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The Prayer of Jabesh-Gilead

Can 1 Samuel 11 be turned into a best-seller?

Posted Monday, February 12, 2007 by Brian Beers
Categories: Humor1 SamuelLeadership  

The predicament of the men of Jabesh-Gilead in 1 Samuel 11 launched the reign of Israel’s first king. Before Saul took the reins as Israel’s first king, he was holding the reins of his father’s oxen. He is an example for all the men afraid to step up and be the leaders God meant for them to be.

You may remember some of the story: Samuel is the last judge of Israel and the elders of Israel beg for a king. Samuel called everyone to Mizpah and Saul was picked by lot while he hid among the baggage. Men chosen for leadership often wish that they could hide from the responsibilities laid on their shoulders. You feel that you come with too much baggage to be a proper leader. Some men recognize God’s call on your life, but you listen to the criticism of worthless men. They dishonor you, but you hold your peace because you believe their criticism is justified.

So, like Saul, you return to our former role, trudging along at the tail end of the oxen, sidestepping when necessary. But the day will come when some of those in your charge are attacked. Not only will they be enslaved, you will be shamed by what is done to them. This happened to Saul. The men of Jabesh-Gilead were willing to serve Nahash the Ammonite, but he intended to shame those men and all of Israel (and their anointed king) by gouging out their right eyes.

At the end of a day of plowing, Saul hears the news of the awful calamity that had befallen him. He takes a yoke of his father’s oxen, cuts them into pieces and sends the pieces throughout Israel with the threat to do this to the oxen of anyone who doesn’t come out to follow him and Samuel to defend his honor.

The lessons here are profound for those who resist God’s call. There will come a point in which the shame poured out upon you will become to great to tolerate. When this time comes it is not necessary for you to bear the cost of any sacrifice. Neither is it necessary for you to bear the sole responsibility of leadership. And finally, threats are excellent motivation to get men to do what they were already eager to do.

By taking these lessons to heart, you can establish a lasting pattern for your leadership. Men who rallied behind you will be eager to silence those who resisted your leadership. So the way to leadership will be smoothed for you, and it will not be difficult to bask in the acclaim of everyone you are called to lead.

The effectiveness of this model of leadership, and of taking leadership may be seen throughout the reign of the first king of Israel. His leadership was so effective that even at the end of his life, when a battle was utterly hopeless, his armor-bearer would not lift a hand against him.

Tuesday, February 13, 2007 9:18 AM

Charlie wrote: 

I knew I was missing a key ingredient in my leadership.

This lesson brings to mind another example. One of the key ideas about Saul is that he never knows what is going on. Someone always has to tell him after everyone else already knows. So perhaps we could also say that good leaders try to insulate themselves from any news of what is going on in the areas of their responsibility? After all, leaders have better things to do. And all of Scripture is useful for giving us examples, right?  

Tuesday, March 06, 2007 3:12 PM

Anonymous wrote:  I nearly missed the humor tag on this one.  I was very confused for a sec. 

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