The leaders of the Philistines regarded the attack on their small outpost at Geba as an act of war, responding with so many chariots and troops that Saul could not call up enough fighting men in time to match their numbers. Many of those who did show up saw how vastly outnumbered they were and "hid in caves and thickets, among the rocks, and in pits and cisterns". (1 Samuel 13:6) Some even fled across the Jordan to take refuge in the areas of Gad and Gilead. (1 Samuel 13:7)
A lot of Saul's men are deserting him and this is a heavy blow because he didn't have enough soldiers to begin with. Though the Bible doesn't spell this out for us, about a week prior there were messages exchanged between Saul and Samuel. We don't know whether Saul sent a message for Samuel to come quickly because the Philistines were amassing their troops or whether Samuel, upon hearing of the coming conflict, sent a message to Saul. But during this exchange the prophet Samuel instructed Saul to stand by and take no action until he arrived on the scene. Evidently Samuel was a seven day's journey away at the time he gave these instructions. "Saul remained at Gilgal, and all the troops with him were quaking with fear. He waited seven days, the time set by Samuel; but Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and Saul's men began to scatter." (1 Samuel 13:7b-8)
Earlier in the book, after Saul was privately anointed by Samuel as the king of Israel, Samuel told Saul to go down to Gilgal ahead of him and to wait there until he arrived with further instructions. Saul obeyed Samuel that time. But he won't obey him this time. We will find Saul being a man who always tries to defend and justify his poor decisions. He likes to blame his poor decisions on the circumstances around him as if he were given no choice but to do whatever he chooses to do. It was easy for him to wait at Gilgal for Samuel the first time he was instructed to do so because he wasn't standing in front of his soldiers with the enemy army approaching. It was easy for him to wait at Gilgal the first time because he didn't have men shaking in fear or deserting him. But that's no excuse for failing to obey Samuel's instructions---and we must keep in mind that as the Lord's prophet, Samuel's instructions are the Lord's instructions.
On the seventh day, when Samuel doesn't appear early in the day, many of the soldiers who haven't already lost heart lose heart now. Saul himself is losing heart. In order to bolster the confidence of his men, and in order to prevent more of them from deserting him, he will take matters into his own hands. We'll see in a moment that Samuel planned to make a burnt offering and a fellowship offering to the Lord when he arrived and no doubt he intended to also call upon the Lord on behalf of the troops and on behalf of all Israel. This was to take place before the soldiers of Israel engaged the Philistines in battle. But Saul thinks he's going to have to engage the Philistines in battle at any moment, before the sacrifice has been made, so he will unlawfully perform a religious rite that kings are not to perform. In Israel kings could not be priests and priests could not be kings. But Saul is going to perform some priestly duties here in Chapter 13.
Samuel (who is a Levite though not a priest) was not in the wrong whenever he performed a sacrifice for the people because there are instances in the Bible where judges or prophets were allowed to do so. For example, the Lord instructed Gideon to make a sacrifice when He called him to be a judge. We'll also find the prophet Elijah making a sacrifice on behalf of the people, with the Lord's blessing. But we do not find the Lord's blessing upon kings for taking on priestly duties, for if a man could be both priest and king he would have too much control and influence over all the people. If he was not a man whose heart was wholly committed to the Lord, he would be in a position to influence the people to turn away from the proper worship of the Lord. A man who was both the head of the government and the head of the established religion of the nation could influence the whole nation into worshiping false gods or he could even force the people to worship himself and call him "lord", which indeed happened in many ancient cultures.
When Samuel doesn't arrive at daybreak on the seventh day, Saul gives in to fear and impatience and decides to wait no longer. "So he said, 'Bring me the burnt offering and the fellowship offerings.' And Saul offered up the burnt offering. Just as he finished making the offering, Samuel arrived, and Saul went out to greet him.'" (1 Samuel 13:9-10) Saul unlawfully offers the sacrifice and in deciding not to wait for Samuel he's deciding not to wait for the Lord's instructions regarding the battle ahead. Part of the reason Samuel was coming to Gilgal was to tell Saul what to do. Because Samuel was a prophet of the Lord, the instructions he would be relaying to Saul would be the Lord's instructions, not Samuel's own human opinion about what Saul should do. But Saul's faith is weak. He thinks his troops are going to be attacked before he received further instructions. He thinks all his men are going to run away before Samuel arrives. Perhaps he thinks Samuel isn't coming at all, that maybe something has happened to him or that maybe Samuel has deserted him like some of his own troops have. He's so overwhelmed by doubts and fears and all the "what ifs" that are attacking his mind that instead of waiting, as he's been instructed to do, he takes action.
