39. Hope as Sweet as Honey: A Saviour Who Won't Let You Down

G' day and welcome to Stories of a Faithful God.

I'm your host, Dave Whittingham.

What do you hope for?

What do you want from the future?

What do you expect?

Hope is a wonderful thing, which makes it hurt even more when it isn't fulfilled.

The hoped for marriage, only to end up single.

The hoped for perfect marriage, only to discover that your spouse is sinful and so are you.

The hoped for promotion, only to see it go to someone else.

The hoped for life, only to see it snatched away in sadness or sickness or death.

Sometimes our hope is wrong.

There's no way the thing we put our hope in can sustain the weight of our hope.

If you think a particular job is going to make you completely satisfied and fulfilled, it may be a great job, it may be the perfect job for you.

But it can never fulfil that hope.

You've put too much hope in it.

Sometimes the hope is right.

But we've put our hope in the wrong thing or person to achieve that hope.

That's especially true when we hope that someone will give us something that only God can give.

In our last episode, the Israelites transferred their hope away from the true and living God onto a human king.

They hoped the king would give them the sorts of things that God had already given them perfectly.

In this episode, we'll see the shattering of that hope, the devastating loss of a longed for dream.

What's wonderful is that even as King Saul fails to live up to the hopes placed in him, the faithfulness of God, his absolute commitment to doing what's best, never wavers.

And so, without further ado, I present to you our next episode of stories of a faithful God.

At the end of our last episode, Saul had just been publicly announced as the first human king of Israel.

Most of the nation were really excited and accepted God's choice.

Some people, though, took a look at him and said, there's no way he could be their king.

After that, everyone, including Saul, went home.

We also saw in the last episode how the Philistines have returned as a threat.

As chapter 11 of 1 Samuel opens though, we see an even more imminent threat from another nation, the Ammonites.

The Ammonites lived to the east of Israel.

More importantly than the geography though, is the fact that the Ammonites are relatives of the Israelites.

The Israelites are descendants of Abraham.

The Ammonites are descendants of Abraham's nephew Lot.

God had told the Israelites not to take their land or attack them.

Unfortunately, the Ammonites are not quite as on board with the whole family thing.

Throughout almost the entire Old Testament, they keep causing problems for Israel.

Now they've invaded and besieged the Israelite town of Jabesh Gilead, one of those towns on the east side of the Jordan.

The men of Jabesh don't like their chances, and so they offer a deal to submit to the Ammonite king Nahash.

In verse one, they say, make a treaty with us and we will serve you.

Nahash's reply isn't exactly what you might expect.

He says he'll make a treaty on one condition.

This is his reply from verse 2.

He says, I'll make one with you on this condition that I gouge out everyone's right eye and humiliate all Israel.

Oof.

That seems a bit vicious and unnecessary.

I mean, they've basically just offered to give in.

Why is he making it harder for them?

I think the key is in the humiliation of Israel.

It's a humiliation because the rest of Israel hasn't come to save them.

And so he either wants to show everyone his power, make a public statement that the Israelites are afraid of him, or he's actually trying to draw Israel into a war.

Perhaps he's frustrated that they haven't taken the bait.

Understandably, the people in the city have second thoughts about surrendering so quickly.

They know they can't hold out for too long, and if the Ammonites break in on their own, the people will lose much more than their right eyes.

But they also think it's at least worth playing for a bit of time to try and get help.

The elders of the city reply to Nahash, don't do anything to us for seven days, and let us send messengers throughout the territory of Israel.

If no one saves us, we will surrender to you.

We don't get to hear what Nahash thinks about that deal.

We do find messengers travelling Israel though, which implies that he's let them through the siege again.

That suggests he's kinda happy to provoke a larger war.

The messengers get to Gibeah, Saul's hometown, and tell the people about the terms of the agreement with Nahash.

The whole town bursts into tears, which is understandable.

It's terribly sad that one of their own cities has been reduced to such horrible terms.

And it's heartbreaking that the rest of Israel hasn't come to help.

As that's happening, Saul arrives.

He's been out in the field ploughing with the oxen, and now he's bringing them back home.

He asks what's going on and the people Repeat what the messengers from Jabesh have told them.

What's he gonna do?

He was appointed because Israel wanted a saviour king.

Up until now, even though he looks impressive, being such a tall man, his actions haven't been much to write home about.

I mean, when he was announced as king, he was so scared, he was hiding among the supplies.

But now God steps in.

Remember, even though the people had evil hearts in asking for a king, it was still a part of God's good plan to use a human king.

Now he sends his spirit into Saul, and the effect is instant.

In verse 6, we read, When Saul heard these words, the spirit of God suddenly came powerfully on him and his anger burned furiously.

He took a team of oxen, cut them in pieces, and sent them throughout the territory of Israel by messengers who said, this is what will be done to the ox of anyone who doesn't march behind Saul and Samuel.

As a result, the terror of the Lord fell on the people and they went out united.

Notice how, even though the people had put their hope in the human king, it's really God who's acting as the Saviour here through Saul.

It's the spirit of God that drives him to action.

It's the spirit of God that makes him speak words of action to all Israel.

It's the terror of the Lord Yahweh that falls on the people.

An appropriate terror, because if they disobey Saul now, they'll also be disobeying God.

And so they obey and come out in force.

Almost unimaginable force.

Saul counts them at a town called Bezec, and we're told there are 300,000 Israelites and 30,000 men from Judah.

That way of counting reflects later history when the rest of Israel rebels and breaks away from Judah.

A division that'll come because of the disastrous actions of their kings.

For now, though, they're united as one people.

Saul sends this message back to jabesh in verse 9.

