He now becomes a central figure, and God is behind this, mobilizing him, moving him. He will then move the people. The surge is from God. And The people had asked for a king that would deliver them from their enemies.
Well, now they've got one. 1 Samuel chapter 8, this is what they said to Samuel. That we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles.
Well, this is now beginning to happen for them. Hmm. This is Cross-Reference Radio with our pastor and teacher, Rick Gaston. Rick is the pastor of Calvary Chapel, Mechanicsville. Pastor Rick is currently teaching through the book of 1 Samuel.
Please stay with us after today's message to hear more information about cross-reference radio, specifically, how you can get a free copy of this teaching. But for now, let's join Pastor Rick in the book of 1 Samuel chapter 11 as he begins his message mobilizing Saul. 1 Samuel chapter 11, Mobilizing Saul. That's what we are considering. We remember that he has been announced to the people that this is your king.
and they said, Long live the King and then he goes back farming.
Well, God is going to mobilize the king, and the king will mobilize the troops. To meet this aggressive force that is coming against their people on the east side of. The Jordan.
So Before we get to that, just some more discussion about the man Saul. He's an easy person to dislike. One of the challenges that I have is to not be unfair. In my analysis of his character, but I think he makes it too easy. He's just a rotten guy.
And this is the beginning of his last Noble act, this eleventh chapter. He's going to show up as a good king and. That'll be it. This eleventh chapter, as I mentioned, It his goodness and wise judgment in this chapter, though, Samuel, of course, a great influence on everything good that was happening in this 11th chapter. It's an anomaly.
It's not who he is. His goodness was a glitch. If you understand that He was an opportunistic person. He would just do anything to make himself look good, and he'd step on anybody to get there. And here he behaves honorably, but watch out.
Because he takes a good act, a good deed, of his own and he uses it to get to the bad deed. of his own. And some people are just opportunistic people. You've got to watch out for them. Once you've met one of them, you really don't want to come in touch with another one.
An opportunist looks at a crisis and asks, How can I make this work for me? Regardless of what other people are are going through at whatever expense it may cost them. And this chapter records one glorious moment in his reign. He rallies Israel's troops and skillfully defeats a serious foe. And then, after this heroic beginning of his kingship.
He goes on to dishonor and disgrace. And so I say to myself, thinking about this man. Should I feel sorry for him?
Well, in some ways we always feel sorry for those who are just wicked and just won't snap out of it. But The sorrow, if there's any feeling of sorrow, it's for his victims. Not for him. Like, you can't say, oh, this poor guy, why he's killing people. And this is a trap I think we fall in today.
We become more concerned with the one who is the problem than the people who are getting the problems because of the problem. And so I want to stay focused. Jesus was that way with the Pharisees. I mean, He called them for what they were. You know, a brood of vipers, whitewashed tombs.
You look good on the outside, but in the inside, dead men's bones, if I can say it that way.
So, these character studies, which we're getting through this verse-by-verse exposition of Samuel, they're very beneficial to the church, to Christians. They force us to look at ourselves and re-examine ourselves to ensure that we're not going down the path of the men. Who are less than honorable, such as Nabal, Laban, Ishmael, Balaam. And Saul, and many others. And we're going to meet quite a bit by the time we get to the end of 2 Samuel.
Well, we look at verse 1 now. First Samuel 11. Then Nahash the Amorite came up. And encamped against Jabesh Gilead, and all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, Make covenant with us. and we will serve you.
Now the Amorites, these are the descendants of Lot, an an incestuous. Result of Lot's daughters. The name Nahash means snake or serpent. He might have taken pride in that. He is a bit of a bully.
He is a vicious man. Moses defeated the Ammonite king Sihon and Og, How would you like to be named? Aug. Men, thank your mamas when you get home. Thanks for not naming me Aug.
But anyway, they attacked the Jews. Moses said, Can we pass through? We won't hurt anything. And they came out with swords against Moses, and Moses. whooped them severely, both kings, and took their territory from them.
And gave it to Reuben and Gad and half of the tribe of Manasseh. It became their territory. They liked the land for their cattle. They asked Moses could they stay? And God approved it, and they stayed on the east side of the Jordan.
Wasn't the wisest move, but you know the Lord can't say no to everything. It's even in the Proverbs. You have to be careful about how many things you shoot down. Choose your battles, we would say, because you end up crushing. You end up crushing people unnecessarily, trying to get everything to be just perfect.
We pursue perfection, but we have to remember we're working with imperfect people. Moses, as I mentioned, gives the land to these tribes, but the Amorites wouldn't let this go, they're survivors. They wanted this land back. That Adaj, you know, to the victor goes the spoils. They refused to submit to this.
