THE ORIGINAL TERRORIST: Nahash “The Snake”
1 Sam. 11:1-11
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR
1. A farmer in the country had a watermelon patch, and upon inspection he discovered that some of the local kids had been helping themselves to a feast. The farmer thought of ways to discourage this profit-eating situation.
2. So he put up a sign that read: "WARNING! ONE OF THESE WATERMELONS CONTAINS CYANIDE!" He smiled the next night as he watched the kids read the sign & abandon their melon-swiping.
3. The farmer felt even more triumphant, a week later, when he returned to the watermelon patch to discover that NONE of the watermelons have been eaten! ‘That will teach them!’
4. But he was stopped in his tracks when he saw another sign, taped onto his sign, that read: "NOW THERE ARE TWO THAT CONTAIN CYANIDE!"
5. We’re going to read about an instance like this in the Bible.
B. TEXT
1. Nahash king of the Ammonites oppressed the Gadites and Reubenites severely….Not a man remained among the Israelites beyond the Jordan whose right eye was not gouged out….Nahash esieged Jabesh Gilead. And all the men of Jabesh said to him, “Make a treaty with us, and we will be subject to you.” 2 But Nahash…replied, “I will make a treaty with you only on the condition that I gouge out the right eye of every one of you and so bring disgrace on all Israel.” 3….“Give us seven days so we can send messengers throughout Israel; if no one comes to rescue us, we will surrender to you.” 4 When the messengers came to Gibeah of Saul…they all wept aloud. 5…Saul was returning from the fields, behind his oxen, and he asked, “What is wrong with everyone? Why are they weeping?”…6 When Saul heard their words, the Spirit of God came powerfully upon him, and he burned with anger. 7 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.” Then the terror of the Lord fell on the people, and they came out together as one. 9…“Say to the men of Jabesh Gilead, ‘By…tomorrow, you will be rescued.’” 11…Saul separated his men into three divisions; during the last watch of the night they broke into the camp of the Ammonites and slaughtered them until the heat of the day. Those who survived were scattered, so that no two of them were left together. (1 Sam. 11:1-11; vs. 1 includes the Dead Sea Scrolls reading).
C. THESIS
1. One of the scariest things Jesus ever said was “If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away” Mt. 5:29. That’s a command that, if you’re going to lust, you’d better pluck your eye out. I’ve given serious thought to this before!
2. But in today’s verses, we have a dude who’s actually doing this to weak believers. Thank God He raised up a deliverer to save them and us from such a fate.
3. The title of this message is “The Original Terrorist: Nahash the Snake.”
I. THE DANGER OF BACKSLIDING
A. A HISTORY OF CONFLICT
1. The Ammonites (offspring of Lot/compromise) had been defeated by Israel under the Judge, Jephthah, who was from Gilead. His name means “He shall open.” The Holy Spirit came on him and he devastated 20 cities of the Ammonites (Judges 11).
2. Later, when Israel fell into sin, Ammon began retaking their territory. Not content with recapturing the territory of Ammon, Nahash set off on a mission of revenge, to throw Israel even out of the territory of Moab, taken under Moses.
B. ANALOGOUS OF THE CHRISTIAN
1. This is similar to a Christian who gets victory over some besetting sin. But later, after getting spiritually weak, he or she again falls under the domination of that sin.
2. Examples of things we struggle with:
a. Your Past b. An Addiction
c. Sickness d. Influence of Ungodly Friend
e. Depression f. Over-Eating
g. Pornography h. Feeling Rejected
2. The second fall was lower/worse than their first one. We always think we can control our sin; but Je sus said, “He who sins is the slave of sin.” So you’re not in control; from the moment you begin sinning you’re a slave to sin! And the devil’s never content with just a little. “The chains of sin are too light to be felt until they’re too strong to be broken.” Don’t play with sin!
3. DANGEROUS EVEN WHEN DEAD. Spain’s most famous matador was Jose Cubero, but in 1985, he made a fatal mistake. He dueled with a huge bull, horns against agility. At last he killed the bull with his sword. He then turned to receive the applause of the huge crowd. The bull, however, was not dead. It rose, charged him and pierced his heart. The carnal nature is never totally dead! (Jose was 21 years old.)