Tell this to the men of Jabesh.

Gilead.

Deliverance will be yours tomorrow.

By the time the sun is hot, you can imagine the relief.

In Jabesh, salvation is on its way.

Just to make sure the Ammonites don't jump the gun, they tell Nahash, tomorrow we will come out, and you can do whatever you want to us.

Little do the Ammonites know they won't be in a position to do anything to the people of Jabesh.

Saul divides his massive army into three companies.

In the morning, they break onto the Ammonite camp Like a powerful destructive wave, the Ammonites are completely overwhelmed.

They scatter, and the Israelites chase and slaughter them until the heat of the day victory is total.

Verse 11 says, There were survivors, but they were so scattered that no two of them were left together.

This is exactly what the Israelites had been hoping for in a king.

They wanted a king who brings victory.

They wanted a king who saves a lot of them.

Remember that there was a small group of grumblers who'd spoken against Saul.

And in the heat of victory, with their blood lust up, they say boldly, who said that Saul should not reign over us.

Give us those men so we can kill them.

Saul, though, acts exactly as the king of Israel is meant to act.

Firstly, he makes sure they know it isn't him who's given the victory.

It's Yahweh, the Lord, their God.

And secondly, he points out that God hasn't saved the Israelites just so they can go about killing other Israelites.

It's a day of salvation for Israel.

In verse 13, he replies, no one will be executed this day, for today the Lord has provided deliverance in Israel.

Instead, Samuel offers a much better solution than killing the dissenters.

He's like, how about we all go back to Gilgal, the place where they'd first met Saul, and we'll have a fresh start.

We'll renew the kingship.

We'll say thanks to God.

In other words, instead of tearing each other apart, they'll reflect the unity that God's given them, a unity they haven't fully experienced, probably since the days of Joshua 400 years before.

And so we read in verse 15.

So all the people went to Gilgal, and there, in the Lord's presence, they made Saul king.

There they sacrificed fellowship offerings in the Lord's presence, and Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly.

Again, the emphasis is on Yahweh the Lord.

Instead of Saul's kingship being a replacement for Yahweh, it's acknowledged to be under the authority of Yahweh.

He's their true king, and Saul rules under him.

This celebration is the most complete celebration in terms of the trajectory of God's plans that Israel's ever experienced.

They're united under God.

They have a human king under God.

They have great joy under God.

If only it could stay that way.

With all the Israelites gathered, Samuel has something to say.

There's something that still hasn't been dealt with, something far more important than the few people who didn't initially want Saul as king.

He begins by establishing his credentials before the Israelites.

In fact, he puts himself on trial.

If he's wronged the people in any way, he isn't worthy to tell them what he wants to tell them.

In chapter 12, verse 1, he says to all Israel, I have carefully listened to everything you said to me and placed a king over you.

Now you can see that the king is leading you.

As for me, I am old and grey and my sons are here with you.

I have led you from my youth until now.

Here I am.

Bring charges against me before the Lord and his anointed.

Whose ox or donkey have I taken?

Who have I wronged or mistreated?

Who gave me a bribe to overlook something?

I will return it to you.

The people respond with absolute certainty there isn't a single charge they can bring against Samuel.

In verse 4, they reply, you haven't wronged us, you haven't mistreated us, and you haven't taken anything from anyone.

Those words aren't to be taken lightly.

Just like on some official documents, you have to get a witness to see you signing it.

The people have made this declaration in front of the most important witnesses around.

In verse five, Samuel says, the Lord is a witness against you and his anointed is a witness today that you haven't found anything in my hand.

They reply, saying, he is a witness.

In other words, they acknowledge that God and his anointed king, his chosen Messiah, have heard their statement.

They'll be held accountable if they've lied.

But they haven't lied.

That's why they're happy to say it in front of God.

Samuel is innocent.

So with that trial over, Samuel's proven to be fully qualified to start another trial, a trial of the people of Israel.

He's Israel's God appointed judge, the last of the judges who isn't a king.

And it's time for them to be judged as the last judge.

He recites their history with the judges.

He reminds them of their constant sin, how they forgot Yahweh, their God.

But also he reminds them of God's constant salvation and provision for them.

How over and over again they've turned away to other gods.

The result has been that Yahweh handed them over to their enemies.

He's shown them that those other gods are powerless to protect them.

And yet over and over again, he's also rescued them when they've repented and come back to him.

In verse six, Samuel says the Lord, who appointed Moses and Aaron and who brought your ancestors up from the land of Egypt is a witness.

Now present yourselves so I may confront you before the Lord about all the righteous acts he has done for you and your ancestors.

When Jacob went to Egypt, your ancestors cried out to the Lord and he sent them Moses and Aaron, who led your ancestors out of Egypt and settled them in this place.

But they forgot the Lord, their God.

So he handed them over to Sisera, commander of the army of Hazor, to the Philistines and and to the king of Moab.

These enemies fought against them.

Then they cried out to the Lord and said, we have sinned, for we abandoned the Lord and worshipped the Baals and the Ashtoreths.

Now rescue us from the power of our enemies and we will serve you.

So the Lord sent Jerubbaal, Barak, Jephthah and Samuel.

He rescued you from the power of the enemies around you, and you lived securely.

He's reminding them that the key to living securely is worshipping God, trusting God, not turning away from God.

When they do that he protects and provides for them.

They haven't wanted to do it, though.

They've looked around for other solutions.

Just like they look to other nations to find other gods now they've looked to other nations to find a system of government.

Samuel says, but when you saw that Nahash, king of the Ammonites, was coming against you, you said to me, no, we must have a king reign over us, even though the Lord your God, is your king.

