In His Name Devotionals
A SMALL VILLAGE SAYS THANK YOU
In His Name Devotionals
A SMALL VILLAGE SAYS THANK YOU
“So it happened the next day, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. And they cut off his head and stripped off his armor, and sent word throughout the land of the Philistines, to proclaim it in the temple of their idols and among the people. Then they put his armor in the temple of the Ashtoreths, and they fastened his body to the wall of Beth Shan. Now when the inhabitants of Jabesh Gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul, all the valiant men arose and traveled all night, and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth Shan; and they came to Jabesh and burned them there. Then they took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree at Jabesh, and fasted seven days.” (1 Samuel 31:8-13 NKJV)
Consider a moving story about a small village saying, “Thank you.”
Jabesh-Gilead was the name of a little village some 3,000 years ago.
The tiny village gets into the spotlight in the Old Testament when it is terrorized by an invasion of foreigners called Ammonites. The Ammonites threatened Jabesh-Gilead with oppression and cruelty, and gave the village seven days to sign an unfair treaty.
The leaders of Jabesh-Gilead used the seven days to send messengers to their new king, Saul. Saul, in turn, mustered a volunteer army of over 300,000 men that marched to the defense of Jabesh-Gilead, the village in distress.
Some 40 years later, at the end of Saul’s reign as king, Jabesh-Gilead enters the spotlight again. This time they do not face a crisis! This time the men of Jabesh-Gilead stepped forward to show their gratitude to King Saul for his help some 40 years before. The only sad part was King Saul was not alive to appreciate their display of gratitude.
King Saul had been killed in battle, and his enemies had beheaded his body. Saul’s enemies had displayed his head as a token of victory. They desecrated his body by nailing it to one of their walls.
When news came to Jabesh-Gilead, some very brave men went into the enemy territory under the cover of darkness. There, they located Saul’s remains and returned his mutilated body to his homeland.
This is one of the finest examples of gratitude in the entire Old Testament in view of Saul’s reign. Saul’s kingship had been a terrible era. Repeatedly, Saul rebelled against God. He was not a capable administrator. Later in his career he became wildly jealous of anyone who was popular among the people.
Saul’s career as king was one of the most tragic in history.
And that is why the gratitude of Jabesh-Gilead must be remembered as an outstanding tribute. They overlooked 40 years of Saul’s misruling and misconduct and remembered one of the rare good acts of this king—the day he saved their city. Saul’s good deed as king was not forgotten; and 40 years later a small band of grateful heroes said, “Thank you,” when no one else cared.
