Introduction
The first day of school was always filled with mixed emotions for me. Waking up early was a struggle (school started at 7:00 a.m.!). There was always the anxiety of seeing my old classmates and meeting new ones. There was the excitement of the new supplies: notebooks, pens, erasers, mechanical pencils, etc. Above all, there was the feeling of a new beginning where all things are possible.
The events in chapter 11 are much like the first day of school, or even like opening day of the baseball season. A new phase of Israel's life is beginning. They now have a king and he leads them in victory against the Ammonites. What excitement! Things are really looking up for them. As Dale Davis puts it, "… we breathe the air of a new and hopeful beginning for the nascent kingdom."
The theme of this chapter is salvation (words related to salvation used three times: 3, 9,13). The type of salvation, however, displayed here is the kind that is only accomplished by the power of the Spirit, 6-7.
The teaching of the chapter falls into three parts as we think of the salvation that is accomplished by the power of the Spirit: the arrogance that the world shows (1-3), the difference the Spirit makes (4-13), and the renewal the kingdom requires, (14-15).
I. The Arrogance the World Shows, 1-3.
A. Nahash the Ammonite is menacing the region east of the Jordan, 1a.
1. Jabesh-Gilead was 20 miles south of the Sea of Galilee and 2 miles east of the Jordan.
2. According to the Dead See Scrolls, Nahash was on a rampaged, conquering everything in his path, 4QSama.
3. Israel was very aware of the danger that Nahash represented, 1 Sam. 12:12.
B. A word about the Ammonites is in order here.
1. They don't play a big role in 1-2 Samuel beyond this chapter, but they do teach us a very important lesson on the consequences of sin.
2. The Ammonite people were direct descendants from Lot as the result of incest between Lot and his daughters, Gen. 19:36-38.
C. The people of Jabesh-Gilead, having heard of all Nahash exploits, ask him for a treaty, 1b-3.
1. They are willing to become his vassals if he commits not to destroy them.
2. Nahash says, "Sure, I'll make a treaty with you. And we will mark the treaty by gouging the right eye of every man. That's the cost of my showing mercy to you."
D. In Nahash, we see the arrogance of the world toward God's people.
1. This arrogance, this hatred toward God's people because of God never ceases.
2. Nahash may have gone by the wayside of history, but the "Ammonite mind" that wants to maim, destroy, and strangle God's people is always with us.
II. The Difference the Spirit Makes, 4-13.
A. The messengers that the people of Jabesh-Gilead sent out happened to go first to Gibeah, where Saul happened to live, 4-5.
B. Then it happened! The Spirit intervened! 6-7.
1. The Spirit of God rushed upon Saul and made all the difference in the world.
2. This chapter portrays Saul as a super-judge.
3. The Spirit of God takes this shy, hesitating farmer and makes him function as a fearless military leader who delivers the nation from the most dangerous threat in the current world.
C. But I want you to notice something else the Spirit is doing here that is not as obvious as what he did in and for Saul.
D. This is not the first time in the Bible that Gibeah is mentioned in the Bible.
1. In our passage, salvation comes from Gibeah in the person of Saul.
2. But the last time Gibeah was previously mentioned, it was the site of heinous crimes and sin, Judges 19.
3. But Gibeah here is no longer a place of judgment, but a place of salvation.
E. This is how the Spirit works – He takes people who should be condemned for heinous sins and transforms them into his children.
1. Most institutions are interested in the best and the brightest.
2. But God, he is only interested in the broken, in the needed, in the sinner, in the no-good-for-nothing people.
3. God brings people who are in darkness into the kingdom of the Son whom he loves.
4. And he puts them together with other transformed people who are at the same time sinners and saints and being continually transformed.
5. And then he makes this bunch of sinners and saints a beacon of salvation for the entire world!
6. All the while, making abundantly clear that without him, we can do nothing.
F. That's the Church! Christ's Body! His Bride! That's us!
G. This idea that everyone who has been saved by God was only saved because he/she was broken produces humility in us.
1. Why be selfish or self-centered when there was nothing good in us to be centered upon?
2. Why think lowly of people around when we know deep down how messed up we are?
H. When the Church is empowered by the Spirit the result is victory through humility.
III. The Renewal the Kingdom Requires, 14-15.
A. After the victory over Nahash, Samuel calls the people to a renewal ceremony in Gilgal where Saul will officially be crowned, 14.
B. After battle, even after victorious battle, the people of God need to be renewed, 15.
1. Our lives are battles – the Bible says so.
2. Every week is battle.
3. But God provides renewal every week as well when we come to his house on his day.
4. Every time we forsake his house, his renewal ceremony, we are saying that we can just go on fighting the battles of this life on our own apart from his renewal.
C. Spirit-empowered, battle-fighting, humble people need to be refreshed and renewed by God on his day.
Conclusion
The battle is over. Nahash was defeated. The king came through by the power of the Spirit of God. That's great news! But even better news is that King Jesus has also won. The battle is over. Death is defeated. He reigns and gives us his Spirit.
http://olympiabp.blogspot.com/2015/04/a-hopeful-beginning-1-sam-11.html
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