Saul: The Man of Action? November 11, 2015 God Gets Saul Moving 1 Samuel 11 & 12 Page 1 When last we saw Saul, he had been declared by the people to be the King This after he was pulled out of the hiding place he was in Then everyone went home, including Saul There are enemies in the land, lots of work that needs to happen, but Saul Luke 9:57 62 As they were going along the road, someone said to Him, I will follow You wherever You go. And Jesus said to him, The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head. And He said to another, Follow Me. But he said, Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father. But He said to him, Allow the dead to bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim everywhere the kingdom of God. Another also said, I will follow You, Lord; but first permit me to say good-bye to those at home. But Jesus said to him, No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God. Once we give our lives to Jesus, there is an expectation of being a This means This means It does not mean go home and back to the same old life we used to have Saul has not figured that out yet But is about to change all of that 1 Samuel 11:1 5 Now Nahash the Ammonite came up and besieged Jabesh-gilead; and all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, Make a covenant with us and we will serve you. But Nahash the Ammonite said to them, I will make it with you on this condition, that I will gouge out the right eye of every one of you, thus I will make it a reproach on all Israel. The elders of Jabesh said to him, Let us alone for seven days, that we may send messengers throughout the territory of Israel. Then, if there is no one to deliver us, we will come out to you. Then the messengers came to Gibeah of Saul and spoke these words in the hearing of the people, and all the people lifted up their voices and wept. Now behold, Saul was coming from the field behind the oxen, and he said, What is the matter with the people that they weep? So they related to him the words of the men of Jabesh. Nahash Interesting that this a name here, but in Genesis 3, the same word is used of an individual in the Garden of Eden As believers, when we give up and turn to the Lord, there is always one who is ready to challenge that decision We have a picture here of the new believer being into action The people asked for a treaty, actually it was much more. By offering to make a treaty (or covenant) with Nahash, they were in effect asking Nahash to become their king! Crossway Books, 2008), 194. Serpent is King of the Ammonites The city chosen for the attack by Nahash is not a coincidence What city was involved in the events at the end of Judges?, about 40 miles to the east of Saul s home in Gibeah
Page 2 Gibeah was the site of the gross immorality in Judges 19 When all was said and done, and most of the tribe of Benjamin had been slaughtered, what one city did not respond to the call to arms? Judges 21:8 And they said, What one is there of the tribes of Israel who did not come up to the LORD at Mizpah? And behold, no one had come to the camp from Jabesh-gilead to the assembly. The Nation of Israel attacked and killed the residents but took the virgins and gave them to the remaining men from the tribe of Benjamin There is a possibility that Saul is descended from one of those women Because of this history, it is possible Nahash felt this was a safe target What is missing from this? Did the residents of Jabesh-Gilead call out to the Lord? Did they send an urgent call to King Saul? They just happened to come to Gibeah, Saul was not being sought out? How long after the events of Chapter 10? It s interesting that nobody from Jabesh-Gilead responded to the call-to-arms when the nation had to punish the wickedness of Gilead in Benjamin (Judg. 21:8 9), but now they were asking their fellow Jews to come and rescue them! Warren W. Wiersbe, Be Successful, Be Commentary Series (Colorado Springs, CO: Victor/Cook Communications, 2001), 56. The serpent, knowing the past, that Jabesh failed, had no problem using that against them. In this, we see a lesson for us. That is, just as Nahash, the serpent, based his plan of attack on past performance, the devil continually whispers in our ears today that past failures prevent future rescues; that past failures mean there won t be future blessings. Jon Courson, Jon Courson s Application Commentary: Volume One: Genesis Job (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2005), 849. Saul is out plowing He has taken consistent with being declared the King He was the King, yet did like one He had not realized what had happened in his life yet He wanted normal There is still no central government The word of Saul becoming King had not gotten out to everyone As a result of hearing this challenge from the enemy, Saul once again experiences the empowering of the Holy Spirit 1 Samuel 11:6 7 Then the Spirit of God came upon Saul mightily when he heard these words, and he became very angry. He took a yoke of oxen and cut them in pieces, and sent them throughout the territory of Israel by the hand of messengers, saying, Whoever does not come out after Saul and after Samuel, so shall it be done to his oxen. Then the dread of the LORD fell on the people, and they came out as one man. Saul is of Yahweh with his anger at the situation The empowering he experiences reflects that
Page 3 Saul did something drastic to impress the gravity of the Ammonite siege on his fellow Israelites. He followed the example of the Levite whose concubine had died in Saul s hometown (Judg. 19:29 30) Tom Constable, Tom Constable s Expository Notes on the Bible (Galaxie Software, 2003), 1 Sa 11:6. Saul linked himself with Samuel, and the people responded The numbers are the largest since the time of Joshua In Saul s energetic appeal the people discerned the power of Jehovah, which inspired them with fear, and impelled them to immediate obedience. Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old Testament, vol. 2 (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1996), 439. There was nothing heroic in this. It was not noble or virtuous. Just as Saul s rage was inspired by God s Spirit, so the people s response to Saul was brought about by the hand of God upon them. The men who had stuck with Saul in 1 Samuel 10:26 were men whose hearts God had touched. Now God touched many more hearts, and out they came trembling. Crossway Books, 2008), 199. 1 Samuel 11:8 10 He numbered them in Bezek; and the sons of Israel were 300,000, and the men of Judah 30,000. They said to the messengers who had come, Thus you shall say to the men of Jabesh-gilead, Tomorrow, by the time the sun is hot, you will have deliverance. So the messengers went and told the men of Jabesh; and they were glad. Then the men of Jabesh said, Tomorrow we will come out to you, and you may do to us whatever seems good to you. The messengers returned to Jabesh-Gilead with news of a savior and a time that that savior, asked for, will arrive This is an interesting picture for us of the same actions that the Lord will take at the Isaiah 61:1 3 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, Because the LORD has anointed me To bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to captives And freedom to prisoners; To proclaim the favorable year of the LORD And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn, To grant those who mourn in Zion, Giving them a garland instead of ashes, The oil of gladness instead of mourning, The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified. Zechariah 13:8 9 It will come about in all the land, Declares the LORD, That two parts in it will be cut off and perish; But the third will be left in it. And I will bring the third part through the fire, Refine them as silver is refined, And test them as gold is tested. They will call on My name, And I will answer them; I will say, They are My people, And they will say, The LORD is my God.
