The Rescue of Jabesh-gilead

Saul sends word to the men of Jabesh-gilead that they will be delivered by tomorrow. The men of Jabesh tell Nahash: "Tomorrow we will give ourselves up to you, and you may do to us whatever seems good to you." — 1 Samuel 11:10 (ESV). The night before the rescue, Saul divides his army into three companies. They break into the Ammonite camp in the morning watch — the last hours before dawn, when defenders are most exhausted — and strike until the heat of the day. Nahash's army is so thoroughly routed that no two survivors are found together.

The victory ignites popular enthusiasm. Some men want to execute the worthless fellows who had refused to acknowledge Saul after Mizpah. Saul's response is notable: "Not a man shall be put to death this day, for today the LORD has worked salvation in Israel." — 1 Samuel 11:13 (ESV). He deflects credit from himself to God and refuses to use military victory as an occasion for political purge. For this moment, Saul is at his best. The Spirit of God that rushed on him produces something genuinely good — decisive action, unified leadership, and then a mercy that prevents the consolidation of power from becoming a bloodbath. We keep coming back to this early Saul, because this is not a man who never had genuine faith. He did. That makes what comes later more painful, not less.

Samuel calls Israel to Gilgal to renew the kingdom before the LORD. Sacrifices are offered, and Saul and all the men of Israel rejoice greatly.

Samuel's Farewell: The Covenant Condition

Chapter 12 is Samuel's farewell as the last judge of Israel — a speech that functions as a crucial theological anchor for everything in 1 Samuel that follows. Samuel does not simply step aside. He first establishes the integrity of his own leadership:

"I have walked before you from my youth until this day. Here I am; testify against me before the LORD and before his anointed. Whose ox have I taken? Or whose donkey have I taken? Or whom have I defrauded? Whom have I oppressed? Or from whose hand have I taken a bribe to blind my eyes with it? Testify against me and I will restore it to you." — 1 Samuel 12:2–3 (ESV)

The people answer: "You have not defrauded us or oppressed us or taken anything from any man's hand." — 1 Samuel 12:4 (ESV). Samuel establishes the contrast with himself as the baseline: this is what faithful leadership looks like. The king Israel has asked for will take — oxen, grain, fields, sons, daughters. Samuel took nothing. He is not doing this to shame them. He is doing it so they understand clearly what they are trading when they move from the judge system to the monarchy.

He then reviews Israel's history — the exodus, the wilderness, the judges who delivered them when they cried out to God after turning to Baal and Ashtaroth, the present crisis of the Ammonite threat that prompted the demand for a king. The history is the backdrop for the indictment: "And when you saw that Nahash the king of the Ammonites came against you, you said to me, 'No, but a king shall reign over us,' when the LORD your God was your king." — 1 Samuel 12:12 (ESV). The request for a king is named again as a rejection of God's rule.

Thunder in the Wheat Harvest

Samuel says he will show Israel a sign that their demand was wicked:

"Is it not wheat harvest today? I will call upon the LORD, that he may send thunder and rain. And you shall know and see that your wickedness is great, which you have done in the sight of the LORD, in asking for yourselves a king." — 1 Samuel 12:17 (ESV)

Thunder and rain during wheat harvest in Israel — May or June — would be almost unknown. The rainy season ends in April. For rain to come at Samuel's word in summer is a statement of divine power beyond natural explanation. Samuel calls to the LORD, and the LORD sends thunder and rain. The people are greatly afraid and cry out to Samuel: "Pray for your servants to the LORD your God, that we may not die, for we have added to all our sins this evil, to ask for ourselves a king." — 1 Samuel 12:19 (ESV).

What strikes us here is that Samuel does not use the thunder as an opportunity to reverse the kingship or to say he told them so. The sign is meant to create recognition — you have done something real, something that named God's rule as insufficient for you — not to condemn them permanently. Samuel's answer is not condemnation but instruction:

"Do not be afraid; you have done all this evil. Yet do not turn aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart... For the LORD will not forsake his people, for his great name's sake, because it is his pleasure to make you a people for himself." — 1 Samuel 12:20–22 (ESV)

The evil is named — the demand for a king was real rejection of God. But the path forward is not to undo what has been done; it is to serve the LORD with all your heart from this point. The king is now a reality. The question is whether Israel and the king will walk faithfully within the covenant the king cannot replace. God's forgiveness creates a path forward without minimizing the sin. Both things are true simultaneously: you have done all this evil and do not be afraid. The covenant's grace does not require pretending the request was acceptable — it requires moving forward rightly from here.

Samuel commits to continue praying for Israel and teaching them the good and right way. He will not abandon his responsibility even in his farewell. The chapter ends with a warning as clear as anything in the book: "But if you still do wickedly, you shall be swept away, both you and your king." — 1 Samuel 12:25 (ESV). The king is not exempt from covenant accountability. A human king changes the political structure of Israel; it does not change the terms of God's covenant with His people. We find this to be one of the most important constitutional principles in all of Samuel: you and your king shall be swept away. The king does not replace the covenant. He lives inside it, subject to the same terms as everyone else.

Last updated: March 3, 2026.

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.