Saul Defeats the Ammonites

[00:00:06] Let's pray. [00:00:07] Our heavenly Father, we thank you that you have sent a son of righteousness into this world. That we might be saved from our sins, that we might be saved from our enemies as well as our sins. [00:00:21] From the devil, from the flesh that works within us. From the world which seeks to beguile us and lure us and tempt us. Save us from those who would oppose you and seek to destroy you. O Lord, you are a great king. And you have established Christ on your throne forever and ever. You have given us a second birth, having crucified the flesh and causing us to live in Christ, where we are seated with him even now in the heavenly places. Lord, we ask that you would continue to bring healing in your wings. As we hear your word this morning. Give us confidence in the final king of Israel and the final king of all the world. Help us to put our faith in him. And know that as your Spirit has anointed him, so also the Spirit anoints us. O Holy Spirit, we ask that you would illuminate our hearts that we might understand your word, believe it and act upon it. We pray this in Jesus name. Amen. [00:01:31] Well, please remain standing. And let's turn our attention now to 1st Samuel, chapter 11. [00:02:00] Here we begin the transition of power from Saul. [00:02:05] I'm sorry, from Samuel to Saul, from the judge Samuel, who is here in this chapter and in the next. I'm leaving that office of rule and I'm handing that over as the Lord has called to Saul, Israel's first official king. And we've seen this transition happen over a series of stages. And we are coming to the last bit of it here. [00:02:35] Let's hear God's word this morning in 1st Samuel 11. [00:02:39] We begin with Saul's great victory over one of Israel's enemies. [00:02:48] Then Nahash the ammonite went up and besieged Jabesh, Gilead. And all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, make a treaty with us and we will serve you. But Nahash the Ammonite said to them, on this condition, I will make a treaty with you. That you gouge out all your right eyes, thus bring disgrace on all Israel. [00:03:12] The elders of Jabesh said to him, give us seven days respite that we may send messengers through all the territory of Israel. Then if there is no one to save us, we will give ourselves up to you. [00:03:26] When the messengers came to Gibeah of Saul, they reported the matter in the ears of the people. And all the people wept aloud. [00:03:36] Now, behold, Saul was coming from the field behind the oxen. And Saul said, what is wrong with the people that they are weeping? So they told him the news of the men of Jabesh. And the Spirit of God rushed upon Saul when he heard these words, and his anger was greatly kindled. He took a yoke of oxen and cut them in pieces and sent them throughout all the territory of Israel by the hand of the messengers, saying, whoever does not come out after Saul and Samuel, so shall it be done to his oxen. [00:04:10] Then the dread of the Lord fell upon the people, and they came out as one man. When he mustered them at Bezek, the people of Israel were 300,000 and the men of Judah 30,000. And they said to the messengers who had come, thus shall you say to the men of Jabesh, gilead, tomorrow, by the time the sun is hot, you shall have salvation. [00:04:34] When the messengers came and told the men of Jabesh, they were glad. Therefore, the men of Jabesh said, tomorrow we will give ourselves up to you, and you may do to us whatever seems good to you. [00:04:46] And the next day, Saul put the people in three companies, and they came into the midst of the camp and the morning watch and struck down the ammonites until the heat of the day. And those who survived were scattered so that no two of them were left together. [00:05:03] Then the people said to Samuel, who is it that said, shall Saul reign over us? Bring 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 worked salvation in Israel. [00:05:21] Then Samuel said to the people, come, let us go to Gilgal and there renew the kingdom. So all the people went to Gilgal, and there they made Saul king before the Lord in Gilgal. There they sacrificed peace offerings before the Lord. And there Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly. [00:05:40] Amen. Please be seated. [00:06:04] So here in 1st Samuel 11, we have this amazing story. [00:06:09] This is a story of success. [00:06:12] A big win. [00:06:14] A big, big win for Saul. And we see not only him winning, but we see things about the Lord and his perspective about the Lord. There's a kind of clarity and boldness here that we've not yet seen with Saul. [00:06:35] And the scriptures tell us exactly why it happened. [00:06:40] The Spirit of God rushed on Saul. [00:06:44] We have a reminder here that not all anger is evil. The spirit of God came upon Saul, and it was because of that