Judges 9:1-10:5 "Beware of the Brambles"

1:07He always does that little pause thing. Judges 9, an obscure passage of 57 verses, chock full of murder, conspiracy, prophecy, ambush, and suicide. And so here we are, ready to explore the mystery of God's word together. Exactly. All kidding aside, that's not actually a How it happened to be fair. It was all through email. But for dramatic effect, it's a joy to be here with you this morning. And just as with any passage of God's Word, Judges 9 is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and training in righteousness. The best way to sum up this chapter as we're about to explore it comes from James 3, verse 16.

1:55This is the theme, essentially. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. So in our time together today, my goal is to discuss three things. Number one, being godly leaders and followers. Number two, being godly brothers and sisters. And number three, being godly people. So let's get into it together. Judges 9 immediately follows the death of Gideon, also known as Jerubael. And as is the theme of the entire book, immediately after Gideon dies, and the people do what's right in their own eyes and retreat to their idol worship, quickly forgetting God's faithfulness to them as well as the good done for them by Gideon. Enter Abimelech in Judges 9.

2:43As we just heard in verses 1 through 6, for a little context, so Abimelech is one of Gideon's 70 sons. However, he is an outsider. In Judges 8:30, it says that Gideon had 70 sons by his many wives, and he had one, Abimelech, by his concubine. Who is from Shechem. So when Gideon dies, Abimelech goes back to the hometown of Shechem and he stirs up a conspiracy against his brothers in verses 2 and 3, saying, Which is better for you, that all 70 of the sons of Jerubael rule over you, or that one rule over you? Remember also that I am your bone and flesh. The people of Shechem discuss, and they give him 70 pieces of silver from the house of Baalberth for his coup, and he hires worthless and reckless men. I really enjoyed that characterization of these guys. Remind me of those cartoons when you're young, like the pirate guys with big chin, like three hairs on it with knives in their mouth. That's these guys.

3:39He kills 70 of his brothers, leaving one who escaped, his youngest brother Jotham. And then Abimelech is named king at the oak of the pillar at Shechem. So in these verses, we see multiple issues with Abimelech's rise to power. Number one, Abimelech's motives are not pure. He desires to be the sole ruler of his people by sowing division among the people of Israel rather than uniting them. Number two, Abimelech's means are not godly. He stirs up conspiracy and he hires goons to do his dirty work and he kills 70 of his brothers. Number three, the people use tainted money from a pagan temple of Baal Bereth to fund the operation. And number four, the people coronate him. At the oak of the pillar of Shechem. Always in these Old Testament passages, it's important to pay attention to detail. They're there for a reason. This is one of them.

4:40This is notable because that location is referenced in Joshua 24, verses 23 to 27, when Joshua is calling on Israel to renew their faithfulness to God. Read along with me. Then Joshua said to the people, You are witnesses against yourselves that you have chosen the Lord to serve him. And they said, We are witnesses. And he said, Then put away the foreign gods that are among you, and incline your heart to the Lord, the God of Israel.

5:09And the people said to Joshua, The Lord our God we will serve, and his voice we will obey. So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and put in place statutes and rules for them at Shechem. And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God. And he took a large stone and set it up there under the terabinth, also oak, that was by the sanctuary of the Lord. And Joshua said to all the people, Behold, this stone shall be a witness against us, for it has heard all the words of the Lord that he has spoken to us, therefore it shall be a witness against you, lest you deal falsely with your God. So at the very place where a few generations before the ancestors of the people of Shechem commit themselves to following God, and a memorial is placed there, the people are now coronating an illegitimate king who came to rule by murder and treachery.

6:01What are we to learn from this passage about being leaders and followers? We each have roles in our lives where we have the opportunity to lead. Fathers and mothers, you are leaders in your home for your children. Husbands, you're called to lead your wives. Pastors and deacons have charge to lead in a church. Adults and college students, you have opportunities to lead with those you go to work and school with in the way that you carry yourself and the choices you make.

6:38Kids, you're leaders too, lest you think this doesn't apply to you. In your classrooms and among your friends, people are watching you. And they will follow the choices you make and they will say the words that you say. Don't be fooled by thinking that you're just a kid. Some of the best and worst leadership habits start when you're a kid. What does the Bible say about how we are to lead? Let's start with the greatest leader of all time. Let's look at Matthew 20, verses 26 through 28. This is Jesus. But whoever would be great among you, you must be your servant. And whoever would be first among you must be your slave. Even as the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve and to give his life. His life a ransom for many.

