The King at War

Grace to you and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. It is once again a blessing to share the Word of God with the saints of Durbin Memorial Baptist Church.

When discussing an idea, there are very often two extreme which are both equally wrong. For example, when we talk of Scripture we see a balance of grace and truth. Some want to focus completely on grace and have no standard of truth and righteousness. Others focus completely on truth and set self-righteous standards with little regard for grace. One side focuses on self-indulgence, the other self-performance while both of them miss the boat.

This happens in the non-religious world as well. Some people take dieting so extremely serious that they virtually starve and abuse themselves. Others, myself included many times, do not consider the negative consequences of not having any sort of dietary plan. The healthy middle position is to understand that making healthy dietary decisions is a way to steward our bodies for God’s glory while still understanding and appreciating that God instructs us to feast together and enjoy His creation including the food therein.

My point with this is not to say that the answer is always in the middle. If your mother instructs you not to lie to others and your buddy tells you to lie all the time, that doesn’t mean its okay to lie sometimes. So just because two positions exists, doesn’t mean that we always need to try to sit in the middle.

However, I do want to highlight that in our human condition, we do often drift into extremes that are not good for us nor giving glory to God.

There is a reality to the Christian life, pertinent to our text today, that we can be guilty of falling into two extremes. Let me first present the reality, and then we will describe the two extremes.

The reality is this:

You are at war.

You are at war. You are a soldier, fighting in a spiritual battle.

Now, before we go any further, I do just want to take a brief moment to honor and thank the veterans we have amongst us this morning. Your service to your country is appreciated and any participation you had in physical battles may allow you to have an even deeper understanding of what we are talking about this morning. In a few moments we’re going to look at a physical battle that illustrates the spiritual reality I am alluding to at this time.

But it is a fact that all of us, recognized or not are soldiers in a spiritual battle. We are at war.

Now that that reality has been stated, let me show you the two extremes people take this.

First we have the deniers. You hear the pastor say something like you are at war and you roll your eyes. You look at the condition of your life and see that as is seemingly well. You might say You’re a secretary not a soldier! Further than that you might say that your Christian religion all-in-all precludes you from being any sort of brutish soldier. Or, maybe you’re not a Christian, you believe that you just LOVE ALL people.

But God’s Word, the ultimate source of truth and descriptor of reality, shows us that we are indeed soldiers fighting in a spiritual battle. Towards the end of the Bible, in 1 John 3, we learn that there are but two kinds of people in this world. Children of God and children of the devil. All of us are one or the other. With that understanding we see all the way in the beginning of the Bible, in Genesis 3, that there is ENMITY between God’s children and the children of the devil. We are all serving in a war that we do not see with our physical eyes. The question is not “are we at war?” but rather, “which side are we on?”

So we must not deny this reality. Others, are on the other extreme of this reality. It is a fact that their have been many atrocities by those wanting to participate in spiritual warfare. For instance, Christians across the globe are persecuted in ways we would find hard to imagine. Saints are martyred every day. The most recent numbers I could find from Lifeway Research state that nearly 6,000 Christians were killed for their faith in 2021. Whether they know it or not, those murdering Christians are actively engaged in the spiritual battle that goes on around us. But sadly, it is also true that people claiming the name of Christ commit horrible acts. I would say that their fruit proves they did not know Christ at all, but nonetheless they used the reality of spiritual warfare to act on the lust of their flesh.

The truth is that we ARE at war. We are soldiers fighting in a SPIRITUAL battle. We need to understand and appreciate that as God shows in His Word.

2 Corinthians 10:3–5 ESV

For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,

We are undoubtedly in a spiritual battle,and the war we wage is spiritual as well. That means that we don’t have to resort to physical acts of violence to make an impact. Through proclaiming the very Word of God we are used by God to destroy the strongholds of satanic falsehoods. Physical tactics are powerless to free souls from the forces of darkness. If we were to conquer the world in the name of Jesus, but never share His gospel, it would all be for not. But through the proclamation of God’s Word which pierces to the division of soul and of spirit, of joint and of marrow, people are exposed to truth and Satan’s schemes are undone!

Militaristic language is used all throughout the New Testament because the reality is, we are soldiers at war. The question remains, “what side are you on?” I realize that talking in military terms seems foreign and uncomfortable for the church today. That is because our culture has changed the church into a business rather than a embassy. We view evangelistic efforts as a growth strategy, rather than a war plan. The reality is that the stakes are high! God’s war shows us that we are at war! We are soldiers with a fight to fight! And we can fight with zeal because God’s Word also shows us we win!

