1 Samuel 11:7

ALL ISRAEL RALLIES AROUND SAUL

"Then the dread of the Lord fell upon the people, and they came out as one man. When he mustered them at Bezek, the men of Israel were three hundred thousand, and the men of Judah thirty thousand. And they said to the messengers who had come, "Thus shall you say to the men of Jabesh-gilead: `Tomorrow by the time the sun is hot you shall have deliverance.'" When the messengers came and told the men of Jabesh, they were glad. Therefore, the men of Jabesh said, "Tomorrow we will give ourselves up to you, and you may do to us whatever seems good to you."

"The dread of the Lord fell upon the people" (1 Samuel 11:7b). In this action, the direct intervention of God in the affairs of men is no less visible in this phase (3) than it was in the other two phases of Saul's elevation.

Three hundred thirty thousand (330,000) men was indeed a near-miraculous response. All of these events took place in only about a week's time, and during that period Saul selected an army, procured weapons for them, organized them and launched the campaign against Nahash. Critics who wish to revise these numbers have nothing of any value whatever with which to replace them!

"Tomorrow by the time the sun is hot" (1 Samuel 11:9). This was only another way of saying, "By noon tomorrow"! The message which the men of Jabesh gave to Nahash was for the purpose of deceiving him and making him suppose that he would encounter no resistance.