Walk in Wisdom

Tuesday, March 4

A Call to Reason

Judges 9:16a & 19-21

“Now therefore, … if you then have acted in good faith and integrity with Jerubbaal and with his house this day, then rejoice in Abimelech, and let him also rejoice in you. But if not, let fire come out from Abimelech and devour the leaders of Shechem and Beth-millo … and devour Abimelech.” And Jotham ran away and fled and went to Beer and lived there, because of Abimelech his brother.

We can read Jotham’s declaration here as a specific prophecy against the perpetrators of the horrific violence toward his own family, or we can read it as a broader principle of the consequences inherent to vice in general, but either way, it adds up to the fundamental principle expressed by our modern adage, “you’ve made your bed—now you have to lie in it.” 

I wonder: did it never occur to the leaders of Shechem that if Abimelech is heartless enough to murder his entire family in cold blood, that he wouldn’t stop there? Were they so foolish in their own lust for greater economic leverage to think that Abimelech would simply put away his sword after seizing power? They’re happy to send him out against their rivals as a rabid wolf, but do they think he’ll just nestle at their feet like a lapdog when the carnage is complete? Did no one in that board room stand up to say, “Wait guys—I know this looks fireproof in the short term, but what about the long term? What if the fire we unleash on Gideon’s family comes back to burn us in the end?” Ah, but that’s the whole trick of vice, isn’t it? That’s the lie going all the way back to the serpent in Eden. Lust, greed, and envy only consider the present. Sin only sees the dangling fruit and thinks, “I’m hungry now.” Sin never looks behind for warning or ahead for rebuke. It doesn’t think—it just acts. 

Friend, before you scroll the internet today, consider tomorrow. Before you send that angry text message, ponder the consequences. Before you shake hands in that business transaction or put money down on the big game or press that bottle to your lips or gossip to your neighbor about your mutual friend, listen to that voice of reason calling out from Mt. Gerizim against your own rebellion, and stop the fire before it starts.