Shortly before Eli died, the Israelites were fighting the Philistines and losing. They decided that if they brought out the Ark of the Covenant, they'd have a better chance of winning. So Eli's two sons carried the Ark to the battle (you'll recall from yesterday that Eli's sons were pretty evil). Israel gets whooped, Eli's sons die, and the Ark is captured by the Philistines. When Eli hears the news, he falls backwards out of his chair and dies. The Philistines take the Ark of the Covenant and place it in the temple to their god, Dagon. The next day, the Philistines come in to find that the idol of Dagon is laying prostrate on its face bfore the Ark. They put him back, and the next day he's prostrate again with his head and hands broken off. Then the people of the town are afflicted with tumors. Long story short, they pass the ark around from town to town with similar results. Finally they determined that the hand of the God of Israel is heavy upon them and their god so send the Ark back with guilt offerings. Basically they're saying, “So it turns out your God wins and is going to kill us and our god so, um, you can have this back.”
When the ark returns to Israel, the people turn back to the Lord. Samuel tells them that if they are really turning back to the Lord with all their hearts, they must rid themselves of the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths and commit themselves to the Lord and serve Him only. So the Israelites put away their Baals and Ashtoreths and serve God. Unfortunately Samuel's son's do not follow his ways. They accept bribes and pervert justice. Since the people don't want Samuel's sons to govern them; they demand a king.
Saul was from the tribe of Benjamin (which as you may remember from the end of Judges wasn't the most prestigious tribe). He was good looking and a head taller than everyone else. Samuel meets Saul and tells him that he will be king over Israel. Saul responds with complete humility. The Spirit of the Lord comes on him with power when he meets a procession of prophets and he prophesies with him. When it comes time to crown him king, he hides himself among the supplies. Saul starts off as a really good king. After Saul assumed rule over Israel, he fought against their enemies on every side and won.
But here's where Saul really screwed up. Samuel passes along the Lord's command to Saul: attack the Amalekites and totally destroy all that belongs to them. Do not spare anything, put to death everything that is alive. This is similar to the command that God gave the Israelites when they first came to the land for specific towns and people groups. But Saul takes the king alive and also kept the best of the sheep and cattle. He and his men were unwilling to destroy these completely.
God tells Samuel what Saul has done and that He regrets making Saul king. Samuel is angry and cries out to the Lord all night. The next morning, Samuel goes to Saul, but he's moved on and built a monument in his own honor. When he does meet him, the converstion goes something like this:
Saul: The Lord bless you! I have carried out the Lord's instructions.
Samuel: Oh really? What is this bleating of sheep in my ears? What is this lowing of cattle that I hear?
Saul: The soldiers brought them from the Amalekites; they spared the best of the sheep and cattle to sacrifice to the Lord your God. But we totally destroyed the rest.
Samuel: Enough!! Let me tell you what the Lord said to me last night, although you were once small in your own eyes, did you not become the head of the tribes of Israel? The Lord anointed you king and he sent you on a mission. Why did you not obey the Lord? Why did you do evil in the eyes of the Lord?
Saul: But I did obey the Lord. I thought it would be good to save the best for sacrificing to God
Samuel: Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifice? To obey is better than sacrifice. Rebellion is as the sin of divination and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He has rejected you as king.
I remember reading this passage in morning prayer at Church of the Resurrection one morning. The conclusion to this passage was this - partial obedience to God is disobedience.
Tomorrow's reading is I Samuel 16:1 through 28:19.
Peace.
Is it weird to anyone else that God regretted making Saul king? It seems strange that God would regret something.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I feel like this judgment on Saul is harsh. When do I/we/the church ever give God anything more than partial obedience, followed by patting ourselves on the back for being faithful?
i like the story of the ark. you forgot to mention how fat eli was, which i think was a gross abuse of his priesthood. I think it is really cool though, especially when the idol of Dagon is face down before the ark. It is a reminder that there are other principalities out there, but that God is Lord over all.
ReplyDeletealso in response to robin's last statement...doesn't the Bible say those who presume to teach will be judged more harshly? I would bet it is a lot more so for those who have become God's annointed leader and representative over an entire people. When you and i mess up it is one thing. At most we bring down ourselves and maybe a handful more . But a nation like israel with a miserable track record of following on their own when there is less-than-stellar leadership? yeah, saul had a heavy burden. Kinda stinks to be him--Im glad I'm not...