Today's Reading: Judges 9:1-21

 

A Corrupt Power Grab

Gideon had about seventy sons. One of these, Abimelech, was not a full-blooded Israelite, for his mother was a Shechemite. The Shechemites were a group of Canaanites who lived peaceably among the Israelites. During the times of the Judges in Israel, Abilimelech, developed a thirst for power.  He decided he wanted to...

displace the Judges and become the ‘king’ of Israel. And so, he convinced the men of Shechem that they should come against the sons of Gideon and wipe them all out.  With the help of some ruthless Shechemites, Abimelech killed all his brothers (except one who escaped) and established himself as ‘king’ in Shechem. In reality, his ‘kingdom’ probably consisted only of Shechem and a few towns nearby.

Jotham was the one brother who escaped Abimelech’s brutal power grab.  And Jotham had some choice words for the leaders of Schechem.  He went to the top of Mount Gerizim, which sits above the city of Shechem and it is sort of a natural amphitheater. From the top of Gerizim you can call down in the valley and they can hear you quite plainly. The acoustics were really fantastic.

From the top of the mountain, Jotham shouted out his words of rebuke to the elders and leaders of Shechem. Actually, he preached a powerful message to them using a parable about trees.  The trees wanted to make a ‘king-tree’ to rule over them, so they spoke to an olive tree, a fig tree, a grapevine, and a tumbleweed.  In turn, they asked each of these to become their king.  And, in turn, they were turned down by the trees pointing out that they were more valuable in their current position than they ever would be as the ‘king.’

The point of Jotham’s message was this: they have chosen a lousy ‘king.’  If he were a “true leader” he would be way more concerned with giving useful and honorable service to others than with seeking power.  They have chosen poorly.  They fell under Abilimelech’s spell and failed to use righteous criteria when choosing their leader.  They have betrayed Gideon and his family and have now ended up with a power-hungry, corrupt murderer as their king.  And for that, they are going to pay.

Jotham tells the leaders of Shechem to analyze the decision they have just made. If they acted in good faith and integrity when they made Abimelech king - then fine, they have done well – and they should rejoice in their decision.  But if not - then watch out – there will be dire consequences to their choice.  Fire is going to come down on you and devour you for your poor decision.

The lesson for us is that God exalts the humble and humbles the proud.  Whenever we choose a leader, we must always use righteous criteria to make our choice.  A person’s charisma and persuasiveness and authoritativeness must not be the criteria we use.  It is their humility and righteous character that must guide our choice. The reality is, if a person is being promoted by God, they will not be seeking the promotion.  They will not be power hungry.  They will be faithfully serving their community and God will do the promoting.  The true leader will see as much value in their current position as a servant to others than in being made ‘king.’