israel during the latter years of Gideon was now openly professed; Shechem was wholly inhabited by its adherents; at least, idolaters had the ascendency. WebLet us read the parable. Scripture does not in any way vouch for the immaculateness of those even who wrought in faith. Let us not think it strange if we see folly set in great dignity (Ecclesiastes 10:6), and the vilest men exalted (Psalms 12:8), and men blind to their own interest in the choice of their guides. God sent a spirit of ill will between Abimelech and the men of Shechem: Everything seemed fine between the men of Shechem and Abimelech for three years. Is it possible to conceive a conjuncture of its kind more humiliating? He not only turned with the grossest insults on their speech, but fell on themselves, and slew at the passage of Jordan forty and two thousand men of one of the chief tribes of Israel. In all ordinary cases a Nazarite was one who had taken a peculiar vow of separation to God, but lasting only for a short time. And he sent messengers to Abimelech secretly, saying, Take note! We could not go lower than Samson; but we have what was. The reason which all these fruit-trees gave for their refusal was much the same. None could "reign" in Israel, except by rebellious usurpation; and hence the reign of Abimelech is expressed in the original by a word signifying "despotism," not that which describes the mild and divinely authorized rule of the judge. Our website uses cookies to store user preferences. I have been reading/studying the Bible all my life; I am now 74 years old and in a wheelchair. or, as the margin reads it, go up and down for the trees? 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. Those that bear fruit for the public good are justly respected and honoured by all that are wise more than those that affect to make a figure. Let fire come out of the bramble A strong catachresis. Now the house was full of men and women; and all the lords of the Philistines were there; and there were upon the roof about three thousand men and women, that beheld while Samson made sport. And he said unto them, As they did unto me, so have I done unto them." The top of Gerizim is not so high in the rear of the town, as it is nearer to the plain. And as naturally as possible too they take it. But again, "And it came to pass afterward that he loved a woman in the valley of Sorek, whose name was Delilah." And so when Zebul the ruler of the city heard the words of Gaal the son of Ebed, his anger was kindled. In other words, let there come strife between the men of Shechem and Abimelech. They need not be at the trouble. Gideon had rejected, with abhorrence, the proposal to make himself or any of his family king, and there is no evidence that any of his other sons coveted the title. WebThe bramble said to the trees, If in truth you are anointing me as king over you, come and take refuge in my shade; but if not, may fire come out from the bramble and This was as if a man should run into a stack of straw or barrel of gunpowder, to secure himself from a raging fire. 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. "Then went Samson to Gaza, and saw there an harlot;" yet here, though fallen lower than ever, we find power put forth under these deplorable circumstances. Brambles bore no fruit and offered no shelter or protection. Then Abimelech the son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem, to his mothers brothers, and spoke with them and with all the family of the house of his mothers father, saying, Please speak in the hearing of all the men of Shechem: Which is better for you, that all seventy of the sons of Jerubbaal reign over you, or that one reign over you? Remember that I am your own flesh and bone. And his mothers brothers spoke all these words concerning him in the hearing of all the men of Shechem; and their heart was inclined to follow Abimelech, for they said, He is our brother.. And all of the men of Shechem gathered together, and all the house of Millo, and they went, and made Abimelech king, by the plain of the pillar that was in Shechem. But, (2.) See Psalm 58:9. if ye in trust anoint me king over you; suspecting they were not hearty and cordial in their choice and call to the kingly authority over them: then come and put your trust in my shadow; promising protection to them as his subjects, requiring their confidence in him, and boasting of the good they should receive from him, as is common with wicked princes at their first entering on their office; but, alas! Here the rashness of the man enters the scene, the consequence of which is a display of what was painful in the extreme. Otherwise you will be prompted again when opening a new browser window or new a tab. ', 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. Is not this an instructive as well as striking fact? But the fig tree said to them, Joatham . So whomsoever Jehovah our God shall drive out from before us, them will we possess. Pride, look what it would do, even when you're dying, you know. And Abimelech dwelt in Arumah: and Zebul thrust out Gaal with his brothers, that they should not dwell in Shechem. Jotham may have hidden in some empty well for a long time (cf. And the angel of Jehovah appeared unto the woman" with the promise that a child should be born, at the same time enjoining that she was to drink no wine nor strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing; and that, when the child was born, no razor was to come upon his head. But God takes means to make them feel what such a state comes to. Then Abimelech dwelt at Arumah, and Zebul