And so they made another claim on the land in the days of the judges. You remember Jephth the son of a harlot? He was an outcast who became a hero, and he defeated them. First he refuted them soundly. And he said, you know, let's recap this history.
And he lays it out to them. And they still come against him with swords. We pick it up, Judges 11.
So Jephthah advanced toward the people of Ammon to fight against them. And Yahweh delivered them into his hands, and he defeated them twenty cities with a great slaughter. Thus the people of Ammon. were subdued before the children of Israel. And by the way, this is the modern kingdom of Jordan's territory today.
Nahash, this king, this serpent, as he would go by. He still felt entitled to these territories, and he resumes the feud. And it's going to cost him. Continues in verse 1 at the bottom, And all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, Make a covenant with us, and we will serve you.
Well, they wanted to seek terms. They couldn't, you know, they figured, you know, let's figure this out. By the time we get help from Israel from the west side, where the majority of the tribes were, Nahash is going to take us out anyway. Maybe we can get an agreement. We'll pay some sort of tribute to him and he'll leave us alone.
And so they're seeking a negotiation. Verse two And Nahash the Ammonite answered them. On this condition, I think I will make a covenant with you that I may put out. All of your right eyes. And bring reproach on all Israel.
Well that sounds fair.
So now the monster is out. We know who he is. He is a savage. And he's not looking only for. The territory, he wants to humiliate the Jews, he wants to bring them harm.
and if he can get this one to fall the dominoes, they'll all start going down. This is the way of the world.
Now the Dead Sea Scrolls Have a v Version of 1 Samuel, and I didn't bring it out with me, and I'm not going to read it, not necessary. But they give a little bit more information. And perhaps it's commentary, maybe part of the original. They tell us in that section that this same king Nahash had previously conquered the Reubenites and the tribe of Gad. and had taken their right eye out of the men, Who he did not kill, but that seven thousand of these men managed to make it to here, Jabesh Gilead, and joined this.
Slittle city in defense, and he is now following them. It's really not doctrinally important, that information. It's just a side note of history. I'm not sold out on it, but it makes for interesting reading as a Bible student. But back to the mutilation that you all want to hear about.
This, of course. would render the men at a great disadvantage in battle. Particularly in those days, you held most of the men unless you were Benjamite with left-handed men, but most of the men held the shield in their left hand. And with the right eye missing. And that shield, really they're blind on the battlefield.
And Nahash, of course, knows this. Not to mention the gore. Whose job is this? I mean, what are you doing today, honey? I'm going to go take some eyeballs out of people who surrendered to the king.
It is grotesque. I would pick. Death on the battlefield? Before the mutilation, because once you were mutilated like this, they could do anything anyway. It'd be foolish to surrender to such terms.
And I would have just chosen the battlefield over. Sure, take my right one. I have a left one still. Anyway, he says to bring reproach on Israel, and so he's very upfront with that. He wants to humiliate them.
We see this again in the New Testament in a very big way. They weren't satisfied with just Killing our Lord, murdering him, they wanted to do it publicly. They wanted to shame him in front of everybody, and that they did. And of course, we read in Hebrews 11 that he endured the cross despising the shame. Remember that the next time you hate something in life a lot.
That your Lord also had to face things that he despised just as much, if not more. than you and yet he faced them as our Lord, and we are to face them as his subjects, which is a high calling.
Well, verse 3. Then the elders of Jabesh said to him. Hold off for seven days, that we may send messengers to all the territory of Israel, and then, if there is no one to save us, we will come out to you.
Now it reads kinda goofy to me. I mean, you know, okay, look, if we can't find people to kill you back, then we'll come out and surrender. It's just kind of cartoonish to me. But on the other hand, back to reality and away from the caricature. They had to look out the window and say, he's not got enough yet out there to take us.
We've got time. Otherwise, Nahash wouldn't negotiate. He would just come in and kill them all. And he wouldn't have to negotiate. He would dictate the terms.
So that's probably where this is coming from.
Now Nahash would prefer they surrender than a long siege, because he then has to supply his troops. They get paid by the spoil, and it's a delay involved.
So many things can go wrong. It's better if the city just capitulates. And so that's where the the bargaining chip for him. Arrogantly, Nahash is of course saying, I'm going to make a name for myself. Sure, they can have seven days.
Who are they going to call? They're a fragmented people. They're not going to rally for who's going to cross over just to save this little village. He's probably doing all this in his head because, again, he's arrogant and Satan does these kinds of things with the church. This is a story.
