The Lord Has Rescued Israel

1 Samuel 11:12-15 – The people then said to Samuel, “Who was it that asked, ‘Shall Saul reign over us?’ Turn these men over to us so that we may put them to death.” But Saul said, “No one will be put to death today, for this day the Lord has rescued Israel.” Then Samuel said to the people, “Come, let us go to Gilgal and there renew the kingship.” So all the people went to Gilgal and made Saul king in the presence of the Lord. There they sacrificed fellowship offerings before the Lord, and Saul and all the Israelites held a great celebration.

1 Samuel 10:18 – Samuel summoned the people of Israel to the Lord at Mizpah and said to them, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I brought Israel up out of Egypt, and I delivered you from the power of Egypt and all the kingdoms that oppressed you.’

Exodus 24:11 – But God did not raise his hand against these leaders of the Israelites; they saw God, and they ate and drank.

Leviticus 7:16 – “‘If, however, their offering is the result of a vow or is a freewill offering, the sacrifice shall be eaten on the day they offer it, but anything left over may be eaten on the next day.

Application:

• ·         Speaking through Samuel, the Lord emphasizes to the people that He has been their deliverer throughout the history. He brought them out of Egypt and delivered them from all their enemies during the time of the judges.
• ·         Although the judges themselves are sometimes referred to as Israel’s deliverers, this was true only in a secondary sense, for they were instruments of the Lord’s deliverance. It was the Lord who sent them.
• ·         At Gilgal Saul is inaugurated as God’s chosen king and formally assumes the privileges and responsibilities of this office.
• ·         Fellowship offerings represented the communion or peace between the Lord and His people when the people lived in conformity with their covenant obligations.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV