Listen to the audio of today’s Refllection:
https://soundcloud.com/hapearce/reflection-for-july-1-2025
I Samuel 11:1-15
Saul Rescues the City of Jabesh
1Nahash the Ammonite went up and besieged Jabesh Gilead. And all the men of Jabesh said to him, “Make a treaty with us, and we will be subject to you.”
2But Nahash the Ammonite replied, “I will make a treaty with you only on the condition that I gouge out the right eye of every one of you and so bring disgrace on all Israel.”
3The elders of Jabesh said to him, “Give us seven days so we can send messengers throughout Israel; if no one comes to rescue us, we will surrender to you.”
4When the messengers came to Gibeah of Saul and reported these terms to the people, they all wept aloud. 5Just then Saul was returning from the fields, behind his oxen, and he asked, “What is wrong with everyone? Why are they weeping?” Then they repeated to him what the men of Jabesh had said.
6When Saul heard their words, the Spirit of God came powerfully upon him, and he burned with anger. 7He took a pair of oxen, cut them into pieces, and sent the pieces by messengers throughout Israel, proclaiming, “This is what will be done to the oxen of anyone who does not follow Saul and Samuel.” Then the terror of the Lord fell on the people, and they came out together as one. 8When Saul mustered them at Bezek, the men of Israel numbered three hundred thousand and those of Judah thirty thousand.
9They told the messengers who had come, “Say to the men of Jabesh Gilead, ‘By the time the sun is hot tomorrow, you will be rescued.’ ” When the messengers went and reported this to the men of Jabesh, they were elated. 10They said to the Ammonites, “Tomorrow we will surrender to you, and you can do to us whatever you like.”
11The next day Saul separated his men into three divisions; during the last watch of the night they broke into the camp of the Ammonites and slaughtered them until the heat of the day. Those who survived were scattered, so that no two of them were left together.
Saul Confirmed as King
12The people then said to Samuel, “Who was it that asked, ‘Shall Saul reign over us?’ Turn these men over to us so that we may put them to death.”
13But Saul said, “No one will be put to death today, for this day the Lord has rescued Israel.”
14Then Samuel said to the people, “Come, let us go to Gilgal and there renew the kingship.” 15So all the people went to Gilgal and made Saul king in the presence of the Lord. There they sacrificed fellowship offerings before the Lord, and Saul and all the Israelites held a great celebration.
This is a story that doesn’t get too much attention in Bible studies and sermons and whatnot. That’s kind of a shame, because a lot of themes sort of cross each other in this story — themes that show up even in the news of our day.
A week or so ago, when the lectionary’s list of Old Testament readings switched over to the first book of Samuel, we said that this book relates to the history of a period when Israel came together as a unified nation. Before Saul was crowned and installed as the first king of the Israelites, they functioned as a loose confederation of tribes. When any of their neighbors attacked them, it was up to the tribe whose territory was invaded to recruit help in repelling the attack. Sometimes the other tribes would come to the rescue, but not always. The prophet Samuel was the closest thing the Israelites had to a national leader – he would interpret God’s will to the people and call on them to obey it.
But as you might remember from the reading we thought about last week, eventually the people asked for a human king to lead them in battle in time of war. Samuel resisted, but God instructed him to anoint a king for the people. First, though, God told Samuel to warn the Israelites that there would be a price to pay for having a human king. Then God guided Samuel to anoint Saul as their king. Saul is portrayed as such a shy man bird he was hiding among the baggage then they looked for him to make him king.
In one of the themes that reflects our own time, there seems to have been some disagreement about the wisdom of having a king and a strong central government. A dissident faction is reported to have asked, “How can this fellow save us?” And we’re told that, “They despised [Saul] and brought him no gifts.”
Our reading for today relates the first crisis of Saul’s reign. A neighboring people attacks the town of Jabesh Gilead. So the people of Jabesh Gilead send messengers to ask Saul to come to their rescue.
And, by the way, there’s an interesting detail in the story: When the messengers reach Saul, he is just coming in from plowing in the fields behind his oxen. (Imagine going to a president of the United states in a crisis, and finding that he’s out mowing the White House yard.) At this point in his life, Saul seems to have been an ordinary guy, not particularly taken with the trappings of power. Later, apparently in the grip of some form of mental illness, Saul would become so paranoid he would try to murder his most loyal lieutenant.
And by the way, just two kings later, the monarchy would have grown into such a fabulously wealthy and powerful institution that Solomon would have people coming from all over the known world to admire his treasures and his armies. It’s highly unlikely that’s Solomon would ever be found doing his own plowing. His lifestyle was so lavish that he needed to tax the people heavily to support him and his court.
But back to the story of Saul’s first crisis. Furious at the foreign intrusion, the king sends messengers to all the tribes of Israel to call for their help against the Ammonite invaders who were threatening Jabesh Gilead. The text says Saul raised an army of 330,000 men. Those numbers are probably exaggerated – that would have been a huge army for the time, probably one of the largest in the world. It’s highly unlikely the Israelites ever had an army that large, and it probably wouldn’t have been needed to fight the Ammonites, anyway. But the point is that Saul got together a big army in a hurry and launched a nighttime attack that rescued the people of Jabesh Gilead. So it seems that from its very first crisis, the Israelite monarchy was able to accomplish exactly what its supporters had hoped — victory against the nation’s enemies.
But it’s important that we notice what happened after the battle. In the aftermath of his victory, Saul’s supporters want to take vengeance against those who had resisted his reign. But the prophet Samuel forbids the taking of blood vengeance against the opponents of the monarchy. Samuel insists that God had enabled the people’s victory, and that they should celebrate instead. So the covenant people are protected from the kind of civil bloodshed that could have torn apart the nation even as it was being brought together around the king.
So, we’re told, “all the people” gather with Saul and reaffirm his kingship with feasting in celebration of the victory. By his bold action in a time of crisis, Saul has managed to forge a greater unity among the tribes.
The important things to note here, it seems to me, are the fact that not everyone originally agreed with the idea of having Saul as a central king, and that there were strains that could have threatened national unity. But Saul, who was still living a modest and common lifestyle, acted forcefully to save an endangered town. And the prophet Samuel, by restraining the urge toward violent factionalism, protected the civil peace. The bold action by the king and the prophet played an important part in the unification of the covenant people into what would be a rich and prosperous nation just a generation later.
Let’s pray. Lord, we thank you for your patient guidance to your people Israel, working through kings and prophets to unite them into a people who would eventually make your word known throughout their world, and who would provide the environment into which you would be born in human form. Amen.
Grace and Peace,
Henry
Recent Comments