Foolish and Outmanned

1 Samuel 13

            Saul’s behavior in this chapter is foolish on two fronts. First, on a human level, he has no business attacking the Philistines. (Technically, Jonathan attacked them, but Saul was the king after all.) The end of the chapter describes a decided technological disadvantage on Israel’s part: they had no ability to make iron implements. Israel was still in the Bronze Age; they even had to use the Philistine blacksmiths to sharpen their agricultural implements. The fact that only Saul and Jonathan had iron weapons should have been a clue. Rank and file Israelites knew this: the complained that Saul had made them obnoxious to the Philistines and hid from the coming battle.

            Of course, the Lord had proven himself completely capable of delivering a technologically superior power into the hands of His people. Witness what He did to the Egyptians, to Jericho, to the Canaanites during Deborah’s time! But here’s Saul’s second foolish act: he usurps Samuel’s priestly role and makes a sacrifice for himself. To hear Samuel tell it, this is the real problem. We’ll see that Saul often has a justification for his actions, and it usually goes something like this, “I thought I was doing right.” But the Lord favors obedience; He doesn’t want us to do what we think is right; He wants us to do what He says.

            If Saul had trusted the Lord, if he had waited for Samuel and the Lord’s blessing, maybe, probably, the Lord would have delivered the Philistines into his hands, technology be damned.

            We’ve encountered this over and over again. How do you balance using the brain God gave you with trusting Him completely? Jesus tells us to “count the cost” (Luke 14); yet we’re called to trust the Lord. Saul would tell you that he was just using his brain; Samuel says he was being unfaithful. Maybe the clue is to ask, “Does the course of action I’ve decided on run afoul of anything the Lord has said?” It’s a constant challenge.