Josh Benner

Tag: Israelites

  • The height of the reign of Saul. Studying 1 Samuel 11:8-15

    The height of the reign of Saul. Studying 1 Samuel 11:8-15

    Israel defeats the Ammonites

    In 1 Samuel 11, the Israelites face their first major military test under their new king, Saul. He has found out that the Ammonites have besieged the city of Jabesh-Gilead and so Saul assembles an Israelite force. 

    Verse 8: 

     8 When he mustered them at Bezek, the people of Israel were three hundred thousand, and the men of Judah thirty thousand.

    Numbers can always be a little bit difficult in the Bible. Especially in the Old Testament. In English, our word for thousand always refers to a numerical value. The Hebrew word translated thousand can mean more than one thing. So it’s possible that it’s 300 thousand. It’s also possible it’s 300 military units, but not necessarily 300 thousand men. 

    It’s a large group in any event. 

    It’s also noteworthy that you have a split between Israel and Judah – north and south – just two generations later and even here, it’s listing the military numbers for these primary regions of the kingdom separately. The news of this army is shared with the besieged city of Jabesh-Gilead. 

    Verse 9: 

     9 And they said to the messengers who had come, “Thus shall you say to the men of Jabesh-gilead: ‘Tomorrow, by the time the sun is hot, you shall have salvation.’ ” When the messengers came and told the men of Jabesh, they were glad.

    And so they give their response to the Ammonite king: 

     10 Therefore the men of Jabesh said, “Tomorrow we will give ourselves up to you, and you may do to us whatever seems good to you.”

    In the Hebrew, their wording is actually a little bit cryptic. 

    The ESV translates it as we will give ourselves up to you. 

    The ESV commentary on 1 Samuel says that more literally, what they’re saying is we will come out to you.

    Which has a double meaning where the Ammonites could think they were coming out to surrender, but in reality they would be coming out to do battle. 

    In verse 11, the battle is recorded. 

     11 And the next day Saul put the people in three companies. And they came into the midst of the camp in the morning watch and struck down the Ammonites until the heat of the day. And those who survived were scattered, so that no two of them were left together. 

    Again, it’s a passage where a battle happens but it’s not really a passage about the battle itself. It gets summarized in one verse. Saul divided his men and they surrounded the Ammonites and so we see some skill in planning on the part of Saul. 

    The Israelites have a decisive victory. No two of them were left together. 

    The Ammonites are decimated. More attention is actually given to the aftermath of the victory than to the battle itself. 

    To explain the end of this chapter, we need to understand the end of chapter 10.

    Team of rivals

    In chapter 10, after Saul becomes king, he returns to his home and chapter 10 ends by mentioning that there were some who were enthusiastic about the new king, and there were some who were not. 

    Chapter 10, verses 26-27: 

    26 Saul also went to his home at Gibeah, and with him went men of valor whose hearts God had touched. 27 But some worthless fellows said, “How can this man save us?” And they despised him and brought him no present. But he held his peace. 

    After the victory, people wanted to round up those detractors who had been less enthusiastic about Saul and see them executed. 

    Back in chapter 11, verse 12: 

    12 Then the people said to Samuel, “Who is it that said, ‘Shall Saul reign over us?’ Bring the men, that we may put them to death.” 

    The high point of a doomed kingdom

    Verse 13:

    13 But Saul said, “Not a man shall be put to death this day, for today the Lord has worked salvation in Israel.”

    As I said in the beginning of our time, this is the high point of the reign of Saul. 

    For a brief moment, Israel has the king they wanted. 

    Saul could have been vengeful to his detractors but chose grace instead. He could have hogged the glory but he gives the credit where it’s due when he says that it was the Lord who has worked salvation in Israel. 

    All is well in Israel. 

    There is a celebration. 

    It’s like when a team brings in a new coach or a new general manager and it takes them a few years to built up and then it culminates in a championship. The Cubs winning the World Series in 2016 comes to mind. All that time without winning a World Series and then they get the right people on staff and on the roster and they get there. 

    14 Then Samuel said to the people, “Come, let us go to Gilgal and there renew the kingdom.” 15 So all the people went to Gilgal, and there they made Saul king before the Lord in Gilgal. There they sacrificed peace offerings before the Lord, and there Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly. 

