1 Samuel 13:1-15
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Introduction
Introduction
So as we move to 1 Samuel 13, a quick review of what’s been happening
the people of Israel have asked for a king
something that was their right to do according to Deuteronomy 17
and God has granted their request by giving them Saul
the first King over Israel
and so far things have been going well
God promised Saul that he would equip and enable him to lead God’s people
to save them from their enemies
Saul is everything the people could want in a king
he looks the part, he comes from a wealthy family
and he’s been successful in leading Israel against the Ammonites
We were in chapter 12 last time
where Samuel addressed a heart issue in Israel
Israel’s motivation in asking for a king was not out of a desire to follow the Lord
but just another tactic to be like all the surrounding nations
it was a rejection of the Lord
and in his farewell address, he called the people to turn from that back to the Lord
and the people responded, acknowledging their sin, and pleading for Samuel to mediate with the Lord on their behalf
And Samuel points to God’s love and mercy, that he will not forsake them
and during this interaction, the stakes are raised regarding their king
Israel’s relationship with the Lord, their ability to experience continued life and blessing
is now tied to the faithfulness of their king
Samuel says if both you and the king who reigns over you will follow the Lord, it will be well
So if Israel has the wrong king, if their king fails to follow the Lord
then God’s hand will be against them
as it says at the end of chapter 12, you shall be swept away, both you and your king
So now the question arises: Is Saul the right kind of king?
Bringing us to our passage today, where we immediately get an answer
Starting in verse 1:
1 Saul lived for one year and then became king, and when he had reigned for two years over Israel, 2 Saul chose three thousand men of Israel. Two thousand were with Saul in Michmash and the hill country of Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin. The rest of the people he sent home, every man to his tent. 3 Jonathan defeated the garrison of the Philistines that was at Geba, and the Philistines heard of it. And Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, “Let the Hebrews hear.” 4 And all Israel heard it said that Saul had defeated the garrison of the Philistines, and also that Israel had become a stench to the Philistines. And the people were called out to join Saul at Gilgal. 5 And the Philistines mustered to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots and six thousand horsemen and troops like the sand on the seashore in multitude. They came up and encamped in Michmash, to the east of Beth-aven. 6 When the men of Israel saw that they were in trouble (for the people were hard pressed), the people hid themselves in caves and in holes and in rocks and in tombs and in cisterns, 7 and some Hebrews crossed the fords of the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. Saul was still at Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling. 8 He waited seven days, the time appointed by Samuel. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the people were scattering from him. 9 So Saul said, “Bring the burnt offering here to me, and the peace offerings.” And he offered the burnt offering. 10 As soon as he had finished offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came. And Saul went out to meet him and greet him. 11 Samuel said, “What have you done?” And Saul said, “When I saw that the people were scattering from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines had mustered at Michmash, 12 I said, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the favor of the Lord.’ So I forced myself, and offered the burnt offering.” 13 And Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the command of the Lord your God, with which he commanded you. For then the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. 14 But now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought out a man after his own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.”
Growing up in the 80’s, I was surrounded by movies and tv shows with heroes that never seemed to waver in the midst of crisis
Luke Skywalker
Flash Gordon
transformers
gi joe
whenever they hit any kind of difficulty, there was almost never even a sense of fear
of course, all of this is totally unrealistic, there are no people or transforming robots that I know of that are really like this
because part of being in a crisis is experiencing fear or second thoughts
and even if we do the right thing, it’s difficult
Looking at our passage, we see King Saul in crisis
and the way he’s described in the book, he at least physically looks like he would be like one of these heroes who never wavers
but the crisis just reveals who he truly is
it’s been easy for him to trust the Lord when things are going well
that’s an easy thing for anyone
but when things get hard, Saul’s going to trust himself
he’s going to do what he thinks is best, even if that means disobeying God
even if it means failing the one clear test of trust that God has given him
How does this point us to our own failure?
and how does it point us to Jesus?
