1 Samuel 11 – 2018-10-18
- Journal
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- Bible Text: 1 Samuel 11:8-15 (ESV)
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.
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.
- Reflection & Application: 1 Samuel 11:8-15
- What can I learn about human nature from the people’s reaction in v. 12?
- What can I learn from Saul’s response?
- How did God use this seemingly bad situation with Nahash the Ammonite for Saul’s good? What lesson can I learn from this about how I should view challenges and difficulties?
1 Samuel 11:1-7
- Contrast the two responses described in v. 4 and vv. 6-7.
- What can I learn from the fact that “they came out as one man” when “the dread of the LORD fell upon the people”?
- What happens to a group’s unity if the members of that group begin to give into their individual fears? In what way is proper fear of God an appropriate unifying factor for Christians?
- To what extent am I “standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel” (Phil 1:27)?
[1] Wilson, Bill T., NIV Application Commentary: 1 & 2 Samuel. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2003. 175-185.
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