DEVOTED TO ONE ANOTHER

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

Now the men of Israel were in distress that day, because Saul had bound the people under an oath, saying, "Cursed be any man who eats food before evening comes, before I have avenged myself on my enemies!"

So none of the troops tasted food.

The entire army entered the woods, and there was honey on the ground. When they went into the woods, they saw the honey oozing out, yet no one put his hand to his mouth, because they feared the oath. But Jonathan had not heard that his father had bound the people with the oath, so he reached out the end of the staff that was in his hand and dipped it into the honeycomb. He raised his hand to his mouth, and his eyes brightened. Then one of the soldiers told him, "Your father bound the army under a strict oath, saying, 'Cursed be any man who eats food today!' That is why the men are faint."

Jonathan said, "My father has made trouble for the country. See how my eyes brightened when I tasted a little of this honey. How much better it would have been if the men had eaten today some of the plunder they took from their enemies. Would not the slaughter of the Philistines have been even greater?"

That day, after the Israelites had struck down the Philistines from Micmash to Aijalon, they were exhausted. They pounced on the plunder and, taking sheep, cattle and calves, they butchered them on the ground and ate them, together with the blood. Then someone said to Saul, "Look, the men are sinning against the Lord by eating meat that has blood in it."

"You have broken faith," he said. "Roll a large stone over here at once." Then he said, "Go out among the men and tell them, 'Each of you bring me your cattle and sheep, and slaughter them here and eat them. Do not sin against the Lord by eating meat with blood still in it.'"

So everyone brought his ox that night and slaughtered it there. Then Saul built an altar to the Lord; it was the first time he had done this.

Saul said, "Let us go down after the Philistines by night and plunder them till dawn, and let us not leave one of them alive."

"Do whatever seems best to you," they replied.

But the priest said, "Let us inquire of God here."

So Saul asked God, "Shall I go down after the Philistines? Will you give them into Israel's hand?"

But God did not answer him that day.

Saul therefore said, "Come here, all you who are leaders of the army, and let us find out what sin has been committed today. As surely as the Lord who rescues Israel lives, even if it lies with my son Jonathan, he must die."

But not one of the men said a word.

Saul then said to all the Israelites, "You stand over there; I and Jonathan my son will stand over here."

"Do what seems best to you," the men replied.

Then Saul prayed to the Lord, the God of Israel, "Give me the right answer."

And Jonathan and Saul were taken by lot, and the men were cleared.

Saul said, "Cast the lot between me and Jonathan my son."

And Jonathan was taken.

Then Saul said to Jonathan, "Tell me what you have done."

So Jonathan told him, "I merely tasted a little honey with the end of my staff. And now must I die?"

Saul said, "May God deal with me, be it ever so severely, if you do not die, Jonathan."

But the men said to Saul, "Should Jonathan die—he who has brought about this great deliverance in Israel? Never! As surely as the Lord lives, not a hair of his head will fall to the ground, for he did this today with God's help."

So the men rescued Jonathan, and he was not put to death.

Then Saul stopped pursuing the Philistines, and they withdrew to their own land. After Saul had assumed rule over Israel, he fought against their enemies on every side: Moab, the Ammonites, Edom, the kings of Zobah, and the Philistines. Wherever he turned, he inflicted punishment on them. He fought valiantly and defeated the Amalekites, delivering Israel from the hands of those who had plundered them.

Saul's sons were Jonathan, Ishvi, and Malki-Shua. The name of his older daughter was Merab, and that of the younger was Michal. His wife's name was Ahinoam, daughter of Ahimaaz. The name of the commander of Saul's army was Abner, son of Ner, and Ner was Saul's uncle. Saul's father Kish and Abner's father Ner were sons of Abiel.

All the days of Saul, there was bitter war with the Philistines, and whenever Saul saw a mighty or brave man, he took him into his service.

1 Samuel 14:24-52

This ends our reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

It had been quite a day for Saul, his son Jonathan, and the Israelite army.

Jonathan and his armor bearer had single-handedly defeated a Philistine outpost and Saul and his men had great success in their own attack on the Philistines after God aided them by shaking the ground and throwing the Philistine soldiers into confusion.

