judges 9:8 15 explanation

And the oxen, as he would go around, would pull the stick and it would cause this millstone to go around the groove. 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 ). WebIn Judges 9:8-15, Jotham conveys a message about the trees speaking amongst themselves while seeking a king. 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. communed . In the instance before us it was an extraordinary Nazariteship, stretching through the whole life. 1 - 6. This would have the effect of reducing the number of travelers and caravans in such a troubled area, thus emptying the pockets of Abimelech as well as hitting as his pride, for he could not guarantee the safety of travel in his domain. (Cundall), Now Gaal the son of Ebed came with his brothers and went over to Shechem; and the men of Shechem put their confidence in him. If the Amorite got them from Ammon in the first instance, as was no doubt the fact, this was an affair not between Israel and Ammon, but between Ammon and Sihon. . If I do not trust it in everything, I can trust it in nothing. He was crucified in weakness, but rose in the power of God; but there, instead of folly, instead of shame, instead of unhallowed alliance with the enemies of God, how does unsullied perfection shine in Him of whom we boast! Thus in fact Sihon had assailed the Israelites against their will, who had taken the land from him. Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers, Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament. 21. if a man attempts: to put himself under it for shelter, he will find it will be of no use to him, but harmful, since, the nearer and closer he comes to it, the more he will be scratched and torn by it: and if not, let fire come out of the bramble, and devour the cedars of Lebanon; signifying, that if they did not heartily submit to his government, and put confidence in him, and prove faithful to him, they should smart for it, and feel his wrath and vengeance, even the greatest men among them, comparable to the cedars of Lebanon; for thorns and brambles catching fire, as they easily do, or fire being put to them, as weak as they are, and placed under the tallest and strongest cedars, will soon fetch them down to the ground; and the words of the bramble, or Abimelech, proved true to the Shechemites, he is made to speak in this parable. Does the Bible Condemn Using Tarot Cards? 1. And if unbelief be probed home, it comes to this: it is a virtual denial of God's veracity, of His revelation, if not of His being. Click to enable/disable _gat_* - Google Analytics Cookie. Of course, that's where Jesus was addressing so many people, and also they're at the Temple Mount where Jesus addressed so many people.So this Jotham, son of Gideon, the one that Abimelech didn't kill, went up to the top of Mount Gerizim, and here is Shechem down below. Phinehas, we know, was alive during the days of the wilderness, being the leader against Midian before Moses died, and one of those that crossed the Jordan. Should I cease my new wine, 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. I have been reading/studying the Bible all my life; I am now 74 years old and in a wheelchair. b. The Shechemites who supported him were also destroyed, as Jotham had predicted (50-57). By contrast Abimelech is like a bramble: he can give neither shelter nor protection. There is no difference as to form. Let fire come out of the bramble A strong catachresis. Judges Commentary What he felt was that these lands had once been his lands, and that the children of Israel now possessed them. . 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? Let none expect to do ill and fare well. c. Where indeed is your mouth now: When Zebul knew that Gaal was at a disadvantage, he could not resist rebuking him for his proud, arrogant words against Abimelech, an enemy he could not defeat. saying, Shall I go up again to battle against the children of Benjamin, my brother?" The title of the children of Israel therefore to that land was indefeasible. 2018 David Guzik No distribution beyond personal use without permission. Alas! 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." . Gideon had left many sons that were an honour to his name and family, and these they had barbarously murdered; one son he had left that was the blemish of his name and family, for he was the son of his maid-servant, whom all that had any respect to Gideon's honour would endeavour to conceal, yet him they made their king. . i. 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. As ever you hope to obtain God's favour, and to be accepted of him, give me a patient and impartial hearing." Whatever might have been his low state through unchecked animal nature, whatever his delinquencies before, so long as he kept his secret with God, strength never failed him from God, be the strain what it might. Enduring Word Bible Commentary Judges Chapter 9 You'd never come up for sure.Well now there was this woman in the tower and she had a piece of a millstone. 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 fig-tree must lose its sweetness, its sweet retirement, sweet repose, and sweet conversation and contemplation, if it go to be promoted over the trees, and must undergo a constant fatigue. . There was then "a man of mount Ephraim whose name was Micah," who, not satisfied with carrying out the impiety of his mother in making a graven and a molten image of silver dedicated to Jehovah, for this purpose gets a Levite to be consecrated as his priest. And Abimelech dwelt in Arumah: and Zebul thrust out Gaal with his brothers, that they should not dwell in Shechem. You come and reign over us! i. It is chiseled out to where it's round, has a hole in the middle of it and then the stick or the post would go through the center of the millstone and it would roll. Judges 9:9. After this bold warning he ran away and fled for fear of his life. 