the one who did not fail, the one who was faithful in crisis
even when that meant his own death
Let’s take a look at our passage, starting in verse 1:
1 Saul lived for one year and then became king, and when he had reigned for two years over Israel,
this verse follows a formula that we see throughout the book of kings
the formula introduces a king’s reign by saying the name of the king, how old he was at the beginning of his reign, and how long his reign lasted
it is then followed by a summary of how the king did, basically giving him a report card
after Solomon, you have the divided kingdom
the northern of Israel and the southern of Judah
the grades are not on how prosperous the kingdom is, but on how well they lead the people in following the Lord
all of Israel’s kings receive a failing grade
and Judah is a mixed bag of good, ok, and failing
so coming back to our verse, the kings formula helps us to see that this is a defining event for Saul’s reign
what follows basically determines his grade, and as we shall see, his grade is a failing one
what the formula does not help us with here, is how old Saul was or how long he reigned
because the years are obviously off, based on our surviving Hebrew manuscripts
some Greek Old Testament translations have 30 for his age and 42 years for his reign, which tracks with what Paul says about Saul in Acts 13
and those numbers show up in other translations like the NIV and NASB
remember, when we talk about the inerrancy of Scripture, that the bible does not contain errors
we are saying the original autographs were without error
and what we have are copies
now because of how many surviving copies we have, we can be 99.9% confident that what we have is accurate and trustworthy
so when we run into a verse like this with an issue, it shouldn’t rattle our understanding of innerancy, or our faith in the Bible’s reliability
another quick side note that will help us not just this week, but in the coming weeks
Our 21st century minds are often obsessed with chronology
so much so that we view things as wrong if they’re not in chronological order
but like so many issues people have with the Bible, this is an us issue, not a Bible issue
it’s like when someone is breaking up with their boyfriend or girlfriend and they say
it’s not you, it’s me
it’s not the Bible, it’s us
throughout history it has been acceptable to group thematically to make a point in history writing
this is why there’s not any issue with the gospels having certain events in a different order
each gospel writer has different goals in what specifically they are saying and who they are writing to
so what we see throughout Samuel isn’t necessarily in precise chronological order
and that’s ok, in fact, it’s more than ok
because the author is structuring the book to make his message clearer
to make it to where we can understand what he’s trying to tell us about the Lord
about his people, and about his king
the writer is using real history, to explain spiritual truth
How can all of this be true?
God is the author of history, and he’s also the author of the authors of history
using inspired writers to tell us about himself and about us
going on:
2 Saul chose three thousand men of Israel. Two thousand were with Saul in Michmash and the hill country of Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin. The rest of the people he sent home, every man to his tent. 3 Jonathan defeated the garrison of the Philistines that was at Geba, and the Philistines heard of it. And Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, “Let the Hebrews hear.”
Back in chapter 8, when Israel asked for a king
the big reasons they gave were so he might judge us and go out before us and fight our battles
they want a military leader, and so that’s what Saul is doing here
he is being who the people want him to be
In Chapter 10, Samuel mentions Gibeah or Geba as the place where Saul will prophesy
and it’s mentioned there for the first time as the location of a Philistine garrison
the author is being very intentional in connecting this passage to Saul’s anointing in chapter 10
So here is the first we hear of Jonathan, Saul’s son
and even here, we begin to see a contrast between Saul and Jonathan
We’ll see in this passage that Saul’s dynasty will be cut off, that it will not continue
but it’s because of Saul, not Jonathan
Jonathan is an overwhelmingly positive figure throughout Samuel
he follows the Lord, he is a wiser military leader than Saul
and he is a great friend of David
he loves him and recognizes that the Lord has chosen David to be king
there’s some irony, because Jonathan has the makings of a much better king than most of David’s sons
A question the book is asking is:
who are we? are we Saul or Jonathan?
are we trying to hold onto our own power and authority after we have failed and it has been taken away from us? will we be like Saul?
or will we submit to the true king? will we be like Jonathan?
will we lay down the false sense of power that the world tells us we’re entitled to
that we are good enough, that we can make the rules, that we can reign?
and follow the one who the Lord has placed over us?
do we follow David’s Son, do we follow Christ?
the only source of life and blessing
the one who reigns according to the God’s righteousness
So that’s a big theme we’ll come back to in later weeks
our first impression of Jonathan here is defeating the Philistine Garrison
and this is a good thing for Israel
Gibeah is part of the promised land, has become the capital of Israel under Saul, and was an important center for the priesthood
so Saul’s act of doing this is not bad in itself
in fact, it’s what he’s supposed to do as Israel’s king
but it does lead to consequences
Verse 4:
4 And all Israel heard it said that Saul had defeated the garrison of the Philistines, and also that Israel had become a stench to the Philistines. And the people were called out to join Saul at Gilgal.
