Lead By God

Intro

We learn time and time again that God’s people need to be completley dependant on Him. We need to depend on Him for our resources, our strength and the fact that he will provide the skills, the gifts and everything we need to follow Him. But we need to remember that it is him that gives the gifts. It Is God that gives us the skills we need to accomplish His will. But in order to be able to follow the Lord, we must be open to the spirits leading. This doesnt mean we do not plan, this doesnt mean we dont organize and strive to do the best with what God has given us bu where si god leading us?

being willing to be lead by the spirit is a hard thing to do, because it involves faith.

There’s a story of an engineer who designed a long footbridge across a deep mountain gorge. The bridge was solid and tested, but when the time came for people to walk across it, a thick fog rolled in.

The first person to cross was hesitant. He couldn't see the other side—only the next two or three planks beneath his feet. He paused, afraid.

The engineer stood beside him and said, “Trust me. I built it. You don’t have to see the end. Just take the next step. The bridge will carry you.”

He stepped forward. One step. Then another. With each step, he felt the strength of the bridge beneath his feet—and eventually, the fog began to lift. He couldn’t see the whole way when he started, but he made it by trusting the builder and walking forward.

Similar to Charles Blondin

In the 1850s and 1860s, Charles Blondin amazed crowds by walking across a tightrope over Niagara Falls, nearly 1,100 feet long and suspended 160 feet in the air. He didn’t just walk across it—he did it while: Blindfolded, On stilts, With a wheelbarrow, Even carrying a stove and cooking an omelet mid-way!

On one occasion, Blondin asked the crowd, “Do you believe I can carry a man across this rope on my back?” The crowd shouted, “Yes!” Then he asked, “Who will volunteer?” The cheering stopped. Everyone believed he could do it. But no one trusted him enough to get on his back. Eventually, his manager, Harry Colcord, climbed on. And Blondin carried him safely across.

Praying for God’s will to be done, planning and preparing for God’s will to be done and stepping out in faith trusting that the Lord’s will be done asking for the leading of the spirit because we know we can not do it on our own strnegth. This is what we are going to look through today as we continue the historical account of the Israelites and their newly crowned king Saul. Israel was in trouble again, and the only way out was for Saul to step forward. But he could not do it on His own, it took the leading and the empowering of the spirit of God.

Nahash and the Ammonites

We star tout by learning ore about the enemies of the Israelites.

1 Samuel 11:1–3 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.”

Not much is known about Nahash.

Nahash appears in specific political and geographic contexts consistent with what we know about the ancient Near East. The Ammonites were a real Semitic people located east of the Jordan River (modern-day Jordan), and they frequently conflicted with Israel—this is historically and archaeologically verified.

But He is also see in the historical acocunts of Josephus. Josephus was a Jesish Historian who, as far as we know, never gave his life to Jesus. He was a pharisee. But in His historical accounts He also mentions Nahash.

The Works of Josephus: New Updated Edition Chapter 5: Saul’s Expedition against the Nation of the Ammonites, and Victory over Them, and the Spoils He Took from Them

for this Nahash had done a great deal of mischief to the Jews that lived beyond Jordan by the expedition he had made against them with a great and warlike army. (69) He also reduced their cities into slavery, and that not only by subduing them for the present, which he did by force and violence, but by weakening them by subtilty and cunning that they might not be able afterward to get clear of the slavery they were under to him: for he put out the right eyesa of those that either delivered themselves to him upon terms, or were taken by him in war; (70) and this he did, that when their left eyes were covered by their shields, they might be wholly useless in war

So he had already been doing this. It was quite an evil thing to do really. And he comes to his next victims, who had likely heard what He had done. He went to the people of Jabesh and laid seige to them. He surrounded them, no supplies in our out. so they pleaded with them

1 Samuel 11:3 ESV

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.”

Nahash thought pretty poorly of the people of Jabesh if he gave them a week to find someone to save them. Like he didnt really even believe they could do anything. You have to remember, for most of Israelite’s history they had been a mostly nomadic people.

When Saul heard what had happened, he came in from the field. By himself He could do nothing, but as we have been learning God in His grace was going to work through the people’s bad decisions.

1 Samuel 11:6–7 ESV

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.

This shows us a few things. first of all Saul being empowered by the pirit of God looks forward to Jesus bringing vistory.

One thing we need to do is to read the bible Christocentrically. This is just a fancy word that means interpreting, understanding, or emphasizing scripture with Christ (Jesus) at the center.I couldnt help but think of how the life of saul foreshadowed Jesus.

A Spirit Empowered Deliverer

I have three points that look to Jesus through the life of Saul. The first one is something we will dig into a little bit later. Saul was empowered by the spirit of God to prophecy and to lead. It was temporary, but He was emnpowered to do the will of God. Just as Jesus was indwelt by the spirit, but in a much more permanent powerful way. To bring victory to us over our sin, over death and over Satan. Jesus has won the victory.

