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Beware of Your Assumptions
1 Samuel 10:17-11:15; Remsen Bible Fellowship; 11/22/2020
Introduction:
One of my favorite poems, one which I’m sure I’ve quoted from the pulpit before, is William Cowper’s God Moves in a Mysterious Way. The first line is the most famous, God moves in a mysterious way / His wonders to perform / He plants His footsteps in the sea / And rides upon the storm / Deep in unsearchable mines / Of never-failing skill / He treasures up His bright designs / And works His sovereign will. The poem goes on, but the driving idea is that while life may be full of storms and trials, we can always trust that our sovereign God is at work. As Charles Spurgeon would later put it, when we cannot trace his hand, we must trust his heart. Hard times come, but even then, we can trust that God is working all things together for the good of those who love him.
But are we only in spiritual danger when walking through the valley of the shadow of death? No, there other times when we may be tempted to doubt God-or perhaps more dangerous still, to simply forget him. Perhaps the most dangerous times for us are when things seem to be going well. When we look at the circumstances, see good things happening, and assume: things are going my way, I must be doing something right! But is that necessarily so? This text will force that question upon us.
We’re going to divide our study into three portions this morning. We’ll begin by looking at the latter half of chapter ten, where God gives the people their king.
God Gives the People their King, 10:17-27
17 Now Samuel called the people together to the LORD at Mizpah. 18 And he said to the people of Israel, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘I brought up Israel out of Egypt, and I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all the kingdoms that were oppressing you.’ 19 But today you have rejected your God, who saves you from all your calamities and your distresses, and you have said to him, ‘Set a king over us.’ Now therefore present yourselves before the LORD by your tribes and by your thousands.”
20 Then Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel near, and the tribe of Benjamin was taken by lot. 21 He brought the tribe of Benjamin near by its clans, and the clan of the Matrites was taken by lot; and Saul the son of Kish was taken by lot. But when they sought him, he could not be found. 22 So they inquired again of the LORD, “Is there a man still to come?” and the LORD said, “Behold, he has hidden himself among the baggage.” 23 Then they ran and took him from there. And when he stood among the people, he was taller than any of the people from his shoulders upward. 24 And Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see him whom the LORD has chosen? There is none like him among all the people.” And all the people shouted, “Long live the king!”
25 Then Samuel told the people the rights and duties of the kingship, and he wrote them in a book and laid it up before the LORD. Then Samuel sent all the people away, each one to his home. 26 Saul also went to his home at Gibeah, and with him went men of valor whose hearts God had touched. 27 But some worthless fellows said, “How can this man save us?” And they despised him and brought him no present. But he held his peace.
A Conveneing Word
If you remember the last time we were in 1 Samuel, a young man named Saul had gone in search of his Father’s donkeys. He and his servant strike out when it comes to searching for the beasts of burden, but in the process they head into a city where the man of God, Samuel the prophet, is staying. This is not long after chapter 8, where the people have demanded that Samuel appoint for them a new king. And though Samuel is reluctant, God instructs him to obey their voice. What Saul doesn’t know, as he heads into the city to ask the prophet if he can help with the donkey problem, is that this man of God is waiting for him. Saul is going to be anointed by Samuel as prince over God’s people (v2). After this, he returns home-and plays his cards close to the vest. He experiences some interesting side-effects of being filled by the Spirit, such that the people in his home town are confused by the transformation that has come over him. But all he’ll tell his uncle is that Samuel relieved his mind of the donkey troubles. He says nothing of kingship.
But now the time for odd prophetic events, hidden anointings and whispers of the kingship, is over. Samuel gathers all the people together, and they’re going to use the sophisticated method of casting lots as the way to figure out who should be the head man. Who will be our king? Let’s roll the dice.
But before we get there, we should stop and scratch our heads first. Samuel has brought the people together for the express purpose of crowning a king over them. But does he gather them together and talk about what a joyous occasion this is? No, he opens in v18-19 by rebuking the people for their stubborn desire for a human figurehead. 18 And he said to the people of Israel, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘I brought up Israel out of Egypt, and I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all the kingdoms that were oppressing you.’ 19 But today you have rejected your God, who saves you from all your calamities and your distresses, and you have said to him, ‘Set a king over us.’ Now therefore present yourselves before the LORD by your tribes and by your thousands.”
God has delivered this people time and time again. And yet instead of trusting his loving rule, we remember from chapter 8 verse 20 that they desire a king to be like all the nations. They reject their peculiar relationship with God, the protection that only he can provide, in order to have a strong man who will defend them. As we discussed when we were in chapter 8, this is a temptation that is not unique to the people of Israel. Even as 21st century Christians, there is a strong pull toward pragmatism in how we view earthly power. The big successful businesses have hard-driving, tough nosed, rule-defying leaders, that’s how you succeed in this world! Well, if we want our church to succeed then we’ll have to find a leader to fit that mold of extreme drivenness and “it” factor, right? The world thinks all power runs through politics and people tie all of their hopes for the nation into who holds political office at any given moment, and the worst possible thing is for the other side, the enemy, to win. So as Christians we should check our morality at the door and just look for a strong man to defend us, right? In relationships we are told to look out for number one, to follow your heart, and to always be attuned to what’s best for you. So we should worship our own desires and seek our own fulfillment at all costs, right?
