King of Trees

Gideon ruled as a judge over Israel for 40 peaceful years, and during that time he had 70 sons. However, one of his sons wanted to be king, and after the death of his father, Abimelek killed all of his brothers…except one. Jotham, the youngest son escaped and gave a scathing rebuke to the people of Shechem who supported the slaughter of his brothers. In that rebuke, he reminds both them and us that if we, in pride and selfish motives, commit such evil, we will receive the consequences of that evil back on our own lives.

In our previous episode we saw how God whittled the Israelite army down from 32,000 to just 300 men to fight the Midianites, proving that God, and not their own strength, had given the people victory. Then we saw how Gideon led his men in an unconventional attack on the Midianite forces, confusing and terrifying them in the night so that they turned their swords on each other. God’s name was glorified, and peace was restored among the people. In today’s reading we’ll learn how Gideon rightly refuses the people’s request for him to be their king, as he reminds them God is to be the king of His people. But we’ll also see how his to take many wives and concubines would end in tragedy. One of his sons, Abimelech will let selfish ambition creep into his heart, leading to betrayal and murder.