The Circus and the Throne
Under the Big Top
As a kid, I’ve always been a fan of the circus. Growing up, some of my earliest memories were going to the Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus. With childlike amazement, my little eyes would twinkle with delight as we neared the arena. After the obligatory and overpriced popcorn and coke, on our way to our seats, we somehow always found our way to some light up toy that would be dead by the time we arrived home, but that didn’t stop us from paying $15.00 for the light-up tiger head that spun around like a police light. There was something magical about watching Gunther-Gable Williams, the famous lion tamer, in the ring with his whip and his chair. One crack of that whip would stand those lions up on their back paws to the roar of the amazed crowd. It was enough to send this little boy into the back yard for weeks armed only with his belt and his kitchen chair idolizing the bedazzled tamer; standing my own imaginary felines up to the roar of the adoring fans. Then there were the elephants spinning on one foot as literally a two tons of mammal towered high above the awestruck onlookers. The trapeze artists, the tumblers, and the clowns all added to intrigue and wonder that overwhelmed the bright eyed, sheltered child from north Georgia.
Part of the mystique of the evening for me was the hearkening back to the old days of the big top where a massive tent greeted the masses with colorful canvas draped high above the entrance. From yesteryear, we were reminded of bearded ladies, clever magicians, and daring sword swallowers all under the big top. Nowadays those acts are usually reserved for those Ripley’s Believe-it-or-not museums that dot the tourist towns like Gatlinburg. One of the most interesting feats of bravery (or stupidity depending on your persuasion) was the bed of nails. Some circus participant would enter the room and actually make his way onto a bed of nails glistening in the light as hundreds of sharp points inflicted the poor guy’s backside. All just to earn the applause of the crowd.
No question the bed was not the most comfortable of places to lay down for a nap. It also wasn’t exactly what mom meant when she said, “you made your bed, now your going to have to sleep in it.” However in Judges chapter 9, we read a story of another bed of nails awaiting the children of Israel, and it’s almost as if they made their bed of thorns and now they have to sleep in it. The story isn’t the most well known, but it is nonetheless quite interesting. On the surface the story is about a man named Abimilek, but as we look deeper, it’s truths are brimming with application for you and me.
A Massacre and a Coronation
As the curtains raise on the story, we find Israel in a season of peace. Abimilek’s father, Gideon (you might know Him), had delivered to the people of Shechem a measure of peace from their enemies. Now the people lived in relative peace and harmony for a season, until Abimilek, whose name means “Father is King,” decides that, unlike his name, he wants to be the king of the people of Shechem. Not Abimilek was a part of a ruling family of sorts. See Gideon’s sons became the rulers of the area after their Father’s death. Abimilek and all 69 of his brothers. Yep all 70 of them ruling the area together, and amazingly, the people dwelled in apparent harmony and tranquility. That is until Abimilek decides to stage a coup. He meets secretly with his mother’s clan and convinces them to give him a loan of seventy shekels of silver. He takes the money given to him from the Temple of Baal-Berith and hires what the NIV calls “reckless scoundrels” to serve as his friends, though as we will see they are really mercenaries. Abimilek and his band of “friends” gather the brothers to the home sight for a meeting, but instead it’s an ambush and, on one rock the Bible says, in Tarentino fashion, Abimilek slays all of his brothers. Every. single. one. Only the youngest son, a boy named Josham escapes.
The Refugee’s Prophecy
After the murderous siege, Abimilek gathers the people of Shechem together at the great tree and crowns Himself as King. As the people hail their new leader, the youngest son of Gideon, Josham emerges atop a ridge that overlooks the scene. From his perch high above the coronation ceremony, Josham, whose name means “Jehovah is perfect,” tells them an interesting story about a bed of thorns.
We jump into the story in the middle of verse 7,
“Listen to me, citizens of Shechem, so that God may listen to you. 8 One day the trees went out to anoint a king for themselves. They said to the olive tree, ‘Be our king.’ 9 “But the olive tree answered, ‘Should I give up my oil, by which both gods and humans are honored, to hold sway over the trees?’ 10 “Next, the trees said to the fig tree, ‘Come and be our king.’ 11 “But the fig tree replied, ‘Should I give up my fruit, so good and sweet, to hold sway over the trees?’ 12 “Then the trees said to the vine, ‘Come and be our king.’ 13 “But the vine answered, ‘Should I give up my wine, which cheers both gods and humans, to hold sway over the trees?’ 14 “Finally all the trees said to the thornbush, ‘Come and be our king.’ 15 “The thornbush said to the trees, ‘If you really want to anoint me king over you, come and take refuge in my shade; but if not, then let fire come out of the thornbush and consume the cedars of Lebanon!’
