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Rejoicing God and Man
“Shall I bring my new wine that rejoices God and man to an end and go about domineering over the trees?”
(Judges 9:13)
In one of the churches in which I am privileged to preach, I have been working through the book of Judges. It is a rich book filled with the foibles of a people seeking to rule over themselves, acting as if they had no King. Indeed, they may not have had an earthly king like their neighbors, but they had a divine King to whom they constantly refused to submit, preferring to bow before the works of their own hand. Sadly, it would seem that the church has not much changed across the ages, with every man doing what is right in his own eyes.
In this context, there is a point, after the death of Gideon, that his son Abimelek (the son of a concubine) treasonously hires useless men to detain and execute his brothers (all but Jotham). Jotham returns for one final passage where he utters an imprecation against Abimelek in the form of a parable. In this parable, the woodlands seek to find a tree to rule over them as king, moving from arguably legitimate candidates to eventually the illegitimate bramble bush (illustrating their choice of Abimelek).
The whole of the sermon can be heard here:
What is striking, as a principle, is that to rule as king, each of these trees fears losing its God-given fruit. With their fruit gone, how then shall these trees be judged (Matthew 7:16)? Jesus treats the fig tree that bore no fruit quite harshly (Matthew 21:18-22), and out of season at that! With that idea in mind, I spent some time this morning reflecting on the kind of fruit that all of us are to bear (Galatians 5:22-24), namely fruit that is useful to both God and man (the uniting theme of each of these fruits).
So, as you look over your life, ask yourself, what aspects of the fruit you bear bring joy to both God and man? Obviously, what is most important is that we are pleasing to God, and by doing so, often we will earn enemies of men on earth. Yet, if you are pleasing to God, though the wicked may not appreciate it at the time, you will find yourself being useful to men — salt and light as Jesus speaks of in the Sermon on the Mount.
What strikes me is how often we, as Christians, get the language backward. We often worry first about whether men rejoice in us and then let things fall where they may with God. Paul makes very clear the danger of being a man-pleaser (Galatians 1:10), reminding us that the purpose we were entrusted with the Gospel was so that we would please God regardless of whether any people will take pleasure in the message we bring (1 Thessalonians 2:4).
So, Christian, who does your fruit rejoice? Does it rejoice God? Does it rejoice man? Might it even rejoice God and man (in that order!)?
The Olive Tree
“The trees surely went to anoint a king over them. And they said to the olive tree, “You must surely reign over us!”
(Judges 9:8)
And we enter into the lawsuit of Jotham, which he offers in the form of a parable. Remember, the purpose of parables is that those who are spiritually blind will remain spiritually blind and those whom the Holy Spirit has begun his work upon may see (Matthew 13:10-17). Abimelek will not repent and will continue his rampage until God destroys his life in judgment; how sad a condition that he will find himself within. Yet, notice even here (as we alluded to earlier in Gideon’s life), the people would much rather have a human king than a divine one. Again, how sad…but how common. How often people in church would far rather lead the church in their way rather than to follow the instructions for the church that God has given us in the Bible.
But what of this parable of trees? Obviously the trees represent those who might rule over the people; what is telling is how Jotham designates them and in terms of which tree the Israelites will choose. Yet, the first of the trees is the Olive, which is the most appropriate of the trees to which the Israelites should look.
Historically, the Olive Tree is a symbol of national Israel (Jeremiah 11:6; Romans 11:17) as well as being a symbol for the Messiah (Zechariah 4:11-14). Not only does the tree grow well in the climate of Israel, but it provided one of the staple foods for the people as well as oil for lamps and for cooking. It seems that the trees have gone to the rightful leader first…God’s anointed tree (Gideon).
Yet, Gideon refused. His calling is not to be king, but simply to be a redeemer on behalf of the people of Israel. Had the people stopped with Gideon, all would have been well and they would never would have been given the circumstance where a parable such as this would have been necessary. Yet, with the refusal of this first tree — the rightful tree — the people began looking elsewhere, and hence the problem.
Again, while we may snub our noses a bit at the people of this day for their impudence, we are guilty of doing the same in much the same way. Christ is king over his church, that principle ought to be debated by no one. Yet, how rarely the church sincerely submits to His rule. How often the church makes decisions based on pragmatism rather than upon plain Biblical teachings. How often the people brought into leadership are people we like rather than people who meet (or who strive to meet) the qualifications found in scripture for leadership as an Elder of as a Deacon. How often Christians talk about service, but never do service. How often, rather than by Christ through a body of elected Elders and Deacons, the churches are run by pastors — those who once again are not the legitimate tree to assume this role — one which belongs to Christ alone.
Conclusion (Judges 9:7-15)
There is much more to the story than just this parable, and I would encourage you to go and read the rest of Judges, chapter 9 (and on…). Ultimately, the people get what they ask for: an illegitimate king. Also, Jotham’s prediction certainly comes true—there is fire between Abimelech and the people of Shechem, which brings about Abimelech’s downfall. But this is hardly the end of the story. The people keep on asking for a king until God finally grants them to have a human king. And what a mess of people they were. Even the good ones, though they are few, have their low points. This is what happens when we chase after the ways of this world rather than chasing after the things of God, and that point does not just apply to our political leaders, but to all aspects of life.
Friends, chase after the things of God and seek to grow holy. Learn to resist sin and to glorify God in both your public and private lives. Love him in all you do. Love his word—study it, pray it, sing it, and memorize it—and seek his face in prayer. If you do these things, you will stay clear of the seduction of the world. You will keep yourself out from under the choking bramble of sin—not by your strength, but by the strength of the one who dwells in you and is reflected in you more and more clearly as you grow in faith.
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