ARROGANT REBELLION

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In Christ, Mark

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

Early in the morning, Samuel got up and went to meet Saul, but he was told, “Saul has gone to Carmel. There he has set up a monument in his own honor and has turned and gone on down to Gilgal.”

When Samuel reached him, Saul said, “The Lord bless you! I have carried out the Lord’s instructions.”

But Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of sheep in my ears? What is this lowing of cattle that I hear?”

Saul answered, “The soldiers brought them from the Amalekites; they spared the best of the sheep and cattle to sacrifice to the Lord your God, but we totally destroyed the rest.”

“Stop!” Samuel said to Saul. “Let me tell you what the Lord said to me last night.”

“Tell me,” Saul replied.

Samuel said, “Although you were once small in your own eyes, did you not become the head of the tribes of Israel? The Lord anointed you king over Israel. And He sent you on a mission, saying, ‘Go and completely destroy those wicked people, the Amalekites; make war on them until you have wiped them out.’ Why did you not obey the Lord? Why did you pounce on the plunder and do evil in the eyes of the Lord?”

“But I did obey the Lord,” Saul said. ”I went on the mission the Lord assigned me. I completely destroyed the Amalekites and brought back Agag their king. The soldiers took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of what was devoted to God, in order to sacrifice them to the Lord your God at Gilgal.”

But Samuel replied: “Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He has rejected you as king.”

Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned. I violated the Lord’s command and your instructions.”

1 Samuel 15:12-24a

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

How many times does a person commit a sin and then try and cover it up with a lie…in essence  another sin?

Perhaps it’s a question we really don’t want to know the answer to.

Why the question?

Because we see the behavior at the center of today’s scripture passage from our continuing study of 1 Samuel, chapter 15…a rebellious, disobedient behavior that doesn’t sit well with the God who actually grieved over allowing Saul to rule and reign in the first place.

As we move to the scriptures, we read where Samuel gets up “early in the morning” and goes “to meet Saul” but as he travels there, he is informed that the king was in another location, first to Carmel where he “set up a monument in his own honor” and then to Gilgal, the place Samuel had anointed him as king.

Here, we find Saul digging an even deeper hole in his relationship with the Lord For not only had he shown a willingness to violate God’s demands but now he sought to glorify and honor himself. Unfortunately, the latter happens way too often in our society today.

Thankfully, we have the Word of the Lord that can serve as a deterrent when we take it to heart as we should. For heading back to the scriptures, we find Samuel finally tracking Saul down and amazingly, Israel’s king behaves as if all is well and he has done nothing wrong. In fact, Saul acts like he has carried out all of the Lord’s instructions perfectly when in reality, he simply contrived a story to try and cover up the sinful behavior of he and his men.

Before that, a lie as Saul states that he had “carried out the Lord’s instructions” to which Samuel replies:

“What then is this bleating of sheep in my ears? What is this lowing of cattle that I hear?”

You see, Samuel, God’s messenger and faithful servant, was well aware that the Lord told Saul to completely destroy everything when he conquered the Amalekites, not sparing a single person or animal. And yet, Saul decided to spare the life of Agag, the Amalekite king, while allowing his men to keep all the best of the sheep and cattle from the plunder.

And so Samuel called out Israel’s king, challenging his assertion that he had obeyed God fully but as we see, Saul was ready for him, showing that he had already thought out the progression of deceit he would follow well before it happened. For we find him saying this to Samuel:

“The soldiers brought them (the sheep and cattle) from the Amalekites; they spared the best of the sheep and cattle to sacrifice to the Lord your God, but we totally destroyed the rest.”

Through his own words, we see where Saul was only compounding the sins already committed. For not only was he lying about fully keeping the Lord’s commands but he now used God as a part of his excuse, trying to convince Samuel that the best of the sheep and cattle were only taken in order to present sacrifices to the Lord.

Obviously, the problem was that God never ordered Saul to do this. If He had wanted the best sheep and cattle to be set aside for offerings, He would have told Israel’s king to do so but He didn’t.