With these accomplishments in hand, you wouldn’t think there would be anything that could have spoiled things for the Israelites…but there was. For despite all the favorable events of the day, there were two others that counter-balanced those events and brought Israel into a negative light before God.

The first matter involved Saul’s imposed fast on his army. Scripture tells us that “Saul had bound the people under an oath” telling them that any man who ate before evening would be cursed. As a result, the scriptures tell us that “none of the troops tasted food” and because of it “were in distress”.

Now, there wasn’t anything wrong with Saul’s intent on the surface. It was common practice to fast during times that required focus and a reliance on God…and Saul wanted his men’s attention to be on defeating the Philistines, not food.  And the demand wasn’t unreasonable since it was only for the day and the men would be able to eat in the evening.

But there were two problems with Saul’s demand.

First, his men were not devoted enough to keep it and, second, not everyone received his order because you’ll recall that Saul’s son, Jonathan, and his armor bearer were off fighting and defeating the Philistine outpost during the first part of the day.

And so as the “entire army entered the woods” and saw “honey on the ground”, they refused to eat it “because they feared the oath” but Jonathan, unaware of his father’s command, “reached out the end of the staff that was in his hand and dipped it into the honeycomb” before eating it. We read where “his eyes brightened” after tasting the honey which had given him energy…something the rest of Saul’s army lacked.

Well, the scriptures tell us that one of the soldiers said the following to Jonathan:

"Your father bound the army under a strict oath, saying, 'Cursed be any man who eats food today!' That is why the men are faint."

Quickly replying, Jonathan, in a display of disrespect for his father, admonished him in front of the soldiers saying:

“My father has made trouble for the country. See how my eyes brightened when I tasted a little of this honey. How much better it would have been if the men had eaten today some of the plunder they took from their enemies. Would not the slaughter of the Philistines have been even greater?"

Unknowingly consuming the honey in violation of his father’s oath couldn’t be held against Jonathan because he didn’t know. But to undermine his father in front of his fighting men was wrong and sinful…even though Jonathan’s show of support and sympathy for the army would benefit him in the end.

As stated prior, there was another problem with Saul’s demand because his men lacked the strength and conviction to uphold it. We know because the scriptures tell us the Israelites, who were exhausted after striking down “the Philistines from Micmash to Aijalon”, chose to pounce “on the plunder from the Philistine victory. They took the “sheep, cattle, and calves” and “butchered them on the ground”, eating the meat while the blood was still in it, a sin against God’s law. You’ll remember that the Lord saw that the life of a living creature was in its blood and demanded that all blood be drained from any meat before it was eaten (Genesis 9:4, Leviticus 17:13-14, 19:26, Deuteronomy 12:23).

Well, we read where this sinful behavior was brought to Saul’s attention and he took immediate action, calling all his men together and rebuking them saying:

"You have broken faith…Roll a large stone over here at once...(and) go out among the men and tell them, 'Each of you bring me your cattle and sheep, and slaughter them here and eat them. Do not sin against the Lord by eating meat with blood still in it.'"

So everyone listened to Saul and brought an ox that night, slaughtering the animal there. “Then Saul built an altar to the Lord…the first time he had done this”…and by his actions, he showed a willingness to make things right with God and seek pardon for the sins of his army through offering a sacrifice. After this, Saul thought things were worked out so that he and his fighting forces could go back into battle with the Philistines and so he said to his men:

“Let us go down after the Philistines by night and plunder them till dawn, and let us not leave one of them alive."

Now, it was a common practice to attack at night where the element of surprise would usually give the attackers a benefit and we read where Saul’s men were ready to follow him but the priest intervened and injected a dose of spiritual wisdom telling Saul that they should inquire of God about the matter first. And so the scriptures tell us that Saul asked God:

“Shall I go down after the Philistines? Will you give them into Israel's hand?"

God didn’t reply one way or another. He remained silent and so Saul automatically sensed something was wrong, feeling that someone within his army had sinned, leading the Lord to withhold His answer.

And so we read where he summoned all the “leaders of the army” and told them they needed to “find out what sin (had) been committed”. And using words that would come back to haunt him, Saul said this:

“As surely as the Lord who rescues Israel lives, even if it lies with my son Jonathan, he must die."

