7 And
when they told it to Jotham, he went and stood in the top of mount Gerizim, and
lifted up his voice, and cried, and said unto them, Hearken unto me, ye men of
Shechem, that God may hearken unto you. 8 The trees went forth on a
time to anoint a king over them; and they said unto the olive tree, Reign thou
over us. 9 But the olive tree said unto them, Should I leave my
fatness, wherewith by me they honour God and man, and go to be promoted over
the trees? 10 And the trees said to the fig tree, Come thou, and
reign over us. 11 But the fig tree said unto them, Should I forsake
my sweetness, and my good fruit, and go to be promoted over the trees? 12 Then
said the trees unto the vine, Come thou, and reign over us. 13 And
the vine said unto them, Should I leave my wine, which cheereth God and man,
and go to be promoted over the trees? 14 Then said all the trees
unto the bramble, Come thou, and reign over us. 15 And the bramble
said unto the trees, If in truth ye anoint me king over you, then come and put
your trust in my shadow: and if not, let fire come out of the bramble, and
devour the cedars of Lebanon. (Judges
9:7-15)
The
Sunday after Ascension Day.
The
Collect.
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O
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GOD, the King of
glory, who hast exalted thine only Son Jesus Christ with great triumph unto thy
kingdom in heaven; We beseech thee, leave us not comfortless; but send to us
thine Holy Ghost to comfort us, and exalt us un-to the same place whither our
Saviour Christ is gone before, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the same
Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen.
The Collect for Ascension Day,
found on Page 177, is also read due to the rubric:
The
Collect for The Ascension Day.
The
Collect.
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G
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RANT, we beseech thee, Almighty
God, that like as we do believe thy only-begotten Son our Lord Jesus Christ to
have ascended into the heavens; so we may also in heart and mind thither
ascend, and with him continually dwell, who liveth and reigneth with thee and
the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen.
¶ This Collect is to be said
daily throughout the Octave.
Any strong building needs a strong foundation. That foundation of a strong and
beautiful life is laid, without exception, in God. Adam and Eve had ready
access to God daily in the Garden. They knew Him intimately and personally, but
when they betrayed the Love of Heaven, by listening to the wicked and discordant
voice from the Wrong Tree of the Garden (when they might have partaken of that
Tree of Life which was, symbolically, Christ), they fell – not only from Grace –
but from that intimate relationship with God the Father. But god began to
work, according to His foreknowledge and pre-determinate will, to prepare a
means whereby the marred vision and sin-diseased heart of man might have a
means of returning to the will and Love of God. Having minds that were decadent
with sin, man could not come to know God until he had decided to not remember
the sin and wickedness that had obsessed him since Eden. God would teach man
that personal works, regardless of their goodness, could never redeem from sin.
Man simply could not be "good enough" to merit heaven. In order to
prove this to our sinful hearts, God laid a foundation of learning in the Old
Testament based on the Laws written on Tables of Stone. These Laws were
absolute and unforgiving. If man would but keep these laws perfectly, he would
not need a Savior. But man discovered, as God knew all along, that he could not
be perfect, and only perfect righteousness is welcome in Heaven. These Old
Testament experiences were our teachers to prepare our hearts for our desperate
need of Christ. They became our Foundation of Faith to lead us to Christ. He
was the Stone that the builders rejected at Eden and has become the Chief
Cornerstone of our Temple. Had man in general possessed the faith of Abraham of
the Old Testament Church, he would have suffered less under the constraints of
the Law. Today's devotion in an Old Testament parable is the beginning of a
study in parables – both old and new, of the Testaments.
Gideon has been gathered to his fathers, and Shechem, the city where Christ met
the Samaritan Woman by Jacob's Well (Sychar), is embroiled in a great political
struggle that involves the will of man to the detriment of that Holy Will of
God. Israel (the people of God) have apostatized and will be punished, not by
an outside enemy invasion, but from a bitter internecine war among their own
lot. In choosing an evil man, Abimelech, to rule over them, the people of
Shechem have not only made a bed of stone and hot coals from themselves to
sleep, but displeased God in the process and provoke His anger against them.
Abimelech murdered the seventy sons of Gideon with the exception of his
youngest son, Jotham. The story may even be repeated in our modern America in
which we have known the love and grace of God but have turned to the dark
clouds of usurpation and tyranny and away from government constituted by God
who gave us this fair land.