So the outcome of this is a full scale war with the Philistines
Saul and Jonathan’s action of defeating the Philistines ends up being a moment that initially excites and unites Israel
and it also stirs up the Philistines to retaliate
Verses 5-7:
5 And the Philistines mustered to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots and six thousand horsemen and troops like the sand on the seashore in multitude. They came up and encamped in Michmash, to the east of Beth-aven. 6 When the men of Israel saw that they were in trouble (for the people were hard pressed), the people hid themselves in caves and in holes and in rocks and in tombs and in cisterns, 7 and some Hebrews crossed the fords of the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. Saul was still at Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling.
So now the crisis begins for Saul
the Philistines are prepared to go to war with Israel
and as we will see later in the chapter
they have a monopoly on iron works in the area
so they both outnumber and outmatch Israel in terms of weaponry, chariots and horsemen
and when Israel sees this, they are scared
this leads some to abandon camp into the caves
and others to escape to the land beyond the Jordan
Often, following the Lord can be easy in the beginning
so we, like Saul, make the initial right decisions
we do what we are called to do
but then eventually, it stops being easy
we hit a crisis, a crossroads
this can happen in our jobs
where everything is going well
but then an ethical decision must be made
and the decision might seem small
but what is going on in an ultimate sense is deciding
who is my ultimate authority? who am I ultimately loyal to? who do I trust?
do I do what my job or my bosses are asking and compromise who I am
basically showing that I’m loyal to them before God
so that maybe things will be easier for me
or do I make a hard decision that could jeopardize my career, my stability
because my loyalty is to God? to following Christ?
this can happen with friends, with your social group
at school, even in your family
there’s a worldly situation that’s similar
growing up, we would always see ads on tv telling us to say no to drugs
and the ads would almost always involve some form of peer pressuring
but the pressured person would say no, because they had been taught to say no
they had embraced that mantra
we need to be clear between a crisis of faith and a crisis of self righteousness
do we make decisions out of a desire to follow Jesus
to live as those who have been bought out of death and brought to life
who have been saved based solely on what Jesus has done for us and not on anything we bring to the table
or do we make hard decisions that are externally right
but come from a desire to puff ourselves up
so we can feel self righteous about ourselves and look down on those who aren’t making the right decision
so that when we make those decisions, we wear the consequences like a badge of honor
I’m doing the right thing and look how I’ve suffered
I’m better than all those others who failed where I succeeded
when we see others in sin, when we see others fail, we need to remind ourselves that
there but for the grace of God, go I
our ability to persevere in difficult situations comes via the work of the Holy Spirit
it comes because of Jesus
if we make the right decision for the wrong reason we’re just trading one sin for another
because sin is a matter of the heart, is our heart pointed to Jesus, or to ourselves?
So, in the midst of crisis, how does Saul react?
verses 8-9:
8 He waited seven days, the time appointed by Samuel. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the people were scattering from him. 9 So Saul said, “Bring the burnt offering here to me, and the peace offerings.” And he offered the burnt offering.
Back in chapter 10, when Saul was anointed
God promised that he would empower and equip him with everything he would need to lead Israel
and this was accompanied with outward signs and confirmation
and so far, Saul has only had success in leading Israel into battle
God’s Spirit had rushed on him and empowered him to defeat the Ammonites and Israel became united behind him
and throughout this, the Lord is calling Saul saying, see, I will be with you
follow me, trust me
and as part of this, in the midst of all these blessings and promises, God gave Saul a test in Chapter 10, here it is:
8 Then go down before me to Gilgal. And behold, I am coming down to you to offer burnt offerings and to sacrifice peace offerings. Seven days you shall wait, until I come to you and show you what you shall do.” 9 When he turned his back to leave Samuel, God gave him another heart. And all these signs came to pass that day.
