This is going to be a terrible event. The Ammonite threat was what gave rise to the demands for a king in the first place.
We have seen this in the last few years, constantly. We have seen pastors who have given way to modern things that have come in, to contemporary Christian worship, to the demands for novelties. When asked about this they have said, ‘We didn't want to do this; we didn't want to come this to come into our church, but we were forced.’ ‘How were you forced?’ ‘Well there were certain people, or there was a very influential deacon, or there were certain families that weren’t very spiritual, and they thought they would lose their children if they weren't pandered to. There were various pressures on us, and we gave way. We let it come in. We thought it could be controlled. We thought if it was just done a little, just with the odd modern song, just a few things, then we could to contain it. And it has swept everything away, and now I can't stay in my church, or they want to turf me out, or everything has changed, and I can't live with this.’ We have heard that many times over. Well, these things for our learning. We are warned. The people of Jabesh thought they could do a deal with the Ammonites. As soon as the Ammonites saw this – they are giving way; they are ready to give us terms, they are not going to fight us, they're not going to resist us – what do the they do? They say, ‘Make it even more difficult for them. We will take every right eye of every man, every warrior, to keep you in absolute submission.’ That is a picture of how the devil works. ‘All right, we will give way, just a little to this ungodly trend’, and before you know it, it has taken over. The devil has pushed it all the way. There are great principles contained in this literal history which set us on our guard.