Now here is the king you've chosen, the one you requested.

Look, this is the king the Lord has placed over you.

So has anything changed?

Are they more safe now they have a king?

Are they somehow in less danger?

Well, actually, no.

Nothing's changed.

The issue of their safety or danger is exactly the same.

It still entirely depends on how they treat God.

Saul is just one more person who has to trust God.

Samuel says in verse 14, if you fear the Lord, worship and obey him, and if you don't rebel against the Lord's command, then both you and the king who reigns over you will follow the Lord your God.

However, if you disobey the Lord and rebel against his command, the Lord's hand will be against you, as it was against your ancestors.

In other words, they must not think of the human king as a replacement for God.

We mustn't think that God's being harsh here.

He's offering them perfect security, perfect safety.

What's more, he's proven time and time and time again that he can do that.

He is the most faithful king, the most Powerful king.

He's also the rightful king.

They belong to him.

Yes, they should fear him in the sense that if they turn away from him, they'll get what they deserve.

But you can see in his astounding love where he's saved them time and time again, that he wants to look after them.

He doesn't want to have to punish them.

He wants them to trust him, to show them how foolish they've been, how crazy it is to not fear the Lord.

God's decided to give them a taste, just a tiny taste of what he can do if they turn away from him.

Samuel tells them in verse 16, now therefore present yourselves and see this great thing that the Lord will do before your eyes.

Isn't the wheat harvest today?

I will call on the Lord and he will send thunder and rain so that you will recognize what an immense evil you committed in the Lord's sight by requesting a king for yourselves.

Samuel called on the Lord, and on that day the Lord sent thunder and rain.

Any wheat farmer will tell you that the last thing you want on harvest day is thunder and rain, and that's today.

When we have an abundant amount of food, we can survive a crop failure.

For the Israelites, it means potential starvation.

Verse 18 goes on.

As a result, all the people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel.

They pleaded with Samuel, pray to the Lord your God, for your servants, so we don't die, for we have added to all our sins the evil of requesting a king for ourselves.

The response to this request is grace and mercy and kindness.

In fact, the sending of the rain and thunder itself has been a gracious warning, a reminder not to go down the path of evil.

And so wonderfully, because they've responded rightly, because they now fear God, then they have nothing to fear.

Samuel says in verse 20 the wonderful words, don't be afraid.

He says, don't be afraid.

Even though you've committed all this evil, don't turn away from following the Lord.

Instead, worship the Lord with all your heart.

Don't turn away to follow worthless things that can't profit or rescue you.

They're worthless.

The Lord will not abandon his people because of his great name and because he has determined to make you his own people.

Samuel's saying, God is faithful, and because he's faithful, he isn't going to abandon you just because you're unfaithful.

The reason he gives for God not abandoning them is because of his great name.

In other words, he'll defend his glory.

He'll continue to show the world His Love and grace and compassion and faithfulness and justice.

He'll do it through the Israelites.

Even when the Israelites aren't on board with the plan.

They won't make him unfaithful, they won't make him unloving, they won't make him unkind.

Sinful humans, ever since the fall with Adam and Eve, have doubted these qualities about God.

We've refused to give him the glory he deserves and trust that he really is like that.

And so what a joy that he's showing his wonderful character, his wonderful glory through these sinful people.

He also shows it through a mediator, someone who stands between the people and him and intercedes on their behalf.

Not because he couldn't understand without one, but because that's the way he's chosen to do it.

Samuel is that mediator.

Here he speaks to God for them, and he speaks to them for God.

In verse 23 he says, as for me, I vow that I will not sin against the Lord.

By ceasing to pray for you, I will teach you the good and right way.

Above all, fear the Lord and worship him faithfully with all your heart.

Consider the great things he has done for you.

However, if you continue to do what is evil, both you and your king will be swept away.

That's another kind warning, a gracious warning.

Just like when God gave life to Adam and Eve in the garden and warned them not to choose death.

How much more should we heed the warning of the greatest mediator?

The ultimate mediator between God and humans?

The one who died to give us life.

The great King who speaks to God on our behalf, wiping away our sin, asking his Father to make his home in us by his Holy Spirit.

The one who's better than Samuel because he's both God and human.

1 Timothy 2, 5 says, for there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind.

The man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, a testimony at the proper time.

If God saved Israel over and over again through short term saviors and mediators who came and then died, how much more are we saved?

How much more is God's glory and greatness revealed in the mediator who will never die again?

In him we have life.

And just like it was for Israel, the choice for us is simple.

John 3.

36 says, the one who believes in the Son has eternal life, but the one who rejects the Son will not see life.

Instead, the wrath of God remains on him.

Saul's kingship has started well.

God's used him to save his people.

And Saul's pointed people to God as their true saviour.

If only he'd continued as he'd begun.

The beginning of Saul's decline is highlighted as we meet a new person.

This is Saul's eldest son, the crown prince of Israel, a young man named Jonathan.

Most countries at this time either don't have a standing army or they have a tiny one.

And that's what we see now in Israel.

Even though Saul could summon everyone to fight, generally those people go back to their farms and homes after the battle.

So we read in verse 2, he chose 3,000 men from Israel for himself.

Two thousand were with Saul at Michmash and in Bethel's hill country.

And 1,000 were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin.

He sent the rest of the troops away, each to his own tent.

So Saul stationed Jonathan at his hometown of Gibeah.

There are two things worth noting about Gibeah.

The first one I missed in the last episode and should have discussed then, I.e.

gibeah was actually the site of the most tragic event in all of Israel's history up to this point.

Towards the end of the Book of Judges, the men of Gibeah gang raped and murdered the wife of a Levite.

