A King is Born

Thank you very much Fiona and Andy and Alistair as well.

Good evening everyone, really good to see you this evening as we come to continue our studies in 1 Samuel, 1 Samuel chapter 11.

1 Samuel 11 · chapter mention

In 2002 there was a poll taken to find out who was the greatest ever Britain,

and you may well be aware that the result of the poll was that Winston Churchill was voted as the greatest Britain.

Now if you'd asked someone in the early months of 1940 if Winston Churchill was going to be the greatest Britain ever,

they would undoubtedly have laughed at you, because no one at that stage saw Winston Churchill,

or very few people saw Winston Churchill as the great man that we would today.

The kind of things that were said about him before he became prime minister was that he was overbearing,

he was villainous, he was unreliable, he had no judgment, and he was useless.

Some of these from the press, some of them from his fellow politicians.

Very few people would have seen Winston Churchill as being a natural candidate to be prime minister,

and certainly not as someone who could successfully lead the country through the Second World War.

Let's go forward a few years to when Winston Churchill stepped down as prime minister,

and these are the kind of things that were being said about him.

He was a statesman, he was passionate, he was inspiring, he was courageous, he was a man of action.

A total turnaround in the public perception of a man.

Why did that happen?

Well, lots of reasons I'm sure, but I would suggest that for Winston Churchill, the sequence is something like this.

He was determined that evil shouldn't triumph.

He firmly believed that the war was winnable.

He managed to motivate other people to believe that the war was winnable too,

and he successfully led them through it to victory.

I think there are some obvious parallels then as we come to our passage this evening and look at Saul.

If you were here a couple of weeks ago when Alistair was taking us through the previous few chapters,

you may remember that Saul had been anointed king by Samuel,

and he had been chosen by an apparently random, not really random,

but apparently random process among the tribes and the clans and so on.

The lot in the end fell on Saul as king.

So in one sense he had been crowned and accepted as the king of the Israelites.

But at the end of chapter 10, there are still some people saying,

how can this fellow save us?

What has he done?

He's just a farmer's son from a remote part of the land.

What has he done?

What can he do to save our people?

And it is in chapter 11 that we really see Saul coming to life and demonstrating his credentials.

Very similar to Churchill.

He sees evil and he's determined it won't triumph.

He believes that the victory can be won.

He motivates others to follow him and he leads them through the battle.

And by the end of chapter 11, Saul is universally recognized as being the king and the rightful king.

Now it has to be said, chapter 11 is very much the high point of Saul's life.

It is all downhill from then on.

But chapter 11, he comes out very well as the one who is sent and was used by God and was able to deliver his people.

And he then gets the recognition of the whole nation.

I think it's quite important when we come to a passage like this to see it as much as we can through the eyes of the people who were there at the time

and those who would first have read the words that are recorded in 1 Samuel.

So I want to spend just a few minutes looking at the geography and the history of this situation.

So geography first, there's a map of Israel.

Not sure where you can see it, but hopefully at least you can see that running down the middle is the River Jordan

with the Sea of Galilee at the top and the Dead Sea down the bottom.

The tribes of Israel were split between the two sides of the River Jordan.

We mentioned that last Sunday at our vision evening.

Two and a half tribes were on the west side of the Jordan, rather, and the remaining tribes were on the east side.

So Reuben and Gad and half tribe of Manasseh had chosen that particular land over on the right of your picture there

and the other tribes that settled on the other side.

Now around them on both sides were enemies.

The main enemies of the Israelites at that time were the Philistines.

We've read about them already in 1 Samuel.

And of course, when we come on to the story of David, the Philistines feature very strongly.

They were the ones that posed the greatest threat to Israel as a whole.

But on the east side, where the two and a half tribes were, there was another nation called the Ammonites.

Not as big, not as powerful as the Philistines, but nevertheless capable of coming in battle against the Israelites.

And they were probably depending on the fact that the Philistines were occupying most of the tribes of Israel in defending themselves.

And rather opportunistically, they came and attacked the two and a half tribes that had settled there.

When we read the Bible as we have it in most of our Bibles today, it looks as if they came specifically and attached this town of Jabesh Gilead.

In the Dead Sea Scrolls, the scrolls which were discovered not that many years ago, which had much of the scripture in them.

In these Dead Sea Scrolls, there are some extra verses at the start of chapter 11.

Some of your Bibles may have them as a footnote to chapter 11.

And these scrolls say that what actually happened was that the Ammonites came and they attacked the two and a half tribes.

They defeated them.

They gouged out the right eyes of most of the men there.

