THE RECORD OF THE KINGS 3 [QUESTIONS]

Saul was a fine man. In fact, 1 Samuel 9 describes him as the “most handsome man in Israel” [verse 2, NLT]. On what looked like a regular day, he set off to look for his father’s lost donkeys. Saul was very likely totally oblivious of the conversation Samuel had been having with God about the Israelites’ request for a king. All he knew was that his father Kish had lost some donkeys and he had to find them.

So on this day that Saul’s life was about to change drastically, he set off in search of his father’s donkeys with a servant boy. After combing without luck for 3 days, Saul begins to worry that his father would be more worried about them than about the donkeys if they did not return. But very randomly, this servant boy gets an idea. He says, ‘there is a man of God in this town. He is held in high honour by all the people because everything he says comes true. Let’s go find him. Perhaps he can tell us which way to go’ [1 Samuel 9:6]. Saul is hesitant, because they did not carry any gifts for a prophet, but almost as though this servant boy knew that they had to by all means meet this man of God, he offers up his one silver coin for the prophet.

After some shenanigans along the way, they finally meet the prophet Samuel. He wastes no time in telling them ‘Don’t worry about those donkeys; they have been found’, but is quick to add what he knew had to be said. Samuel tells Saul, “Go up to the place of worship ahead of me. We will eat there together, and in the morning, I’ll tell you what you want to know and send you on your way…And I am here to tell you that you and your family are the focus of all Israel’s hopes.”

It’s interesting what Saul’s reaction was, because in subsequent episodes we will attempt to establish how this was the source of all his headaches as a king. Saul replied and said: “But I’m only from the tribe of Benjamin, the smallest tribe in Israel, and my family is the least important of all the families of that tribe! Why are you talking like this to me?” [verse 21].

Samuel honours Saul anyway by putting him at the head of the table above 30 other special guests. The following day, he walks Saul to the edge of the town, anoints his head with oil and tells him the Lord had chosen him ruler over Israel. He tells him of a band of prophets he will meet with whom he will prophesy and then (and this is where my questioning begins) he, Saul, will be ‘changed into a different man’ [1 Samuel 10]. Verse 9 says ‘As Saul turned and started to leave, God gave him a new heart, and all Samuel’s signs were fulfilled that day.’

We know what the Lord’s warning to the Israelites about a king was. We know what Saul ended up using his power for – mostly to hunt down David and to disobey God. So the first question that rings in my heart becomes:

why did these things happen if the Lord indeed changed Saul’s heart?

In one of the many commentaries I read, the writer wrote: ‘the Spirit would not only equip Saul to prophesy with the prophets, but would equip him with wisdom and prudence and other characteristics necessary for a king so that he would appear with the air and majesty of a king rather than a rustic husbandman. This change was for a heart fit for governance, a right heart, one of wisdom to rule.’ And really, it would be difficult to come to any conclusion other than this. So the question is – if God did change him into a different man and give him a new heart, why did Saul rule and end so badly?  Why did he do so badly that God ‘took his spirit from him and removed him from His sight?’ [2 Samuel 7:15]

But beyond these questions are even more discomforting ones that ring in my head. In 1 Samuel 10, just after Samuel had told Saul he would be changed into a different man, he instructed him to ‘Go down to Gilgal ahead of me. I will join you there to sacrifice burnt offerings and peace offerings. You must wait for seven days until I arrive and give you further instructions’ [verse 8]. When Saul sets off, everything Samuel had predicted happened – two men reporting that the donkeys had been found, the men carrying goats and bread and the prophesying men.  

Fast forward, Saul is made king, and the impending battle that had been waiting for the Israelites begun. In Chapter 13 of 1 Samuel, the text says Saul and Jonathan destroyed the military post of the Philistines and called upon themselves a war. The Philistines, habouring even more hatred for Saul and his people, ‘mustered a mighty army of 3,000 chariots, 6,000 charioteers, and as many warriors as the grains of sand on the seashore!’ [1 Samuel 13:6]. Meanwhile the people of Israel had begun to panic, because they ‘saw what a tight spot they were in; and because they were hard pressed by the enemy, they tried to hide in caves, thickets, rocks, holes, and cisterns. Some of them crossed the Jordan River and escaped into the land of Gad and Gilead’. The rest of the story, I will rather produce verbatim so as not to lose the true essence of the text.