    So we’ve had this great victory. The Israelites are carrying Saul around on their shoulders. The Prophet Samuel suggests that they go to Gilgal to renew the kingdom. 

    Why would they need to renew the kingdom when they literally just installed a new king? 

    I think that John L Mackay argues convincingly that the renewal of the kingdom in light of this great victory is not about Saul. That Samuel is seeking to renew the covenant to the kingdom that they have with the Lord who gave them this victory. 

    Gilgal was mentioned in chapter 10. It’s the place where Saul became king. It was also the place where Joshua built the first altar to the Lord within the Promised Land after they had crossed the Jordan River. In renewing the kingdom at Gilgal, it is also tying the future of Israel to God’s past faithfulness.

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  • Studying 1 Samuel 11:1-7

    Studying 1 Samuel 11:1-7

    In 1 Samuel 11, Israel is on the verge of war against the Ammonites, a surrounding enemy.

    At the beginning of the passage, the Ammonite king – Nahash – has the Israelite city of Jabesh-Gilead surrounded. The Israelites seek out a treaty with the Ammonites. 1 Samuel 11:1 says: Then Nahash the Ammonite went up and besieged Jabesh-gilead, and all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, “Make a treaty with us, and we will serve you.”

    In verse 2, the Ammonite king makes an audacious request:
    But Nahash the Ammonite said to them, “On this condition I will make a treaty with you, that I gouge out all your right eyes, and thus bring disgrace on all Israel.”

    An immodest proposal

    There are two reasons why Nahash would make such a demand. From the text, it says that it would bring disgrace upon them. I think that’s pretty obvious. A way to shame and humiliate the people by half-blinding the nation and also the pain which that would involve. 

    A second reason is also likely for such a request. If they just gouged out one eye, they could still farm and therefore serve the Ammonite conquers. But it would make it much harder for them to have any type of military resistance. It would affect depth perception. 

    Most people are right handed and so to have to carry a sword in your right hand when you couldn’t see in your right eye would also cause problems. Carrying a shield with the left hand could also potentially obstruct the view in the left eye, especially when marching in formations as was common in ancient warfare. 

    So there is strategy behind this, but given that Nahash wanted to bring disgrace upon Israel, we also see hatred and vengeance as motivations for why he wanted to defeat them. 

    Back in our passage. Verse 3, we see a request from the Israelites in Jabesh: 

    3 The elders of Jabesh said to him, “Give us seven days’ respite that we may send messengers through all the territory of Israel. Then, if there is no one to save us, we will give ourselves up to you.”

    They ask for a reprieve of seven days. They want to see if they have any options.

    It’s obvious from the context of the passage that the Ammonite king agrees because messengers get sent out in the following verse. 

    Perhaps he’s overconfident or assumes that the Israelites couldn’t possibly mobilize a force in seven days.

    We’ve seen Israel’s situation as they come under threat. 

    And we will see in this passage that it is ultimately a story about the Lord protecting his people. 

    The king and the battle

    So the Israelites asked for a seven day reprieve. They send out messengers. 

    Verse 4: 

    4 When the messengers came to Gibeah of Saul, they reported the matter in the ears of the people, and all the people wept aloud. 

    We don’t know how many messengers are sent or how wide ranging these messengers were sent throughout Israel. But some messengers had made their way to Gibeah, the hometown of Saul, Israel’s new king. 

    There is one point worth making that helps us understand the connection between Saul’s hometown of Gibeah within the Benjaminite territory and Jabesh-Gilead which was the city under Ammonite siege. 

    A tale of two cities

    As I keep mentioning, Saul was a Benjaminite and so he lived in the Benjaminite territory. 

    The Benjaminites had fought a war against other Israelite tribes. One area that did not participate in this war were the soldiers from Jabesh-Gilead. So Jabesh-Gilead is under attack in today’s passage. They go to a place that they had previously spared and ask for help.

    So you have some good historical relations between these two cities. And that place just “happens to be” the home of the new king. 

    I say “happens to be” in quotes because it wasn’t just some random coincidence. Once again in this passage, we continue to see this theme in Samuel of the providence of God. And I want to reiterate the point I keep making. That this passage is about God’s faithfulness. Here, we see it through his providential actions. 

    Verse 5: 
    Now, behold, Saul was coming from the field behind the oxen. And Saul said, “What is wrong with the people, that they are weeping?” So they told him the news of the men of Jabesh. 

