1. (Judges 9:7-15) The parable of the trees
Now when they told Jotham, he went and stood on the top of Mount Gerizim, and lifted his voice and called out. Thus he said to them, "Listen to me, O men of Shechem, that God may listen to you. Once the trees went forth to anoint a king over them, and they said to the olive tree, 'Reign over us!' But the olive tree said to them, 'Shall I leave my fatness with which God and men are honored, and go to wave over the trees?' Then the trees said to the fig tree, 'You come, reign over us!' But the fig tree said to them, 'Shall I leave my sweetness and my good fruit, and go to wave over the trees?' then the trees said to the vine, 'You come, reign over us!' But the vine said to them, 'Shall I leave my new wine, which cheers God and men, and go to wave over the trees?' Finally all the trees said to the bramble, 'You come, reign over us! The 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 our from the bramble and consume the cedars of Lebanon.'"
Now when they told Jotham, he went and stood on top of Mount Gerizim: In verse seven, when the surviving son, Jotham, heard of his half-brother's coronation, he took a very strange action. He climbed up to Mount Gerizim and from there shouted a prophetic parable as a curse upon Abimelech and the people who made him their king. Recall Shechem lay at the base of the twin mountains, Ebal and Gerizim. So, Gerizim was an appropriate place for this oracle. Almost two centuries earlier, Joshua stood on this same spot and reconfirmed Israel's covenant with God. Now, Jotham would use it as his pulpit.
Listen to me, O men of Shechem: In the second half of verse seven, the wording literally says, "Shema men of Shechem that elohim might shema onto you." Shema is the Hebrew word often translated into English as "hear". But, it has a much, much deeper meaning than this. Shema means to not only hear, but to listen and obey. Shema demands action and is not just passive acknowledgment.
Example 1: A father tells his son to take out the trash. The son remains on the couch playing video games. An hour later, the father says, "Didn't I tell you to take out the garbage." The son replies, "Yeah, yeah. I heard you."
This is NOT shema. The son heard, but he did not do anything.
Example 2: A father tells his son to take out the trash. The son obediently takes out the garbage.
This IS shema. The son heard the command, obeyed and took action.
It is also interesting to note Jotham used the generic word of that day for God, elohim, instead of calling God by his formal name. By doing so, each man could fill in the blank of whom he regarded as his god. Remember, Jotham was talking to an audience of Canaanites, fallen Israelites and people of mixed heritage and spiritual loyalties.
Next begins an interesting parable which would have been easily understood by those who heard him. It was also memorable enough to be accurately communicated to others not present.
Once the trees went forth: The trees represent a group of people. In this case, it is the citizens of Shechem. They decide to anoint a king over them. They invite an olive tree to be their king. It declines. Next, the trees offer the job to a fig tree. It also rejects it. After that, they ask a grape vine to rule over them. It too declines. Having failed at finding one willing to be the king, they approach a bramble. The bramble responds that it would be honored to be their king, but there is a catch.
Olive tree: The olive tree produces oil for the glory of God and for use by men. God created it for this purpose, and it is a high calling. So the olive tree says it will not give up its calling merely to leisurely wave to and fro over some other trees. It would be a waste of its purpose and gifting.
The fig tree: The fig tree explains that God created it to produce wonderful sweet fruit for eating. Figs were the staple food of that region and highly prized. The fig tree says why would it leave its production of sweetness and goodness behind just to rule over some other trees.
The vine: The vine produces grapes. Like the olive tree, it is used to bring joy to God and man. To God, it produces the libation offering (wine) which is necessary for many sacrifices and celebrations. For man, it was the principle beverage in virtually every home. It soothed the stomach, tasted wonderful and brought an extra measure of joy to parties and celebrations. The vine says why should it exchange such a wonderful purpose and privilege simply to be above some trees.
The trees were asking the olive, fig and grapevine to leave behind their God-ordained usefulness in exchange for what men see as a higher social status. Wise men understand to take on a leadership role MUST be the role God intended for them. It should not just be a personal ambition or done with the wrong motives. Furthermore, it is always best and more satisfying to be used for the purpose one was created rather than wishing we were created for another and different purpose which men see as more important. To abandon our God-given gifts and assignment in His kingdom in favor of something which personally pleases us or other men is a terrible misuse of those gifts.
