Spoke To Soon

1 Samuel: The Promise of the True King  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented
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1 Samuel 14:23–52 CSB
23 … The battle extended beyond Beth-aven, 24 and the men of Israel were worn out that day, for Saul had placed the troops under an oath: “The man who eats food before evening, before I have taken vengeance on my enemies is cursed.” So none of the troops tasted any food. 25 Everyone went into the forest, and there was honey on the ground. 26 When the troops entered the forest, they saw the flow of honey, but none of them ate any of it because they feared the oath.
The Jewish people were in a battle with the Philistines.
Saul decided he could not wait for Samuel to show up and got ahead of God by offering the sacrifice himself - the issue wasn’t really the offering of the sacrifice it was that Samuel, and by extension God, told him to wait - so Saul disobeyed God.
Here again Saul does something “extra” - the Torah did not require soldiers to refrain from eating during battle, Saul came up with this on his own.
The irony is that the Torah did require the priest to address the solider prior to battle to hear from the Lord but Saul decided he needed to fight so he prevented the priest from completing that task - now he adds something to the battle that God doesn’t require - We cannot disobey God then make up our own rules to try and please God.
The fight was rough and the soldiers were “worn out”. Worn out is worse than tired - the human body can only take so much with out needing to recharge. Food is a huge part of that recharging.
Saul may have been many things but his ability to lead was lacking. When he would mess up his army ended up bearing the brunt of his attempt to fix it. Call it, over compensation.
A smart and good leader would have realized his men needed to eat to keep up their energy and he would not have saddled them with this dumb requirement to fast - there are times God called the people to fast but nowhere does God command them to do this during a fight. God may require them to abstain from certain things but not all things.
God had given His people the Torah which covered almost everything they would encounter - if God thought abstaining from food during a battle was a good idea it would have either been in the Torah or God would have told the prophet to instruct the king in what to do.
Saul once again gets out over his skis so to speak - he has set a standard, determined a punishment if that standard is not met, and did not ensure everyone in his command knew about the standard…
1 Samuel 14:23–52 CSB
27 However, Jonathan had not heard his father make the troops swear the oath. He reached out with the end of the staff he was carrying and dipped it into the honeycomb. When he ate the honey, he had renewed energy. 28 Then one of the troops said, “Your father made the troops solemnly swear, ‘The man who eats food today is cursed,’ and the troops are exhausted.” 29 Jonathan replied, “My father has brought trouble to the land. Just look at how I have renewed energy because I tasted a little of this honey. 30 How much better if the troops had eaten freely today from the plunder they took from their enemies! Then the slaughter of the Philistines would have been much greater.”
Jonathan did not know about the oath his father made the soldiers swear. What he knew was that he needed sustenance.
Seeing that there was honey to eat Jonathan decided to eat some - while the passage does not directly say it one could assume Jonathan believed that God was providing the honey for their benefit. After all this is land of promise God provided, a land “flowing with milk and honey…” (Ex3.8)
Hunger makes you do some weird things… lets face it, the idea of scooping up honey off the ground with a staff that has been drug through who knows what and then eating honey off the end of it… gross.
Still, the honey had its desired effect - it gave Jonathan a boost of energy - again showing how unqualified Saul was to lead - let me say this because I keep saying how unqualified he is and if he was so bad who did God choose him? Good question - while we do not know the full answer we can assume a few things - God could have chosen Saul to show Israel how foolish they were to ask for a king - God could have chosen Saul wanting him to listen and obey Him (of course knowing he wouldn’t) - God could have chosen Saul just to set the stage for the next king, David - God could have chosen Saul just to have Jonathan in the position he was in…
I find it interesting that the other soldier didn’t say anything to warn Jonathan about not eating.
Jonathan comments on the issue his father’s demand has brought on Isreal - “brought trouble” is the same verbiage used to describe Achan brought on Isreal causing the army to lose and requiring a national repentance.
Jonathan also acknowledges that they may still win but how much greater it could have been - think of it this way- while thankful God fed me with Spam and crackers I could have had steak, potatoes, grilled veggies and maybe even dessert.
