1 Samuel 13 Ruin and Rebuke

 

Introduction

 

This week I was doing an assembly in a local school- we were doing the story of Noah and how he trusted God’s plan to rescue him from the flood. I started by asking the boys and girls, ‘Who do you trust most in the world?’. A hand went straight up and declared, ‘Jesus’.

I often find that talking with children does my heart good. They have a way of looking at the world that is simple and straightforward- so free from the many cares of adult life.

In 1 Samuel Chapter 13 we see that for Saul, at least, trusting God, obeying God, was neither straightforward, nor simple. And we will see that we may actually be more like him than we care to admit.

In Chapter 13, Jonathan attacks the Philistine garrison, and Saul goes to Gilgal. When Samuel is late in arriving and his troops are deserting, Saul acts foolishly. Saul choses his own way rather than obeying God’s Word and suffers the consequences.

And so, our passage cane be understood like this:

Trouble Brewing

A Prophet’s Rebuke

A Nation’s Ruin

The crucial teaching of this chapter is found in verses 8 to 15 and that is where we will conclude today. And so we will look at the trouble brewing, then the nation’s ruin, before we finish with the prophet’s rebuke.

As we study this true story from God’s Word today we learn that while trusting God is rarely simple, but disobeying Him is utter foolishness. Thankfully, our hope rests not in ourselves but in Christ, the obedient King.

Let’s see that as we consider, firstly…

Trouble Brewing

As we study this chapter we want to be mindful that Saul’s official reign begins with question still hanging over his kingship: Will Saul trust God and obey His Word in all circumstances, or will circumstances force him to disobey and go his own way?

This question becomes more significant when we turn to verses 2 to 7. Here we see how Saul reigned when there was ‘Trouble Brewing’. In verse 6 we read:

When the men of Israel saw that their situation was critical and that their army was hard pressed, they hid in caves and thickets, among the rocks, and in pits and cisterns.

So, how does this trouble come about?

Well, it started with Jonathan causing a stink. In verses 3 and 4 we read of how Jonathan attacked and defeated the Philistine garrison at Geba. This single act sets in motion the conflict that follows.

Inevitably, word of this attack spread throughout the land and down on the other side of the hills, to the west, on the coastal plain, where ‘…the Philistines heard about it…’. It does not take a genius to guess that they were less than pleased and would initiate a swift and brutal response!

Our attention is now taken back to Saul. In verse 3 Saul blows his trumpet. With the trumpet blast there was a message to be heard: Saul had defeated the garrison of the Philistines.

This message put a slight spin on what had happened but did not underestimate the seriousness of it. Jonathan’s action was heard as Saul’s action. It seems that this is how Saul wanted the story told. After all, it was what he was supposed to done all the way back in Chapter 10. That being said, the seriousness of the resulting situation would have been no surprise to anyone. As far as the Philistines were concerned, Israel now stank!

And so, in verse 5 we hear of how the Philistines put on a show of strength- they muster their troops, their chariots, their thousands of horsemen. We can imagine the scene like one of the old May Day parades the USSR would hold during the Cold War- wanting to make sure the world knew the vastness of their arsenal.

The Philistines had ten times as many chariots as Saul had men and twice as many horsemen! That was just the beginning of the Philistine force. There were more Philistines than could be counted- just like sand on the seashore. Looking out over the valley you couldn’t help but be overwhelmed.

Saul’s reign began, therefore, in fearful circumstances. And what did the people do?

Well, according to verses 6 and 7, they did what Saul did all the way back in Chapter 10 when he was chosen as king- they ran away and hid. Seeing what was in front of them they felt their only option is to take cover wherever they could.

These opening verses tell of trouble brewing. Saul’s action- really Jonathan’s brave assault- immediately brought Israel into dire straits; just as obeying the Lord will sometimes lead us into short-term difficulties. But, ultimately, this was all part of the plan that God had commanded through the prophet. The final result of the attack- we will see in coming weeks- would be the deliverance of Israel from its oppressive enemies, at least for a time.

When in doubt, we should always simply obey God’s Word as it applies to our situation. We will see this lesson more clearly when we turn to verses 8 to 14. But for now we consider…

A Nation’s Ruin

In verses 15 to 22 we see a hopeless picture of a nation’s ruin.