    So it just happens to be these two cities who had this warm relationship with each other, and it just happens to be the hometown of Saul, and now Saul just happens to pass by. 

    People are weeping. We’re not sure if the messengers even know that there’s a king, or know that they’re in his hometown. 

    He’s just coming by with his livestock. 

    We continue to see God’s divine initiative in verse 6. 

     6 And the Spirit of God rushed upon Saul when he heard these words, and his anger was greatly kindled.

    So we’ve seen the providence of God, now we see the equipping from God. 

    The Spirit rushed upon Saul. 

    This is something that we also see in the Book of Judges where the judges are endowed by the divine Spirit in times of crisis and then act. 

    The same thing happens to Saul and he goes to work. 

    Verse 7: 

     7 He took a yoke of oxen and cut them in pieces and sent them throughout all the territory of Israel by the hand of the messengers, saying, “Whoever does not come out after Saul and Samuel, so shall it be done to his oxen!” Then the dread of the Lord fell upon the people, and they came out as one man. 

    If nothing else, Saul is a showman. Pretty gruesome. 

    Cutting up the oxen alludes back to events in Judges but it is also giving a stern warning to his people that they’re being called upon by their king to serve. 

    The verse ends with they came out as one man. 

    Saul’s action had its intended effect. And for one of the few times in the history of Ancient Israel, the people are united. 

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  • Gratitude to God when facing difficulties

    Gratitude to God when facing difficulties

    After spending a year at Mt. Sinai, the Israelites head back into the desert in Numbers 11.

    In the first ten chapters of the Book of Numbers, things are going pretty smoothly for the Israelites. They celebrate the Passover, they dedicate the Tabernacle. We don’t really see any major sin issues. But nearly as soon as the Israelites hit the road, they’ll start complaining, a common theme during the Israelite wanderings.

    God had saved, redeemed, and sustained the Israelites. But the Israelites struggled with gratitude to God for all that he had done for them. We don’t have control over the circumstances that we face in life. But we do always have control over how we respond.

    We can respond by complaining and grumbling or we can respond in faith and confidence in God. Viktor Frankel was a psychiatrist who endured the horrors of the Holocaust at Auschwitz. After surviving the Holocaust, he wrote a very influential book called “Man’s Search for Meaning.” And part of the thesis of that book is that the most fundamental of human freedoms is the freedom to control how one responds.

    Even in difficult situations, even in broken relationships, even in financial hardships, even in the face of sickness, you still have a choice in how you respond.You can despair, you can feel like it’s all pointless and futile. You can get mad at God, question his goodness and love. You can get bitter. You can be cynical, you can become self-centered.

    Or you can continue to grow. You can be selfless. You can take the focus solely off of yourself. You can still walk with God in the struggle. In the desert. You can still trust in God when you’re tired and warn down. Our contentment and joy must be found in God.

    God is leading all of his people to greater places. And if we lose sight of that on the journey, we can make the mistakes that the Israelites made of losing sight of the goodness of God. Numbers 11:4-6 features the Israelites continuing to complain, while they look back at their time in Egypt (in slavery) longingly.

    NOW THE RABBLE THAT WAS AMONG THEM HAD A STRONG CRAVING. AND THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL ALSO WEPT AGAIN AND SAID, “OH THAT WE HAD MEAT TO EAT! WE REMEMBER THE FISH WE ATE IN EGYPT THAT COST NOTHING, THE CUCUMBERS, THE MELONS, THE LEEKS, THE ONIONS, AND THE GARLIC.6 BUT NOW OUR STRENGTH IS DRIED UP, AND THERE IS NOTHING AT ALL BUT THIS MANNA TO LOOK AT.” 

    They might be complaining about food. But the underlying issues are so much bigger than the divine meal plan. “Oh when we were in Egypt, the food was so much better!”Verse 20 summarizes the scene well: you have rejected the Lord who is among you and have wept before him, saying, “Why did we come out of Egypt?” 

    ’It was wicked and sinful after all that God had done for the people: freeing them, sustaining them, forgiving them when they had fallen into idolatry and sin. And yet they have the audacity to say “Oh Egypt. Those were the good old days.”

    Sometimes in life, it can be easy when we’re in a season when things are generally good to go to church, maybe read your Bible sometimes.

    But the moment there’s some adversity and challenge, there’s this temptation to want to complain against God.

