WHAT WAS THE CURSE OF JOTHAM?
Jotham was the only surviving son of the 70 sons of Gideon. Their half-brother, Abimelech, was born to a concubine of Gideon, who was from the city of Shechem. After Gideon’s death, Abimelech conspired with the inhabitants of Shechem to overthrow Gideon’s sons, and so he murdered all of them but Jotham, who escaped. When Jotham heard that Shechem had declared Abimelech their king, he shouted a curse down upon them from Mount Gerizim.
Jotham’s curse was in essence a call for truth and just deserts for Abimelech and Shechem. He called for fire to come out of Abimelech to devour Shechem and for fire to come out of Shechem to devour Abimelech. In other words, he cursed them that they would be the destruction of the other. They chose each other, now they would receive what they had chosen.
Jotham’s curse depended on the holy wrath of God, which is His righteous response to sin. The Apostle Paul wrote that “the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men” (Rom. 1:18). This wrath or judgment of God against sin is already being revealed in the world in that God has removed restraint, so that He allows sinners to reap what they sow. As Paul wrote, “God gave them up” (Rom. 1:24, 26) or gave them over to their sin and to sin’s reward.
God’s punishment was to let Abimelech and Shechem kill one another just as Jotham had predicted. And His divine wrath is still being revealed in the world today. Yet, we can be set free from God’s wrath by believing in God’s “revealed righteousness” (Rom. 1:17), which is the Gospel of Christ.
PRAYER: Dear Father, thank you that we will no longer get what we deserve because of Christ Jesus. For the wages of sin is death, but Jesus took our death that we might receive His eternal life. There is no condemnation and no wrath hanging over us because our Lord Jesus has taken it all upon Himself in our place! We offer ourselves as living sacrifices in response to Your great love. In Jesus’ name, amen.