Judges 9

“Then all the trees said to the bramble,
‘You come and reign over us!’
15 And the bramble said to the trees,
‘If in truth you anoint me as king over you,
Then come and take shelter in my shade;
But if not, let fire come out of the bramble
And devour the cedars of Lebanon!’ vv.14-15

Read chapter 9
Here we read of a unique parable in the Old Testament, which actually is a satire.  The difference being a parable is a short story to teach something, whereas a satire is using irony or sarcasm to expose a matter.  It's good to notice the difference as you can't take them literally and can also be confusing to know what is truth and what is poking fun.  Jesus uses both parables and satires that have been misused in teachings today when one doesn't understand which literary form is being used.  Well here in Judges Gideon's son Abimelech has just killed 69 of his brothers and only one escaped: Jotham.  Jotham than stand up on top of mountain side and speaks out loud to the city this satire in verses seven through fifteen.  He's pointing out that they are the trees and were trying to make a bramble  (or thorn) bush make shelter and shade for a tree- ridiculous right?  Well it was just as ridiculous as them trying to make Abimelech king over them.  God had not set up a king over Israel ever before, yes He had raised up leaders and judges over them, but each one was elected by God and never tried becoming a king over the people.  The end of this satire comes true with the end of Abimelech and those men of Scheme who aided in killing Gideon's 70 sons.  Sarcasm can be funny but cruel at the same time when used improperly to expose a matter.  When do you find it cruel to use and when do you find it good?