Well, the scriptures show us that Samuel gets fed up with Saul’s falsehoods and demands that he stop before sharing what Lord had told him the night before about the consequences that were coming. We should note here that Samuel is not speaking on his own behalf but for the Lord and had Saul just done this, putting God ahead of himself, he would have found himself in a much better place…in the favor of the Lord instead of His judgment.

And so here’s what Samuel says, speaking on behalf of God:

“Although you were once small in your own eyes, did you not become the head of the tribes of Israel? The Lord anointed you king over Israel. And He sent you on a mission, saying, ‘Go and completely destroy those wicked people, the Amalekites; make war on them until you have wiped them out.’ Why did you not obey the Lord? Why did you pounce on the plunder and do evil in the eyes of the Lord?”

Through these words, we find Samuel speaking volumes of wisdom, not only to Saul but to us as well. Here are the key takeaways we should remember:

1. God and God alone brings us to greatness.

Samuel tells Saul, “Although you were once small in your own eyes, did you not become the head of the tribes of Israel? The Lord anointed you king over Israel.”

Indeed, Saul was from the smallest of the Israelite tribes and the least of the clans within that tribe. If one were going to predict where the king of Israel would come from, no one would have thought it would be from the tribe of Benjamin let alone Saul’s clan and family within it…no one except God, that is.

We know it was the Lord who selected Saul and placed him in an important position of leadership over His people… a position where Saul was expected to represent his God honorably. Unfortunately, Saul did everything but that, disregarding just how much he had been blessed while getting consumed by his power and accomplishments, so much so that he saw himself as more significant than the One who had actually made him a success.

As we go through each day that the Lord blesses us with, let us ever remain grounded in humility, realizing that everything we have achieved or are achieving came from the providence of a God who is willing to take sinners like you and me…and elevate us to do great things in His name. Because of this, He and He alone deserves the credit and glory.

2. Once God brings us greatness, He sends us forth to do His work.

Once Saul was “anointed…king over Israel”, God “sent (him) on a mission”. In this instance, Israel’s king was supposed to “completely destroy (the) wicked people…Amalekites”, making “war on them until” they were wiped out. As mentioned prior, we know didn’t carry out God’s plan as ordered. Instead, he modified the calling to suit the desires of himself and his army…such was the degree of Saul’s arrogance and disrespectfulness towards the Lord.

Well, just as God sent Saul on a mission back in Old Testament times, He does the same to all of us today who He has called into service. Because of this truth, we need to be always seeking His will for our lives and then be obedient to doing what He tells us to do.

When it comes right down to it, the Lord chooses us to do great things and then calls us into action…action that He will always make clear to us…action that demands our obedient response.

3. God demands and expects our obedience centered on complete compliance with His commands.

Once Samuel reminds Saul that God had selected him and elevated him to greatness, expecting Him to obediently carry out the mission He set forth, he asks Saul:

“Why did you not obey the Lord? Why did you pounce on the plunder and do evil in the eyes of the Lord?”

Indeed, why?

It’s a question God would ask each of us as well.

Why would we ever decide to turn from Him and His will for our lives?

Why would we refuse to give Him all the credit and glory when we accomplish His purposes?

Why do we sin and then lie to try and cover it up as if it’s a good idea?

Why would we ever willingly decide to do evil instead of good in plain sight of the Lord?

Why? Why? Why? Why?

Well, going back to the scriptures for today, did Saul get a wake-up call from the words of the Lord shared by Samuel?

Unfortunately, the answer is no for we find him decide to continue his dishonesty to try and justify his blatant sinfulness. Here’s what he says in reply to Samuel:

“But I did obey the Lord…I went on the mission the Lord assigned me. I completely destroyed the Amalekites and brought back Agag their king. The soldiers took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of what was devoted to God, in order to sacrifice them to the Lord your God at Gilgal.”

Here, we clearly see that Saul just didn’t get it, convinced that he could keep going and twist what happened until Samuel bought his story but as we see, he (Samuel) wasn’t about to give up either until Saul gave up his ruse and came clean. For here’s his reply to Israel’s king:

“Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He has rejected you as king.”

