Latest / Lamp and Light Bible Reading Plan / September 14, 2026 - Judges 9 & Proverbs 14:33-35

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September 14, 2026 - Judges 9 & Proverbs 14:33-35 · Lamp and Light Bible Reading Plan

• 0:01
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Lamp and Light Bibleing Plan, where we are seeking to love the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength with God's word letting the way.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Josiah Smith, lead pastor of Compass South Valley.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: Today is Monday, September 14th, 2026.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: Here's a quick summary of Judges 9.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_00: Judges 9 has three main sections to it.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_00: The first section, verses 1 through 6, details Abimelech being made king in Shechem.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_00: Now, Abimelech was one of Gideon's sons through one of his concubines.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_00: If you remember back in Judges 8, it talks about how Gideon had many sons and many wives, and Abimelech is one of the sons through his concubine.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_00: And so there's this whole scheme.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: Abimelech went to his mother's relative in Shechem and convinced them to make him their king.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: And then the men of Shechem gave him 70 pieces of silver, with which he hired, as the text says, reckless men to kill all seventy of his brothers, the sons of Gideon.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: And only Jotham, Gideon's youngest son, or Abimelech's youngest brother, managed to escape.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_00: So that's the details of verses one through six of Abimelech being made king in this very kind of dastardly way.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_00: And now we see in verses seven through twenty one, Jotham's parable of the trees.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: It's a long parable, but essentially the point is that Jotham compared the actions of the men of Shechem who killed all his brothers to the actions of the trees and the different kinds of trees, and ultimately they're compared to a thornbush, a worthless thornbush, uh that they accepted this job.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: That's the kind of king that they brought on themselves.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_00: And then in verses 22 through 57, we see Shechem is destroyed, and ultimately Abimelech is killed.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_00: So Abimelech did rule Israel as a sort of judge for three years, but the text tells us that God sent an evil spirit to trouble the relationship between Abimelech and the men of Shechem.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_00: And so as a result, the men of Shechem shifted their allegiance from Abimelech to a new man in town, Gaal, the son of Ebed.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_00: And there's this whole plot to overthrow, there's battles that ensue, and ultimately Abimelech ends up setting the tower of Shechem on fire and killing a thousand men and women inside the fortress.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: He then fought against the city of Thebez, which also had a tower.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_00: And in that tower, this kind of sounds like a fantasy story, but a woman in the tower threw a millstone, a very heavy stone that was used for milling flour.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_00: A woman in the tower threw a millstone on him and crushed his skull.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_00: And ultimately, as Abimelech was dying, he asked his servants to kill him with a sword so that he wouldn't be remembered as having been killed by a woman.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_00: So the men of Israel, they learned Abimelech was dead, they stopped fighting, and ultimately they returned to their homes.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_00: And Judges 9, 56 says, Thus God returned the evil of Abimelech, which he committed against his father and killing his seventy brothers.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_00: So that's what we have here in Judges chapter 9.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_00: A lot going on, but it starts with Abimelech being made king.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_00: We have Jotham's parable of the trees comparing these men of Shechem to these different kinds of trees, and ultimately uh Abimelech is compared to a thornbush, and that's the kind of king that they take for themselves.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_00: And then verses 22 through 57, Shechem is destroyed, and Abimelech is killed.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_00: And that's what we see happening again in Judges 9.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_00: Listen intently to God's written word.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_00: Proverbs 14, 33 through 35.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_00: Wisdom rests in the heart of a man of understanding, but it makes itself known even in the midst of fools.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_00: Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_00: A servant who deals wisely has the king's favor, but his wrath falls on one who acts shamefully.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_00: Judges 9 is a doozy.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_00: Now remember, really the theme of judges or the word to summarize judges is spiral, if you want to put it in a phrase, downward spiral.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_00: Israel is descending deeper and deeper into sin, deeper and deeper into darkness.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_00: And here we have an incredible display of that reality through, as it says in the ESV, Abimelech's conspiracy.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_00: Now it starts here in verse one.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_00: Let me just read you these first few verses.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_00: It says, Now Abimelech, the son of Jerubal, remember that's Gideon, he went to Shechem to his mother's relatives and said to them.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_00: So he went to his mother's relatives at Shechem and said to them, to the whole clan of his mother's family, say in the ears of all the leaders of Shechem, which is better for you?
