as we have seen, he would have justified every one in refusing to reign.
And certainly if society could be held together and guided without the
exaltation of one over another, by the fidelity of each to his own task
and brotherly feeling between man and man, there would be a far better
state of things. But while the fable expounds a God-impelled anarchy,
the ideal state of mankind, our modern schemes, omitting God,
repudiating the least notion of a supernatural fount of life, turn upon
themselves in hopeless confusion. When the divine law rules every life
we shall not need organised governments; until then entire freedom in
the world is but a name for unchaining every lust that degrades and
darkens the life of man. Far away, as a hope of the redeemed and
Christ-led race, there shines the ideal Theocracy revealed to the
greater minds of the Hebrew people, often re-stated, never realised. But
at present men need a visible centre of authority. There must be
administrators and executors of law, there must be government and
legislation till Christ reigns in every heart. The movement which
resulted in Abimelech's sovereignty was the blundering start in a series
of experiments the Hebrew tribes were bound to make, as other nations
had to make them. We are still engaged in the search for a right system
of social order, and while fearers of God acknowledge the ideal towards
which they labour, they must endeavour to secure by personal toil and
devotion, by unwearying interest in affairs the most effective form of
liberal yet firm government.
Abimelech maintained himself in power for three years, no doubt amid
growing dissatisfaction. Then came the outburst which Jotham had
predicted. An evil spirit, really present from the first, rose between
Abimelech and the men of Shechem. The bramble began to tear themselves,
a thing they were not prepared to endure. Once rooted however it was not
easily got rid of. One who knows the evil arts of betrayal is quick to
suspect treachery, the false person knows the ways of the false and how
to fight them with their own weapons. A man of high character may be
made powerless by the disclosure of some true words he has spoken; but
when Shechem would be rid of Abimelech it has to employ brigands and
organise robbery. "They set liers in wait for him in the mountains who
robbed all that came along that way," the merchants no doubt to whom
Abimelech had given a safe conduct. Shechem in fact became the
head-quarters of a band of highwaymen whose crimes were condoned or even
approved in the hope that one day the despot would be taken and an end
put to his misrule.
It may appear strange that our attention is directed to these vulgar
incidents, as they may be called, which were taking place in and about
Shechem. Why has the historian not chosen to tell us of other regions
where some fear of God survived and guided the lives of men, instead of
giving in detail the intrigues and treacheries of Abimelech and his
rebellious subjects? Would we not much rather hear of the sanctuary and
the worship, of the tribe of Judah and its development, of men and women
who in the obscurity of private life were maintaining the true faith and
serving God in sincerity? The answer must be partly that the contents of
the history are determined by the traditions which survived when it was
compiled. Doings like these at Shechem keep their place in the memory of
men not because they are important but because they impress themselves
on popular feeling. This was the beginning of the experiments which
finally in Samuel's time issued in the kingship of Saul, and although
Abimelech was, properly speaking, not a Hebrew and certainly was no
worshipper of Jehovah, yet the fact that he was king for a time gave
importance to everything about him. Hence we have the full account of
his rise and fall.
And yet the narrative before us has its value from the religious point
of view. It shows the disastrous result of that coalition with idolaters
into which the Hebrews about Shechem entered, it illustrates the danger
of co-partnery with the worldly on worldly terms. The confederacy of
which Shechem was the centre is a type of many in which people who
should be guided always by religion bind themselves for business or
political ends with those who have no fear of God before their eyes.
Constantly it happens in such cases that the interests of the commercial
enterprise or of the party are considered before the law of
righteousness. The business affair must be made to succeed at all
hazards. Christian people as partners of companies are committed to
schemes which imply Sabbath work, sharp practices in buying and
selling, hollow promises in prospectuses and advertisements, grinding
of the faces of the poor, miserable squabbles about wages that should
never occur. In politics the like is frequently seen. Things are done
against the true instincts of many members of a party; but they, for the
sake of the party, must be silent or even take their places on platforms
and write in periodicals defending what in their souls and consciences
they know to be wrong. The modern Baal-Berith is a tyrannical god, ruins
the morals of many a worshipper and destroys the peace of many a circle.
Perhaps Christian people will by-and-by become careful in regard to the
schemes they join and the zeal with which they fling themselves into
party strife. It is high time they did. Even distinguished and pious
leaders are unsafe guides when popular cries have to be gratified; and
if the principles of Christianity are set aside by a government every
Christian church and every Christian voice should protest, come of
parties what may. Or rather, the party of Christ, which is always in the
van, ought to have our complete allegiance. Conservatism is sometimes
right. Liberalism is sometimes right. But to bow down to any Baal of the
League is a shameful thing for a professed servant of the King of kings.
