My brothers and sisters in Christ, if you would please take your Bibles and open them to the 13th chapter of First Samuel. First Samuel, chapter 13.
This evening I’m going to be reading verses 1 through 15 of 1st Samuel 13. 1, 15.
Let us now hear the word of the Lord.
So Saul reigned one year. And when he had reigned two years over Israel, Saul chose for himself 3,000 men of Israel.
2,000 were with Saul and Michmash and in the mountains of Bethel. And a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin. The rest of the people, he sent away every man to his tent. And Jonathan attacked the garrison of the Philistines. And that was in Geba. And the Philistines heard of it. Then Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, let the Hebrews hear. Now all Israel heard it said that Saul had attacked a garrison of the Philistines and that Israel had also become an abomination to the Philistines. And the people were called together to Saul at Gilgal. Then the Philistines gathered together to fight with Israel. 30,000 chariots and. And 6,000 horsemen and people as the sand which is on the seashore in multitude. And they came up and encamped at Michmash to the east of Beth Aven. When the men of Israel saw that they were in danger, for the people were distressed. Then the people hid in caves, in thickets and rocks and holes and in pits. And some of the Hebrews crossed over the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead.
As for Saul, he was still in Gilgal. And all the people followed him, trembling. And then he waited seven days, according to the time set by Samuel. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the people were scattered from him. So Saul said, bring a burnt offering and peace offerings here to me. And he offered the burnt offering. Now it happened as soon as he had finished presenting the burnt offering that. That Samuel came, and Saul went out to meet him, that he might greet him. And Samuel said, what have you done? And 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. And because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you. And then Samuel arose and went up from Gilgal to Gibeah of Benjamin, and Saul numbered the people present with him about 600 men.
Thus far, the reading of God’s word tonight. May He bless it to our understanding. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of God abides forevermore. Amen.
Well, brothers and sisters, if you will bear with me tonight as we consider some literary aspects of the structure of the book of 1 Samuel. Because tonight we begin a new subsection of the book, which commences here at chapter 13 and carries us through to the end of chapter 15.
This subsection of the overall book stands in contrasting parallel relationship with chapters nine through 11.
In those chapters, chapters nine through 11, the writer recorded for us the rise and confirmation of Saul to the office of the first king of Israel. By contrast, we read of Saul’s demise and ultimate rejection. And in these latter chapters of 13 through 15, chapter 12, which we considered in part last week, is the apex between these two subsections of the book upon which the action hinges and transitions from a positive picture of Saul to a negative one.
You might illustrate the literary movement from chapters 8 through 15 in the book in this way, in chapter 8, Israel rejects the Lord as king by asking for a human king to be like the nations. In chapters nine through 11, we read of Saul’s rise from obscurity to be that first king of Israel. And there are a certain number of signs which are used to confirm that Saul is king. Then in chapter 12, as we saw last week, the pivot point, we see that Samuel gives a farewell address in which he calls upon the people to testify before God that he has been honorable in the way he served as the last judge. And he gives them a warning as the king takes his place, that they need to remember God’s faithfulness and fear his name, lest they and their king be swept away.
Now, in chapters 1315, having passed that pivot point of the transition from judges to monarchy, we see that there is a corresponding decline. Whereas Saul was on the rise in chapters nine through 11 and chapters 13 through 15, we’re going to see that he will fall in a systematic way, and the verses before us today are merely the beginning step in that overall process.
It should not be missed that the pivot point or hinge of chapter 12 puts great emphasis upon the concept of of obedience, covenant obedience to God’s commands.
If the people and king do not obey the Lord, they shall be swept away, Samuel warned. And this is a portent of what unfortunately unfolds in chapters 13 through 15, which ends to no surprise in Saul’s rejection by the Lord because he has disobeyed the Lord’s commands. What Samuel has warned comes to pass.
