1 Samuel 14 Part II

Intro:

Last week we left off with Jonathan putting himself out there and trusting God to come through

He was victorious over the Philistines

God caused confusion in the Philistine camp

Saul saw this and reacted in a peculiar way

First, he took roll to find out who attacked them

He was more concerned with who was going to get credit

We had seen two weeks ago how he took credit for Jonathan’s first attack

Second, he brought the priest and ark to pray

He wanted to know if he was going to be successful

The prayer was interrupted by the utter chaos that was coming out of the Philistine camp

Saul leads Israel into battle and soon all of the deserters are coming out of the woodwork

Through all of that God saved Israel that day

Read 1 Samuel 14:24-28

I. Foolish Oath vs. 24-30

As we get into the second half of this chapter the focus turns to Saul

More precisely his peculiar behavior

The spiritual conditions of our hearts are revealed not only by the actions we perform but also by the words we speak.

Matthew 12:34 ESV

You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.

Saul’s heart was controlled by pride, foolishness, and dishonesty

He was pushing the men hard to defeat the enemy

In doing so he put an oath of fasting on the men

Saul wanted to show the men how spiritual he was and try to impress God

Neither of them ever work

The men have been fighting all day

They were exhausted and now calorie deprived

Fighting takes an incredible amount of energy

Most soldiers are equipped with MRE’s they can eat on the go

As they conquered people they would pick up food from the villages

No commander ever expects his soldiers to fast because it would drain their energy

In the Old Testament the religious use of fasting is often in connection with making a request before God.

The principle is that the importance of the request causes an individual to be so concerned about his or her spiritual condition that physical necessities fade into the background. In this sense the act of fasting is designed as a process leading to purification and humbling oneself before God (Ps 69:10).

This would be a normal procedure to use in rituals preparing for battle but is incomprehensible as a requirement during the battle.

The emphasis Saul places on the fast is for the sake of his own vengeance rather than for the sake of consecration to the Lord.

When they get to a forest there is honey dropping

No one dared taste it so not to upset the king

Except for Jonathan

Jonathan was so busy fighting the Philistines that he didn’t hear the oath

He reaches out with his staff and eats the honey

Immediately his eyes brighten, or his spirits lift

Just like when we are hangry and finally eat.

Snickers commercial

vs. 28-30 You Did Wrong

Someone tells Jonathan about his fathers oath

What is Jonathan’s response?

Well, that was stupid

Who would prevent people from eating in battle?

You have to think that after Saul took credit for his victory in battle his respect had decreased

Jonathan wants what’s best for Israel and the soldiers

vs. 29 My father has troubled the land

He was not afraid to call out his father’s lack of wisdom

Today would’ve gone better if people would’ve eaten freely

At this point the defeat has not been great

II. Causing Others to Stumble vs. 31-35

As you can imagine the people were faint

They pounce on the spoil and start eating the meat with the blood still in it

This means they are eating it raw

Israelites had to drain the meat of all blood but they were so hungry they didn’t

A truly spiritual vow brings out the best in people, but Saul’s carnal vow brought out the worst. Wiersbe

It was told to Saul that people were sinning

He tells them they have done treacherously

A little hypocritical don’t you think?

He rolls a large rock and makes a place where he can drain the blood

He then built an altar so that the animals could be offered as fellowship offerings

Saul was feebly trying to turn a gastronomical orgy into a worship service, but he didn’t succeed too well.

The men were famished and more interested in eating than in worshiping the Lord.

Romans 14:21 ESV

It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble.

III. Do What Seems Good to You vs. 36-46

Once everyone has eaten Saul gets a brilliant idea

Let’s attack everyone at night and we will wipe them out

Surely Saul realized that his delay at Gibeah and the imposing of the foolish vow had already cost the Israelites a great victory, so he tried to make amends.

He decided to move the army that very night and be ready to surprise the Philistines early the next morning.

They said “Do whatever seems right”

We don’t know who they are, but we can assume it’s his leaders

Whenever you are surrounded by a bunch of yes men it doesn’t go well

Saul inquires of the Lord and he doesn’t get an answer

Saul immediately assumes that there is sin in the camp

It couldn’t possibly be that the idea was stupid

He then makes another vow

Even if the sin is by Jonathan, my own flesh and blood, he shall surely die

No one says anything

No one is going to give up Jonathan

Saul makes another foolish oath

He separates him and Jonathan from the troops and has the priest cast lots

It fell first to Saul & Jonathan and then Jonathan

Saul demands and answer and Jonathan tells him that he ate some honey

Because it was an Oath Saul says, “surely you must die!”

He is willing to sacrifice his own son so that his reputation stayed intact

God could have changed the results (Prov. 16:33), but He wanted to bring the whole thing out in the open and humiliate King Saul, whose pride had caused the problem to begin with.

The people praised Jonathan, not Saul, as the man who had brought the great victory to Israel, and if the Lord had used Jonathan in such a wonderful way, why should he be executed?

IV. Delivered Israel vs 47-52