Against Abimelech the adventurer there arose another of the same stamp,
Gaal son of Ebed, that is the _Abhorred_, son of a slave. In him the men
of Shechem put their confidence such as it was. At the festival of
vintage there was a demonstration of a truly barbarous sort. High
carousal was held in the temple of Baal. There were loud curses of
Abimelech and Gaal made a speech. His argument was that this Abimelech,
though his mother belonged to Shechem, was yet also the son of Baal's
adversary, far too much of a Hebrew to govern Canaanites and good
servants of Baal. Shechemites should have a true Shechemite to rule
them. Would to Baal, he cried, this people were under my hand, then
would I remove Abimelech. His speech, no doubt, was received with great
applause, and there and then he challenged the absent king.
Zebul, prefect of the city, who was present, heard all this with anger.
He was of Abimelech's party still and immediately informed his chief,
who lost no time in marching on Shechem to suppress the revolt.
According to a common plan of warfare he divided his troops into four
companies and in the early morning these crept towards the city, one by
a track across the mountains, another down the valley from the west, the
third by way of the Diviners' Oak, the fourth perhaps marching from the
plain of Mamre by way of Jacob's well. The first engagement drove the
Shechemites into their city, and on the following day the place was
taken, sacked and destroyed. Some distance from Shechem, probably up the
valley to the west, stood a tower or sanctuary of Baal around which a
considerable village had gathered. The people there, seeing the fate of
the lower town, betook themselves to the tower and shut themselves up
within it. But Abimelech ordered his men to provide themselves with
branches of trees, which were piled against the door of the temple and
set on fire, and all within were smothered or burned to the number of a
thousand.
At Thebez, another of the confederate cities, the pretender met his
death. In the siege of the tower which stood within the walls of Thebez
the horrible expedient of burning was again attempted. Abimelech
directing the operations had pressed close to the door when a woman cast
an upper millstone from the parapet with so true an aim as to break his
skull. So ended the first experiment in the direction of monarchy; so
also God requited the wickedness of Abimelech.
One turns from these scenes of bloodshed and cruelty with loathing. Yet
they show what human nature is, and how human history would shape itself
apart from the faith and obedience of God. We are met by obvious
warnings; but so often does the evidence of divine judgment seem to
fail, so often do the wicked prosper that it is from another source than
observation of the order of things in this world we must obtain the
necessary impulse to higher life. It is only as we wait on the guidance
and obey the impulses of the Spirit of God that we shall move towards
the justice and brotherhood of a better age. And those who have received
the light and found the will of the Spirit must not slacken their
efforts on behalf of religion. Gideon did good service in his day, yet
failing in faithfulness he left the nation scarcely more earnest, his
own family scarcely instructed. Let us not think that religion can take
care of itself. Heavenly justice and truth are committed to us. The
Christ-life generous, pure, holy must be commended by us if it is to
rule the world. The persuasion that mankind is to be saved in and by the
earthly survives, and against that most obstinate of all delusions we
are to stand in constant resolute protest, counting every needful
sacrifice our simple duty, our highest glory. The task of the faithful
is no easier to-day than it was a thousand years ago. Men and women can
be treacherous still with heathen cruelty and falseness; they can be
vile still with heathen vileness, though wearing the air of the highest
civilization. If ever the people of God had a work to do in the world
they have it now.
XVI.
_GILEAD AND ITS CHIEF._
JUDGES x. 1-xi. 11.
The scene of the history shifts now to the east of Jordan, and we learn
first of the influence which the region called Gilead was coming to have
in Hebrew development from the brief notice of a chief named Jair who
held the position of judge for twenty-two years. Tola, a man of
Issachar, succeeded Abimelech, and Jair followed Tola. In the Book of
Numbers we are informed that the children of Machir son of Manasseh went
to Gilead and took it and dispossessed the Amorites which were therein;
and Moses gave Gilead unto Machir the son of Manasseh. It is added that
Jair the son or descendant of Manasseh went and took the towns of Gilead
and called them Havvoth-jair; and in this statement the Book of Numbers
anticipates the history of the judges.
Gilead is described by modern travellers as one of the most varied
districts of Palestine. The region is mountainous and its peaks rise to
three and even four thousand feet above the trough of the Jordan. The
southern part is beautiful and fertile, watered by the Jabbok and other
streams that flow westward from the hills. "The valleys green with corn,
the streams fringed with oleander, the magnificent screens of
yellow-green and russet foliage which cover the steep slopes present a
scene of quiet beauty, of chequered light and shade of uneastern aspect
which makes Mount Gilead a veritable land of promise." "No one," says
another writer, "can fairly judge of Israel's heritage who has not seen
the exuberance of Gilead as well as the hard rocks of Judaea which only
yield their abundance to reward constant toil and care." In Gilead the
rivers flow in summer as well as in winter, and they are filled with
fishes and fresh-water shells. While in Western Palestine the soil is
insufficient now to support a large population, beyond Jordan improved
cultivation alone is needed to make the whole district a garden.