It's a scene that can't help but make you think of what happened in Sodom just before it was destroyed along with Gomorrah.

It led to civil war.

The rest of Israel almost completely wiped out the tribe of Benjamin, where Gibeah is.

So when Saul said to Samuel, am I not a Benjaminite from the smallest of Israel's tribes?

And isn't my clan the least important of all the clans of the Benjaminite tribe?

They weren't that small just because of random birth rates.

Saul's heritage, the heritage of the first king of Israel, is a reminder of the utter depths of evil the Israelites had sunk to, making themselves just like the evil nations God had destroyed in the past.

It's no accident that when Israel asked for a king like the other nations, God gave them a king from Gibeah.

The other important thing about Gibeah is that there's a Philistine garrison there.

Even though the Philistines had been driven back early in the days of Samuel, now they've returned, and it seems like in some way Israel's subject to them.

We noted last time that when Samuel sent Saul back to Gibeah, he particularly mentioned the Philistine garrisons when he told Saul to do whatever the circumstances required because God was with him.

Saul did nothing.

Jonathan, his son, who's now stationed at Gibeah with the smaller force of just 1,000 men, doesn't do nothing.

He attacks the garrison.

Naturally, the rest of the Philistines hear about it and are a little bit angry.

Saul has no choice but to react to the actions of his son.

He has the ram's horn blown throughout the land, summoning Israel to war.

The message that accompanies the ram's horn is a slight twisting of the truth.

In verse four, we hear the message.

Saul has attacked the Philistine garrison, and Israel is now repulsive to the Philistines.

Wait, who attacked the garrison?

Saul.

Wasn't it Jonathan?

I guess it doesn't really help the image of a strong and mighty king if he's upstaged by his son.

Anyway, the troops are called to gather at Gilgal, the place where Saul had twice been proclaimed king.

Meanwhile, the Philistines have been gathering their army, and it's a seriously powerful army.

We're told in verse five that they have 3,000 chariots, 6,000 horsemen, and troops as numerous as the sand on the seashore.

This is a terrifying force.

And they bring it deep into the Israelite territory to a place called Michmash, which is in the area of Benjamin, Saul's home tribe.

As terrifying as it is, though, the Israelites shouldn't be worried.

They had faced these kinds of odds before.

In the time of Joshua, when the Israelites were first invading the land, the Canaanites formed a huge coalition army.

Joshua 11:4 says they went out with all their armies, a multitude as numerous as the sand on the seashore, along with a vast number of horses and chariots.

But the Lord said to Joshua, don't be afraid.

And God gave the Israelites victory.

Years later, in the time of the Judges, another coalition came against Israel.

Judges 7:12 says now the Midianites, Amalekites, and all the people of the east had settled down in the valley like a swarm of locusts, and their camels were as innumerable as the sand on the seashore.

At that time, God wanted to really emphasize that it's him who gives the victory.

He'd chosen Gideon as judge, and Gideon summoned an army of 32,000 men.

God said, no, that's too many.

He whittled the army down to just 300 men.

Then, when they won the battle, everyone knew it was obviously God who'd given the victory over this massive army.

So with that history in mind, the Israelites should be filled with courage.

They should know God's with them.

Saul should be reminding them that God's with them.

They should be facing the enemy without fear and with great confidence in their God.

Unfortunately, that isn't quite how they react.

A better word than confidence or courage to describe their reaction would be panic.

In verse six we read, the men of Israel saw that they were in trouble because the troops were in a difficult situation.

They hid in caves, in thickets, among rocks and in holes and cisterns.

Some Hebrews even crossed the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead.

They're like cockroaches, scurrying away in fear when the lights turn on, hiding in every nook and cranny they can find.

Meanwhile, at Gilgal, Saul still has some troops with him, even though they haven't run away yet.

We are told that they're trembling with fear.

It isn't really the most encouraging start to a campaign.

Now, it's difficult to be certain, but for complicated reasons, it's possible that these events are happening about a year after Saul was first anointed.

In that time, he has fought against at least one of Israel's enemies.

But he hasn't done what Samuel first instructed.

Remember, Samuel had said, do whatever your circumstances require because God is with you.

Afterward, go ahead of me to Gilgal.

I will come to you to offer burnt offerings and to sacrifice fellowship offerings.

Wait seven days until I come to you and show you what to do.

Well, even though it wasn't Saul who'd attacked the Philistine garrison, the job's been done and so now he's come to Gilgal.

And to give him credit, he waits.

Every day he waits, he risks the Philistine army getting stronger, and he risks more of his own terrified army slipping away.

Verse 8 says he waited seven days for the appointed time that Samuel had set.

But Samuel didn't come to Gilgal and the troops were deserting him.

That sounds like Samuel's failed.

But it seems that the seventh day hasn't ended yet.

All Saul has to do is hold his nerve for a few more hours.

Remember, Samuel's the mouthpiece of God, and it's God who gives the victory.

That's why Gideon had been able to defeat a similar size army with only 300 men.

But as Saul's troop numbers are dwindling, he forgets that he thinks his strength lies in the number of soldiers he has.

He also makes a mistake of thinking that he can force God's hand, just like the Israelites had thought years earlier when they brought the ark to the battle instead of waiting for Samuel to do his God given role of making the sacrifices.

We hear Saul saying this in verse nine, Bring me the burnt offering and the fellowship offerings.

Then he offered the burnt offering.

Oh Saul, you were meant to be different.

You were meant to lead the people in trusting God, especially when it came to saving Israel.

Instead you've become like the people in their lack of faith.

And then we read the fateful words in verse 10.