“Behind the warfare language of the New Testament, we need to see the actual warfare of the Old Testament.” All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for our teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness so that the man of God would be complete, equipped for every good work. “Just as we should look back to the Old Testament to understand the New Testament’s language of sacrifice,… redemption, and so much more, we ought to see the language of war associated with the Christian gospel against its necessary and clarifying background in the Old Testament.”

With that in mind, if you have not already. Turn in your Bibles to 1 Samuel 11.

In this section of Scripture this morning we are going to walk through a graphic account of Old Testament warfare. As we walk through the text we will see how the realities of this physical battle coincide with the realities of spiritual battle we are all apart of.

As you’re turning there, I’ll quickly fill you in on where we are in this narrative. The people of Israel have asked for a king so that they would look like the rest of the nations. Israel was rejecting following the Lord so that they would look more like other countries. Through what seemed like very normal circumstances, a tall farmer’s life was drastically changed. God calls Saul to be the first king. Since that became clear, Saul really hasn’t done anything kingly. Samuel, the judge and prophet, has given Israel the guidelines for how the king is to act and honor their God. It seems some of the Israelites did not like this so they already begin doubting Saul’s ability to be their king. Where we pick up in Chapter 11, it is a new scene in a different location. Read with me starting in verse 1.

1 Samuel 11:1 ESV

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.”

As we begin to walk through this text we will see three themes repeated in the text: The wickedness of those who stand against God, the thickness of God’s people’s skulls, and the quickness of God to work through the situation. When I talk about the quickness of God, I’m not referring to His speed, but rather His livelihood to be working through all things. Its the Old English meaning of Quickness. God is not dead. He is alive and active. He is as alive today as He was working through this situation we are studying in 1 Samuel 11.

In this first verse, the first two themes become evident.

First we see the wickedness of those who stand against God in the actions of Nahash the Ammonite. The Ammonites were descendants from Lot. They shared a border with Israel that led to consistent conflicts. The Ammonites were unconcerned with Israel’s claim that God had promised them this land. They wanted it for themselves. We will see more of their wickedness on display in the following verses, but we are given an interesting textual link right here in verse 1. Nahash, the leader of the Ammonites, has a name that means “serpent”. As we think about that in the greater context of Scripture, our minds should be drawn back to the garden. Remember God said there will be enmity between the offspring of Eve and the offspring of the Serpent. In our text this morning we are seeing a tangible outcome of what God said was going to be the case! “The aggression of the Ammonites is an instance of the antagonism between the seed of the serpent and the Seed of the woman—of the battle between the kingdom of darkness and the kingdom of light.”

We have to realize that this enmity still exists today and thus be prepared to boldly join the battle! Unfortunately for the Israelites in our text this morning, they do the opposite! We see the thickness of the Israelite’s thinking when instead of standing firm in the promises of God, knowing that this is the land that He has given to them, they say, “Make a treaty with us, and we will serve you!”

The Israelites first response to trouble was to virtually bow down to their oppressor! If you have been with us for the past few sermons, this should come as a massive surprise, why? First because the Israelites are God’s people! He’s fought their battles for them before, yet they have no faith He will do so here. Second, Israel was just given a new King! They said they wanted a king to look like everyone else, who would fight their battles for them! God gave them Saul, a man who was a head above the rest of the nation. It seems clear that the people did not see their new king as able to help. Even the last verse of chapter 10 showed us some were thinking, “How can this man save us?”

Now we rightly shame the lack of faith displayed in the Israelites in this verse, but we must not be so thick-skulled ourselves that we ignore the times we do the same! How quick can we be to discard the God we claim to love when the challenges of culture come our way. We may not be met with swords, but we shy away from proclaiming the Word of God are content to quietly go along with the culture zeitgeist. We’d often rather look like everyone else than stand firm in our faith in God.

We see what this is dangerous in the next verse:

1 Samuel 11:2 ESV

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.”

The wickedness of God’s enemies becomes even clearer here. Nahash does not just want their surrender, he wants their full submission, to remove their honor, and render them useless. Gouging out the right eye seems brutal enough on its own, but the intention behind it makes it even more dastardly. “It incapacitated them from further effective combat. A foot soldier carried his shield in his left hand, which would block the vision of the remaining eye. Furthermore, loss of the right eye would hamper use of a bow and arrow.”

