Resting in the Shade of a Thornbush

 

Tuesday, April 5, 2022

When Jotham heard about this, he climbed to the top of Mount Gerizim and shouted, “Listen to me, citizens of Shechem!  Listen to me if you want God to listen to you!  Once upon a time the trees decided to choose a king.  First they said to the olive tree, ‘Be our king!’  But the olive tree refused, saying, ‘Should I quit producing the olive oil that blesses both God and people, just to wave back and forth over the trees?’  “Then they said to the fig tree, ‘You be our king!’  But the fig tree also refused, saying, ‘Should I quit producing my sweet fruit just to wave back and forth over the trees?’  “Then they said to the grapevine, ‘You be our king!’  But the grapevine also refused, saying, ‘Should I quit producing the wine that cheers both God and people, just to wave back and forth over the trees?’  “Then all the trees finally turned to the thornbush and said, ‘Come, you be our king!’  And the thornbush replied to the trees, ‘If you truly want to make me your king, come and take shelter in my shade.  If not, let fire come out from me and devour the cedars of Lebanon.’”  Judges 9:7-15

Lent is nearly passed; in 5 day’s time it will be Palm Sunday, and the Passion of our Lord will have begun.  The waving palms of adulation by Jerusalem crowds will give way to the crown of thorns from the thornbush.  And blood will flow!

The symbolism we find in Scripture is not always comfortable, but brings much comfort when understood.  And so many of the symbols are of the land, and simple things; simple things are hard to misunderstand if you’re awake at all.

In the time of the Judges southern Judah had a king.  The northern tribes were still depending on those charismatic unofficial leaders who would arise to meet threats by gathering the people to act as one.  Their king was the God of no name or face. 

Jotham, a descendant of Gideon, was such a spur-of-the-moment leader.  A crisis had arisen in Israel.  Abimelech had manipulated his relatives to have him proclaimed king.  They gave the power-grabber some money, and he used it to hire thugs to kill most of Jotham’s family.  But Jotham escaped and stood in the public place to tell the parable of the trees.  The olive tree, fig tree, and grapevine all refused the pomp and circumsance of being the king of the trees, so it fell to the only tree that would never produce the ease of shade, the thornbush.

Pretty easy to get the meaning:  Be careful of pressing-after that for which you’re not qualified. 

There is truly only one King; it was He who wore the crown fashioned from the thornbush.  That was certainly no comfort for the humanity of Jesus.  The spikes from that crown were meant to discourage any human flesh from getting too near it.  But Christ wore the crown of thorns, that we might be set free. 

For You Today

Jotham asked a key question to those who sang the praises of Abimelech:  Have you done right by the sons of Gideon?  And Jotham’s question stirs the question for us today:  Have we done right by the Son of God? 

For those who claim the title “Christian” discipleship is not a title, it is an active, lifelong process of asking, seeking, and knocking that aligns with Heaven’s demand to worship the only true King. 

The outcome is an up or down vote…rest in the shade of whatever comfort you prefer, or rest in the shadow of the thornbush.  It’s a solemn choice that will be heard around the world in Holy Week.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!  

[1] Title image: Pixabay.com   Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©   

God Speaking Clearly

[i]

Monday, April 24, 2017

Then Gideon said to God, “If you are truly going to use me to rescue Israel as you promised, prove it to me in this way.  I will put a wool fleece on the threshing floor tonight.  If the fleece is wet with dew in the morning but the ground is dry, then I will know that you are going to help me rescue Israel as you promised.”  And that is just what happened.  When Gideon got up early the next morning, he squeezed the fleece and wrung out a whole bowlful of water.  Then Gideon said to God, “Please don’t be angry with me, but let me make one more request.  Let me use the fleece for one more test.  This time let the fleece remain dry while the ground around it is wet with dew.”  So that night God did as Gideon asked.  The fleece was dry in the morning, but the ground was covered with dew.  Judges 6:36-40^(NLT)

But tell me this—since we preach that Christ rose from the dead, why are some of you saying there will be no resurrection of the dead?  For if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised either.  And if Christ has not been raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your faith is useless.  And we apostles would all be lying about God—for we have said that God raised Christ from the grave.  But that can’t be true if there is no resurrection of the dead.  And if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised.  And if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless and you are still guilty of your sins.  In that case, all who have died believing in Christ are lost!  And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world.  But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead.  He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died.  
1 Corinthians 15:12-19^(NLT)

Have you ever wanted to play Gideon; just ask God to do something miraculous; you know, ground dry-fleece wet, ground wet- fleece dry? 

Don’t feel too sheepish, I don’t like to admit it either.  Whenever I have either asked, or even thought about asking, the result has always been a resounding silence from heaven.  Later I would realize that the need to ask for a sign is usually my own insecurity about stepping-out in faith.  Yeah – I’m a lot like Gideon; cautious to a fault!  I want to make sure before I trust God, so, in the middle of this thing called walking by faith, I want Him to make it plain so I can see it, touch it, and wring out a bowl of water from my little fleece.

Let me offer a possible reason why God rarely does that kind of thing: 

When God has already spoken clearly, He doesn’t need to repeat it; we just need to take Him at His word and live into it! 

And the most important news God has ever shared with human beings is already spoken in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.

In the Gospel accounts Jesus often had to deal with the religious leaders who were either demanding a miracle to prove he was the Messiah, or those Sadducees who rolled their eyes at the mention of life after death.  On that first Easter morning Jesus answered both of those questions with one empty tomb.

That is how God spoke so clearly as to put a period at the end of all sentences.  That conversation is now closed forever; Jesus was, and is, the Messiah, and the life He shares with us will never end!

Clear enough?

For You Today

It’s really ok to ask God some questions as long as you’re continuing to walk, and as long as you’re also willing to trust that, if you don’t hear an answer, it was one of those questions He’s already got covered.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road…have a blessed day!

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NOTES

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 ^I Title image: By GFreihalter, via Wikimedia Commons