1 Samuel: Chapter 13
This chapter records the state of Israel and how they were still struggling under the Philistines. Saul’s nature takes a turn and we see that true piety is unseen in him.
Chapter Recap
After what seems to be an uneventful year, we check back with Saul who now has chosen three thousand men, retaining two thousand men with him, and sending a thousand men away with Jonathan. Jonathan then attacks a garrison of the Philistines and Saul declares a war against them, and the people are called together to Saul at Gilgal. The Philistines likewise gather together to fight with Israel, with thirty thousand chariots, six thousand horsemen and “people as the sand which is on the seashore in multitude”. This large number terrified the Israelites and when they realized the danger, they hid “in caves, in thickets, in rocks, in holes, and in pits”. Some even crossed Jordan. Saul was still in Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling.
Saul waits seven days, according to the time set by Samuel, but when Samuel did not come to Gilgal and seeing the people beginning to scatter, Saul says, “Bring a burnt offering and peace offerings here to me”, and offers the burnt offering. Now it happened, as soon as he had finished presenting the burnt offering, that Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet and greet Samuel. There is a very short exchange between Saul and Samuel, which changes the course of Saul’s life, once again.
And Samuel said, “What have you done?” 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.” 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.” I Samuel 13:11-14
After this, Samuel leaves for Gibeah. Saul numbered the people present with him and there were about six hundred men. The chapter wraps up by stating the positions of Jonathan and his men, and the Philistine’s camp and raiders. It is further revealed that the Philistines ensured that there was no blacksmith in the land of Israel, to prevent the Israelites making swords and spears. This also made the people of Israel to be dependent on the Philistines to sharpen their farm tools. Therefore, on the day of the battle, only Saul and Jonathan had swords or spears.
State of Israel
Under the newly established monarchy, one would expect that Israel was doing much better than before. Alas, that is not the case here. The LORD gave a jumpstart to help Saul set up his kingdom, but we now see that neither the people nor the king never bothered to follow up and utilize the days to establish Israel as a nation. One would imagine that Saul would have gone about arming and training the people, but it doesn’t seem like it. Whatever he did during the previous year, it was so insignificant that it isn’t even mentioned. However, in this chapter, we see that the philistines had been busy mustering forces and had issued sanctions on Israel during this time. The Philistines were so politic, that they not only prevented the people of Israel from making weapons of war, but obliged them to depend upon their enemies even for husbandry tools. We do not know how long this has been the case, but clearly Saul had still not addressed this issue. This also puts into context how much Israel actually needed the LORD and how much they have regressed without His help. Israel thought they were self-sufficient, and that they could do things on their own, but now they were put on the spot. Naturally, when Saul sounded the alarm, after Jonathan’s attack, the people did not come to him (or deserted him), either because they weren’t satisfied with the monarch, or terrified by the power of the enemy.
State of Saul
The people obviously screwed up. But the blame is not just on them, it is also on their king. Other than the ones already mentioned above, Saul made yet another weighty blunder. This blunder showed where he stood in terms of following the LORD of Israel. Previously, Samuel had expressly given instructions on what should be done. Saul has to wait for the LORD. But here, seeing that the people were deserting him, Saul offered sacrifices to the LORD unlawfully. On top of that, it is pretty clear that Saul did this only for appearances sake and did not truly seek the LORD. While it might have fooled men who only see the outward performances, Saul brought on himself condemnation from the LORD. Like Samuel says, Saul had done a foolish thing. Saul further justified his disobedience, and showed no sign of repentance. A person’s will to obey or disobey God is often manifested through their behavior in things which appear small.
Though the LORD changed Saul’s heart, Saul rebelled against the LORD, and the LORD now sought a man after His own heart to lead the people of Israel. What a sad state to be left in. One’s own action and inaction being condemnation. Saul could have sincerely followed the LORD. He saw first hand the deliverance of the LORD. He experienced first hand the guidance and transformation that the LORD gives. But instead of growing closer and relying more heavily on the LORD, he chose to rely more on himself and that cost him dearly.
We, in our lives, have also experienced God’s deliverance, guidance and transformation. But what did we do after that? Did we work to grow closer to the LORD or do we still stay exactly where we were or even worse, did we fall back to old sins? This is a question to ask ourselves daily. To sin is folly and disobedience is a sin. Sins which appear to us as very little, have dangerous consequences. The bible warns us as such “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.” (1 Corinthians 10:12). So let us take heed to check ourselves and always ensure that we obey the LORD’s word, lest we be defenseless like the Israelites in this chapter. Take care of yourself and each other. See you in the next one!
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