1 Samuel 13-14 "Saul and Jonathan" The United States decided more than 200 years ago that kings were a problem, so we did away with kings. Sort of (the first congress proposed calling the president "your majesty"! The president is very similar to a king, except for the part about being removed from office by popular vote! And after King Franklin (Roosevelt, that is), we decided that we would limit our presidents to two terms in office since not everyone has the restraint of King George (Washington). There is no better political situation than being ruled by a good king. Because a good king has great power to do good. Presidents have less power so therefore a good president has limited power to do good. But also a bad president has less power to do harm! because there is nothing worse than a bad king! In other words, by going with a presidential system, the United States has chosen a (hopefully) consistent mediocrity! We have mediocre rulers with mediocre powers to do mediocre things (The idea was that the ruler would not interfere with the people and sure enough, the people now can do more or less whatever they want!) Rather than relying on the goodness of the rulers, our system relies upon the goodness of the people! (In other words, the prayer, "thy kingdom come" should be very prominent in our hearts! "Come quickly, King Jesus") But, come quickly, King Jesus, is indeed the prayer of 1 Samuel 13-14. Introduction: How Long Was Saul King? There are few passages more difficult than 1 Samuel 13:1. I have refrained from spending a whole lot of time on chronology, but this one is one of the most famous problems of chronology in the whole Bible. In Acts 13:21 Paul says that Israel "asked for a king, and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years." But neither the Hebrew nor the Septuagint text of 1 Samuel 13 has anything more than "2 years." Many think that the author originally wrote down how old Saul was when he became king, but the number has dropped out. Two years does not seem sufficient for all of the events of 1 Samuel 13-31, so most scholars agree that it must originally have been "something and two years." So many argue that Saul reigned for 42 years. But there's a problem. We are told in 1 Samuel 7:2 that the ark lodged at Kiriath-jearim in the house of Abinadab for twenty years. In 2 Samuel 6, we hear that after David did not bring the ark to Jerusalem, from the house of Abinadab until he had been king over Judah for 7 years and six months. We don't know how much time elapsed between the ark arriving at the house of Abinadab, and the coronation of Saul, but if the ark was in the house of Abinadab for 20 years, and was taken to Jerusalem 20 years after 1 Samuel 7, then Saul could not have been king for more than 12 years. But that is assuming that the 20 years of 1 Samuel 7 is referring to the whole time until David. Look at 1 Samuel 7:2. It says that these 20 years were characterized by the "house of Israel lamenting after the LORD" It is entirely possible that the 20 years ended when Samuel called Israel to repentance at Mizpah in 7:5. It is certainly not plausible that 20 years is sufficient to account for the whole judgeship of Samuel (from the time he was a young man to the time when he "became old" in 8:1) and the whole reign of Saul, and the first 7 « years of David's reign. If you have 7 « years for David and 12 years for Saul, then you are left with six months for Samuel to "become old!" Further, the account of the priesthood demonstrates that the 20 years of 1 Samuel 7 cannot refer to the whole time between 1 Samuel 7 and 2 Samuel 6. Look at 1 Samuel 14:3. Early in the reign of Saul, Ahijah, the son of Ahitub is the priest. Ahijah is the nephew of Ichabod who was the grandson of Eli. Ichabod was born on the same day that the ark was captured. The ark was in the land of the Philistines for 7 months. It was in Beth-Shemesh for a short time, and then it was transported to the house of Abinadab. Ahitub was the older brother of Ichabod, so we don't know exactly how old he was when Phineas died, but now Ahitub's son is the high priest. Even if we say that Phineas died when he was 50, and that his wife was at the end of her childbearing years, then Ahitub would have been 25 when Ichabod was born, and Ahijah, his son, may have been slightly older than Ichabod. But in order for Ahijah to serve as a priest, he would have to be 30 years old which means that the 20 years have come to an end at the latest by 1 Samuel 14:3. So the 20 years would have to be the interval between the ark being brought to the house of Abinadab, and the point when Israel's mourning stopped, either with the rise of Samuel or the coronation of Saul. So, the 20 years of 1 Samuel 7:2 cannot help us figure out how long Saul reigned. Many translation have tried to resolve the dilemma: They make up an age for Saul! And they make up a length of his reign! But none are satisfactory. I would prefer to say that there is nothing wrong with the text at all! Literally it reads "Saul was the son of a year when he began to reign, and he reigned two years over Israel." Saul had received a new identity from Samuel. 