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I
Samuel
Chapter
11
{Disaster
of the Ammonite Invasion of Jabesh-Gilead}
{The
Best of Saul - 16 years before His Death}
1~~Then
Nachash/Nahash {name means snake}
the
Ammonite invaded,
and
besieged Jabeshgilead /'Jabesh of Gilead'
{the city of Jabesh in the area called Gilead -
the Jews are in the tribe of Manasseh}.
And
all the men of Jabesh
'said
unto'/'parlayed with' Nachash/Nahash {snake},
"Give
us favorable terms in a written treaty'
{idiom: literally 'engrave a treaty/covenant with us',
and
we will be your slaves
{better to be Red than Dead idea - no doctrine in their souls -
in reversionism - no Trust in the Lord - and ready to give up}."
{Note: The Ammonites came from the youngest daughter in incest with her father Lot (the Moabites came from incest between Lot and his oldest daughter). So the Ammonites are perverted relatives of the Jews. They are well known for their practice of the Phallic Cult with his sexual orgies and child sacrifice. Nachash was trying to get to the Jordan Valley - to get his people out of the desert.}
{The
Implacable and Vindictive Leader of the Ammonites}
2~~And
Nachash/Nahash {snake} the Ammonite answered them,
"On
this condition, I will negotiate/'make a treaty' with you,
that
I may gouge/dig out all your right eyes
{this would disqualify them to fight in this day because weapons
were held in the right hand the left eye was protected behind the
shield},
and
make it a reproach upon all Israel."
{Note: 85 years before this event, the Jews drove the Ammonites out of this area. So Snake the king is cruel, evil, vain, implacable, vindictive and stupid.}
3~~And
the rulers/elders of Jabesh said unto him,
"Give
us a seven day 'cease fire'/armistice {raphah},
that
we may send messengers unto all the territory of Israel
{means no central government in Israel at this time -
pretty close to anarchy at this time - each tribe on its own}.
And
then, if there be no one to deliver us,
we
will surrender to you."
{Note: Snake's intelligence report must have told him there were not 5 men in Israel who would help them and he needed the time to surround the Jews and actually take the city - so he allows the cease fire.}
4~~Then
came the messengers to Gibeah of Saul
{they were sent to all the tribes - these messengers went to
Saul's home town apparently they had not heard of Saul's
election by the people to king},
and
spoke these words/'the sad story' in the ears of the people.
And
all the people lifted up their voices, and kept on weeping
{no ability to do anything about it - their emotions took over -
all they could do was cry}.
{SuperGrace
Believer Saul (see previous chapter) Hears News}
5~~And,
behold, Saul came in from the fields
behind
the oxen
{Saul was out ranching when the message above came
now Saul hears the message}.
And
Saul kept saying,
"What's
wrong with the people that they keep on weeping?"
And
they recounted/'laid it all out for him'
the
communication/words {dabar}
of
the men of Jabesh
{that they were under attack and their right eyes were to be
gouged out, etc.}.
{Note: Notice the bible does NOT say Saul cried with the people. If your emotion controls your body, you are not in the Way of God. A SuperGrace believer controls his emotions and allows the divine norms and standards in your soul to act in times of crisis. Sometimes it is right to flee, other times to fight. This was a time to fight.}
6~~Now
the spirit {ruwach}
of
'Elohiym/Godhead 'came upon'/controlled Saul
{This was before the church Age. So here this means, God the
Holy Spirit endued Saul at this point - stirring up the doctrine in
his soul so the correct doctrinal viewpoint would be applied to
experience - Saul will be filled with righteous indignation.}
when
he 'heard and listened' {shama`}
those
communications {dabar},
and
his anger was kindled greatly.
7~~And
he {Saul} took a yoke of oxen,
and
cut/hewed them in pieces,
and
sent them throughout all the coasts of Israel
by
the hands of messengers, saying,
"Whosoever
does not join up with Saul
and
with Samuel {the prophet of God},
so
shall it be done to him and his oxen."
Then
respect/fear for Jehovah/God fell on the people,
and
they enlisted as one man
{they all enlisted immediately}.
{Jewish
National Army Assembles at Bezek}
8~~And
when he 'mustered and organized'/numbered them
in
Bezek {assembly point},
the
children of Israel {ben Yisra'el}
were
three hundred thousand
{from the 11 Tribes},
and
the men of Judah {'iysh Y@huwdah} thirty thousand.