In a moment we will see that Saul took matters into his own hands. In verse 15 we read of the consequences of Saul’s failure to obey God’s Word:

Then Samuel left Gilgal and went up to Gibeah in Benjamin, and Saul counted the men who were with him. They numbered about six hundred.

Saul had put together a force of three thousand. Now he is down to just six hundred. Saul has reached the point of hopelessness.

And in verses 16 to 18, we see the Philistines really have a hold over the Israelites. Although they have a massive force they don’t need to use it. They just send out smaller raiding parties- one company going this way, another company towards another area- creating instability and fear throughout.

Saul and his small band at Geba were powerless to do anything about it. It’s a pitiful sight: a small band, neutralised, hopeless, ruined.

Not only that, but in verse 19 we read:

Not a blacksmith could be found in the whole land of Israel…

Here we learn that the Philistines had strategically deprived the Israelites of the ability to create weaponry. The Philistines believed that if the Israelites couldn’t create weaponry, then there would be no way for them to defend themselves and certainly no way they would attack.

And if that isn’t bad enough, Isreal was in the humiliating position of not only being deprived of the weapons of war but having to ask their Philistine oppressors to sharpen their agricultural equipment. And, on top of that, they had to pay- and they had to pay over the top.

So, we’re told in verse 22:

…on the day of the battle not a soldier with Saul and Jonathan had a sword or spear in his hand; only Saul and his son Jonathan had them

A battle has seemed inevitable. Jonathan had provoked the Philistines with his raid on the garrison at Geba. We cannot help imagining what kind of battle this would turn out to be- a depleted Israelite force without decent weapons would surely be slaughtered by their superior opponents.

And then verse 23, somewhat ominously, just in a sentence:

Now a detachment of Philistines had gone out to the pass at Micmash.

The Philistines are now on the move and the scene is set for the events that will unfold in Chapter 14.

We will consider those events next week, but for now let us turn back to verses 8 to 15 and hear…

A Prophet’s Rebuke

In verses 8 to 15 we come to the crucial part of our passage today.

In verses 16 to 23 we see the Israelites find themselves in such a sorry state- ruined and hopeless. In verses 8 to 15 we see that this is the result of the foolish disobedience of the king. Rather than trusting in and being obedient to God’s Word, Saul decides to take matters into his own hands. And, this leads to a prophet’s rebuke and the ruin of his kingship.

If we are going to properly understand this crucial section, we need to think back to Chapter 10. There Samuel had told Saul, in a roundabout way, to attack the Philistines. Then, after this call to action, there was a call to wait at Gilgal seven days until Samuel came to offer burnt offerings and to sacrifice peace offerings. Eventually, Saul obeys the call to action, but in Chapter 13 he fails in the call to wait.

However, we see in verse 8 he doesn’t disregard the command completely. Initially Saul obeys God’s Word through the prophet. Saul decides to obey the Lord, to put God’s faithfulness to the test. And he does it for as long as he can.

Saul was supposed to wait seven days. And he did wait seven days. But he was to wait seven days until Samuel arrived.

The end of the seventh day approached, and there was still no sign of Samuel. All the while his army was deserting him- how many were left now of the relatively tiny Israelite force he had started with? Yet Samuel was nowhere to be seen.

It was a desperate moment. If he waited any longer Saul might have no army left at all. You can almost hear Saul’s urgent inquiries on the seventh day: ‘Where is Samuel?’. ‘Has anyone seen Samuel?’.

There was no answer, no sign of Samuel.

At this desperate moment Saul decided he must act. What alternative did he have?

We can sympathise with Saul: the vast enemy was advancing by the second, his own forces were melting away minute by minute, and he was stuck waiting for Samuel to come and offer sacrifices so he could be sure of God’s favour. What would we do in such a situation?

Well, none of us should assume we wouldn’t do the same as Saul in verse 9:

So he said, “Bring me the burnt offering and the fellowship offerings. ” And Saul offered up the burnt offering.

The reality is that we, like Saul, find it difficult to face the realities of life with faithful obedience to God’s Word. We prefer, instead, to take matters into our own hands, to lean on our own understanding.

