Jud 9:16 Now if you have acted honorably and in good faith when you made Abimelech king, and if you have been fair to Jerub-Baal and his family, and if you have treated him as he deserves….

         

The ‘Jerub-Baal' here is another name for Gideon (see Judg 8:35). Abimelech had been one of his sons who, after Gideon had died, tried to get Israel to follow him and went and killed all his brothers, with the exception of one, Jotham who escaped. Jotham then goes and challenges the people over all that has happened. He starts with an allegory and then comes to this challenge, for that is what it is. It is a challenge to face the truth. His “if you have acted honourably” and “if you have treated him as he deserves” should face the people with the truth: no they had done neither of these things.

 

In the Christian life the Lord constantly challenges us to face the truth. On a Sunday morning when the preacher brings his sermon, the Holy Spirit is there checking our lives against the word that is being preached. When we open the Bible and read it, the Holy Spirit is there checking our lives to see if they are in line with God's word. When the apostle Paul said, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.” (2 Tim 3:16 ), he knew this same thing. Sometimes it rebukes us or corrects us. It makes us face up to the truth about our lives. Of course we can harden our hearts and refuse to be challenged but that just means the Lord will discipline us in some other way. Heed His word.