These words from Israel’s king struck deep into the hearts of his soldiers who knew that it had indeed been Jonathan had eaten in violation of Saul’s oath but they remained silent about it.

So would Saul find out who was responsible for bringing God’s disfavor on Israel?

We read where he (Saul) decided to cast lots, first having all the Israelites stand separate from him and Jonathan. And as Saul asks God in prayer to give him the answer, the lots are cast and the entire army is cleared of any wrongdoing, leaving the guilty party to be either Saul or Jonathan. The final casting pointed to Jonathan as the one who was in the wrong.

Immediately, we see Saul ask Jonathan about what he had done and his son replied:

“I merely tasted a little honey with the end of my staff” before asking, “And now must I die?"

To Jonathan, it just didn’t seem right or just that he would have to perish when he wasn’t aware that the oath had been given before he ate the honey.

Well, Saul had to be torn in what to do but, in the end, he felt his loyalty to God and the oath taken was more important than pardoning his son and so he proclaimed the following:

“May God deal with me, be it ever so severely, if you do not die, Jonathan."

It’s important to note here that Saul never consults God as to how the matter should have been handled. Rather, he takes things into his own hands. Granted, God didn’t answer him the last time he sought guidance but that didn’t mean God wouldn’t answer him under the present circumstances. We’ve seen how the Lord displayed Himself as a righteous, just God over and over again in the scriptures and surely He would have granted clemency to Jonathan had He only been consulted. But Saul never turned to Him…and as we’ll see, the call for proper justice had to come from a different place.

For we read where Saul’s men defiantly say to their leader and king:

“Should Jonathan die — he who has brought about this great deliverance in Israel? Never! As surely as the Lord lives, not a hair of his head will fall to the ground, for he did this today with God's help."

Jonathan and his armor bearer had defeated the Philistine outpost because they turned to God who brought them the victory. And because he carried out God’s plan and desire, the Lord in turn rescued Jonathan as Saul’s soldiers intervened for him and prevented his death.

You know, I can’t help but think God had a hand in the words spoken by Saul’s men. For their selfless compassion for Jonathan ended up sparing his life while ensuring proper justice was carried out. In the end translation, they weren’t afraid to speak up and ensure the right thing happened, even if it meant challenging their king.

With this, I wonder if we would be as bold as Saul’s men to speak up against injustice when we see it in our world today. Are we as compassionate and caring…as selfless and loving ourselves?

I believe we would be if we only remained obedient to God’s holy Word. For Paul wrote some very important words for us in his letter to the Romans, words included in a series of exhortations for the Christian church which serve as a primer for us as we seek to discern how to handle matters when the need arises to stand up for others. Here’s what he said:

Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. Romans 12:9-10

In our scripture passage for today, we see where Saul’s men were sincere in their love for Jonathan and showed it in their willingness to speak up in his defense. They clung to what was good and right…for Jonathan deserved pardon and received it. Through their actions, Jonathan had to sense the wonderful devotion and brotherly love the soldiers felt for him as well as their self sacrificing willingness to place Jonathan above themselves.

O, what a better world we would have to live in today if all people would embody these principles…to love sincerely…to hate what is evil and cling to good…to be devoted to one another in love…and to honor others above themselves.

Come to think of it, Jesus was all of this and more. It’s why Christian believers admire and respect Him…why they love and desire Him…and why they follow and seek to be like Him. It’s also why they are called to make disciples of Him, teaching all to obey what He commanded (Matthew 28:18-20). 

Indeed, Jesus wasn't willing to allow anyone to die in their sins and so He willingly followed the desire of God, His Father, and gave up His life on the cross of Calvary. His sacrifice atoned for the sin of anyone who would believe in Him (John 3:16) and through His shed blood, He purchased the pardon of every single one of His disciples.  

Yes, this world can be a better place to live in…but won’t get to that place unless more people choose to turn their heart, mind, and soul over to Jesus…the One who is the Savior, Redeemer, and Friend of all who place their trust in Him…the One who was first devoted to us so that we might know how to be devoted to one another.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it. Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.