The allure of the world, the desire to do things the way everyone else is doing them, is incredibly dangerous. No one is free from the temptation. But the way of the dragon, Satan, stands in stark contrast to the way of the Lamb of God. Samuel is reminding the people of this. Though God will give them their desire, what they are about to receive is the fruit of their sinful wishes and desires, and we ought to keep that in mind as the narrative moves forward. Samuel’s words might seem harsh, but as Dale Ralph Davis notes in his commentary, “Israel’s God may love us too much to be nice.”
A Roll of the Dice
So now we come to verse 20, where the people have convened. And here we find them casting lots to determine who is to be king. Casting lots was not an unusual way in Scripture of determining what the will of God was. First I should define it, as I tend to use rolling the dice as a stand in phrase, and that’s close but not exactly accurate. They wouldn’t have had perfectly uniform 6-sided and numbered dice like we do. But they would have a variety of identifiable objects in a small jar or container, and as they were dumped out there was some value assigned to each one used to determine what was to take place. So not technically rolling dice-but essentially the same idea. In Leviticus 16 we see it used in the sacrificial system, in Numbers 26 it is used in the dividing up of territory, and we even find it making an appearance in the New Testament as the apostles cast lots between two men to decide who will replace Judas in Acts 1:26. This was all done with the understanding, as communicated in Proverbs 16:33, that the lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord. Even the rolling of the proverbial Yatzhee dice is under God’s controlling rule.
Are these instances given as a model for how we ought to make decisions in our day? I don’t think so. The point in this passage is simply to drive home a point: God is the one giving this king, and he is in control of every step of the process. Remember that this all falls after Samuel has anointed Saul. Yet he doesn’t gather everyone together and say, hey guys! God told me who the king is! No, instead he gathers the people, and they cast lots. Samuel, apparently, is completely confident that the will of the Lord will be made clear through this roll of the dice.
But when the Lot falls to Saul, he is nowhere to be found. He is hiding among the luggage (v21-22). What are we to make of this? Some would say this points to Saul’s humility, that we ought to commend him for it. I’m rather skeptical of that view. Saul was chosen by God, anointed by Samuel, and God confirmed all this to him through a series of miraculous fulfilled prophecies in the first half of this chapter. But here, instead of humbly accepting his role as king, Saul hides in the baggage. Which must have been a ridiculous site, here you have a guy who is a head and a half taller than everyone, and he’s tucked away, cowering in the corner. He’s got a blanket pulled over his head like when Owen is trying to hide on his bed. Really, Saul? This doesn’t speak to me of humility. This speaks of a pride that sees itself as knowing better than God what you’re fit to do. And we can fall into this as well. Tell that person about Jesus? I don’t know how. Maybe I’d look like a hypocrite, after all, I’m a sinner. God isn’t waiting for you to be qualified for the tasks he gives. He just wants you to obey. Saul should have been ready to obey.
But when they do find him and bring him forward, the people are excited by what they see. He looks the part! Head and shoulders taller than the rest, and remember from 9:2 that there was not a man among the people of Israel more handsome than he. There is no question this is what any group of people naturally searches for. So we read in verse 24, And Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see him whom the LORD has chosen? There is none like him among all the people.” And all the people shouted, “Long live the king!”
A Charge
This chapter closes with Samuel spelling out the rights and duties of the kingship. Note the contrast between this and chapter 8. In chapter 8, Samuel warns the people of the ways of kings, the way kings naturally end up behaving. But here, he spells out what the actual rights are, along with the responsibilities which are tied to it. I would imagine that this is probably, at least in part, the words Moses wrote down in Deuteronomy 17:14-20. After this charge, everyone is sent home. Which seems an odd thing, except we have to remember there is yet no capital. Saul has no palace to reign from, no throne to sit upon, no army to lead. So just like everyone else, he heads back home.
There are some skeptics, though, who we won’t dwell on but it’s worth pointing them out. In v27 there are some worthless fellows who question the choice of Saul. How can this man save us? They ask. And they refuse to bring him any gift. Yet Saul chooses not to respond to them, which I do believe is to his credit. He ignores the insult.
But where does the story go from here? There’s a king, but where’s his kingdom? Does he actually do anything? That brings us to the next chapter.
God Delivers His People by the King, 11:1-11
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.
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.
A Bad Situation
As we come to chapter 11, we find Nahash the Ammonite causing some trouble. This seems to come out of the blue, as most of our Bibles have a sharp break from 10:27 to 11:1. However, there were some ancient manuscripts which included additional material at the end of v27 that bridged the gap. Whether it is original to the text we can’t be sure, but it does help us perhaps get a feel for the gravity of the situation. Now Nahash, the king of the Ammonites, had been oppressing the Gadites and the Reubenites grievously, gouging out the right eye of each of them and allowing Israel no deliverer. No men of the Israelites who were across the Jordan remained whose right eye Nahash, king of the Ammonites, had not gouged out. But seven thousand men had escaped from the Ammonites and entered into Jabesh-gilead.
