Jotham QUESTIONS his hearers as to the JUSTNESS of their
MAKING ABIMELECH KING in light of their TREATMENT of JERUBBAAL (GIDEON) and his HOUSE (Judges 9:16):
The RECORD is CLEAR that the "CHILDREN of ISRAEL
REMEMBERED NOT the Lord their GOD" (Judges 8:34) and that "NEITHER SHOWED they KINDNESS to the HOUSE of JERUBBAAL,
namely, GIDEON" (Judges 8:35)
The RECORD is ALSO CLEAR concerning ISRAEL'S "FATHERS"
- "WHICH of the PROPHETS have your FATHERS NOT PERSECUTED" (Acts 7:52)
Parenthetically, Jotham REMINDS his hearers of how "MY
FATHER FOUGHT FOR YOU ... DELIVERED YOU" (Judges 9:17) and that "YE ARE RISEN UP AGAINST MY FATHER'S HOUSE ... HAVING
SLAIN HIS SONS" and HAVE MADE HIS MAIDSERVANT'S SON KING (Judges 9:18):
The RECORD is CLEAR on "GIDEON, according to ALL
the GOODNESS which he had SHEWED unto ISRAEL" (Judges 8:35) in having "DELIVERED THEM out of the hands of their enemies ON
EVERY SIDE" (Judges 8:34)
The RECORD is ALSO CLEAR on how "THEY GAVE HIM (ABIMELECH)
... SILVER out of the HOUSE of BAALBERITH" (Judges 9:4), "THEIR GOD" (Judges 8:33), with which "ABIMELECH HIRED VAIN ... PERSONS" (Judges 9:4)
"and WENT UNTO HIS FATHER'S HOUSE and SLEW HIS BRETHEN" (Judges 9:5)
Jotham, "TONGUE IN CHEEK", CHIDES his hearers
- IF this is what they call JUST TREATMENT of GIDEON'S HOUSE - THEN let ABIMELECH and THEM all REJOICE TOGETHER
(Judges 9:19):
God, "TONGUE IN CHEEK", CHIDES His people by
declaring that EVEN a DUMB ANIMAL KNOWS its MASTER, BUT that ISRAEL KNOWS NOT her GOD (Isaiah 1:3)
Jotham FLED "for FEAR of ABIMELECH HIS BROTHER and
"WENT TO BEER" (Judges 9:21) - UNTIL the TIME that GOD did "RENDER UPON THEIR HEADS ... THE
CURSE OF JOTHAM" (Judges 9:57):
So ALSO will it be for FAITHFUL ISRAEL - "CAST ...
OUT" from THEIR HATEFUL BRETHREN (Isaiah 66:5) in the "LAST TIME" of ANTICHRIST (I John 2:18)
- "INTO HER PLACE, where SHE is NOURISHED ... FROM the FACE of the SERPENT" (Revelation 12:14) - "UNTIL the INDIGNATION be OVERPAST" (Isaiah 26:20)