Follow God, Not Man

1 Samuel 11-12

Because we can’t see God, sometimes we place our faith in people, not realizing that He is the source of their power. Then, because we know people are flawed, sometimes we don’t follow the leaders that God gives us, because again we don’t recognize that it is not through their power that they lead us, but through God’s. So, when we follow them, we are not really following them, we are following the Lord. Ultimately, He is the only One with power and the One we should be serving.

Saul Defeats the Ammonites - 1 Samuel 11:1-11

Not long after Samuel announced that Saul would become their first king, trouble came to the tribes living on the eastern side of the Jordan River. Nahash the Ammonite, whose name means “snake”, had taken siege of a town on the western edge of the Gilead mountains in Manasseh’s territory. The Ammonites were descendants of Abraham’s nephew Lot, so they were a cousin nation to Israel. God had given them the land that bordered Gad and Manasseh on the east. All of this should have made them allies with Israel, but instead they were trying to overtake them.

Because the men living in the besieged city feared for their lives, they asked the Ammonites not to kill them in exchange for their servitude. If the Ammonites defeated them in battle, the people who did not die would become their servants anyway, so they saw no reason to risk their lives in a battle they could not win with so few men. The Ammonites agreed not to kill the men of Jabesh-Gilead if they would agree to having their right eyes gouged out. This would mark them forever with defeat, and damage their depth perception, which would impair their targeting ability if they ever decided to rebel.

The Israelites did not want to accept this deal, but if they could not garner support from the rest of the nation, they would have no other choice. Having one less eye was better than being killed. So, they asked the Ammonites to give them a week to see if they could gather an army against them. If not, they would surrender.

Though Saul had been selected as their new king, he was acting more like a judge at the time. He continued to farm his land, while making himself available to the people. So, as he was coming in from the field, the plea for assistance came from Jabesh-gilead because of the Ammonites. Upon hearing this, the Spirit of God rushed over Saul and stirred his anger. He immediately took a yoke of oxen and cut them into pieces. Then, he sent them throughout the nation with a message saying that anyone who refused to follow Saul and Samuel’s direction into battle with the Ammonites would have the same thing done to their own oxen. This compelled the people to fear God, and they united against their enemy.

So, Saul gathered 330,000 troops at Bezek, across from Jabesh-gilead on the western side of the Jordan River. (Because the author distinguished between those who came from the southern kingdom of Judah and those who came from the northern kingdom of Israel, we can assume that at least this part of 1 Samuel was written after the nation of Israel split into two kingdoms at the death of their third king, in 930 BC.) As Saul was gathering his army, he also sent word to the men of the besieged city that they would be delivered by noon the next day.

Instead of telling the Ammonites that they had gathered an army against them, the men of the town told them that they would surrender the following day. But just before dawn, before the Ammonites had time to arm themselves, the Israelites invaded their camp and fought until noon. They killed most of the men, and those they didn’t kill, scattered in isolation.

Saul’s Kingdom Confirmed - 1 Samuel 11:12-15

So, Saul solidified his kingdom by bringing victory to Israel over their enemies. Any doubts about his ability had been dispelled. This made the people who accepted him from the beginning, want to put to death everyone who had rejected him initially. But Saul quickly reminded them that God was the One who brought their victory, and he had only been the vessel the Lord chose to work through. No one should be put to death for not trusting in his ability as a man. He couldn’t blame them for thinking he was insufficient to defeat Israel’s enemies. He was. But, since God had brought them victory, hopefully now they could all trust in the man He chose to work through to bring it about.

Because we know people are flawed, sometimes it is difficult to put our faith in them. We doubt their ability, and we aren’t necessarily wrong for doing so. In and of themselves, they may not be worth following or trusting. But, if they are selected and led by God, then by following them, we are not trusting in their ability, but in God’s. It is much easier to place our faith in the Lord, than in a man, because He is perfect and powerful. He is worthy of our trust and faith. Romans 13:1-2; Ephesians 5:22-24, 6:5-9; Colossians 3:23-24;

In seeing that the people were now united, Samuel gathered the people at Gilgal to renew Saul’s kingship. After pledging their loyalty to him as a nation, they sacrificed peace offerings as they celebrated their new king.