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 Canaanites might have retreated from it; the Ammonites might have sought other lands. ', 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. Meanwhile the man, morally speaking, is ruined his testimony to His name being worse than lost. He could, if he had reflected, hardly expect an ox or a sheep to walk out of the house. But He knows how to wake them up from such disgraceful insensibility. You can also change some of your preferences. . It was not merely that the people were unworthily oppressed by the Ammonites, but Jephthah does not venture to go to war, nor does the Spirit of God clothe him with energy for the conflict, until he had the certainty in his soul that the cause was a righteous one, and this founded upon the dealings of God with the children of Israel and with Ammon respectively. There is something about the elastic atmosphere of an Eastern clime which causes it to transmit sound with wonderful celerity and distinctness [HACKETT]. stood in the top of mount Gerizim and lifted up his voice--The spot he chose was, like the housetops, the public place of Shechem; and the parable [ Judges 9:8-15 ] drawn from the rivalry of the various trees was appropriate to the diversified foliage of the valley below. I do not myself doubt that it was put in the broadest way. "And so he convinced the men of Shechem that they should come against the sons of Gideon and wipe them all out. Still more is what follows; for God fails not to deal with us on our own ground. * Yet there is little reason to suppose that the exile of the land means Shalmaneser's, but rather under the Philistines; for it was merely all the time the house of God was in Shiloh. ., and the men of Shechem put their confidence in him--An insurrection of the original Canaanites, headed by this man, at last broke out in Shechem. Then Abimelech and the company that was with him rushed forward and stood at the entrance of the gate of the city; and the other two companies rushed upon all who were in the fields and killed them. Thus men boast of a false gift. Judges 9 Bible Commentary - Matthew Henry (concise) - Christianity One man who is your brother who comes right of Shechem, who understands your needs and all or all of the sons of Jerubbaal? Alas! But now this shall be the thing which we will do to Gibeah; we will go up by lot against it; and we will take ten men of an hundred throughout all the tribes of Israel, and an hundred of a thousand, and a thousand out of ten thousand, to fetch victual for the people, that they may do, when they come to Gibeah of Benjamin, according to all the folly that they have wrought in Israel. Samson stands alone; of Israel none with him, as with the others before him. They were filled with thoughts of destruction against Benjamin, and the remembrance that he was their brother had not even entered their minds before. Obviously the bramble represented Abimelech, the trees and vine more noble individuals, and the cedars of Lebanon the upright leaders of Shechem. came with his brethren . Serve the men of Hamor the father of Shechem; but why should we serve him? 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. One could understand three thousand men of the Philistines; but to what a deplorable pass in Israel were things come, when three thousand men of the worthiest tribe were thus obedient to the Philistines, and joined against the strong deliverer to hand him over, bound a prisoner, to the tender mercies of those that hated him and despised them! On them came the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal: God had warned the men of Shechem through Jotham. Nevertheless they were beaten the next day; for they must be disciplined before the Lord before He could use them to deal with their brother. For "the righteous Lord loveth righteousness"; and in its measure it is very striking to see the way in which this came out even in the case of the worldly uncircumcised enemy. Men then, as now, feel not for a lie or a libel of God; they are sensitive when their own rights are touched. Undoubtedly there are many things in scripture of which we are ignorant; but then we are not entitled to interpret the word of God by ourselves. Abimelech, one of Gideon's numerous sons, was connected with that place. So Abimelech rose up, and all the people that were with him, by night, and they laid wait at Shechem and four companies. And they answered, To bind Samson are we come up, to do to him as he hath done to us. Degraded to the utmost, Samson becomes their sport as well as their slave. Israel had not taken these lands from Ammon at all They had taken them from the Amorite. There is such a thing as to be taught of God. The curse I doubt that any believer, without inspiration, would have felt it desirable to write that verse, and many more, as God has done it. Through highway robbery, the Shechemites created an atmosphere of insecurity and disorder, at the same time robbing Abimelech of his taxes (22-25). WebLet us read the parable. From the top of Gerizim you can call down in the valley and they can hear you quite plainly, sort of a natural amphitheater. And it came to pass on the next day, that the people went out into the field; and they told Abimelech. He hereby exposes the ridiculous ambition of Abimelech, whom he compares to the bramble or thistle, Judges 9:14; Judges 9:14. "Then the Philistines went up, and pitched in Judah, and spread themselves in Lehi. His application is very close and plain. We fully respect if you want to refuse cookies but to avoid asking you again and again kindly allow us to store a cookie for that. 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 commentators observe it for a just hand of God upon Abimelech, that upon one stone he had slain his seventy brethren, and now a stone slayeth him: his head had stolen the crown of Israel, and now his head is smitten. (Trapp). But Jotham hid himself. Judges 9:8 Commentaries: "Once the trees went forth to anoint a king over them, and they said to the olive tree, 'Reign over us!' The trees went forth on a time to anoint a king over them; and they said unto the olive tree, Reign thou over us. (8) The trees went forth. Trust in his shadow!