Sermon Tone Analysis

! Introduction

Review Chapter 10:22-27

!! A.                  The Crisis (v.1-11)

This chapter relates the distress the inhabitants of Jabeshgilead were in on account of the Ammonites, (1Sa 11:1-3) upon which they sent messengers to Saul, whose spirit was immediately stirred up to help them, (1Sa 11:4-6), and prepared for it, and came up soon enough for their relief, and slew their enemies, (1Sa 11:7-11), which gained him much honor and reputation among the people, and occasioned the renewal of the kingdom to him, (1Sa 11:12-15).

!!! 1.

The Demand From Nahash the Ammonite (v.1-2)

A cruel Ammonite King named Nahash gives an ultimatum.

He surrounds the Israelite town of Jabesh-gilead.

When the people ask for a peace treaty, he demands they allow him to gouge out the right eye of every citizen!

!!!! a)                  Encamped against Jabesh Gilead (v.1).

!!!!! (1)                 Nahash the Ammonite has surrounded this Israelite city, and simply by doing so, he has made his demands clear.

They must either surrender, or be conquered.

!!!!!! (a)                 Why did the Ammonites attack Jabesh?

“Probably to revenge and to recover their former great loss by Jephthah, Judges 11:33.

/Jabesh-gilead /was beyond Jordan, and near the Ammonites, who dwelt in part of Arabia.”

(Poole)

 

!!!! b)                  Make a covenant with us and we will serve you (v.1b)

!!!!! (1)                 The men of Jabesh Gilead feel this is their only hope of survival.

Either they surrender to Nahash (*we will serve you*) under agreed upon terms (*make a covenant with us*), or they will simply be killed and looted.

!!!!!! (a)                 It might seem to us that the men of Jabesh Gilead are cowards, and unwilling to fight against this enemy.

But the odds were great against them.

It was if they were being mugged, and they had the opportunity to negotiate with the mugger, and strike a deal with the mugger they could live with.

!!!!!! (b)                At the same time, where was their trust in God? Yes, they were in what seemed to be in an impossible place, but that is where the power of God can shine the brightest.

!!!! c)                  That I May Put Out Your Right Eyes (v.2)

!!!!! (1)                 When the men of Jabesh Gilead as Nahash for a covenant, he agrees to settle peacefully with them - */if/*/ /all the men of the city will have their right eyes gouged out.

This guy meant business!

!!!!!! (a)                 *Why did Nahash make this demand?*

Of all the things he could have demanded, why does he want to put out their right eyes?

(i)                   First, it was to glorify himself by humiliating the men of this city, and all of Israel.

Half-blinding the men of this city would bring reproach on all Israel by making Israel look weak and unable to prevent such an atrocity.

(ii)                 Second, it was to make the men of Jabesh Gilead unable to fight effectively in battle.

In hand-to-hand combat, and man with one eye has less depth perception & peripheral vision, and is at a disadvantage to a man with two eyes, which renders them useless in battle.

!!!!!! (b)                “He who opposes his shield to the enemy with his left hand, thereby hides his left eye, and looks at his enemy with his right eye; he therefore who plucks out that right eye makes men useless in war.”

(Theodoret, cited in Clarke)

 

!!! 2.                  The Similarity Between (/Satan, Our Spiritual Enemy/), and (/Nahash, the Enemy Of Israel/).

!!!! a)                  Satan attacks us, but cannot do anything against us without our agreement.

!!!!! (1)                 He asks for, and requires our /surrender/ (Luke 22:31-34; John 13:38; Matt.26:35).

!!!!! (2)                 Peter surrendered by his pride, denying Jesus three times.

!!!! b)                  Satan wants us to serve him, and will attempt to intimidate us into giving in to him.

!!!!! (1)                 Matt.4:8-10—whoever

you worship, that’s whom you werve.

!!!! c)                  Satan wants to humiliate us, and exalt himself over us.

!!!!! (1)                 Through humiliating one saint, Satan wants *to bring reproach *on all God’s people.

!!!! d)                 Satan Wants To Take Away Our Ability To Effectively Fight Against Him. 

!!!!! (1)               *Doubt—*Satan tries to undermine God’s character and credibility because /he wants you to doubt God.

/ 

!!!!!! (a)                 With that strategy he succeeded in plunging the entire human race into sin.