{Note: The Holy Spirit separates between the 11 Tribes and the Tribe of Judah. Why is it stated this way? The average of the 11 Tribes was under thirty thousand each. Yet Judah was under great pressure from the Philistines from the South. Why did they contribute the most? The answer is because they were the strongest believers. They were also the royal tribe and will generate the next king (David) and all future kings of Israel. They have a great grace mental attitude. Notice also that only those from Judah are called 'men'. The others are children - spiritually immature. In the bible, mature believers are often called 'men' and less mature called 'babies', 'adolescents', and 'children'.}
9~~Now
they said unto the messengers that came,
"Meanwhile
you shall say unto the men of Jabeshgilead,
'Tomorrow,
you shall be delivered by the afternoon'
{idiom: literally 'by the time of the heat of the sun'}."
So,
the messengers went {about a 6 mile walk back}
and
told the men of Jabesh
and
they kept celebrating.
10~~Therefore
the men of Jabesh said,
"Tomorrow
we will come out unto you,
and
you shall do with us all that seems good
in
your eyes
{remember Nachash/Snake is going to gouge out their right eye -
so they answered him in a corny pun - the humor demonstrates
their confidence}."
{Note: They are giving the Ammonites the impression that they are giving up so they will be surprised when they are hit with Saul and his Jewish army.}
11~~Now
it came to pass on the next day,
that
Saul organized the people
in
three corps {about 110,000 men each corps}
{under the cover of darkness, Saul got the troops over the Jordan
River and now is getting his battle tactics down - wedge and trap
a tactical double envelopment - go around the flanks and attack
from the rear surrounding and destroying the Ammonites};
consequently,
they {one corps} advanced/charged
into
the middle of the army/host
{one corps barges in attracting the attention of all of the
Ammonites - sucking them into one location to trap them while
the other two corps circled around}
during
the morning watch {between 3 and 6 am},
and
slaughtered the Ammonites
{all three corps surrounding, trapping and killing}
until
the heat of the day
{about 2 pm - a full 8 hour day of slaughtering}.
And
it came to pass,
that
they who survived {in panic} scattered {in all directions}
{constantly running into another corps when they went in another
direction},
with
the result that no two of them were left together
{only single men could infiltrate the Jewish trap and escape -
two together were caught and killed - a complete victory}.
12~~Now
the people kept on saying to Samuel
{Samuel is technically still the ruler of the country - as God's man -
Saul was the "peoples' choice" but had not been crowned king
yet},
"Who
said, 'Shall Saul reign over us?'
Give
us the men, that we may cause them to be killed
{syntax implies that they will not personally kill them, but they
wanted to lead a battalion and take care of these 'worthless men'
(see Chapter 10:27)}."
{Note:
The Ammonites attacking and going to gouge out their eyes was a
warning from God for them to get back to Him and His Word. So, RBT
says from 1020 BC to 1004 BC, the men of Gilgal took in doctrine and
took in doctrine. So 16 years down the line, when Saul was defeated
and his body parts hung in the temples of the Philistines, it will be
the now courageous men from Jabesh-Gilead who snuck in and took back
the bodies (as opposed to their former cowardly selves who wanted to
become the slaves of the Ammonites to live) - see I Samuel 31:11 and
following. From this point in time, Saul will start on a 16 year trip
down hill spiritually while they move up spiritually.}
{SuperGrace
Response - the Credit is the Lord's}
13~~But
Saul responded {Samuel was asked but Saul responds},
"There
shall not a man be put to death this day
for
today Jehovah/God
has
accomplished/manufactured {`asah - out of His Grace}
the
deliverance/salvation {t@shuw`ah} in Israel."
{Note:
The men in verse 12 apparently wanted to get rid of some of THEIR
own personal enemies. But Saul is not going to allow them to use his
victory to bring the death of other men innocent of a crime just
because they opposed his being king - he is Walking in the Way of God
- they are vindictive, jealous, murderous - mental attitude sins and
not in fellowship (therefore not Walking the Way of God).}
14~~Now
said Samuel to the people,
"Let's
get out of here/Come {yalak - imperative mood},
and
let us go to Gilgal {other end of the valley},
and
renew the kingdom {coronate Saul as King} there
{Saul
was acclaimed king in 10:17 and following
but he did not take it now there will be a formal
coronation ceremony}."
{The
People's Choice Saul is Formally Crowned King of Israel}
15~~So
all the people went to Gilgal
{indicates
they are under central leadership now}
and
there they caused Saul to become king
{malak
in the Hiphil stem means that they 'voted him in'
and the Permissive will of God allowed it - remember
He was their King - but THEY wanted a human king like
the other nations. God permitted them this 'step down'
that they desired.}
before
Jehovah/God in Gilgal.
And
there they kept on sacrificing sacrifices of peace offerings
{indicates
a large number of sacrifices over a long period of time}
before
Jehovah/God.
And
there Saul and all the men of Israel
celebrated/'were
extremely exuberant'.
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