Judges 8:29-9:57
When The Trees Anointed A King
Gideon…the aftermath…sowed the seeds of future destruction
Faint, yet pursuing…destroys the enemy…declines being king…but makes a big mistake! v.8:27
He did not accept the position of a king…but he just lived like one…pretending to be a priest.
…Deut 17:14-20 multiplied gold, wives, etc. (golden ephod)
…He was of the tribe of Manasseh, not Levi…lust of flesh, the eyes, the pride of life.
The man who led them out of idolatry…sows the seeds to lead them back in.
All it takes is a little deviation from the WORD of God…it mushrooms from there.
Funeral over, let the discord begin!!!!!!!!!!
Jud 9:8 Trees went forth…Lots of trees in the Bible, cedars, cypress, oak, myrtle, sycamore, etc.
v.1-6 The Usurper
Gideon’s 70 sons of his body…many wives, and a Canaanite concubine of Shechem, her son being:
Jether, his firstborn…v.8:20 Abimelech…v.9:1
Jotham, his youngest…v.9:5 (my father is king)
Shechem…in the tribal area of Ephraim…joined to idols leave him alone…valley between Gerizim and Ebal.
Here God first appeared to Abraham in the land 12:6, here Jacob renewed the covenant 35:4
Here Joshua read the law…8:33-34 … City of refuge…20:7.
Abimelech’s 70 pieces of silver
v.4 out of the house of Baalberith (Baal of the covenant)
v.4 wherewith Abimelech hired vain and light persons, which followed him. Heb. raca “empty”
Light weights always grab for power…Qualified men often decline it. Character or characters!
Void of character, void of conscience…etc.
The takeover…get rid of the competition...one stone i.e. they were executed!
v.7-21 The Parable
Olive tree…Gideon…spiritual life of Israel…oil (anoint prophets, priests, kings)…light,
Jer 11:1-17, Hos 14:5-6, Zec 4, v.14…Rom 11, Rev 11
Fig tree…his brethren…national life of Israel…figs…fruit…sweetness
Jer 8:13, Mk 11:12-14, 20-22, Mat 24:32-33, Lk 13:6-9
Vine tree…Jothan (Jehovah is perfect)…a type of Christ…the true vine…clusters of the vine.
Ps 80, Is 5:1-7, Jer 2:21, Hos 10:1, John 15, v.16
Jothan…the true seed of Gideon.
(All decline to be king) v.8:23…John 6:15…no interest in being “a king”…
The KING of Kings…is to be KING 8:22
Bramble…Abimelech…usurper…it’s fruit is thorns…pain…etc….worthless
(Will kill to be king)
Jump at the chance to be king.
Proud, egotistic, audacious…”then come and put your trust in my shadow” v.15
Surround themselves with vain and light persons.
Experts in misleading people
The trees…Willing to choose any king but God.
Choose people like this…because they are like them.
Empty of character, light on competence…full of vanity
Not knowing that when they are no longer of use they will be thrown under the bus v.23
You know the character of a man by how they treat those who disagree with them…
…he devoured the cedars of Lebanon.
v.22-49 The Prophesy Fulfilled
Gaal (loathsome), a Shechemite…did not like Abimelech…since he was a son of Gideon, who cast down their altar and cut down their grove.
Zebel (exalted) …was Abimelech ally and city ruler v.30…deceives Gaal v.36
v.50-57 The Curse Fulfilled
Abimelech…one of 18 types of Anti-Christ
Man of sin, son of perdition, that Wicked, 1John 2, 4, Dan 9, 11, 2Thes 2,
“my father is king”…father Gideon…mother a Canaanite concubine…half-breed bastard son
Bloody persecutor of Israel…rules over it a short time…3 years…v.9:22…ruled time of apostasy
Starts in peace and then turns violent.
Head wound but lived…Rev 13:3
Killed by a sword…2Thes 2:8 spirit of his mouth…destroy with the brightness of his coming
The Prophesy’s Foreshadow
Will rule in the Tribulation…Israelites and Christendom…(Mystery Babylon…false church)…
Rev 2:20 Jezebel… product of heathen woman and Israelite king
Rev 18 millstone cast down Babylon destroyed
The Curse of Jothan
Speaks from Gerizim…blessing…prophesies a curse…two witnesses.
The curse of sin…Jesus paid the price…the shade of the bramble was upon his head…crown of thorns.
Application
If you don’t purge out the Canaanites …they will infiltrate you…you will not infiltrate them!
…they will convert you…you will not convert them!
Church needs to learn to be distinct and separate from the culture, or the culture will overtake the church!
Luke 6:43-44 For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
44 For every tree is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes.