1 Samuel 11:1-15
King Nahash is threatening the city of Jabesh Gilead. Three thousand people have escaped to find asylum in this city, but it's not enough. Nahash is furious and wants them dead. He wants the whole city dead. The leaders come together and ask Nahash for a peace treaty. They say, "Make a peace treaty with us and we'll serve you." Nahash says he'll make a treaty on one condition - that he gouges the right eye of every man and woman in the city.
The people are terrified and send messengers out through Israel to find help. They don't know what to do. Word arrives to Saul's hometown, and the people freak out. Saul comes in from the field with his oxen and hears the cries. He wonders what's going on, and when he hears what Nahash is doing, the author tells us the Spirit of God comes on him and he flies into a fit of rage. He butchers the oxen and sends them with the messengers throughout Israel with this message: "If you don't join up with Samuel and I, you're oxen will end up like this."
This is the first thing that happens when the people demand a king to rule them. As Samuel warned them prior to anointing Saul, "Your sons and daughters will be forced to fight." Saul organizes all of Israel into three groups, totaling 400,000 people. He sends the messengers to Jabesh Gilead letting them know help is on the way and will be there the next day.
The people of Jabesh tell Nahash that they will give up the next day, knowing that Saul and his forces will be there to rescue them from Nahash's tyrannical eye gouging and oppression.
Before the break of dawn, Saul sends in each group of Israelites to the enemy camp. As soon as day breaks, they start slaughtering Ammonites (Nahash's clan). They slaughter until noon, and the ones who survive scatter and run.
After the rout, Saul tells the people of Israel to join him in going to Gilgal to reconsecrate himself as king. He tells the people that God saved Israel on that day, and they worship and sacrifice peace offerings. They throw a huge party and celebrate their deliverance from Nahash's tyranny.
One thing I noticed in this story is, God didn't tell anyone to go to war. He already knew that if he was going to provide a king to meet the desires of the people, war was inevitable. It comes with the territory. Needless to say, God was still there. God still filled Saul with his Spirit. We're not told what the Spirit enabled Saul to do, but the author says when it came over him he was filled with rage.
This doesn't sound normal. When we talk about the spirit of God, we usually don't talk about going into fits of rage, butchering oxen, and slaughtering masses of people. Yet, that's what Saul does.
We're not told by the author that God told anyone to go to war. Yet, we're shown once again that God gives the people what they want. They want a king, and they know that with a king comes war and forced infantry. It seems like God is contradicting himself by not backing off from the wishes of the people, since he did give the commandment of "do not kill."
Yet, he's right there in the midst of the chaos, filling Saul with his spirit. He lets Saul and the people make their own decisions and do what they think is best. They see the oppression that Nahash is forcing on the people of Jabesh Gilead, and they want revenge.
They get it, and they give praise to God for it.
When people demand a king, war is inevitable. Slaughters happen on each side. When Saul went into a "spirit-filled rage," he decided to fight. This is what kings do. This is how kingdoms are conquered and started. Before the people asked Samuel to give them a king, God was the King. The Egyptians were conquered not by human strength and numbers, but by the hand of God. All the people had to do was listen and follow instructions and they had a King who fought for them.
Now, the people have a king who demands that they fight with him. Out of the warnings that Samuel gave the people, this was the first. Sons and daughters will be made into cavalry. Instead of having a King to fight for them, they will have to participate and face the horrors of war.
No comments:
Post a Comment