Today’s Scripture Reading (January 2,
2016): Judges 9
Jeb Bush
apparently recently commented that his Dad has started to watch Fox News in
order to try to figure out the appeal of Donald Trump. It is the question that
many full time political watchers have been asking for a long time now. And the
question might be unanswerable until after the actual voting begins. Because I
know, at least in my own life, that there can be a huge difference between the
things that might be said about a political candidate, and my ability to place
an X beside their name when it comes to that moment inside the voter’s booth.
All in a sudden, something seems to crash down us, and the question of what we
really believe and can trust becomes all too real. It is the reason why,
occasionally, an outside candidate seems to be in charge of the polls only to
end up losing – and sometimes even losing in a spectacular manner. If there is
a word of caution that I could offer the Donald, it would be simply this: “Do
not rely on the polls you are watching. Make every speech count and every voter
special, because if you are to win you will probably need every one of them.”
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| President Barak Obama Before and Near the End of His Presidency |
But there is a question that is not being
asked – Why would Donald Trump want to be President. He is a highly successful
individual who has already made a name for himself outside of the world of
politics. What is it that he gains from being President? I mean, just look at
the before and after presidential photos of past Presidents, Why would anyone
with any kind of intelligence ever want the job? What kind of insanity has to
be present in an individual to want to run for office? And is it these insane
people that we want to be in charge of our countries. (I get that we have no
choice, which is probably why the question is better left unasked. Of all of
the reasons to run that I aware of, the Donald’s “Make America Great” is
probably among the weakest while Ben Carson’s concern over the type of world
that we are leaving to our children might be among the stronger reasons for
wanting to run for President.)
Abimelek
wanted to be king. Even his name, which roughly translates into “My Dad is the
King” betrays his ambition. But the problem is that his Dad, Gideon or
Jerub-Baal, had actually turned down the job of being king. So his name is a
bit of a lie. And for Abimelek to become king, he was going to have to betray
almost every principle that his Dad held close – and kill all of his brothers
(seventy here may be a symbolic number) who might also believe that they had a
right to the very throne that he coveted. And this is exactly what he tries to
do, but he misses one half-brother – Jotham.
And so,
Jotham hears what Abimelek has done and he tells the people a fable about
trees. Apparently the trees wanted a king, but they were all far too busy and
too valuable to pause in their pursuits in order to take the job. So finally
the trees ask the thornbush to be king. The suggestion makes a warped kind of
logic; after all, what could a thornbush be too busy doing that would stop it
from being king. But that is also the point. It was not the best equipped that
would want to fulfill the role of supreme leader – it was the worst, the one
with nothing better to do. Not something that we really want to dwell on as the
election of November 2016 draws closer.
Scholars are
split on what Jotham’s fable is really saying. There is no doubt that Jotham is
calling someone incompetent and worthless, the question is - who? For some,
Jotham’s thornbush is the institution of
the monarchy itsef. Jotham’s views on Kingship appear to be very close to that
of his father Gideon (Jerub-Baal.) God was King and it was not right for anyone
else to seek the position. Besides, it was only the incompetent who had the
time to seek after the position of being King. For others, Jotham is not making
a comment against the monarchy, but rather against his half-brother – it was
Abimelek that was incompetent and worthless. The only reason he had time to
chase after the kingship, and kill all of his brothers, was because he was
unable to do anything constructive with his life. And Jotham’s question is
simple – is this really the one that you want to be in charge of the country.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Judges
10
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