Just as he finished offering the burnt offering, Samuel arrived.

It turns out he didn't even need to wait a few more hours, he only had to wait a few more minutes.

He goes up and greets Samuel and Samuel's like, what have you done?

Saul's answer is filled with excuses and self justification.

He says in verse 11, when I saw that the troops were deserting me and you didn't come within the appointed days and the Philistines were gathering at Michmash, I thought, the Philistines will now descend on me at Gilgal and I haven't sought the Lord's favour, so I forced myself to offer the burnt offering.

Can you hear what a self serving answer that is?

Firstly, he's saying he has no choice.

The troops are deserting him and the Philistines are gathering.

But surely that isn't a problem for God, so his argument doesn't really hold any water.

Secondly, he blames Samuel, you didn't come.

And yet even as Saul says that, he's talking face to face with Samuel on the seventh day, just like Samuel had promised.

Thirdly, he frames it as an act of devotion to Yahweh.

Oh, I'd hate to end up in a battle without having sought Yahweh's favour.

I know I need him.

And yet if he knows he needs God, why not obey God?

Why not do exactly as God told him to do?

Finally, he makes it sound like he's done a really brave thing.

I forced myself to do it.

Except he hasn't been brave.

He's acted in fear.

Fear of the Philistines, fear of losing his army.

And in his fear he's tried to manipulate God.

In his fear, he's disobeyed the word of the Lord.

It's the complete opposite of the courage that comes from trusting God.

Just as a side note, sometimes as Christians we talk about encouragement as though it's giving each other warm fuzzy feelings.

In its biblical sense though, it's calling each other to trust God and so have courage in the face of a world that looks scary.

The exact sort of courage Saul failed to have.

And in his fear, he's disobeyed the word of the Lord.

The word of God can't be thrown away so lightly, though disobedience to his word is the essence of sin.

It's at the heart of rejecting him as king.

It's what Adam and Eve did.

God gave them the command not to eat the fruit.

They thought, he can't tell us what to do, and they ate the fruit.

Saul hasn't done a small thing.

He, like Israel, has rejected God as king, and now God rejects him.

Samuel replies in verse 13, you have been foolish.

You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you.

It was at this time that the Lord would have permanently established your reign over Israel.

But now your reign will not endure.

And then he uses a really important phrase.

He says, the Lord has found a man after his own heart, and the Lord has appointed him as ruler over his people because you have not done what the Lord commanded.

What does it mean, a man after his own heart?

Well, Saul had been appointed as a man after Israel's heart.

In other words, he was exactly the sort of man they wanted when they asked for a king.

He's a head taller than all the other Israelites.

He seems really impressive and powerful.

They had wanted a king like the other nations, and so God gave them a king like the other nations, a man from Gibeah, the town that had so revoltingly copied the sin of other nations.

The new king.

God's chosen.

He's chosen according to his own heart, according to God's heart, according to God's faithful plans.

In other words, he's given Israel a taste of what they've asked for.

And it's been a disaster.

But now God will continue to faithfully make sure that his good plans come about.

His heart is much more wonderful than the sinful hearts of the Israelites.

After this, Samuel leaves.

If Saul had obeyed God, Samuel was going to tell him what to do.

He was going to deliver God's word about how to fight the battle.

But now Saul doesn't have Samuel.

He doesn't have the word of God.

He looks around at the army.

He does have, the ones who haven't fled.

And there's just a measly 600 men, hardly the vast number that gathered for the last battle.

The Israelites and the Philistines encamp on opposite hills.

The Israelites at Geber and the Philistines at Michmash, with a steep valley or gorge between them.

The Israelites must seem like a pitiful sight.

Huddling together on their hill.

The Philistines, though, are free to send raiding parties off in three different directions.

They hardly need all their forces to deal with Saul's pitiful band.

Saul has to sit quietly in terror as the enemy tears through the countryside.

He doesn't seem like the Saviour King Israel had hoped for.

Just in case you think things couldn't get any worse, we're given one final terrible detail.

It has to do with iron.

These events are real historical events, happening roughly around the start of the Iron Age.

Iron had been known about for a very long time, and it certainly is a lot stronger than copper, the most used metal by then.

But to melt it, you need a much higher temperature, and people just didn't know how to get the fire to that temperature.

So before this age, people had made copper implements, and when they mixed copper with other metals, they could make bronze, which is tougher than copper, but still not as strong as iron.

Somewhere around the 1200s BC, some bright spark came up with a new design for a furnace.

It could get a lot hotter than what had been around before.

And all of a sudden, this abundant metal called iron could be shaped into really strong tools and weapons, just like what's happened at every other stage in history.

The new technology became a closely guarded resource.

More powerful countries would work hard to make sure that weaker countries couldn't get it.

A bit like the last 75 years, where powerful nations have stopped weaker nations getting nuclear weapons.

It's nothing new.

It's always happened.

And it's that section of history near the beginning of the Iron Age that the events around Saul are taking place.

And so we read in verse 19, no blacksmith could be found in all the land of Israel, because the Philistines had said otherwise, the Hebrews will make swords or spears.

So all the Israelites went to the Philistines to sharpen their ploughs, mattocks, axes and sickles.

The price was 2/3 of a shekel for ploughs and mattocks and one third of a shekel for pitchforks and axes and for putting a point on a cattle prod.

So on the day of battle, not a sword or spear could be found in the hand of any of the troops who were with Saul and Jonathan.

Only Saul and his son Jonathan had weapons.

How's that for depressing?

The army's melted away.

The Philistines are ravaging the countryside.

There are only 600 soldiers left, and even then, only two of them have proper weapons, proper swords and spears.

