Judg 9:16+17, "Now therefore, if you have dealt in truth and integrity in making Abimelech king, and if you have dealt well with Jerubbaal and his house, and have dealt with him as he deserved — for my father fought for you and risked his life and delivered you from the hand of Midian; 
	Our reading today details the very worst of human behavior within the familial and social structure of this age. We have Abimelech, the son of Gideon killing his 70 brothers because they would be a threat to his aspirations as the King over Israel. He wanted to cement the base of his power and could only do so with all familial interference being completely obliterated. 
Jotham was the only son of Gideon who survived this slaughter. We have, as our morning’s passage, his challenge against the terrible actions of those who had killed his 70 brothers. His warning foretold what would eventually happen to those who were supporters and participants in this vile and abusive reach for power and dominion. Within mere years the people witnessed this exact result in the violent death of Abilmelech and those men of Shechem who had installed him into this bloody position of power.
    	What we want to consider this morning is the attitude and the demeanor that can develop as people give into some sense of entitlement and elevated self-worth. There is a most destructive aspect to this divisive and devastating mind-set. This is especially vile and wicked when it becomes the dissolution of the fabric of the family, as demonstrated in this chapter about the virulent anger and hatred expressed by Abimelech.
As well, we need to consider the course of what must be put into place, through the manifold grace of God, within all those who belong to Him. We will see that, rather than elevating ourselves over others, with no regard for their place of honor as fellow partakers of the life of Jesus Christ, we are to lay down our lives, our rights, our positions as anything other than servants to all. This is the course of relationship that must be established within our families, especially the family of Jesus Christ.
We begin, then, by returning to the 8th Chapter of this Book of Judges highlighting the manner in which Gideon and his men were treated as they were pursuing the Midianites. They had been in battle and were engaged in the pursuit of the Midianites who were enemies to all and had devastated the entire region. Gideon’s men were tired and hungry, yet would not stop the pursuit of the enemy in their obedience unto the Lord. As they were so focused on that cleansing action for the sake of God’s people, they came to the territories of Succoth and Penuel. They asked for bread to sustain them. The response that they received is detailed in Judg 8:4-9.
Judg 8:4-9, Then Gideon and the 300 men who were with him came to the Jordan and crossed over, weary yet pursuing. And he said to the men of Succoth, "Please give loaves of bread to the people who are following me, for they are weary, and I am pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, the kings of Midian." And the leaders of Succoth said, "Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hands, that we should give bread to your army?" And Gideon said, "All right, when the Lord has given Zebah and Zalmunna into my hand, then I will thrash your bodies with the thorns of the wilderness and with briers." And he went up from there to Penuel, and spoke similarly to them; and the men of Penuel answered him just as the men of Succoth had answered. So he spoke also to the men of Penuel, saying, "When I return safely, I will tear down this tower." 
    	Rather than help their fellow Israelites, these two communities spurned and even harangued and insulted Gideon and his men. The battle of deliverance from the invaders from Midian would be beneficial to both Succoth and Penuel. However, they were resolute in their distain and rejection of Gideon and his men despite the relief of great help and deliverance brought into their communities. They selfishly and derisively refused to offer the nourishment required and rather brought upon themselves the judgment that would be meted out by Gideon upon his return. 
This should have been an opportunity for brothers to help each other in a mutual goal and outcome. Rather, because of the selfish and taunting attitude of these two communities against their fellow Israelites, there was a violent rift. This resulted in the eventual response of righteous indignation which would rain down upon the heads of those who refused to honor the plans and purposes of the Lord.
 This happened again in this Book of Judges with another group as recorded in Judg 12:1-4. Here, the men of Ephraim were enraged against Jepthah, another one of the judges chosen by God to bring deliverance to His people. They felt that they had been excluded from the spoils of the victory, although Jepthah reminded them that they had been previously asked to help. They, however, had never come to the aid of those who were also being so abused by the sons of Ammon. This animosity, begat from jealousy after the fact, resulted in battle between the men of Ephraim and the men of Gilead. 
These were brothers fighting brothers because of the threats and anger born from the greed and jealousy of those Ephraimites who even threatened to kill Jephthah and his family. This was despite the fact that the victory of the Lord did provide safekeeping from the sons of Ammon for all the men of Ephraim as well.
Judg 12:1-4, Then the men of Ephraim were summoned, and they crossed to Zaphon and said to Jephthah, "Why did you cross over to fight against the sons of Ammon without calling us to go with you? We will burn your house down on you." And Jephthah said to them, "I and my people were at great strife with the sons of Ammon; when I called you, you did not deliver me from their hand. And when I saw that you would not deliver me, I took my life in my hands and crossed over against the sons of Ammon, and the Lord gave them into my hand. Why then have you come up to me this day, to fight against me?" Then Jephthah gathered all the men of Gilead and fought Ephraim; and the men of Gilead defeated Ephraim, because they said, "You are fugitives of Ephraim, O Gileadites, in the midst of Ephraim and in the midst of Manasseh." 
	Next, let us consider one of the more insidious examples of discord which is well known in the Biblical accounts. It is the heart breaking relationship that was in place between King Saul and David, the young shepherd boy. There was such a rift between these two because of the jealousy and the self-centeredness resulting in the rising furious anger which overwhelmed Saul. He made no effort to maintain a semblance of accord between himself and this heir apparent. Nothing could sway him from his absolute hatred for this young man. 
