1 Samuel Chapter 11
Showing all 15 verses for 1 Samuel Chapter 11.
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"Then Nahash the Ammonite came up, and encamped against Jabeshgilead: and all the men of Jabesh said unto Nahash, Make a covenant with us, and we will serve thee. "
"Nahash, king of the Ammonites, marched his army up and surrounded the town of Jabesh-gilead. The men of Jabesh said to him, "Make a treaty with us, and we'll serve you.""
Fear and desperation push the men of Jabesh towards accepting degrading terms rather than trusting that help might still come. Jesus teaches that in crisis we are not to assume we've been abandoned; crying out and holding on to hope, even under threat, keeps the door open for God's rescue that fear alone would have shut.
"And Nahash the Ammonite answered them, On this condition will I make a covenant with you, that I may thrust out all your right eyes, and lay it for a reproach upon all Israel. "
"Nahash replied, "I'll only agree to a treaty on one condition: I gouge out everyone's right eye, to bring shame on the whole of Israel.""
Nahash's demand to gouge out every right eye is cruelty dressed up as a bargain, meant to shame and cripple a whole people. Jesus calls us to recognise that domination which delights in humiliating and disabling others is never strength but a work opposed to the kingdom, and to refuse ever imitating it, even towards those who threaten us.
"And the elders of Jabesh said unto him, Give us seven days’ respite, that we may send messengers unto all the coasts of Israel: and then, if there be no man to save us, we will come out to thee. "
"The elders of Jabesh said to him, "Give us seven days to send messengers throughout Israel. If no one comes to save us, we'll surrender to you.""
The elders ask for seven days rather than surrendering immediately, buying time to seek help instead of caving to fear. Jesus honours this kind of patient, active hope that keeps looking for God's deliverance instead of assuming the worst and giving up too soon.
"Then came the messengers to Gibeah of Saul, and told the tidings in the ears of the people: and all the people lifted up their voices, and wept. "
"The messengers arrived at Gibeah, Saul's home town, and told the people the news. Everyone broke down and wept."
When the news reaches Gibeah, the whole town weeps for people they have never met in a town they may never visit. This is the compassion Jesus commends: letting a stranger's danger become our own grief, rather than staying comfortably unmoved by suffering that isn't ours yet.
"And, behold, Saul came after the herd out of the field; and Saul said, What aileth the people that they weep? And they told him the tidings of the men of Jabesh. "
"Just then Saul came in from the fields, walking behind his oxen. He asked, "What's wrong with everyone? Why are they crying?" So they told him what had happened at Jabesh."
Saul hears the crisis while simply walking in from the field behind his oxen, an ordinary man in the middle of ordinary work. This reminds us that God meets people in the middle of daily labour, and that real leadership starts not with ambition but with simply noticing and asking what's wrong when others are in pain.
"And the Spirit of God came upon Saul when he heard those tidings, and his anger was kindled greatly. "
"When Saul heard the news, a powerful surge of God's Spirit came over him, and he became furiously angry."
The Spirit of God comes on Saul and his anger burns at the cruelty threatened against Jabesh. This is not sinful rage but righteous anger at injustice towards the vulnerable, the same kind Jesus himself displayed towards exploitation and hardness of heart, anger that moves us to protect rather than to seek revenge.
"And he took a yoke of oxen, and hewed them in pieces, and sent them throughout all the coasts of Israel by the hands of messengers, saying, Whosoever cometh not forth after Saul and after Samuel, so shall it be done unto his oxen. And the fear of the LORD fell on the people, and they came out with one consent. "
"Saul took a pair of oxen, cut them into pieces, and sent the pieces by messengers throughout the whole of Israel with this warning: "Whoever doesn't come out and follow Saul and Samuel will have this done to their oxen." A deep fear of the LORD fell on the people, and they turned out together as one."
Saul's drastic sign, cutting up oxen and sending the pieces throughout Israel, calls people to costly, immediate solidarity with a suffering town. It shows that love sometimes requires bold, urgent appeals to wake others from complacency and unite them around a neighbour in real danger, not to threaten cruelty but to rouse shared responsibility.