So this was to be a continual act of faith for Saul
how did he demonstrate that he was ultimately trusting in the Lord as his King?
that it was the Lord who was working through him
he was to wait
7 days for Samuel to come
even in the midst of crisis
back to verses 8-9:
8 He waited seven days, the time appointed by Samuel. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the people were scattering from him. 9 So Saul said, “Bring the burnt offering here to me, and the peace offerings.” And he offered the burnt offering.
How often do we fail at waiting?
when there’s a crisis or a deep need, we pray to God, we ask him to do something
to intervene
we know, because of Jesus, that God hears all of our prayers
sometimes we think that God must not be there
that because we don’t feel some emotional connection like we think we should feel
that he must have left or isn’t listening
but God is always there, whether we feel him or not
he always hears us, he is always listening
but how does God answer?
the standard responses are: yes, no, not right now, wait
I’m not good at waiting
I want something right now
A couple of weeks ago, we went to the beach for the first time in a couple of years
and Lindsey and I were walking on the beach together
and something we discussed was this was one of the first times we’ve been to the beach in years where there wasn’t some kind of major life decision or crossroads we were waiting on or trying to figure out
for years, it was why haven’t we been able to have children yet?
what do we need to do? what are our next steps? why is it taking so long?
and then it was, why haven’t I found a job yet?
I’m trying to pursue what God is calling me to do
why are all these doors shutting?
what do I do? how do I make this process go faster?
God was calling us in those seasons to wait
and looking back, it was because he was preparing everything
most of the time, when we are called to wait, there’s not a defined amount of time
so there’s a call to faithfulness, to trust that God knows what he’s doing
and to wait, if it takes days, months, or years
For Saul, he had a clear amount of time he needed to wait
seven days
and he already had a clear answer from the Lord
that the Lord had chosen him to lead his people
and that he would do everything to equip and empower him to
and the time period of waiting is almost over
he is in the seventh day, the waiting is almost over
but Saul then shows where his ultimate trust lies
the people are scattering, without the people, there’s no way to win the battle
his trust is in earthly things
so he offers the sacrifices as a ploy to keep the people from abandoning him
Saul fails his test
a reminder of the parallel here between Saul and Adam
one of the things I really love about the book of Samuel is you get a clear Adam figure and Jesus figure in the same book
the one who fails and the one who succeeds where the other failed
Saul, like Adam, was our best shot
he had every advantage to succeed
so when he fails, we should recognize that left to ourselves in the same situation
we would have failed too
just like Adam and Eve in the Garden
Adam and Eve were created in a state of immense blessing
they were given one test, don’t eat the fruit from that tree
and they failed it
they rebelled
rejecting their relationship with God
rejecting that God had given them dominion over the earth
rejecting God’s promises of life and continued blessing
trying to be like God, trying to be more than God created them to be
and because of their failure, all of us are born with the consequences of their rebellion
death, disease, futility, and the inability to choose God
Here’s Saul showing his inability to choose God
and he’s just re-emphasizing our inability
and he’s also overstepping his power, trying to be more than the role God has given him
but ordering the sacrifice, he’s acting with the authority of a priest, something he does not have
when we fail, when we bow to pressure in crisis, it’s us overstepping what God made us to be
because we’re telling God, I know better, I decide what’s right, I decide what’s best
so Saul fails his test, he shows his lack of faithfulness to the Lord
and then Samuel shows up:
Verses 10-12:
10 As soon as he had finished offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came. And Saul went out to meet him and greet him. 11 Samuel said, “What have you done?” And Saul said, “When I saw that the people were scattering from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines had mustered at Michmash, 12 I said, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the favor of the Lord.’ So I forced myself, and offered the burnt offering.”
So Samuel dispenses with the niceties
he could probably see smoke in the air as he approached
he knows what has happened
so he immediately confronts Saul
there is such a strong parallel here with Genesis 3
Adam and Eve sin, and they hear the Lord approaching
but whereas Adam and Eve cover themselves and hide
Saul tries a different tactic, maybe he’s hoping Samuel hasn’t noticed what he’s done yet
or he’s trying to play it off as no big deal
but Samuel immediately asks What have you done?
almost the same question God asks Adam and Eve: what is this you have done?