On the other hand, even despite Saul’s failed attempts to kill him, David was resolute in his attitude that he would not lay a hand on this King of Israel. He would honor the king as the Lord’s servant with fidelity and courage and dedication. 
	 In 1 Sam 19:4+5, we have the account of Jonathan, the son of Saul, trying to calm his father down. Jonathan wanted his father to recognize the service that David provided without trying to usurp the throne. 
1 Sam 19:4+5, Then Jonathan spoke well of David to Saul his father, and said to him, "Do not let the king sin against his servant David, since he has not sinned against you, and since his deeds have been very beneficial to you. For he took his life in his hand and struck the Philistine, and the Lord brought about a great deliverance for all Israel; you saw it and rejoiced. Why then will you sin against innocent blood, by putting David to death without a cause?" 
	As much as Jonathan loved David, Saul despised him and continued in his efforts to kill him. He spent many long and wasted months trying to search for David to put him to death. He did everything in his power to eliminate this shepherd boy of Bethlehem without any success. That failure only served to cause Saul to further frustrate and fume and rage against the one he could not catch or kill. It was an all-consuming hatred which became the extremely sad legacy of his kingship.
	Now, on the other side of the matter of the consideration of those who need to be helped and elevated in our hearts, rather than put down and eliminated, we begin with the account of Esther. This is detailed in Est 4:13-17. 
This young Jewess queen was putting her life on the line for the sake of her people. She was established in the palace. She wanted for nothing and was set for her care and her keeping for the rest of her life. But there arose that need to put everything on the line for the sake of the people of her heritage. It was not an easy decision to make as we can read in this passage.
	Est 4:13-17, Then Mordecai told them to reply to Esther, "Do not imagine that you in the king's palace can escape any more than all the Jews. For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance will arise for the Jews from another place and you and your father's house will perish. And who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this?" Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai, "Go, assemble all the Jews who are found in Susa, and fast for me; do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my maidens also will fast in the same way. And thus I will go in to the king, which is not according to the law; and if I perish, I perish." So Mordecai went away and did just as Esther had commanded him. 
    	As a result of her obedience, she was able to save the Jews that were within the great territory of the king. The Jewish lineage was therefore preserved as she had put forth her very life for the sake of all those whose station was far below that of the Queen of the empire. Yet it mattered not when she considered how many lives would be lost if she failed. She thought enough of others that she took them into her consideration as she fasted and sought the Lord as to what to do in order to save these, her people; even if it meant that she would die per the king’s edict. 
	The Apostle Paul, in Rom 5:1-11, declares the reality of the One Who did die for the salvation of His people. Jesus Christ set aside the most incomparable of majestic glory in order to lay down His life for the love of His very creation. Because of that unparalleled service unto those who were so desperately lost in sin and death, He is the shining and supreme example of how we are to consider all our brethren in our hearts and in our minds. We see all that comes into our lives in the light of how it works in us to the glory of God.
	Rather than seeing the injustice and the disregard and the malicious intent that others seem to heap upon our heads, we are to look to Christ. We are to desire Him to be expressed through His love indwelling us to even those who so persecute us.
	Rom 5:1-11, Therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God. And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation. 
	Then, in Col 3:8-25, the Apostle details the outworking of all that is now true of us in Jesus Christ. As the new creation, because of His death on the cross and His gloriously omnipotent resurrection, we are made members of the very family of God. Accordingly, all discord and attitudes of superiority and jealousy and strife must be done away with. We need to beseech the Holy Spirit to work in us to the completion of that which will show forth the reality of who we now are and how we are to treat others with the grace and the mercy and the love and the consideration of Christ Who now lives forth from us. The whole course of our treatment of especially our brothers and sisters in Christ is detailed with complete recognition that there is no arena of relationship in our spheres of influence in which we can do anything other than lay down our lives for the sake of others. This must all be for the glory of God, Alone, and none of our own!
	Col 3:8-25, But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him — a renewal in which there is no distinction between Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and freeman, but Christ is all, and in all. And so, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you. And beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful. Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father. Wives, be subject to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives, and do not be embittered against them. Children, be obedient to your parents in all things, for this is well-pleasing to the Lord. Fathers, do not exasperate your children, that they may not lose heart. Slaves, in all things obey those who are your masters on earth, not with external service, as those who merely please men, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men; knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve. For he who does wrong will receive the consequences of the wrong which he has done, and that without partiality. 
	The complete conclusion of why we must so learn to live forth from the love of God unto others is set before us in Rev 12:10+11. At the end of time as we know it, there will be that accounting of how we were the witnesses of the reality of our salvation by Jesus Christ. There will be that time when all the creation of God will see what the Lord has completely established through the perfect work of Our Lord and Savior. All that Our Heavenly Father has accomplished by the expressed gift of His love in the giving of His Only Begotten Son will be seen in us, His redeemed people, as we learn to continually lay down our lives in service unto Him and unto one another.
	Rev 12:10+11, And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, "Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, who accuses them before our God day and night. "And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even to death. So be it! Amen.

This morning’s benediction is Phil 2:3+4. Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Amen.