7:33Further, Paul states elsewhere when he's guiding Timothy, 1 Timothy 4.12. Set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. Godly leaders are to be servants and examples. Godly leaders are to be servants and examples. We're to raise others up in service, as Jesus says in John 13, 14 and 15. If I then, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. In our culture, where we're bombarded by imagery of hyper-masculinity, the manosphere, bro culture, girl power, and authoritarian rule, Jesus and the Bible paint us a very different picture of godly leadership. So I ask you in your life, how would you characterize your leadership? Are you a command and control leader?

8:50Or are you a servant leader? Are you a godly example? Do the words compassion and wisdom describe your leadership style? Are you intentional in how you exercise your leadership? And if so, to what end? Abimelech's rise to leadership presents a clear contrast to Christ, the great servant leader. Like most of the book of Judges, he serves as an example of what not to do, as well as why and how not to do it. His motives are bad, and his means are worse. So let's not miss an opportunity to examine what motivates us to lead and the means through which we do it.

9:36In thinking about this, we also can't ignore the complicity of the people of Shechem in this thing. We not only have a responsibility as leaders, but also as followers and in choosing our leaders. Note again that people make several errors in creating this situation. They're not innocent. Number one, they listened to Abimelech and were persuaded. Number two, they banded together to fund his plan. And thirdly, they celebrated the result despite clearly running afoul of God's commands. So Abimelech persuaded them with a pitch based on tribalism. He said, remember, I also am your bone and flesh. And they're not. The people buy it, hook line, and sinker, in verse 3, it says, their hearts were inclined to follow Abimelech, for they said, he is our brother. They fund him, he kills his brother. And they celebrate, and their motives were not pure in this choice either. They're looking out for themselves. The Bible does give us some guidance about the qualities of those whom we should choose as leaders. When Moses is seeking guidance on how to install leaders from the tribes of Israel so they can judge their disputes, he gets some sage advice from his father-in-law Jethro. In Exodus 18:21, it says, Jethro says, Moreover, look for able men from all the people, men who fear God, who are trustworthy and hate a bribe, and place such men over the people as chiefs of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens. Again, when Paul is advising Timothy on installing elders and guiding him on those qualifications, he says this in 1 Timothy 3, verses 2-3.

11:22Therefore, an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent, not gentle, but gentle, not quarrelsome, and not a lover of money. Gentleness is not necessarily my best quality. Suffice to say, the people of Shechem were not persuaded to choose Abimelech due to his godly qualities or his godly aims. And we also should be wary of being persuaded to follow leaders who appeal to our emotions or just what sounds. Best to us. We need to look beyond what's being said or how it makes us feel and evaluate the character, values, and past actions of those who seek to lead. Choosing leaders is a heavy responsibility, and we are held accountable for those we choose to follow. That's an important point. The best example of this comes regarding false teachers. Many scriptural examples warn us against being duped into following teaching that is contrary to the gospels. These false teachers of the day were leaders and orators in their day, and they gained a great following because what they said appealed to people's hearts and their feelings. But the Bible is clear that this is folly, and both the false teacher and those who follow will suffer the consequence. Read with me in 2 Timothy 4, verses 3-4.

12:54For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers that suit their own passions and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. In Matthew 15, 14, Jesus says this, let them alone, they are blind guides, and if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into the pit. Sobering words. As followers, we have a responsibility to use discernment and the We choose to follow. We must be able to listen and feel beyond the noise and make choices that are consistent with what the Bible tells us either explicitly or implicitly. This means that we must be wise and use His principles and those we choose to follow as pastors, political leaders, influencers, friends, and everything. Be wary of being too easily swayed by what tickles your ears and inclines your hearts, and use godly wisdom and those whom you choose to follow.