that his anger was greatly kindled. [00:06:56] Anger, like other emotions, can be good or bad, depending on if it's commensurate. With the thing that we are feeling and if it's appropriate in terms of its level, but also with what it is we're loving what it is, we're angry about, what it is we're hating. And what is Saul angry about? He's angry about the work of Nahash, the king of the Ammonites. Nahash, whose name means serpent, by the way. Who has come into the garden of Israel, we could say, and is sought to destroy God's people. People. [00:07:34] The Ammonites are a people that were descended from Lot. We know that from Genesis 19:38. [00:07:42] If you can imagine a map of the land in your mind or you can flip to the back of your Bible, if you happen to have a map back there, you can look and you can see. [00:07:54] You can find Jerusalem and the Dead Sea. The Ammonites were just a little bit northeast of that. That sea. It was a people that were separated from Israel, but pretty close to them. Especially those tribes that were on the eastern side of the Jordan. You remember that as Israel came into. [00:08:16] As the people of Israel came into that land, some of the tribes wanted to stay on one side of the Jordan. And those tribes were close to the Ammonites. [00:08:27] And so we see what's happening here. Nahash. This man named after a serpent. Nahash means serpent. [00:08:36] He is besieging this city, Jabesh, Gilead. [00:08:42] And things are so bad that in verse one, we read that the Israelites of Jabesh, Gilead, of this city, they say, make a treaty with us and we will serve you. [00:08:54] They've given up. [00:08:56] They're done. They don't see that there's anything else that they can do except submit themselves and become basically part of the Ammonite state. [00:09:08] Now, it's important for us always to remember what the Lord says regarding his protection of his people. [00:09:15] So in Exodus 23, we read this beginning in verse 22. [00:09:21] But if you carefully obey his voice and do all that I say, his being Moses, then I will be an enemy to your enemies and an adversary to your adversary. [00:09:32] In Deuteronomy 20, the scripture says, when you go out to war against your enemies and see horses and chariots and an army larger than your own, you shall not be afraid of them. For the Lord your God is with you, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt. And when you draw near the battle, the priest shall come forward and speak to the people and shall say to them, hear, O Israel, today you are drawing near for battle against your enemies. Let not your heart be faint. Do not Fear or panic or be in dread of them. For the Lord your God is he who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies, to give you the victory. [00:10:18] Very clear, isn't it? He tells his people of Israel, I will fight for you. Your job is to not be afraid. [00:10:28] That's your job. Your job is to remind yourselves of this for the priests to say it, to not panic or be afraid, but to trust the Lord who will give you victory. [00:10:43] Now, Nahash, of course, wasn't paying any attention to this. Nahash's goal was to destroy the people of God and to do so in a rather a humiliating way. [00:10:56] They say, make a treaty with us and we'll serve you. What does Nahash do? He says, I'll make a treaty with you on one condition. Gouge out all of your right eyes. [00:11:06] Now, this would, of course, make them less effective in battle. Make things like shooting bows and arrows very difficult. Make things like, you know, you'd have a literal giant blind spot not having an eye. [00:11:20] But it also, there's another aspect to it which is told where we're told in verse two, and thus bring disgrace on all Israel. [00:11:32] He wanted to mark them, and he wanted all of Israel to see the signs of his power, the disgrace of their people, and one that would be very permanent. [00:11:45] This is extremely cruel. He's not willing to simply accept their willingness to be his servants, to pay him tributes, to be under his rule. He wants also to gouge out their eyes. [00:12:03] Well, what happens next? [00:12:06] In verse three, we read that Jabesh had some good elders. The elders of Japhesh say, give us seven days. Let us go through all the territory, and basically we'll try to find someone to save us. And if not, we will. We will go out to you. [00:12:24] So they buy some time. Somewhat hilariously, Neha says, sure, why not, right? This is classic overconfidence, right? [00:12:36] Why not go? Why not go out and find a savior? What could you possibly do to me? [00:12:48] Well, then we read of Saul. [00:12:52] All of a sudden, here's Saul. Here's Saul, the one whom the Lord has chosen, the one who is anointed, the one who has set his spirit on, and who now again gives him another measure of the spirit who rushes upon him, moves his heart