C. ONCE CLOSE, NOW FAR
1. A man went to California to purchase land for the location of an Assemblies of God church to be built. The realtor he was working with was very intelligent and nice. He finally asked the realtor, “Do you know anything about our denomination, the Assemblies of God?”
2. The realtor answered, “Yes, my grandfather was a minister. As a matter of fact, he was very famous. His name was George Bennard. He wrote the hymn, ‘The Old Rugged Cross.’”
3. Before leaving, the Assemblies of God man asked Bennard what church he attended. He replied, “Oh, I’m too busy to go to church.”
4. Wow! Here’s the grandson of the man who wrote “The Old Rugged Cross,” and not only is he not a believer, he’s practically an atheist. How far and how fast people can fall. Are you as close as you used to be?
II. MAKING A DEAL WITH THE DEVIL
A. NAHASH’S BARGAIN
1. Nahash was a terrorist and you can’t bargain with the devil. Nahash’s name means "snake;" it’s derived from the “hiss” of the serpent.
2. Israel had become so spiritually feeble that instead of fighting they only talked of serving/submitting to “the Snake.” When you get away from God you lose your fight! They no longer cared to be free; they were willing to be slaves!
3. HUMOR. At one Army base, the annual trip to the rifle range had been canceled for the second year in a row, but the semi-annual physical “fitness run” was still on as planned. One soldier mused, "Does it bother anyone else that the Army doesn't seem to care how well we can shoot, but they’re extremely interested in how fast we can run?"
4. The Devil’s (Nahash) never happy just to dominate folks, he wants to gouge out everybody’s right eye! -- to shame them and torment them (the devil’s a cruel master). He comes but for “to steal, to kill, and to destroy” John 10:10.
B. REASONS FOR THIS DISFIGUREMENT
1. 1st Gouge Reason: to DISABLE THEM FOR WAR. In those days men fought with their shields in their left hands, which covered their left eye. So a soldier without a right eye was effectively blind.
2. Today the enemy wants you to lose your knowledge of making spiritual warfare. He wants you to believe that you’re damaged goods; that you’re not worthy to approach God.
3. There’s 3 types of Christians: the Self-Righteous group says, "I don't need to go further;" the Self-Rejection group says, "I'm not good enough to get God's best.” The Christ-Righteous Group who know WHO THEY ARE IN CHRIST: “I’m a Child of the King! His royal Blood flows in my veins! I’m the righteousness of God in Christ and I’m an heir of God and joint-heir with Christ; all that’s His is Mine!”.
4. 2nd Gouge Reason: LOSS OF VISION/PURPOSE. The word Ammonite [from amam, 6004] means "to dim (the passions) and darken (the vision)." The enemy today is trying to lower your expectations of what God will do.
5. The Dead Sea Scrolls of verse one say that Nahash had already gouged out the right eyes of most of Israelite living on the East side of the Jordan. They were alive, but they forever bore the badge of defeat and servitude to the Snake.
6. As Patrick Henry said, “Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death!"
7. Nahash was also arrogant. He mocked God’s people as being so helpless that even if given seven days no one would come to save them. “I dare anyone to come to their aid; I’ll crush you!”
III. THE HOLY GHOST ON SAUL
A. RIGHTEOUS ANGER AT THE ENEMY
1. The messengers went straight to Gibeah, possibly looking for the new king, and not finding Saul, told their news to the people, who began weeping after hearing the doom on Jabesh-Gilead.
2. But I love to read the effect the same news had on Saul! Church, we’ve been on the defensive too long; we need to go on the offensive! Greater is He who’s in you than he who’s in the world! Let’s storm the Gates of Hell and take no prisoners!
3. God wants to put you in touch with the HULK in you. HE’S ALWAYS MAD! We ought to have a nature that expresses HOLY OUTRAGE over the damage created by hell. Saul expressed that outrage, "This can't be allowed to happen! This must stop!"
4. The devil often tries to make himself look so BAD, so invincible, but Jesus told us that if we stand up to him, he’ll ‘run like a scared rabbit’ (“submit yourselves…resist the devil & he will FLEE from you” James 4:7). “Pheugo” - “to run away.”