14:08Let's move on to the middle section of this passage. I'm going to read it for us. We're going to go through Judges 9:7 through 21. If you're following along, it's Judges 9, 7 through 21. When 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. The trees once went out 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 abundance by which gods and men are honored and go hold sway over the trees? And the trees said to the fig tree, You come and reign over us. But the fig tree said to them, Shall I leave my sweetness and my good fruit and go hold sway over the trees? And the tree said to them, The vine, you come and reign over us. But the vine said to them, Shall I leave my wine that cheers God and men, and go hold sway over the trees? Then all the trees said to the Bramble, You come and reign over us. And the Bramble said to the trees, If in good faith you are anointing me king over you, then come, take refuge in my shade. But if not, let fire come out of the Bramble and devour the cedars of Lebanon. Now, therefore, says Jotham again, if you acted in good faith and integrity when you made Abimelech king, and if you have dealt well with Jerubal and his house, and have done to him as his deeds deserved, for my father fought for you and risked his life and delivered you from the hand of Midian, and you have risen up against my father's house this day and have killed his sons, seventy men on one stone, and have made Abimelech, the son of his female servant, king over the leaders of Shechem, because he is your relative. If then you have acted in good faith and integrity with Jerubal and his house this day, then rejoice in Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you. But if not, let fire come out from Abimelech and devour the leaders of Shechem and Bethmilo, and let fire come out from the leaders of Shechem and Bethmilo and devour Abimelech. And Jotham ran away and fled and went to Beir, and lived there because of Abimelech, his brother. It's my personal opinion that we could use more dad jokes and sermons here at New Life. And I'm going to arrive on you to help me out because the only one who's going to laugh would be right here. That's Cody, and he's gone.

16:36What do you get when you mix a parable and a prophecy? A parisy. It went about how I thought it would go, but it's been done. This section of the passage is notable because it tells the rest of the story. Jotham, having escaped, flees to Mount Gerizim and announces this parable to the people. So, again, details matter. The location is notable because Shechem is in a valley between Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebel. And so he goes up to Mount Gerizim. Mount Gerizim is associated as a place of blessing, whereas Mount Ebel, directly across, is associated as a place of cursing. And Jotham is pronouncing this parisy from a place of blessing as if to say, if you follow this wisdom, you'll be blessed. And then he gives his parable. This imagery would not have been lost on the people.

17:34He works through the parable, casting the people of Shechem as trees who are looking for a leader. They turn to an olive tree, a fig tree, a grapevine, and finally a bramble. The olive tree, fig tree, and grapevine turn down the trees' solicitation for leadership because they already have defined purposes. The bramble, on the other hand, offers his shade if the people have acted in good faith and also provides a cautionary warning as well. That the trees that follow him will be burned if they have not acted in good faith. So it's really, really important to note the irony in this parable. A bramble is a bush, it is a thorny bush. It is not really useful for shade of any sort, certainly not for a tree. It's basically useless, opportunistic, and it will stick you if you get too close to it. And it will grow where others can't. In the last part, Jotham drives home the point of the parable relating Abimelech to the Bramble. And he's basically saying, all right, if you did all this above board in good faith and integrity, never mind that you turned your back on my dad and all the good he did for you. You killed my brothers. You picked this Joker to be your leader simply because he's your relative. If you did all that with good faith and integrity, then good on you. But you didn't, so Abimelech is going to turn on you and you will turn on him. Mic drop, I'm out. That is this section of scripture. And this basically sets up the rest of the chapter because everything he says comes true. There are two things to take away from this chapter, this part of Judges 9. Teenagers and preteens, I want you to open your ears. Godly counsel at times comes from where you least expect it and where you least want to hear it. Godly counsel comes from where you least. Least expect it and least want to hear it at times. Two, it takes courage to speak truth to others, especially your brothers. It takes courage to speak truth to others. There is no doubt that the people of Shechem had no interest in hearing what Jotham had to say. They bought into what Abimelech was selling, celebrating a victory, and here's the vanquished enemy wagging his finger at them for what he did. And nevertheless, everything he said was true and right. Isn't the same true of us sometimes? Sometimes we get so far down the path of doing wrong that we lose sight of what it is that we're actually doing. That's how sin works.

20:16Generally, we don't dive into the deep end of sin right away. It's little compromises that we make based on our own desires that lead to more compromises that ultimately lead to the big sins that can destroy your life. Along the way, we can become so blinded to what we're doing that we become convinced that the wrong things we're doing are actually right or okay. Sin is insidious and deceitful that way. Here, James describes sin in this way in James 1:14-15. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. The desire, when it is conceived, gives birth to sin. And sin, when it is fully grown, brings forth death.