Furthermore, just as chapters 9 through 11 gave essentially three proofs of God’s selection of Saul of Kish to serve as the first king of Israel, namely, if you will recall, his private anointing by Samuel in chapter nine through chapter ten, verse sixteen, number two, the public casting of lots at Mizpah to reveal God’s choice of Saul son of kish in chapter 10, verses 17 through 27, and thirdly, Saul’s military victory over the Ammonites at Jabesh Gilead in chapter 11. So here in the fall, chapters 13 through 15, we find three reasons recorded for why God rejected the one whom he formally selected just by way of anticipating what is to come, they are these. First, here before us today, Saul performs an offering at Gilgal which he was not authorized to offer, and this results in his loss of a dynasty. In chapter 13, verses 13 through 14, Samuel says, the Lord would have confirmed your house forever, but because you have not obeyed the voice of the Lord, you will not endure everlastingly. Saul is not at this point, let’s be very clear, removed from being king. But he has lost a dynasty. His descendants will not sit upon the throne beyond him.
Secondly, Saul makes a foolish oath we read in chapter 14 that binds his troops from eating food on the day of battle, sustenance that they are in dire need of in order to overcome enemies that are far more formidable than they are. And this ultimately results in Saul losing the confidence of his troops, who in the end, because Saul threatens to kill his own son Jonathan, stand opposed to his authority and say, you will not lay a hand upon him. We see, in other words, his kingly authority begin to diminish in the eyes of his troops.
Thirdly, in chapter 15, we see that Saul ultimately fails to keep the requirements of of a ban that God will set in the battle against the Amalekites. He holds back certain of the booty that is taken in battle, and most importantly, he does not slay the king of the Amalekites as he is expressly commanded to do. And it’s on that third situation, that third foolish act, that third example of disobedience, that Samuel says, the kingdom is now taken from you even in your days.
There’s a parallel three particular confirmations of his selection, a warning, the pivot point, not to be disobedient to the Lord, but to remember his grace, lest you be swept away, and your king. And then, systematically, three particular sins that bring about Saul’s demise.
Now, there are a couple of points by way of contemplation and introduction to this chapter that still need to be emphasized before we get into the text itself.
First of all, it should be noted that Saul’s son Jonathan is juxtaposed to his father. It begins here, but it continues on in the remaining verses of this chapter. And in the next, we’re going to see that Saul loses the confidence of his troops, as I mentioned just a moment ago, and he’s not, in the end, the strong leader that he seemed to be at first. Jonathan, by contrast, is going to be a man of great faith, one who will do wondrous things for the good of God’s people because he trusts in the Lord, as we will see.
Second, we must not miss the covenantal nature of this section of the book dealing with Saul’s disobedience and final rejection. If the covenant nature of this is missed, then one might wrongly conclude that Saul’s rejection by the Lord was based upon insignificant grounds. Sadly, brothers and sisters, there are many commentators who have expressed this very idea, standing bewildered over the reasons why Saul was so quickly rejected by the Lord, especially as they think in comparison to David’s sins later on, that these really aren’t that serious.
It’s wondered why Saul might be rejected by the Lord for mere presumption and a failure to utterly destroy all of the Amalekites when David is allowed to remain in office and his dynasty confirmed that after he’s committed the sins of adultery and Murder.
So it is reason. Surely the latter offenses of David far exceed the former offenses of Saul. Why then is Saul rejected but David remains?
And so people begin to think, God must not be fair.
God must not be just.
How do we respond to this line of faulty thinking?
Well, first of all, we must understand that this is a covenant reality and that God is illustrating something about the terms of covenant here and his covenant relationship with his people. Four particular points can be made in response to this question of whether or not God is just in the rejection of Saul when he allows David to remain. Firstly, it must not be forgotten that God is free to give justice as he sees fit and to show mercy as suits his eternal purposes.
I know that it’s not very popular to say this, but brothers and sisters, it is true nevertheless. And it is affirmed in Scripture that God will have mercy upon whom he will have mercy, and he will harden whom he will harden. It is not the place of the creature to say to the Creator, you are not doing it the way it should be done.
It is not right for the clay to say to the potter, why have you made me thus?
It is God’s prerogative covenantally to give justice to whom he wills and to show mercy and compassion to whom he wills. Let us be clear here. Both Saul and David are sinners.
