Jabesh Gilead: Uncommon Loyalty Part II: "We Happy
Few"
12/05/04
When David was told that it was
the men of Jabesh Gilead who had buried Saul, he sent messengers to the men of
Jabesh Gilead to say to them, "The Lord bless you for showing this
kindness to Saul your master by burying him."
2 Samuel 2:4-5
Loyalty to the point of death is both frightening and inspiring. Muslim
"fanatics" are presently terrorizing the world by suicide bombings.
Though these people are Satanically misguided in their zeal, those who are
true Christians should not have a lesser commitment to God. Our first century
brothers such as Stephen (Acts 7:60), James (Acts 12:2) and Antipas were
"faithful [witnesses for Jesus] who were put to death." (Revelation
2:13) It would be hard to imagine these men wrestling with coming to midweek,
Bible Talk or not making time to study with non-Christians.
Loyalty must first be to God and then to God's people. Let us consider the
heartwrenching story of the city of Jabesh Gilead. In Judges 19-20 we find
that a Levite's concubine has been brutally raped all night and from her
wounds and exhaustion dies in Gibeah in Benjamin. The Levite then returned
home and "cut up his concubine, limb by limb, into twelve parts and sent
them into all areas of Israel." (Judges 19:29) All the rest of the tribes
are utterly indignant and called upon Benjamin to "surrender the wicked
men of Gibeah." (Judges 20:13) However, they refused. Then God musters
the men of the eleven tribes to fight against Benjamin. Benjamin is totally
decimated, every man, woman and child, except for 600 male soldiers who fled
to the desert.
Shortly afterwards, Judges 21
records all the men of the eleven tribes were called together at Mizpah. To
further distance themselves from the wickedness of Gibeah and the rebellion of
Benjamin, a collective decision was made to swear an oath never to give their
daughters in marriage to the men of Benjamin. Yet all Israel wept that a tribe
might be utterly wiped out. Then the question was asked, "Who among all
the tribes refused to gather at Mizpah? They discovered that no one from
Jabesh Gilead had come ... for the assembly." (Judges 21:8) So the
leaders of Israel sent an army of 12,000 men to kill everyone except the
virgin women. (The Israelites were extraordinarily "hard-line" about
missing "meetings of the body!") Only 400 virgin women were spared.
After the Israelites made peace with the 600 Benjamite men, they were given
the virgins of Jabesh as brides. (The other 200 who did not receive brides
from Jabesh Gilead were creatively given brides in Judges 21:15-23.)
Over time, Jabesh Gilead is
resettled and rebuilt. Then in 1 Samuel 11, Nahash the Ammonite threatens to
annihilate the citizens of Jabesh Gilead or make a peace treaty where the men
are in submission to him by having their right eyes gouged out! When the newly
anointed King Saul heard Nahash's demands, "the Spirit of God came upon
him in power and he burned with anger. He took a pair of oxen, cut them into
pieces, and sent the pieces by messengers throughout Israel proclaiming, this
is what will be done to the oxen of anyone who does not follow Saul and
Samuel... [Israel] turned out as one man" and slaughtered the Ammonites!
(1 Samuel 11:6-7)
After many years, Saul remains
king but falls away from God. He dies alongside three of his sons on Mt.
Gilboa. (1 Samuel 31:6) When the Philistines find Saul and his sons, they cut
off Saul's head and fasten their bodies to the wall of Beth Shan. "When
the people of Jabesh Gilead heard of what the Philistines had done to Saul,
all their valiant men journeyed through the night and took down the bodies of
Saul and his sons." (1 Samuel 31:11-12) They returned to Jabesh, cremated
the bodies, buried them and in their honor fasted for seven days.
When David, now King of Judah
and later all Israel, was told of the men of Jabesh Gilead's brave feat, he
sent them the message, "The Lord bless you for showing this kindness to
Saul your master by burying him. May the Lord now show you kindness and
faithfulness, and I too will show you the same favor because you have done
this. Now then, be strong and brave, for Saul your master is dead, and the
house of Judah has anointed me king over them." (2 Samuel 2:5-7)
David praised Jabesh Gilead's
uncommon loyalty which stemmed from their gratefulness of Saul's deliverance
from the Ammonites years earlier. Now, since their "old master" was
dead, David humbly begs for the same fierce loyalty expressed in valor to be
given to him. In Judges, Jabesh Gilead was a city seemingly unconcerned with
unity and the missions of Israel. God and the men of Israel disciplined them.
The next generation learned from the past to be loyal, for when Saul rescues
them, they never ceased to be thankful and became loyal even risking death.
This loyalty "to the point
of death" to God and His leaders has largely vanished from our world-wide
fellowship. True, in the past, we sinned by idolizing leaders and in turn
leaders, did not redirect the praise to God. Yet, let us not overreact. If we
are to build true spiritual Israel here in Portland, we must not have a
skeptical, timid unity, but a loyalty unto death forever kindled by
gratefulness. Elena and I have been so encouraged in November to witness the
incredible "oneness" of the congregation. Every disciple (except
those babysitting) came out on a rainy Friday evening for the wedding of Paul
and Karen. Every disciple, the following cold, damp Friday evening, rejoiced
at the CR Graduation. Every disciple last Sunday night was so fired-up about
our financial meeting! In the midst of all these glorious "meetings of
the body" several have been baptized and restored this month!
Now let us imitate the faith
and loyalty of the men of Jabesh Gilead and our first century brothers and
sisters. Let us determine in the coming months to "forcefully
advance" the borders of the Kingdom in Oregon and around the world. Let
us encourage one another borrowing from the words of Shakespeare's Henry V,
"We few, we happy few, we band of brothers. For he today that [is willing
to shed] his blood with me shall be my brother."
Kip McKean
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