Stripping The Slain
1 Samuel 31:8 “And it came to pass on the morrow when the Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his three sons fallen in Mount Gilboa.”
Only those who have been there can know the awful sight of a battlefield after a battle. So sickening.
There are those who go through the field examining the dead bodies.
Turning them over, looking for anything valuable, watches, rings, billfolds, coins, weapons, canteens, etc.
The dead makes no resistance.
That was the scene of my text.
Saul and his army had cut to pieces by the Philistines.
Mount Gilboa was littered with dead soldiers.
On the morrow the stragglers came on the field, picking up their possessions, helmets, swords, shields, armor, wallets, and anything else they could take.
Saul lay dead on the ground.
Here was a fallen King.
Here was a fallen King’s armor, helmet, sword.
These they took and put in the house of Ash-ta- roth.
They shouted with glee,
They danced in delight and mockery.
Before nightfall, they had stripped the slain of everything of value,
These were the spoils of battle.
This scene has taken place upon a thousand battlefields.
Before I finish I will Show you how that the same Process is going on all over the world.
Wherever men have fallen Satan and the world do not pity them. Many times, far from helping those who have fallen, they take what little is left.
A young person caught-up in the Devils trap,
He begins to go down lower and lower,
The battle rages, the wounds are deadly,
Finally, he lays slain, without power to rise.
He needs someone to help,
Without which he will never rise again.
The Prodigal Son is a good example.
“No man gave unto him.” (Luke 15:16b.)
Few Men will ever come to himself without help.
I have seen evil habits consume grown men, gambling, alcohol, drugs, pandering, or a thousand other things. Then comes those stripping the slain fallen men, women, and children.
I have seen them lose their jobs, their cars, their furniture, food from their table, their homes, their families, their friends until nothing seems to be left.
Wealthy politicians fall, Then where are their friends?
It might be a neighbor, a friend, a fellow church member, that gets caught up in the battle of life and goes down.
Let us reach out a hand to help.
Be a good Samaritan and bind up the wounds.
Give them a call, offer a helping hand.
Many people have been downed on life’s battlefield, and through some encouragement, some assistance recovered.
Billy Sunday, the great evangelist of the 20th century, was an alcoholic, but someone saw his need for help and reached down for him.
Perhaps you know someone yourself.
Let us come on the battlefield with basins, and soft cloths, and kind words.
Sing them a song,
Offer them a prayer,
Win them with your compassion.
Tell them Jesus is ready to offer them life.
“Old Bill was one great violinist.
He had a friend, Lief Erickson,
Who declared that he did not like music.
The fact that the violin of his fellow countryman
seemed to have an angel choir hidden within it,
Did not matter to him.
The fact that Old Bill seemed to change his bow
into a magic wand,
And make the tempest crash,
And The Thunder roll.
Or the birds sing,
Or the brook leap,
He could bring the laughter from a happy child.
All this did not interest Lief Erickson in the least,
He even refused to go hear him play.
But the great violinist won him in the end.
He did not crash his violin over his head,
He did not lecture him on the subject,
He did not scold him.
Old Bill tuned his violin to perfection.
He went to where Lief was working,
He sat down close and began to play.
He played with all to the power of his compelling genius.
No sweeter music ever flowed from a violin.
Lief’s heart became warm,
His eyes filled with tears,
His face softened,
His soul was taken captive by the charm of Bill’s music.”
We will never win the world by our wails,
We are not going to win by our complaints,
We are not going to win by constantly praying about what’s wrong with the church.
The World needs someone who cares,
Someone with a desire to make a difference.
Ezekiel stood on a battlefield in the midst of a valley of fallen comrades, In fact, it was a valley of dry bones. (Ezekiel 37:1)
Ezekiel 37:1. The hand of the LORD was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones,
2. And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry.
3. And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord GOD, thou knowest.
4. Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD.
5.Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live:
6. And I will lay sinews upon you and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live, and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
7. So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone.
8. And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them.
9. Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon this slain, that they may live.
10. So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.
The world still needs someone to prophecy to them. Proclaim the good news of the Gospel. Jesus said, “If I am lifted up I will draw all men unto me.”
By, James L. Thornton
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