Both deserve the justice of God. But in the case of Saul, God gives justice, and in the case of David, he gives mercy. And that, beloved, is the divine prerogative.
Who are we to call into question the justice and the goodness of God? Mere dust in the wind. Do we think so highly of ourselves?
Secondly, we must not forget that Saul is God’s concession to the sinful choice and demand of the people, whereas David will be God’s selection for himself, a man, as we’re told in our text tonight, after God’s own heart. Now we may stand amazed at that declaration when we consider David’s great sins. And let us be clear here, they are great sins. Adultery was punishable by death, and murder was punishable by death. David deserved death. How then can we say that he is a man after God’s own heart and that Saul is not? And it boils down to this, beloved, that when Saul is confronted with his sin, not just once, but repeatedly, rather than humbly acknowledging his fault and repenting of that sin, he tries over and over and over again to justify his wickedness.
Whereas David, when Nathan the prophet comes in and says, thou art the man, he humbles himself, and he says, indeed, and I deserve the wrath of God.
You see, it’s not that one is righteous and one is wicked. They’re both wicked.
It’s that one has a heart that is willing to acknowledge their need for mercy and the other is self righteous. And it is the self righteous individual that will be disappointed on the day of God’s judgment. It is the humble and the contrite that has shown his benevolence and his mercy. This is why David endures and Saul does not look past a comparative analysis of the infractions and realize that even the smallest sin deserves the justice of a holy God.
Third, it would appear that the outcome of the two men, Saul and David, are a window into the condition of their hearts. As I’ve already said, David is the man after God’s own heart, whereas Saul is someone who is trying to justify himself.
We see a parallel of this in the modern world. People stand before God either as those who acknowledge their fault and seek God’s mercy in Jesus Christ are those who say, I deserve heaven.
I haven’t done anything that bad.
Brothers and sisters, we need to remember that God is just and merciful and he shows his mercy to those who will humble themselves. David humbles himself, Saul will not. Fourthly, one should not miss the redemptive historical allusion to, in Saul’s case, to the covenant of works in the garden of Eden.
Saul, like Adam, is given not by deserts but by grace, the throne. And yet this grace that is extended to him is probationary. The throne is given to him in a probationary way wherein his confirmation of kingship is conditioned by on the act of obedience to God’s command. Obey and you will be confirmed. Samuel says, disobey and you will be swept away.
This is clearly the implication covenantally of Samuel’s warning in verses 2425 of chapter 12. The heart of the statement of rejection is found here in verses 13 and 14 of the chapter before us tonight. Because Saul did not keep God’s simple commandment of order given through Samuel. In chapter 10, verse 8, Saul is cast out of God’s favor, just like Adam was cast out of the garden. And his fall has negative consequences for his descendants, just like Adam’s fall had negative consequences for him.
Yet God does not abandon his people, as we see in the case of Adam, but seeks a second ruler who, unlike the first, is a man after his, the Divine’s own heart. To be clear, this is not a repetition of the covenant of works, but merely a redemptive historical allusion back to it. We must not take this analogy too far, but nevertheless an analogy is to be found. Saul is like unto Adam in the covenant of works, thus demonstrating that the only king who will not fail is Jehovah himself.
This, of course, is fully realized in Jesus Christ, the last Adam, the greater than David, who is both God and man, and succeeds where the first Adam fails, as David, humanly speaking, will succeed where Saul fails. This is why one is confirmed and the other rejected. To these four responses to the idea of whether or not God is just in light of how he treats Saul versus how he treats David might be added a fifth.
Namely, as we’ve already pointed out, no sin, no matter how seemingly small it may be to our eyes, can be overlooked by a holy God. While it appears to be true, comparatively speaking, that David’s infractions are far worse than Saul’s, I’ll even go far as to say they were worse than Saul’s. On a moral level, God’s standard of judging is not based upon how one man’s record compares to the next, but how one man’s record compares to the perfection of his law on the day of judgment, beloved, you and I will not be able to point at someone else and say, but I’m better than he is, I’m better than she lives.
