Nahash the Ammonite came against Jabesh with an army, and proposed to put out the right eyes of the inhabitants. The news was carried to Saul, who until now had not been treated as king, and the Spirit of God again came on him. In great anger because of this attack upon the nation, Saul killed a yoke of oxen, hewing them in pieces and sending them by messengers throughout the land, saying,
"Whosoever cometh not forth after Saul and after Samuel, so shall it be done unto his oxen." The fear of God falling on the people, they came out as one man, 330,000 strong.
The next day the hosts of Israel were victorious over the Ammonites, so completely defeating them that two of them were not left together. This evidenced God's presence, and His support of the king. So far all was favorable; the enemy within, the Philistines, had been allowed to remain undisturbed, but the Ammonite attack from without was met with energy supplied by the Spirit of God.
It is much easier to meet an attack from outside, than to expel the enemy within. The Philistines were a snare to Israel, manifesting the power of Satan in the very midst of Israel. Was the king indifferent to this? As we noticed in chapter 10, the "hill of God", though a company of the prophets was met there, was in the hands of a garrison of the Philistines. Here was a real test of faith, and it is here that Saul fails. We shall observe this in the thirteenth and fourteenth chapters.
Saul is to be commended for his attitude toward the "men of Belial" who had despised him; none should be put to death, for "today" he said, "the Lord hath wrought salvation in Israel." This was both prudent and generous toward the people, and a right acknowledgment of God's power in the deliverance from the Ammonites.