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Trees…
“The righteous are like a sprouting date-palm tree;
Like the cedars of Lebanon they grow large.”
(Psalm 92:13 [verse 12 in English])
The psalmist gives us a picture of two trees and parallels that with one who seeks to live a righteous life (or a congregation that does so). The palm, or a better translation would be the date-palm, along with the cedar were trees that were prized in the ancient world. Both grow quickly and had a variety of uses. The date-palm was perhaps best known for the abundance of fruit that it would provide to the people. Dates were a staple food and in some regions in the middle east, the sap of date trees was also collected for syrup. Palm branches formed a significant resource for weaving baskets and other practical items, and the wood of the date, though not suitable for large-scale construction, was still useful for smaller buildings as well as for burning.
While the wood of the date may not have been suitable for large-scale construction, the wood of the cedar was. These trees would grow to be well over 100 feet tall with trunks as much as 8 feet in diameter at the base. These huge trees grew especially quickly and plentifully in the region of Lebanon and thus their fame even today. In addition to buildings, their wood was also used to construct naval and merchant ships and was a significant building material used in the construction of the Temple in Solomon’s day.
Thus, the psalmist has the strengths of both of these trees in mind when he thinks on the character of the righteous…the church that follows after God. Their growth and maturity should be measurable and the fruit they bear useful for the community. In fact, every aspect about the church should be found to be useful for the work of God. The church itself should be a useful resource to the community and highly adaptable to changes in the world around them. Such is the church that worships God faithfully in Word and in Spirit. Such is a church that is focused on Christ and not on themselves.
Sadly, many churches do not reflect this characteristic as many individual Christians do not as well. How we should all be learning and growing in our understanding and application of Scripture. If this is not happening, something is askew. How our congregations ought to be growing deeper in the Word of God, which also ought to cause others to become curious and thus over time, the congregation grow broader.
The Acceptance (Judges 9:15)
“And the bramble said to the trees, ‘If in truth you anoint me to be king over you, enter and take refuge in my shadow. But if there is not, let fire go out from the bramble, and let it consume the cedars of Lebanon!’” (Judges 9:15)
If you ever drive through the mountains of Virginia, in places you will see a remarkable sight. There are portions of the mountainside that are covered with green-leafy vines as far as the eye can see. In fact, this phenomenon can be seen in many parts of the American southeast. What you are seeing is area that is covered by the kudzu vine. Originally, these plants were imported to the United States from Japan for the purpose of soil conservation, but it was soon discovered that these vines not only grew well here, but grew at an alarming rate. While this was good for soil conservation efforts, this proved disastrous for forests. The plants would grow and choke the trees, preventing them from absorbing sunlight. In perfect conditions, a kudzu plant can grow up to sixty feet in a year.
This is what happens when you allow vines or brambles to rule. Their offer of kingship having been rejected by the fruit-bearing plants, the trees went to the bramble, likely thinking that they could control his actions as well. Look at the response of the bramble once again. He tells the trees to enter and take refuge in his shadow. This should catch our attention. How is a stately tree to take refuge under the shadow of a bramble. The only way for that to happen is if the bramble grows to overcome the trees—just as the kudzu plant did in the southeast—yet, when this happens, the trees will be choked out. What begins as an offer of refuge ends up being a sure promise of destruction.
How often, in our lives, does the sinful path seem to be a path of refuge and safe from danger? Yet, it always brings destruction. The people were afraid that if they did not have a king like the Canaanites did, they would be overrun—even though God proclaimed himself to be their king and even though God had repeatedly delivered them from their enemies. They felt that the path of faith entailed danger and the path of sin would offer safety. How we are deceived by the wiles of sin.
Friends, God calls you to be holy. That means trusting God to set the timing for your life and to walk in that timing with integrity and godliness. That means walking in faith. The temptations of sin may seem to provide a clear and safe route through the mountains and valleys of life, but that path will lead you straight into the briar patch.
The Bramble (Judges 9:14)
“Then all of the trees said to the bramble, ‘You come and reign over us.’”
(Judges 9:14)
And this is where you end up if you try and organize life in accordance with your own desires and not in accordance to God’s will. You end up with a good-for-nothing, thorny bramble as your king. The term that the Jotham uses here is dDfDa (atad), which is only found five times in the Old Testament (2 times in Genesis 50 as a proper name, 2 times in this parable, and 1 time in Psalm 58:9, where it is used to describe a thorny bush ready to be destroyed), but is never used in a positive way when referring to such a bush.
Indeed, the only fruit that such a bush bears are thorns and thistles. This contrast is very important to note in this parable. The previous three candidates which were asked all bore abundant and good fruit. The fruit of the grapevine, the fig, and the olive are not only staple foods, but they point to the promised new creation. Given that the new creation is a restoration of the earth to its pre-fall purity, beauty, and abundance, new creation language often uses language that points our minds backwards to Eden as well—a place where the grapevine, the fig, and the olive would have been abundant. What am I getting at here? The bramble was not present in Eden, nor will it be present in the new heavens and earth.
