1 Samuel 11-12: “Saul Leads Israel In Victory Over The
Amonites / Samuel’s Farewell Speech”
By
Jim Bomkamp
1.
INTRO:
1.1.
In our last study, we looked
at chapters 9-10 and the search that
Samuel made to find a king for the children of Israel, and we saw that the Lord
led Samuel to select Saul, the son of Kish, a Benjamite.
1.1.1.
We took a long look at the character of this man
Saul and discovered that though the Lord chose Saul to be king over Israel that
He chose him because Saul was the type of king that they wanted and because
since the Israelites were now going to be in God’s “permissive” will instead of
His “perfect” will that the Lord was going to use this king to discipline them.
1.1.2.
We looked at the danger of evaluating preachers and
ministries based upon external appearances rather than the real substance of
their ministry based upon the scriptures.
1.2.
In our study today, we are going to look at chapters
11-12 and we will see king Saul in his best form as he initially handles well
the testings that the Lord puts him through.
1.2.1.
In chapter 11, the Amonites come and threaten the
people of the city of Jabesh-gilead, and they tell the people of the city that
they will destroy them in battle or if the people are willing to have the
Amonites gouge out all of their right eyes that they will allow the city to
surrender to them, and only in this way they will make peace with them.
1.2.2.
When this threat is made by the Amonites, the people
of Jabesh-gilead then send for help to the other tribes. Saul hears about their plight then and
becomes angry as the Spirit of the Lord comes upon him, and he summons all of
the children of Israel together to go to battle against the Amonites.
1.2.3.
The Lord helps the children of Israel in battle
against the Amonites and they destroy the Amonites in battle.
1.2.4.
In chapter 12, the Israelites formally accept Saul
as their king and have a coronation ceremony for him as their king.
1.2.5.
Samuel begins chapter 12 however with his farewell
speech as leader over God’s people, and in that speech he:
1.2.5.1.
Defends his conduct before the people all throughout
his lifetime.
1.2.5.2.
Recounts Israel’s history contrasting God’s
faithfulness and the people’s faithlessness.
2.
VS 11:1-3 - “1
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.” 2
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.” 3 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.”” - The
Amonites come up against the city of Jabesh-gilead and besiege it, then when
the people of the city ask to make a covenant with them, the Amonites tell them
that they will make this covenant if they can gouge out the right eye of
everyone in the city
2.1.
This man “Nahash” the Amonite, appropriately his
name means “Snake,” for the despicable offer that he makes to the people of the
city of jabesh-gilead to gouge out their right eyes to make peace truly is
serpentine.
2.2.
With the
right eye gouged out of the men of war, they would not be able to hide behind
their shields (that is if they were right eye dominate like most people are)
and their archers would not be able to shoot accurately since they would have
no depth perception.
2.3.
The Lord here is dealing with the people of the city
of Jabesh-gilead. If you remember from
Judges chapter 21, when the nation had to come together in battle against the
tribe of Benjamin because of the horrible wickedness that they had participated
in regarding a man’s concubine who was raped and murdered, it was the people of
the city of Jabesh-gilead who had refused to come together to help out their
Israelite brothers. Now, they are
crying out to their brothers to come and to rescue them.
2.4.
The people of Jabesh-gilead are wise in asking for a
week to consider the offer by the Amonites.
This gave them time to see if Israel would rescue them.
2.5.
The Amonites probably granted this request for a week
to think about this because they didn’t think Israel could be brought together
to help out the people of Jabesh-gilead and they weren’t prepared just yet to
attack anyway.
3.
VS 11:4-8 - “4
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. 5
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. 6 Then the Spirit of God came
upon Saul mightily when he heard these words, and he became very angry. 7 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. 8 He numbered them in Bezek;
and the sons of Israel were 300,000, and the men of Judah 30,000.” - Saul hears about the plight of the people of Jabesh-gilead and is
enraged as the Spirit of the Lord comes upon him, and he summons all Israel
together by using a threat
3.1.
In chapters 9-10 we saw the search for a king which
ended with the Lord’s selection of Saul.
We then saw that Samuel privately anointed Saul as king over
Israel. Then, Samuel introduced the
children of Israel to their new king.
However, what we notice here is that after those events that instead of
taking up ruling over Israel as king that Saul went back to the farm and
resumed his farm duties. The crisis
that comes up here though catapults Saul into being formally accepted by the
children of Israel and after defeating Ammon he begins to govern over the
people as king.
3.2.
