Tag Archives: 1 Samuel 11-13

Daily Bible Study

April 1, 2024 Bible Study — Will We Be Satisfied With God As Our King?

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Today, I am reading and commenting on  1 Samuel 11-13.

In his farewell address to the people of Israel, Samuel says that they sought a king when Nahash, king of the Ammonites, started to move against Israelite lands.  He points out that they sinned by doing so because God was already their king.  However, Samuel tells them that if they, and their king, obey the Lord going forward all will be well, but if they do not, it will not be well.  Then Samuel called on God to send them a sign to illustrate their sin in asking for a king.  The sign which they received was rain and thunder out of season.  What was the point of this sign?  The sign demonstrated that Israel had had a king in God who had power over even the weather.  Instead they chose a human king whom they could physically see, but who had no such power.  Instead of trusting God to protect them and obeying Him, they chose to establish a government to protect them and force them to act morally.  We often make the same mistake today.  Instead of obeying God and loving our neighbor and trusting God to protect us and transform those around us, we turn to the government for protection and to enforce morality: thinking that if we just get the right people in positions of authority, everything will turn out right.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Daily Bible Study

April 1, 2023 Bible Study — Wait For God To Guide Us Before We Act, No Matter How Desperate Things Seem

Today, I am reading and commenting on  1 Samuel 11-13.

I want to note that the Gibeah referred to here is the same Gibeah whose crimes led to the war against the tribe of Benjamin.  One thing I have trouble following is the seven days which Samuel told Saul to wait for him at Gilgal.  This is apparently a reference back to when Samuel first anointed Saul to be king and before he did so in front of all the people at Mizpah in  1 Samuel 10:7-8.  A lot transpired between then and the events where Saul fails to follow Samuel’s instructions, but I suppose they could be lumped together under “do whatever your hand finds to do.”  Having said that, I have long believed that most of the “historical” books of the Old Testament were compilations of accounts passed down orally separately from each other.  In this case, I believe that verse 8 of Chapter 10 had originally been associated with the story contained in Chapter 13, but when they were compiling the various accounts about the beginning of Saul’s kingship, they decided to place it with the account of Saul’s first encounter with Samuel.  In any case, it does not really matter when Samuel gave these instructions.  It is clear that Saul understood that when he gathered the Israelites in Gilgal to go to war, he was to wait seven days for Samuel to come, make offerings, and give him God’s instructions.  Saul’s judgement was that he could not wait any longer for God’s instructions and chose to act.  Let us not make Saul’s mistake, let us wait for God’s guidance before we act.

 

 

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Daily Bible Study

April 1, 2021 Bible Study Saul Was Anointed King, But Now He Actually Became King

Today, I am reading and commenting on  1 Samuel 11-13.

As we read this we see that this Book was a compilation of stories which had been passed down (that does not mean they were not written before they were compiled into this account, merely that they had been told separately).  The most obvious example of this is the fact that Samuel says in his farewell address that the people of Israel asked for a king when they saw Nahash moving against them.  Yet, there is no mention of this before Saul is anointed king.  This does not mean that it did not happen, just that those who told and/or wrote the account of how it came about that Saul became king did not see that it mattered to the events they were describing.

In any case, this actually lets us see in a clearer light both why some people wanted to execute those who initially rejected Saul’s kingship and why King Saul refused to allow that.  As I see it, King Nahash had started threatening the Israelites, primarily those east of the Jordan, but not only those.  The Israelites recognized that Samuel’s sons were inadequate to lead them against the threat, and asked Samuel to appoint a king over them.  The king would maintain the ability to address such threats when they arose, eliminating the need to build such an ability each time a new threat arose.  Not everyone saw the need for such a king (and even those who acknowledged Saul as king saw no reason to change how they acted).  When Nahash threatened Jabesh Gilead, Saul became angry, not just because of Nahash’s threat, but because, even though the people of Israel had recognized the threat he posed, none of them had gathered to provide Saul with a force to do anything about it.  However, when Saul sent out the call to muster, all of Israel responded, even those who initially refused to acknowledge Saul as king.  This is part of why King Saul was unwilling to allow those who initially rejected his kingship to be executed.  When it mattered, they rose to the occasion.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Daily Bible Study

April 1, 2020 Bible Study — Seeking Rescue From Someone Other Than God

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 1 Samuel 11-13.

Yesterday’s passage indicated that not all of the Israelites agreed with the idea of making Saul king.  In light of the thoughts I expressed about the government, or lack thereof, of Israel before they had a king, I suspect they disagreed with the idea of appointing a king, of establishing a government.  Also, in Samuel’s address to Israel after Saul’s victory Samuel puts the Israelites request for a king in a different light than yesterday’s account of it.  Samuel says that the Israelites requested a king because they were afraid of Nahash, king of the Ammon.  Samuel spells out for them what their request for a king really meant.  Previously, when oppressors threatened the people of Israel, God raised up someone to lead them through the crisis.  This time they did not wish to wait for God to act  They wanted someone to take charge and rescue them immediately.  We too are often like that when we are frightened about the future we often seek someone, or something, to rescue us rather than waiting for God to deliver us in His time.

Daily Bible Study

April 1, 2019 Bible Study — Even The King Must Be Accountable To Someone

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 1 Samuel 11-13.

