1 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.” 2 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.” 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.” 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.
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. 6 And the Spirit of God rushed upon Saul when he heard these words, and his anger was greatly kindled. 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. 8 When he mustered them at Bezek, the people of Israel were three hundred thousand, and the men of Judah thirty thousand. 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. 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.” 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.
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.” 13 But Saul said, “Not a man shall be put to death this day, for today the Lord has worked salvation in Israel.” 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. – 1 Samuel 11:1-15 ESV
This chapter chronicles Saul’s first official act as king of Israel. After his somewhat disappointing debut at Mizpah, Saul returned home to his former way of life. There was no royal procession or coronation party. He didn’t assemble an administration or draw up plans for constructing his palace. In fact, Saul did none of the things that God said would happen if they got a king.
“The king will draft your sons and assign them to his chariots and his charioteers, making them run before his chariots. Some will be generals and captains in his army, some will be forced to plow in his fields and harvest his crops, and some will make his weapons and chariot equipment. The king will take your daughters from you and force them to cook and bake and make perfumes for him. He will take away the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his own officials. He will take a tenth of your grain and your grape harvest and distribute it among his officers and attendants. He will take your male and female slaves and demand the finest of your cattle and donkeys for his own use. He will demand a tenth of your flocks, and you will be his slaves.” – 1 Samuel 8:11-17 NLT
According to this chapter, rather than conscripting Israelites, collecting taxes, and setting up his kingdom, Saul was back on the family farmstead doing chores. Despite his previous anointing by Samuel and his public presentation as God’s hand-picked king, it was business as usual for Saul. In recent days, this young man had gone through some truly life-changing experiences, but little had really changed. He was still the same man and knew nothing better than to do the same things he had done before. But in a matter of moments, he would find himself thrust into the limelight again; this time in his new role as king.
But while Saul was busy plowing, the enemies of Israel were plotting. This chapter opens up with a rather abrupt introduction to Nahash the Ammonite who, for some reason, picked this particular moment to besiege the town of Jabesh-gilead. It’s impossible to know if Nahash’s actions were motivated by news that Israel had a new king. Perhaps he chose to mobilize his forces before Saul had time to set up his kingdom and consolidate the 12 tribes of Israel. At this point, each tribe was on their own and was forced to defend themselves against enemy attacks. So, Nahash ordered his siege on Jabesh-gilead, located on the eastern side of the Jordan River in the territory of Gad, knowing that his chances of success were high.
Another possible motivating factor behind Nahash’s decision is recorded in the Book of Judges. During the time when Israel was ruled by God-appointed judges, the Ammonites proved to be a persistent problem. This Semitic people group was made up of the descendants of Lot, the nephew of Israelite’s great patriarch, Abraham. The Ammonites, the byproduct of Lot’s incestuous relationship with his younger daughter, had settled in the region around the Jordan River, which served as the western border to the territory of Gad. According to Judges 11, “the Ammonites made war against Israel” (Judges 11:5 ESV). In response to this threat, the elders of Gilead called on Jephthah, a great warrior from the town of Mizpah of Gilead. This son of a prostitute led Israel into battle against their enemies and God gave him a great victory.
So Jephthah crossed over to the Ammonites to fight against them, and the Lord gave them into his hand. And he struck them from Aroer to the neighborhood of Minnith, twenty cities, and as far as Abel-keramim, with a great blow. So the Ammonites were subdued before the people of Israel. – Judges 11:32-33 ESV
Nahash was likely seeking revenge for this earlier Ammonite defeat at the hands of Jephthah the Gileadite. But whatever the reason, Nahash besieged Jabesh-gilead, forcing its inhabitants to negotiate for a peaceful treaty. But the terms of that treaty proved to be unacceptable.
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.” – 1 Samuel 11:2 ESV
Having successfully negotiated a seven-day cease-fire, the people of Jabesh-gilead sent word to the rest of the tribes of Israel, hoping that reinforcements would arrive to rescue them from their predicament.
When the news reached Saul, he embraced his role as king and summoned the people of Israel to battle. But the text makes it clear that his actions were the result of the Spirit’s empowerment, not his own strength or initiative.
Then the Spirit of God came powerfully upon Saul, and he became very angry. He took two oxen and cut them into pieces and sent the messengers to carry them throughout Israel with this message: “This is what will happen to the oxen of anyone who refuses to follow Saul and Samuel into battle!” – 1 Samuel 11:6-7 NLT
This was a God-ordained opportunity for Saul to demonstrate that his divine commissioning had been real and not a fluke. He was about to make the unlikely transition from farmer to deliverer – all under the power of the Spirit of God.
What Saul does next seems rather strange to our modern sensibilities, but it has precedence. Judges 19 records the story of the rape and murder of a young woman who was the concubine of a Levite. She met her fate in the town of Gibeah, Saul’s hometown. The Levite, who had been passing through Gibeah on his way home, responded to the young woman’s murder by dismembering her body and sending the pieces to the various tribes of Israel. He demanded revenge against the men of Gibeah who had committed this atrocity. The 11 other tribes answered the call, resulting in a brief civil war between the tribe of Benjamin and the rest of the tribes of Israel.
It’s likely that Saul had this story in mind when he slaughtered his own oxen and sent the pieces to the tribes of Israel. He was calling the people to unify and confront the enemy together. With God’s help, his grizzly message had its intended effect.
…the Lord made the people afraid of Saul’s anger, and all of them came out together as one. – 1 Samuel 11: NLT
More than 33,000 Israelite warriors showed up at Jabesh-gilead and their rout of the Ammonites was complete. Nahash and his troops were slaughtered or scattered to the four winds. And the people of Israel took this resounding victory as proof of Saul’s calling. He had led them in battle against the Ammonites and proven himself an effective leader and military strategist. Any lingering doubts about Saul’s calling were gone and the people voiced their unified confidence in their new king.
“Now where are those men who said, ‘Why should Saul rule over us?’ Bring them here, and we will kill them!” – 1 Samuel 11:12 NLT
But rather than seek vengeance on his detractors, Saul called for peace and a commitment to build a kingdom that would unify all the tribes as one.
“Come, let us all go to Gilgal to renew the kingdom.” – 1 Samuel 11:14 NLT
Chapter 11 ends on a decisively upbeat note.
So they all went to Gilgal, and in a solemn ceremony before the Lord they made Saul king. Then they offered peace offerings to the Lord, and Saul and all the Israelites were filled with joy. – 1 Samuel 11:15 NLT
Things were looking up in Israel but, as the next chapter will reveal, this utopia would be short-lived if the people failed to honor God. Having a king was not going to solve all their problems. One man was not going to revitalize the spiritual state of an entire nation. Samuel will make it abundantly clear that if the people of Israel want to see their new kingdom last, they must honor God, not Saul. Future victory would be tied to their faithfulness to Yahweh. If they wanted to see their king succeed and their nation prosper, they would need to live in submission and obedience to the one true King.
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