And the ones who were actually there in Jabesh Gilead at the end were those who had escaped from the Ammonites and were taking shelter there.

And they were being besieged and were to suffer the same fate as the others.

Most scholars seem to think that that is a genuine account of things.

It's not in the scripture as we have it.

Probably right that it's not because it's not the focus of this chapter.

But maybe quite interesting background that the people who were there were the survivors possibly of a bigger attack,

which already had claimed many of their compatriots.

So that's the geography.

We have the two and a half tribes.

They're kind of isolated from the rest.

And they have been attacked.

And Jabesh Gilead is being besieged.

And there are the two key towns in this story.

Jabesh Gilead we've talked about and Gebeah, which is where Saul is, which is just a bit north of Jerusalem.

And these two towns are significant because they come up before in our Bibles.

In one of the most unsavory episodes in the history of Israel in Judges 19 to 21,

these towns play a pivotal part.

So let me just very briefly describe and summarize what happened.

It's not very edifying, but it's important that we understand what was going on there.

So there was an attack on the concubine of a Levite at Gebeah.

She was repeatedly raped and eventually died of what had been done to her.

The Israelites then waged war against the tribe of Benjamin,

which refused to release to them the men who had done this.

So there was a big civil war in Israel, which eventually, after a bit of a battle,

the main armies of Israel won against the Benjamites,

almost entirely destroyed the Benjamites,

but then got to the point where they were saying,

well, we don't really want one of the tribes of Israel to disappear completely.

We need to do something about this.

And what they said they would do was they would find a town in Israel

that hadn't sent any soldiers to fight in the war,

and they would take women from that to be wives for the Benjamites.

And they found that Jabesh Gilead was the one place in Israel

which hadn't sent soldiers to the war,

and they went and slaughtered most of the people of that town

and brought some of the women back to be wives for the Benjamites.

As I say, a very unsavory time in the land of Israel.

Horrific that God's people should get involved in these things.

Why is that significant to this chapter,

apart from the thing that there are two towns that are there?

Well, three things I would suggest.

There's probably more we could look at,

but three things I'd suggest that are maybe relevant.

The first is that the people of Jabesh Gilead

and the people of Gebeah may well have been related

because the Benjamite woman had been brought back to populate the land.

So Saul may have been descended from one of the women

who was taken from Jabesh Gilead.

They were kinfolk,

and perhaps that's why the plea went out to Gebeah,

which happened to be Saul's town.

Second thing is I think there's a bit of an irony here,

and I'm sure that irony wouldn't be lost on the people at the time.

Here was the town that had refused to go out and fight for Israel,

and it's pleading for Israel to come and fight for it.

So the town that refused to fight

is asking others to come and to fight for it.

But thirdly, and probably most significantly,

when we look at chapters 19 and 21 of Judges,

Judges 19 · chapter mention

chapter 19 begins with the words,

In those days Israel had no king.

Chapter 21 ends with the words,

In those days Israel had no king.

Everyone did as they saw fit.

So people would look back on Judges 19 to 21,

and they would say,

This is what happens when you don't have a king.

You get anarchy, you get wickedness,

you get all sorts of things happening.

And they would say,

Ah, but now we do have a king.

And look what happens when we have a king.

He goes out, and he rescued his people,

and he restores order.

So the events way back in Judges,

I think, have some significance

when we look at 1 Samuel.

For us, though, perhaps not quite as much

as for the Israelites to begin with.

It is history for us.

It's perhaps, for some of us,

at least interesting history.

But it is not, I think,

the main lesson we're going to get

from this chapter.

So let's just walk through it.

And four points I want to make,

and I think the lessons from them

will be fairly obvious.

So we're talking about God's chosen king.

It's all chosen by God.

And the first thing we note about him

is that he is anointed with the Spirit.

That's in verse 6.

So why did I start at verse 6

and not at verse 1?

Well, let me put some up on the screen.

You may not be able to read all of this.

I'm hoping you can read some of it.

But it gives something of the structure

of this passage.

I find more and more,

as I study the Bible,

you come across passages like this

where there's a bit of a symmetry

to what the Bible says.

So in this passage,

in verse 1 of the chapter,

God's people are being attacked.

In verses 12 to 13, they're rescued.

Verse 2, the Ammonites threaten.

Verse 11, they flee.

Verse 3, Jabesh Gilead promises

to surrender to the Ammonites.

Verse 10, it does exactly the same thing.

Verse 4, messengers bring bad news.

Verse 6, messengers bring good news.

Verse 5 is about Paul's question and response.