Shortly after Samuel anointed Saul as king, the king of Ammon attacked Jabesh-gilead.  This was probably something which happened on a regular basis as Jephthah became judge over Israel by defeating a previous attempt by a king of Ammon to conquer this territory.  In this case, the people of Jabesh-gilead were willing to surrender to the king of Ammon, but the king of Ammon demanded that, as a price for letting them live after surrender, the men of the town would need to have their right eye plucked out.  This demand is almost certainly what infuriated Saul when he heard the news.  When the people of Jabesh-gilead received word that Saul would march to their relief they told the king of Ammon that they would surrender to his demands the following day. 

I always write about the account of Saul offering sacrifices over the command from Samuel not to do so.  This represents one of the transitions from judges to kings.  The judges had less authority than a king, but they functioned as a final arbiter of God’s will to the people.  Kings on the other hand had greater authority to conscript men for the army or labor and to tax, but had to consult a priest regarding God’s will.  When Samuel did not show up on Saul’s schedule, Saul attempted to combine the two roles.  By offering the sacrifice, Saul was asserting that he was not accountable to anyone else.  This unwillingness to be held accountable for his decisions is what led to Saul’s downfall.

Daily Bible Study

April 1, 2018 Bible Study — Learning When To Trust Our Judgment and When To Rely On God

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 1 Samuel 11-13.

    In today’s passage we see how the same qualities which make someone a good leader can turn them into a bad leader over time. In yesterday’s passage, we read that a segment of the people of Israel rejected Saul as king when he was first crowned. To begin with, Saul chose to take no action against them, and for that matter to do nothing with his new authority. A short time later, the King of the Ammonites attacked the city of Jabesh, east of the Jordan. (This was the same area where Jephthah had defended the Israelites against an attempt by an earlier Ammonite king to take control of the area.) Saul raised an army and defeated the Ammonites. After the victory, some of Saul’s followers wanted to kill those who had initially rejected his kingship. Saul however recognized that doing so would lead to division and partisanship in his new kingdom. Instead, Saul took the opportunity of this moment of unity to have himself re-crowned with unanimous support.

    However, a short time later when war had broken out with the Philistines, this same political pragmatism led Saul to take the role of priest and offer sacrifices to God in Samuel’s place instead of waiting for Samuel to arrive as he had been instructed. This is the first time where Saul chose to do what seemed right from a politically pragmatic standpoint rather than doing as God had instructed. When Saul first became king his sense of politics led him to unify the tribes of Israel into a single kingdom. However, once his power was established that same sense of politics led him to seek to consolidate his power rather than trusting God to do so for him. When Saul found himself in a bad situation, he chose the course of action he believed best, rather than trust that God would see him through.

Daily Bible Study

April 1, 2017 Bible Study — Forgetting To Ask God For Guidance

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 1 Samuel 11-13.

    This passage starts with Saul demonstrating his ability to be king. While Saul was out in the fields word came to his town about the threat by a foreign power to mutilate the men of an Israelite city. Those who heard the news wept and mourned this terrible tragedy. Saul acted. His reaction to the news was anger and action. He called the fighting men of Israel to war. He then marched to the relief of his countrymen who were under attack. However, he showed his kingship in more than just his ability to make war. After his victory, there were those among his followers who wished to punish those who had questioned, and resisted, Saul’s kingship. Rather than use his victory as an opportunity to destroy his enemies, Saul used it to unify the people of Israel and refused to retaliate against those who had rejected his leadership.

    Saul was a pragmatic leader, as shown by his actions after he won his first great victory and again when he gathered his army at Gilgal to face off against the Philistines. Saul waited for Samuel to come to make sacrifices and call on God to bless his army in it battle against the Philistines. When Samuel did not arrive after seven days (by the seventh day? the wording is ambiguous), Saul’s men began to leave his army. Looking at the situation pragmatically, Saul realized that if he did not do something he would soon not have an army. So, he decided to make the offerings himself. Saul’s decision may have been pragmatic, but it was not according to God’s will.
    What should Saul have done? He waited seven days as Samuel had instructed him. His men were scattering in fear. He needed to do something. He needed to go into battle or he was going to lose his army, but he also needed to at least appear to have God’s blessing for the battle. What Saul failed to do was ask God for guidance. He looked at the situation, debated his options, and chose a course of action. He made a mistake which is all too easy for us to make. We think we have taken everything into account, but the problem is that we do not know what we do not know. Sometimes everything we know can point to a decision which is the wrong decision. That is what happened to Saul here. He relied on his own judgment rather than asking God to guide his decision.

Daily Bible Study

April 1, 2016 Bible Study — Saul’s Fear Overcame His Trust In God

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading. I had been using One Year Bible Online, but it was time for a change.

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Today, I am reading and commenting on 1 Samuel 11-13.

    One of the reasons I am hesitant to draw conclusions about Saul’s attitude when he was selected as king is because of his actions regarding the situation at Jabesh-Gilead. First, when he heard the news, he did not just curl up in sorrow. He got angry and decided to take action to protect his fellow Israelites. Second, after his victory, when his supporters wanted to kill those who had earlier refused to support Saul, he forcefully rejected the idea.

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    Saul’s decision to not punish those who had not initially supported him as king shows a certain instinctive understanding of the politics of ruling a nation. However, this same political pragmatism led to his downfall. Later when Saul had gathered his forces to combat the Philistine army, he needed to offer a sacrifice to God before going into battle. He waited for Samuel to come and perform the sacrifice, but Samuel was late. Saul was afraid that if he did not make the sacrifice and strike soon, his army would return home. So, he decided that the politically expedient thing to do was to perform the sacrifices himself. Saul failed to trust God and patiently wait for Samuel.