To the north and east of Gilead lie Bashan and that extraordinary
volcanic region called the Argob or the Lejah where the Havvoth-jair or
towns of Jair were situated. The traveller who approaches this singular
district from the north sees it rising abruptly from the plain, the edge
of it like a rampart about twenty feet high. It is of a rude oval shape,
some twenty miles long from north to south, and fifteen in breadth, and
is simply a mass of dark jagged rocks, with clefts between in which were
built not a few cities and villages. The whole of this Argob or Stony
Land, Jephthah's land of Tob, is a natural fortification, a sanctuary
open only to those who have the secret of the perilous paths that wind
along savage cliff and deep defile. One who established himself here
might soon acquire the fame and authority of a chief, and Jair,
acknowledged by the Manassites as their judge, extended his power and
influence among the Gadites and Reubenites farther south.
But plenty of corn and wine and oil and the advantage of a natural
fortress which might have been held against any foe did not avail the
Hebrews when they were corrupted by idolatry. In the land of Gilead and
Bashan they became a hardy and vigorous race, and yet when they gave
themselves up to the influence of the Syrians, Sidonians, Ammonites and
Moabites, forsaking the Lord and serving the gods of these peoples,
disaster overtook them. The Ammonites were ever on the watch, and now,
stronger than for centuries in consequence of the defeat of Midian and
Amalek by Gideon, they fell on the Hebrews of the east, subdued them and
even crossed Jordan and fought with the southern tribes so that Israel
was sore distressed.
We have found reason to suppose that during the many turmoils of the
north the tribes of Judah and Simeon and to some extent Ephraim were
pleased to dwell secure in their own domains, giving little help to
their kinsfolk. Deborah and Barak got no troops from the south, and it
was with a grudge Ephraim joined in the pursuit of Midian. Now the time
has come for the harvest of selfish content. Supposing the people of
Judah to have been specially engaged with religion and the arranging of
worship--that did not justify their neglect of the political troubles of
the north. It was a poor religion then, as it is a poor religion now,
that could exist apart from national well-being and patriotic duty.
Brotherhood must be realised in the nation as well as in the church, and
piety must fulfil itself through patriotism as well as in other ways.
No doubt the duties we owe to each other and to the nation of which we
form a part are imposed by natural conditions which have arisen in the
course of history, and some may think that the natural should give way
to the spiritual. They may see the interests of a kingdom of this world
as actually opposed to the interests of the kingdom of God. The
apostles of Christ, however, did not set the human and divine in
contrast, as if God in His providence had nothing to do with the making
of a nation. "The powers that be are ordained of God," says St. Paul in
writing to the Romans; and again in his First Epistle to Timothy, "I
exhort that supplications, prayers, intercessions, thanksgivings be made
for all men: for kings and all that are in high place, that we may lead
a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and gravity." To the same
effect St. Peter says, "Be subject to every ordinance of man for the
Lord's sake." Natural and secular enough were the authorities to which
submission was thus enjoined. The policy of Rome was of the earth
earthy. The wars it waged, the intrigues that went on for power savoured
of the most carnal ambition. Yet as members of the commonwealth
Christians were to submit to the Roman magistrates and intercede with
God on their behalf, observing closely and intelligently all that went
on, taking due part in affairs. No room was to be given for the notion
that the Christian society meant a new political centre. In our own
times there is a duty which many never understand, or which they easily
imagine is being fulfilled for them. Let religious people be assured
that generous and intelligent patriotism is demanded of them and
attention to the political business of the time. Those who are careless
will find, as did the people of Judah, that in neglecting the purity of
government and turning a deaf ear to cries for justice, they are
exposing their country to disaster and their religion to reproach.
We are told that the Israelites of Gilead worshipped the gods of the
Phoenicians and Syrians, of the Moabites and of the Ammonites. Whatever
religious rites took their fancy they were ready to adopt. This will be
to their credit in some quarters as a mark of openness of mind,
intelligence and taste. They were not bigoted; other men's ways in
religion and civilization were not rejected as beneath their regard. The
argument is too familiar to be traced more fully. Briefly it may be said
that if catholicity could save a race Israel should rarely have been in
trouble, and certainly not at this time. One name by which the Hebrews
knew God was _El_ or _Elohim_. When they found among the gods of the
Sidonians one called El, the careless-minded supposed that there could
be no harm in joining in his worship. Then came the notion that the
other divinities of the Phoenician Pantheon, such as Melcarth, Dagon,
Derketo, might be adored as well. Very likely they found zeal and
excitement in the alien religious gatherings which their own had lost.
So they slipped into practical heathenism.
