Saul’s Victory at Jabesh: The Spirit’s Empowerment

Introduction: The Power to Lead Comes from God

History is filled with leaders who, at the right moment, rose to the challenge with courage. One such leader was Winston Churchill, who, despite skepticism, rallied Britain in its darkest hour with bold leadership. Yet, true empowerment comes not from charisma or human strength alone, but from God’s Spirit working through a person.

In 1 Samuel 11, Saul, the newly anointed but hesitant king, faces his first real test—the Ammonite threat against Jabesh-gilead. What follows is a powerful display of God’s Spirit transforming Saul from reluctant leader to victorious king.

I. The Threat from Nahash the Ammonite (1 Samuel 11:1-4)

1 Samuel 11:1–4 ESV

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.

I. What Is the Significance of Jabesh-Gilead?

Geographical Context: East of the Jordan River, in the territory traditionally associated with the tribe of Manasseh (or sometimes Gad), part of the Transjordan region. Isolated from the central tribes of Israel—making it vulnerable and less supported militarily. We would find it in modern day Jordan.

Tied to the Benjaminite Crisis (Judges 19–21): After the civil war against the tribe of Benjamin (due to the atrocity in Gibeah), Jabesh-Gilead refused to join the battle or send troops (Judges 21:8-10). As punishment, Israel attacked Jabesh-Gilead and killed its inhabitants, sparing only 400 virgin women, who were then given to the surviving Benjamites to help the tribe recover. This created a long-standing link between Jabesh-Gilead and Benjamin, especially Gibeah—Saul’s hometown.

Significance in 1 Samuel 11: Jabesh-Gilead likely had relational loyalty or tribal affinity with Saul, so their appeal for help carried added personal and political weight.

Jabesh-Gilead represents the vulnerable and forgotten—those on the outskirts, easily attacked when leadership is weak. Just like Saul is a weak king. They symbolize how neglected parts of the church or nation become the first target of the enemy when unity is lost. 

Who Is Nahash the Ammonite & What’s His Significance?

“Nahash” in Hebrew literally means “serpent”—which is already ominous! He personifies hostility, oppression, and demonic cruelty in the biblical narrative.

The Ammonites were descendants of Lot through an incestuous relationship (Gen. 19:38), the Ammonites were long-time enemies of Israel. Located east of the Jordan, they frequently fought Israel (see Judges 10–11). Under King Jephthah, Israel had previously defeated Ammonites—but tension remained.

In the Dead Sea Scrolls, a fragment version of 1 Samuel It suggests Nahash had been brutalizing other tribes of Israel east of the Jordan—gouging out right eyes and oppressing them. Jabesh-Gilead was one of the last remaining strongholds resisting him. The threat to gouge out the right eye in 1 Samuel 11:2 is profoundly symbolic and strategic—it’s far more than a random act of violence or intimidation. It carries military, social, psychological, and even spiritual significance.

Militarily weakens: a soldier’s right eye is crucial in battle while holding a shield with the left arm.

Socially shames: it’s a sign of absolute defeat and lasting disgrace.

Spiritually suggests blinding and demoralizing God’s people—removing vision, clarity, and strength.

Nahash-like tactics are used today by spiritual, political, or ideological forces: weaken, blind, and humiliate.

The enemy doesn’t want just surrender—he wants domination, shame, and permanent disfigurement of God’s people.

The men of Jabesh-gilead are besieged by Nahash, king of the Ammonites (v. 1).

Nahash offers brutal terms: “I will make a treaty with you only on the condition that I gouge out every man’s right eye” (v. 2).

The elders of Jabesh ask for seven days to seek help (v. 3), showing their desperation.

News reaches Saul, and the people weep in fear (v. 4).

Key Lessons from the Ammonite Threat

“Imagine a highly trained military sniper—someone whose entire role depends on their vision, precision, and ability to detect threats at long distances. Now imagine the enemy doesn’t kill them, but instead destroys the lens in their scope and takes out their dominant eye. They’re alive, but effectively neutralized—stripped of their role, robbed of their edge, and humiliated in front of the world. That’s what Nahash was doing to Israel. He didn’t just want to conquer them—he wanted to shame, blind, and disable them permanently.”

For the Church:

Satan isn’t always trying to destroy the Church outright—he’s trying to take out our vision:

Water down our preaching.

Blur biblical truth with compromise.

Blind our discernment with distraction and division. Like a sniper without a scope, the Church without vision is alive but ineffective—present but powerless.

To America:

Nahash’s tactics mirror what’s happening in our culture:

Disarm men from spiritual and moral leadership.

Shame believers into silence on moral and cultural issues.

We’re living in a nation that still has its left eye open—it can see emotion, trends, and feelings. But the right eye of truth, justice, and righteousness has been gouged out. And the Church has been too slow to stop the bleeding.

Blind institutions that once saw clearly (e.g., schools, media, even churches) with ideology and compromise. The enemy’s strategy is to leave America wounded, ashamed, and unable to defend itself spiritually or morally.

Public education and elite institutions are rapidly pushing ideologies that redefine truth, identity, and morality:

Children are taught to question objective reality (e.g., gender, biology).

Critical race theory and progressive ethics often pit people against each other, eroding unity.

Students are trained not to seek truth, but to embrace tolerance of all things except biblical conviction.