1 Samuel 14:23–52 CSB
31 The Israelites struck down the Philistines that day from Michmash all the way to Aijalon. Since the Israelites were completely exhausted, 32 they rushed to the plunder, took sheep, goats, cattle, and calves, slaughtered them on the ground, and ate meat with the blood still in it. 33 Some reported to Saul, “Look, the troops are sinning against the Lord by eating meat with the blood still in it.” Saul said, “You have been unfaithful. Roll a large stone over here at once.” 34 He then said, “Go among the troops and say to them, ‘Let each man bring me his ox or his sheep. Do the slaughtering here and then you can eat. Don’t sin against the Lord by eating meat with the blood in it.’ ” So every one of the troops brought his ox that night and slaughtered it there.
In spite of Saul, God gave the Israelites a great victory - they fought the Philistines and pursed them for 15 miles.
After the battle and no food the soldiers were exhausted. But evening has arrived and the oath is completed so they can now eat.
We see here a second issue with Saul’s ridiculous demand - one things I have learned in life, if I go too long without eating my body/mind wants to make up for what I have missed as quickly as I can and that causes me to eat whatever is available - if I’ve been eating healthy but I do not have anything healthy to eat in that moment… I have literally eaten handfuls of Toll House chocolate chips that are meant for baking because they were easy and available.
The soldiers do the same thing - after the battle and the oath complete they slaughtered and ate animals in a manner that was sinful.
The passage says they “slaughtered them on the ground” this means they did not hang the food which allows the blood to drain out of it. They weren’t eating it raw just not prepared properly as commanded in the Torah.
The question here is whether Saul knew the men were eating meat with blood in it and either didn’t know it was a sin or didn’t care OR he had no idea what his men were doing (either way is not a good sign for a leader).
Someone informed Saul that the soldiers were sinning.
Saul does his best to remedy the issue - he provided a large stone (elevated surface) - he sent messengers to go tell the troops to stop and order them to slaughter on the rock reminding the soldiers that they were sinning and to stop it.
It worked, everyone came and slaughtered their spoils on Saul’s rock.
1 Samuel 14:23–52 CSB
35 Then Saul built an altar to the Lord; it was the first time he had built an altar to the Lord. 36 Saul said, “Let’s go down after the Philistines tonight and plunder them until morning. Don’t let even one remain!” “Do whatever you want,” the troops replied. But the priest said, “Let’s approach God here.” 37 So Saul inquired of God, “Should I go after the Philistines? Will you hand them over to Israel?” But God did not answer him that day.
Saul builds and altar - we see that it is his first one.
Saul, full of himself and the spoils of victory decides to go and finish off the Philistines - the soldiers who have tasted the goodness of the spoils agree with the kings decision.
The priest stepped in with the voice of wisdom - lets ask God first before we go.
Saul asked but God did not answer.
1 Samuel 14:23–52 CSB
38 Saul said, “All you leaders of the troops, come here. Let’s investigate how this sin has occurred today. 39 As surely as the Lord lives who saves Israel, even if it is because of my son Jonathan, he must die!” Not one of the troops answered him. 40 So he said to all Israel, “You will be on one side, and I and my son Jonathan will be on the other side.” And the troops replied, “Do whatever you want.” 41 So Saul said to the Lord, “God of Israel, why have you not answered your servant today? If the unrighteousness is in me or in my son Jonathan, Lord God of Israel, give Urim; but if the fault is in your people Israel, give Thummim.” Jonathan and Saul were selected, and the troops were cleared of the charge.
Saul believes the Lord is silent because He is displeased with someone so he sets out to discover the culprit.
The first step was to determine if it was the troops or if the issue lay with the leaders, aka. Saul and Jonathan.
Here the Urim and Thummim is said to have been used - we do not know much about these except they were kept on the breastplate of the priest and were used to determine the Lord’s will.
It is most likely the stone were similar to rolling dice - the Urim and Thummim were possibly tossed and depending on how they landed would indicate God’s response.
