The Lord Has Worked Salvation
Notes
Transcript
If you have your Bible (and I hope you do), please turn with me to 1 Samuel 11. Please keep your Bible open in front of you this morning as we work our way through this chapter a few verses at a time. Let’s start with verses 1 and 2.
1 Nahash the Ammonite went up and besieged Jabesh Gilead. And all the men of Jabesh said to him, “Make a treaty with us, and we will be subject to you.”
2 But Nahash the Ammonite replied, “I will make a treaty with you only on the condition that I gouge out the right eye of every one of you and so bring disgrace on all Israel.”
Let’s turn to the map. We need to see where things are located here when we come to this story about Nahash the Ammonite.
[Map]
There’s a footnote in your Bible (more than likely) that reads something like:
“Now Nahash king of the Ammonites oppressed the Gadites and Reubenites severely. He gouged out all their right eyes and struck terror and dread in Israel. Not a man remained among the Israelites beyond the Jordan whose right eye was not gouged out by Nahash king of the Ammonites, except that seven thousand men fled from the Ammonites and entered Jabesh Gilead. About a month later, Nahash...”
This was probably added to a manuscript by a later editor; it’s not part of the Biblical record. The Bible doesn’t say Nahash is the king of the Ammonites, just an Ammonite. It’s possible that the person who added this paragraph was following a true tradition; it’s just not part of 1 Samuel.
The detail is interesting, though. All but 7,000 men had their right eyes gouged out; and those 7,000 ran to Jabesh Gilead. So here we are.
1 Nahash the Ammonite went up and besieged Jabesh Gilead. And all the men of Jabesh said to him, “Make a treaty with us, and we will be subject to you.”
2 But Nahash the Ammonite replied, “I will make a treaty with you only on the condition that I gouge out the right eye of every one of you and so bring disgrace on all Israel.”
3 The elders of Jabesh said to him, “Give us seven days so we can send messengers throughout Israel; if no one comes to rescue us, we will surrender to you.”
At the sight of Nahash, the men of Jabesh Gilead turn into spineless jellyfish who value their right eyes more than anything else.
To be fair, that sounds awful—having your eye gouged out.
What’s more, that would render the men unable to serve in the military. The shield covered up the left eye, so without your right eye, you’d be fighting blind.
There aren’t many lefties in the Bible; there’s Ehud, 700 Benjamites who could use a sling with their left hand, and 2-dozen ambidextrous soldiers who came to help David).
For the apparently right-handed men of Jabesh Gilead, having their right eyes gouged out would force them into non-military servitude.
Nahash might have been a psychopath; his enemies are dealing with a formidable, terrifying foe who wants nothing more than to heap disgrace upon the Israelites. It was a thrill for him to slowly turn the screws of humiliation. Nahash was having such fun with his little game.
“We can hardly expect otherwise from depraved sinners. Most of us are far less bloody and far more refined in the kind of cruelty we inflict on others.”-DRD
As soon as Nahash comes to Jabesh Gilead, these men scream “Treaty!” just as quickly as they could. “I scream, you scream, we all scream for a treaty!”
Instead of turning to the Lord, crying out to the Lord who saves, they think, “Hmmm, how ‘about a treaty. Give us a week to see if we can hunt down some help. Maybe someone out there can work salvation for us, but if not—probably not—we’ll surrender to you.”
Why do God’s people come to this point so quickly? Doubting that God will take care of us, being skeptical of Him? We so quickly lament: “If no one comes to rescue us…I guess we’ll just give in and give up.” We are distrusting of the Lord; we question His concern.
Here’s the truth:
There is No Question about Our Rescue
There is No Question about Our Rescue
When the enemy threatens, when we face difficulty, when tragedy strikes, when darkness seems like it might overtake the light, we don’t have to wonder if anyone will come to rescue us.
Jesus came for precisely that. Paul writes about our rescue over and over, because there’s no question that Jesus came to our rescue; He came to rescue, to save, to deliver us:
Romans 7:24–25 (NIV)
24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? 25 Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!
Colossians 1:13 (NIV)
13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves,
Galatians 1:3–4 (NIV)
3 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, 4 who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father,
1 Thessalonians 1:10 (NIV)
10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.
2 Timothy 3:10–11 (NIV)
10 You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, 11 persecutions, sufferings—what kinds of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, the persecutions I endured. Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them.
