1 Samuel 11:1-3
Nahash the Ammonite encamped against the children of Israel that lived in Jabesh, in the land of Gilead. The Ammonites had waited nearly 100 years to retake the lands that the Israelites had taken from them upon entering the Promised Land, and when the Israelites saw them coming, they immediately conceded defeat. Cut off from the rest of the tribes of Israel by the Jordan River, the people of Jabesh-Gilead must have felt completely hopeless.
Nahash means “serpent” in Hebrew, while Jabesh-Gilead means “dry, rocky place”. The typologies are clear, with Nahash being a type of Satan, the serpent who comes against us, similar to the Garden of Eden. The dry, rocky place is any place that we are in which lacks the flowing waters of Christ’s revelation. The enemy loves dry places, for they lack living water.
When Satan sees God’s people wandering in dry places, the opportunity for attack is great. He knows that you are in a weakened position spiritually, and he comes to offer you some illusory form of hope or peace. We often think that Satan looks to attack us in these hours of dryness, but he actually tends to give us opportunities to compromise.
Jesus had been in the wilderness 40 days and 40 nights when Satan appeared to tempt Him. Satan did not attack His physical body or go after His spirit, but rather he offered Him various chances to compromise who He was and why He was here. Turning stones to bread is Satan wanting Jesus to feed Himself on the Law and not on the words of His Father. Casting Himself off of a high place is an opportunity to take glory to Himself as the city watches the angels catch Him and float Him to the earth. Finally, bowing before Satan is an opportunity to have all of the earth and its glory without paying for it in blood at the cross.
Nahash offers safety and protection to the inhabitants of Jabesh-Gilead on one gruesome condition: they must cut out their right eyes. This form of mutilation was common in the Eastern world as punishment over conquered cities. It brought humiliation and suffering to the victims but it also ensured that there would be little military resistance from that particular village again. Soldiers of that era fought with sword and with shield. Most fighters were right handed, so they held their weapon in their right hand and their shield in their left hand. The shield would cover half of their body, with the other half exposed to fight. It was the right side that was exposed with the right eye available to see the enemy. Without that right eye, there was no chance that they could fight properly.
Satan has always hated mans ability to see. One of his first attacks against man in the Garden of Eden involved man’s eyes, “For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:5). He actually tells a portion of the truth, for when they eat the text says, “And the eyes of them both were opened” (Genesis 3:7), though they only see that they are “naked”.
Feed yourself on the fresh water of the Holy Spirit so that you do not get cornered in a dry place. Satan will attack your ability to see who you are in Christ and how great that Christ is in you. Do not exchange the great covenant that you have in Christ with temporary satisfaction from the serpent. Be blessed in your Daddy God!
Nahash the Ammonite encamped against the children of Israel that lived in Jabesh, in the land of Gilead. The Ammonites had waited nearly 100 years to retake the lands that the Israelites had taken from them upon entering the Promised Land, and when the Israelites saw them coming, they immediately conceded defeat. Cut off from the rest of the tribes of Israel by the Jordan River, the people of Jabesh-Gilead must have felt completely hopeless.
Nahash means “serpent” in Hebrew, while Jabesh-Gilead means “dry, rocky place”. The typologies are clear, with Nahash being a type of Satan, the serpent who comes against us, similar to the Garden of Eden. The dry, rocky place is any place that we are in which lacks the flowing waters of Christ’s revelation. The enemy loves dry places, for they lack living water.
When Satan sees God’s people wandering in dry places, the opportunity for attack is great. He knows that you are in a weakened position spiritually, and he comes to offer you some illusory form of hope or peace. We often think that Satan looks to attack us in these hours of dryness, but he actually tends to give us opportunities to compromise.
Jesus had been in the wilderness 40 days and 40 nights when Satan appeared to tempt Him. Satan did not attack His physical body or go after His spirit, but rather he offered Him various chances to compromise who He was and why He was here. Turning stones to bread is Satan wanting Jesus to feed Himself on the Law and not on the words of His Father. Casting Himself off of a high place is an opportunity to take glory to Himself as the city watches the angels catch Him and float Him to the earth. Finally, bowing before Satan is an opportunity to have all of the earth and its glory without paying for it in blood at the cross.
Nahash offers safety and protection to the inhabitants of Jabesh-Gilead on one gruesome condition: they must cut out their right eyes. This form of mutilation was common in the Eastern world as punishment over conquered cities. It brought humiliation and suffering to the victims but it also ensured that there would be little military resistance from that particular village again. Soldiers of that era fought with sword and with shield. Most fighters were right handed, so they held their weapon in their right hand and their shield in their left hand. The shield would cover half of their body, with the other half exposed to fight. It was the right side that was exposed with the right eye available to see the enemy. Without that right eye, there was no chance that they could fight properly.
Satan has always hated mans ability to see. One of his first attacks against man in the Garden of Eden involved man’s eyes, “For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:5). He actually tells a portion of the truth, for when they eat the text says, “And the eyes of them both were opened” (Genesis 3:7), though they only see that they are “naked”.
Feed yourself on the fresh water of the Holy Spirit so that you do not get cornered in a dry place. Satan will attack your ability to see who you are in Christ and how great that Christ is in you. Do not exchange the great covenant that you have in Christ with temporary satisfaction from the serpent. Be blessed in your Daddy God!
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