1 Samuel - Chapters 13-15

The transcription is about the story of King Saul and Samuel in the book of 1 Samuel. It provides an overview of the Bible story, starting from the time of Moses and the Israelites' journey to the promised land. It discusses the time of the judges and the desire for a king, which leads to the appointment of Saul as the first king of Israel. The story then focuses on Saul's reign, including his battles with the Philistines and his disobedience to God's commands. It also mentions Jonathan's bravery and Saul's downfall due to his pride and disobedience. I am Julie Callio, your host, and thanks so much for taking time out of your busy schedules to tune in with me today. If by chance you want to contact me, you can do that at dab.bc.pc at gmail.com. Today we are continuing the story of King Saul and Samuel in chapters 13 through 15 of 1 Samuel. Last year's lesson on these chapters is called, The Kingdom of Saul is Taken Away Because of Sin, and it was on March 8, 2023. I go into a much more detailed account on these chapters. Today I will give a quick overview of what happened and then focus on a few things to ponder. But first, let's review where we are in the Bible story. After Moses brought the Israelites out of Egypt and they wandered in the wilderness for 40 years, that generation died out and both Moses and Aaron were not allowed to enter the promised land due to sin. That ends the first section of the Bible, the books of Moses, also known as the Pentateuch, which means five scrolls, also Torah, which means the law, and it was Joshua, Moses' right hand man, who took his place and Aaron's son, Eleazar, took Aaron's place as high priest. It's through Joshua's leadership that the Israelites took most of the land that was promised to them by the Lord, and then each tribe was allotted their portion of the land. The book of Joshua starts the section of the Bible known as the books of history. There are 12 books in this section. As the tribes had their own land, they also had their own elders, leaders, judges, and officials. Joshua chapter 23 verse 2. This leads into the time of the judges, which some people call the dark ages of Israel's history. Since the Jews did not clear out the land of all the pagan religions, they began to intermingle, and many of the Jews stopped living in the ways of the Lord. And as it says in the last verse of Judges chapter 21 verse 25, in those days Israel had no king. Everyone did what was right in their own eyes. This gives us a picture of what is to come. In Ruth we find that not everyone turned away from the Lord, because Naomi, Ruth, her daughter-in-law, and Boaz were followers of the Lord. And at the end of Ruth chapter 4 verse 22, we learn that they had a son named Obed, who became the father of Jesse, who became the father of David. Yep, King David. Now in first Samuel, the Lord raised up Samuel to be a judge and a prophet to the nation of Israel. But the problem came when he had two sons, Joel and Abijah, who were not godly men. And the people wanted a king to lead them. Earlier this week, we covered that God had promised kingdoms and kings from Abraham and Sarah. And then in Deuteronomy chapter 17, Moses predicted through the Lord that the children of Israel would ask for a king, and the Lord gave guidelines for the king. He is to be an Israelite. He is not to acquire many horses or silver or gold. He is not to send the people back to Egypt. He must not take many wives or his heart will be led astray. He is not to consider himself better than his brothers and turn from the law of the Lord. Then verses 18 and 19 of Deuteronomy 17 says, when he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law taken from that of the priests who are Levites. It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life, so that he may learn to revere the Lord his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees. This was written about 350 years earlier around 1406 BC. And now back in 1 Samuel chapters 8 through 12, Saul was appointed as the first king of Israel around 1050 BC. Samuel gave his farewell words to the people since the leadership is now shifting from judges to kings. But Samuel is not out of the picture quite yet because he is also a prophet of the Lord. So chapters 13 through 15 go like this. Chapter 13 starts Saul was 30 years old when he became king and he reigned over Israel 42 years. Throughout his reign there were wars over land and in chapter 13 it was the Philistines against the Israelites. What is interesting in light of today's events, the Philistines lived in what we call the Gaza Strip by the Mediterranean Sea. Now looking at my different Bible maps during this time it shows that the Jews never took the land, but we found in Judges chapter 1 verse 18 the men of Judah also took Gaza, Ashkelon, and Ekron, each city with its territory. The thing is is that by the end of Judges the Philistines had that land again. So this gives us a picture of how fluctuating the shift of power over these cities was. Another thing that attributed to their wars is that the Israelites were very primitive in their weaponry. They were shepherds and farmers but the Philistines and other nations had swords and chariots. We find in chapter 13 verses 16 through 22 that the only people in Israel's camp that had swords were Saul and his son Jonathan. That is one of the reasons why when the Israelites won it was a battle that belonged to the Lord because he fought for them. The beginning of chapter 13 tells us the Philistines were approaching to fight. Saul was getting fearful because some of his men were leaving so he decided to present a burnt offering and fellowship offering to the Lord but he was supposed to wait for Samuel who also served as a priest. When Samuel arrived he told Saul you acted foolishly. 