1 Samuel 10:9 says that "God gave him another heart." If 1 Samuel is talking about Saul's spiritual identity, then Saul was a year old when he began to reign, and he appears to have reigned about two years, before apostatizing. In this scenario, there is no problem with the text at all! Granted, it would be highly unusual, since I cannot find any other instance where a king is given a spiritual birthday, but then again, there is no other instance where a king is given such an explicit spiritual birth! I think this is at least as plausible an argument as any that I have seen. But it still doesn't help us with Paul's claim in Acts 13:21. Why does Paul say that "God gave them Saul, the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years." For starters, you should understand that this is the chapter where Luke first calls him Paul. Throughout chapter 13 Luke refers to him as Saul of Tarsus. Saul is named four times, and in verse 9 we are told that Saul was also called Paul. Then "Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, . . . said . . ." And then after going on to Antioch in Pisidia, Paul preaches this sermon about Saul. Saul of Tarsus was of the tribe of Benjamin. He was some sort of relation to King Saul. And certainly he was named after King Saul. It is always important to pay attention to biblical names. I neglected to do that last week. Saul defeated Nahash the Ammonite. Do you know what "Nahash" means? Serpent. King Saul has crushed the head of the serpent! And yet, King Saul apostatized. He had a high calling. He was called by God to be his servant in going before the people of God, and deliver them from their enemies. Now his namesake has been called to be God's servant in preaching the gospel to the Gentiles. I said last week that the narrative of Saul of Gibeah in Benjamin is either the story of the redemption of Benjamin, or a bitter irony as Benjamin goes from bad to worse. Do you think that Saul of Tarsus was unaware of this bitter irony? The story of the redemption of Benjamin is found in Saul of Tarsus. When Saul of Tarsus says in Philippians 3 that he is of the tribe of Benjamin, and comments in verse 13, "Forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus," I cannot imagine that he was ignorant of his namesake's failure to press on. But I digress! Why does Paul say that "God gave them Saul...for forty years"? There is nothing in the OT that suggests that Saul reigned for 40 years. But Jewish tradition said that he had reigned for 40 years. Josephus recounts this tradition in his Jewish Antiquities. Is there anything else that can help us? 1 Samuel 21-22 tells us that while David is fleeing from Saul, Ahimelech, son of Ahitub, is the high priest. So Ahijah would appear to have died, and his younger brother has succeeded him as priest. Saul then slaughters the priests, and only Abiathar the son of Ahimelech survives. Abiathar is a grown man. Since Ahijah could not have been much older than 30 in 1 Samuel 14, it would appear that Saul reigned for about a generation. Eli Phineas Ahitub Ichabod (Samuel is same generation as Ahitub) Ahijah Ahimelech (Saul is same generation as Ahijah & Abimelech) Abiathar (David is same generation as Abiathar) In other words, the Jewish tradition is probably pretty accurate. Paul probably uses the standard 40 years as a way of saying that Saul reigned for a generation. God gave them Saul . . . for a generation. The text of Samuel does not tell us how long Saul reigned, so the Jews used the standard number: 40 because that is the length of a generation. But in the absence of an inspired declaration in the OT, Paul, like Jewish writers before him, sticks with the safe number: 40 which in the light of the OT ambiguity, no one would take as an exact number, but it is generally accurate. There are some who insist that every number in the Bible is precise, and so construct elaborate chronologies. I've never been convinced by that approach. I think that round numbers are quite common and maybe even symbolic numbers on occasion! But we'll get to that another time, when we encounter symbolic numbers! (That was the introduction, and now we have five points!) 1. Saul Prepares for Battle against the Philistines (13:2-23) Chapters 13-14 all recount Saul's first battle against the Philistines. Saul has an army of 3,000 1,000 with Jonathan in Gibeah, and 2,000 in Michmash a little ways north, but still in Benjamin. Jonathan defeats the Philistine garrison at Geba, which provokes the Philistines to send their army (v4 "Israel had become a stench to the Philistines). And so Saul summons all Israel to Gilgal, which is by the Jordan River, a safe distance from the Philistines. Meanwhile, the Philistines mustered their army and came to Michmash with 30,000 chariots and 6,000 horsemen, and troops like the sand of the seashore. 