How Dare you!
1 Samuel introduces readers to a promising figure named King Saul. Handsome, strong, and courageous, Saul stood out head and shoulders (literally) above all the men of Israel. In spite of all that he had going for him, Saul is one of the most colossal failures in the Old Testament. What was Saul’s fatal flaw? According to 1 Samuel 13:13, Saul disobeyed the Lord: “You have acted foolishly; you have not kept the commandment of the Lord your God, which He commanded you….” The Lord warned Saul that his disobedience would cost him the throne.
It seems this warning has no impact on King Saul. In 1 Samuel 15, the Lord tasks Saul with destroying the Amalekites. God gave clear instructions that nothing of the Amalekites is to be taken as spoil. Saul disobeyed and led the Israelites to take the best of Amalek for themselves. Once again, God confronted Saul for his disobedience. At first, Saul denied any wrongdoing, then he blamed the people, but not until he understood the repercussions did he show any signs of remorse. Saul continued in his rebellious ways, showing that his repentance was simply a ploy to try and avoid the consequences of his disobedience. 1 Samuel 15 is a great study in obedience but I want to draw out something else.
Sandwiched between these two narratives, in 1 Samuel 14, the Israelites find themselves battling against the Philistines. In the midst of the battle Saul issued a pronouncement that forbid the people from eating anything until the Philistines had been defeated. Saul’s son Jonathan, unaware of the prohibition, ate a small portion of honey after running across a honeycomb. Meanwhile, the Israelites, weary from battle and overcome with hunger from their enforced fast, rush with greed on the spoil and devour the various livestock they had captured. In so doing, the people violated the command of God against eating blood (Leviticus 17:10) and thereby sinned against God. Saul finds out about this and disperses the people and attempts to make atonement for their sin. Subsequently Saul sought to uncover the cause of this sin. Saul sanctimoniously proclaims: “For as the Lord lives, who delivers Israel, though it is in Jonathan my son, he shall surely die” (1 Samuel 14:39). After casting lots, Jonathan, Saul’s son was revealed as the guilty party. After Jonathan’s confession Saul declares his intent to fulfill his oath and kill his own son for violating his commandment: “Saul said, ‘May God do this to me and more also, for you shall surely die, Jonathan.’” The Israelites must intervene and rescue Jonathan to keep Saul from killing him (1 Samuel 14:45)!
Saul doggedly refused to disobey his own commandment, even at the cost of his son Jonathan’s life. When it came to his own commands and rules Saul was inflexible. At the same time and in almost the same breath, Saul happily played fast and loose with God’s commandments. He justified his disobedience and made excuses for why his disobedience wasn’t really disobedience. Saul was more willing to obey his own commandments than God’s.
Good thing none of us are like Saul, right? Truthfully, Saul’s behavior is all too familiar to most of us. It seems like it is just part of human nature for us to make up rules and then demand others live by them. Whenever we do this and judge others, theologically speaking, we condemn ourselves because we aren’t even able to live up our own standards, let alone God’s: “Therefore you have no excuse, O man, everyone one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things” (Romans 2:1). Also, like Saul, we are masters at self-justification. We often rationalize away our disobedience and disregard for God’s law as if it were nothing. What’s the remedy for this?
First, we must take God’s Word more seriously than our own opinions. God’s Word and His commandments are good and are given to us for our good. We must do what Proverbs 3:5-6 says: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he will make straight your paths.” Second, we need to be quick to run toward obedience: “I hasten and do not delay to keep your commandments” (Psalm 119:60). We know far more of God’s Word than we obey. We do not grow in our relationship with God by heaping up knowledge. We grow by obeying what God has taught us. Finally, Saul’s failures point us to the hope of the Gospel. Saul was disobedient but Jesus obeyed God perfectly and fulfilled all righteousness. He died in our place and for our sins. God raised him victoriously and by faith in Jesus we can have life and forgiveness through His name. Each day we need to remind ourselves of this Gospel and do everything we can to share that message with others.