In God’s judgment of Adam, God cursed the land rather than cursing mankind (who rightfully deserved the curse). This is a foretaste of the substitutionary work of Christ for our sins. The effect of that curse on the land is that it would bring forth “thorns and thistles” (Genesis 3:18). This thorny bramble, which the people of Shechem have made king, namely Abimelech, is being linked with sin. Indeed, it is the sin of not trusting God’s kingship that has brought them to desiring a human king and to bring this about, the sin of murder (68 of them to be exact) is committed. Adam and Eve’s sin in the garden was an outward rebellion against the rulership of God, and the fruit of that sin was demonstrated in the lives of their two sons: Cain and Abel. What a dark place the people of Shechem have gotten themselves into.
And, all too often, we do the same. No, we may not be guilty of killing off our brothers and sisters to gain a kingdom, but how often do brothers and sisters raise their fists against one another fighting over a share of their parent’s estate? How often do we cut someone down to size at work, seeking a better position in the boss’ eyes? How often do we insult someone just to get others to laugh? Jesus calls this murder (Matthew 5:21-26). Just because we do not wield the knife, does not mean we are innocent of this sin. Friends, the good news is that in Christ there is forgiveness for our sins (1 John 1:9). But God does not simply forgive us and let us go back to our sinful ways, he wants us to grow and mature in holiness. Repentance means turning around; it implies seeking to put to death those things that cause you to trip and fall. We have a lifetime of work ahead of us, but in Christ, there is progress in that work. The people of Shechem put their own desires ahead of God’s will—nothing but trouble comes from doing that; it brought them brambles then and it will bring us brambles today.
The First Rejection (Judges 9:9)
“And the olive tree said to them, ‘Should I leave my fatness, which in me God and men are honored and shall I go to dominate the trees?’” (Judges 9:9)
Here we see that Jotham, who is telling the story, understands what is going on. The rightful tree rejects the offer of kingship, just as Gideon, his father, had done. Why is that? Because Gideon understood that it is God, not man, who should call and anoint a king. God had called Gideon to judge for a time, not to create a dynasty to his name. We see this in the response of the olive tree.
Literally, the olive tree asks if he should leave his abundance to go and “shake” over the other trees. The word e1On (nua) refers to a violent shaking, usually over something or someone else. There is an implication that through this shaking, fear is generated in the hearts of others. When God does not ordain a king, that king assumes power by subjecting others to his own authority. We can see what happened with Abimelech. The first act he did in seeking to be king is to have all of his brothers executed. The olive tree recognized that were he to accept the kingship, it would be a violent rule.
And why would the olive tree be leaving its abundance? Olive trees are neither the largest nor the most hardy of trees. The “shaking” of itself over the other trees would likely destroy him just as violent windstorms do great damage to olive orchards. The tree recognized that rulership by the terms of the world not only requires the domination of others, but it is self-destructive as well.
There are two things that I think we should learn from this. The first is just simply a reflection on the values of the world. Ruling by the world’s terms takes a huge toll on the person. One of the things that I find quite interesting is to watch the hair color of presidents change from the time they are a candidate to the time they close out their term in office. If you do not believe that stress brings on gray hair, I challenge you to start digging up before and after pictures of some of our recent presidents. One of the most dramatic changes could be seen in Bill Clinton. As a candidate, his hair had color; by the time he left office, it was snowy white. This is admittedly an extreme example, but the principle remains: worldly leadership will take a huge toll on you.
The second thing that we should take from the response of the olive tree is an understanding of calling. Each of us is called to a different occupation in life to serve the Lord. Some are called to be preachers, others are called to be farmers, and still others are called to be accountants and teachers and lawyers, etc… All believers have a calling and not one is higher than the other. If, when we understand our calling to be x,y, or z, we do something else, that is sin. God has given us skills and gifts to serve him in a particular way, and even if the opportunity is given to us to serve otherwise—though it may satisfy our egos to do so—we should not deviate from that which God has given for us to do. The olive tree understood that his calling was to bless people with its good fruit, not to destroy itself, domineering over the other trees. Wisely, it stayed with its calling.
Friends, I lay the example of the olive tree before you. Bear fruit in the calling that God has given to you—whatever that calling may be, glorify God in what you are doing. This is the only way you will find satisfaction in life and the only way you will bless God and men with your fruit.
The Parable of the Trees: Intro (Judges 9:8-15)
Introduction:
Usually when we think of parables, we think of Jesus because he often used parables in his teaching and preaching method. Yet, we should remember that Jesus was not the only one to use parables and that they can be found throughout scripture. Indeed, this parable is taken from the book of Judges.