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_00: Now listen to this scheme, which is better for you, that all seventy of the sons of Gideon or Jerubal rule over you, or that one rule over you.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_00: Remember also that I, Abimelech says, am bone, I am your bone and your flesh.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_00: And his mother's relatives, this is verse three, spoke all these words on his behalf in the ears of all the leaders of Shechem, and their hearts inclined to follow Abimelech, for they said, He is our brother.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_00: And there we have it, the makings of a rebellion.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_00: And this rebellion happens quickly.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_00: Verse 4, they gave him seventy pieces of silver out of the house of Baal Barith, with which Abimelech hired, it says, worthless and reckless fellows who followed him.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_00: And he went to his father's house at Ophrah and killed his brothers, the sons of Jerum Baal, 70 men on one stone.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_00: But Jotham, the youngest son, was left, for he hid himself.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_00: So we have envy, we have rivalry, we have jealousy, we have murder, we have conspiracy.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_00: This is the downward descent.
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  SPEAKER_00: This is the spiral.
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  SPEAKER_00: And it just gets worse and worse and worse.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_00: And of course, we have this parable of sorts of the different trees.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_00: The parable was about the trees trying to find a king.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_00: So think of Shechem trying to, the men of Shechem trying to find a king.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_00: They went to the olive tree first and they asked him to be their king, but the olive tree didn't want to give up olive production to become a king.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_00: That's the work that the olive tree had.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_00: They didn't want to give up production.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_00: So the olive tree said no.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_00: So then they went to the fig tree, but the fig tree responded in a similar kind of way.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_00: Then they went to the grapevine, but the grapevine didn't want to be king either.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_00: And finally they went to the thorn bush, and the worthless thornbush accepted the job.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_00: And what does Jotham do?
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_00: He compares the actions of the men of Shechem to the actions of the trees.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_00: The house of Gideon had been full of honorable men, those 70 men, but the men of Shechem had selected the worthless brother to lead them.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_00: And so we see again this descent, and Abimelech rules Israel for three years.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_00: He gets what he wants, but then the Lord has his way.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_00: And they, because of their own sin, are turning against one another.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_00: There's a plot, and of course, there is death and wars and towers being destroyed and cities being burned.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_00: And ultimately, Abimelech lost his life in the most incredible of ways.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_00: He was going after another, a second tower in a different city, a different town.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_00: And what happens?
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_00: A woman drops a millstone on his head and crushes his skull.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_00: Now, I think this is intentionally sort of reminiscent of Deborah.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_00: We see these kind of women earlier, early in Judges that are taking these roles of protector, and they are kind of these warrior figures.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_00: And in the context of judges, that's actually not a good thing.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_00: It actually signifies and shows in a very direct way the reality of the cowardice of men, the reality of the abdication of men, specifically in this time, and that they were supposed to be following after the Lord.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_00: They were supposed to be the warriors, they were supposed to be upholding God's law and pursuing God's truth and living that out in their country.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_00: And of course, they don't do that.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_00: And so these women, we have this unnamed woman who's throwing a millstone off the top of a tower, and we've got Deborah and others.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_00: But as the book goes on, we're going to continue to see this sort of descent, even with the treatment of women.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_00: It's going to get worse and worse and worse.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_00: And of course, that is a sign of their sin.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_00: It's a sign of the descent.
• 9:39
  SPEAKER_00: And these women that are involved in putting a stop to evil on the on the surface, they're doing a good thing, but it is representative of a deeper sinful reality.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_00: That these the men of Shechem, as an example, are in such abdication of God's design for them that these even a no-name woman has to step in and put a stop to the reign of terror by Abimelech.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_00: So just a lot of things going on here in Judges chapter 9, but I love how it ends.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_00: It says in verse 56, Thus God returns the evil of Abimelech, which he committed against his father in killing his seventy brothers.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_00: And God also made all the evil of the men of Shechem return on their heads, and upon them came the curse of Jotham, the son of Jerubaal.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_00: So God continues to show himself faithful.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_00: Now remember the pattern.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_00: Israel sins, God raises up a judge, and he shows mercy.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_00: And here we see Abimelech, he's overrun with jealousy and envy for the throne.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_00: He gets what he wants ultimately, but it ends in his ruin and his destruction.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_00: So that's what we see here as we continue to trace the downward spiral of the nation of Israel.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_00: Now we are finishing up chapter 14 of Proverbs, and verse 33 says, Wisdom rests in the heart of a man of understanding, but it makes itself known even in the midst of fools.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_00: Now, what's interesting about this specific proverb is there's actually a lot of debate.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_00: If you read commentaries on what exactly this means, there's a lot of debate, there's some translation uh concerns to take note of, but there's also just what exactly does it mean that wisdom rests in the heart of man?
