What Have You Done?

Intro

Tragedy and the tragic flaw

1 Samuel 13-14 is one long narrative that reveals two major features: God’s fantastic deliverance and Saul’s tragic flaw.

1 Samuel 13:1–2 ESV

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.

There’s some difficultly with the text of verse 1: some manuscripts say that Saul became king when he was one year old, while others say he was thirty, and others don’t have an age at all. This version tries to reconcile the difficulty by saying that Saul lived for a year before becoming king, but your version may sound very different. We’re just not sure about the timeline.

But in any case, Saul has both the reign of king and the warning of Samuel in how to exercise his responsibillities.

1 Samuel 13:3–4 ESV

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.

There’s a skirmish at Geba led by Jonathan where the Philistines are defeated, and just like any other occupying force they retreat back and stop harassing Israel, right? Nope.

1 Samuel 13:5 ESV

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.

Look at the size of the response: 3,000 chariots, 6,000 charioteers, and in innumerable mass of an army all bearing down on Michmash - where Saul had assembled his portion of the Israelite militia. So we have, “in this corner, with 3,000 troops TOTAL, the Israelites!” But in the other, a large contingency of Philistines with a chariot for every Israelite soldier. This would be like Mike Tyson fighting a Tyson chicken nugget. There’s no hope for Israel with those kinds of odds…and they know it.

1 Samuel 13:6–7 ESV

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.

In fact, there was good reason to tremble. Not only did the Israelites not have much of an army, but look down in verse 19:

1 Samuel 13:19–22 ESV

19 Now there was no blacksmith to be found throughout all the land of Israel, for the Philistines said, “Lest the Hebrews make themselves swords or spears.” 20 But every one of the Israelites went down to the Philistines to sharpen his plowshare, his mattock, his axe, or his sickle, 21 and the charge was two-thirds of a shekel for the plowshares and for the mattocks, and a third of a shekel for sharpening the axes and for setting the goads. 22 So on the day of the battle there was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people with Saul and Jonathan, but Saul and Jonathan his son had them.

Things are so bad for Israel that they don’t have any weapons. The Philistines had a monopoly on the blacksmithing business - so the Israelites had no way to even sharpen their sickles for farming. That sounds strange to us, but in the early Iron Age, that was the latest technology and only Israel’s oppressors had it. Imagine trying to win in a dogfight where the opponent had a fleet of fully-armed and loaded F-22 Raptors and all you had was the Wright flyer.

So a small army with no weapons versus a massive force with far better weaponry, training, and a chip on their shoulder...

At this point, there are two possible directions for the story. If this wasn’t Bible, we’d all know where this was headed - Israel is about to be slaughtered. There’s no way they can overcome these sorts of odds, and there’s no hope of escape either.

But this is the Bible, and if we’ve learned something from Israel’s history, it’s that God often brings his greatest deliverance in the face of the greatest threats.

So this is the point where God delivers the Israelites with a great victory, right? Except...

1 Samuel 13:8 ESV

8 He waited seven days, the time appointed by Samuel. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the people were scattering from him.

Saul has gone to Gilgal to wait for Samuel, just as the prophet instructed. He waits seven days, just as the prophet instructed. But the prophet doesn’t show. So Saul’s tragic flaw is revealed:

1 Samuel 13:9–12 ESV

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.”

There it is. Saul offers the burnt offering instead of waiting.

“Now, wait just a minute,” you might say. Where’s the flaw?

It says that the prophet didn’t show when he said he would

What about the army abandoning him? Saul needed assurance from God about the battle, right?

And what of Saul’s motives? He doesn’t seem to be motivated by disdain for God or his sacrifice, and he isn’t said to be sinful in attitude.

It almost seems like this is unfair to Saul. So what is he doing that’s wrong?

Here’s Saul’s tragic flaw: instead of submitting to God’s clearly revealed will, Saul stresses his own pragmatic concerns and ignores the clear commands of the true King.

There’s nothing wrong from wanting to hear from God - nothing wrong from seeking His will and listening for his instructions. But Saul is not submitting to God’s word. He’s forcing it. He even uses that language in verse 12:

1 Samuel 13:12 ESV

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.”

Saul was seeking the favor of the Lord by forcing himself to do what God had forbidden him from doing. He seeks God’s favor through disobedience! That’s Saul’s tragic flaw: he is more concerned with the outward display of holy ritual than the actual realization of holy living. He’d rather earn God’s favor than follow God’s law. And that is what will bring him down.

1 Samuel 13:13–15 ESV

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.” 15 And Samuel arose and went up from Gilgal. The rest of the people went up after Saul to meet the army; they went up from Gilgal to Gibeah of Benjamin. And Saul numbered the people who were present with him, about six hundred men.