Jabesh-Gilead was itself on the east side of the river, where apparently Nahash is running roughshod over Israel. But when he comes to this place, the men try to surrender without the humiliating and devastating consequence of having their right eye removed. When Nahash refuses their offer they ask for a week. Surprisingly, he agrees. I suppose this could simply be an indicator that Nahash doesn’t think anyone from Israel can or will attempt to stop him. So agrees to the week long wait, and starts to ready his eye gouging tools. These men of Israel are desperate. They need a deliverer.
Enter the Hero
The messengers reach Saul’s hometown, but he isn’t there. He’s been out in their field, plowing with the oxen. When he hears the news, in v6, we see a phrase repeated from 10:10: the Spirit of God rushed upon Saul. But this time, instead of joining the prophets, Saul’s anger is kindled at what is being done to God’s people. So he takes the oxen, chops them in pieces, and uses them as a visual lesson for anyone who won’t join him in the fight against Nahash. Join me, or I’ll do this to your oxen, too. Verse 7 tells us that then the dread of the Lord fell upon the people, and they came out as one man. Saul gathers them together at Bezek, north of his home in Gibeah and across the Jordan river from Jabesh-Gilead. With 300,000 men of Israel and 30,000 of Judah, Saul sends the messengers back to Gibeah and promises them salvation by noon the next day.
And as we come to verse 11, we find that his promise comes true. Saul brings this massive army across the Jordan River and simply demolishes the Ammonite army. It says in v11, 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. If that’s not a resounding victory, I don’t know what is.
So the people’s plan worked, right? Give us a king...to go before us and fight our battles. That’s what they asked for in chapter 8, and here comes Saul doing just that. He rescued them. He fought their battles and saved them. So the people were right, and God was wrong, right?
That works if you just conveniently forget all the times God had delivered them without a human king. God wasn’t dependent upon a king to save his people. And when the people focus on the king, they may still get deliverance, but they lose sight of the true source of salvation. Which brings us to the end of chapter 11.
The People Fully Embrace the King, 11:12-15
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.
Here at the end of this first military victory for Saul, the people are both overjoyed and incensed. Overjoyed by the result of battle, incensed that there were men who questioned Saul. Where are they? they want to know. Let’s kill them! And again, Saul responds rightly to these men. Verse 13 reads, But Saul said, “Not a man shall be put to death this day, for today the LORD has worked salvation in Israel.” Saul locates the source of victory correctly (the Lord), and responds rightly to the bloodlust. Why bring pain upon the people when God has just saved us? It reminds us of Paul’s words in Romans 12:18-21, If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. 19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” 20 To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Saul in this chapter is the great hero. He is filled with the Holy Spirit to deliver a great military victory, and deliver he does. And the people are overjoyed, as we see in v14-15. Overjoyed to the point where they are renewing the kingdom. It’s as if God picked Saul the first time, and now the people are saying, let’s crown him again! They are ecstatic over the state of things in their nation.
But even the reference to Gilgal here is ominous. Our passage opened with Samuel warning the people that their desire for a king was a result of their rejection of God. And here, when things can’t seem to get better, we read of sacrifices at Gilgal, where we will see in chapter 13 one of Saul’s massive early failures.
I think the author of 1 Samuel wants us to look beneath the surface of events. He wants us to see that regardless of what is happening in terms of military victories and coronation ceremonies, God is most concerned about where the hearts of the people are looking for hope.
Where are you looking for hope this morning? Perhaps you are looking to a human ruler, someone who can unite us as a nation. Perhaps, as we come into the holiday season, you’re looking for hope and happiness in having friends and family around-which might be a little tougher this year. Perhaps you’re looking to a relationship you have or want to have and hoping that person will make you whole and take away the loneliness. The danger in these, or the many other places we look for happiness, isn’t just that they will fail us. Of course, in the end they all do. Politicians actually wield far less power than we think, families are full of disappointment, and the best of human relationships are full of let downs and eventually end. They will all fail.
But they also all have the potential to be incredibly satisfying. The politician might score some points we really like. He might fill up the federal judiciary in a way that we appreciate. There is an immense amount of joy to be had in a table full of laughing family members. And there is nothing like having a close friend or a spouse with whom to share your deepest self. And it’s in all of these legitimate joys that the things of earth can actually pose the most danger. Because, to borrow a phrase, we can take good things and treat them like ultimate things. It’s easy in life’s joys to misdirect our worship and focus on the temporal circumstances, and fail to acknowledge God as the one from whom all blessings flow. It’s easy to miss our need for a spiritual Savior because this earthly life is going just fine.
So as we come to thanksgiving this week, do rejoice in all that God has given. Be thankful for he has given. But don’t let your hope rest there. Handsome kings, military victories, and successful protests are all sinking sand. Christ, the one who came and died, who satisfied God’s wrath for us, who rose and promises life to all who trust in him: he is the only king who won’t fail us. He is the only man worth putting our hope in. All authority in heaven and on earth is his. Trust him.