Throughout the Bible, leaders stand out as being either good or evil.  Abimelech is one of the most wicked of them all.  He murders seventy of his half-brothers so that they don’t compete with him for head of God’s people.  Chapter 9 tells the whole story.

The reading for today is a fable Jotham, the only survivor of the seventy brothers that Abimelech killed.  As often in the Bible, stories teach truths that are stronger because of the images of the story. The point of the fable is that each of the trees mentioned, except the bramble bush, does not want to give up who they are just to get to be in charge of others.  

Now that’s something for each of us to think about.  Who we are is God’s precious, unique gift.  When forget about how special we are and try to impress others by imitating somebody else more famous, then we lose happiness, peace, joy and all the wonderful feelings that come from being grateful to God for creating us.

Judges 9:7-21

Examples of Bible Breaths Learn More…

Praising You for who I am
The humble are exalted Luke 1:52
For others, the better part
Abundant joy within me

Check out Study Tools in BibleGateway.
I especially recommend the free resource
in Matthew Henry’s Commentary.

Tuesdays are dedicated to the Old Testament books of history
and the Hebrew “Writings.”

 

These Firestarters are for families with children. For the Firestarters in the original edition, I recommend the ebook.  You will have the entire program of well over a thousand of these introductions with you on your phone or table! Check the menu options at the site for more information.