30,000 chariots is unheard of. Sisera had 900 chariots and that was considered quite a large number. The Syrians had 700 chariots and 40,000 horsemen in 2 Sam 10:18 (a more likely ratio) Solomon had 1400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen in 1 Kings 10:26. Further, getting 30,000 chariots into the hill country of Benjamin is simply not plausible. So I'm left with the conclusion that there must be a textual problem here. (In fact some versions of the LXX and other ancient translations say there were 3,000 chariots) even 300 would be a sizeable force! But when this large Philistine army invades, the people of Israel hide in caves and rocks even tombs and cisterns, and many crossed the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. But Saul was still at Gilgal waiting for Samuel. And he waits for seven days, as Samuel apparently had told him to wait. But Samuel does not come, and the people were beginning to scatter. Why does Samuel delay? This is Saul's first test since becoming king. Will he trust that God will go before him? Or will he seek to usurp God's place? Remember Gideon? Gideon had been given a reduced army will Saul have the courage to stay the course?! So Saul said, "Bring the burnt offering here to me, and the peace offerings." And he offered the burnt offering. And as soon as he had finished offering the burnt offering, behold Samuel came. In other words, as far as we can tell, the peace offering was never offered! Kings had no business offering sacrifices. Saul had usurped priestly authority, and Samuel rebukes him. You have done foolishly. You have not kept the command of the LORD your God, with which he commanded you. For then the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. But now your kingdom shall not continue. The LORD has sought out a man after his own heart, and the LORD has commanded him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept what the LORD commanded you. Already before his first battle against the Philistines, Saul has failed. Already God is looking for a new king a king after his own heart. But Saul is still king (the theme of the next 17 chapters will be "but Saul is still king"). And so the people go up after him against the Philistines but it is a reduced army: only 600 of his former 3,000 (one-fifth) are still following him. And three companies of the Philistines were sent out from Michmash to test the Israelite defenses. Verses 19-22 are a parenthesis of sorts, commenting on Israel's lack of swords and spears. How can a puny army of 600 ill-equipped soldiers fight off a force of 3,000 chariots and 6,000 horsemen not to mention several thousand foot soldiers? 2. Jonathan Goes Up against the Philistines (14:1-15) But then Jonathan, without the knowledge of his father, went up with his armor-bearer to the Philistine garrison at Michmash. Our text gives us a lot of detail all of which is very favorable to Jonathan, which suggests that 1 Samuel wants us to think very well of Jonathan. He probably would have been a very good king. Jonathan himself gives us the rationale for his going up alone: It may be that the LORD will work for us, for nothing can hinder the LORD from saving by many or by few. He has no promise from the LORD, but he trusts in the LORD's might to deliver. It may even be that he is frustrated that his father has remained in hiding! But Jonathan says, if they invite us up, then we will take it as a sign from God that he will give them into our hands. And so when the Philistines invite him up, Jonathan climbs up the cliff and quickly kills twenty of them, throwing the whole Philistine camp into panic. Just as Jonathan was the one who had won the first victory in 13:3, so also Jonathan is the one who instigates the victory in chapter 14 as well! 3. Saul and the Defeat of the Philistines (14:16-23) Meanwhile, the watchmen of Saul see the Philistines dispersing, and then Saul notices that Jonathan is missing! So in 14:18 Saul said "bring the ark of God here." But 1 Chronicles 13:3 adds that Israel had not inquired of the LORD at the ark during the days of Saul. So the Septuagint translation of 14:18 says "bring the ephod here." I'm inclined to say that the Septuagint used "ephod" in order to make 1 Samuel conform to 1 Chronicles 13:3. But if Saul was king 40 years, and the only time Israel ever inquired of the LORD was here in the first year of his reign then it would be true that Israel had not inquired of the LORD at the ark during the days of Saul. So there is no reason to doubt our text! Saul wants to inquire of the LORD, because he is in doubt. But as the