The Way

Judges 9 opens with a pattern of declaration from Abimelech to his mother’s family: "Remember also that I am your bone and your flesh." (Judges 9:2) This is a deliberate echo of Adam’s words in Genesis 2:23 when he beholds the woman : "This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man." In Genesis, this is the poetry of union — the conscious and the subconscious coming together, the self recognising itself in its other half . It leads to the next verse, Genesis 2:24, where man “ cleaves ” to his wife and they become one flesh. But in Judges 9, the same phrase is twisted. Here, the appeal to kinship becomes a political move — a manipulation to gain power. What was once a statement of unity in love is now a tool of self-interest. From Garden to Thorns After seizing kingship through bloodshed, Abimelech’s reign is framed by Jotham’s parable of the trees (Judges 9:7–15). In it, the trees seek a ...

“And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him, and said to him, The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valour.” — Judges 6:12  In the days when Midian oppressed Israel, Gideon was found threshing wheat in secret, “to hide it from the Midianites” (Judges 6:11). His name, Gideon, means “hewer” — one who cuts down. Yet at this stage, it was only a hidden potential. Outwardly, he was timid, cautious, and overshadowed by fear. The turning point came with a divine instruction: “Throw down the altar of Baal that thy father hath, and cut down the grove that is by it” (Judges 6:25). This command was not about physical idols; in Neville Goddard’s reading, Baal symbolises the false gods of the mind — external conditions, limiting beliefs, and states that appear to rule you . By night, Gideon obeyed. The altar was torn down. The grove was cut. A new altar was built, and “the second bullock” was offered to the Lord (Judges 6:26). When the townsmen awoke and saw Baal’s altar destroyed, th...