And verses 7 to 8,

Paul's instruction and the response.

And then in the middle,

you have verse 6.

And when you see this kind of structure,

and there's a single verse

or a single passage in the middle,

that is one that is good to focus on

because that is probably the key part

of the passage.

And the key bit in this passage

is that the Spirit of God

comes powerfully upon Saul.

The ESV says,

and I think it's a good translation,

the Spirit rushes on Saul.

This description of the coming of the Spirit

is only used of two people

in the Old Testament.

One is Saul,

and the other is Samson.

We all know Samson

and his great feats

and what happened

when the Spirit came on him.

And again,

for the readers of this passage,

I'm sure they were supposed

to think back to Samson

and say,

here's another man

who's like Samson.

And when the Spirit comes powerfully on him,

he does great things.

But the important thing is

as God's anointed,

God had sent the Spirit

to be with Saul.

Now the Spirit had come on Saul

in chapter 10,

but that appears to have been

quite temporary.

It appears now

that the Spirit comes on Saul

and remains there

until David is anointed king

a few chapters ahead.

God's man has been prepared

for his work

by having the Spirit

of God coming on him.

Now we're going to be looking forward

in quite a few places this evening

to the Lord Jesus,

and this is one of them.

At the Lord's baptism,

you'll remember

the Holy Spirit descended on him

in the form of a dove.

And he then goes out

and he preaches in the synagogue

and he starts by saying

the Spirit of the Lord

had come upon him.

And he then preached good news

and so on,

the rest of it,

in Luke chapter 4.

Luke 4 · chapter mention

The Spirit came down

as vindication,

as validation

of the Lord's calling

and his person.

And throughout his life,

he walked in tune

with the Spirit.

He did what was right.

We also have the Spirit.

The description of the Spirit

rushing on Saul

in some ways

might be reminiscent

of what happened

the day of Pentecost

when there were the tongues of fires

the Spirit came down

upon the first believers.

We haven't had the same experience

that they did,

but as those who have trusted

the Lord Jesus

and those who are following him,

we also have the Spirit.

We have the Spirit within us

as our counselor,

as our guide,

as our empowerer.

And I think it's interesting

to note what happens

in verse 6

when the Spirit comes on Saul.

Then he says,

when Saul heard their words,

the Spirit of God

came powerfully upon him

and he burned with anger.

When we think of the Spirit

and what this work of the Spirit

is in our lives,

we quite often think of the Spirit

as teaching us the truth,

as leading us into all truth,

as being the one

who produces fruit in our lives,

as being the one

who gives us gifts

to serve the church.

Perhaps we don't think

quite so often

of the Spirit

as being the one

who can make us

burn with anger.

But should that not be the case?

Remember,

in John's Gospel,

the Lord Jesus says

that the Spirit

will convict the power

of the world of sin

and righteousness

and judgment.

Talking about the world there

equally applies,

I think, to us.

The Spirit convicts us

of sin,

of righteousness

and of judgment.

And so the Spirit

in our lives

has brought us

to the point

of trusting in Jesus

and seeking to live for him.

But does he not also show us

the injustice

and the evil

that there is

in the world around us?

Does he not show us

how the world is oppressed

by someone

who is utterly evil

and utterly against

God's people

as these Ammonites were

in the days of Saul?

And when he does that,

should that rouse us

into action?

Can we be left indifferent

as we see injustice,

as we see suffering,

as we see evil

apparently triumphing

in our world?

If we have the passion

that comes from the Spirit,

that God's name

may be glorified,

that his justice

may be upheld,

that right may be done

in our world.

That is the first point

at which the Spirit

then moves us

and empowers us

to go out

and to do something

about it.

Because of course,

Saul didn't stop

with just burning with anger.

He went

and he managed

to get all the people

of Israel behind him

and he went out

to the battle

and he was triumphant.

And as we see injustice

around us in the world,

as we see the grip

of the evil one,

we should be filled

with the burning desire

that God's name

should be glorified

and that we should be those

who are able

to help doing it.

At one level,

that might be

in seeking to bring about

social justice.

Probably not on a national,

international scale

for most of us,

but where we are,

just recognizing

where there are things

that are wrong

and seeking to put them right.

It should also mean

that we have a real passion

for those who are

under the control

of the evil one,

for those who are

in mortal danger

if they don't put their trust

in the Lord Jesus.

It should be something

that makes us

all the more determined

to go out

and to witness

and to tell others

about him

and to see them

brought to know

the Saviour.

