Sometimes you never know will remember about you. I bet Jotham didn’t figure he would be known for “The Curse of Jotham.” It sounds so dastardly and brutal, but in fact, Jotham leaves the matter to God as you will see.
The Old Testament is filled with people who we know very little about, but for some reason God wanted to mention them. Many know of Jabez.
- 1 Chronicles 4:9 NIV Jabez was more honorable than his brothers. His mother had named him Jabez, saying, “I gave birth to him in pain.”
- 1 Chronicles 4:10 NIV Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, “Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.” And God granted his request.
Even though Jabez is only mentioned here in two verses he sparked a phenomenon when a book about his prayer makes it to the best seller list. People around the world prayed the prayer of Jabez. I’m sure the most stout to the most granola of saints (fruits, nuts and flakes) prayed the prayer earnestly.
There are lesser known biblical figures than that as well One of them is Jotham. He is the son of Gideon, and the story takes place in the book of Judges. The only reason I know of the story is because my wife read it one evening and thought it was interesting. The story begins in Judges chapter nine. Judges 9:1 NIV Abimelech, is the son of Jerub-Baal (Gideon, Judges 6:32 NIV). Abimelech decides he wants to rule his house so he schemes and plots to have his seventy brothers killed. Jotham is the only one who escapes with his life.
It is the way he dealt with his brother that was most interesting to my wife and I. Before he fled from his brother’s reach he told the people who betrayed his family a parable. At the end of the parable he leaves judgement in the hands of God. After a few years go by Abimelech dies when a woman drops a stone on his head as he lays seige to her town. The people remember the words of Jotham and thus “The Curse of Jotham” gets it’s name.
King David also leaves judgement to God when he has an opportunity to slay Saul. Eventually, God does judge Saul and David becomes king over Israel. It doesn’t happen over night though. It takes years for God’s will too be revealed. We sometimes read these stories and want to move as fast as we read. It rarely happens that way. Many times we must wait years just as Jotham and David did. Moses spent forty years in exile before God sent him back to Egypt. You get the idea.
You must decide to leave matters in God’s hands as well. Are you waiting for vindication? Are you waiting for God to use you in a powerful way. Maybe there is a trial that crushing you and you are wondering when God will come to the rescue. HE WILL. Probably not on your time-table or how you imagined it would happen, but He will rescue you the way He has planned. I believe that Jotham was moving in a divine way when he chose to let God handle his brother. I want you to decide now to let God handle your ______ as well.
God Bless.
