Put Your Trust in My Shadow - Judges 9:15

In the book of Judges we learned how Jotham told the men of Shechem, “Hearken unto me, you men of Shechem, that God may hearken unto you. The trees went forth on a time to anoint a king over them; and they said unto the olive tree, Reign you over us. But the olive tree said unto them, Should I leave my fatness, wherewith by me they honor God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees? And the trees said to the fig tree, Come you, and reign over us. But the fig tree said unto them, Should I forsake my sweetness, and my good fruit, and go to be promoted over the trees? Then said the trees unto the vine, Come you, and reign over us. And the vine said unto them, Should I leave my wine, which cheers God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees Then said all the trees unto the bramble, Come you, and reign over us”, and in chapter nine and verse fifteen of Judges, we learn how Jotham shares how the bramble said, “come and put your trust in my shadow”  where we read,

And the bramble said unto the trees, If in truth you anoint me king over you, then come and put your trust in my shadow: and if not, let fire come out of the bramble, and devour the cedars of Lebanon.

The verse reads, “And the bramble said unto the trees, If in truth you anoint me king over you, then come and put your trust in my shadow:” The writer began with the words, “and the bramble” which means “and the buckthorn” “said unto the trees” which means “uttered, declared and proclaimed to the timbers, stocks, planks and wood”, “if in truth you anoint me king over you” or “whether and in case according to that which is firm, faithful, reliable and sure you, the trees, consecrate and choose me, the bramble, as royal ruler and leader to be higher and above you, the trees”, “then come and put your trust” which means “enter, attain and be enumerated as you place establish and set your, the trees, refuge, confidence and hope” “in my shadow” or “within my, the bramble’s, shade or defense”. The writer shared how the “buckthorn” instructed the “trees” to be enumerated and have confidence within it’s shade “if” they truly desired that it be the royal ruler over them.

The verse goes on to say, “and if not, let fire come out of the bramble, and devour the cedars of Lebanon.” The writer continued with the words “and if not” which means “and whether and in case the trees do not want the bramble to rule over them”, “let fire come out of the bramble” which means “allow and permit fiery fire to proceed from the buckthorn or thorn bush”, “and devour the cedars of Lebanon” or “and burn up, consume and destroy the cedar wood belonging to Lebanon whose name means ‘whiteness’ and was a wooded mountain range on the northern border of Israel”. The writer shared how the “bramble” said if the “trees” did not “anoint” it to be their royal ruler, then it desired that “fiery fire” proceed from the “bramble” and consume the “cedar wood trees” belonging to “Lebanon”. 

When we think through the words in this verse, we see how having lower standards for the “bramble” to rule over the “trees” was already having an impact upon them. Rather than being helpful to the trees, the “bramble” gave an ultimatum and a consequence if they were not really wanting it to rule over them. We shall see how “Jotham” uses this story to relate to the people of “Shechem” choosing “Ahimelech” as their ruler in our next verse, but for now, let us keep in mind how people choose “rulers” in their lives that are of low quality and poor moral fiber. God does not want it to be this way because He desires to be the “King” of their lives, and He made this possible by sending His Son Jesus into the world to die on the cross for the sins of all mankind and raising from the dead after three days. When we submit to Him as our “Savior and Lord”, 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 and determination to keep Him and Him alone as the ruler in our lives. (See Matthew 4:10)

Next time we learn how Jotham says, “if you have done truly and sincerely, in that you have made Abimelech king”, so read ahead …, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

See more devotionals on the website "thewordfortodaywithray.com" or look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".