Although the Hebrews were comparatively few in number, there are many notable victories in war written in their annals One of the most remarkable of these was that accomplished by the hand of Gideon in the valley running beneath the hill of Moreh, near Shechem. 1There, an army of Midianites and Amalekites as plentiful as locusts, with innumerable camels, was overthrown by the stratagem of no more than 300 men Amid the blowing of trumpets, the breaking of pitchers, and the glare of torches, the alien foes were thrown into such confusion that they turned their arms on each other The exploit was not accomplished, however, by human strength, but by the power of God, for the ranks of Gideon 32,000 strong at first had been reduced by Divine command to 10,000 by allowing those who did not want to fight to go home, and had again been diminished to 300, this being the number who lapped water with their hands as distinct from those who knelt down to drink.
Gideon followed up his initial success, slew the leaders of his people’s foes, and completely broke the Midianite power.
This great triumph naturally made Gideon, ‘who is Jerubbaal,” very popular among the people and there was an immediate move to make him king “Rule thou over us, both thou and thy son, and thy son’s son also for thou hast delivered us from the hand of Midian ” This honour Gideon, profiting by the lesson of the deliverance of Moreh, declined saying, “I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you, the Lord shall rule over you” Even during his lifetime, however, Gideon was not able to preserve the loyalty of the people to the Lord and when he was dead, his work was quickly undone and idolatry prevailed Those who had besought him to accept kingship for himself and his house, shewed the true value of their offer by their scant courtesy to his sons, seventy-one in number.
Seventy of the sons of Gideon appeared to accept, without aversion, their father’s refusal of loyalty, but the other one, Abimelech, son of a concubine, resident in Shechem, was more ambitious He perceived that the death of so strong a personality as Gideon had left a gap which no-one seemed to have the ability to fill Moreover he realized that the people were turning again to the worship of Baal and that a man of energy and bold planning might very easily head the movement locally and even make himself king in Shechem Allies also were ready to help Although Gideon had early in his career overthrown the altar of Baal and substituted the altar of God for it, there were many in Israel who had not agreed with his action The Baalites were particularly strong in the city of Shechem where Abimelech was born and where his mother and her kinsmen still lived. 2 Here they had established a temple dedicated to Baal-berith Abimelech addressed his first advances to his immediate kinsmen arguing that it was both absurd and uneconomical that seventy should endeavour to rule when one could rule so much better He reminded them of his own blood relationship to them, suggesting no doubt that it would be profitable to them to make him ruler.
Gathering his company he marched on Ophrah where his brothers lived and, before a hand could be lifted against him, they were slain on one stone as if in sacrifice to Baal-berith There was one important exception, however The youngest, Jotham, who was warned, hid himself, and escaped.
Abimelech had every reason to be satisfied It was true that he had won supremacy by treacherous shedding of blood, but he could feel that he had destroyed all serious rivals The warriors of Shechem, his followers, were triumphant Amid their acclamations he was escorted to the “plain (R V ‘oak’) of the pillar that was in Shechem and there he was crowned king.”
Shechem lay in a valley between two hills, Gerizim and Ebal, which had become famous during the time of Joshua when the blessings for obedience were proclaimed from the former by six tribes, and the curses for disobedience from the latter by the remaining six 3. At certain times, the human voice speaking from either height can be heard all through the valley.
History repeated itself in some measure on the day of Abimelech’s coronation Suddenly, during a lull in the ceremony, the sound of a human voice was heard coming from a rocky ledge of Gerizim, 800 feet up In mocking tones, Jotham, sole survivor of the seventy sons of Gideon, newly come from his hiding place, proclaimed his Parable 4.
“The trees went forth on a time to anoint a king over them and they said unto the olive tree, ‘Reign thou over us’ But the olive tree said unto them, “Should I leave my fatness, wherewith by me they honour God and men, and go to be promoted over the trees ?” And the trees said to the fig tree, ‘Come thou and reign over us ‘ But the fig tree said unto them, ‘Should I forsake my sweetness and my good fruit, and go to be promoted over the trees?’ Then said the trees unto the vine, ‘Come thou and reign over us’ And the vine said unto them, ‘Should I leave my wine, which cheereth God and man, to go to be promoted over the trees? Then said all the trees unto the bramble, ‘Come thou and reign over us’ And the bramble said to 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.