Again, here we see Samuel speaking great words of wisdom, providing Saul…and us…some additional points to ponder:

1. The Lord delights the most in our obedience.

Earlier in this chapter, we learned how willful disobedience grieves God and certainly Saul had done that. But note how Samuel takes this a step further and personalizes it so to apply to Saul’s lie saying:

“Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord?”

Essentially, Samuel then answers his own question, telling Saul that the Lord doesn’t delight in those things more than being obedient:

“…to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.”

The bottom line here is that no one should ever expect to balance out their transgressions by doing good things for God. We can’t simply cancel out the sin of carrying out our own desires instead of doing what the Lord wants us to do, unless we sincerely repent.

The Lord expects our utmost compliance with His commands and expectations, carrying out His purposes just the way He wants…without any deviation.

2. Rebellion and arrogance are evil in the eyes of God.

As we have seen throughout our study of the Old Testament to date, the Lord despises divination for in doing it, the diviner is seeking guidance from spiritual sources outside of Him…all despite Him making it crystal clear that He would have no others gods before Him.

In essence, a diviner, in denying trust in the one true God, was equivalent to a rebeller…one who chose his own way over God’s and this is why we find Samuel drawing the comparison between the two in his words to Saul.

We also find Samuel touching on something else Saul had displayed, the subject of arrogance which was compared to idolatry. We have seen how this sin of idolatry had begun to run rampant during the Old Testament period of the Judges as the Israelites chose to worship the Canaanite gods over the one true God, the God who had demanded that there would be no gods or idols worshipped ahead of Him.

Such was the case with Saul, but in his case he chose to erect a monument in his own honor therefore essentially making himself an object of worship above God. This self-idolizing behavior is what made him evil in God’s sight.

3. Willful disobedience, rebellion, and arrogance unto God will result in rejection.

We see in the scriptures where Saul’s actions were reprehensible and inexcusable in God’s eyes and so he lost the privilege to lead the Lord’s nation. The Lord removed his authority and privilege to rule over His people and although this didn’t happen instantly, God’s promise did happen over time as He paved the way for David, a man after His own heart, to be the next king.

Here’s what Samuel said, sealing the Lord’s verdict and penalty:

“Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He has rejected you as king.”

The message here is clear.

God will not tolerate any person rejecting Him...period. He is God and only He is to be praised and worshipped…lifted up high and honored above anyone and anything…singularly respected and obeyed.

Nothing short of this is acceptable and if test His resolve by choosing to reject Him and His Word, then we can expect to fall from glory ourselves…from the only glory that matters and that’s His glory.

Well, before I close this message, we need to return to our passage for it’s there that we finally see Saul speak some words of truth, saying to Samuel:

“I have sinned. I violated the Lord’s command and your instructions.”

It sure would have been a lot easier if Saul had just confessed and repented earlier but even better yet, it would have been far more favorable if he had just decided to be an obedient leader in the first place, one who honored God and God alone by strictly obeying His Word, will, and way. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen and Saul ended up paying a heavy price for going down the path of sinful, arrogant rebellion and pride.

Friends, we all have a choice to make ourselves. As Christ believers, we are God’s children…created in His own image and called by Him to be fully obedience in our service to Him.

So how will we respond?

Will we be like Saul and choose to do what we desire instead of what He wants, even though the Bible shows us that this is a path that leads to sinful destruction and God’s rejection?

Or will we learn from the mistakes of Saul and fully apply ourselves to obey everything that God asks us to do, fully heeding His commands and word?

The choice is ultimately up to us.

Righteousness or evil?

Obedience or sin?

Favor or rejection?

So what’s it going to be?

God is watching and to see how you answer through your actions.

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.

GRIEVING GOD

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

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

Samuel said to Saul, “I am the one the Lord sent to anoint you king over His people Israel; so listen now to the message from the Lord. This is what the Lord Almighty says: 'I will punish the Amalekites for what they did to Israel when they waylaid them as they came up from Egypt. Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy everything that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.''

So Saul summoned the men and mustered them at Telaim — two hundred thousand foot soldiers and ten thousand men from Judah. Saul went to the city of Amalek and set an ambush in the ravine. Then he said to the Kenites, “Go away, leave the Amalekites so that I do not destroy you along with them; for you showed kindness to all the Israelites when they came up out of Egypt.”