2 Timothy 4:18 (NIV)
18 The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Peter continues this theme, holding onto this hope:
2 Peter 2:9 (NIV)
9 ...the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment.
The Lord has rescued us. From the dominion of darkness, from the clutches of death, from persecution and suffering and trials, from ourselves, from our sin, from this present evil age, from the coming wrath.
The Lord has worked salvation for us through Jesus Christ, our Savior. He’s our Rescuer, our deliverer, our salvation.
There is no question about our rescue. Jesus has rescued us. He is rescuing us. And He will rescue us. Count on it.
Sadly, the people of Jabesh Gilead don’t trust the Lord to work salvation for them. They don’t realize He is their deliverer; they should, but they don’t.
So the messengers head out seeking someone—anyone—who will save them. The news about what Nahash is threatening spreads and causes all kinds of emotions:
4 When the messengers came to Gibeah of Saul and reported these terms to the people, they all wept aloud. 5 Just then Saul was returning from the fields, behind his oxen, and he asked, “What is wrong with everyone? Why are they weeping?” Then they repeated to him what the men of Jabesh had said.
It’s terrifying, to be sure. The people, understandably, all weep aloud.
When Saul, who was just chosen as king by lot in front of all Israel, comes in from the field (!) where he’s just been working with a team of oxen, he’s struck by the weeping. He asks, “What’s up?” and gets to hear the gory, eye-gouging tale.
6 When Saul heard their words, the Spirit of God came powerfully upon him, and he burned with anger. 7 He took a pair of oxen, cut them into pieces, and sent the pieces by messengers throughout Israel, proclaiming, “This is what will be done to the oxen of anyone who does not follow Saul and Samuel.” Then the terror of the Lord fell on the people, and they came out together as one. 8 When Saul mustered them at Bezek, the men of Israel numbered three hundred thousand and those of Judah thirty thousand.
9 They told the messengers who had come, “Say to the men of Jabesh Gilead, ‘By the time the sun is hot tomorrow, you will be rescued.’ ” When the messengers went and reported this to the men of Jabesh, they were elated. 10 They said to the Ammonites, “Tomorrow we will surrender to you, and you can do to us whatever you like.”
Notice the emotions of the people. Saul burns with anger (and this, after the Spirit of God rushes on Saul). After Saul’s warning, the terror of the Lord fell on the people (that’s so much better than fear of man). Saul invokes Samuel’s name; a new king and the trusted leader. This unites the people; Saul musters the men: 330,000 in all.
When the messengers announce to the men of Jabesh Gilead this glad promise—“By the time the sun is hot tomorrow, you will be rescued”—the joy is palpable. Their weeping is turned into elation.
Psalm 30:5 “weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.”
The men of Jabesh Gilead are a elated and a little snarky.
Back in verse 3, when the elders told Nahash if they couldn’t find someone to rescue them, then “we will surrender to you” that’s precisely what they meant. They’d give up and hand over their right eyes.
But this phrase—we will surrender to you—is also used in the sense of soldiers going out to battle. So here in verse 10, the men of Jabesh Gilead again promise to “give themselves over to” the Ammonites, just not in the way they meant it in verse 3. A little snarky.
“We’ll give ourselves to you, alright!” The Ammonites are expecting surrender; the men from Jabesh Gilead are ready for a fight (it’s the Ammonites verses Jabesh Gilead and 330,000 of their closest friends).
The promise of rescue—By the time the sun is hot tomorrow, you will be rescued—strengthens the men. The promise of rescue, the help their receive.
1 Samuel 11:11 (NIV)
11 The next day Saul separated his men into three divisions; during the last watch of the night (between 2:00 a.m. - 6:00 a.m.) they broke into the camp of the Ammonites and slaughtered them until the heat of the day. Those who survived were scattered, so that no two of them were left together.
Rescue was promised. And so it was.
Our Rescue is Promised
Our Rescue is Promised
Our rescue is similar in many ways to the rescue of Jabesh Gilead. It was promised to us from early on (Genesis 3). It was typified throughout the OT. This story in 1 Samuel 11, like so many others, is a shadow, a hint of what Jesus would do.
Like the men of Jabesh Gilead, we’re helpless against our Enemy. We are weak and needy. We are prone to surrender. We doubt anyone can or will help us.
And then Another comes to fight for us. Another comes and rescues us, doing what we could not do ourselves. And Our Promised Rescuer saves more than our right eyes.
