THE DELIVERED
The city of Jabesh was under attack by the Ammonites, and they tried to cut a deal with them, offering themselves as subjects to the Ammonites in return for peace. The Israelites were fine with being under the rule of pagans, as long as they didn't have to suffer too much. They were fine with being help captive by a rival kingdom, when God had just gave the them a new king to oppose all other kingdoms. However, Nahash the Ammonite wanted more than the taxes and the servitude of the people; he wanted to humiliate the Israelites. The elders at Jabesh didn't cry out to God for deliverance. They didn't even call out to their new king (the one they asked for, remember?!) because they didn't believe in Saul's power to do anything about the situation. Instead, they sent out a general cry for help, a cry for a deliverer.
Like the Israelites throughout the Old Testament, we tolerate being help captive by sin way too much. As long as the sin doesn't seem to get in the way of our everyday lives, we allow ourselves to be enslaved by it. However, when our own sin gets us in trouble, we don't even turn to God, but turn to other things, feeling hopeless without recognizing the hope that God gives us.
“Instead of humbling themselves before God and confessing the sins that had brought them into trouble, they put God altogether aside, and basely offered to become the servants of the Ammonites . . . We see here the sad effect of sin and careless living in lowering men’s spirits, sapping courage, and discouraging noble effort. Oh, it is pitiable to see men tamely submitting to a vile master! Yet how often is the sight repeated! How often to men virtually say to the devil, ‘Make a covenant with us, and we will serve thee’!” (Balike)
THE DELIVERER
The good news is that a deliverer has come! Although in most of his reign Saul was a bad king, in this passage, Saul foreshadows how Jesus will deliver his people.
Humility and Obedience
It's unclear how much time passed between the anointing of Saul and this first mission of his, but either way, Saul went back to working his field after he was anointed! He didn't exercise his right as the king of Israel until God gave him the circumstances and the authority to do so. Saul didn't start making new laws, taxing citizens, or deporting illegal immigrants once he was in power. In fact, the people of Israel didn't even really recognize him as king yet because he needed to be reaffirmed as king after the battle! Instead, Saul waited until his calling as king became more clear (Israel never had a king before so he probably didn't know what he was supposed to do anyway).
Similarly, Jesus, though all-powerful and totally capable, did not start his ministry on earth as a child. He didn't start it as a teenager or even a young adult. Jesus waited for his time to come. Jesus lived as a regular guy, a common man, although he knew that he was the creator of all things, the king of all creation. In all things, Jesus was humble and only acted when the Father called him, doing nothing out of pride or arrogance.
Passion and Love for His People
When Saul heard about what Nahash threatened to do to his people, he went berserk, consumed by a righteous anger against those oppressing and humiliating God's people, the people the God had given him to protect. In his Super-Saiyan rage, Saul straight up butchered two oxen, gave it to his messengers, and told them to go to throughout Israel to "make 'em an offer they can't refuse." (An aside: How scary must it have been to be around Saul when he was going crazy?! Imagine a tall, handsome, usually reserved and humble individual going crazy and slaughtering two animals and tearing them up to shreds. Can you imagine if Jeffrey (for my NJers) or Bryan (for my UMers) was filled with righteous anger and took out a knife and started slicing up live oxen? Freakin scary.)
Jesus too cared about his people, and his love far surpasses that of Saul's. Instead of tearing apart the body of an ox, Jesus himself, the sacrificial lamb, had his body torn apart for us, the ultimate act of love. Jesus' anger was directed at sin and death itself, while towards people, even those who opposed and eventually crucified him, he showed compassion and forgiveness.
THE OUTCOME
Unification
Israel had previously been divided, with each tribe and city basically watching out for itself. God unites the country both militarily and in spirit through the adversity that they face. The passage says that the people "turned out as one man", which is a contrast to the description of the defeated Ammonites, who were "scattered, so that no two of them were left together." It is through unity that the church can battle the dark side, the Nahashes that attack the church.
Life, and life to the full
After the battle, Saul announced, "No one shall be put to death today, for this day the LORD rescued Israel." Saul's victory over the Ammonites and the grace he showed towards his opposition saved the lives of countless of God's people. However, Jesus not only delivers us from death and gives us life, he goes beyond it - "I have come so that they have life, and have it to the full (John 10:10)." The life that Jesus gives isn't just the lack of death, but it is an abundance of joy, love, and peace, and sugar, spice and everything nice. Saul delivered Israel from humiliation and captivity to freedom and life. Jesus did all that and more - he delivered us from death so we can enjoy everlasting life, and that life to the full.
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