Saul had an affinity for the people of the city of
Jabesh-gilead because he had descended from a woman from that city. After the tribe of Benjamin had been
virtually wiped out, it was determined that the young men from the tribe of Benjamin
could kidnap girls from the city of Jabesh-gilead and take them as their
wives. Saul had come about as a result
of one of these marrages. See Judges
chapter 20-21.
3.3.
We see here that the reason why Saul was successful
in this campaign was because the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him. It was not because of any innate leadership
abilities that Saul had, nor was it the result of coincidence.
3.4.
In Judges 20-21, when a Levite’s concubine was raped
by the Benjamites until she died, the Levite cut her up in pieces and sent a piece
to every tribe with a note about what had happened and a challenge to
respond. Saul evidently borrowed that
idea to some extent when he cut up his oxen here and sent a piece to each of
the tribes and threatened them that if they didn’t come out to fight that the
same thing would happen to their oxen.
3.5.
Sometimes in the scriptures we learn not only from
what is written but also from what is not written. What I do not see here in Saul’s response is that though he is
stirred by the Spirit to muster an army and defeat the Amonites, he does not
inquire of the Lord about this. King
David, the man who will follow Saul and who was called by the Lord as a man
after his own heart, always inquired of the Lord before he went out in battle.
3.5.1.
Note also that Saul is not a worshipper. He does not worship the Lord and exalt His
Name before going out into battle.
3.5.1.1.
It is no wonder that after this great battle that
Saul became lifted up in his own pride and ability for he hadn’t worshipped the
Lord going into the battle.
4.
VS 11:9-12 -
“9 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. 10 Then the men of Jabesh said,
“Tomorrow we will come out to you, and you may do to us whatever seems good to
you.” 11 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.” - The children of Israel conquer the Amonites laying siege against
the city of Jabesh-gilead
4.1.
After Saul had mustered the army of 300,000
Israelites together, he tells the people of the city of Jabesh-gilead that he
will deliever the city in the heat of the next day.
4.2.
The men of Jabesh-gilead cause the Amonites to
become over-confident and to let down their guard. The men of Jabesh-gilead sent word to the Amonites that on the
next day that they would come out to them and they could do to them as they
wished.
4.3.
Saul separated the army of Israelites into three
companies and attacked the Amonites in the middle of the night (2Am-6Am),
possibly following the example of Gideon in his defeat of the Midianites
(Judges 7).
4.4.
The Amonites were so taken by surprise and soundly
defeated in battle by the Israelites that they scattered to such an extent that
there were not even two Amonites together.
5.
VS 11:12-13
- “12 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.” 13 But Saul said, “Not a man shall be put to
death this day, for today the Lord
has accomplished deliverance in Israel.”” - The men of Israel now want to put to death those who hadn’t want
to accept Saul as king, however Saul dissuades them from this
5.1.
Saul is handling this first test of his new kingship
very well. Wisely, he determines to be
noble and not to go after those detractors who despised him as their king when
Samuel had presented him to the nation.
5.1.1.
Later on during his reign, Saul didn’t allow any
dissent and would have dealt harshly with these ‘worthless fellows’ who refused
to acknowledge him as their king.
5.2.
Saul will spiral downhill quickly after our story
today however. He should have been more
cautious of himself than ever after this glorious victory that the Lord gave
him over the Amonites, however instead Saul was less cautious and discerning
and he ended up being carried away in his pride. We will see very soon that because of his disobedience the Lord
will take the kingdom away from him.
5.3.
Saul did not appreciate as he should have what a
blessing it is to be used by the Lord. Saul
on this day got to see the Lord do great things on behalf of His people. He got to see the power and glory of the
Lord up close, yet he really didn’t value this as he should have. Saul goes from serving the Lord to serving
himself after this battle.
5.3.1.
We Christians need to consider what a blessing it is
when the Lord uses our lives for His service.
What a blessing it is to win someone to Christ or to be used to help
another Christian in their walk in the Lord.
In fact, whenever God uses our lives through any of the various gifts of
the Spirit and ministries we might be involved in, this is a tremendous
blessing for us. Nothing on earth
compares to the blessings of God using our lives mightily in service for Him!
5.3.2.
We Christians can’t experience those blessings of
being used by the Lord however until we surrender our life totally to Him and
tell Him to use us as He will.
5.3.2.1.
Have you surrendered your life completely to Christ
to be His disciple, His vessel to use as He wills?