We read it in chapters, I think it's 36, 37, in Isaiah. And we hear Rab Shaka come out and say all of these bold things against the people of God, how it's pointless to defend themselves. They'll give them horses if they can find men enough to ride them, to meet them on the battlefield. And he's just mocking them. And in the end, of course, the angel of the Lord comes in and wipes out that army.
Well, things are going to go a little bit differently in this story. And so Nahash agrees because Yeah, he doesn't really have the forces evidently, and of course he's underestimating the farmers. and the herdsmen and the shepherds. And he thinks he has a standing army and they have just this militia and they'll never make it against him. Verse four.
So the messengers came to Gibeah of Saul, And told the news in the hearing of the people. And all the people lifted up their voices and wept.
Well, you say to yourself, why are they coming to Gibeea where Saul lives? It's Gibeah of Benjamin, but Saul has been made king, and so now he is the central figure in introducing his home town. But there's a lot of history with Gibeah. and Jabes Gilead.
So the messengers come there because, in the days of the judges, in chapters 19 and 20, you remember that. the savage Levite Who found his concubine dead because of the men of Benjamin, and he chops her up in pieces and sends the pieces out to the tribes to rally them for war.
Well, the Jews, of course, come to war against Benjamin, but one portion of a tribe doesn't show up, and that's the men of Jabesh Gilead. And so they were penalized at the end of the war. And it's just a comedy of errors that isn't so funny.
So they send troops out to Jabesh Gilead to wipe their own people out, but they keep 400 of the women. Because they need to Redeem the tribe of Benjamin. 'Cause there's no women left. 600 men only are held up. They have no wives, so the tribe to continue, so they steal the wives from Jabish-Gilead.
So now there's a connection. The survivors of Jabesh, Gilead, and the daughters in passage of time, there's a link between the two. And it's a good relationship, I should add. And also, their new king is there, so there's a lot of incentive. It's about 45 miles away.
From Jabesh Gilead to Gibeah.
Now, these things are kind of important to us. The distances, Because there's no car, there's no interstate, 45 minutes for us. What's that? They're moving by foot and. Camel horse not very very quickly.
There are no high beams on the horses or whatever animals they may be taking to the fight. No flashlights, no little helmet light cams or anything like that lights. And it just is rough going.
So Saul, who reigned For forty years, We find that out in the book of Acts. You would like to find it in the Old Testament, but. We're told that in Acts thirteen Well, he dies on Mount Gilboa. And he is then decapitated. His corpse, they separate the head from the body.
Then they take the body several miles away to Beth Sheen. and they impale it on the wall as a trophy.
Well, it's the men from Jabesh Gilead. Who go and retrieve his body and bring it back to Jabash and bury it? That hasn't happened yet. This is the beginning of Saul's days. That's just looking ahead at what's going to happen.
There's this relationship. Between Saul, the tribe of Benjamin, and Jabesh-Gilead, and that is what is. Very much moving the story forward on a human level.
So all the people lifted up their voices and wept. No mention of them lifting up their voices to God, incidentally. We would expect that from. The people of God. It's sort of like a church that plans without asking God what to do.
It's not ideal. And it stands out.
Well, the clear implication to the people If Jabesh-Gilead falls, What is going to happen to us? They have got skin in the game, you would say. Verse 5.
Now there was Saul coming behind the herd from the field. And Saul said, What troubles the people that they weep? And they told him the words of the men of Jabesh.
So well And good news, Saul's not indifferent. He doesn't look at this and just kind of move on, say, I want to mind my own business, get to my own decision, not doing that. He was always indignant towards Israel's enemies. That is a fact. The problem is that he also hated the anointed of Israel.
The enemies of Israel he had disdain for. But the anointed of Israel. He hated two. David, the priest, Samuel, as mentioned before, at one point was concerned that he would be killed by Saul also. That's how mean this guy was.
But he only has really about three wars that we read of with the Ammonites and the Philistines, whereas David has almost countless encounters with the enemy. But after being presented, With the Details of what's going on. He rises up, Saul does. The kingdom seems to have gone dormant after he was, okay, here's your new king, and he just goes back farming. There's nothing really urgent going on.
They Just kinda rustic and that's that. But this now catapults him to the front. He now becomes a central figure, and God is behind this, mobilizing him, moving him. He will then move the people. The surge is from God.
And the people had asked for a king that would deliver them from their enemies.
Well, now they've got one. 1 Samuel chapter 8, this is what they said to Samuel. That we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles.
Well, this is now beginning to happen for them. Verse 6, then the Spirit of God came upon Saul when he heard this news, and his anger was greatly aroused.