5. The same Jesus (whom demons cringed before) is ALIVE inside of us. He’s just waiting to “clothe us with power from on high!” The Bible says when Saul heard the news, “the Spirit of God came powerfully upon him,” vs. 6. DO IT AGAIN LORD!
B. THE SUMMONS TO ACTION
1. We need to go from "Feel good" messages, to "Feel God" messages. The weepers became reapers. Try tears. Saul became angry; righteous anger over the plight of God’s people consumed him.
2. He chopped up a live oxen -- that's tough to do. It's a miracle to use a sword to chop an oxen into pieces. Oxen represented their future prosperity. Saul was basically saying, "Join me and fight or the darkness will destroy your future."
3. All Israel got a chunk of the oxen: each chunk was a summons to action. You’re getting a chunk this morning. The fight begins in your hearts, when you set yourself apart to fight for God’s Kingdom.
4. To be a soldier you have to lay down distractions, doubts, fears. All Israel came together as one man and they beat the Ammonites and the nation was saved.
5. The good thing about our battle is that the “fight is fixed,” we’re guaranteed to win before it even starts! Why? Because Jesus our Lord defeated Satan at Calvary! He already dealt him the “death-blow” so the battle’s been won. We’re just part of the mop-up operation; driving out the remnants of the enemy.
6. We’re still in a conflict so we can’t get lackadaisical or too comfortable. Being a Warrior is a MENTAL STATE, an attitude in which you prepare yourself for struggle & expect opposition. Peter told us (1 Pet. 4:1) to “arm yourselves with the same attitude.” “Arm” (hoplidzo) = “equip with weapons.”
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUSTRATION
1. Dutch Sheets says, “We had been ministering in Guatemala for one week with very few people coming to Christ. The people were listening, but not responding. I was to preach on the final night of our trip. Just as the service was about to begin, a team member told me about something he and others had found on the far side of the village, a little girl, six or seven years old, tied to a tree.
2. Not believing what they were seeing, they asked the family that lived there, "Why is this small girl tied to that tree?" It was obvious she lived there, much like a dog, in the back yard -- nasty, filthy, helpless and alone.
3. "She is crazy," the parents replied. "We can't control her. She hurts herself and others and runs away if we turn her loose. There is nothing else we can do for her so we just have to tie her up."
4. A voice said to me, “Tell them you are going to pray for the little insane girl across the village tied to the tree. Tell them you are going to do it in the name of this Jesus you've been preaching about. Tell them that through Him you are going to break the evil powers controlling her-that when she is free and normal, they can then know that what you are preaching is true.”
5. I responded to the voice in my heart with fear and trembling. I believe the words were something like, WHAT DID YOU SAY??? Same instructions.
6. Then I prayed. On that moonlit night in a tiny, remote village of Guatemala with a handful of people as my audience, my life changed forever.
7. Jesus came out of hiding. He became alive: Relevant... Sufficient ...Available! A "hidden" Jesus emerged from the cobwebs of theology. A yesterday Jesus became a today and forever Jesus. A Galilee Jesus became a Guatemala Jesus.
8. For the first time I understood the heavenly pattern: Jesus is the Victor-we're the enforcers; Jesus is the Redeemer-we're the releasers; Jesus is the Head-we're the Body.
9. Yes, He set the little girl free. Yes, the village turned to Christ. Yes, Jesus prevailed through a sent one. So the partnership goes on -- God and humans. [Intercessory Prayer by Dutch Sheets, p.42-45]
B. THE CALL
1. Israel got into trouble because of compromise. Have you left your “first love?”
2. Don’t accept backward steps; Jesus said that those who backslide will get 7X worse than they were before.
3. Has the Enemy dimmed your passion or darkened you vision?
4. Isn’t it about time you got MAD about how the devil has tormented those you love?
5. You’re getting a chunk of the oxen this morning – a CALL TO ACTION! Let’s commit to do spiritual warfare against the enemy.
6. Get all those who are strong to pray for the weak.
[Ideas for this message came from Matthew Henry and Sean Smith.]