and greatly kindles his anger, so that he has this kind of moral clarity about what he needs to do as the king. [00:13:16] In past examples of Saul, we've seen him being hesitant, unsure, not knowing what to do. But here, as the Spirit of God works on him, he knows exactly what he needs to do, what does he do? He musters the people and he does it with a lot of strength. He cuts up his yoke of oxen, sends it throughout all the land of Israel, and says, this will happen to your oxen if you do not come. [00:13:45] Now, that might sound grotesque, and it does in some ways, but it's helpful to notice two things about it. One, he doesn't threaten the lives of Israel, right? He doesn't say, such will be done to you if you do not come out. So that's important. He's talking about the destruction of their property, a penalty for failing to obedience, to obey. The second thing is, this is very reminiscent of another moment that happened in Judges when someone wanted Israel to act and cut up a woman and sent her throughout all of Israel to shock them into action. [00:14:29] We see Saul's response here, more measured, wiser, fairer, while at the same time still calling the people to obedience. Remember, this is a time when Israel had not had a king over all of the people before. There had been judges from various places who had saved from time to time. This was a family, a nation in a way, but it was also kind of a collection of tribes, a collection of people that were united in various ways under the law. Here is this man who's now commanding them all to act in the name of Saul and the name of Samuel. [00:15:12] I'm not entirely sure I'm going to give this one to you, just to meditate on. I'm not entirely sure what to think about when he says it this way. [00:15:20] You can ponder this. [00:15:22] When he says, in the name of Saul and Samuel, is he giving due respect to Samuel and making sure that everyone comes together in this moment of transition of power? He wants to make sure that there's humility and respect there. Or is he afraid to command in his own name? [00:15:41] Is it something else altogether? Whatever it is, he does want them to act. And we know that that is because of the Spirit of God. [00:15:53] So this is Saul's response. And as the Spirit moves, we have an opportunity here to think about how the Spirit empowers people to do things, how the Spirit empowers people to do things. [00:16:11] In Exodus 31:2, we read about a man named Bezalel. [00:16:16] Exodus 31, verse 2. See, I have called Bezalel the son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. And I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with ability and intelligence, with knowledge and all craftsmanship, to devise artistic designs, to work in gold, silver and bronze. In cutting stones for setting and in carving wood work in every craft. [00:16:45] That's interesting, isn't it? [00:16:48] Sometimes we think about the Spirit's work wrongly only in terms of regeneration, only in terms of giving us a new birth, which he absolutely does. As I quoted earlier from John, that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit. The only way we can be be of the Spirit belong to the Spirit of God, as being born by the Spirit to be regenerated. But that's not the only thing that the Holy Spirit does. The Holy Spirit not only regenerates us, he also empowers and equips us in various ways. And here we have a great example of that. The Spirit of God filling this man with ability, intelligence, knowledge, craftsmanship. [00:17:35] This reminds us of another mistake that we make when we think about the Holy Spirit. Sometimes when we think about the gifts of the Spirit or spiritual gifts, we only think about extraordinary things. [00:17:48] Now, is the Spirit responsible for extraordinary gifts like the ability to heal or to speak in tongues or to raise people from the dead? Absolutely. Those are the gifts of the Holy Spirit. [00:18:01] But does that mean that the Holy Spirit is not responsible for things like intelligence, ability, craftsmanship, an eye to see artistic designs? [00:18:15] Of course not. The Holy Spirit is the one who gifts and empowers us in all good things, as we confessed in the Creed. He is the Lord and giver of life. And not just the essence of life or the power of life, but all the things of life. Our ability to sow and to draw and to make and to form plans and come up with ideas and make decisions and all these sorts of things. [00:18:42] And the Holy Spirit gives that in various measures, which is why we see the Spirit coming to Saul at various times. It's not as though he's regenerate and unregenerate and regenerate and unregenerate. Right. The Holy Spirit is equipping him and moving at various moments to give him things that he did not have previously. [00:19:05] This is what the Lord and Giver of life does. [00:19:10] And so