^7b Meanwhile, Saul stayed at Gilgal, and his men were trembling with fear. 

⁸ Saul waited there seven days for Samuel, as Samuel had instructed him earlier, but Samuel still didn’t come. Saul realized that his troops were rapidly slipping away. ⁹ So he demanded, “Bring me the burnt offering and the peace offerings!” And Saul sacrificed the burnt offering himself.

¹⁰ Just as Saul was finishing with the burnt offering, Samuel arrived. Saul went out to meet and welcome him, ¹¹ but Samuel said, “What is this you have done?”

Saul replied, “I saw my men scattering from me, and you didn’t arrive when you said you would, and the Philistines are at Micmash ready for battle. ¹² So I said, ‘The Philistines are ready to march against us at Gilgal, and I haven’t even asked for the Lord’s help!’ So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering myself before you came.”

¹³ “How foolish!” Samuel exclaimed. “You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you. Had you kept it, the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. ¹⁴ But now your kingdom must end, for the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart. The Lord has already appointed him to be the leader of his people, because you have not kept the Lord’s command.”

This story gives me great concern. I know it is deadly to say, but what Saul did seemed like a rather noble thing to do, if you ask me. Here’s what confuses me:

1. Samuel said to wait. For 7 days. Saul waited. Not only for a while, but for 7 days, like Samuel instructed. If there was anyone to blame for anything, was it not Samuel who had to take the blame for showing up late knowing that the Israelites were at the brink of war?
2. The men of Israel were literally trembling with fear. The troops were slipping away. I’m not sure what any other noble leader would have done given that a war was imminent and the enemies had literally prepared and had charged right in their face.
3. Saul recognised the place of God in Israel’s victory if they would be victorious at all. The guy literally said ‘we will be forced to fight soon enough. But we need God. We need to ask for His help, because we are insufficient in ourselves.’ At least that is my reading of Saul’s statement in verse 12.
4. Saul [admittedly presumptuous] did not offer the sacrifice for his personal gain or for selfish ego or pride. He felt compelled to offer the sacrifice given the circumstances.

So it’s difficult for me to understand this seemingly harsh judgment that was given this King who seemed only to be trying to save his people from death. I have heard theories about how it was because he acted in fear and to please his following rather than please God, but really, if you had heard this same prophet who anointed you tell you that ‘you and your family are the focus of all Israel’s hopes’, you wouldn’t sit aloof while an angry army threatened to flee towards you in revenge.

What even compounds my confusion is all the things this ‘man after God’s own heart’ [David] did that didn’t lose him the throne. These questions plague my mind, and the writer doesn’t help my curiosity when he adds on after the interaction that Saul counted his men afterwards, and there were only 600 of them left, having summoned the entire Israelite army in verse 4. Meanwhile just a fraction of the Philistines had successfully secured the passage path at Micmash and laid wait to take the Israelites on. And even among the 600 that remained, only Saul and Jonathan had a spear or sword, because the Israelites did not have a blacksmith and had to resort to the Philistines to sharpen their equipment. What’s interesting is how this particular battle ends, and there’s no telling whether their victory had anything to do with Saul’s unlawful sacrifice. Jonathan [Saul’s son] and his armour bearer slip out of the camp, fight off about 20 men, and put the Philistines to flight out of fear. Saul and all his men rush out to the battle and find the Philistines killing each other [1 Samuel 14:20], and interestingly, the Bible says the Lord saved Israel that day.

Like we did for episode one here, we’re beyond happy to get some feedback [as in episode 2 here] from you. More questions, answers, perspectives on different aspects of the story…we’re happy to receive them all. They just might make up our next episode. Until then, stay learning!

Love,

Rad!💖