Judges 9 reintroduces one of the seventy sons of Gideon (called Jerubbaal here) who is Abimelech (Judges 8). He is listed shamefully in 2 Samuel 11. It is interesting that when something bad is occurring Gideon is called Jerubbaal.
He is conniving and deadly. His desire is to do the one thing his father refused to do. He wanted to be king over Shechem (think Samaria). He brought his mother on board (did James and John do this in the New Testament?) to aid in this plot. She convinced her clan that her son was the best son of Gideon to rule. Abimelech then began the extermination of his brothers. All died except one, Jotham the youngest. God always seems to bring the one back to haunt those who exterminated the others.
Abimelech becomes the name of a Philistine ruler and Jotham is the name of a good ruler of Judah and an ancestor of Jesus (Matthew 1).
Continuing with the story, Jotham pronounces a curse on Abimelech and the cities that promoted him. The curse is interesting to me because Jotham is asking us if we are serving the purpose for which we were created or are we attempting to be something we are not. Or, to quote the Wizard from the Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, “Be what you is, not what you is not. Folks that are what is, is the happiest lot.” The bramble bush made promises it could not keep. The common method of destroying them was to burn them, thus the curse.
The conclusion of the matter in Judges 9 is that the curse of Jotham is completed as stated. Those who allowed Abimelech to have power were consumed by fire and he would die.
When we attempt to live outside of the purpose for which God made us, our lives are lived for less greatness than He designed. Are you living in the purpose of God? If you do not know what that purpose is, read through passages that offer commands such as Romans 12.1-2, 1 Thessalonians 4.3f, 1 Thessalonians 5:18, etc. Ephesians 6 commands that we do the will of God from the heart.
When we do the known will of God, He reveals more of His purpose and will for our lives.