We didn’t lose the next generation in a war—we lost them by blinding their ability to see truth clearly. The right eye of discernment, discipline, and moral clarity has been gouged out by an educational system driven by ideology instead of integrity.

The devil doesn’t always want to kill your faith—he just wants to blind your eye so you can’t aim at the real target.

Reflection Question: What “enemy” in your life seems overwhelming right now? How does this passage encourage you to trust in God’s deliverance?

II. The Spirit Empowers Saul for Battle (1 Samuel 11:5-11)

1 Samuel 11:5–11 ESV

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.

When Saul hears the news, “the Spirit of God rushed upon him, and his anger was greatly kindled” (v. 6).

Saul cuts up oxen and sends pieces throughout Israel as a call to arms (v. 7).

Fear of the Lord unites the people, and 330,000 men gather (v. 8).

Saul devises a surprise attack, and by morning, the Ammonites are completely defeated (v. 11).

Saul’s Spirit-Empowered Leadership

The Holy Spirit equips us for the battles we face.

Zechariah 4:6 – “Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord.”

Righteous anger is a response to injustice.

Saul is still plowing, not ruling—though crowned (ch. 10), he hasn’t stepped into true leadership. When he hears the news, “the Spirit of God rushed upon him… and his anger was greatly kindled.”

We need Spirit-filled leaders who respond to evil with holy urgency, not political caution.

Shock Mobilization (v. 7)

Saul cuts up oxen and sends pieces throughout Israel, warning: “Follow me or this will happen to your livestock.” This was a bold, symbolic move—evoking Judges 19, when similar action stirred national unity. It was graphic, jarring, and effective—because Saul knew the people needed to be shaken awake. Sometimes moral apathy must be confronted with unfiltered clarity.

Unity Rekindled (v. 8–10)

Result: 330,000 men rally—Israel is unified under Saul’s leadership. Saul wisely coordinates the rescue in three companies (tactical, Spirit-led strategy). He uses a ruse (v.10) to keep Nahash from suspecting an attack. God’s anointing produces not just emotion but wise, bold action. The Spirit gave Saul discernment, strategy, and timing—not just fire.

Deliverance with Precision (v. 11)

Israel strikes at dawn (decisive, surprising), and Nahash’s forces are shattered. What began in despair ends in total victory—all because a Spirit-filled leader rose up. The same Spirit that rushed upon Saul empowers the Church today. The enemy may come to blind us—but when the Church rises in the Spirit’s power, deliverance is inevitable.

III. The Renewal of Saul’s Kingship (1 Samuel 11:12-15)

1 Samuel 11:12–15 ESV

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.

After the victory, some demand revenge on Saul’s early critics (v. 12), but Saul refuses to retaliate.

Saul declares, “Today the Lord has worked salvation in Israel” (v. 13), showing humility.

Samuel leads the people in renewing the kingship (v. 14).

At Gilgal, the people confirm Saul’s leadership, offering sacrifices in celebration (v. 15).

Key Lessons from the Renewal of Saul’s Kingship

After the victory, the people want to execute Saul’s doubters. But Saul refuses vengeance and redirects all glory to God. Samuel then leads the nation in a formal renewal of the kingdom at Gilgal. Victory is from God, not man. Saul does not claim credit—he points to God as the true Deliverer.

1 Corinthians 15:57 – “Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

True leadership involves humility and restraint. Saul could have exacted revenge but chose grace instead. A great leader does not use power for personal gain.

Spiritual renewal often follows great victories. The people recommitted themselves to God’s leadership through Saul. Likewise, after spiritual breakthroughs, we must renew our commitment to God. What began with a threat to blind a city ended with a nation restored under God’s leadership. America doesn’t need a better marketing campaign—it needs a renewal at Gilgal, a return to covenant faithfulness.

We don’t need to gouge eyes or crush enemies to reclaim this nation—we need to rise in the power of the Holy Spirit and lead our people to Gilgal again, where God’s rule is honored, His covenant is restored, and His name is lifted high.

Reflection Question: After victories in your life, do you take time to reflect and rededicate yourself to God’s purpose?

What Can We Learn from Saul’s Victory?

1. The Enemy Seeks to Intimidate, But God Brings Deliverance

The Ammonites wanted to enslave Israel, but God had other plans. Whose plans are you going to believe?

No matter how impossible the odds seem, God is greater than any enemy we face.

2. The Holy Spirit Transforms Weakness into Strength

Saul was hesitant before, but bold after the Spirit empowered him.

The same Spirit is available to us today (Acts 1:8).

3. Leadership Requires Both Boldness and Humility

Saul showed courage in battle and humility in victory.

Godly leaders point people to God’s power, not their own achievements.

4. Victories Should Lead to Deeper Commitment

The people renewed Saul’s kingship, but true revival happens when we renew our walk with God.

How do we respond when God gives us victory?

Challenge: How can you rely more on the Holy Spirit’s power in your own life?

Romans 8:37 ESV

37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

Closing Prayer: Lord, thank You for reminding us that victory comes from You. Empower us with Your Spirit to face challenges with courage and faith. Teach us to trust in Your deliverance and respond to victory with humility and worship. May we lead with boldness, always pointing others to Your power. In Jesus’ name, Amen.