5 Now, behold, Saul was coming from the field behind the oxen. And Saul said, “What is wrong with the people, that they are weeping?” So they told him the news of the men of Jabesh. 6 And the Spirit of God rushed upon Saul when he heard these words, and his anger was greatly kindled. 7 He took a yoke of oxen and cut them in pieces and sent them throughout all the territory of Israel by the hand of the messengers, saying, “Whoever does not come out after Saul and Samuel, so shall it be done to his oxen!” Then the dread of the LORD fell upon the people, and they came out as one man.
Crisis Leadership
In this section of 1 Samuel we will eventually learn that Saul is an inadequate king and a very poor leader. However, it does not start out this way. In the above passage we pick up a story about the city of Jabesh. The Jabesh city and people were besieged by Nahash, the leader of the neighboring Ammonites. Nabash gave Jabesh fair warning that they were going to capture them and gouge their eyes out and make them servants. Jabesh subsequently sends a message to all Israel for help. The main response of ALL Israel?
1 Samuel 11:3-4 (ESV Strong's)
3 The elders of Jabesh said to him, “Give us seven days' respite that we may send messengers through all the territory of Israel. Then, if there is no one to save us, we will give ourselves up to you.” 4 When the messengers came to Gibeah of Saul, they reported the matter in the ears of the people, and all the people wept aloud.
The response? Cry aloud!! In the midst of a crisis the people cried. That is not a positive response to a crisis. We assume the tears were coming from a place of fear, frustration or inadequacy. They had “framed” this episode in a way that only saw defeat. This is where one of Saul’s only shining moments as the new king of Israel comes to life. Saul comes in from plowing his father’s field and takes charge. In the midst of a crisis, someone has to see an opportunity. Saul saw this through the eyes of opportunity and decided to seize the day. The Sprit of God came on him to lead him and guide him. Here is a key to crisis leadership: You have to have an internal relationship with the sovereign God of the universe if you wish to lead in crisis. The problem with a crisis is that it knocks all the knowns out from under you. You have lost your basic support of life, especially if that support is temporal. Saul was enabled by the Spirit of God to lean into God’s power and grace to accomplish the task.
However, his leadership did not end with a “let go and let God” mentality. Notice that he took the oxen he was using the plow the field and cut them up in pieces for an object lesson to the rest of the nation. In those days, oxen and other animals were source of production. Just to have oxen to plow a field meant you were a person of means. Saul cuts his OWN oxen up and sends them out in pieces to the rest of the country. He warns them that those who don’t come together over this crisis, will meet a similar fate. This adds another component to crisis leadership: Harmony is a key ingredient to defeat chaos. Coming together and not assigning blame, is a key course of action in crisis. Saul could have blamed others for not responding. He could have done a study on the cause of the attack against Jabesh. He could have forgotten his brothers and went into a self-preservation mode. But, instead he sacrificed his own source of income and used it as an object lesson to pull his country together. This was a shining moment in Saul’s leadership. Perhaps the only one he actually had.
In the midst of crisis, panic and emotional outbursts is not a solution. Self-sacrifice, unity and vision for how to attack the problem is. Saul went not to crush Nahash and the Ammonties. If you read on in the story you see that he used stealth and combat strategy to defeat them. Saul stepped up and lead his people by giving up something and pulling others together to focus on a single enemy. Something we miss today in a land where scoring political points is worth more than solving an actual problem.
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