Having learned of the tyranny and ruthlessness conceived by Abimelech and his
paid lackeys (And they gave him threescore and ten pieces of silver
out of the house of Baalberith, wherewith Abimelech hired vain and light
persons, which followed him. - Judges 9:4), Jotham is a man who will stand against the greater
numbers in righteous courage and principle. Men are easily corrupted with
money. Governments often buy votes by collectivist policies that promise
unprincipled men the fruit of the labors of others. In the end, such
governments destroy their enemies as well as their allies.
7 And
when they told it to Jotham, he went and stood in the top of mount Gerizim,
and lifted up his voice, and cried, and said unto them, Hearken unto me, ye men
of Shechem, that God may hearken unto you This mount of speaking opened to the plains and vales
outside Sheckem – very near the Well of Jacob. This one lad stood against all
of the corrupted citizens of Shechem, and he did so openly and defiantly. God,
we pray for such men in the dimming days of our beloved America! The vale was
surrounded by other mountain slopes so that the voice of Jotham could be heard
by all of the people.
8 The
trees went forth on a time to anoint a king over them; and they said
unto the olive tree, Reign thou over us. The trees are the body politic of a nation. If that body
politic is a Godly people, they will go to a Godly source to find their rulers
who will rule under the true Sovereign of Heaven. The Olive Tree has many
features that compare it to the Church: 1) the Olive True bears much fruit year
in and year out. The same is true of God's Church; 2) the Olive Tree is green
with leaves all the year long – it is never devoid of the beauty of life. The
Church, if it is true to its Maker, is full of the Life of Christ and its
Springs are overflowing there from; 3) the fruit of the Olive Tree is valuable
and costly – not plentifully found in all parts of the world. The same is true
of the Gospel – abundant in nations who know and love God, and suppressed in
nations whose people have surrendered their freedoms to the Bramble; 4)
the Olive Tree has been compared with Christ Himself in righteousness (Romans
11:17, 24); 5) the Olive Tree represents trust in God (But I am
like a green olive tree in the house of God: I trust in the mercy of God for
ever and ever - Psalms 52:8); 6) children
of righteous parents are like Olive Trees (Thy wife shall be as a
fruitful vine by the sides of thine house: thy children like olive plants round
about thy table. -Psalms 128:3); and, 7)
the branches of the Olive Tree symbolize peace. The Church (whose Bridegroom is
the Prince of Peace), too, should represent Peace in a dying world at war. (see
Genesis 8:11) So the trees seek first of all, the rule of the Olive Tree under
God.
9 But
the olive tree said unto them, Should I leave my fatness, wherewith by me they
honour God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees? There is a strong lesson for the people of God today in
the response of the Olive Tree to an invitation to stand in the place of ruler
in a nation. God is honored in the fruit and beauty of the Olive Tree. If she
stoops to rule in politics, the glory of God will be marred and blemished. Her
fruit is to gladden the hearts and replenish the souls of her keepers, not to
rule over them by force or tyranny. Should we, and ultimately the Church, seek
to ascend to towers of pride and pelf, or should we be satisfied to be the Salt
and Light of our fellows? Salt and Light will make the heart of the King kindly
disposed to his subjects. Force of Laws of Stone will kill that love and
kindness.
10 And
the trees said to the fig tree, Come thou, and reign over us. It is commendable that the people search for Godly leadership,
but Godly leadership does not make us Godly. We cannot borrow righteousness
from any other than Christ. Ye shall know them by
their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? (Matt 7:16 ) The fig is a good fruit, and Christians must bear
fruits bearing testimony of the Lord.
11 But
the fig tree said unto them, Should I forsake my sweetness, and my good fruit,
and go to be promoted over the trees?
When our pride is lifted up in good works, those works become bitter and
soiled. Promotion above the heads of others has never been the intent of the
Gospel. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of
yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should
boast. (Eph 2:8-9) Why should a fruitful
tree leave the fertile and well-watered pastureland of God to stand tall and haut
monde among the withering trees of a desert politic?