Before the astonished warriors could act, the voice continued, explaining the object of the parable.
If ye then have dealt truly and sincerely with Jerubbaal, and with his house this day, then rejoice ye in Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you But if not, let fire come out from Abimelech and devour the men of Shechem, and the house of Kilo, and let fire come out from the men of Shechem and from the house of Milo and devour Abimelech “
Jotham did not stay to see the effect of his words he fled and found refuge from the spite of Abimelech in the city of Beer.
The parable is of the fable type, in that the power of speech and human reasoning is attributed to trees; but its meaning is so clear that the people listening must have understood it without the explanation which Jotham gave They were the trees, and Abimelech was the chosen monarch The movement to be like the surrounding nations and be ruled by an earthly king, which was to culminate in the appointment of Saul, was already gathering force Gideon, as the expounder of the view, more powerfully enunciated later by Samuel, that the people needed no king but God, had been fighting a losing cause Abimelech understood this, but he was devoid of those qualities which would set a king securely on his throne and Jotham, by his language, indicated where he was lacking.
Jotham’s trees of refusal were well chosen Each had special attributes First, the olive, producer of anointing oil, which gave fatness to men and, as thought by Baal-worshippers, to the gods too, as the emblem of richness; then the fig tree, which gives good fruit, as the figure of sweetness, lastly, the vine, which bestows gladness and cheer, and is the token of energy Thus the trees, representing the qualities which could give peace and prosperity to the land, realized that they would be of more use fulfilling their proper functions than in waving their heads as lords over the trees.
Equally apt was his choice of the figure to represent the king who had been chosen Of all the trees that might be selected for supremacy over their fellows, the bramble or thorn bush (see Psalms 58-9) was the least worthy of consideration Its barren uselessness and its power to tear and wound made it a fit representative of the ambitious and cruel Abimelech, with his demand that, if they will make him king, they shall trust in his shadow, high and low, strong and weak, shall submit unconditionally to him.
For three years such allegiance was his, but there was no true confidence between him and the Shechemites.
At the three year’s end, the men of of Shechem found another leader in Gaal, the son of Ebad “Who is Abi-melech? ‘ they cried, and raised the standard of revolt Abimelech showed them who he was First, in a full days battle against Shechem, he took and razed it to the ground, and later destroyed by fire the temple of Baal-berith, together with a thousand men and women who were sheltering in it Pushing his conquests, he took all of the city of Thebez, 13 miles away, except its tower In his endeavor to complete his victory, however, a woman, dropping a millstone from the tower, cracked his skull and, to avoid the shame of being killed by a woman, he persuaded his armour-bearer to slay him Thus, fire from Abimelech destroyed those who made him king and fire from them destroyed him The curse of Jotham was fulfilled.
It is noteworthy that although contemptible in himself, such was the power for evil which Abimelech possessed that many more important and worthy persons than he were brought to ruin by him, his fire devoured the cedars of Lebanon.
The lessons of Jotham’s parable clearly had its first application for those who heard him declaim it, but suggested indirectly by it are lessons for us Our characters are formed as the result of the unabated warfare of good and evil within us If we are able to bring ourselves Into subjection to the virtues of spiritual richness, sweetness and energy, often seemingly unwilling rulers, we can find peace and joy in the spirit, but if we surrender to the barren bramble of falseness, only too ready to assume authority, we may find satisfaction for a time, only to suffer later tearing and wounding and destruction as by fire.
A further encouragement arises from the story of Abimelech In evil he was triumphant, yet he fell in the fulness of his powers His experience is that of all evil The battle for righteousness is never lost There is always some means left, typified in this instance by the escape of the youngest son, whereby the cause of truth is kept alive until ultimate victory So we look beyond this present evil world, to the time when, by the means of His own devising and preservation, Jesus His Son, God will bring forth judgment unto victory
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One