So the Israelites in Jabesh-gilead already said they would serve Nahash, now he wants to ensure their military forces are completely useless and from there bring disgrace, to dishonor all of Israel. He basically wants to use this to make God’s people a laughing stock to the rest of the world.

As we relate this historical narrative to the reality of the spiritual warfare we are in today, we must realize that though the means may be different, then intention of the opposition is the same today. Satan would love nothing more than to have us bow to the winds of culture and in so bring disgrace to the people of God. When we willfully go along with the ways of the world we are bringing disgrace on God’s people! The rest of the world looks at worldly carnal Christians and thinks, “well there is certainly nothing to that ‘God’ they say they serve!”

And we must note that we will never bend enough for worldly approval! They will always ask for more capitulation.

There is a children’s book entitled “If you give a mouse a cookie.” The premise of the book is that if you give a mouse a cookie, they continue to ask for more. It starts with a cookie, then a glass of milk, then mirror to make sure they don’t get a milk mustache, then a scissors to give his whiskers a trim while hes looking in the mirror, and so on and the mouse is never satisfied.

Christian, we will never concede enough to be accepted by the world! It may start with requesting lee way on creationism, then we’re told to give up on the sanctity of life, then it’s giving up on biblical standards for purity and relationships, next thing you know we’re told to accept pluralism and as we give in to concession after concession the church no longer finds itself to be a church but a social institution. The church no longer preaches Christ crucified but Personal Pride! It may sound like I’m an old man shouting at the clouds here presenting some sort of slippery slope fallacy. But it’s not a fallacy when that very progression has made its way through many of the mainline denominations in just the last couple of years!

And I tell you this, Satan is laughing at the state of many Western “church” right now as much as Nahash would have been if the Israelites had given in to his demands.

Let’s look at how the Israelites respond to Nahash’s demands:

1 Samuel 11:3 ESV

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.”

So they didn’t like the demands and the seek to find a savior. Now on level this seems like a good decision. It is certainly better than giving into the demands. But notice that the Israelites in Jabesh are still seeking to find a man who will save them. They don’t cry out to God. They don’t go to Him in Prayer. They don’t even attempt to wheel at the ark of the covenant as they did against the Philistines years before. Further, we will see that they also did not acknowledge God’s choice for king and protector of the land. We know this because they sent their messengers through all of the land of Israel, not specifically to Saul. They know they need a Savior, but they look in all the wrong places.

We can tell from the rest of the story that Nahash for some reason allowed them their request. While it is not stated explicitly we can gather that Nahash was so confident in his ability to wipe out any opposition from the Israelites that he didn’t see it as a threat. The wickedness of God’s enemy and the denseness of the Israelites, once again on full display.

So what happens?

1 Samuel 11:4 ESV

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

Some of the messengers find there way to Gibeah of Saul. We can see that this was just a stop on their route, they weren’t intentionally seeking out King Saul because they just tell all the people in the town. Saul has to find out by walking up on everyone weeping: Verse 5

1 Samuel 11:5 ESV

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.

Another mundane day farming turns out to be an incredible twist of fate for Saul. A few chapters prior he lost some donkeys and was anointed as king, now he’s working the field with his oxen and sees his calling to lead the battle.

It’s here where we clearly see the quickness, the activeness of God in the story:

1 Samuel 11:6 ESV

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

God empowers Saul to lead the battle!

We must note that just as God empowered Saul for the battle that was to come from this, He too has empowered His people to fight in the spiritual war that surrounds us. Saul on his own would have been useless in this task. He was a farmer. We’re given no indication that he has any sort of military background. You too may think that you are just a regular person, you have no ability to fight against the cosmic powers over this present darkness we find ourselves in. That is true. On your own, you cannot fight darkness for you are in all actuality fighting FOR darkness. But by the grace of God through faith in Christ, He has sealed those who believe in Him with the Spirit! He has given us the full armor of God to stand against the schemes of the Devil! We fight not by our own power but by the very Power of God!

May we act in response to what Christ has done in us!

Let’s look now at what Saul does:

1 Samuel 11:7 ESV

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.

