DAD'S RAMBLINGS – GOD REMEMBERS
"Now therefore, if you have acted in truth and sincerity in making Abimelech king, and if you have dealt well with Jerubbaal and his house, and have done to him as he deserves – for my father fought for you, risked his life, and delivered you out of the hand of Midian; but you have risen up against my father's house this day, and killed his seventy sons on one stone, and made Abimelech, the son of his female servant, king over the men of Shechem, because he is your brother –" (Judges 9:16-18)
This a rather convoluted piece of history in the nation of Israel. To get the full picture, one must go back to the previous chapter – verses 34-35. "Thus the children of Israel did not remember the LORD their God, who had delivered them from the hands of all their enemies on every side; nor did they show kindness to the house of Jerubbaal (that is Gideon) in accordance with the good he had done for Israel."
Gideon was aka Jerubbaal. When he died, he left 70 sons by various mothers. One of those sons, Abimilech, who was the son of one of Gideon's female servants, aspired to be king. So he slew the other sons to eliminate the competition. One of Gideon's sons, Jotham, escaped this slaughter and spoke out against Abimelech and the people of Shechem who followed him, and foretold the judgment that would befall them. Then Jotham ran for his life.
The point of today's meditation is: Don't expect people to remember the good things you have done in your life. After you are gone, they will soon be forgotten. And it happens all too often that there is rivalry and dissension between the surviving heirs.
It happened to Gideon's family, and it can happen in ours. No matter how godly and patriarch is, the memory of his godliness soon fades into the dimly lit past. But God does not forget. As we read in Hebrews 6:10: "But God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love…." God keeps good records, and He will repay on judgment day.
Love, Dad
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