    Just like the Israelites, we have many great blessings from the Lord.Most importantly, the gift of eternal life that God has promised through Jesus Christ. We were slaves to sin. And God redeemed us. God gives his Spirit. God invites us into a relationship to know him. And God is bringing us to a new land too. To a New Heaven, and a New Earth, and a New Jerusalem. But sometimes we have to spend some time in the desert to get to the promised land. How will we respond when we’re there though?

    Will we criticize God and forget his goodness? Or will we trust him?

    Thanks for reading! Make sure to comment, like, and subscribe!

  • Gratitude to God in times of difficulty

    photo-1491425432462-010715fd7ed7.jpeg
    After spending a year at Mt. Sinai, the Israelites head back into the desert in Numbers 11.
    In the first ten chapters of the Book of Numbers, things are going pretty smoothly for the Israelites.

    (more…)

  • Gratitude to God in times of difficulty

    photo-1491425432462-010715fd7ed7.jpeg
    After spending a year at Mt. Sinai, the Israelites head back into the desert in Numbers 11.
    In the first ten chapters of the Book of Numbers, things are going pretty smoothly for the Israelites.
    They celebrate the Passover, they dedicate the Tabernacle. We don’t really see any major sin issues. But nearly as soon as the Israelites hit the road, they’ll start complaining, a common theme during the Israelite wanderings.
    God had saved, redeemed, and sustained the Israelites.
    But the Israelites struggled with gratitude to God for all that he had done for them.
    We don’t have control over the circumstances that we face in life. But we do always have control over how we respond.
    We can respond by complaining and grumbling or we can respond in faith and confidence in God.
    Viktor Frankel was a psychiatrist who endured the horrors of the Holocaust at Auschwitz.
    After surviving the Holocaust, he wrote a very influential book called “Man’s Search for Meaning.” And part of the thesis of that book is that the most fundamental of human freedoms is the freedom to control how one responds.
    Even in difficult situations, even in broken relationships, even in financial hardships, even in the face of sickness, you still have a choice in how you respond.
    You can despair, you can feel like it’s all pointless and futile. You can get mad at God, question his goodness and love. You can get bitter.
    You can be cynical, you can become self-centered.
    Or you can continue to grow. You can be selfless. You can take the focus solely off of yourself.
    You can still walk with God in the struggle. In the desert.
    You can still trust in God when you’re tired and warn down.
    Our contentment and joy must be found in God.
    God is leading all of his people to greater places. And if we lose sight of that on the journey, we can make the mistakes that the Israelites made of losing sight of the goodness of God.
    Numbers 11:4-6 features the Israelites continuing to complain, while they look back at their time in Egypt (in slavery) longingly.
    Now the rabble that was among them had a strong craving. And the people of Israel also wept again and said, “Oh that we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt that cost nothing, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions, and the garlic.6 But now our strength is dried up, and there is nothing at all but this manna to look at.” 
    They might be complaining about food. But the underlying issues are so much bigger than the divine meal plan.
    “Oh when we were in Egypt, the food was so much better!”
    Verse 20 summarizes the scene well: you have rejected the Lord who is among you and have wept before him, saying, “Why did we come out of Egypt?” ’
    It was wicked and sinful after all that God had done for the people: freeing them, sustaining them, forgiving them when they had fallen into idolatry and sin.
    And yet they have the audacity to say “Oh Egypt. Those were the good old days.”
    Sometimes in life, it can be easy when we’re in a season when things are generally good to go to church, maybe read your Bible sometimes.
    But the moment there’s some adversity and challenge, there’s this temptation to want to complain against God.
    Just like the Israelites, we have many great blessings from the Lord.
    Most importantly, the gift of eternal life that God has promised through Jesus Christ.
    We were slaves to sin. And God redeemed us. God gives his Spirit. God invites us into a relationship to know him. And God is bringing us to a new land too. To a New Heaven, and a New Earth, and a New Jerusalem.
    But sometimes we have to spend some time in the desert to get to the promised land.
    How will we respond when we’re there though?
    Will we criticize God and forget his goodness? Or will we trust him?
    Josh Benner is the associate pastor at Cornerstone Evangelical Free Church in Fergus Falls, Minnesota and has a Master of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He enjoys writing about faith and culture. He lives with his wife Kari in Minnesota.