C T Hall’s Weblog

Many thanks to Dale Ralph Davis for the title of this post which I borrowed from a chapter in his Judges: Such a Great Salvation. We are reading through the book for personal devotions, and it is amazing to see the patience God has for his people.

In this passage (chapter 9) we see that the oppression of Israel is not from solely without. Abimelech the son of Gideon, killed his father’s other children gained a kingship and oppressed Israel. Sin is from within, Israel had forgotten their God and he left them to be subjugated from within and without.

The title of this post comes from Jotham’s (Abimelech’s brother who escaped death) parable against electing a worthless man as king. He stated (in parable) that like a bramble is good for fire, their poor choice for a leader would come back to burn them.

Yet God is sovereign and cares for his people even in trying political times. Abimelech would eventually be killed and God would raise up other judges to rule over his people.