1 Samuel

1 Samuel 13:1-4

Saul was 30 years old when he became king and he reigned 42 years, so this is still very early on.  Some bible scholars dispute these years.  Johnathon moved his 1000 men the 2 miles or so and attacked the Philistines and beat them.  Saul was only five or six miles away at the time of the Johnathon's victory.  Saul takes the credit for what Johnathon accomplished.  This seems to be first sign of Saul faltering.  It seems Saul is relying on numbers and not on the Lord.  There may have been an underlying insecurity about what he was called to do.  We all face these times; we need to make these times to exercise and grow our faith, not a temptation to trust other things.

As long as the Israelites were quiet and subject to the Philistines, there were no problems.  But now, with this uprising, they had become an abomination to the Philistines.  Saul then moves to Gilgal and calls the nation to himself there.  Gilgal is far to the east and has the appearance of running from the Philistines.  It seems as though Saul left Johnathon hanging.

Our enemy will leave us alone when we aren't a threat.  He doesn't mind us living powerless and fruitless lives burdened with fear.  When we rise up and trust in God's plan, we become an abomination to Satan.  Every Christian should live a Spirit filled life and be a stench in the nostrils of Satan!!

1 Samuel 13:5-10

The Philistines assembled to fight with 3000 chariots and a huge army.  When the Israelites saw the army they were panic stricken.  They ran and hid anywhere they could find.  It appears they put no faith in God; maybe assuming God couldn't overcome the overwhelming numbers of the Philistines and the weapons they possessed. 

Saul waited at Gilgal for 7 days for Samuel.  This is where a leader would speak to the people about waiting on the Lord.  It's an opportunity to seek God and His will.  This is a time when a leader shows himself mighty in the Lord who ordained him to lead and empowers him to do it well.  Yet Saul seemed to be full of fear.  When Samuel didn't come, his army began to scatter.  Saul felt like he needed to do something to salvage this situation so he offered the burnt offering.  Saul wasn't a priest and shouldn't be doing the offering.  He knew what he was called and commanded to do, offering sacrifices wasn't part of that calling. 

We can imagine the shock when Samuel arrived and saw Saul doing the unspeakable. 

1 Samuel 13:11-15

Saul knew he was wrong.  This was sin no matter how you looked at it.  It was never in God's will for a Benjamite warrior king to offer a sacrifice.  Did Saul reason that God just didn't have all the information when He established the law?  Fear and lack of faith make us do silly things.  We, as sin-fallen humans, have an uncanny ability to reason our self out of the understanding of truth.  When we do this we part with wisdom and are running headlong to sin.

Saul had not sought the Lord.  He was not living in the presence of the Lord.  It wasn't the pattern of his life to seek God's will and conform his life to the will of the Lord.  Because he didn't keep the commands of God, Samuel informed Saul that his kingdom wouldn't continue.  God is serious about his commandments; there aren't exceptions for the pressure felt during battle.  If God can trust us in the small things we will be entrusted with the larger things.  God wanted a man after his own heart and would have grown Saul to be that man.   Saul goes back to Benjamin, towards the battle.  His army is down to 600 men. 

1 Samuel 13:16-22

Raiding parties went out from the Philistine camp.  Any one of these parties were larger and better equipped.  This must have struck fear in Saul.  We are told there were no blacksmiths in Israel.  The Philistines controlled the metalwork so no one had weapons.  The Royal circle were the only ones who had swords or spears.  The rest of the army was without weapon.  It is obvious that Israel was in no position to go to battle.

Badly out numbered and severely outgunned; what now?  We've all found ourselves in circumstances where we are sure we can't win.  These are also the circumstances God loves to show Him self mighty.  These are opportunities to trust God and grow.  If it is God's will that you lose, you can't overcome that will anyway.  Submit to God, turn the situation over to him. 

Two scriptures come to mind:

©2015 Doug Ford