What's more, the day of the battle has finally come.

Things are not looking up for Israel.

And yet the Israelites are still God's people.

They're still not beyond his power or care.

If only there was someone in the army who was willing to trust him.

As Saul and his little army are huddling together in fear, Jonathan takes the initiative once again.

Remember, he'd been the one to attack the garrison at Gibeah to provoke this war.

Now he does something to provoke the battle.

In chapter 14, verse 2, he says to his attendant who holds his weapons, come on, let's cross over to the Philistine garrison on the other side.

In other words, let's not worry about taking the army over.

You and me should be fine.

And then we're given this fun little detail.

However, he did not tell his father.

As Jonathan's preparing to move closer to the enemy, Saul has actually moved further away.

He's set up camp underneath a pomegranate tree near Gibeah, which is further to the southwest of the Philistines.

He isn't alone.

He has his 600 soldiers with him, shivering in fear.

They're not a very comforting sight.

He also has a priest with him who we're told is wearing an ephod, something the high priest would wear.

The man's name is Ahijah, and he's related to people we met earlier.

In 1 Samuel, we're told in verse 2, he was the son of Ahitub, the brother of Ichabod, son of Phinehas, son of Eli, the Lord's priest at Shiloh.

In other words, he is from the family of priests who's been cursed.

His uncle Ichabod.

He was the one born on the day that Eli, Hophni and Phinehas died.

The Israelite army was destroyed by the Philistines, and the ark had been stolen.

God had said that no one in that family would ever reach old age.

So you've got to wonder, is this really the guy you want to hang around on the eve of battle?

Of course, the family had effectively been replaced by the godly Samuel.

But Saul's already messed that relationship up, and so he stuck with Ahijah.

Meanwhile, none of the army know that while they've moved to a safe distance away from the enemy, Jonathan and his armor bearer are climbing down into the gorge to get at the Philistines.

First he has to climb down one sharp column of rocks and then back up another column on the other side.

Why is he doing this?

Is he just a foolish young man whose muscles are bigger than his brains?

Oh, yeah, I can take him.

I don't need an army.

I can do it on my own with one arm tied behind my back.

Actually, no.

He's doing it because he has the faith to his father lacks.

Unlike Saul, he knows God doesn't need a large army to win a victory.

He trusts that God can win any victory he wants.

In verse six, we're given a more detailed account of what he actually said to his armor bearer.

He said, come on, let's cross over to the garrison of these uncircumcised men.

Perhaps the Lord will help us.

Nothing can keep the Lord from saving, whether by many or by few.

Here's a man who's learned the lesson of Gideon, who's learned the lesson of Joshua, who understands that if God is for us, who can be against us?

His armor bearer replies, do what is in your heart.

Go ahead.

I'm completely with you.

Jonathan says, all right, we'll cross over to the men and then let them see us.

If they say, wait until we reach you, then we'll stay where we are and not go up to them.

But if they say, come on up, then we'll go up because the Lord has handed them over to us.

That will be our sign.

Wait, Jonathan, your great military strategy is to sneak up on the enemy encampment, stand up and let them see you, and then just see how they react, sort of.

It isn't really their reaction he's interested in.

He's more interested in what sign God gives them.

If God says to go for it, they can't possibly lose.

So they climb down these steep rocks, carrying with them exactly one half of the entire army's stock of advanced weaponry.

When they climb to the other side, get near the top and reveal themselves, the Philistines think it's hilarious.

They say a joke that reminds us of just how pathetic the Israelite defence has been.

In verse 11, they say, look, the Hebrews are coming out of the holes where they've been hiding.

Then they call out, come on up and we'll teach you a lesson.

They think this is a big joke.

For Jonathan, though, that's the sign from God he's been looking for.

Knowing that Yahweh's with them, he has confidence to attack the philistines.

In verse 12, we read, follow me.

Jonathan told his armor bearer, for the Lord has handed them over to Israel.

Jonathan climbed up using his hands and feet, with his armor bearer behind him.

Jonathan cut them down and his armor bearer followed and finished them off.

In that first assault, Jonathan and his armor bearer struck down about 20 men in a half acre field.

Jonathan's trust in the Lord is not misplaced.

God's both powerful and faithful, and now he shows it as he has so many times before.

We read, terror spread through the Philistine camp and the open fields to all the troops, even the garrison.

And the raiding parties were terrified.

The earth shook and the terror spread from God.

What's the strength of an army compared to the power to literally shake the earth off?

In the distance, Saw's watchmen suddenly notice all these panicking troops scattering in every direction.

Saw can tell something's up, but instead of jumping in to take advantage of the enemy panic, he stops to take the roll.

He's worked out someone must have gone and done something.

So they call the roll and realise that Jonathan and his armour bearer are gone.

So you think, okay, you've worked that out.

Now will you attack?

Remember, the time when ancient battles are won and lost isn't when they're facing off against each other, it's when one side panics and runs.

The Philistines are panicking and running right now.

Saul had thought disobeying God by sacrificing to him had seemed so urgent that he'd forced himself to act.

What about now that God's handing victory straight into his lap?

Unfortunately, Saul does something almost unbelievable.

He gets the priest Ahijah with him, the one whose family had so foolishly tried to manipulate God by taking the ark into battle and paid with their lives.

Saul turns to him and says, bring the ark of God.

While Jonathan is off trusting the Lord, Saul's still trying to manipulate the Lord.

He really is a king like the other nations.

As the priest is doing whatever he needs to do, the panic in the Philistine camp grows even more intense.

It's like God had the volume up high to try and catch Saul's attention.

But now he's brought in another five extra speakers and stacked them around his head.