The crafty serpent questioned God’s Word, saying to Eve, /“Indeed, has God said?” /(Gen.

3:1)  He then impugned God’s motives by saying that God had a selfish, ulterior motive in forbidding Adam and Eve to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (v.

5).

He was saying they couldn’t trust God because He might say one thing but mean another.

Satan claims to be giving us the straight scoop on life, but in reality it is Satan who is the liar (John 8:44).

God has no capacity to lie (Titus 1:2).

!!!!!! (b)                 Satan wants you to doubt God—to doubt His Word and His power.

And we fall into his trap too often.

We’re tempted to worry and lose control in a difficult situation because we don’t really believe God can solve our problem.

Sometimes we doubt God’s grace, mercy, and forgiveness and therefore become burdened by feelings of anxiety and guilt.

Some people wonder if God really loves them, especially when bad things happen, such as a spouse leaving or the death of a loved one.

!!!!! (2)                 *Persecution*—Satan uses not only doubt, but also difficulties.

He wants to make things hard, not easy, for the Christian.

Often he uses persecution as his chief weapon.

Multitudes of believers throughout church history were tortured and killed for their faith.

Satan uses all forms of persecution to attack Christians.

!!!!! (3)                 *Self-Sufficiency*—Satan wants us to believe we are self-sufficient and therefore urges us to trust in our own resources, rather than God.

He used that scheme against David:

Satan stood up against Israel and moved David to number Israel.

So David said to Joab and to the princes of the people, “Go, number Israel from Beersheba even to Dan, and bring me word that I may know their number” (1 Chron.

21:1–2).

!!!!!! (a)                 David wanted to find out how strong he was, so he had his military advisor count the available soldiers.

But God told him that was a terrible sin because his strength did not depend on the number of his troops, but on God.

!!!!!! (b)                 In Psalm 147:10–11, the psalmist said the Lord /“does not delight in the strength of the horse; He does not take pleasure in the legs of a man.

The Lord favors those who fear Him, those who wait for His loving-kindness.”

/David’s falling into Satan’s trap had serious consequences, for God sent judgment and 70,000 in Israel died.

!!!!!! (c)                 It’s easy for us to place our confidence in the wrong things; /“let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he falls” /(1 Cor.

10:12).

!!!!!! (d)                Your prayer life can easily become nonexistent and your devotions shallow.

The Lord said, /“Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord who exercises loving-kindness, justice, and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things” /(Jer.

9:23–24).

!!!!!! (e)                 We have seen that Satan tempts us with doubt, difficulties, and self-sufficiency.

That might leave you wondering, How am I to deal with Satan’s attacks?

How am I to resist all his complex, subtle strategies?

The wonderful thing is that all his attacks can be dealt with in one simple way: By putting on the full armor of God (Eph.

6:13).

Don’t concentrate on what the devil is doing, but on what you’re to be doing.

It doesn’t matter that you know precisely when and how Satan is mapping every subtle scheme.

We can’t do that anyway.

The only thing that does matter is that you put your armor on.

If you do, you will be ready for battle.

!!!!! (4)                 Satan wants to blind us, and if he cannot blind us completely, he will blind us partially (2 Cor.4:3-4).

!!!!! (5)                 The name *Nahash *means /serpent /or /snake/!

!!!!!  

!!! 3.                  The Desperation Of The Elders Of Jabesh (v.3)

!!!! a)                  The men of Jabesh Gilead are in a difficult spot.

!!!!! (1)                 If there is no one to save them, Nahash can do to them as he pleases, and losing an eye seems better to them than losing their lives.

!!!!! (2)                 Was there no one to save them?

The men of Jabesh didn’t know for certain.

But they did know there was *no hope in and of themselves*, that they had to have a savior.

!!!!! (3)                 In One Way, These Men Of Jabesh Were In A Good Place, because they absolutely knew two things:

!!!!!! (a)                 *Their Need To Be Saved*.

Many today - even in the church - don’t really know their need to be saved, rescued from the righteous judgment of God against them and their sin.

/Peter said, in the Acts, “There is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.”"

(Acts 4:12, NASB95) /

/“Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’"

(John 3:7) /

!!!!!! (b)                *They Cannot Save Themselves*.

Many today don’t really know they cannot save themselves.

They still think in their hearts that they can do it!

!!!!! (4)                 In Another Way, The Men Of Jabesh Gilead Were In A Bad Place.