The promise of our rescue strengthens us. It should, and rightly so, turn our weeping into joy. Our tearful fretting should give way to elation. Sorrow should transform into rejoicing. Another came to rescue us, to deliver us, to work salvation for us… just as He promised.
12 The people then said to Samuel, “Who was it that asked, ‘Shall Saul reign over us?’ Turn these men over to us so that we may put them to death.”
13 But Saul said, “No one will be put to death today, for this day the Lord has rescued Israel.”
14 Then Samuel said to the people, “Come, let us go to Gilgal and there renew the kingship.” 15 So all the people went to Gilgal and made Saul king in the presence of the Lord. There they sacrificed fellowship offerings before the Lord, and Saul and all the Israelites held a great celebration.
There’s some real hope here that Saul’s kingship is heading in the right direction.
It sure sounds like after this defeat of the Ammonites, Saul could have taken the credit for the rescue of Jabesh Gilead (in fact, the heading in my Bible before 1 Samuel 11 reads: “Saul Rescues the City of Jabesh”).
Saul could have taken the credit and incited his supporters to retaliate against those who were against him—those scoundrels we met at the end of chapter 10 who question Saul’s kingship: “How can this fellow save us?” They despised him and brought him no gifts. But Saul kept silent.”
After the victory over the Ammonites, the people want to put these scoundrels (and possibly other naysayers) to death.
But Saul doesn’t allow it. He doesn’t allow it, but he also doesn’t stay silent.
Here’s the hopeful part of Saul’s kingship. Saul shows mercy to those who were against him. And he doesn’t take credit for the rescue; he points to the True Rescuer.
13 But Saul said, “No one will be put to death today, for this day the Lord has rescued Israel.”
The Lord has rescued Israel. The Lord has delivered His people. The Lord has worked salvation.
Samuel directs the people to renew the kingship. Samuel calls them to assemble at Gilgal.
A lot of significant stuff happens at Gilgal. The Lord’s power has worked there against hopeless odds (when Joshua and the people crossed the Jordan). It’s where a “new” people of God came into being after the rebellious decades in the wilderness (they were circumcised and they celebrated the Passover).
When Samuel says, “Let’s go to Gilgal and renew the kingship,” this is a call to remember what the Lord had done; a call to renewed allegiance to the Lord’s rule—His rule over them, over the king, over all.
When they do this, they make sacrifices before the Lord (it feels more religious, more worshipful than political). It’s not about Saul; it’s about the Lord.
It’s as Saul said, “This day the Lord has rescued Israel.”
The people, once weeping and terrified, celebrate and worship. It’s hopeful. They are together. The king is doing what he should—leading rightly and rightly pointing people to the Lord, the One who saves.
The theme of 1 Samuel 11 is salvation/rescue/deliverance. Salvation is the theme of the chapter.
Each movement of the story includes the use of this word—יָשַׁע (yāšaʿ). vb. to save, deliver, help; to be helped, to be victorious. The core meaning of this verb involves helping or saving from danger.
The theme is salvation.
Saul can say after the rescue of the people: “The Lord has worked salvation,” and so can we because:
Our Rescue Has Been Realized
Our Rescue Has Been Realized
Our rescue was promised. And it has been realized.
Jesus came. He died. He was buried, and on the third day, He rose again. He conquered death. He paid for our sins. He absorbed the wrath of God we deserve. He made us right with God the Father.
He has rescued us.
And we know that Jesus is coming again, and soon, to set the world at rights; He will make all things new.
He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness, and we know He will rescue us from the coming wrath.
He will come in triumph. In victory, the Rescuer will turn our weeping into joy.
Our Lord and Savior has rescued us and He rules from on high. Our rescue has been realized. Our Rescuer has rescued us. Our Savior has saved us. Our Deliverer has delivered us.
Days before he was killed in a car accident, Rich Mullins sat in an abandoned church and recorded a song entitled “My Deliverer.” It’s a hauntingly beautiful song, full of hope and promise. The main lyric of the chorus has been stuck in my brain as I’ve prepared this sermon. It seem appropriate:
“My Deliverer is coming, My Deliverer is standing by. My Deliverer is coming, My Deliverer is standing by.”
I pray you never doubt your rescue, that you believe the promise of Jesus’ rescue, and the realization that Jesus has rescued a people for Himself by His death on the cross.
Not because we deserve it.
Not because we’ve earned it.
Not because of anything we’ve done, but because God loved us and while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
“The Lord has worked salvation.”