About 1 Samuel 11
1 SAMUEL 11
This chapter records the one glorious moment in Saul’s career. After the town of Jabesh-gilead gets threaded by King Nahash of Ammon, Saul muestres Israel’s troops and defeats the Ammonites, verse 11 tells us that: “the remnant of their army was so badly scattered that no two of them were left together.”
Let’s breakdown the chapter:
King Nahash
his Hebrew name is Nachash which means “snake” or “serpent”. He’s the King of Ammon and he has oppressed the people of Gad and Reuben who lived east of the Jordan River. The New Living Translation has a portion from the Dead Sea Scrolls that give us a bit of insight into what King Nahash had been doing to the Israelites prior to the events in Chapter 11:
“Nahash, king of the Ammonites, had been grievously oppressing the people of Gad and Reuben who lived east of the Jordan River. He gouged out the right eye of each of the Israelites living there, and he didn’t allow anyone to come and rescue them. In fact, of all the Israelites east of the Jordan, there wasn’t a single one whose right eye Nahash had not gouged out. But there were 7,000 men who had escaped from the Ammonites, and they had settled in Jabesh-gilead.”
Who are The Ammonites?
The country of Ammon is east of the Jordan River, northeast of the Dead Sea.
“In the Bible, they are described as being descendants of Ben-ammi, who was the son of Lot (Abraham’s nephew) and Lot’s younger daughter (Genesis 19:38). The capital of the Iron Age kingdom of Ammon was Rabbah, which is located at modern-day Amman, Jordan.”
Where is Jabesh-Gilead?
This city is located in the area of the half-tribe of Manasseh; just north of Gad.
To understand why this location it is important, we have to go back to Numbers 34:13-15, because that is where Moses apportioned the land of Israel and we are informed that the Reubenites, Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh settled east of the Jordan River.
The tribe of Reuben settled in the region of Moab in the south to the east of the Dead Sea.
The tribe of Gad settled in the region between Reuben and Manasseh.
The half-tribe of Manasseh settled in Ammon to the north - southeast o the Sea of Galilee.
This is why Nahash felt entitled to these territories the Israelites where occupying as they formerly belonged to his ancestors, per Judges 11:13:
““The king of Ammon answered Jephthah’s messengers, “When the Israelites came out of Egypt, they stole my land from the Arnon River to the Jabbok River and all the way to the Jordan. Now then, give back the land peaceably.””
To finish catching us up, per the Dead Sea Scrolls, 7,000 men from the tribes of Reuben and Gad fled to Jabesh-gilead, and they end up guiding King Nahash there, leading the way for the events in chapter 11.
The Israelites, having been found by Nahash, asked to make a peace treaty with him in exchange for their lives - which the king agrees to, with the condition that he would gouge their right eye.
This tactic was used by King Nahash to disgrace his opponents as they would no longer be able to wield a weapons against him, but could still do agricultural work - meaning that he could still get tribute from them.
When the Israelites asked for 7 days to send for help, King Nahash agreed, not necessarily to show mercy, but more than likely with the mindset that the more people he defeats the greater the spoils would be for him.
I’m sure that King Nahash was unaware - as were probably the people at Jabesh-gilead - that Israel now has a king.
“Saul had been plowing a field with his oxen, and when he returned to town, he asked, “What’s the matter? Why is everyone crying?” So they told him about the message from Jabesh. Then the Spirit of God came powerfully upon Saul, and he became very angry.”
Saul goes on to defeat the Ammonites with an army of 330,000 men, with the help of the people at Jibesh-gilead who had told King Nahash that they would surrender [11:10], causing the Ammonites to let their guard down.
This victory is the only time Saul displays the characteristics of faith and fortitude, allowing himself to be guided by the Spirit of God, instead of his own feelings.
Thanks to this victory, Saul is accepted by the entire land of Israel as their king and a formal ceremony is held to officially crown Saul King of Israel.
What can we learn from this chapter?
I believe this chapter serves as a reminder that with God, everything is possible.
It was the Spirit of God that caused Saul’s blood to boil and led him to take control of the situation.
Saul succeeded in battle because he followed the Spirit, not himself - for just in the previous chapter, he was hiding behind baggage as he was pronounced the chosen king by Samuel.
So, continue n trusting in God, and allowing the Holy Spirit to guide you and fuel you; if you do this, you will not fail.
Prayer
Holy Spirit, fall upon me.
I invite your presence into my life - every area of my life.
Let your Holy Fire burn inside of me, let it burn away everything that is not of God and ignite all that is from Him.
Give me strength to go forth in boldness, with faith and courage so that God’s will shall be accomplish through my actions.
May everything I do be in alignment with my Father’s Will.
In Jesus’ Name,
Amen.
