(1) Background:
a. When Samuel anointed Saul to be the king of Israel he told him,
10:8 You will go down to Gilgal before me. I am going to join you there to offer burnt offerings and to make peace offerings. You should wait for seven days, until I arrive and tell you what to do.”
In other words, Samuel told Saul to follow his words and waited for him for 7 days in the future.
In other words, Samuel told Saul to follow his words and waited for him for 7 days in the future.
b. v.1-2 Saul seemed to have a plan in defending against the Philistine and dividing his army between him and his sons. "He sent all the rest of the people back home." Until his son, Jonathan attacked the Philistine outpost and that made the Philistine to charge against them v.3-4.
c. The Philistine were much stronger in military forces. They had the chariots and horsemen v.5, and Israel had none. Therefore, they chose to hide and to escape to the furthest part of their country v.6-7. Those who remained with Saul were terrified v.7b.
(2) The rebuke of Samuel
When Samuel arrived, he only held Saul responsible for 1 thing: You have not obeyed the commandments of the LORD your God gave you v.13 and 14.
v.14b The LORD has sought out for himself a man who is loyal to him and the LORD has appointed him to be leader over his people, for you have not obeyed what the LORD commanded you.”
(NET) [loyal to him]=“according to his heart.” The idiomatic expression means to be like-minded with another, as its use in 1 Sam 14:7 indicates.
(NET) [loyal to him]=“according to his heart.” The idiomatic expression means to be like-minded with another, as its use in 1 Sam 14:7 indicates.
Reflection:
To man, we think to win a war we need to have the help of our "army." If the soldiers are hiding, leaving, and terrifying there is no way to win. However, Samuel did not think so. He thinks if the leader can obey God, he can be like-minded with God, loyal to Him then we can win. We can face a fierce enemy with all the "high-tech" weapons, we can have a very few people in our army and we can still win.
As leader of children ministry and other ministry, sometimes I feel tired of people not growing. They seem to be "leaving" but this passage reminds me to look up to God and be obedience to Him.
2024
v.1-15
Bright spots
1. Where did the people come from? They were summoned by Saul because Jonathan had already attacked the Philistine outpost at Geba v.3,4.
What were the response of the people to that battle? Their enemies were much stronger in military equipment and in the number of their armies v.5. The men of Israel realized they had a problem because their army was hard pressed v.6. Some chose to hide, some escaped and crossed over the River.
2. Saul was their leader. He called them out and saw them being pressed, hid or escaped. He probably knew the chance they would win the battle was small. But he stayed at Gilgal where he was instructed to wait for Samuel. Imagine, how did he feel for that 7 days with his entire army being terrified! He faced pressure from 3 sides:
v.11 When I saw that the army had started to abandon me and that you didn’t come at the appointed time, and that the Philistines had assembled at Micmash
3. When people started to abandon him (from over 2000 v.2 to only 600 v.15) and he made a choice that he felt he was obligated to do-offer the burnt offering v.12. Samuel called that a foolish choice, for he had disobeyed God x2 in v.13, 14 and the result was he would loss the blessings of a forever dynasty v.13.
In other words, even when you felt like you have no choice, you should never disobeyed God. That will never be a way out.
4. What God look for is someone who is loyal to Him or someone like-minded with Him,
(NET) Heb “according to his heart.” The idiomatic expression means to be like-minded with another, as its use in 1 Sam 14:7 indicates.
When we disobeyed God we are not loyal to Him or not being like-minded with Him. Therefore, we are out.
Reflections:
The instruction for Saul was to wait. Waiting could be a high pressure process. But the result of not waiting for God or disobeying God was losing the blessing of a forever dynasty. What is wise and what is foolish is obvious. I pray that God will help me to have the wisdom to choose what is urgent and what is important. I pray that I will not give in to the pressure of urgency, but still choose the important, ie obeying God no matter what.
v.16-23
Bring spots:
1. Jonathan had already caught the attention of the Philistines and they came to your door while Saul only got 600 men. Timing was again emphasized in v.17 "raiding bands" or destroying bands (BDAG) went out in 3 different directions and v.23 a garrison of the P had gone out to the pass. Total war was eminent.
2. Israel had no hope for victory with the power of mankind alone. They were in an extreme disadvantage position. No blacksmith was allowed in all the land of Israel. They could not even get their tools for agricultural use or daily life use without the P.
Main point, "22 So on the day of the battle no sword or spear was to be found in the hand of anyone in the army that was with Saul and Jonathan. No one but Saul and his son Jonathan had them"
Either Saul or Jonathan could win the P or they would certainly lost the battle from human point of view.
Reflections:
Giving in to pressure and made the offering did not help to have his pressure relieved. Instead, Saul faced more pressure. And the pressure pointing towards right at him (and his son).
Pray to God that I will not disobey Him under pressure because that will not solve the problem, and I will face more pressures alone.
Questions:
1. the Philistines heard about it v.3, and gathered to battle with Israel. Then they went up against Israel with 3,000 chariots, 6,000 horsemen, and an army as numerous as the sand on the seashore. v.5
v.6 The men of Israel realized they had a problem because their army was hard pressed. So the army hid in caves and etc. 7 Some of the Hebrews escaped and crossed over the Jordan River.
2. In v.12, he thought, ‘Now the Philistines will come down on me at Gilgal and I have not sought the LORD’s favor.’ So I felt obligated to offer the burnt offering.”
v.13 He had not obeyed the commandment that the LORD your God gave you, and he would not his kingdom over Israel forever. 14 But now his kingdom will not continue. The LORD has sought out for himself a man who is loyal to him, and the LORD has appointed him to be leader over his people.
Impatient and being foolish (disobeyed God) during dating time.
3. Israel had no hope for victory with the power of mankind alone. Jonathan had already caught the attention of the Philistines and their army came to Israel in almost 10, 000 men (as numerous as the sand in the seashore v.5) while Saul only got 600 men. They were in an extreme disadvantage position.
added disadvantage of Israelites: No blacksmith was allowed in all the land of Israel. Only Saul and Jonathan had sword or spear (the iron weapons).
Comments