drove out Gaal and his brothers, so that they would not dwell in Shechem. With the advantage of their superior position, Abimelech and his soldiers drove out Gaal and his men. Often God finds a way to do it both in this life and the life to come. His very birth was peculiar, and the circumstances too before it; for there never had been as yet a time when Israel had been so enslaved; and undoubtedly the deliverer, as we have traced regularly hitherto, so here again to the last, is seen to be according to the estate of the people, with whatever might or success God might be pleased to clothe him. "And after a time he returned to take her, and he turned aside to see the carcase of the lion: and, behold, there was a swarm of bees and honey in the carcase of the lion. "And they said unto him, We are come down to bind thee, that we may deliver thee into the hand of the Philistines. 1. gat them up to the top of the tower--The Canaanite forts were generally mountain fastnesses or keeps, and they often had a strong tower which served as a last refuge. 21 And Jotham ran away, and fled, and went to Beer, and dwelt there, for fear of Abimelech his brother. I doubt that any believer, without inspiration, would have felt it desirable to write that verse, and many more, as God has done it. Not without faith, he was a combatant ready to fight the Philistines at any odds. We do not find in Samson the generous disinterestedness of grace that could suffer affliction with the people of God, and is willing to be a sacrifice upon that faith. And in Thebez there was a strong tower within the city, and all the men and women, fled to the tower there in Thebez. So it was a pretty good-sized tower, actually. The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous run to it and are safe (Proverbs 18:10). . Planted in orchards they look not unlike apple trees, but the leaves are slender like willow leaves and silvery as they are turned up by the wind. I am far from doubting that God wrought in him whom He had made the champion of His people. So it was. Should I cease my sweetness and my good fruit, Thus there was an arrest on the road. WebJudges Commentary - Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole Bible (Complete) Bible Study Tools Join PLUS Login. I don't want them, I don't want them to say a woman killed me." Let fire come out - The propriety of the image is strictly preserved, for even the thorns of the worthless bramble might kindle a flame which would burn the stately cedars to the ground. You said, you know, if he were just here I'd handle him.". Jotham (lit. We are not in a position to deal with another until God has dealt with that which is contrary to His name in our own soul; and so it was that the men of Benjamin were utterly smitten and well-nigh exterminated. "As they did unto me, so have I done unto them." or that one reign over you--a false insinuation, artfully contrived to stir up jealousy and alarm. Should we not then rejoice in the Lord? But returning from this to the simple tale of Samson's life, I take it as the plain fact that God meant us to learn that He saw fit at that time to deliver by an unworthy instrument, by a man who showed how low he was, if only by the moral incongruity of an Israelitish Nazarite seeking a wife from the fiercest of Israel's uncircumcised enemies. 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. Such a one was Abimelech, and yet chosen to the government by the trees, by all the trees; this election seems to have been more unanimous than any of the others. So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life." Be it remarked, that what drew out their unanimous condemnation was not an outrage done to God's name. His father and mother remonstrate in vain. They did not wish to quarrel with the king of Heshbon, Amorite as he was, unless he were actually in the holy land; but it was of God that these Amorites, to their own ruin, would not let them pass peaceably through. But we are sanctified by the Spirit unto the obedience and the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus, and are called to obey, as the wife her husband. It was a sign they had provoked God to depart from them that neither any prophet was sent nor any remarkable judgment, to awaken this stupid people, and to stop the progress of this threatening mischief. In it, 1. ABIMELECH IS MADE KING BY THE SHECHEMITES. But alas! Put your trust in my shadow.The mean leaves and bristling thorns of the rhamnus could afford no shadow to speak of, and even such as they could afford would be dangerous; but the fable is full of fine and biting irony. In him we have a man who took advantage of the reputation for the power of God that had wrought by his father; but where anything of the sort is used for self, and not for God, bitter disappointment must be the result; and if there be anything more marked than another in his history, it is the solemnity of divine retribution. Now he said, You have done a good thing, great. for oil and wine were used both at God's altars and at men's tables. Could they therefore suppose that such a low-born, uneducated, cruel, and murderous man, could be a proper protector, or a humane governor? For objections against scripture are always the creation of unbelief. "And it came to pass when their hearts were merry that they said, Call for Samson, that he may make us sport. There was the plainest proof of what God could be, even where there was but one man to work by; but this very fact showed to what a depth was Israel now sunk.

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