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- [00:00]
A
Foreign.
- [00:06]
B
Hey, this is Shelby and C.J. we are journeying through the entire Bible in a year. We're in First Samuel, chapters 13 through 15. So we just saw right before this that Samuel gave Israel and the kings of Israel an ultimatum. He said, fear the Lord and things will go well. Or don't feel fear the Lord and things will not go well. And this is similar to some things we've seen throughout our time in the Old Testament so far. What's going to happen after this, cj?
- [00:37]
A
Well, Saul started out good, so we probably can expect things to go south a little bit, staying with the form of the Bible. And that's exactly what happens. So immediately after Samuel gives this ultimatum, the Philistines threaten Israel. But Samuel instructs Saul to wait for him and he will come to him. Okay. And at that point, Samuel will offer burnt offerings to God. But Saul becomes fearful and antsy, and he decides to offer the burnt offering. So he goes directly against what Samuel instructs him to do, because he is fearful. He's not trusting of the Lord. So this isn't fearing God. This is fearing man. Right. This would be the opposite of what we would want to do.
- [01:19]
B
Yeah. So he basically goes. I mean, he doesn't uphold this ultimatum is what happens.
- [01:23]
A
Exactly, Exactly. Right. So Samuel essentially says, you're a fool. You could have been king and things would have gone really well for you. But now I'm going to tear it from you. And this is our first key that, okay, Saul isn't always going to be around if this is our first time reading Samuel and we can anticipate someone else who's going to come along. It's been given to a man after God's own heart, which, as we'll see, is referring to David. Right.
- [01:47]
B
Okay, so what happens next? Because we're about to be introduced to some new people in this narrative.
- [01:54]
A
Yep, exactly. So we're battling the Philistines, and this guy named Jonathan comes in, and this is Saul's son. And Jonathan becomes an important character because he ends up siding with David, his friend, rather than Saul, his father, the king. And Jonathan ends up helping secure a victory for Israel because he's a good warrior and the battle was raging. And Saul makes a rash vow, which, as we know, when we think rash vow, we should probably think Jephthah, who made a silly vow and ended up having to give up his daughter because of the vow. Saul makes a similar one. He says, if anyone has any food until we defeat the Philistines, you know, cursed be he, he will die, so on and so forth. Jonathan didn't hear this vow. And he ends up taking a little honey when he's on the battlefield to revive himself. And then Saul says, okay, should I go attack them? Should I go attack the Philistines? And God doesn't answer. So Saul goes, did somebody essentially. Did somebody go against my. You know, my vow? He ends up finding out that it's Jonathan, and he wants to kill Jonathan just like Jeff wanted to kill his daughter. But all the people recognizing how powerful Jonathan is and how important he is and how he's really not in the wrong, they side with Jonathan and essentially recognize that Saul is being foolish. So that's a. That's a major part of the story. And then we get into 1 Samuel 15, the. The following chapter, and Saul disobeys again, just like he did in 1st Samuel 13. Samuel said, when you go and fight these people, you need to destroy every single one. But Saul ends up holding back. He ends up sparing some of the people. I think the king. He ends up sparing some of the sheep and the animals. And Samuel shows up and says, I told you to destroy everything. Why aren't you listening to me? Why aren't you fearing God and obeying his commands?
- [03:40]
B
Yeah. So pretty bleak story overall. But throughout our journey through scripture, we've been looking for moments when we see a connection to Christ. And even in this bleak story, is there a connection to Christ?
- [03:54]
A
Yeah, I think there's a few ways to look at Saul's shortcomings. Of course, number one is something that we've referred to multiple times. Saul is more like us than we'd like to admit. Or we're more like Saul than we'd like to admit. The other thing it makes me think of is where are we putting our hope? I'm imagining an Israelite who's suffering under the oppression of these people. Am I putting my hope in Saul and kingship and earthly kingship and a tall dude who seems like he can fight? Or am I putting my hope in the Lord, the thing that actually will sustain me and preserve me? And ultimately, all of those things lead to Christ. He's the one who is not like Saul, who is not like you and me, who compensates for our shortcomings? He's the one in whom we can put our hope.
- [04:37]
B
Yeah. And I think it's so beautiful that even in moments when we see failed and flawed people, that leads us to Christ, who is not like us. And it just exalts him all the more. I think one takeaway for me in this I want to go back to when Samuel said hey, don't give the offering, wait for me. But Saul got nervous and he did it anyway. I think reading through that passage something I've been convicted of is Saul was outwardly doing something that he thought would please God but inwardly his heart wasn't surrendered to the authority of God. He was not doing what he had been instructed to do. And so I find myself in that place at times we all do where you're doing something outwardly that looks right while inwardly you know that you're not submitted to the authority of God. And so that passage always comes across as a big challenge to me to step back and reflect for just a moment because like you said, we're more like Saul than we like to admit. So thanks so much for walking us through these chapters. We're going to continue in the book of First Samuel tomorrow.
- [05:45]
A
Yep.