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“Saul's Failure” • 4.26.15 • Calvary Christian Fellowship,
Sunday Morning Service
Intro.
- In our last meeting together, we examined the
Prophet Samuel's farewell address to the nation of Israel, signaling the end of
the time of the Judges and the beginning of the time of Kings.
- Saul has been given every avenue for success
that God's King can have and will retain Samuel as an advisor. He is completely
responsible for the oversight of Israel's rule.
- In Samuel's final message to all of Israel, he
exhorts the people and the King to obey their faithful, lest they be swept a by
their enemies.
- Chapter 13
provides the King with his first test of that resolve.
Intro.
• I Samuel
13:1,2 : "Saul reigned one year;
and when he had reigned two years over Israel,
Saul chose for himself three thousand men of Israel. Two thousand were with
Saul in Michmash and in the mountains of Bethel, and a thousand were with
Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin. The rest of the people he sent away, every man
to his tent. " : During his second year,
Saul selected certain men as a personal attachment to himself and his son
Jonathan, who we meet here for the first time.
- The impetus to that decision was the fresh
aggression of the Philistines, who were again raising their heads in opposition
to the people of Israel.
- Saul and Jonathan are stationed in close
proximity to one another, separated by just a few miles, forming a defensive
line.
- The rest of Israel's men were dismissed from
frontline service and treated as reserves. They will only be relieved for a
short time because of the events recorded in verse 3.
• I Samuel
13:3,4 : "And Jonathan attacked the garrison of the Philistines that was
in Geba, and the Philistines heard of it. Then Saul blew the trumpet throughout
all the land, saying, 'Let the Hebrews hear!' Now all Israel heard it said that
Saul had attacked a garrison of the Philistines, and that Israel had also
become an abomination to the Philistines. And the people were called together
to Saul at Gilgal." : Jonathan took the
initiative in defending this city which belonged to his tribe. Prior to this,
there seems to have been a standing peace.
- The enemy will be happy to leave you alone as
well, so long as you don't seek to disrupt his work! Jonathan was unwilling to
stand for the Philistines activities in his territory.
- Jonathan's action roused the Philistines, but
also bolstered Saul, as the King blew the signal trumpet, signaling Israel's
full revolt against Philistia. Israel heard that Saul attacked the Philistines.
- Many point to this being a character flaw in
the King who sought recognition over the actual deserving party. Others note
that whoever had won, won a victory for the collective side.
- Either way, this sets the stage for the
already present hostilities to boil over. Implicit in their understanding, the
people of Israel were somewhat content to let the sleeping Philistine dogs lie.
- Now, Israel had become an abomination. The
words employed to communicate this saying range from "hated" (NLT) to "a stench" (ESV) to "repulsive." (HCSB)
- What had they been before? They had been
accomodating and docile, willing to allow the enemy to coexist with them.
Jonathan's move changed what had become the status quo.
- They knew that they had become obnoxious (NIV) to an enemy that they did not want
to engage but here they were and Saul decided to stage the full army at Gilgal.
•
I Samuel 13:5-7 : "Then the Philistines gathered
together to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots and six
thousand horsemen, and people as the sand which is on the seashore in
multitude. And they came up and encamped in Michmash, to the east of Beth Aven.
When the
men of Israel saw that they were in danger (for the people were distressed),
then the people hid in caves, in thickets, in rocks, in holes, and in pits. And some of the Hebrews crossed
over the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. As for Saul, he was still in Gilgal,
and all the people followed him trembling." : This
border skirmish opened the door for a full scale invasion as the Philistines brought
their entire force to deal with the people of Israel.
-
The numbers here are astounding, though it's likely that the number was 3,000
chariots and 6,000 horsemen. The rest were footmen and they were innumerable!
-
One can imagine the sprawling and fearful sight that this would be to those who
witnessed it! The staging area needed by such a numerous force would cover the
visual spectrum.
-
Add to that the fact that this force was merely a few miles from their position!
- Israel's response is
less than exemplary. They saw the danger, the narrow position, the corner that
they were forced into and the people were pressed upon.
-
There is a national anxiety running rampant and unabated in their hearts as the
enemy closes in upon them! Did they call out to God? Is there a fast
proclaimed? Do you see anyone praying?
-
What you see is a full surrender to fear, as all of Israel sensed only a great
danger and hid themselves wherever they could find a place to hide, some even
fleeing back over the Jordan River!
-
The truth is, all who refuse or are ignorant of God's presence in the midst of
their circumstances are doomed to just such a fate!
-
Looking only at the enemy and his work will drive you to incessant fear and
force you to hide yourself wherever you can find a place.
-
For his part, to this moment, Saul stood his ground, but the people with him
were reduced to quaking terror in the face of the enemy horde.
-
Saul seems to have some confidence, but it's contingent upon the knowledge that
someone is coming who has a connection with God!
-
Samuel has communicated to Saul and given him an approximate arrival time in
Gilgal.
-
Many see I Samuel 10:8 as the order
that Saul is following, though I see it as a standing order from Samuel to meet
and wait for him at Gilgal. Either way, Saul has an ace up his sleeve.