We too should be filled

with the Spirit

and that should affect

first our attitudes

to things round about us

and then our actions

as the Lord teaches us,

leads us

and empowers us

to go out

and to serve him.

God's chosen king

is filled with

the Spirit.

The second thing

we learn about

God's chosen king,

Saul, in this case,

is that he rescues

his people.

Three times

in this passage

it talks about

the people being rescued

or being delivered.

Verse 3,

the people of Jabesh,

they're being surrounded

by the Ammonites

and they say

if no one comes

to rescue us,

we will surrender

to you.

So the need for rescue

is recognized

right at the start

of the chapter.

Down in verse 9,

Saul has gathered

the troops together,

the armies of Israel

are marching out

and they say

to the men of Gilead,

by this time

the sun is hot tomorrow,

you will be rescued.

So the need for rescue

has been identified,

the rescue

has been promised

and then in verse 13,

Saul says,

no one will be put

to death today

for this day

the Lord

has rescued Israel.

The need's identified,

rescue is promised

and the rescue

is then brought about.

And that is what

establishes Saul

as the king

in Israel.

Again,

very clear application

as we think

about the Lord Jesus.

There was a terrible need

for rescue

for mankind.

As sin has got

into our world,

as all of us

are under the penalty

of sin

without the Lord Jesus,

we needed to be rescued.

That rescue comes to us,

is promised to us

throughout the Old Testament

of the Bible.

Right through

from Genesis chapter 3 onwards,

Genesis 3 · chapter mention

we see the promise

of the Messiah,

the Redeemer,

the one who would come

and rescue

his people.

And then of course

in the Gospels

and the New Testament,

we see how that rescue happens.

It happens through

the Lord Jesus.

And as Saul says,

not taking the credit

for himself,

the Lord has rescued Israel.

So we can say,

the Lord has rescued me,

the Lord has rescued all of us

from the terrible fate

that awaited us

if we remained

in our sins.

God promises

to rescue his people

and he fulfills

that promise

and for us

he fulfills it

particularly

through the Lord Jesus.

God's chosen king

is filled with the Spirit

and he rescues

his people.

Third thing we noticed

from this passage

is that God's chosen king

shows mercy

to the undeserving.

Now we noted

at the end of chapter 10,

we had these people

who were saying,

we don't want Saul

to be our king.

What good is this man

to us?

He's not going to be able

to do anything

to rescue us.

And so in chapter 11,

the people of Saul

had his victory.

They were saying

to Samuel,

well let's bring

these people out

and let's put them

to death

because they are traitors.

They wouldn't accept

God's chosen king.

They deserve nothing

less than death.

Interesting,

it was said to Samuel,

but it was Saul

who pronounced

the words of forgiveness.

No one will be put

to death today

for this day

the Lord

has rescued Israel.

I think the acclaim

that Saul received

after this

was at least partly

because of what he did

at this point.

Yes,

it was because of

the great victory

that he won

and the way he had

led his army

into battle.

But he also showed

the qualities

which are necessary

in God's king.

That quality of mercy

and of forgiveness

and of being willing

to give people

another chance.

Now again,

as we read through

the account of Saul

later on,

we don't see this

in evidence quite so much

but in this chapter

I think we do.

There is a real mercy

there for those

who don't deserve it.

And of course,

as we look forward

to the Lord Jesus,

what do we see?

We see mercy

for those who are

undeserving.

As the Lord Jesus

hangs on the cross,

he prays for the forgiveness

of those who have

crucified him.

As Saul is on

the Damascus road

going out to persecute

and to kill

the Christians,

the Lord appears

to him

and shows mercy

to him

as Paul would

describe himself

the chief of sinners.

And all of us

undeserving as we are,

sinful as we are.

If we have put our trust

in the Lord Jesus,

then he has shown

mercy to us

despite the fact

that we never

deserved it.

So also

mercy

to the undeserving

is evidence

of being

God's

chosen

king.

And then finally,

God's chosen king

is filled with the spirit.

He rescued his people.

He shows mercy

to the undeserving

and at the end

he's acclaimed

as king.

So in verse 14,

Samuel says to the people,

come let us go to Gilgal

and renew our kingship.

They'll go up to Gilgal

and they make Saul king

in the presence

of the Lord

and they make sacrifices

and have a great celebration.

Paul is established

as the king

in Israel.

But I think there's more

to these verses

than that.

This isn't just about

Saul being recognized

as king.

Because what Samuel says

is let's go to Gilgal

and there

renew

the kingship.

Gilgal is significant

because it's the place

the Israelites came to

when they crossed over

the Jordan

on their way

to Jericho

and where they received

God's assurance

and God's blessing

as they went

to the promised land.