Our value to the Kingdom is and will always be in whom God made us to be. It is not in how the world sees us or how we would prefer to see ourselves in the world. True contentment and peace is to discover those divine gifts and purposes and abide in them all the days of our lives for the good service to God and mankind.
The bramble: The trees of Jotham's parable had thus far failed to find a king. So, they went to what they saw as their last resort: the bramble. The bramble is the lowest grade of plant life. Any position would be considered a promotion. The bramble is hard, full of thorns and stickers and lies like a carpet on the surface of the ground. A bramble produces no fruit and no joy. It is worthless. However, it can cause harm and be a menace to farmers and other plants. It was especially dangerous during the summer months when it turned brittle and dry. It could easily catch fire and spreads at an amazing rate driven by hot winds. When it burns, it can ignite other plants as well.
The bramble agrees to be the trees' king. But they must come down and "take refuge in my shade". Additionally, if they confer kingship on it but will not take shelter in its shade, then the bramble will burn those trees down. Of course, what is portrayed here is an absurdity of sorts. Brambles cling so closely to the ground that they produce no usable shade.
The reference of the parable to the bramble burning down the cedars of Lebanon is that the cedars were considered the grandest and greatest of all the trees in the Middle East. Therefore, the bramble is saying its fiery wrath at those who will not submit to the shelter in its shade is so great that even the greatest of the trees will be destroyed.
2. (Judges 9:16-21) Jotham applies the parable: the city of Shechem will be repaid for choosing such a worthless man
Now therefore, if you have dealt in truth and integrity in making Abimelech the king, and if you have dealt well with Jerubbaal and his house, and have dealt with him as he deserved--for my father fought for you and risked his life and delivered you from the hand of the Midian; but you have risen against my father's house today and have killed his sons, seventy men, on one stone, and have made Abimelech, the son of his maidservant, king over the men of Shechem, because he is your relative--if then you have dealt in truth and integrity with Jerubbaal and his house this day, rejoice in Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you. But if not, let fire come out from Abimelech and consume the men of Shechem and Beth-millo; and let fire come out from the men of Shechem and from Beth-millo, and consume Abimelech. Then Jotham escaped and fled, and went to Beer and remained there because of Abimelech his brother.
If you have dealt in truth and integrity: Next comes the curse. Jotham says if the people have done a righteous thing in anointing Abimelech and have been honest and fair with Jerubbaal's (Gideon's) family and descendants, then all will be good and well. This is how it should be since whether the citizens of Shechem were Canaanites, Israelites or foreigners, Jotham's father Gideon risked his life for their benefit. Everyone in the land of Canaan suffered when the Midianites and Amalekites came and stole the harvests and anything else they could get their hands on.
Of course this was a sarcastic monologue. All who were present understood what had taken place. Jotham reminds the people of Shechem that they were complicit in killing all of Gideon's sons except for himself and Abimelech. Jotham goes on to say that Abimelech was a bastard son, the son of a slave-girl owned by Gideon. The point of all this was an insult. Abimelech's mother was not a slave-girl. Moreover, Jotham says that this bastard king is your (Shechem's) blood relative; so they are responsible for his actions.
Therefore, if everything they and Abimelech did was righteous and good, then they may each enjoy each other. But, if that was not the case, then fire may come out of Abimelech and burn them, and they may in turn come out against Abimelech and destroy him.
Then Jotham escaped and fled, and went to Beer and remained there because of Abimelech his brother: Jotham knows that his life is great danger. He flees to an area called Beer so that Abimelech cannot reach him. Beer was very likely to the south and was probably under Judah's jurisdiction. However, we really do not know where this place was. Beer simply means "well" like in well of water. There are dozens of places in Canaan with that name. Perhaps it was Beer-sheba, which is located in the far south, but that is simply conjecture.
It was not long before the self-serving and wicked Abimelech started having friction with the Shechemites. Such kinds of people who were ruled over who are capable of such heinous acts as callously murdering 69 brothers just so a personal ambition can be realized, do not make easy companions for the long term. Trust would not be the basis of such a relationship.
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