21:05Brothers and sisters, none of us is immune. We all sin, we all make sinful choices all the time. But God is merciful in that He knows our weaknesses, He knows our state, He rescues us from our hopelessness. If you're out there today and you're mired down in sin, or you're feeling hopeless because of what you've done or are doing, and you feel so bad that you don't feel like there's any way that God could accept you, stop it. Stop feeling that way. Open your eyes, open your ears. God still loves you. He provided a way out by sending His Son Jesus to live the perfect life that we can't live. He was killed by man and raised by God Himself to show God's acceptance of Jesus' sacrifice on your behalf. All you have to do is believe and let God lead you. If you have questions about getting right with God today, find a church member or a pastor and start a conversation about what it is to live by faith. But don't sit there thinking that it's impossible for you or that tomorrow is the day. It is possible for you, and that now is the time.

22:19For those here that know Christ, be reminded that we must persevere in our faith. We are not immune to sin, we are not immune to wandering down. A dark path into deadly territory. It is critically important to have our ears opened by godly counsel, especially when we don't want to hear it. Kids, it's important for you to listen to the counsel of godly parents. They may be telling you exactly what you don't want to hear, but God has put them there because He loves you. To you, students and other adults out there, who do you have in your life that is speaking godly wisdom to you? Who's holding you accountable to living a godly life and following Christ? Who are you doing that for in someone else's life? Friends, accountability is critical to perseverance in a Christian life. It's not an easy life that we live. We must be first grounded in the Word and prayer so that God Himself can lead and guide us. We also must be grounded in fellowship with other believers who can hold us accountable and help open our eyes when we've been blinded by sin or gone astray. We have to be engaged in doing that for each other. And I've got news for you. This does not happen effectively here in the gathering room after the Sunday service. If coming to church on Sunday is the extent of your Christian fellowship, you're setting yourself up for failure. We cannot thrive and persevere in isolation or just surface-level interactions. If you don't have someone that you meet with regularly who really knows you and can speak truth to you, then start sowing that relationship. Get in a life group. Ask someone to come out to coffee or start meeting over a meal. Come to one of the many touch points we have here in church. We have a pool party on Thursday for women.

24:14Those things don't simply exist so we can say we're doing something with church time and church money. They are designed to foster relationships with others for this exact purpose. As you do this, start digging below the surface into what's actually going on in your mind, in your heart. Don't settle for just being surface level all the time. And finally, seek to be a voice of godly wisdom for in the life of someone else. It takes courage and boldness to speak truth to others, but this is what we're called to do as members of one body. Hear this call from Hebrews 10, verses 23 through 25.

24:52Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the day drawing near. The remainder of Judges 9 is 35 more verses, so if any of you are timekeepers and wondering how is he going to do this in the next few minutes, I have a plan. What I'm going to do is read the bookends of this last section and then summarize the middle. So uh follow along with me in verses twenty through twenty two through twenty five, and then right after that I'll read verses fifty through fifty seven. So verse twenty through twenty two through twenty five. Abimelech ruled over Israel three years, and God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the leaders of Shechem, and the leaders of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech, that the violence done to the seventy sons of Jerubael may come, and their blood be laid on Abimelech, their brother who killed them, and on the men of Shechem, who strengthened his hands to kill his brothers. And the leaders of Shechem put men in ambush against him on the mountain tops, and they robbed all who passed by them along that way, and it was told to Abimelech.

26:14And now verses fifty through fifty-seven. This is the very end of this chapter fifty through fifty-seven. Then Abimelech went to Thebez and encamped against Thebez and captured it. But there was a strong tower within the city, and all the men and women and all the leaders of the city fled to it and shut themselves in, and they went up to the roof of the tower. And Abimelech came to the tower and fought against it, and drew near to the door of the tower to burn it with fire. And a certain woman threw an upper millstone on Abimelech's head and crushed his skull. Then he called quickly to the young man, his armor-bearer, and said to him, Draw your sword and kill me, lest they say of me, a woman killed him. And his young man thrust him through, and he died. And when the men of Israel saw that Abimelech was dead, everyone departed to his Home. Thus God returned the evil of Abimelech, which he committed against his father in killing his 70 brothers, and God also made all the evil of the men of Shechem return on their heads, and upon them came the curse of Jotham, the son of Jerubael.