Nahash, in all of his self confidence, he says. [00:19:15] He says, sure, go out and see if you can find someone. [00:19:21] So what happens then? He musters all of Israel. The people of Israel come as one man. [00:19:28] This is always a good sign. Well, maybe not always, but often a good sign when the people are unified in this way. It's one of the great promises and hopes that God gives to his people and that we all desire unity instead of fighting and factions and tensions. Unity, clarity of purpose. Everybody on the same page, moving the same direction under the Lord. [00:19:54] So he musters the people. And then what happens next? Look at verse 9. [00:19:59] He says, Thus shall you say to the men of Jabesh Gilead, these messengers must be tired right now, right? They ran out from Jabesh Gilead. They found Saul. They gave message all over Israel. Now he tells them to go back to Jabesh Gilead. And say what? Here's the message. Tomorrow, by the time the sun is hot, you shall have salvation. [00:20:20] And how do they respond? It says, they were glad. [00:20:26] Oh, that, of course, is kind of an understatement, right? You're about. Sorry, you just said that you are willing to become a vassal state of an empire of a king who wants to gouge out your eyes or force you to gouge out your eyes. And now all of a sudden you hear, you're not going to have to do that. Of course they were glad, which is a good. [00:20:49] We see things functioning well, right? Truth is being spread. Truth is moving throughout the country. People are believing it and responding to it. Don't take these things for granted. This is good things. The spirit of God is at work not just in us all, but in all the people. [00:21:07] So then there's this funny thing that happens that you don't exactly see in the ESV. In verse 10, the men of Jabesh say not to the messengers, but to Nahash, right? The one who's threatened. They say, tomorrow we will give ourselves up to you. And the ESV translates, that you may do to us whatever seems good to you. But it's a little more literally is something like, whatever seems good to your eyes. [00:21:36] Thank you. [00:21:39] Right. Which is a phrase we kind of, whatever is good in your eyes. Right. Do that. It's this. I think it's funny, maybe you don't, but he's calling them to gouge out their eyes. And then they respond in this kind of vague, ish way where they say, tomorrow we will go out to you. [00:22:00] Difficult to tell exactly whether they are giving themselves up. That's how he would understand it, of course. Or whether they are marching out to battle or whatever. Whatever seems right in your eyes. [00:22:12] Well, what happens? They come into the midst of camp in the morning watch. [00:22:17] So for about 2am to dawn, the people of Israel move in among the camp of the Israelites. Strikes them all down until the heat of day. Those who were left were so few in number and so scattered that there weren't even two people together. The unity, the oneness of Israel is, you see, it's this counterpart in the separation of all the ammonites, just scattered everywhere, unable to act. [00:22:48] So we see the success of the Spirit of God. We see the success of God's working with his people, of equipping Saul, of preparing the people for peace. [00:23:02] Well, as we finish this story, reviewing the story and making sure that we understand it, we come to this last section where the kingdom is renewed. And in some ways the kingdom started and its establishment started here at Gilgal. And here at Gilgal again something else happens, and it begins with some internal conflict. [00:23:25] The people of Israel talking to Samuel say, who was it that said, shall Saul reign over us? Remember those guys from the last chapter who, after Saul was announced as king, there were people who despised him and didn't like him and were against him. [00:23:44] Now, Israel seeing that Saul's the guy, Saul's the king, Saul just got them this victory. They're saying, where are those other people in here who said that? Who's Saul's king? Right? And they'll say, bring them. We're going to put them to death. Right? These are loyalists. These are people who are energetic for Saul, they're energetic for the kingdom. They want to see all opposition put down. [00:24:12] Now, as we think about leadership transitions, an interesting thing happens here. [00:24:18] The people say to Samuel, and then in verse 13, we hear, but Saul said, it's interesting, a little detail. Samuel doesn't respond, but Saul responds. And what does he say? Amnesty. [00:24:37] He says, not a man shall be put to death this day. For today the Lord has worked salvation in Israel. [00:24:47] Wisdom, grace, hope. [00:24:53] What's the reaction of the people? [00:24:57] We read that they, the people went to Gilgal, they made Saul the king in this wonderful phrase, before the Lord. [00:25:05] Before