I Samuel 11-12
Sorry for the absence.
Parent/Teacher conference.
Getting ready for it and then having it. Both wipe me out. Big time.
Anyway, when this passage starts, an Ammonite man names Nahash has surrounded the city of Jabesh in Gilead.
The people of Jabesh were obviously a tad bit unnerved.
They begged for a treaty.
Nahash agreed to a treaty IF he would be allowed to poke out the right eye of each of the people.
Ow.
The leaders of Jabesh asked for a few days (7 to be exact) to seek help.
Messengers went out among the land.
So Saul comes home after a long day of plowing in the fields and encounters people crying.
When he hears what has been said, he is angry.
So angry that he took a pair of oxen and tore them to pieces.
Talk about being in the wrong place at the wrong time. I am talking about the oxen here.
Saul then organizes the people.
And the next day, at dawn, the people entered the Ammonite camp and defeated them before the heat of day.
Suddenly, all of those people, even the skeptics, decided Saul was the right man for the job. The king job.
In chapter 12, Samuel gives a farewell speech to the people.
He asks the people if he has done anything wrong before them.
They agree he hasn't.
Then he goes on to remind the people of their heritage, starting back with Moses and Aaron.
Don't we all need that sometimes?
We need those reminders of where we came from. Those reminders help steer us where we are going.
Samuel then reminded the people of their sins, including the evil of asking for a king. (Which is ironic since the king just helped the people defeat the Ammonites)
He went on to remind them to serve the Lord with all of their hearts.
A good reminder for us all.
Reba
Tomorrow's reading: I Samuel 13-15