So, like in the Garden, Saul is offered a chance to confess, to take responsibility,
but all Saul offers back are excuses
he blames the people, he blames Samuel, and he blames the Philistines
this is everyone’s fault but his own
this is just like Adam and Eve in the Garden
Adam blames Eve and while also blaming God for giving him Eve
“the woman you gave to be with me, she gave me the fruit and I ate”
and then Eve blames the serpent
“the serpent deceived me and I ate”
it’s the same set of excuses in both passages, those who are with me, those who are against me, and God himself
they’re the ones responsible
Saul forced himself, he had to do it, he had no choice
A reminder that when we confess our sins to one another
a true confession does not involve excuses
true repentance does not involve placing blame on someone else
there is always a reason for our sin, whether illegitimate or legitimate
ranging from: i did it because I wanted to
to I was feeling pressure because of this
to this happened to me, so I feel justified to go out and do this
to you made me do this
thinking about cases of abuse
where the abuser puts the blame on the victim
I hate that you made me do this
maybe the victim did mess up in some way, but that never justifies abuse
our sin is never someone else’s fault
we are choosing to do what we do, we are responsible, we are accountable
repentance involves acknowledging that and taking ownership of what we’ve done
and Saul, like Adam, refuses to do that
so what is the result of Saul’s unrepentant sin?
English Standard Version Chapter 13
13 And Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the command of the LORD your God, with which he commanded you. For then the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. 14 But now your kingdom shall not continue.
Saul’s kingdom will not continue
if Saul had just passed this simple test of trust, of faithfulness, of love for God,
the Lord would have established his dynasty over God’s people forever
but now he and his family are being kicked off the throne
because he has shown his lack of faith
just like Adam and Eve were kicked out of the garden
we could stop there in the sermon, and make this moralistic and works oriented
don’t be like Saul, be faithful in times of crisis
save yourself, show God how dedicated you are to him
and then we all could feel bad because we fail at this all the time and wonder how God could love us
but we’re not stopping here
and remember in chapter 12 it was established that the fate of God’s people
is tied to their king
it’s not about them following the Lord, it’s about them following the king, who is following the Lord
so the end of Saul’s dynasty is not the end of the story
just like Adam and Eve being kicked out of the Garden is not the end of the story
we don’t fade to black in hopelessness
English Standard Version Chapter 13
The LORD has sought out a man after his own heart, and the LORD has commanded him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept what the LORD commanded you.”
Where is our hope?
in the Lord, he will rescue us from trying to be king
he has shown us that our best shot at this, fails
so we know we can’t do better left to ourselves
the Lord will find a man after his own heart
a heart that the Lord has given him
and he will be prince, he will rule
God will bring someone who will save Israel from the faithlessness of Saul
who will lead Israel to follow the Lord
Here’s how Paul summarizes the situation in Acts 13:
21 Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. 22 And when he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, ‘I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will.’ 23 Of this man’s offspring God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, as he promised.
The Lord establishes David’s kingdom forever
as we will see in 2 Samuel 7
and even when David is shone to fail, to fall short, with actions that are much worse than forcing a sacrifice early
we see true repentance, we see a heart that acknowledges his own accountability and who he has sinned against
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment.
He’s not blaming God for his sin, there are no excuses
he throws himself solely on God’s mercy and love
something we can do because of David’s offspring, Jesus
Jesus, who suffered the judgment we are due for our rebellion, for our faithlessness in the midst of crisis, for our excuses
on the Cross
who was obedient even to death
And now lives and reigns so that by following him, we can follow the Lord
and can experience the blessing and life promised to God’s people for faithfulness
because Jesus is righteous, he is faithful, in our place
and now, because we are united to him via the Holy Spirit
we can more and more be faithful to him
we can more and more choose to be loyal to God in times of crisis
not for the purpose of exalting ourselves, of puffing ourselves up with self righteousness
but because that’s who we are, that who Jesus is making us into
so our loyalty, our faithfulness, exalts Jesus
it exalts what our King has done and is doing