So the Kenites moved away from the Amalekites.

Then Saul attacked the Amalekites all the way from Havilah to Shur, to the east of Egypt. He took Agag, king of the Amalekites, alive, and all his people he totally destroyed with the sword. But Saul and the army spared Agag and the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves and lambs —everything that was good. These they were unwilling to destroy completely, but everything that was despised and weak they totally destroyed.

Then the word of the Lord came to Samuel: “I am grieved that I have made Saul king, because he has turned away from Me and has not carried out My instructions.”

Samuel was troubled, and he cried out to the Lord all that night.

1 Samuel 15:1-11

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

As 1st Samuel, chapter 15 opens, we find Saul visited by the prophet Samuel…the one who anointed him (Saul) as Israel’s first king…the one who also brought messages to the king and others from God. The scriptures show us how Samuel indeed had another message from the Lord to share with Saul as he said:

“This is what the Lord Almighty says: 'I will punish the Amalekites for what they did to Israel when they waylaid them as they came up from Egypt. Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy everything that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.'”

And with that order in hand, Saul “summoned the men and mustered them at Telaim…two hundred thousand foot soldiers and ten thousand men from Judah” before going to the “city of Amalek and (setting) an ambush in the ravine”. Before this took place, we read where Saul showed mercy to the Kenites because they had “showed kindness to all the Israelites when they came up out of Egypt”.

And so the “Kenites moved away from the Amalekites” and as a result, were spared.

Then Saul and his men “attacked the Amalekites all the way from Havilah to Shur, to the east of Egypt”. Everything went just as God commanded but then things went bad as Saul and his fighting forces decided to turn away from what God expected.

The scriptures tell us that Saul “took Agag, king of the Amalekites, alive” while killing all the rest of “his people…with the sword”. Additionally, they “spared…the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves, and lambs”, keeping “everything that was good” for themselves while totally destroying “everything that was despised and weak”.

Why did they fail to “destroy everything” as God demanded?

Because “they were unwilling”…or in other words, they were disobedient…more interested in fulfilling their own desires than God’s.

So what was the outcome of their defiance?

We read where their actions grieved the Lord. We know this through His own words as He said this to Samuel:

“I am grieved that I have made Saul king, because he has turned away from Me and has not carried out My instructions.”

In response to this, the scriptures tell us that Samuel was troubled, crying “out to the Lord all that night”.

All this got me wondering this:

How often have we been like Saul and his men?

Every single believer is called and purposed by the Lord to carry out His will and way with absolute compliance through clear instructions issued either through His Word or by way of the Holy Spirit. After that, the response is on us and there can be three potential outcomes:

1. We can carry out His wishes in absolute obedience.

2. We can completely turn away from what He calls us to do in absolute disobedience.

3. We can only partially carry out what He wants us to do, mostly because we think we’ve done enough if we are able to be somewhat successful. We are willing to settle for good enough as it is just that…good enough.

It isn’t. In fact, it’s almost as bad if not equally as bad as not conforming to His will at all.

For God demands and expects nothing but the total fulfillment of anything and everything He calls us to do. Nothing less than this is acceptable because God won’t be satisfied with just our second best. Rather, He always gives us His best and wants ours in return.

So what happens when we fail God?

Well, we saw in our passage today what happens. He grieves.

Indeed, it grieves our Lord...our Heavenly Father…when we let Him down, just as a wayward child grieves their father when they decide to do something wrong, contrary to what they were taught. Like those rebellious kids, we bring grief on God when we selfishly decide to do what we want instead of what He desires.   

The bottom line is that our choices have consequences that can be positive or negative. My prayer today is that we will increase our sensitivity toward carrying out the Lord’s calling without deviation, doing what He wants in the way He wants it done. Let’s commit ourselves to always please God, living our lives in a way that blesses and honors Him…in a way that glorifies Him and brings Him the fullest joy possible.

For when we do this, we can make sure we don’t grieve our Lord in any way.

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.

DEVOTED TO ONE ANOTHER

Can I pray for you in any way?

Send any prayer requests to TheChristianWalkPrayers@gmail.com.

In Christ, Mark

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** 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

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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.