-
I believe that his trust is in in Samuel, which God will not suffer to
continue.
• I Samuel
13:8,9 : "Then he waited seven days, according to the time set by Samuel.
But Samuel did not come to Gilgal; and the people were scattered from him. So Saul said, 'Bring a burnt
offering and peace offerings here to me.' And he offered the burnt offering." : Look at Saul's face beginning at the first day in Gilgal,
filled with confidence and certainty. "Samuel is coming. Nothing to worry
about."
-
Samuel has faced the Philistine threat once before in Mizpah and God revealed
His presence with thunder and lightning in chapter 7. Saul was not initially worried.
-
In the meantime, with every passing day, the Philistines encampment became more
and more secure. Things were alright in Israel as long as Samuel was on
schedule.
-
But then, on that seventh day, with the frayed nerves of Israel wearing thin, the
worst thing happened: Samuel didn't show up according to the time he set!
Saul's trump card is missing!
-
How sad it is to trust in something beside the Lord? How tragic it is when we
attempt to control a situation with our limited means, rather than trusting
ourselves to God's care!
-
When it happens to Saul, he did what you and I might do, in that he begins to
formulate a plan of action that clearly ignores the implications.
-
His confidence is gone as are his people who scattered from him in every
direction.
-
He is staring down an innumerable enemy, with limited or fleeting resources.
What will he do? Don't you want to yell into the page?
-
"Saul, recognize who you are and remember who you represent?" He was
God's King and he represented God's people. "Remember God's power and
faithfulness to Israel!
-
Samuel spoke of these themes in chapter 11.
Rely upon the faithful history of the Lord with the nation that He has raised
up to bring the Messiah, God's Savior into the world!
-
With that mindset, you would think that it would have been easy to wait just a
little longer!
-
But Saul wouldn't wait a minute longer and makes this ill-fated move. If Samuel
is delayed indefinitely or even dead, Saul believes he must find a way to
invoke God's blessing.
-
The pressure of the situation caused Saul to evaluate and make a decision to
offer the burnt offering and the peace offerings to the Lord, of which he only
had time to offer the former.
-
It's interesting to consider that the burnt offering represents complete
consecration to the Lord. It symbolizes a person's full surrender to the Lord!
What a tragic irony!
-
"But Saul is the King and the situation is certainly unique," you say.
-
The well established pattern of Israelite history demanded that only certain
people set apart by God could offer sacrifice to Him.
-
God had selected the Levites, instructing them meticulously regarding each and
every sacrifice. There were set times and places where this was to take place.
-
God's holiness was to be taken into view and His restriction on who offered a
sacrifice was well known. Samuel's words must have echoed in Saul's heart at
this time: "Obey the Lord!"
-
To not obey God was not a lesser righteousness. It was clear rebellion against
Him. Saul has chosen an action which is clear, unjustifiable rebellion against
God's law.
-
Aside from the action itself, Saul exposes a deep self willed pride that
believes in it's own authority to act independantly of God, rearing it's head
when the pressure is the highest.
-
Contrast this against the prayer of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, the
night before His death. "If there is any other way." There wasn't and
despite the personal pain, He endured Calvary.
-
He gave up His very life out of obedience to His Father's will. The first King
scrapped obedience at the first sign of pressure!
•
I Samuel 13:10,11 : "Now it happened, as soon as he had
finished presenting the burnt offering, that Samuel came; and Saul went out to
meet him, that he might greet him. And Samuel said, 'What have you done?'" : The moment Saul acted in self willed rebellion, the Prophet
Samuel appears on the scene!
-
Saul didn't even wait a moment into the seventh day! He decided to jump right
in at first daylight! Saul really doesn't know God!
-
God rarely comes through in a manner that we would agree with, but waiting upon
the Lord will save us from acting in a way that will bring shame to His Name
and add error to our credit!
-
He laid the animal on the altar before the Lord and then he learns that Samuel
had come!
-
Do you think he was embarassed or ashamed? He should be. Instead, he is almost
proud of himself! In his mind, he has perfect justification for his actions
-
And besides, Samuel can now finish the rest. Really, how bad was this? It was
bad in a colossal way!
-
He walks out to meet Samuel as if nothing had happened! He greets him with
blood stained clothes and a smoky scent which went before him. Imagine his
surprise at Samuel's question.
-
Consider the tone that Samuel employs when he utters his question to Saul.
"What have you done?" a note of great incredulity and shock was
obvious to all.
-
Under any other circumstance, a King's action would never be questioned. However,
in this nation, truly governed by God, this was an egregious offense toward God.
•
I Samuel 13:12,13 : "Saul
said, 'When I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that you did not
come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines gathered together at
Michmash, then I said, ‘The Philistines will
now come down on me at Gilgal, and I have not made supplication to the Lord.’ Therefore I felt compelled, and
offered a burnt offering.'" : Saul has
a chance to confess and repent from his sin, which is the proper, godly, humble
response in this situation.
-
Instead, as with every other sinner in history, Saul offers one lame excuse
after another, in fact, perhaps every excuse every sinner has ever employed! There
are three that we see here.
