And Jotham ran away, and fled, and went to Beer, and dwelt there, for fear of Abimelech his brother.
Jotham ran away and fled to Beer and dwelt there for fear of Abimelech his brother. Abimelech was the son of Gideon's maidservant, who had Gideon's sons slain in order to become ruler of Israel, and who later utterly destroyed Shechem. The flight follows Jotham's parable of the trees, which rebuked the men of Shechem for choosing Abimelech, a leader who had murdered his brothers and gathered worthless and unworthy followers around him. The speaking and acting trees in that surrounding parable form an imagined council that teaches a lesson and does not report things that literally happened.
The flight illustrates how Gideon's family declined after the victory God wrought through Gideon with few against many, by trusting what is seen rather than unseen power, during the fearfully unsettled and checkered period of Israel under the judges. Those doing valuable work for God do not seek to rule over fellow believers. Ambition to be exalted over others shows unfitness to lead.
Jotham ran away and fled to Beer and dwelt there for fear of Abimelech his brother. Abimelech was the son of Gideon's maidservant, who had Gideon's sons slain in order to become ruler of Israel, and who later utterly destroyed Shechem. The flight follows Jotham's parable of the trees, which rebuked the men of Shechem for choosing Abimelech, a leader who had murdered his brothers and gathered worthless and unworthy followers around him. The speaking and acting trees in that surrounding parable form an imagined council that teaches a lesson and does not report things that literally happened.
The flight illustrates how Gideon's family declined after the victory God wrought through Gideon with few against many, by trusting what is seen rather than unseen power, during the fearfully unsettled and checkered period of Israel under the judges. Those doing valuable work for God do not seek to rule over fellow believers. Ambition to be exalted over others shows unfitness to lead.