Helpless Without a Deliverer

God sent Saul to save those who were helpless to save themselves. We as well are helpless to save ourselves. We needed a deliverer to save us from our sins. Jesus was that Deliverer who cam to win the victory over sin so that we could have the freedom that we could not win on our own. Jesus is the victory that will overcome the world.

Temporary vs. Eternal Salvation

There are more ways that saul foreshadowed a future deliverer, but this is the last One I want to bring up. remember the promsie of a future king that Jesus gave to them? Saul was empowered to svae the Isaraelites but it was only a temporary salvation. Jesus came to offer a savlvation tat was eternal, a salvation that is for all time. maybe you stand in need of rescue today? Jesus came to offer you freedom from the chains of sin that bind us, the hoplessness that comes without Him.

Saul, empowered by the spirit of God helped Israel win the battle. And he didnt do it by going on a whim, by not planning. God gave Him the wisdom He needed to plan a battle. Yes it is the Lord that did it, the Lord gave him the wisdom, the Lord struck terror into the hearts of the Amonnites. He united the people together, through the fear of the Lord.

1 Samuel 11:8 ESV

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

1 Samuel 11:11 ESV

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.

God can work through us, as sinful as we can be sometimes, can can Give us the plans and the tools we need to accomplish what He wants us to do. This does not mean that we do not plan, that we do not strategize and try and figure out what it is we are supposed to do. But that we pray and seek God and ask Him to direct our steps as we strive to walk in His will.

Saul’s Confirmation

After this they where left beyond a shadow of a doubt that Saul was meant to be king.

1 Samuel 11:12–13 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.”

apperantly there where some people who had doubted Saul as King over the Israelites.

Samuel comes back to re-affirm Saul as King over Israel. He had already been annointed as king so this was more like a reaffirmation that Saul was chosen by God and they gave him up to God.

1 Samuel 11:15 ESV

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.

So What?

Praying for God’s will to be done, planning and preparing for God’s will to be done and stepping out in faith trusting that the Lord’s will be done asking for the leading of the spirit because we know we can not do it on our own strnegth. But we need to understand where it all starts. It starts with Jesus.

We first look to Jesus

We need to remember that as we read through the scriptures, we need to learn how it points forward to Jesus. Just remember what Jesus said Matthew 5:17 “17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”

If Jesus really came to fulfill the law, if he really came to be the one true king of kings, if this all does look to Him and what He has done for us then we must give our lives to Him.

This chapter continues to focus on the deliverance of the Israelites at the hands of Saul who was empowered by the spirit of God. we have the option for deliverance as well. Did you know it is not enough just to do good works, to come to church to say and do the right things? we must give our lives to Jesus, to repent of our sins and mistakes, to go to our brother and sister who we have wronged or who has wronged us and deal with our sin.

we must turn our lives to Jesus for he is our deliverer, because of Him we can have a relationship with God. without Jesus we are lost.

Lead by the Holy Spirit.

Saul was indewlt y the spirit of God to do the will of God. It was not His own strength that did this but God in Him. As followers of Jesus we are promised that we will be indwelt by the Holy Spirit.

John 14:16–17 ESV

16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.

Followers of Jresus recieve the HS. Because of this we can come to know God an have a relationshiop with Him. But those who do not give their lives to Jesus do not recieve the HS and do not know God for it is the HS that gives understanding and illuminates God’s will for us.

So as children of God we have all been indwelt with the HS. But we can ignore the prompting and leading of the HS. This odes not mean that we can foil the plan of God, but that we may ,miss out on what God can do in our lives if we but let Him.

We needs to be open to the leading of the spirit. We do this becausre we are completley dependant on the Lord for all things. He will provide the resources, the strength and the tal;ents to do His will. But we first need to seek Him together to see what His will might be.

So we start out with all that we have been given. Individually our skills, our talents our time our treasures, are we allowing God to use them for His glory or are we trying to keep them all to oursleves. Through the work of the HS they can be used for the glory of God by the strngth of God. He will give us all that we need to accomplish His will. But sometimes it is easy to be confused as to where exactly the Lord wants us to go

Are we working on our own power, or are we relying on God? Is God calling us to move forward or is it our own heart leading? I do not have an easy answer for this. I do not have all the answwers. But what I have learned is that we need to be open to the HS using us for the glory of God.

We can also prepare and plan. We spend time in prayer asking for the leading of God and plan what to do moving forward. We prepare to be used by God and ask Him t close any opportunities that he does not want for us and we step forward in Faith. We do this all the while giving it all up to God for the Glory of God. We will make mistakes. Buit we move forward and ask God to work through the plans and procedures we make and have faith that he will direct our steps.

Take camp for excample, it takes a lot of planning and work to get going, we schedule the day so we can do the best with the short time that we have been given all the while bathing it in prayer asking God to use what we have done for His glory asking the spirit to lead us in our planning. And God does! It is amazing to see every year God work through our humble talents and giufts. \

Be open to being led and used by the spirit and walk forward in faith even when you do not know what the next step may bring.