What We can Learn from 1 Samuel 13 and 14
In our human experience we need to do things right-in the correct order, using the correct preparations, always having the best plan-to get the results we desire. But in our relationship with God, according to 1 Samuel 13 and 14, that is not always the case.
If it doesn’t come down to us and doing the everything correctly, then what does it come down to?
The Backstory
In 1 Samuel, chapter 13, we see the newly anointed king of Israel, Saul, preparing for battle against the Philistines. He waits seven days for the prophet, Samuel, to show up, so he can find out if God wants him to go down to battle or not. We see this a lot in the Old Testament. King David often checked with God before going into battle. Saul was given the same instructions by Samuel two years earlier when he was anointed king in 1 Samuel 10:8.
But when Saul’s army started to desert, and Samuel was running a little late, he took matters into his own hands. Instead of waiting for the prophet like he was commanded to, or asking the Levite who was with him at the time, Ahijah, a direct descendant of Eli, to do it for him, Saul sacrificed the burnt offering and the peace offering himself. Samuel shows up while the fire is still hot, and the meat is still cooking.
Samuel tells Saul he has disobeyed the Lord, and his kingship is stripped from him as a result. Ouch! Why the harsh treatment for being proactive? This is what we want to find out. To do that we need to study the Bible, and we can come to some conclusions by reading the next chapter.
In Chapter 14 we see Jonathan, Saul’s son, taking matters into his own hands. Without asking permission from Saul, nor asking God, he sneaks away with his armor bearer and attacks the Philistine garrison. Jonathan sneaking away without notice is meaningful, because God tell us in verse 3, almost as an afterthought, that Ahijah, the priest, was there, and he was wearing the ephod. The standard procedure would have been to consult with Ahijah.
Jonathan simply said to his armor bearer, “Come, let us go…it may be that the Lord will work for us.” (1 Samuel 14:6, NKJV) And the Lord did. He delivered the Philistines in the garrison to Jonathan and his armor bearer, let loose an earthquake, and then created mass confusion in the Philistine camp as they fought each other. In the meantime, Israel united and they attacked the Philistine’s as well.
During the pursuit of the Philistine’s, Saul errs again. He says no one is allowed to eat until the enemy is finished off. This puts a heavy burden on Saul’s soldiers, who finished the battle nearly fainting, causing them to break the law of God by eating their meat so hastily that they ate it with the blood. This is an Old Testament Levitical law, and Saul caused this sin. Meanwhile, Jonathan ate some honey in the forest, not knowing the vow his father had taken. Jonathan was strengthened by the food he ate, while the rest of the army was famished and suffering.
Saul and Jonathan seem to be committing similar acts in these two chapters, while at the same time they appear to be at odds with each other. They do the same things but get different results, and they are seen in constant conflict. Why?
The answers are in the word of God and in the heart.
The Reasons
Saul forgot about Gideon’s 300, in Judges 7 and 8, who accomplished a similar feat as Jonathan in this story. A small group of men had faith in God and went to battle. The result was confusion in the Midianite camp, and Israel coming together to finish off the enemy.
Saul forgot about Jephthah’s vow in Judges 11, when he made a rash oath to God, promising to kill anyone who ate food that day. When Jonathan, his son and the hero of the story was discovered to have broken the vow he knew nothing about, Saul was more than willing to kill him, unlike Jephthah who was in utter torment over his rash oath.
This reveals Saul’s arrogance and selfishness, his utterly rotten heart. His son would receive the glory for this victory, but Saul wanted the glory for himself. He would have killed his own son that day if the people had not intervened for Jonathan. Saul wanted to put the spotlight back on himself and to shame his son by announcing he had broken the oath of the king.
We also receive clues into Saul’s heart by what the way the people around him answer his commands, as opposed to the way Jonathan’s commands are answered. When Jonathan tells his armor bearer they will go and attack the Philistine garrison by themselves, his armor bearer replies, “Do all that is in your heart. Go then; here I am with you, according to your heart.” (1 Samuel 14:7, NKJV) But later in the chapter, when Saul says they will go down and slaughter the Philistines in the night, finishing them off, the people answer, “Do whatever seems good to you.” They say it again when he decides to cast lots to find out who had eaten that day, the reason Saul grabs hold of when he is unable to hear from the Lord. (1 Samuel 14:36,40, NKJV)
Finally, we see a repetition of these events when David enters the scene. Once Saul sees David as a rival for the praise of the people, he exhausts large amounts of resources and tirelessly tries to hunt him down to kill him.
The Conclusion
- It is a matter of the heart
It is simple, Saul acted from a selfish and prideful heart, Jonathan, nor David, did not. He acted from a heart that desired to serve God and serve the people of Israel, not himself.
- God wants people to act, and to courageously use what He has given them
Saul was scared. He was unsure of himself and his leadership abilities. He knew he needed God to do the work for him, because he was incapable of believing that he was an able-bodied man chosen by God to lead His people. Again, Jonathan did not suffer from self-doubt. Jonathan acted with what God had given him and he acted in faith. Saul tried to use God as a means to his own end, evident in God’s abandonment of him.
- We must read the Bible!
Is Saul had focused on the word of God, the success of Gideon and the folly of Jephthah would have been guiding lights for him. They would have shown him what to do, how to have faith, and how to behave in battle.
Are you thinking I’m being a little extreme here? Check this out. Look at what Joab, the commander of Israel’s army, says in 2 Samuel 11:21, when he sends a messenger to give bad news to King David; 21” Who struck Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth? Was it not a woman who cast a piece of a millstone on him from the wall, so that he died in Thebez? Why did you go near the wall?’” He knows it is standard behavior to know the Scriptures and to apply them to life.
Romans 15:4 tells us 4 “For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.” The Scriptures are written for our learning and guidance.
For us, when we read beyond 1 Samuel, chapter 13, we learn what is in Saul’s heart. We learn a great deal about the destiny of a prideful heart, the downfall of one who acts outside of faith, and the consequences of desiring the glory of men rather than the love of God. When we read on and learn of David’s plight with his father-in-law, our conclusions are reinforced when we relate them back to this interaction with Saul and his son, Jonathan.
Want to read more of Chris’ insights on the Bible? Check out this post from February, 2022, on the Book of Esther.
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