We’ve mentioned throughout this series all of the ties back to the last few chapters of the book of Judges. The action Saul takes here intentionally mirrors the scene you read about in 19. As the pieces of the oxen are dispersed around the country, everyone would have been well aware of the imagery being invoked. The God appointed deliverer powerfully and provocatively challenges those who have failed to recognize him. He says follow me or else.

Then we actually see some sense coming to the minds of the Israelites! We see the people respond in a way that shows they revere the Lord! Notice that it does not say they fear Saul or Samuel, it says the dread of the LORD fell upon the people and they respond.

God can and does use the actions of individuals for His divine purpose. Sermons like this this morning are used by God to open our eyes to the reality of the spiritual warfare around us. The gathering together of the church is used to spur, to push one another in serving the Lord. Sometimes we are going to talk about difficult topics. Sometimes you are going to be challenged in the way you think about things and the decisions you make in your life. The intention here is that we all would have a healthy fear of the Lord and live our lives knowing that He is God and we are His people, thus we serve Him!

God is quick and alive to work through all situations for the good of His people! Pay attention!

Let’s see what happens next in our text:

1 Samuel 11:8 ESV

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

Just note here that the people responded. The army is formed. The next verse is very interesting:

1 Samuel 11:9 ESV

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.

The distressed people in Jabesh are overjoyed! Why? Because they had faith in a type of gospel. They were told, Hey your salvation is coming. They were in a desperate situation with seemingly no way out. They sent messengers out all over the place, they did not know if anyone would respond. And then just a day or so before the deadline of impending doom, they hear those sweet sweet words, “you shall have salvation.”

Church, this is the message we have the lost and dying in our world! Salvation has come! Sinful man, much like Jabesh-gilead, is utterly incapable of saving himself from the destructive schemes of Satan and the weight of their own sin. They look for escape and salvation any where they can but it does not come. What a grace it is that God would allow us to be the messengers who come and tell the desperate and needy, You shall have salvation! You have one who will fight the seed of the Serpent on your behalf! You can rest because the Savior is coming!

May we do so today!

Let’s conclude by looking at how God was quick to save in this story:

1 Samuel 11:10–11 ESV

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.” 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.

The Israelites in Jabesh use a little witty language to drop the defenses of Nahash and the Ammonites. When they say “We will give ourselves up” its a phrase that can go two ways. It can be interpreted as surrender, or it can mean we will simply meet you. Like we will meet you to fight. They wanted to be intentionally vague. As verse 11 unfolds we aren’t given the intricate details of the battle, but one thing is certain. God has assured victory for His people. The enemy, the son of the serpent, was defeated. The Ammonites were scattered.

We see here an active, a quick God working in this situation. Despite the ferociousness of the enemy and the denseness of the Israelites, God will was going to be done. Now I am sure that for all parties involved there were some scary sights and insecurities along the way, but God was never not in control.

All of what we have talked about this morning should open our eyes to the reality of the spiritual warfare we find ourselves in. The enemy is real! The enemy seeks to disable, disarm, and dishonor you! But praise be to God that we can say that Salvation is Here! Christ has defeated the Serpent. He has defeated death. Look no further for a Savior than to the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, the ruler of the kings on earth, the one who loves us and frees us from our sin by His blood and makes us a kingdom, priests to God the Father. To Christ Jesus be the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

If you have never understood what it means for Christ to be Lord, today is the glorious day for you to find out salvation is here! If that’s you today I’d love to talk to you more about it. Come forward during this next hymn of response. Find me after.

But I presume that many of us know Christ as Lord, even when our actions do not coincide with that reality. I am challenging you this morning to not be thick-skulled like the Israelites but to faithfully follow your Lord into Battle! There is an interesting position the Christian Soldier finds himself in. We are called to fight in a war passionately and aggressively, proclaiming the Word of God with vigor and grace. While also understanding we are already victors. One of my favorite sections of Scripture comes from 2 Corinthians.

2 Corinthians 2:14–16 ESV

But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things?

These verses allude to the fact that we are already sharing in and enjoying the victory Christ secured for all those who believe in Him on the cross. At the same time we are to actively be following Him, being the aroma of Christ among those who are being save and perishing. That means that though the victory is secured we are honored with a Job to do. To tell the lost that salvation is in Christ alone. As we are faithful in our mission, we will see Christ add others to our ranks. We rest in the victory and fight in the moment. All the while knowing we are not sufficient for such things, but it is the power of God working in us and through us to accomplish His will. To Him be the glory.

Let’s Pray.