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 but now your kingdom will not endure. The Lord has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him leader of his people because you have not kept the Lord's command chapter 13 verses 13 and 14. I have been pondering this verse these last few days. For those who are familiar with the Bible we know that King David was the one from whom Jesus was to come not from Saul and yet we will learn that David marries one of Saul's daughters Michael in chapter 18. Even though I believe that the Lord is sovereign and has a plan one thing I love about the Bible is it never speaks as if the future is set and cannot be changed. Even Jesus when he was being arrested to be crucified and we know that's why he came he even said in Matthew chapter 26 verse 53 do you not know I cannot call on my father and he will at once put at my disposal more than 12,000 legions of angels but how then would the scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way. Ladies there is always a choice and what we see in these two sentences is that this one choice directed Saul's life and his family's life forever. I wonder how the rest of the story would have been different if he had obeyed. The downward cycle of sin continues. In chapter 14 we see the battle and Saul was on the outskirts of the fighting. Verse 2 it was Jonathan his son that was the mighty warrior. I like how Jonathan basically asked for a sign from the Lord to direct him. In verses 9 and 10 it says if they say to us wait there until we come to you we will stay where we are and not go up to them but if they say come up to us we will climb up because that will be our sign that the Lord has given them into our hands. The Lord gave the green light and up they went. This caused a panic with the Philistines. In the NIV verse 15 tells us it was a panic sent by God. Saul saw the panic and said take the ark of God and let's go. Verse 21 tells us that there were Hebrews living among the Philistines but when the panic set in they chose wisely and went to the Israelite side. The rest of chapter 14 tells us that Saul had made a vow that anyone who ate before day one would be cursed. Take note on how he said it. Cursed be any man who eats food before evening comes before I have avenged myself on my enemies. Verse 24 did you notice that Saul said I myself and my? Who is this king fighting for? With his own words it's for himself and his glory. Well the men did not eat and they were famished. Jonathan who had not heard because he was off fighting which started the whole panic. Jonathan saw honey and ate some which brightened his eyes. It gave him strength. When the man told him of the curse he said my father has made trouble for the country. After the Israelites won the men were so famished that they ate meat with blood in it which was a no-no for Israelites. Then Saul made an altar to the Lord for the first time that also was not his job. This time the Lord did not answer. He assumed there was sin in the land so it was revealed that Jonathan ate honey. Saul was going to kill Jonathan but the people stepped in and said no for it's because of Jonathan that we won the battle. One thing to note just because someone is cursed does not mean they need to be put to death. At the end of chapter 14 we see that through Saul's leadership Israel's land expanded on every side. We also were told of Saul's family. He had one wife Ahinoam, three sons Jonathan, Ishvi and Malkishua and two daughters Merib and Michael. The commander of his army was Abner Saul's cousin. In chapter 15 Samuel gave instruction to Saul that the Lord said to completely wipe out the Amalekites and completely destroy everything that belonged to them. That was for two reasons first it removed the evil practices from being infiltrated into the Israelite camp and second it was considered an offering unto the Lord. Saul however wiped out all the people except the king and he destroyed all the sickly animals but he kept the best of the animals. Verse 9 says everything that was good these they were unwilling to destroy completely but everything that was despised and weak they totally destroyed. Of course the Lord knew. Then it said that Saul went to Carmel and made a monument in his own honor. When Samuel came to Saul, Saul blessed Samuel. He was so proud that he had followed the Lord's instructions and I just laugh at Samuel's response in verse 14. What then is this bleeding of sheep in my ears? What is this low wean of cattle that I hear? Saul gave him his excuses and Samuel said stop. This is the passage that has a very familiar verse. Samuel said in verses 22 and 23 does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice and to heed is better than the fat of rams for rebellion is like the sin of divination and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord he has rejected you as king. When Samuel turned to leave Saul grabbed his robe and Samuel responded the Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to one of your neighbors to one better than you. Verse 28. Verse 35 tells us until the day Samuel died he did not go to see Saul again though Samuel mourned for him and the Lord was grieved that he had made Saul king over Israel. Ladies the takeaway from this lesson is just one. To obey the Lord is better than sacrifice. So what is the Lord asking you to do? When we obey the Lord we are blessed. When we disobey we are cursed. When we align our lives little by little we become more like him and when we turn away from him we will see some of the repercussions as we look at King Saul's life in the rest of these chapters. If you have heard his voice today please don't harden your heart like Saul. Instead let's be women who hear the Lord and obey. Until next time and thanks for listening.