And they go back there

and Samuel says

we're going to renew

the kingship

and what is significant

about their kingship

compared with every other

kingship in the world

at that time,

what was significant

is that it was

in the presence

of the Lord

and it was recognizing

that the ultimate king

is not Saul,

it is the Lord God.

And so they have

this ceremony

where yes,

Saul is made king

but he's made king

in the presence

of the Lord

with suitable oaths

and then they make

sacrifices to the Lord

and recognize

that actually

the great king

is not just Saul,

it is the great God

of heaven,

he is the Lord God,

he is the king

over all.

And we come today

and we recognize

one who is acclaimed

as king.

One who died

once for our sins,

was gloriously

raised to life

and now is seated

at God's right hand

and is king of kings

and lord of lords.

And we look at him

and we say

he is the one

to whom we owe allegiance,

whom we should be following

and obeying

and living for.

He is the king

of kings.

Coronation of our queen

was in 1953,

65 years ago

the coronation

this year.

I was looking this week

through the kind of script

or the order of service

for the coronation

and I was struck

that nine times

during that service

it was stated

that God

or the Lord Jesus

is the eternal king.

Several other times

he referred to as king

as well.

This was the coronation

of the queen

of our land

and yet at that coronation

it was recognized

there is one

who is much greater

than her.

There is one

under whom

she sits.

You probably see

in the queen's left hand

there

there is what's called

the orb.

The orb is like

a small globe

with a cross

on the top

and it's a very

significant part

of the service.

As the Archbishop

of Canterbury

presented it to the queen

this is what he said.

Receive this orb

set under the cross

and remember

that the whole world

is subject

to the power

and empire

of Christ

our redeemer.

The whole world

is subject

to the power

and empire

of Christ

our redeemer.

And I have to say

to all appearances

our queen

has remembered that

and has sought

to live for God

and to live

as a Christian

even as she reigns

over this land.

And the question

then I suppose

for all of us

is that's how

we live.

Do we remember

every day

that we are subject

to the power

and empire

of Christ

our redeemer?

Is our desire

to obey him

in every way

we can

to live for him

and to serve him

and to see his name

honoured

and glorified

that others too

may recognise

that he is

our king

and that he is

the king of kings

and lord

of lords.

That is what

he demands of us

that is what

he deserves

from us

as the one

who has saved us

has rescued us

from the grip

of sin

and of the evil one.

It is for us

to owe

allegiance to him

and to be

faithful servants

and subjects

of his

and to recognise

that he is

indeed

the one

who is worthy

of all our praise

and of all

the glory.

So God's chosen king

he's filled

with the spirit

he rescues

his people

he shows mercy

to the undeserving

and he's acclaimed

as king.

We can give thanks

that at least

for one chapter

that was true

of Saul.

We can give thanks

so much more

that that is

eternally true

of our Lord Jesus.

That he came to earth

that he was full

of the spirit

and that he

lived by the spirit

he did what was needed

to rescue us

from our sins

and to give us

hope for the future.

He showed us mercy

when we deserve

nothing

but judgement

from God

and then it is

for all of us

to acclaim him

as king

and to serve him

and to live

for him.

And my voice

is going

so let's leave it

at that point

and let's pray together.

Our Father

we thank you

for our Lord Jesus.

We thank you

that he is a king

who is so much

greater than Saul

or any other monarch

who has ever ruled

on this earth.

And we thank you

that we can look back

and we can see

in Saul

and in others

a very pale shadow

in some of the things

they did

of the greatness

of the Lord Jesus.

And we want to say

that we love him

and that we want

to serve him

and to live for him.

And we pray

that you will truly

fill us with the spirit

that we may

have that great passion

to go out

and in our world

to see Christ

as proclaimed

as king

and to

work against

the works

of the evil one

and to help

others

to escape

from his grip

and from the

inevitable punishment

of those

who reject

the Lord Jesus.

Thank you

for being with us

as we've studied

together.

We again pray

for Derek

and for other members

of his family.

We pray that you

will be a real comfort

to them

over the coming days.

We thank you again

for Elma.

We thank you

for her life

of faithful service,

for the hospitality

she offered

for many years,

for her great concern,

for the underprivileged,

for her generosity

and for her desire

to serve the Lord

and to be with his people.

We thank you

that for her

it is now much better

and we pray

that may be

a great comfort

to the family

over the coming days.

So we give you

thanks for this time together.

We commit ourselves

to you now

in the name

of the Lord Jesus.

Amen.