When the Trees Chose Their King

Before the Trees Chose Their King

In the final verses of the Book of Joshua in the Old Testament, we are told:

The people of Israel served the Lord throughout the lifetime of Joshua and of the elders who outlived him—those who had personally experienced all that the Lord had done for Israel. Joshua 24:31 NLT

Yet, as we move into the Book of Judges, we see the Angel of the Lord speaking to the Israelites in their new Promised Land.

The angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to Bokim and said to the Israelites, “I brought you out of Egypt into this land that I swore to give your ancestors, and I said I would never break my covenant with you. For your part, you were not to make any covenants with the people living in this land; instead, you were to destroy their altars. But you disobeyed my command. Why did you do this? So now I declare that I will no longer drive out the people living in your land. They will be thorns in your sides, and their gods will be a constant temptation to you.” Judges 2:1-3 NLT

Right in Their Own Eyes

One of the worst eras in Israel’s history was the time of judges.

This happened when the generation that crossed into the Promised Land after the Israelites wandered in the desert for forty years died.

This generation did not acknowledge the Lord or remember the mighty things he did for Israel.

The Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight and served the images of Baal. They abandoned the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who had brought them out of Egypt. They went after other gods, worshiping the gods of the people around them. And they angered the Lord. Judges 2:11-12 NLT

It was during this time of judges, that everyone did what was right in his or her own eyes.

Quizzical Story

A quizzical story in the ninth chapter of the Book of Judges tells of the time the trees chose their king. Gideon, the judge at the time, had died.

The people needed to find a successor. However, finding a successor among Gideon’s seventy sons was no easy task.

To solve this problem, Abimelech, Gideon’s son by a concubine from Shechem, went to his uncles and asked them to go to the leaders of Shechem. Abimelech wanted his uncles to convince the leaders he should become the next king.

The leaders agreed.

To help him with his quest, the leaders of Shechem gave Abimelech money from the temple treasury to do as he pleased to make it so. The future king used the treasury money to hire some worthless loafers, as The Living Bible Translation calls them.

At Abimelech’s order, these hired guns slaughtered all of Abimelech’s half-brothers. All, that is, except one. Only the youngest, Jotham, escaped.

The Trees Chose Their King

When Jotham heard that the citizens of Shechem declared Abimelech king of Israel, he stood at the top of Mount Gerizim and shouted across the valley to the men of Shechem. Then he told the tale of how the trees chose their king.

In Jotham’s tale, the trees who sought a king represented Shechem. The king the trees selected represented Abimelech.

Jothams’ story begins.

The trees sought a king, but the most important and productive trees refused to accept the position. The olive tree was busy producing oil and couldn’t be bothered to rule over unproductive trees that simply waved their branches in the wind.

Next, the fig tree said it would rather produce sweet fruit than rule as king over useless trees.

The grapevine refused asking, “Should I give up producing wine to hold sway over trees?”

In desperation the trees pleaded with the prickly volatile thorn bush to be their king. The thorn bush agreed. With conditions.

“If you want me as your king, come and take refuge in my shade.”

(Rather ironic, don’t you think, since thorn bushes produce limited shade.)

“But if you won’t choose me as your king, then let fire come out of the thorn bush and consume you.” Judges 9:7-15 NLT

The Story Ends

Three years after the Shechemites made Abimelech king, they revolted against him. As was predicted in Jotham’s story, Abimelech destroyed them with fire. Judges 9:47-49

The people got what they asked for. A prickly volatile thorn bush for their king. A thorn bush interested only in its own personal gain. The people got a thorn bush king that set fire to the people and destroyed them. Just as he promised.

In the end, however, the actions of one woman standing on a rooftop put an end to the thorn bush king, by dropping a millstone on his head.

Then Abimelech attacked the town of Thebez and captured it. But there was a strong tower inside the town, and all the men and women—the entire population—fled to it. They barricaded themselves in and climbed up to the roof of the tower. Abimelech followed them to attack the tower. But as he prepared to set fire to the entrance, a woman on the roof dropped a millstone that landed on Abimelech’s head and crushed his skull.

He quickly said to his young armor bearer, “Draw your sword and kill me! Don’t let it be said that a woman killed Abimelech!” So the young man ran him through with his sword, and he died. When Abimelech’s men saw that he was dead, they disbanded and returned to their homes.

In this way, God punished Abimelech for the evil he had done against his father by murdering his seventy brothers. God also punished the men of Shechem for all their evil. So the curse of Jotham son of Gideon was fulfilled. Judges 9:50-59 NLT

Your Turn

As I consider the stories in the Book of Judges, especially this story of when the trees chose their king, I wonder. Are we any different than the Israelites of old?

Do we have short memories when it comes to remembering what God has done for us?

Have we forgotten that God is Sovereign, and what our response to his sovereignty should be?

In our forgetfulness, have we placed an idol; anyone or anything, before him?

Perhaps something we can gain from the inclusion of Jotham’s story of when the trees chose their king is that when God’s people abandon him, and do whatever is right in their own eyes, the consequences of their decisions are disastrous.

If you missed my last month’s post, you can find it here.

I wish you well.

Sandy

 

 

 

 

Photos courtesy Unsplash.