the Lord. There they sacrificed peace offerings before the Lord. And there Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly. They had a big party, a big, big feast, a big festival, a big celebration, and all with an eye to the Lord, all before the Lord, all under the Lord. With this thankfulness to the Lord. This is a moment of great success for the people of God. And in all this we see this great demonstration of the power of God so that our confidence would not be in the flesh, but would be in the Spirit. [00:25:49] That's a big lesson for us, and it helps. I think it's helpful for us to remember for a moment not just what it's like to be worked on and in and through by the Spirit, but also what it means to be ruled by a spirit anointed, a spirit empowered king. [00:26:12] There's a way you could tell this story, you could summarize this story and say something like this. [00:26:18] Someone cries out for help. [00:26:20] The chosen king rallies the nation together, saves the people. The enemy slinks home, everyone has a party. [00:26:30] You could tell the story that way. [00:26:33] But it leaves out the most important thing. You have the general arc, right? You have the main people and the things that are going. But it leaves out God. It leaves out the deeper reason for Saul's success. It leaves out the reason for the people's success. It leaves out the fact that they saw that in themselves and celebrated before the Lord. [00:26:57] Listen how different that man centered story sounds to a God centered story. [00:27:02] God's people cry out for help. God's spirit empowers God's chosen king who saves God's people. And they all give offerings and worship together under and before the Lord. [00:27:16] There are two different stories, right? [00:27:18] One centers man and sees man as the one in need, the one who saves himself and the one who enjoys the rewards. The other story sees everything in the light of God and in the light of what he's doing. [00:27:34] We often get pattern in patterns and thinking patterns in our lives where we don't depend on God. We want the good things of unity and peace and freedom from our enemies. But then we cut ourselves off. We cut ourselves off from the source of those things. We don't pray, we don't ask for the Spirit to work in us. We don't ask for God's grace in us. It's like wanting really warm winters and then moving to some frosty tundra every November. [00:28:04] This is not how you achieve these things. You don't cut yourself off from the source of all good things, to receive good things. [00:28:13] We listen to a story like this and we want moments like this in our lives. Freedom from enemies, victory over defeat. A party with our friends and family and peace and abundance and thanksgiving. [00:28:30] The question for Israel at this moment, the question for Saul, and the question for every future generation, including you, is where does it come from? [00:28:39] Where does it come from? [00:28:42] It comes from the Lord, comes from God and the Spirit of God who works in God's anointed king. [00:28:52] And it gives us an opportunity to reflect on God's last anointed king, this final and eternal king, our Savior, of course, Jesus. [00:29:02] We see the Spirit's work in Jesus incarnation when he hovered over Mary. We see spirit, the Spirit's work at the beginning of his ministry, when he descended like a dove as the Father called out, this is my son in whom I am well pleased. It's the Spirit who drives Jesus out into the wilderness where he's tempted by the serpent, by a Nahash who's seeking to destroy the king and destroy the people. [00:29:34] It's the Spirit who preserves him and keeps him. It's the Spirit who raises him from the dead. It's the Spirit who gives defeat over all of our enemies. And it's what the fruits of the Spirit that are produced in us as we put our faith in the King, as we trust in this spirit. Anointed Spirit empowered king. [00:29:57] What's it like for you to be a citizen of the Kingdom of God under Jesus, the one who has been anointed and empowered by the Holy Spirit? [00:30:12] Acts 1:8. We read this, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. And you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. [00:30:27] Jesus promises to give the disciples his Spirit, the power of the Spirit to do something that moments ago they were totally afraid to do. [00:30:41] We think about Saul's amnesty. [00:30:44] Can you imagine what Jesus would, What it would have been like in the world and in Jesus world if after his victory somebody had said something like, who is it? Who is it around here who said, jesus isn't the king, put him to death. [00:31:06] Kind of everybody, mostly, including men like Peter, who denied him three times. I don't know him. I don't know him. [00:31:17] Others who scattered, others who were afraid, people who mocked him, who