And therefore, Lord, you should let me into heaven because I’m not as bad as the person to my left or to my right. That’s not the standard of judgment. We each will stand before God for our own record and will be judged by his law or judged in Christ, one or the other brothers and sisters. God will bring his justice to bear upon those who are covenant breakers.
Now this brings us to our text tonight, and I know that that was a lot to say by way of introduction, but the reason why I wanted to take some time to talk about that is because I want you to see, before we get into the particulars of this part of this larger subsection, how it all works together. The Word of God is not given to us haphazardly. There’s form and structure and balance and parallelism. It’s all meant to convey not only the beauty of God’s sovereignty to inspire Scripture, but to show that there is rhyme and reason in all that is explained to us.
These aren’t just thrown together in sort of a helter skelter way, but it’s beautifully structured so that we can come to see the greatness of God.
Now we may ask ourselves then, in the verses that are before us, verses 1 through 15 of chapter 13, just a beginning of this path to Saul’s ultimate demise, what is the primary theme? And the primary theme, I believe, is trust in the Lord.
Trust in the Lord. And I believe that we can take from this passage before us three points of application regarding trusting the Lord, learning from the negative example of Saul and from the positive example of Jonathan, which is going to be more pronounced in a later narrative. Firstly, then, tonight, point number one. Those who trust in the Lord are bold for the cause of his kingdom. Verses 3 through 4. Notice verses 3 and 4 of the text. And Jonathan attacked the garrison of the Philistines that was in Geba, and the Philistines heard of it. And then Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, let the Hebrews hear. Now, all Israel heard it said that Saul had attacked a garrison of the Philistines and that Israel had also become an abomination to the Philistines. And the people were called together to Saul at Gilgal. Now, you’ll Notice in verses 1 and 2, Saul gathers 3,000, and he divides the military, the militia, we may say, of Israel’s men into different companies. He takes charge of 2000, and he gives to Jonathan 1000. The rest he sends away to be, as it were, minute men to be at the beck and call of the commander in chief if they are needed.
Despite the fact that Jonathan has fewer to fight alongside him, it is he, not Saul, who has more troops at his disposal and is particularly charged as king to defend the interest of the people. It is Jonathan who boldly goes forth and attacks the garrison of the Philistines in Geba.
We see here a picture of someone who is trusting and God’s promise to protect his people, of God’s promise to give his covenant people the land, and of God’s command that they would drive out the idolatrous inhabitants of that land, that this might be a holy sanctuary in one corner of the world for God’s glory.
The great shame of it all is that it should be Saul who’s taking the lead, and and instead it’s the prince Jonathan who does so.
Why?
Because Saul doesn’t have the same kind of trust that Jonathan does. And we’ll see this more clearly in a later episode when Jonathan stands strongly to say, the Lord will defend us. He even goes with just himself and a servant, an armor bearer, to fight against the Philistines.
Brothers and sisters, we need to recognize that God has called his people to spiritual battle and that we, by his strength, not our own, can and will overcome the enemy.
But we must trust in the Lord.
And as we wage this battle, we must take up the armor. Not of ourselves, not of our own strength or our own cunning or devising, but the armor, as Paul says in the New Testament of God himself, Jesus says that he has ascended upon high and has been given authority in heaven and on earth. And therefore his disciples are to go and make disciples of all nations. This is spiritual warfare.
Remember, in the Old Testament, the enemies were primarily political and military and physical for the Israelites. But these are typological. These point to us, to a greater enemy. An enemy that is spiritual, an enemy that is eternal.
And that’s why the New Testament says our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities.
Will we trust in the Lord? And when we go forth to conquer, will we be bold to proclaim the gospel? Which, as we saw this morning, is the very power of God at work to change lives.
And the way that the enemy is conquered is not so much through the slaying of people physically as it is slaying them spiritually and bringing them to a saving knowledge of Christ that the old man might die and the new man might be born.
