Old Testament: 1Ch 10.11–12

To read the Bible in a year, read First Chronicles 8–10 on May 23, In the year of our Lord Christ 2023

By Don Ruhl 

The town of Jabesh Gilead had let down the nation of Israel, as recorded in Judges 20, when it was necessary to eradicate evil from the nation, refusing to fight against the tribe of Benjamin. 

However, during the reign of King Saul, the town changed, and when Saul and his sons were dead during a battle with the Philistines, the men of Jabesh Gilead did something exceedingly brave: “And when all Jabesh Gilead heard all that the Philistines had done to Saul, all the valiant men arose and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons; and they brought them to Jabesh, and buried their bones under the tamarisk tree at Jabesh, and fasted seven days” (1 Chronicles 10.11–12). 

They would not join the eleven tribes against Benjamin, but later when the chief Benjamite, King Saul and his sons, suffered humiliation at the hand of an enemy, the men of Jabesh Gilead went alone to recover the bodies! 

Questions: 

• Have you sought to reverse a past cowardly way of thinking to show your bravery? 
• Can you locate Jabesh Gilead on a map? 

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Don preaches with the Savage Street Church of Christ in Grants Pass, Oregon. 

Listen to his sermons here: GrantsPassChurchOfChrist.com