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  SPEAKER_00: That's simple enough.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_00: That wisdom is an internal reality.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, I often describe wisdom as the substance of sanctification.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_00: It shows that you're being transformed from the inside out, that the fear of the Lord is producing something in you.
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  SPEAKER_00: So that makes sense.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_00: Wisdom rests in the heart of man, uh, and the heart of a man of understanding, but it's more difficult to see how it makes itself known even in the midst of fools.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_00: Uh so one of the more prominent ways to understand this is that though wisdom makes itself known, that though wisdom is an internal thing, that of course it will work its way out in the way that we speak, in the way that we act, in the way that we go about our dealings in our life, it'll make itself known.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_00: But uh, if we are understanding this proverb correctly, fools cannot see it and they cannot understand it.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_00: So it makes itself known even in the midst of fools.
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  SPEAKER_00: So there's kind of this, again, this reality that wisdom is something that works inside out.
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  SPEAKER_00: It is produced in you, and then it comes out of you, so to speak, with how you speak, how you act, how you live.
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  SPEAKER_00: And that'll be evident even in the company of fools, but but it they won't understand it, they won't see it, they they won't appreciate it for what it is.
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_00: True, genuine wisdom.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_00: And in verse 34, we have righteousness, it says, exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_00: So righteousness, think of the comparison here.
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_00: Righteousness, if it's pursued, is the the glory, if you will, it is something that leads to a sense of honor and renown to an entire nation.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_00: But sin, on the other hand, the opposite of righteousness here, is a reproach to any people.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_00: It brings shame and dishonor, and it is a disordered reality.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_00: It's the opposite of living in God's created order skillfully.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_00: It's doing your own thing in your own way.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_00: It's the book of Judges, everyone doing what's right in their own eyes.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_00: And as a result, there is reproach, there is shame, there is true guilt that's brought upon any people.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_00: And then the last verse of chapter 14 of Proverbs a servant who deals wisely has the king's favor, but his wrath falls on one who acts shamefully.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_00: So this is actually kind of a parallel to verse 34.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_00: Righteousness exalts a nation, sin brings reproach.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_00: A servant who lives righteously, who deals wisely, has the king's favor.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_00: There's an exaltation there, there's an honor that's given, but the king's wrath falls on one who acts shamefully.
• 14:13
  SPEAKER_00: Sin is a reproach to any people.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_00: It brings guilt, it brings shame, it brings reproach.
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_00: And these are some great proverbs for us to meditate on.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_00: That wisdom rests in the heart of man of understanding, it's inward, it will, of course, make it safe, make its way out, it makes itself known even in the midst of fools, even if they can't see it, even if they don't appreciate it, even if they don't understand it.
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_00: We see that at the national level.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_00: In verse 34, we see that at sort of the individual level, and we see that even in an example like in verse 35, a servant who deals wisely has the king's favor.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_00: He's exalted in that sense, but his wrath falls on one who acts shamelessly.
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_00: So our goal as we read through the Proverbs is not just to get good life advice for just the various circumstances that we find ourselves in.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_00: Our goal is to be more like our creator and to grow in skilled living in his created order.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_00: We want to grow in the fear of the Lord.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_00: We want to understand what it is to have wisdom that rests in our hearts, a man or a woman of understanding.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_00: And so that's my hope for you as you read through the Proverbs, as you meditate on them and chew on them.
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_00: Some of them can be a little bit difficult to understand, though they're short and pithy.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_00: They can sometimes be dense, and that's good.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_00: That's something that we have to mull over and meditate on and prayerfully ask the Lord for the wisdom that we need to apply it and rightfully understand it.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_00: So I hope that that's something that you are committed to and that you are growing in as a result.
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_00: Well, thank you so much for joining us today on the Lamp and Light Bob Reading Podcast.
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_00: For more information about Compass Bible Church South Valley, visit compassbiblesv.org.
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_00: Keep reading, keep growing.
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_00: God's word is a lamp to your feet and a light to your path.