Secondly, Here notice verses 5 through 7 of the text, we learn that those who trust in the Lord are not surprised nor intimidated by the strong resistance of the enemy. Those who trust in the Lord are not surprised nor intimidated by the strong resistance of the enemy. So we’re told in verse three that Saul blows the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, let the Hebrews hear. In other words, he sent the militia home and now a battle is upon them. So he blows the trumpet and he says, come back.
War is upon us. We need to fight. We need to muster the troops. Notice verse five of the text. Then the Philistines gathered together to fight with Israel. 30,000 chariots, 6,000 horsemen against 3,000, plus some.
We’re not told exactly how many, but plus some, they’re greatly outnumbered. 30,000 against better than three chariots and horsemen against those who have none. We’re told that the people of the Philistines were as the sand which is on the seashore in multitude. Don’t miss the illusion covenantally, as God had told Abraham that your descendants will be as numerous as the sand on the seashore. Now we see that the enemies of God’s people are as numerous as the sand on the seashore.
They came up and encamped at Michmash, we’re told, to the east of Beth Haven. And when the men of Israel saw this, that they were in danger, the people became distressed and Then the people hid in caves, in thickets, in rocks and holes and in pits. And some of the Hebrews crossed over the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. That is to say, they said, we’re out of here. They went back across the river.
We see here a negative picture, the. The fact that the Philistines steel themselves against Jonathan and the Israelites and those that Saul musters.
And the people of God, looking at the great number of the Philistines, become fearful and begin to hide in the caves and the rocks and the holes and the pits. And some of them even abandon the cause.
Brothers and sisters, those who trust in the Lord are not surprised nor intimidated by the strong resistance of the enemy.
We can hear allusions to other Old Testament events that preceded this one. Like when the spies go into the land and they spy out the land. And when they come back to give their report, 10 of the 12 spies say, it’s impossible.
The men are like great giants. We’re like itty bitty little grasshoppers before them. They there’s no way that we can overcome them. And yet Caleb, along with Joshua, say, the Lord’s on our side. If God be for us, who can be against us?
They’re not intimidated by the fact that the enemy is formidable. And yes, if in our own strength we fought against the enemy, we would fall. We’ve seen that already in the book of Samuel. When they did it their own way, they failed miserably. But when God gives them the command and they trust in the Lord, they triumph gloriously.
You see, it’s not by power nor by might, but by His Spirit that we have this great victory. And, brothers and sisters, as we wage the spiritual battle, don’t be dismayed, don’t be surprised, don’t be overwhelmed by the fact that the enemy out there arrays itself against you.
And don’t be intimidated by the fact that they seem to have so much more at their disposal. We need to remember, as the prophet said to his servant, open his eyes, O Lord, that he might see that there are far more with us than are with them.
Brothers and sisters, if the Lord is for us, who can be against us?
And I would remind you that in the end we’re told in Scripture, it is not the believers who hide in the caves and in the rocks and in the pits and in the holes, but it is the unbeliever who beholds the coming of Jesus Christ, who say to the very stones fall on us and hide us from the one who comes in judgment.
Greater Is he who is in you than he who is in the world?
Will you trust the Lord and walk by his might and his strength and not your own?
Lastly, then, and we’ll wrap it up with this.
We learn from verses 18 through 15 that those who trust in the Lord do not let their anxieties get the better of them so as to make them choose hastily decisions that worsen the situation.
Rather, they wait on the Lord and obey his word. Third point. Those who trust in the Lord do not let their anxieties get the better of them so that they make hasty decisions that only worsen the situation. Rather, they wait on the Lord and obey his word.
Look at verse 8 of the text.
And then he waited seven days, according to the time set by Samuel. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the people were scattered from him. And so Saul said, bring a burnt offering and peace offerings here to me. And he offered the burnt offering. And it happened as soon as he had finished presenting the burnt offering that Samuel arrived and. And Saul went out to meet him that he might greet him. And Samuel said, what have you done?
Samuel said, when I saw the people scattering from me and that you did not come within the days that were appointed and that the Philistines gathered together at Mikbash. 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. And offered a burnt offering. And Samuel responds, you have done foolishly.
In other words, what we see here, brothers and sisters, is Saul panics.
