Jotham Standing on Mount Gerizim - Judges 9:7

In the book of Judges we learned how, “all the men of Shechem gathered together, and all the house of Millo, and went, and made Abimelech king, by the plain of the pillar that was in Shechem” and in chapter nine and verse seven of Judges, we learn, “when they told it to Jotham, he went and stood in the top of mount Gerizim” where we read,

And when they told it to Jotham, he went and stood in the top of mount Gerizim, and lifted up his voice, and cried, and said unto them, Hearken unto me, you men of Shechem, that God may hearken unto you.

The verse reads, “And when they told it to Jotham, he went and stood in the top of mount Gerizim, and lifted up his voice, and cried, and said unto them, …” The writer began with the words, “and when they told it to Jotham” which means “and at the time and moment they, the men of Shechem, made known, announced and declared to Jotham whose name means ‘Jehovah is perfect’ and was youngest son of Gideon who escaped from the massacre of his brothers, that they made Abimelech king ”, “he went and stood in the top of mount Gerizin” which means “he left, departed and proceeded forth and made a stand within the summit, upper part and height belonging to the rising above the plain known as Gerizim whose name means ‘cuttings off’ and was a mountain in northern Israel in Ephraim near Shechem from which the blessings were read to the Israelites on entering Canaan; site of the Samaritan temple built after the captivity”, “and lifted up his voice” or “and carried, sustained and exalted his, Jotham’s, sound and noise of uttered words”, “and cried” which means “and loudly proclaimed and declared”, “and said unto them” or “and uttered, declared and proclaimed to them, the people of Shechem” the following words. The writer shared at the time and moment the people of “Shechem” informed “Jotham” that they made “Abimelech” the royal ruler, “Jotham” departed and made a stand upon the precipice of the rising above the plain known as “Gerizim”, raised his sound of uttered words, shouted and declared to the men of “Shechem” the following words. 

The verse goes on to say, “… Hearken unto me, you men of Shechem, that God may hearken unto you.” The writer continued with the words, “hearken unto me” which means “listen to and obey me, Jotham”, “you men of Shechem” which means “you male human beings belonging to Shechem whose name means ‘back or shoulder’”,  “that God may hearken unto you” or “so the Supreme Deity might listen and pay attention to you, the men of Shechem”. The writer shared shared how “Jotham” loudly declared to the male human beings in “Shechem” to listen to and obey his words, so the Supreme Deity might listen and pay attention to them. 

When we meditate upon the words in this verse, we learn how “Jotham”, Gideon’s only son to escape the murders of Abimeleh, was informed concerning the men of “Shechem” making “Abimelech” the royal ruler, and he went into action. He departed to the precipice of “mount Gerizim” and made a proclamation concerning their decision. We shall see what he tells the men of “Shechem” in our next few verses, but for now, let us consider the immediate action of “Jotham” even though his brothers had been killed by Abimelech. When God wants to use us, we are to perform according to His perfect will and plan by the use of the ability He gives us through a personal relationship with Him. When we receive His Son Jesus as our “Savior and Lord”, we are recognizing Jesus died on the cross for our sins and rose from the grave after three days. As we submit to Him, He will forgive our sins, grant us everlasting life and put His Holy Spirit within us to guide us into all truth and give us the ability to go into action as soon as He calls us to perform. (See John 3:16:16:13; Acts 1:8; Romans 8:37)

Next time we learn how Jotham says, “the trees went forth on a time to anoint a king over them”, so read ahead …, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

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