And the process goes on among ourselves. Through the principles that
culture means artistic freedom and that worship is a form of art we
arrive at taste or liking as the chief test. Intensity of feeling is
craved and religion must satisfy that or be despised. It is the very
error that led Hebrews to the feasts of Astarte and Adonis, and whither
it tends we can see in the old history. Turning from the strong earnest
gospel which grasps intellect and will to shows and ceremonies that
please the eye, or even to music refined and devotional that stirs and
thrills the feelings, we decline from the reality of religion. Moreover
a serious danger threatens us in the far too common teaching which makes
little of truth everything of charity. Christ was most charitable, but
it is through the knowledge and practice of truth He offers freedom. He
is our King by His witness-bearing not to charity but to truth. Those
who are anxious to keep us from bigotry and tell us that meekness,
gentleness and love are more than doctrine mislead the mind of the age.
Truth in regard to God and His covenant is the only foundation on which
life can be securely built, and without right thinking there cannot be
right living. A man may be amiable, humble, patient and kind though he
has no doctrinal belief and his religion is of the purely emotional
sort; but it is the truth believed by previous generations, fought and
suffered for by stronger men, not his own gratification of taste that
keeps him in the right way. And when the influence of that truth decays
there will remain no anchorage, neither compass nor chart for the
voyage. He will be like a wave of the sea driven of the wind and tossed.
Again, the religious so far as they have wisdom and strength are
required to be pioneers, which they can never be in following fancy or
taste. Here nothing but strenuous thought, patient faithful obedience
can avail. Hebrew history is the story of a pioneer people and every
lapse from fidelity was serious, the future of humanity being at stake.
Each Christian society and believer has work of the same kind not less
important, and failures due to intellectual sloth and moral levity are
as dishonourable as they are hurtful to the human race. Some of our
heretics now are more serious than Christians, and they give thought and
will more earnestly to the opinions they try to propagate. While the
professed servants of Christ, who should be marching in the van, are
amusing themselves with the accessories of religion, the resolute
socialist or nihilist reasoning and speaking with the heat of conviction
leads the masses where he will.
The Ammonite oppression made the Hebrews feel keenly the uselessness of
heathenism. Baal and Melcarth had been thought of as real divinities,
exercising power in some region or other of earth or heaven, and
Israel's had been an easy backsliding. Idolatry did not appear as
darkness to people who had never been fully in the light. But when
trouble came and help was sorely needed they began to see that the
Baalim were nothing. What could these idols do for men oppressed and at
their wits' end? Religion was of no avail unless it brought an assurance
of One Whose strong hand could reach from land to land, Whose grace and
favour could revive sad and troubled souls. Heathenism was found utterly
barren, and Israel turned to Jehovah the God of its fathers. "We have
sinned against Thee even because we have forsaken our God and have
served the Baalim."
Those who now fall away from faith are in worse case by far than Israel.
They have no thought of a real power that can befriend them. It is to
mere abstractions they have given the divine name. In sin and sorrow
alike they remain with ideas only, with bare terms of speculation in
which there is no life, no strength, no hope for the moral nature. They
are men and have to live; but with the living God they have entirely
broken. In trouble they can only call on the Abyss or the Immensities,
and there is no way of repentance though they seek it carefully with
tears. At heart therefore they are pessimists without resource. Sadness
deep and deadly ever waits upon such unbelief, and our religion to-day
suffers the gloom because it is infected by the uncertainties and
denials of an agnosticism at once positive and confused.
Another paganism, that of gathering and doing in the world-sphere, is
constantly beside us, drawing multitudes from fidelity to Christ as
Baal-worship drew Israel from Jehovah, and it is equally barren in the
sharp experiences of humanity. Earthly things venerated in the ardour of
business and the pursuit of social distinction appear as impressive
realities only while the soul sleeps. Let it be aroused by some overturn
of the usual, one of those floods that sweep suddenly down on the cities
which fill the valley of life, and there is a quick pathetic confession
of the truth. The soul needs help now, and its help must come from the
Eternal Spirit. We must have done with mere saying of prayers and begin
to pray. We must find access if access is to be had to the secret place
of the Most High on Whose mercy we depend to redeem us from bondage and
fear. Sad therefore is it for those who having never learned to seek the
throne of divine succour are swept by the wild deluge from their temples
and their gods. It is a cry of despair they raise amid the swelling
torrent. You who now by the sacred oracles and the mediation of Christ
can come into the fellowship of eternal life be earnest and eager in the
cultivation of your faith. The true religion of God which avails the
soul in its extremity is not to be had in a moment, when suddenly its
help is needed. That confidence which has been established in the mind
by serious thought, by the habit of prayer and reliance on divine wisdom
can alone bring help when the foundations of the earthly are destroyed.