--more likely to be scratched if they came near him--more likely to be injured by him than benefited. There is no difficulty in principle either way. To Samson, as we see, it was far different. You come and reign over us! So Gaal spake again and said, Look there are people coming down by the middle of the land, another company is coming along the plain of Meonenim. We have nothing like a Moses in Samson. Now Mount Gerizim is a pretty good, you know, climb to get up to the top of the mountain and he knew that he had a good running distance on the guy. And Samson said unto them, Swear unto me, that ye will not fall upon me yourselves." The people, apparently confident that the matter was concluded, went out into the fields as usual to engage in their daily occupations. (Cundall). WebHebrews 8:7-9 Commentary Hebrews 8:10-11 Commentary Hebrews 8:12-13 Commentary Hebrews 9:1-2 Commentary Hebrews 9:3-5 Commentary Hebrews 9:6-7 Commentary Hebrews 9:8-10 Commentary Hebrews 9:11-12 Commentary Hebrews 9:13-14 Commentary Hebrews 9:15-17 Commentary Hebrews 9:18-20 Commentary 5 Samson went down to Timnah. Abimelech son of Jerub-Baal went to Shechem to his uncles and all his mothers relatives and said to them, Ask all the leading men of Shechem, What do you think is best, that seventy men rule youal And Abimelech the son of Jerubbaal went to Shechem to his mothers relatives, and spoke to them and to the whole clan of the This was an ungodly leader given to an ungodly people, who first rejected Gods leadership over the nation and then embraced a cruel and brutal man. i. But Jotham the youngest son of Jerubbaal was left, because he hid himself. And it was of the greatest importance that His people should be trained in this. We see a man, not without faith indeed (Hebrews 11:32), though his confidence was largely in the strength with which God had invested him, rather than in Him who would yet prove Himself the sole source of it; a man who was roused by personal affront and desire of vengeance, not by a solemn duty; a man who slowly and weakly wakes up to any sense of his mission, who is ever too ready to sink down again into the lowest indulgence of fallen nature among the enemy. That God may listen to you! As long as the world is under the usurped rule of the enemy of God, the path of obedience must always be one of suffering, and this, I may add, increasingly, as we see in Him. So in this rash vow says Jephthah, "it shall be that whatsoever," etc. 50 - 57. Even if God interfere and produce the direct opposite of the fleshly enjoyment which self-will had sought, it is in no way to the man's praise if God effects his purposes by his acts, spite of wrong and folly. They did not believe that God would enforce His claims. . God's Word is the Truth see John 17:17). The answer however was incorrect. But alas! Bad as were the features we have seen, we have to see even worse still; yet he was heard and answered when he called. It was a great way about, and extremely inconvenient. 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. We should each consider if God is warning us about something in the present time. 3. Not so: they took the insult patiently; and these were persons who were called to be the witnesses of earthly righteousness. Grave truth! "So they came to the fig trees and said, "Rule over us." Brambles bore no fruit and offered no shelter or protection. Our website uses cookies to store user preferences. It was not for their lives, but for the truth He confessed, that His own people would have Him die. So it was. 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. Hey, no he wasn't so meek and mild. These cookies are strictly necessary to provide you with services available through our website and to use some of its features. Judges 9:8 - Bible Verse Meaning and Commentary He fought their battles, at the hazard of his own life, and to their unspeakable advantage. "For the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb: and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.". Then Abimelech dwelt at Arumah, and Zebul drove out Gaal and his brothers, so that they would not dwell in Shechem. he fell, as did Adam at the beginning, and all since save one Christ. The result in the type alas! a. i. Then the trees said to the fig tree, The result was that the Amorite lost his land. What a picture of the true state of things! Eastern people are exceedingly fond of parables and use them for conveying reproofs, which they could not give in any other way. If God permits him for a season to do his own will, what shame and pain he must reap ere long! Since these providers may collect personal data like your IP address we allow you to block them here. He decided to teach his subjects a lesson. ., p. Judges 9:8 He aggravates their unkindness to his father's family. "It shall be that whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me." ". What a wonderful understanding of God that we can obtain from Judges 9:8-15 if we take the time to learn obedience to the Word is preferred over following the traditions of men. A certain woman dropped an upper millstone on Abimelechs head and crushed his skull: At Thebez, a woman dropped a millstone on Abimelechs head and mortally wounded him. WebJudges 9:8-15 New International Version 8 One day the trees went out to anoint a king for themselves. 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. We ought to be serving Hamor and his family, let them be the kings. 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. is that, whatever might be the victory over the lion and whatever the sweetness of the honey, the effort to connect himself with the woman of Timnath turns out no small trouble to the man of might, whose anger was kindled at the treachery which sold his riddle, and, when his wife was given to the companion he had used as his friend, issued in such vexation for the Philistines as is known to us all. But what a God we have to do with, as Samson had! 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. WebJudges 14:5-7. Jotham, the brother who escaped, warned the Shechemites in a parable of the trouble they would bring upon themselves. Now he said, You have done a good thing, great. But this was far from the true and full history of the case. They will get you Baptized. Judges 9 And so he's lying there and he says to his armourbearer, "Quick, thrust me through. In the latter case it is nothing but flesh, which becomes manifest in the long run; but even in the case of him who is truthful, whatever is carnal, whatever lets out that nature which is already judged, the confession of whose judgment is the very starting-point of a Christian, but which it is his calling to act upon and treat as a dead and condemned thing to the end if he forgets this, then, in the measure in which he does so, it brings in that which the Lord must infallibly deal with. 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. Who's Abimelech? And he said to them: Listen to me, you men of Shechem, 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. They need not be at the trouble. WebGod tells us every human life has value. For what can be more humiliating than that one's death should be more important than one's life?

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