It is important to understand that just like casting lots the belief was that God was in control of how they fell thus revealing His will - we no longer do this because we now rely directly on the Holy Spirit to reveal God’s will.
The first round fell to Saul and Jonathan clearing the troops of wrongdoing.
1 Samuel 14:23–52 CSB
42 Then Saul said, “Cast the lot between me and my son Jonathan,” and Jonathan was selected. 43 Saul commanded him, “Tell me what you did.” Jonathan told him, “I tasted a little honey with the end of the staff I was carrying. I am ready to die!” 44 Saul declared to him, “May God punish me and do so severely if you do not die, Jonathan!” 45 But the people said to Saul, “Must Jonathan die? He accomplished such a great deliverance for Israel? No, as the Lord lives, not a hair of his head will fall to the ground, for he worked with God’s help today.” So the people redeemed Jonathan, and he did not die.
Round 2 - now they had to determine if it was Saul or Jonathan - I’m guessing at this point Saul is wishing he hadn’t made the oath that whoever it is “must die” because it will either be him or his son - I’m sure he was counting on it having been a soldier who messed up when he said it.
The second round fell to Jonathan - Jonathan told him about eating the honey and said he was prepared to suffer the consequences.
Jonathan didn’t break a vow or disobey God directly but because Saul is king the oath and subsequent curse would apply to Jonathan.
What we see now is the limitations of human kingship. If the Lord cursed someone or something then it was cursed no way around it. Saul as Israel’s king had the power to curse but he did not have the power to enforce it.
The curse of a king, like every other royal utterance, was ultimately the word of a human being and thus mired in the frailties of the human condition.
In this case the royal cures was broken by the people who “rescued” or redeemed Jonathan - the use of the phrase “as the Lord lives” overruled the royal oath.
Jonathan’s faith filled actions had inadvertently brought about the defeat of two enemies of Yahweh’s purposes - one external, the Philistines, and one internal, a misguided Israelite king.
The passage really contrast the differences between earthly rulers (kings, etc) and God. - kings could lead Israel into battle, but they could also diminish a nation’s capacity to achieve victory - they could build altars for their subjects to sacrifice to God but they could not guarantee and encounter with the divine - they could utter powerful word (curses and oaths) but lacked the power to bring about their fulfillment.
1 Samuel 14:23–52 CSB
46 Then Saul gave up the pursuit of the Philistines, and the Philistines returned to their own territory. 47 When Saul assumed the kingship over Israel, he fought against all his enemies in every direction: against Moab, the Ammonites, Edom, the kings of Zobah, and the Philistines. Wherever he turned, he caused havoc. 48 He fought bravely, defeated the Amalekites, and rescued Israel from those who plundered them. 49 Saul’s sons were Jonathan, Ishvi, and Malchishua. The names of his two daughters were Merab, his firstborn, and Michal, the younger. 50 The name of Saul’s wife was Ahinoam daughter of Ahimaaz. The name of the commander of his army was Abner son of Saul’s uncle Ner. 51 Saul’s father was Kish. Abner’s father was Ner son of Abiel. 52 The conflict with the Philistines was fierce all of Saul’s days, so whenever Saul noticed any strong or valiant man, he enlisted him.
After being rebuffed by his soldiers, Saul ended the battle and let the remaining Philistines return home.
Vs 47-48 recap Saul’s military career. The people wanted a leader to defend them against their enemies and all in all Saul was successful.
Vs 49-51 give us some details regarding Saul’s family. 3 of his 4 sons are mentioned - Abinadab is missing from this list possibly because he was the son of a concubine and ineligible for inheritance rights. His 2 daughters are mentioned here for the first time and they will play important roles in the dynastic politics of later narratives.
As was custom, family members were appointed to key governmental positions thus Abner, a cousin, was made commander of the army.
The final verse informs us that even with his military success the Philistines remained an issue the entire time Saul was king - so much so that Saul drafted every able bodied man he could - remember Samuel warned the people that the king could do this very thing.
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