So what is a parable? I remember my Sunday school teacher when I was a child drilling this answer into our heads. At least then, our definition was that a parable is an “earthly story with a heavenly meaning.” Certainly, with respect to the parables of Jesus, this definition is correct, but once you look elsewhere in the Bible, you will quickly realize that my Sunday School teacher’s definition was lacking.
For our purposes, it is perhaps better to say that a parable is an earthly story that speaks beyond itself. It is similar to a fable of old in that it carries with it meaning that can be gleaned from the story. The difference between a parable and a fable is that a fable contains a moralistic message that can be gleaned from a literal interpretation of the story. To understand the message of a parable, one must look beyond the literal setting and seek the deeper meaning. Yet, a parable is also different than an allegory. In an allegory, every image has a one to one correlation with something else. Sometimes when people read parables they get lost trying to make a connection between every element and something else, missing entirely the message of the parable. It is true that the elements of a parable do contain deeper meaning and represent other things, but they do not always do so on a one to one basis and sometimes elements or images within the parable are simply there to add flavor to the story and do not contain any deeper meaning.
When Jesus was asked by his disciples (sf. Mark 4:10-12) why he taught in parables, his answer was that the parable kept the truth veiled from those whose eyes were not opened by God. Indeed, to be able to discern spiritual truths, one must have a spirit which is alive and regenerate. But sometimes parables are meant not to veil, but to reveal deep truths in a way that would have more impact than simply stating the facts. That is the case with this parable of the trees. It is an earthly story with a deeper meaning, but the deeper meaning is clear to all those who heard the parable and the story was meant to give the truth more impact.
So, what is the context of this particular parable? To begin with, we must travel back to the age of the Judges. The nation of Israel had been led through the wilderness from their captivity in Egypt to the Promised Land. God had given them the Law at Sinai through Moses and God would lead them into the land through Joshua. Yet, the people did not purge the land of all of the idolaters as they had been commanded to do. Instead, some were allowed to stay, usually as servants. This meant that the culture and the idolatry of the Canaanites were all around the Israelites. And sadly, more often than not, the Israelites fell into the temptation of idolatry rather than converting the Canaanites to Judaism.
That statement in itself is a telling message for the church today. It does not take much effort to see this same kind of thing going on in the Church to day. We are called to be distinct from the worldly culture, but more often than not, our churches begin to look more like the world than they do God’s kingdom. Sure, we may not be bowing down to wooden or stone idols (though you certainly find some of that in the Catholic church), but we certainly see people bowing down to money or egos. In a sense, the church is supposed to be the embassy of the kingdom of heaven in this world. The church should be a safe place and a holy place. It should be a place where faith is built up, not a place where personalities vie for the attention of others. In many ways, the days of the Judges are not that different than America today.
Most of us know the story about the famous Judge named Gideon. Gideon, of course, had some doubts about his calling, placing a fleece on the threshing floor to see whether it would be wet or dry, etc… But, eventually, God would have Gideon lead an army of 300 men to rout the armies of Midian. For the full story of Gideon, read Judges chapters 6-8.
What most people forget about the story of Gideon is what happens at the end of his life. The people tried to make Gideon their king and he refused. At the same time, he allowed them to put up an idol of himself, which the Israelites worshipped. Literally, the Hebrew text reads that they committed fornication with the idol, which reflects the marriage language that God often uses when conveying his relationship with his people. When God’s people look toward other idols, it is seen by God as an adulterous affair. How gracious our God is to be willing to forgive when we have been so unfaithful a spouse.
After Gideon died, the people went back to their Canaanite idols. One of Gideon’s 70 sons (that in itself is an indication of the fact that Gideon had slipped away from a godly life for he had many wives and concubines) was a man named Abimelech, which literally means “my father is king” in Hebrew, went to live in Shechem with his mother—a concubine of Gideon. They conspired with the people of Shechem to make Abimelech king, and they did so by capturing and putting to death all of Abimelech’s brothers (though one, Jotham, escaped). Thus Abimelech was made king.
When Jotham heard what had happened, he went to the top of Mount Gerizim and told this parable. This gave Jotham a place where the acoustics would have been good enough for him to be heard over a great distance as well as some distance from those who would try and put him to death. Mount Gerizim was an important mountain in ancient Israel. In Deuteronomy 27, we read the command of Moses that when the people have entered into the Promised Land, some are to ascend Mount Gerizim and others are to ascend Mount Ebal. From Gerizim, blessings for obedience were to be pronounced and from Ebal curses for disobedience were to be pronounced. We see this command being acted out in Joshua chapter 8. What is interesting about Jotham’s story is that it is a cry for judgment for the unfaithfulness of God’s people—yet he cries out from Gerizim, not Ebal—perhaps simply to reflect that Jotham is leaving Judgment of the people’s actions up to God. Regardless, it is from Mount Gerizim that Jotham tells this parable.
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