Joel M Bradshaw

7When it was told to Jotham, he went and stood on top of Mount Gerizim and cried aloud and said to them, “Listen to me, you leaders of Shechem, that God may listen to you. 8The trees once went out to anoint a king over them, and they said to the olive tree, ‘Reign over us.’ 9But the olive tree said to them, ‘Shall I leave my abundance, by which gods and men are honored, and go hold sway over the trees?’ 10And the trees said to the fig tree, ‘You come and reign over us.’

11But the fig tree said to them, ‘Shall I leave my sweetness and my good fruit and go hold sway over the trees?’ 12And the trees said to the vine, ‘You come and reign over us.’ 13But the vine said to them, ‘Shall I leave my wine that cheers God and men and go hold sway over the trees?’ 14Then all the trees said to the bramble, ‘You come and reign over us.’ 15And the bramble said to the trees, ‘If in good faith you are anointing me king over you, then come and take refuge in my shade, but if not, let fire come out of the bramble and devour the cedars of Lebanon.’–Judges 9

Jotham was the lone survivor of the family massacre of the 70 sons of Gideon. Abimelech divided, conquered, and won the game of thrones to see himself in power.

In the fable, the trees go out to anoint a king over themselves and approach four different plants (the first three have important value in the agricultural society of the day, producing valuable products). Each plant is offered the throne, but the olive tree, the fig tree, and the vine decline the offer. Finally, the trees approach a thornbush, and its reply is absurdly weird.

How was a tree going to take refuge in the shade of a lowly thornbush? Furthermore, the bush would offer hardly any shade at all! Plus, good luck doing so without being torn by the thorns! How could fire come out of a thorny plant to burn the entire forest? Where was Jotham going with this? Jotham was implying that since the trees (the people of Shechem) have done the absurdity of trying to make the thornbush (Abimelech) king, then perhaps fire will come out of the thornbush and consume them all!

We all at times make or have made decisions that are shaky. We make concessions that are morally dubious. The decisions we make illustrate the desires we hold onto most. The fallout after the Gideon story still highlights the moral failure of Gideon’s leadership.

So what do your decisions say about your faith and trust in God? The book of Judges is about what happened when people do what is right in their own eyes. It’s a lesson for us all.–JMB