The message could not have been more clear to the people. They were about to get that for which they were clamoring. The people insisted on having a single king and they would rue the day they consented to the reign of the brash and prideful Abimilek.
The Demise of the Despot
Fast forward in the story and we find that by the end of the chapter, the people have had enough of this man who had ascended as the ruler of Shechem. After one coup backfired on the people, they eventually the people find themselves held up in the town of Thebez. This town had a strong tower to which all the people ran to escape the wrath of Abimilek. Just as the heinous leader begins to set the tower ablaze a millstone is pushed off a ledge by a woman and cracks the dicator’s head. He is so ashamed that he has been felled by a woman he insists that his servant run him through with the sword, and this is the untimely end of the pitiful and petulant leader.
At first run, the story is prophetic. These people had clamored for a King and they had rejected their Father as King. Remember Abimilek’s name was “Father is King,” but instead he had raised himself up as King much to the delight of the people. The prophecy of Josham, whose name interestingly means Jehovah is perfect, was exactly what happened. They had staged this coup and raised up this man as a leader and they were about to find out how thorny that bed of nails was. See anytime a man is exalted as a ruler and King, mark it down there will always be some measure of corruption, collusion, and injustice. It is a consequence of the fall and is bound in the heart of even the most integrity-filled leaders. Abimilek had shown his corruption by rising up and hailing himself as king. He had colluded with scoundrels to be his friends. He had committed atrocious injustice in the shadow of his father’s house by slaying his entire family. This was the depth of this man’s pride and corruption. But it’s always going to happen when we insist on being the King.
The Thorny Throne
It’s interesting because, on one level, it was a microcosm of the whole book. It was exactly what Israel would experience. God had made it clear that He would be their ruler, and that they would be His people. But the people didn’t want that, they wanted a King like everybody else. In just a few short years, the people of Israel would clamor for a King to the prophet Samuel. They didn’t want God, they wanted their own physical, human king, “So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah (1 Samuel 8:4). They said to him “You are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have” (1 Samuel 8:5). But when they said “Give us a king to lead us” they displeased Samuel.”
And when they did this, much like Josham’s prophecy, they found themselves on a bed of thorns, they got what they asked for, because like any other man, a survey of the Old Testament is a long documented history of corruption, collusion, and injustice of king after king. Better to have hearkened to Josham’s prophecy, because like His name means, “Jehovah is perfect.” They should have listened to God, because His ways are always best. Only He is the perfect King who can reign and rule His people aright.
There is one great application for us as we close the curtain on this bizarre story. At the end of the day, all of us want to be the King of our lives, the ruler of our own destiny, don’t we? But like Abimilek, the moment we step onto the throne, we can expect the corruption of our hearts to rise within us and we will inevitable leave in our wake our own trail of injustice and collusion with the enemy. In the end we will find ourselves on a bed of nails sharper than any found in the circus. Our hearts cannot be trusted, for they are naive at best and insidious at worst. Remember the word calls it “desperately wicked.”
Better to do as the people did and run to our own tower of safety. Remember the tower at Thebez? Thebez means “brilliant light.” Our beautiful, bright strong tower against the corruption of our own hearts is none other than the rightful King of Kings that has already set up HIs kingdom that will have no end. (Isaiah 9:7) The prophet reminds us that “the government is to be on HIS shoulders,” not ours! If we find within ourselves a strong desire to control our own lives, to manipulate and direct and reign our own days, then we can expect corruption and injustice, but when we heed the prophecy of Josham and remember that Jehovah is Perfect; when we run headlong into the tower of safety that is the brilliance of the finished work of Jesus, it is here, as we hide inside it’s beauty, that all our vile ambition and pride is cracked and destroyed in shame. “The name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous run into it and they are safe.” (Proverbs 18:10)