27:15So the rest of Judges 9 explains exactly how Jotham's parable came to fruition. In verses 23 through 22 through 25, things were fine for about three years, and then God sends an evil spirit to stir up trouble between Abimelech and the people of Shechem and are at odds with each other. In the middle section, a new kid in town, Gail, comes into the picture. He follows the same playbook Abimelech did among the people saying, I'm the hometown guy, you guys will be better off following me. They throw a party, they get drunk, and the thing that usually happens when dudes who have had too much to drink at a party happens, Gail starts trash talking and picks a fight with Abimelech, who is not there. Of course, at this party, one of Abimelech's bros, Zebel, who relays all of this to Abimelech and says, round up the boys and ambush Gail after the party. And so, sure enough, that's exactly what happens, and we have the great bar fight of Judges 9.

28:15Abimelech ambushes Gail outside the city, kills all of them, and he doesn't stop there. He goes, Fool Rage Monster, and moves on to kill the people of the city and ransacks it. And from there, he moves on, people who return. Into a tower, sets fire to that, and kills 1,000 people there. And then finally, he moves on to Thebez, where he meets his end. And the people retreat into another tower. The woman throws the stone down from the top and wounds him. And we just heard the ending of the story a minute ago.

28:47What are we to take away from this dark section of Scripture? Two things. Number one, bar fights are a bad idea. You should not be a part of them. Number two, beware of reaping what you sow. This concept of reaping what we sow should be familiar to most anyone in a room. The concept is referenced either explicitly or implicitly throughout Scripture at least a dozen times. From Job 4, 8 to Romans 2:6, Hosea 10:13, 2 Corinthians 9:6, all of those verses, the idea of reaping what we sow is threaded throughout them. In regards to righteousness, generosity, sin, injustice, God's judgment, Scripture is clear that our actions have consequences, and we need to be aware of that. We are accountable for what we do. Said another way, what we do in life echoes in eternity. A good friend once thought he heard that modern-day proverb in a sermon. He was assured that he had not until now, because that is a quote from Gladiator, not the Bible. But since it's pertinent, I figured I'd do him. Solid and throw it in there. DB, you're welcome.

30:05Brothers, sisters, friends, kids, we need to be conscious of the choices that we make. Every single one of us will stand before the throne of God one day and be judged according to what we do. For those outside of Christ, the perilous outcome of that judgment is clear. Romans 3:10 through 12 says that no one is righteous, no, not one. No one does good, not even one. On judgment day, those who come to it separated from Christ will remain separated for eternity and be cast into a lake of fire. The door is slammed shut, the case is closed, there is no going back. Friends, kids, if you know or even think today that that might be you, don't wait. Make a change in your life today and declare that you will follow Christ. And for the believers in the room, because the work of Christ, the outcome of that judgment also is clear. The good news for you is that on that day we will be welcomed into a kingdom of joy and peace in the presence of God for eternity. Nevertheless, as we look forward to that promise, keep in mind that what we do with our time here matters. What you have done with your time this week matters. What you do when you walk out of here matters. In Matthew 25, Jesus is describing the final judgment, and he says this. In verses 33-40.

31:35And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. And the king will say to those on his right, Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave me food. I was thirsty, and you gave me drink. I was a stranger, and you welcomed me. I was naked, and you clothed me. I was sick, and you visited me. I was in prison, and you came to me. And the righteous will answer, saying, Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you? And the king will answer them. Truly I say to you, as you did it to the one of the least of these, my brothers, you did it to me.

32:30Brothers and sisters, I leave you with this challenge. Let us be a church who leads well, who follows well, who listens to godly counsel, who gives it, who habitually shares the gospel, who seeks to feed the hungry, visit the sick, clothe those in need. Make the most of your time. Be intentional, be effective. Don't worry. Waste the life that you've been given. Let us strive to do well in all that we do, that we may reap the good rewards of the works that we sow and glorify God our Father through Christ. Let's pray.

33:19Lord, we thank you for the opportunity to study this scripture, Lord, one that can easily come at us as obscure and weird, and one that you just read and pass by. But you are kind to give us so many lessons from this and other parts of your scripture, Lord, that help lead us and guide us into a life of holiness. Lord, may we be effective and intentional in what we do. May we seek to honor you and the way that we live. In Christ's name, amen.

33:53Thank you for listening to the sermon audio from New Life Baptist Church in College Station, Texas. For more information or to support our ministry, visit us online at newlifecs.net.