The people become distressed because they say they far outnumber us. They have chariot, horses. How can we possibly stand against them?
And so they begin to hide themselves and scatter. And some are abandoning Saul. And Saul starts to panic. He says, where’s Samuel? Samuel’s not here yet. I’ve got to do something.
And so he hastily offers these sacrifices, which was not his prerogative to do.
And as soon as he finishes the sacrifices, guess who shows up?
Samuel.
And then when Samuel confronts him about it, he makes excuses. Well, you don’t understand, Samuel. Everyone was abandoning me. You don’t understand. The Philistines seemed overwhelming to us. You don’t understand, Samuel. You didn’t come on time. You were 10 minutes late.
This situation is out of my control. I needed to do something.
Samuel says, no, you have acted foolishly. You have done foolishly because notice verse 13. 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 remain. 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. We’ll see this come up again when Samuel will say to Saul, obedience is better than sacrifice.
You see, Jonathan is this grand example of one who is bold for God because he trusts the Lord. He’s not worried about being outnumbered.
But Saul, by contrast, and the remainder of the Israelites on this situation, they panic because they’re not trusting the Lord.
And Saul and his hastiness and his lack of trust in God’s sovereignty over all circumstances makes a hasty decision and a bad situation becomes far worse.
Brothers and sisters, we need to beware of losing hope because we don’t trust God and making dumb decisions that make a bad situation worse. God will never leave you nor forsake you.
He gave his only begotten Son for you and for me. Paul reasons, how will he not then give us all things in him? For if he has given us the greatest thing and everything else by comparison is lesser, how can we doubt that God would give us all things in him?
Brothers and sisters, we need to heed the warning, not to act foolishly.
And when perhaps sometimes we do make the mistake not to try to justify our sin by excuses, it is unbecoming. When we are confronted with our sin, the right response is to humble ourselves, confess our fault, and beg God for his mercy. Saul does not do this, and this is not the last time he will behave this way. And system by system, step by step, little by little, more and more will be lost because this man does not have the heart of God beating in his breast.
Brothers and sisters, there is one who came who was greater than Saul. And it’s not David, though indeed David was greater than Saul, but it’s David’s son, Jesus Christ. Here is one who never ceased to trust in his Father in heaven and was thoroughly obedient unto him. And because of this, though the enemy seemed to have everything on his side and for a moment seemed to have the triumph over the Son of God. It is by that effort that God’s Son triumphs over the enemy.
Christ does wisely, and we are to follow in his footsteps. The question for you and for me, beloved, is will we trust in the Lord? One might argue that Jonathan is more of a type of Christ than Saul, even though Saul is king and Jonathan only remains a prince because we will see in Jonathan, one who loves the man after God’s own heart. We see in Jonathan one who is bold for the Lord because he believes in God’s promises and trusts in his sovereignty over all circumstances. Let us walk in the steps of Jonathan, and let us walk in the steps of our Redeemer and trust the Lord. Let’s join our hearts together in prayer. Father in heaven, we thank youk for this Word, for the call that we are given in this passage of Scripture, not to be foolish or hasty or disobedient, but to make excuses for wrong actions when we are are confronted with our sin, but instead to be bold and to trust in you that you are the one who will bring your people victory over the enemy. May we not shrink back, but may we rise up and in the strength of our God go forth to conquer rather than to be conquered. For Christ is risen, Christ is ascended, Christ is seated and reigning, and Christ is coming again. We pray all this in his name. Amen. Brothers and sisters in the Lord, let’s take our hymnals. Let’s open to number 401. 401.
And we’ll stand together as our concluding song and sing verses 1 and 6 of this hymn 401. All prayer praise to Thee, my God this night verses 1 and 6.
All praise to Thee, my God this night for all the blessings of the light Keep me, O keep me King of kings beneath me.
Praise God from Whom all blessings love Praise him all creatures here beloved Praise him above ye heavenly host. Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost.
And now may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God, your Heavenly Father, and the sweet communion of the Holy Spirit be with all of you, both now and forevermore. Amen. You are dismissed.