Poetry and Parable

Judges 9:8-15

The trees once went out

to anoint a king over themselves.

So they said to the olive tree,

‘Reign over us.’

The olive tree answered them,

‘Shall I stop producing my rich oil

by which gods and mortals are honored,

and go to sway over the trees?’

Then the trees said to the fig tree,

‘You come and reign over us.’

But the fig tree answered them,

‘Shall I stop producing my sweetness

and my delicious fruit,

and go to sway over the trees?’

Then the trees said to the vine,

‘You come and reign over us.’

But the vine said to them,

‘Shall I stop producing my wine

that cheers gods and mortals,

and go to sway over the trees?’

So all the trees said to the bramble,

‘You come and reign over us.’

And the bramble said to the trees,

‘If in good faith you are anointing me king over you,

then come and take refuge in my shade;

but if not, let fire come out of the bramble

and devour the cedars of Lebanon.’

This passage keeps drawing me back to have another look. It demands time. It wants to percolate and penetrate. It is beautiful poetry and an arresting parable, not often found in the Law and Prophets.

A parable shouted from the mountain top by Jotham as a rebuke to his brother Abimilech. A warning to the people who have just crowned Abimilech king, in defiance of God and in spite of the fact that he has just killed all but one of his 70 brothers (all sons of Gideon!) to achieve his monarchic ambition. God’s intention was that the people should live collaboratively, pooling resources, sharing wisdom, without the need for a king. When his father, Gideon, refused to be crowned king, Abimilech saw an opportunity to step up and satisfy the longing of the people to be ruled over by a king. He simply had to dispatch his brothers to clear the way. Abimilech’s ambition met the people’s longing and the combination was lethal. A sinister context for a gutsy parable.
And in the parable, I love the way each of the trees, in turn, is able to name their particular gifts and affirm their vocation - and their willingness to carry on doing what they do well and not be distracted from their task:
The olive tree affirms her task as producing beautiful oil. (The same oil that anoints kings!)
The fig tree is content to carry on producing her sweet fruit.
And the vine knows the value of the wine she produces and the effect it has on those who partake.
All are powerful and resilient, valued by self and others.
But I’m intrigued by the notion of the bramble, thorny, low growing, being the most likely to provide refuge and shade, the best contender to reign. How often does it turn out to be the very thing we overlook or even reject that takes precedence in the divine economy? The effort of getting beyond the prickly bits that might deter is worthwhile. Beyond the thorns there is beauty and welcome.
I’m left questioning, are we already fulfilling our vocation where we are or do we need to brave the thorns to find refuge in unlikely places? Is it either or - or both/and?