(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
1 Samuel 11:5–11, “And, behold, Saul came after the herd out of the field; and Saul said, What aileth the people that they weep? And they told him the tidings of the men of Jabesh. And the Spirit of God came upon Saul when he heard those tidings, and his anger was kindled greatly. And he took a yoke of oxen, and hewed them in pieces, and sent them throughout all the coasts of Israel by the hands of messengers, saying, Whosoever cometh not forth after Saul and after Samuel, so shall it be done unto his oxen. And the fear of the LORD fell on the people, and they came out with one consent. And when he numbered them in Bezek, the children of Israel were three hundred thousand, and the men of Judah thirty thousand. And they said unto the messengers that came, Thus shall ye say unto the men of Jabeshgilead, To morrow, by that time the sun be hot, ye shall have help. And the messengers came and shewed it to the men of Jabesh; and they were glad. Therefore the men of Jabesh said, To morrow we will come out unto you, and ye shall do with us all that seemeth good unto you. And it was so on the morrow, that Saul put the people in three companies; and they came into the midst of the host in the morning watch, and slew the Ammonites until the heat of the day: and it came to pass, that they which remained were scattered, so that two of them were not left together.”
Saul was out in the fields with his herd when the messengers arrived so he was surprised to find his neighbours weeping. He wanted to know why everyone was so sad and they told him. Saul was very angry and knew that he had a responsible to do something because he was the anointed king of Israel. The Lord filled Saul with His Spirit so that he could complete the task ahead. Saul took some oxen, used for ploughing, and killed them and cut them up. Saul lived in a day of significant gestures and he thought that this would make the rest of the nation angry as well. He sent pieces of the oxen to all the towns in Israel and told them to come or face execution. The people all came together and mustered their army at a place close to Jabeshgilead. Saul also sent messengers back to Jabeshgilead telling them that he would come and rescue them. The people from Jabeshgilead told Nahash that he could come and remove their right eyes on the next day, at the time that Saul and his army of 300,300 men. Nahash came out to complete his threat but Saul, showing a good understanding of military tactics, divided his army into three groups and attacked the Ammonites. They were not prepared for a battle, just a time of cruel torture and Saul’s army soundly defeated them in the battle. Nahash’s army was completely destroyed.
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