put the nail in the sign and put it over him. Jesus, King of the Jews, Right? All of these kinds of things mocking his kingship, seeking to destroy him, literally kill him. He raises from the dead and then he grants amnesty like the world has never seen to Israel and to Gentiles. And then he sends his Holy Spirit to empower people then to witness to this fact which they do. Messengers to send out the word about the king and the kingdom. [00:32:05] In Acts 4:31 we read this. When they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness. [00:32:19] Where does boldness come from? Where does our clarity about the Scriptures come from? Where do the Scriptures come from? He come from the Holy Spirit. [00:32:30] Here's another verse. Romans 8:11. This is a promise for you. [00:32:35] If the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you. [00:32:42] He who raised Jesus Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. [00:32:53] Ephesians 3:16 According to the riches of his glory, he may grant you to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in your inner being. [00:33:05] Since Jesus is our spirit anointed king and we are his spirit filled citizens, what does this mean for our lives? [00:33:13] What does this mean when we face situations where we are tempted by the devil, when the serpent seeks to come into our lives and break apart the bonds that we have with Christ, the unity that we have with one another, who seeks to inflict harm and pain and lies into our situation? What does it mean that we have the Spirit? [00:33:39] It means you have victory. [00:33:42] It means you have escape. It means you have freedom. It means you can tell the devil. I'm not going to listen to you. I have a Savior who not only knows how to be victorious over the enemies and can but also knows how to govern me and restrain me and grow me to be people that are born of the Spirit of God, to be people on whom the Spirit of God has come and continues to come, not only in our regeneration, but throughout our lives, giving gifts and gifts and gifts and gifts. [00:34:17] It means that we are guaranteed success. [00:34:21] We cannot fail because Christ is our king and we have His Spirit. [00:34:31] Paul says this in Philippians 3. We'll end with this. I think this sort of sums up a really great way to apply this. He says we ought to glory in Christ, worship by the Spirit, and put no confidence in the flesh. [00:34:49] That's what we're called to do. And we can do it because of what God has done. And when we're weak and when we're struggling and when we're frustrated and when the lies are creeping in and we find ourselves believing them more and more, we ought to remember stories like this, true stories, stories of our history, the story of our family history here recorded for us so that we might remember how God was at work even before Jesus came, and how it all led up to his great kingship and the work of the Spirit in His life, in the Incarnation and all of that and in our lives as well. [00:35:30] We belong to Him. You belong to Him. Trust him and he will save you. [00:35:37] Let's pray. [00:35:39] Our Heavenly Father, we thank you for granting us life in Christ. And we ask that you would give us boldness, that you would give us confidence, that you would give us zeal to love what you love, to hate what you hate, to protect that which needs protecting, to give up that which needs giving up. Lord, we ask that you would help us not to be afraid, but to keep in step with the Spirit who gives us life, who gives us skills and grace and ability, and calls us to use these things for your glory. [00:36:16] Here in the chapter that we've read this morning, we've heard a model and a foreshadowing of Israel's last king. [00:36:30] And we thank you, Lord, that we are reminded of this success. We were reminded of your gifts and your graces in our lives, things which we do not deserve. [00:36:40] As we think about the ways in which we have rebelled against you, O great King Jesus, we ask, we beg for your forgiveness. [00:36:50] We ask that instead of committing us to death, you would, as you have promised to do, remove all condemnation from us. We would not dare to ask for such a thing except that you yourself have promised it to all who ask, to all who receive you and the gifts that you have given. You've promised us everything that we need for this life and for the life to come. [00:37:17] Let us not be afraid of the serpent. Let us not be afraid of the evil one and his power. Let us not be a listen. Let us not learn to listen to his lies which would seek to enslave us to our sin. But, Lord, instead we ask that you would give us that confidence and boldness to live in Christ and witness to him as well. [00:37:44] We put no confidence in the flesh. We put all of our confidence in you. [00:37:51] And we pray this all in the name of Jesus. Amen.