Patriarchs and Prophets

him the customary presents. Those who had been most urgent in their demand for
a king were the very ones that refused to accept with gratitude the man of God’s
appointment. The members of each faction had their favorite, whom they wished to
see placed on the throne, and several among the leaders had desired the honor for
themselves. Envy and jealousy burned in the hearts of many. The efforts of pride and
ambition had resulted in disappointment and discontent.
In this condition of affairs Saul did not see fit to assume the royal dignity.
Leaving Samuel to administer the government as formerly, he returned to Gibeah.
He was honorably escorted thither by a company, who, seeing the divine choice in
his selection, were determined to sustain him. But he made no attempt to maintain
by force his right to the throne. In his home among the uplands of Benjamin he
quietly occupied himself in the duties of a husbandman, leaving the establishment of
his authority entirely to God.
Soon after Saul’s appointment the Ammonites, under their king, Nahash, invaded
the territory of the tribes east of Jordan and threatened the city of Jabesh-gilead.
The inhabitants tried to secure terms of peace by offering to become tributary to the
Ammonites. To this the cruel king would not consent but on condition that he might
put out the right eye of every one of them, thus making them abiding witnesses to his
power.
The people of the besieged city begged a respite of seven days. To this the
Ammonites consented, thinking thus to heighten the honor of their expected triumph.
Messengers were at once dispatched from Jabesh, to seek help from the tribes west of
Jordan. They carried the tidings to Gibeah, creating widespread terror. Saul, returning
at night from following the oxen in the field, heard the loud wail that told of some
great calamity. He said, “What aileth the people that they weep?” When the shameful
story was repeated, all his dormant powers were roused. “The Spirit of God came
upon Saul.... 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.”
Three hundred and thirty thousand men gathered on the plain of Bezek, under the
command of Saul. Messengers were
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