Finally, Saul gets the message.

Finally, he takes action.

He says to the priest, stop what you're doing.

He forms his tiny army up and they march off to the battle.

I say battle, but it's a funny description for two men attacking an army so big it has as many soldiers as there are grains of sand on the seashore.

But of course, God's in the battle as well, and that makes all the difference.

When Saul and his troops finally arrive, they discover that the Philistines are so confused and they've started fighting themselves.

What's more, there are Actually, Israelites in the camp, traitors who'd joined the Philistines, who now flip back and start attacking the Philistines.

Finally, all those men who'd run off and hid in the hills of Ephraim in holes and thickets and cisterns.

They hear that the Philistines are fleeing, and they join Saul and Jonathan in the battle as well.

And in case you're in any doubt about who's winning this victory, who's caused the panic, who's given courage to the terrified Israelites, who's made the earth shake and routed the enemy, we're told in verse 23, which says, so the Lord saved Israel that day.

As the battle draws on through the day, with the Israelites chasing the panicking Philistines, the men of Israel become worn out.

Obviously, any battle is tiring.

But.

But the Israelites had been affected by an incredibly foolish and arrogant move by Saul.

He had put the troops under an oath, which we're told about in verse 24.

Saul had said, the man who eats food before evening before I have taken vengeance on my enemies is cursed.

It's obviously foolish.

It's like the Olympic Marathon in 1904 that was run in a brief period where people were excited by the notion of what they called purposeful dehydration.

Basically the idea that you'll run further and faster if you don't drink water.

Along the way, of course, heaps of people dropped out in exhaustion, and the winning time was really slow.

Needless to say, purposeful dehydration didn't really take off as an idea.

Saul's oath, though, is much more than that simple level of foolishness.

He wants the army to not eat so they can help Saul take his vengeance on his enemies.

He isn't interested in God.

He isn't interested in God's people.

It's all about him.

Because the men don't want to be cursed.

They don't eat anything.

And as the day draws on, they get more and more tired.

At one point, they move through a forest, and we're told there's honey on the ground.

Honeycomb, dripping with goodness.

The standard description of this land, when it was first promised to Abraham and his descendants, was that it was a land flowing with milk and honey.

It's a description of abundance and sweetness and blessing.

And here it is just lying there on the ground right in front of them when they're all weak and desperate for a meal.

This is a wonderful blessing from God.

But none of them touch it because they're afraid of the oath.

You can imagine their mouths watering, their nostrils flaring as the sweet smell wafts around them.

Jonathan, he wasn't there when his dad made the troops swear this really foolish oath.

He was off actually fighting the battle.

He gets into the forest and he's like, awesome.

Just what I need.

Verse 27 tells us he reached out with the end of the staff he was carrying and dipped it into the honeycomb.

When he ate the honey, he had renewed energy.

The troops are watching on, and one of them speaks up and says, your father made the troops solemnly swear.

The man who eats food today is cursed and the troops are exhausted.

Jonathan can't believe his ears.

He replies in verse 29, my father has brought trouble to the land.

Just look at how I have renewed energy because I tasted a little of this honey.

How much better.

If the troops had eaten freely today from the plunder they took from their enemies, then the slaughter of the Philistines would have been much greater.

It might sound strange to want more slaughter, but this is the chance to put the Philistines back in their place.

It's the brutal reality of war.

You don't want the Philistines to rally and come back.

You have to kill them now when you have them on the run.

Because of his arrogance, Saul's actually endangered Israel.

He's limited their victory by making the troops needlessly worn out.

He's also led them to sin.

When they've finished the battle, they're so desperately hungry, they do something God's expressly forbidden them to do.

They've managed to plunder lots of animals from the Philistines, which is fine.

But in their hunger, they kill the animals and eat them straight away there on the ground with the blood still in it.

God had said not to eat meat with blood in it.

We won't go into it now.

It's for important symbolic reasons.

But here they are disobeying the word of the Lord because Saul starved them during the day.

Someone points it out to saul in verse 33.

They say, look, the troops are sinning against the Lord by eating meat with the blood still in it.

In an act of astounding hypocrisy.

He gets really angry at his troops for disobeying God's word.

He says in verse 33, you have been unfaithful.

Roll a large stone over here at once.

He then said, go among the troops and say to them, let each man bring his ox or his sheep do the slaughtering here, and then you can eat.

Don't Sin against the Lord by eating meat with the blood in it.

I presume if they slaughter the animals up on the stone rather than on the ground, the blood can more easily drip away.

He sounds so pious, doesn't he?

Like he's really concerned about sin against the Lord, against Yahweh, his God.

In fact, just to reiterate his piety, he builds his first ever altar to Yahweh.

Just like all hypocrisy, it looks really righteous, but it isn't joined with real humility and real repentance.

He doesn't say to his men, look, I'm really sorry I made you take that ridiculous oath.

He doesn't say to God, I'm sorry I didn't trust you.

To win the victory, he just makes himself out as the high and mighty one.

When they've had some food, Saul decides it's time to keep chasing the Philistines.

Yet again, he's late to take action.

How many Philistines have escaped because the Israelites have been too weak to chase them?

Now, though, he says to his men in verse 36, let's go down after the Philistines tonight and plunder them until morning.

Don't let even one remain.

The troop's response reminds us of the difference between Saul and Jonathan.

They say, do whatever you want.

How different to Jonathan, who wanted to do what God wanted.

The priest who's there speaks up with a really novel suggestion.

He says, let's approach God here.

In other words, let's get some advice from God first.

Saul's failures throughout these events have come from his unwillingness to wait and hear what God says.