5.3.2.1.1. The other day, I was blessed
as I listened to long time Christian musician Annie Herring’s testimony of how
she came to know Christ. She said that
back in the early 70s she had record contracts, a band, and fame offered to
her, and that in fact it was as if at that time that she was being offered
whatever this world had to offer, or, she could choose just to have Jesus. She chose to have Jesus and she surrendered
all of her life, hopes, and future to the Lord to do His will. I remembered then my own commitment 30 years
ago that I made to give my life 100% to the Lord to do His will. Each of us must make such a complete
commitment to the Lord if we are to be His people and to inherit eternal life.
5.3.2.1.2.
Sen. John Ashcroft in a 1996 speech said, “No reserves. We are
called to live a life of total commitment. I believe that this is true not only
as its relates to our faith but in every aspect of our existence. God’s word
makes it clear that God abhors the tepid and the middling: “I know your deeds,
that you are lukewarm, so I am about to spew you out of my mouth.” ( Revelation
3:15 , 16 ) No half measures, no reserves.”
5.3.2.1.3.
In Deut. 10:11-12, the Lord spoke to Moses of the total commitment to
Him which His people are to have, “11 “Then the Lord said to me, ‘Arise, proceed on your
journey ahead of the people, that they may go in and possess the land which I
swore to their fathers to give them.’ 12 “Now, Israel, what does the
Lord your God require from you,
but to fear the Lord your God, to
walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.”
6.
VS 11:14-15
- “14 Then Samuel said to the people,
“Come and let us go to Gilgal and renew the kingdom there.” 15 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.” - Samuel tells the people to assemble at Gilgal so that they can
renew their commitment to Saul as their king
6.1.
As was mentioned earlier, formerly Samuel had
presented Saul to the people as their king, however the people were now going
to formally accept him as their king, or renew their commitment to him as
king. What we read about here is known
as a king’s “coronation” ceremony.
6.2.
It is significant that Samuel brought the people to
Gilgal. In the book of Joshua we see
that Gilgal was the city that Joshua first brought the Israelites to when they
had initially crossed the Jordan River and entered into the land of Canaan. At Gigal they reconsecrated their lives to
the Lord and those were circumcised who had not before been circumcised. Gigal became throughout the era of the
conquest of Canaan the city that the people went to in between battles so that
they could reconsecrate their lives to the Lord.
6.3.
There was great rejoicing of the Israelites there in
Gilgal, and the people offered up peace offerings to the Lord.
7.
VS 12:1-5 - “1
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. 2 “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. 3
“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.” 4 They said, “You have not defrauded us or oppressed us or
taken anything from any man’s hand.” 5 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.”” - Samuel begins his farewell speech by defending himself and his
ministry to the people
7.1.
Being brought to the tabernacle and dedicated to the
Lord by his mother at a very young age, Samuel had always lived a public life
before the people. His life was an open
book you might say.
7.2.
Being such a remarkably faithful man before the Lord
all of his life, Samuel knew that there was no one who could bring a charge
against him for he had always lived his life before the people as being above
reproach.
7.3.
I had mentioned in an earlier study that when the
people demanded that they be given a king that Samuel was very disappointed on
many levels.
7.3.1.
Samuel knew he was being rejected by the people as
their leader. God had appointed him to
serve over the people in the function of a priest, judge, and a prophet.
7.3.2.
I believe that Samuel was also disappointed that he
could not turn his ministry over to his sons to carry on. His sons were rebellious and wicked and had
taken bribes from people and thus they were rejected by God and the people as
leaders.
7.4.
The people for their part affirm back to Samuel that
indeed his life was blameless before them.
7.5.
What a testimony it is for us as Christians if we
live consistently in a life of obedience and service to the Lord! Perseverance and not becoming weary in
well-doing speaks volumes to those of the world around us who are watching our
lives and testimony.
8.
VS 12:6-11 -
“6 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. 7 “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. 8 “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. 9 “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. 10 “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.’ 11 “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.” - Samuel recounts for the people how that the Lord had always been
faithful to the children of Israel
8.1.
When Samuel tells the people in verse 7 to ‘take
your stand’ he is telling them to stand up and take notice because he has some
important admonition from the Lord to share with them.
8.2.
God’s faithfulness: Samuel reminds the people that when the children of Israel were
slaves living in Egypt and cried out to the Lord that He raised up for them
Moses and Aaron who brought the people up out of Egypt and slavery.
8.3.
Their failure: The children of Israel forgot the Lord their God and thus the
Lord sold them into the hand of Sisera, the captain of Hazor’s army, the
Philistines, and the Moabites. It was
the people’s sin that brought upon them all of their difficulties and trials.
8.4.