12 Then
said the trees unto the vine, Come thou, and reign over us. 13 And
the vine said unto them, Should I leave my wine, which cheereth God and man,
and go to be promoted over the trees? It is against the
nature of a vine to become a tree in the same way that it is against the nature
of a mustard plant to become a tree. The purpose of the vine is to be a conduit
of life to the fruit of its nature. Why should a vine leave off providing joy
and life to mankind (as the Savior of the Church) and go into the courts of
justice meting out prison and death sentences to offenders? How can love and
life dwell in peace together with corruption and politics?
14 Then
said all the trees unto the bramble, Come thou, and reign over us. Beware, America! This lesson may relate to us as much as
old Israel! Have we sought out lesser lights to lead us, or do those whom we
have chosen to lead us, into perversion and murder of innocents, represent what
we have finally come to be in our apostasy against God and heaven? Do the
leaders of our nation today represent what we have become as a people? I aver
that they do represent who, or WHAT, we have become in our rejection of God and
His Law of Righteousness. If this offends you, so be it. Bring to the bar
empirical and evidential proof to the contrary! Are our streets safer than five
decades ago, are there fewer abortions, are marriages more sacrosanct? Is our
public media more gentle and moral in its programming, and do our youth honor
God in their raiment? Remember, friends, that proverbial ostrich with its head
in the sand has been delivered more kicks in the romp than the Eagle that flies
with its eyes open. We get precisely that for which we ask!
15 And
the bramble said unto the trees, If in truth ye anoint me king over you, then
come and put your trust in my shadow: and if not, let fire come out of
the bramble, and devour the cedars of Lebanon. The bramble bears no fruit. It is a parasite that
feeds on the life of the living. When governments exceed their God-given roles
as ministers of righteousness to the people, they have become brambles to the
living. Romans 13:3 & 4 provide a proper definition for the role of
governments: For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the
evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and
thou shalt have praise of the same: For he is the minister of God to thee for
good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the
sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon
him that doeth evil. Now, suppose that
minister fails to meet the description given here? Suppose the government fails
to be a terror to bad works and becomes a terror to good works? Suppose the
government ceases to be a minister of God for to you for your good? Suppose the
government becomes an avenger against those who do good and rewards those who d
evil? That is a tyranny of which our Founding Fathers bled and died and of
which they gave us somber warning!
A great French patriot & Parliamentarian, (were there any left?), Frederic
Bastiat, The Law, published in 1848, gives this proper hierarchy of law in
contrast to that of the Ancien Regime: "We hold from God the gift which
includes all others. This gift is life—physical, intellectual, and moral life.
But life cannot maintain itself alone. The Creator of life has entrusted us
with the responsibility of preserving, developing, and perfecting it. In order
that we may accomplish this, He has provided us with a collection of marvelous
faculties. And He has put us in the midst of a variety of natural resources. By
the application of our faculties to these natural resources we convert them
into products, and use them. This process is necessary in order that life may
run its appointed course. Life, faculties, production—in other words,
individuality, liberty, property—this is man. And in spite of the cunning of
artful political leaders, these three gifts from God precede all human
legislation, and are superior to it." We may take seriously these sage
words of a Statesman, or simply ignore them to our peril. The wise words of an
ancient statesman and proponent of Republican government (Cicero) were taught
in elementary schools in Tennessee when I was a child. Now they have
disappeared from the schools and libraries of America. I wonder why? Power and law are not synonymous. In truth, they are frequently
in opposition and irreconcilable. There is God's Law from which all Equitable
laws of man emerge and by which men must live if they are not to die in
oppression, chaos and despair. Divorced from God's eternal and immutable Law,
established before the founding of the suns, man's power is evil no matter the
noble words with which it is employed or the motives urged when enforcing it.
Men of good will, mindful therefore of the Law laid down by God, will oppose
governments whose rule is by men, and if they wish to survive as a nation they
will destroy the government which attempts to adjudicate by the whim of venal
judges.
- Marcus Tullius Cicero, 106-43 B.C.
In America, the power and authority for government resides in the
hands of the people. If those hands are soiled, so will our government be. WE
ARE CAESAR! We need not take up arms against an oppressive government.
We need only exercise our benefits as citizens wisely.
As my high school philosophy teacher, Mr. B.L. Hale, used to say: "A
word to the wise is sufficient!"