So he comes in from the field, he's the king, but he's not acting like one, nor is he treated like one, and the nation is kind of just. going along with its business. This then happens.
Now this God, our God, is God too, puts the spirit of war in him. That's what's necessary. God empowered his judges the same way. And now he is doing this to his king. And to Saul's credit, he doesn't ignore the impulse, he's not hiding amongst the stuff this time.
But again, back to personal comments. and hopefully they're helpful to us. Because I'm reluctant to compliment Saul. Because of his full-blown evils, It just can't be overlooked. You just can't.
You could go back to his cradle and you could say, There lies a serpent. Knowing the history.
Now, if I was living then at this time, I'd be all, yes, this is our king, because Samuel's endorsed him. That's all I would need. Once Samuel says it's good, I'm good with it. Because if Samuel says it's good, God has told Samuel first. But that's not how it is.
How it is is I know this guy. Yet the Spirit of God comes upon him. God gives fools a chance not to be fools. That's the point. That's what's why it stands out to us.
Knowing the story, we look at Saul and we say, God is giving this guy a chance to not be who he's going to be. You won't be able to blame God. Why did you, you know, why didn't you help Saul? What do you mean, help Saul? I gave him Samuel, I gave him David, I gave him Jonathan.
Otherwise Other than God reaching out to Saul is Nothing appealing about him. He's repugnant. He is depraved. And a man or woman, we look at him and say, I don't want these characteristics. I do not want to be an opportunistic.
I do not want to be so self-centered. that I'm willing to hurt others to keep myself in the centre. I mean, all of us are self-centered to some degree. One of the easiest illustrations of that is just take a group picture and show it to you. If you're in the group picture, you're going to look for yourself first.
More than likely. Unless you really hate somebody in the picture, you could be looking for them first.
So, or the other way, I guess you really love somebody. All of us are selfish to some degree, and that's not necessarily bad. It's when it breaks loose. The proverbial tail wagging the dog, that's when we have a problem.
Well, on the outside, everything superficially speaking about his flesh is appealing, like Hollywood, like Wall Street. On the outside, it all looks wonderful. All that glitters ain't gold, and that's the truth. Polished on the outside, but disgustingly filthy on the inside. Matthew 23, verse 25: Woe to you, Pharisees!
Scribes Hypocrites, for you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. You know how powerful it was in those days for Jesus to say that to these people? I mean, he got right up in there. Woe to you. At one point, they tried to stop him.
Teacher, you're offending the bigwigs. And he said, woe to that! He goes loose on them, too. It just, you have to love it because they were guilty. And Christ was totally justified in his rebuke.
because he was extending an opportunity for them to say John the Baptist was doing the same thing.
So we will find that Apologies are apologies. Epsol's, that is. of a homicidal prideful, unstable, selfish man. who claim to follow Yahweh. but really wanted Yahweh to follow him.
Titus, they profess to know God, but in works they deny Him, being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work. There are groups. or people in groups. that uh will insist they are Christians. I love the Lord.
But they trample the word, they trample his commandments, they try to justify, well, but I love him. Uh it's psychonic. And here's a scripture verse that refutes that. You profess to know him. But you have no intention to work to follow him.
You just insist on defending your wrong, and you can't beat God. You know, the old play that was on Broadway years ago: your arms are too short to box with God. He's got reach. You can't beat it. Anyway, looks can be deceiving, and talk can be cheap.
Looks are not always deceiving, but they can be. We have another way of saying it, right? Don't judge a book by its cover. Verse 7.
So he took a yoke of oxen and cut them in pieces and sent them throughout all the territory of Israel by the hands of the messengers, saying, Whoever does not go out with Saul and Samuel to battle, so it shall be done to his oxen. And the fear of Yahweh fell on the people And they came out with one consent.
Well, this is reminiscent back to that gristly savage Levite who butchered his concubine in Judges 19 and 20, the story runs. This reminds us of that because he cut her up and sent her out, but he's using oxen. Oh, there's.
Some improvement there. I don't know what he should have done. He was a brute by nature, and this is how he did things. The Samuel rallied troops without all this drama, where they won at the battle at what became Ebenezer. Um Thanks for joining us for today's edition of Cross-Reference Radio.
This is the daily radio ministry of Pastor Rick Gaston of Calvary Chapel, Mechanicsville, in Virginia. Currently, Pastor Rick is in the book of 1 Samuel. If you'd like to listen again to this or other messages or share it with someone you know, please visit crossreferenceradio.com. Here, you can also listen to interviews with Pastor Rick to learn more about his life and ministry. We encourage you to subscribe to our podcast so you'll never miss another edition.
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