God’s faithfulness: Samuel reminds the people that when the children of Israel
confessed their sin and cried out to the Lord while being oppressed by other
nations, that the Lord raised up other judges to deliver them, including
Jerubbaal (Gideon), Bedan (probably Barak), Jepthah, and Samel (he was the last
of the judges to deliver the children of Israel).
9.
VS 12:12-16
- “12 “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. 13 “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. 14 “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. 15 “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. 16 “Even now, take your stand and see this great thing
which the Lord will do before your
eyes.” - Samuel
tells the children of Israel that even though they were rebellious when they
asked for a king that they can still have God’s blessing on them if they will
just listen to His voice and not rebel against His commands
9.1.
There is no doubt that the children of Israel had
sinned in asking for a king:
9.1.1.
They had demanded a king, they wanted to have a king
and now they have him.
9.1.2.
They had also sinned by desiring the wrong things in
a king. They wanted a king like the
other nations, not a king who would be after God’s own heart.
9.2.
There was still hope for the people however. The Lord had not given up on them as His
people, they were still under His covenant, and if they faithfully obeyed the
law of the Lord they would inherit the blessings promised by the covenant. However, if they rebelled against the Lord
and disobeyed His law they would inherit the curses of the law.
9.3.
Samuel admonishes the people to take a stand for the
Lord and be righteous in His eyes, and if they will do this they are promised
that they will see great things that He will do before their eyes.
10.
VS 12:17-22
- “17 “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.” 18
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. 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.” 20 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. 21 “You
must not turn aside, for then you would go after futile things which can
not profit or deliver, because they are futile. 22 “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.” - Samuel tells the people that he will ask the Lord to confirm the
words he has spoken to them by causing a huge thunderstorm to occur during that
dry time of the season
10.1.
We see here that the Lord works a miracle through
Samuel much in the same way that He worked through the lives of other prophets
of the Old Testament, for instance, Elijah, when Elijah prayed for draught and
also for rain and the Lord answered his prayers.
10.2.
Samuel tells the people that the thunder and rain
that would occur at his word was sent to reinforce to the children of Israel
their wickedness in asking for a king for themselves, and in doing so rejecting
the Lord as their king.
11.
VS 12:23-25
- “23 “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. 24
“Only fear the Lord and
serve Him in truth with all your heart; for consider what great things He has
done for you. 25 “But if you still do wickedly, both you and your
king will be swept away.”” - Samuel vows to continually pray for the children of Israel
11.1.
Samuel is such an example to us as believers in
Christ of how we ought to be people of prayer.
Samuel was a man who was always coming before the Lord in prayer on
behalf of God’s people, and God mightily answered Samuel’s prayers.
11.2.
Prayerlessness is a sin. Samuel tells the people that he will not sin against the Lord in
ceasing to pray for the people.
11.2.1.
The apostle Paul was an example for us of how we
ought to be in prayer for one another, notice these instances for example:
11.2.1.1.
Colossians 1:9-10, “9 For this reason also, since the day
we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you
may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and
understanding, 10 so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the
Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work
and increasing in the knowledge of God.”
11.2.1.2.
1 Thessalonians 3:10, “10 as we night and day keep
praying most earnestly that we may see your face, and may complete what is
lacking in your faith?”\
11.2.1.3.
2 Timothy 1:3-4, “3 I thank God, whom I serve with a clear
conscience the way my forefathers did, as I constantly remember you in my
prayers night and day, 4 longing to see you, even as I recall your
tears, so that I may be filled with joy.”
11.3.
Christian leaders especially need our prayers for
they will be under the most attack by the enemy.
11.4.
Samuel warns the children of Israel to serve the
Lord in truth and with all of their hearts and to consider the great things
that the Lord had done for them.
11.4.1.
Considering the great things that the Lord has done
in the past helps us to trust Him in our present difficulties when they arise.
11.5.
Finally, Samuel warns the people that if they do
wickedly that they will be swept away.
This was prophetic for judgment from God because of the people’s turning
away from the Lord would one day cause the northern and southern kingdoms to be
taken captive by Assyria and Babylon, respectively.
12.
CONCLUSIONS:
12.1.
As we think about these two chapters and how God was
working mightily through king Saul’s life in this very first part of his reign,
we need to consider again what a blessing it is for us as Christians when the
Lord works mightily through our lives.
12.1.1.
Is your life totally committed to the Lord so that
He can bless you mightily by using your life in a great way for His service?
12.2.
We saw what an example Samuel was as a prayer
warrior for the people. How is your
prayer life? Are you praying without
ceasing as the scriptures tell us to do?
Are you a person of prayer?
12.2.1.
Will you commit yourself today to praying each and
every day for God’s work and for all of the saints?