It's a common human reaction to stress to feel like we must do something. It makes us think we're getting somewhere even when we aren't. You've probably heard the expression, "Don't just stand there. Do something!" But the Lord's ways are not man's ways. He often tells us the opposite of what our human natures tell us. He instructs us to be still. He instructs us to wait. He says, "Don't just do something. Stand there!"
Saul goes out to greet Samuel heartily but Samuel is not pleased. He can smell the burnt sacrifice and he knows what has happened. "'What have you done?' asked Samuel. Saul replied, 'When I saw that the men were scattering, and that you did not come at the set time, and that the Philistines were assembling at Mikmash, I thought, 'Now the Philistines will come down against met at Gilgal, and I have not sought the Lord's favor.' So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering.'" (1 Samuel 13:12) Not only does Saul refuse to accept any responsibility in the matter (blaming the decision on the troops who ran away and on Samuel who didn't show up as early in the morning as Saul would have liked) but he puts on a pious air. He says, "The men were losing heart and leaving. Plus we thought you'd be here first thing this morning and you weren't. And it looked like the Philistines might show up at our very door at any minute. How could we let that happen without the sacrifice having been made? How could we expect success in battle if we didn't offer a sacrifice to the Lord first? I had no choice but to go ahead and do it myself."
Later in the book of 1 Samuel we will find it being said that, "Obedience is better than sacrifice." Saul has disobeyed Samuel and, by extension, he has disobeyed the Lord. The Lord was far more concerned with Saul being obedient than with whether or not anybody made a sacrifice. The Lord was far more concerned with what was in Saul's heart than with what he did with his hands.
Samuel is going to have some harsh words for Saul and we don't want to make the mistake of thinking these words are based solely on one poor decision Saul made in our text today while he was under duress. The primary problem here is Saul's character. Saul has no desire to yield to the Lord and be obedient. He also does not have a penitent heart when caught doing something wrong. He wants to do what he wants to do and when taken to task for it he does not want to admit any wrongdoing. This is just who he is and who he always will be. It's not that he couldn't have changed; the Lord will give him a number of opportunities to be a better man. I think it's that he doesn't want to change. And I think it's that he doesn't feel he needs to change. He sees nothing wrong with being the way he is and he doesn't feel bad about it. When a person feels no guilt over their actions or attitudes, they will feel no need to confess and repent. That's why we find Saul blaming everyone and everything but himself.
"'You have done a foolish thing,' Samuel said. 'You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you; if you had, He would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time. But now your kingdom will not endure; the Lord has sought out a man after His own heart and appointed him ruler of His people, because you have not kept the Lord's command.'" (1 Samuel 13:13-14) There will be no dynasty formed of the family of Saul. His descendants won't sit on the throne of Israel. If Saul had had a heart for the Lord, the Lord would have blessed his family line by making it the royal line of Israel. But the Lord, who knows all things, knew everything about Saul long before he was born. Way back in Genesis we saw Jacob prophesying that the line of Judah would be the royal line of Israel, not the line of Benjamin to which Saul belongs. The Lord always knew that the first king to have a heart like His would be David of the line of Judah. This is the person to whom Samuel is referring when he says that the Lord has appointed a man after His own heart to rule Israel. Samuel doesn't yet know the identity of this king but the Lord has revealed to him that He already has this person picked out. In that sense, Samuel can rightfully say that the Lord has already "appointed him ruler" because the Lord has already made His choice even though that choice has not been revealed to Samuel or to anyone else.
David won't always do the right thing but, unlike Saul, he will always be willing and ready to acknowledge and repent of his sins. He won't try to shift the blame onto someone else. He won't try to make excuses for his mistakes. In addition, he will have a heart for the people in a way that Saul does not. David will care about his fellow citizens like the Lord cares about them. David will also be willing to yield to the Lord and be obedient to Him. He won't be perfect because no one is, but he will love the Lord and will place more importance on having close fellowship with the Lord than on anything else. He'll stumble sometimes but he won't stay down because the Lord means too much to him for him to feel content with wallowing in sin. David will never be happy when there's any distance between him and the Lord, which is why the Lord will choose him to be the next king of Israel and why the Lord will make a dynasty of David's family line.
No comments:
Post a Comment