The time has finally arrived to return to
the study. My joy in studying 1 Samuel
has been set aside for other joys of study.
In this book, God has “relented” and Saul is king of Israel. The prophet Samuel has given Israel a serious
warning about their obedience to God in 1 Samuel 12. When we read Samuel’s
speech one should tremble. His
concluding words are:
“Only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For
consider what great things he has done for you. But if you still do wickedly,
you shall be swept away, both you and your king.”” (1 Samuel 12:24–25, ESV)
With the echoing words of “obedience”
ringing in our ears we read a story of a military campaign of Saul. Two thousand men went with Saul and
one thousand, his son, to enter into a battle with the Philistines. We read
that “Jonathan defeated the garrison of the Philistines that was at Geba . . ..”[1]
Immediately Saul
proclaimed the victory (as if it was his own) and warned the nation of a
possible counter-attack. He was
right! “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.”
(1 Samuel 13:5, ESV).
The Israelites were trapped and terrified.
Saul was waiting for Samuel to come and offer sacrifices to the Lord. The
people were losing confidence in Saul. They observed their king’s apprehension
and fear, and they fled. Saul “took the
bull by the horns” and offered burnt offerings.
“In addition to disobeying Samuel’s instructions, Saul is not qualified
to make this offering. He ignores the law and places himself above God’s
priest, showing that he is unfit to lead God’s people.”[2]
Saul’s confession is poignant: “So I forced
myself, and offered the burnt offering.”[3]
Samuel rebukes Saul: “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.”[4] This affords us an insight
into the future. It also sets the
interpretative key to what it means to be “a man after his [God’s] own heart.” This is a man who has a heart to obey
God. Saul then proceeded to confront the
Philistines.
Obedience is a key theme in this story so
far. Blessing and cursing rested upon
Saul and Israel’s obedience. Because of disobedience Saul would forfeit to
reign. Saul knew better. His heart knew the terms and conditions. But we read these terrifying words: “So I
forced myself [to sin].”
Is it not the ultimate self-condemnation to
proceed against your own scruples – your own sense of right and wrong? As Matthew Henry comments: He went against
his own conscience “perhaps boasting
that he had broken through his convictions and got the better of them, or at
least thinking this extenuated his fault, that he knew he should not have done
as he did, but did it with reluctancy. Foolish man! To think that God would be
well pleased with sacrifices offered in direct opposition both to his general
and particular command.”[5]
How did
Saul force himself to move against his own sense of right and wrong? The answer
is rationalization! 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,” (1 Samuel 13:11b,
ESV). Sounds reasonable, doesn’t
it? The army is defecting and tardy
Samuel was late. To save the day he had to do something; perhaps even be
rewarded for his insightful initiative. Within his reasoning there’s a hint of
blame.
When God has spoken, human logic, public
opinion, or even social pressure fails to absolve the sinner. I have witnessed the spiritual wreck of
students who rationalized that it was an economy of effort to co-habit with the
opposite gender. I have painfully
observed the marriage of a Christian to a non-Christian because he or she was
lonely. I have heard of the rationalization to steal from one’s boss because he
or she owes it to them. I have
experienced the pull to disregard one’s convictions because I don’t want to
offend. I have seen the compromise of spiritual priorities in the home because
children want to participate in such good activities as sport and recreation.
For God’s people, He was looking for that
obedient king – that one who would take on the headship of His people with
righteousness and perfection. A king who
would prove to be better than Saul and even better than David. This king truly represent God and would “establish your offspring forever, and
build your throne for all generations.’ ” Selah” (Psalm 89:4, ESV).
“For to us a child is born, to us a son
is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be
called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of
the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne
of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice
and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.” (Isaiah
9:6–7, ESV)
We are to bow before God’s king – King Jesus. No more rationalization. No more interference by human logic. Bow in
humble submission. It is there we find
justice and grace, righteousness and mercy, holiness and forgiveness.
[2] Barry, J. D., Mangum, D., Brown, D. R.,
Heiser, M. S., Custis, M., Ritzema, E., … Bomar, D. (2012, 2016). Faithlife Study
Bible (1 Sa 13:9). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