"And when he numbered them in Bezek, the children of Israel were three hundred thousand, and the men of Judah thirty thousand. "
"Saul counted the troops at Bezek: three hundred thousand from Israel and thirty thousand from Judah."
Three hundred thousand men gather at Bezek, a remarkable, God-given unity in a moment of crisis. Jesus calls his followers to the same kind of unity, setting aside old rivalries and doubts the instant a brother or sister's life is genuinely at stake.
"And they said unto the messengers that came, Thus shall ye say unto the men of Jabeshgilead, To morrow, by that time the sun be hot, ye shall have help. And the messengers came and shewed it to the men of Jabesh; and they were glad. "
"They told the messengers, "Go tell the men of Jabesh-gilead: by the time the sun is hot tomorrow, you'll have help." The messengers went and delivered the news, and the people of Jabesh were overjoyed."
The messengers carry word that deliverance is coming, and the men of Jabesh rejoice at news of rescue that has not yet arrived. This is the shape of the gospel itself, hope breaking into a hopeless situation, and Jesus calls his people to be exactly this kind of messenger, bringing real relief and joy to those still waiting in fear.
"Therefore the men of Jabesh said, To morrow we will come out unto you, and ye shall do with us all that seemeth good unto you. "
"So the men of Jabesh told Nahash, "Tomorrow we'll come out to you, and you can do whatever you like with us.""
The men of Jabesh tell Nahash they will surrender tomorrow, buying time under threat of atrocity rather than provoking immediate slaughter. Jesus does not condemn the desperate strategies of people under real oppression; he calls those with power and freedom to actively rescue them, not to judge their survival tactics from a place of safety.
"And it was so on the morrow, that Saul put the people in three companies; and they came into the midst of the host in the morning watch, and slew the Ammonites until the heat of the day: and it came to pass, that they which remained were scattered, so that two of them were not left together. "
"The next day, Saul organised his forces into three groups. They broke into the enemy camp during the last watch of the night and struck down the Ammonites until the heat of midday. The survivors were scattered so completely that no two of them were left together."
Saul's three companies break the siege and rescue Jabesh, deliverance won through decisive action taken on behalf of the powerless. Standing up for the defenceless, even at real risk, is a form of love Jesus honours, though the scale of killing here also reminds us that in his kingdom lasting victory is never ultimately won by the sword, even when it was Israel's rescue in that moment.
"And the people said unto Samuel, Who is he that said, Shall Saul reign over us? bring the men, that we may put them to death. "
"Then the people said to Samuel, "Who was it that said Saul shouldn't be king over us? Bring them here so we can put them to death.""
Flushed with victory, the people demand the deaths of those who once doubted Saul's kingship. Jesus warns that the urge to punish former critics, even right after a genuine win, comes from pride rather than justice, and calls us instead towards mercy for those who once doubted us.
"And Saul said, There shall not a man be put to death this day: for to day the LORD hath wrought salvation in Israel. "
"But Saul said, "No one will be put to death today - because today the LORD has rescued Israel.""
Saul refuses to let anyone be killed that day and credits the Lord, not himself, with the salvation just won. This is genuinely Christlike leadership: refusing to use a victory as cover for settling scores, and redirecting the glory outward instead of hoarding it.
"Then said Samuel to the people, Come, and let us go to Gilgal, and renew the kingdom there. "
"Then Samuel said to the people, "Come, let's go to Gilgal and renew the kingdom there.""
Rather than simply celebrating the win, Samuel leads the people back to Gilgal to formally renew their covenant with God. Every success should drive us back towards gratitude and faithfulness rather than settling into pride over what we've just accomplished.
"And all the people went to Gilgal; and there they made Saul king before the LORD in Gilgal; and there they sacrificed sacrifices of peace offerings before the LORD; and there Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly. "
"So all the people went to Gilgal, and there they confirmed Saul as king in the LORD's presence. They offered peace offerings there, and Saul and all the people of Israel celebrated with great joy."
The people gather at Gilgal, make Saul king, offer peace offerings, and rejoice greatly before the Lord together. This joyful, worshipful response models how deliverance and new beginnings should be met: with shared gratitude and worship, not private pride in human achievement.