Year 1, Week 30, Day 2 Bible Reading Observations

Year 1, Week 30, Day 2

I have a brief observation for today’s reading of 1 Samuel 13.

Today’s reading, in addition to our next day’s reading, provides a summary description of Saul’s reign as king of Israel. While not everything recorded about Saul is negative, neither is the negative about Saul withheld. I Samuel 13, along with 1 Samuel 14, describes Saul’s battles with the Philistines. 1 Samuel 13 includes a note about Jonathan, Saul’s son, who as leader of some of Israel’s forces, attacks a garrison of Philistines. While Jonathan is successful in his mission, his actions provoke the Philistines. As a result of Jonathan’s attack against the Philistines, the Philistines mount a massive invasion force to go up against Israel. Israel is thrown into a panic: “When the men of Israel saw that they were in trouble (for the people were hard pressed), the people hid themselves in caves and in holes and in rocks and in tombs and in cisterns, and some Hebrews crossed the fords of the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. Saul was still at Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling” (1 Samuel 13:6-7). Saul calls upon Israel to gather at Gilgal and wait for further instructions from Samuel, who has promised he would arrive in seven days. 

One of the things that struck me was the connection that the LORD makes concerning Saul’s disobedience and his forfeiture of a dynasty that would lead Israel: “Oh, that my people would listen to me, that Israel would walk in my ways! I would soon subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their foes.” (Psalm 81:13-14). 1 Samuel 12 ends with a clear warning about what disobedience would bring: “But if you still do wickedly, you shall be swept away, both you and your king” (1 Samuel 12:25). Saul has waited for Samuel, but the panic seems to be escalating. Saul decides he has waited long enough: “He waited seven days, the time appointed by Samuel. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the people were scattering from him. So Saul said, “Bring the burnt offering here to me, and the peace offerings.” And he offered the burnt offering” (1 Samuel 13:8-9). I would suggest that Saul did wait until the seventh day, but perhaps not the whole day. As Saul takes things into his own hands, Samuel arrives—on the seventh day: “As soon as he had finished offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came. And Saul went out to meet him and greet him. Samuel said, “What have you done?” (1 Samuel 13:10).

As Saul is confronted by Samuel, Saul offers an explanation: "When I saw that the people were scattering from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines had mustered at Michmash, I said, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the favor of the LORD.’ So I forced myself, and offered the burnt offering” (1 Samuel 13:11). Saul blames Samuel for not arriving sooner, appeals to decreasing attendance of the Israelites due to the long wait, and points out the increasing assemblage of Philistine forces as to why he was correct to do what he did. While it may feel like a little empathy should have been directed toward Saul, the LORD’s prophet, Samuel, provided a strong rebuke: “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the command of the LORD your God, with which he commanded you. For then the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. But now your kingdom shall not continue” (1 Samuel 13:13-14a). What Samuel declared next identified the real heart of the problem: “The LORD has sought out a man after his own heart, and the LORD has commanded him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept what the LORD commanded you” (1 Samuel 13:14b).

Saul’s problem was much bigger than the failure to wait until the very end of the seventh day, Saul failed to obey because he did not have a heart for the LORD and for the things of the LORD. Saul had a heart for himself; the LORD wants a king who has a heart for Him. This lack of heart for the LORD was not just demonstrated by Saul’s refusal to wait. Today’s reading suggests that the contrast between Saul and his son Jonathan also reinforces Saul’s lack of heart for the LORD. A crucial aspect of Saul’s calling as king was to defend and deliver: “He shall save my people from the hand of the Philistines” (1 Samuel 9:16). But it is Jonathan, not Saul, who goes to battle: “Jonathan defeated the garrison of the Philistines that was at Geba” (1 Samuel 13:3). Although Saul was able to take credit for the victory: “And all Israel heard it said that Saul had defeated the garrison of the Philistines” (1 Samuel 13:4a). Jonathan did the work, Saul got the credit. Saul lacked the initiative to attack, but he seized the initiative to get noticed.

Israel is waning in hope at the moment. Philistine raiders mount a multi-pronged attack: “And raiders came out of the camp of the Philistines in three companies” (1 Samuel 13:17). And Israel lacked the resources to fight effectively: “So on the day of the battle there was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people with Saul and Jonathan, but Saul and Jonathan his son had them” (1 Samuel 17:22). But the LORD was raising up someone else: “But now your kingdom shall not continue. The LORD has sought out a man after his own heart, and the LORD has commanded him to be prince over his people” (1 Samuel 13:14b).

What struck you in today’s reading? What questions were prompted from today’s reading?

Pastor Joe