-
Each of the first three excuses is tied to what he "saw," an
elemental flaw, as God's people are called to live by faith, not by sight! What
did Saul see that justified what he would think?
-
First, he saw "Dwindling Resource."
"I saw that the people were scattered from me." Saul's confidence had
been in the people and their number. When they were gone, so was his courage!
-
What do you have confidence in? You'll know when it is stripped from you!
-
We'd do well to remember: The battle always belongs to the Lord! Numbers have
never been an aid or a detraction to him! Saul should have known this.
-
Second, he experienced a "Delayed
Response" when Samuel had not come at the appointed time. He had
watched the clock and noted the time, but Samuel was delayed in coming.
-
He even implicitly blames Samuel, just as Adam blamed God! "Really, Samuel
this was your fault!" Adam told God that the issue of his sin occurred
because of the woman that He gave him!
-
When we commit ourselves to God's will, we do so understanding that His will is
only His will when it is done in His way and at His time! God's timing is
always His prerogative!
-
Third, Saul acts from a "Direct
Reaction" to the strength of the enemy's position.
-
He "saw" the enemy gathered together, in force and number, at
Michmash. "The enemy is growing more fierce and I need to do something
strong and decisive now!"
-
It is very good to be strong and decisive, but when the Lord has given the
action to be strong and decisive about! He will never condone an action that He
condemns just for you!
-
In each of these categories, the one thing that Saul didn't see was the one
thing that negates each category flaw! When I see God on my side, I know that I
have the what, when and how!
-
He is my resource. He holds time in His hand and the enemy will never exceed
God! This is what confronted Saul and forced his response, noted by the words,
"Then I said."
-
He makes three errors in assessing the danger and two in seeking to deal with
it.
-
Notice that he says, "Then I said, 'The Philistines will now come down to
Gilgal." This is the error of trusting in human reasoning.
-
When the pressure is at it's peak, the very last person you should be listening
to is yourself! Does Saul know for sure that the Philistines will come? He
doesn't and they won't!
-
When I give into my own human reasoning, I must acknowledge that my own
reasoning lacks sufficient information. What I fear the most may not even
occur!
-
How can any decision made simply by my capacity to connect dots, be reasonable
when God hasn't shown me the dots that I actually have to connect?
-
There must be a waiting period so that God can reveal, unveil what you actually
have to work with! He unveils this in His own time and I'm always grateful when
I have waited for it.
-
Finally, notice that Saul "felt compelled and offered a sacrifice."
It's as if he was forced to do so, for there was no other choice. This final
error is that of following your feelings!
-
This is very closely related to trusting in your own ability to reason, but is
just on the other side of the spectrum.This is the gut reaction. This is the
thing that "feels" right.
-
Again, understand that no Christian is without resource in any decision. We
have God's Word and we have God's Spirit. We never need to let
"feelings" lead the way!
-
Saul felt compelled to action, but a godly man would have been compelled to
obey and that obedience would have flowered into the sweet peace of God!
-
That quality is absent here in Saul. He sees everything except God's hand
allowing this, providing him with an opportunity to believe and trust in the
Lord! He misses the point entirely!
• I Samuel
13:13,14 : "And Samuel said to Saul, 'You have done foolishly. You have not
kept the commandment of the Lord your God, which He commanded you. For now the Lord would have established your kingdom
over Israel forever. But now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought for Himself a man after
His own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be commander over His people, because you
have not kept what the Lord commanded you.'" : Samuel
declares to Saul a truth for the ages: "You have done foolishly!"
-
Every one who has ever sinned knows that phrase well. Despite our excuses and
in spite of supposed wisdom, all who have ever sinned have done foolishly!
-
We have played the fool in believing a lie that was set before us. We have
taken the fool's road and found ourselves in a place that turned out to be a
spiritual trap.
-
Samuel sees through all the justification and the narrative that Saul set up to
defend himself and breaks down that imagination with a singular truth that
trumped it all.
-
"You have not kept the commandment of the Lord your God, which He
commanded you!" Saul had transgressed. He had gone over a limit line that
he knew was there.
-
There is no vague notion of what should and shouldn't happen in our lives from
God's perspective. Saul knew that this was case, but likely failed to consider
the implications.
-
Samuel tells him here that the Kingdom which would have been his was now going
to be cut off. It would not continue.
-
This doesn't mean that Saul will be immediately cut off from being the King. He
will indeed hold onto that position for many more years, perhaps as many as
twenty!
-
The point is that his line, his family, will not continue to hold the Kingdom. There
will not be perennial leadership related to Saul. This action has made that an
impossibility.
-
Here is another consequence that sin has: It cuts off goodness that might
otherwise be enjoyed by our succeeding generations!
-
This one act against the Lord had been minimized and justified, but it's not
likely that it was weighed against the consequences that would sweep over
Saul's entire posterity!
-
At this point in the book, we have a significant turn. Saul will serve out his
reign, but will understand that he has been rejected by God.
-
He will know that God has begun to search out another and that this man, in
contrast to Saul, will be a man who would have God's own heart.
-
God's next leader would serve God's interests first and foremost.
Conclusion
- Let's
pray!