How often God’s People fail when a little more obedience would bring success. In verse 10 we read how Saul offered the sacrifice just as Samuel was approaching.

We don’t know at what point in the day Samuel finally shows up. But for Saul, Samuel takes too long and this leads Saul down a path of foolish disobedience.

We may wonder at Samuel’s words in verse 11:

‘What have you done?’

This is a recurring question in the Bible- it’s the question that God posed to Eve in the Garden.

Many of us are very keen to ask God questions- ‘Why do you allow…?’ ‘What are you up to…?’. But the real issue is, are we able to answer the questions that God is asking us in His Word?

In verses 11 and 12 we get Saul’s answer to Samuel’s question. There is more than a hint of self-justification in Saul’s reply; essentially he says:

I had no choice. The people were scattering. I had no idea where you were, Samuel. I waited as long as I could but I had to do something. What do you mean, Samuel, ‘What have I done?’ I have done the only thing I could do in the circumstances!

We are more like Saul than we care to admit. We look at our circumstances and allow them to dictate our response, our level of obedience to God’s Word.

If Saul expected sympathetic understanding from Samuel, it was not to be; in verse 13 we read:

“You acted foolishly,” Samuel said. “You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time.

We probably wouldn’t have thought Saul was foolish. In fact we may have thought that Saul’s was the only sensible approach to take- to act and save his people.

But the reality is that Saul made a choice. He chose not to trust God in the face of troubling circumstances. He chose not to rest upon the truth of God’s Word and the wisdom of His commands.

And the implications were hugely significant. In verses 13 and 14 we see that he is rejected by God and forfeits His promises.

Here is the key point to remember today: trusting God is neither straightforward nor simple; it is not an easy thing to do.

We know this to be true from our own experiences. Think about the challenges that are yours right now in this moment. Perhaps the last thing that we want to hear from the Bible is ‘you must ‘simply trust’’.

And then there will be times in our lives when it feels impossible to keep God’s commands. In our role as husband or wife we will wonder if we can love like Christ or submit in the Lord. In our relationships with friends we will wonder if we can faithfully make a stand regarding what the Bible teaches on today’s cultural issues. In our schools and workplaces, we may wonder if we can honour God with our work.

So, we must pause and remember Psalm 19:

⁷ The law of the Lord is perfect,
refreshing the soul.
The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy,
making wise the simple.
⁸ The precepts of the Lord are right,
giving joy to the heart.
The commands of the Lord are radiant,
giving light to the eyes.

God’s care for His People is expressed in His truth- His gracious, life-giving commands.

Samuel calls Saul’s action ‘foolish’. And in Psalm 14 we read:

The fool says in his heart,
“There is no God.”

The fool is someone who lives as though God doesn’t matter. And what happened to Saul in this circumstance was that he finally said, ‘It matters more that I take this action than that I obey God.’.

The implication from verse 14, then, is straightforward: Your kingdom shall not continue. The only king that can rule God’s People is a king who is obedient to God.

And so, Samuel tells Saul: ‘God has His mind on such a king. God has a man after his own heart.’. God knows exactly the One that He has in mind. There’s a hint of David and ultimately Jesus is in view.

God’s Word always leads us to the obedient King. Jesus is the Obedient King who lived a perfect life obeying God’s Word completely. Jesus is the obedient King who said, in Gethsemane, ‘Father, … not my will, but yours, be done.’. And Jesus is the Obedient King who suffered for all of my sin in His own body at the Cross.

And so we follow our King, trusting in His obedience on our behalf. Then we trust and obey in the strength that He gives and His promises to help and guide by His Spirit. And we affirm the words of the hymn:

When we walk with the Lord in the light of His Word
What a glory He sheds on our way!
While we do His good will, He abides with us still
And with all who will trust and obey

Trust and obey, for there’s no other way
To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey

 

Conclusion

King Saul could not help his people. He was a fool who chose his own way. As God’s People today we must look to the True King who chose faithful obedience to God’s Way. Our Lord Jesus was fully obedient- even to death. It is in His obedience that we find forgiveness for sin. And it is in Him that we find all we need to live in obedience as God’s People. As the author of Hebrews puts it:

Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

The Obedient King has now come. In Him we must trust as we seek to obey God’s Word and glorify Him.