Page 4 Isaiah 63:1 6 Who is this who comes from Edom, With garments of glowing colors from Bozrah, This One who is majestic in His apparel, Marching in the greatness of His strength? It is I who speak in righteousness, mighty to save. Why is Your apparel red, And Your garments like the one who treads in the wine press? I have trodden the wine trough alone, And from the peoples there was no man with Me. I also trod them in My anger And trampled them in My wrath; And their lifeblood is sprinkled on My garments, And I stained all My raiment. For the day of vengeance was in My heart, And My year of redemption has come. I looked, and there was no one to help, And I was astonished and there was no one to uphold; So My own arm brought salvation to Me, And My wrath upheld Me. I trod down the peoples in My anger And made them drunk in My wrath, And I poured out their lifeblood on the earth. Revelation 19:11 21 And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself. He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses. From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried out with a loud voice, saying to all the birds which fly in midheaven, Come, assemble for the great supper of God, so that you may eat the flesh of kings and the flesh of commanders and the flesh of mighty men and the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them and the flesh of all men, both free men and slaves, and small and great. And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army. And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image; these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone. And the rest were killed with the sword which came from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse, and all the birds were filled with their flesh. The people of Jabesh-Gilead their deliverer would arrive, so they prepared the field of battle for him by saying they would come out to surrender The serpent is at ease thinking he has won 1 Samuel 11:11 15 The next morning Saul put the people in three companies; and they came into the midst of the camp at the morning watch and struck down the Ammonites until the heat of the day. Those who survived were scattered, so that no two of them were left together. Then the people said to Samuel, Who is he that said, Shall Saul reign over us? Bring the men, that we may put them to death. But Saul said, Not a man shall be put to death this day, for today the LORD has accomplished deliverance in Israel. Then Samuel said to the people, Come and let us go to Gilgal and renew the kingdom there. So all the people went to Gilgal, and there they made Saul king before the LORD in Gilgal. There they also offered sacrifices of peace offerings before the LORD; and there Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly. After mustering the troops, Saul, a farmer, begins to act like a military commander and his tactics are those which could have only come from the Lord The army marches all night Crosses the Jordan River, at night Divides into three And attacks sometime between 2AM and 6AM The battle is over by around noon
What God did through Saul that day is a pale shadow of what God did to the great enemy when King Jesus died on the cross. We go to battle only after the decisive battle. The blood has been shed. The enemy has in fact fallen. Crossway Books, 2008), 201. Page 5 1 Peter 3:18 20 For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit; in which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison, who once were disobedient, when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water. Samuel had anointed Saul privately (10:1) and then presented him to the people (vv. 17 27), and now Samuel led the nation in an act of dedication to the Lord. It was a time of spiritual revival and national rejoicing. Saul had passed his first test, but it wouldn t be long before he would fail in a much simpler test and lose his kingdom. Warren W. Wiersbe, Be Successful, Be Commentary Series (Colorado Springs, CO: Victor/Cook Communications, 2001), 57 58. 1 Corinthians 10:12 Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall. 1 Samuel 12:1 5 Then Samuel said to all Israel, Behold, I have listened to your voice in all that you said to me and I have appointed a king over you. Now, here is the king walking before you, but I am old and gray, and behold my sons are with you. And I have walked before you from my youth even to this day. Here I am; bear witness against me before the LORD and His anointed. Whose ox have I taken, or whose donkey have I taken, or whom have I defrauded? Whom have I oppressed, or from whose hand have I taken a bribe to blind my eyes with it? I will restore it to you. They said, You have not defrauded us or oppressed us or taken anything from any man s hand. He said to them, The LORD is witness against you, and His anointed is witness this day that you have found nothing in my hand. And they said, He is witness. The temptation for the people was to place their trust, Samuel is using this opportunity to remind the people their trust should be in God First he wants to make sure the record is straight Why did Samuel feel the need to justify his behavior publicly? Perhaps he knew that because the people had rebelled against God by demanding a king they would experience discipline from the Lord. When it came he did not want anyone to think he was responsible for it. Tom Constable, Tom Constable s Expository Notes on the Bible (Galaxie Software, 2003), 1 Sa 12:1. Remember when Samuel said a King would take? Samuel is showing that his hands are empty He also wants to show the people what actually looks like Samuel also, by summing up as he does in these first five verses, is saying God was in the way Israel was governed, and they agree