priest, Ahijah, is inquiring of the LORD, the disorder and tumult in the camp of the Philistines is increasing. God never speaks through Ahitub. Saul realizes that God is speaking loud and clear in the camp of the Philistines! And so he says, "withdraw your hand." I can see what God is saying! Then Saul and all the people who were with him rallied and went into the battle. The Philistines in their confusion start slaying each other. Verse 21 explains why. There were Hebrews who had joined the Philistines, but now turn against them and fight with Israel. The Philistines are having a hard time figuring out who is on what side. When people who are wearing your insignia are fighting against you, how do you know who your friends are? Likewise when all the men of Israel who had hidden themselves in the hill country of Ephraim heard that the Philistines were fleeing, they too followed hard after them in the battle. So the LORD saved Israel that day. 4. Saul's Oath and the Ransom of Jonathan (14:24-46) But that is not the end of the story. Jonathan is being portrayed as the true deliverer of Israel, while Saul is the troubler of Israel. In order to inspire his troops, Saul had said, cursed be the man who eats food until it is evening and I am avenged on my enemies. Saul was a brilliant tactician! So when they find some honey in the forest, no one will eat it. But Jonathan, who had not heard his father's oath, ate the honey, and his eyes brightened. When he is informed of the curse, his response reveals his disdain for his father's tactics! My father has troubled the land! That trouble is then revealed as evening falls. The people were faint with hunger, and so they pounced on the spoil and took sheep and oxen and calves and slaughtered them on the ground. And the people ate them with the blood. This was a big no-no. Leviticus repeatedly warns against eating meat with the blood. And when they report this to Saul, he is faithful to God's word and rebukes the people. And they repent and bring the meat to Saul at Aijalon, on the border of the land controlled by the Philistines, and there Saul builds his first altar. Then Saul says, let's continue the attack during the night. But the priest said, Let us draw near to God here. And so Saul inquired of God, and God did not answer. Saul realizes that this means that there is a problem, so he calls all the leaders together to figure out who has sinned. Saul ominously swears an oath before Yahweh that even if Jonathan is the one at fault, the one at fault shall surely die. And of course, the lot falls to Jonathan, and Jonathan confesses what he did and declares, Here I am; I will die. Saul had sworn an oath "as Yahweh lives" and so he must fulfill his oath! But the people, with greater wisdom than their king, recognized that Saul's original oath was foolish, and they cancel the oath of their king. (This is not a good sign!) And the people say, As the LORD lives, there shall not one hair of his head fall to the ground, for he has worked with God this day. The people could see the hand of God. They recognized that God had declared Saul's oath and curse invalid, by using Jonathan as his instrument to deliver Israel. So the people ransomed Jonathan, so that he did not die. But the consequence of this was that Saul was not able to pursue the Philistines any further. 5. Saul's Victories (14:47-52) But verses 47-52 tell us that Saul continued to have great success against his enemies, and he routed them on every side. He had three sons and two daughters, and the commander of his army was his cousin Abner (we'll hear more about him later!). But while he had success against the Philistines, he did not totally defeat them. There was hard fighting all his days. Already in the first two years of Saul's reign God has told him that his will be a limited regency. He is now the custodial king simply holding the throne for the man after God's own heart. If Saul had accepted that role, who knows what he might have accomplished. But Saul was not content with the role that God gave him. As we'll see, Jonathan will be content. He knows that he will never be king, and he is content, because he is a true Israelite: he wants what God wants. Saul of Tarsus, the namesake and tribesman of Israel's first king, was content to be but the messenger and herald of David's great son. Indeed, Benjamin would be the one tribe outside of Judah that would remain loyal to David. Jesus is the king after God's own heart,. who has established his throne in the heavens. We should be content with the portion that he gives us, . even serving as his lowly messengers and servants. And yet, to those who humbly submit to his lordship, he gives the right to become children of God! We would have been happy to be servants in Jesus' house, but he has called us brothers, and had made us sons of God, partakers in his own inheritance!