Page 6 1 Samuel 12:6 11 Then Samuel said to the people, It is the LORD who appointed Moses and Aaron and who brought your fathers up from the land of Egypt. So now, take your stand, that I may plead with you before the LORD concerning all the righteous acts of the LORD which He did for you and your fathers. When Jacob went into Egypt and your fathers cried out to the LORD, then the LORD sent Moses and Aaron who brought your fathers out of Egypt and settled them in this place. But they forgot the LORD their God, so He sold them into the hand of Sisera, captain of the army of Hazor, and into the hand of the Philistines and into the hand of the king of Moab, and they fought against them. They cried out to the LORD and said, We have sinned because we have forsaken the LORD and have served the Baals and the Ashtaroth; but now deliver us from the hands of our enemies, and we will serve You. Then the LORD sent Jerubbaal and Bedan and Jephthah and Samuel, and delivered you from the hands of your enemies all around, so that you lived in security. To reinforce that God was in the leadership of the Nation, Samuel provides a history lesson He points out the failures of the Nation in following the Lord, and the results of that failure Samuel appears to have deliberately mentioned his own name along with those of the other judges who were sent by God, that he might show the people in the most striking manner (v.12) that they had no reason whatever for saying to him, Nay, but a king shall reign over us, as soon as the Ammonites invaded Gilead. As Jehovah your God is your king, i.e., has ever proved himself to be your King by sending judges to deliver you. Carl Friedrich Keil and Franz Delitzsch, Commentary on the Old Testament, vol. 2 (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson, 1996), 443. Now we get the rest of the story Samuel ties the pieces together Why did they want a King? 1 Samuel 12:12 25 When you saw that Nahash the king of the sons of Ammon came against you, you said to me, No, but a king shall reign over us, although the LORD your God was your king. Now therefore, here is the king whom you have chosen, whom you have asked for, and behold, the LORD has set a king over you. If you will fear the LORD and serve Him, and listen to His voice and not rebel against the command of the LORD, then both you and also the king who reigns over you will follow the LORD your God. If you will not listen to the voice of the LORD, but rebel against the command of the LORD, then the hand of the LORD will be against you, as it was against your fathers. Even now, take your stand and see this great thing which the LORD will do before your eyes. Is it not the wheat harvest today? I will call to the LORD, that He may send thunder and rain. Then you will know and see that your wickedness is great which you have done in the sight of the LORD by asking for yourselves a king. So Samuel called to the LORD, and the LORD sent thunder and rain that day; and all the people greatly feared the LORD and Samuel. Then all the people said to Samuel, Pray for your servants to the LORD your God, so that we may not die, for we have added to all our sins this evil by asking for ourselves a king. Samuel said to the people, Do not fear. You have committed all this evil, yet do not turn aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart. You must not turn aside, for then you would go after futile things which can not profit or deliver, because they are futile. For the LORD will not abandon His people on account of His great name, because the LORD has been pleased to make you a people for Himself. Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by ceasing to pray for you; but I will instruct you in the good and right way. Only fear the LORD and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for consider what great things He has done for you. But if you still do wickedly, both you and your king will be swept away.
Deliverance would only come as the people were Saul had delivered the people much the same way the judges had, that was intentional Even with a King, prosperity will be tied to. Page 7 This time they did not cry out to the LORD, and say, We have sinned, because we have forsaken the LORD and have served the Baals and the Ashtaroth. But now deliver us out of the hand of our enemies, that we may serve you as they had before (1 Samuel 12:10). This time, they said, No, but a king shall reign over us. In this, they showed that they no longer trusted the Lord their God as their King. Crossway Books, 2008), 219. After seeing the demonstration of God s power, the people realized where they were spiritually 1 Samuel 12:19 Then all the people said to Samuel, Pray for your servants to the LORD your God, so that we may not die, for we have added to all our sins this evil by asking for ourselves a king. He is, but He is Samuel s Lord Samuel agrees with the people, they need to repent, they have committed evil But he points out that God has not given up on them because He selected them and His name is on the line He does not give up on us either When we blow it, He is 1 John 1:5 10 This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us. Samuel closes out his sermon by pointing out his constant intercession for the Nation He also says he will to provide intercession Hebrews 7:25 Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. This chapter sets forth clearly the basic principles by which God deals with His people. As such it is very important. It explains why things happened as they did in Israel and in the personal lives of the major characters that the writer emphasized. Tom Constable, Tom Constable s Expository Notes on the Bible (Galaxie Software, 2003), 1 Sa 12:19. Past teachings, study notes and slides of Through the Bible with Pastor Ken Brown are available at: www.calvaryword.com/bible