This time, though, with the prompting of the priest, he does stop and ask God's advice.

In verse 37, he asks, Should I go after the Philistines?

Will you hand them over to Israel?

We're told, though, that God's response is silence.

God did not answer him that day.

Saul assumes that the reason for no answer is that there's some undealt with sin.

God's angry at someone in the army.

So in verse 38, he says, all you leaders of the troops, come here.

Let's investigate how this sin has occurred today.

As surely as the Lord lives who saves Israel, even if it is because of my son Jonathan, he must die.

Strangely, that's the first time we've heard Saul in this battle at least say that it's Yahweh who saves Israel.

It's ironic then, that even though he doesn't realize it yet, he's condemning his own son, the one who actually trusted God to save them to death.

Just as God was silent and didn't answer Saul, now the army's silent.

At least one of them knows about Jonathan eating the honey.

But we're told that not one of them answers.

So Saul asks a new question to God.

In verse 41, he says, God of Israel, why have you not answered your servant today?

If the unrighteousness is in me or in my son Jonathan.

Lord, God of Israel, give Urim.

But if the fault is in your people, Israel, give Thummim.

Those are two things that the priest carried with him to find out what God was saying.

Then we're told Jonathan and Saul were selected and the troops were cleared of the charge.

Imagine Saul's shock when he said that anyone should be put to death, even Jonathan.

It sounded so high and mighty, so righteous.

I suspect he didn't actually think there'd be any danger of that.

Now Saul gets the priest to cast the lots again, and Jonathan is selected.

Saul can't escape what he's walked into now.

Everyone's watching.

So he asks Jonathan what he's done.

Jonathan replies in verse 43, I tasted a little honey with the end of the staff I was carrying.

I am ready to die.

The language he uses shows how ridiculously small his crime in it's just a little bit of honey.

It was just with the end of my staff, just the tip.

And for this horrible crime, he's ready to die.

In a sense, it recalls Saul's efforts to downplay his crime when he ignored the word of the Lord and didn't wait for Samuel.

The difference between the two, though, is massive.

Jonathan's crime really is tidy.

In fact, it's basically nothing because he never took the oath.

But Saul's not going to back down now.

Again, the righteous indignation comes out.

In verse 44, Saul declares, May God punish me and do so severely if you do not die, Jonathan.

Now finally, the people speak up.

They've put up with a lot from Saul today.

They've let him lead them, even though Jonathan's clearly much more suited to the job.

They've accepted that ridiculous oath.

They've allowed themselves to starve, even though eating would have been the much wiser cause of action.

They've put up with allowing lots of Philistines to escape because they didn't have the strength to chase them.

But this is a step too far.

They realize that Jonathan, much more than Saul, has been the Saviour God's provided for them.

They recognize that Jonathan hasn't been sinning and working against Yahweh.

Rather, Yahweh's been giving him victory.

So they immediately leap to Jonathan's defence.

In verse 45, they say, must Jonathan die?

He accomplished such a great deliverance for Israel.

No.

As the Lord lives, not a hair of his head will fall to the ground, for he worked with God's help today.

And the passage goes on, so the people redeemed Jonathan and he did not die.

Then Saul gave up the pursuit of the Philistines and the Philistines returned to their own territory.

The soldiers have finally understood something that the Israelites hadn't understood before.

They don't need a leader who looks powerful and impressive.

They need a leader who trusts in their true king, the Saviour King, the living God who gives victory.

Throughout the campaign, Saul's been weak, scared and ineffective.

The difference in Jonathan, the thing that gave him courage was the fact that God doesn't need large armies to win.

He has all the power in the universe.

He simply asks his people to trust him.

The same call to trust God, to put our hope in him, to have courage because of him, is found in the New Testament.

That makes sense because it's the same God.

The courage we need, though, isn't courage to fight a literal battle.

It's courage to live a life in service of Jesus, our King.

We need courage because people won't like us living for Jesus.

In fact, 2 Timothy 3:12 says, all who want to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.

How's that for a promise?

But it isn't the only promise, because we also have the promise that God will look after us through this life.

He'll save us out of death when we die, and he'll bring us to live with him for eternity.

That's what gave Jesus courage to go to the cross.

He knew that because he trusted and obeyed his Heavenly Father, that would lead to his death, people would kill him for it.

And yet he trusted that God would save him even from death.

Hebrews 5:7 says, during his earthly life he offered prayers and appeals with loud cries and tears to the one who was able to save him from death.

And he was heard because of his reverence.

He put his hope and faith in his God and Father, and his Father saved him from death.

Hebrews 12:2 talks about how Jesus could endure the suffering because of what was coming.

It says, for the joy that lay before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

And so, just like Jonathan, just like Jesus, we can put our hope and trust in God, knowing that he's the God who saves, knowing that he has joy for us.

Absolutely some joy in this life.

I don't want to deny that.

But so much more in the life to come.

We can live this life for Jesus, our anointed king and Savior, knowing that, yes, it'll bring suffering, but also knowing that he'll save us from death.

He'll look after us, comfort and protect us, and bring us safely home with Him.

Because our God, Father, Son and Spirit is the faithful Saviour, the powerful Savior.

We don't have to shrink back like Saul.

We can live with courage just like Jonathan, because we know and trust our faithful God, putting our hope in him never ever fails.

Back in Israel, Saul isn't removed as king straight away.

God still uses him to help his people.

We're given this summary of his kingship from verse 47.

When Saul assumed the kingship over Israel, he fought against all his enemies in every direction.

Against Moab, the Ammonites, Edom, the kings of Zobar, and the Philistines.

Wherever he turned, he caused havoc.

He fought bravely, defeated the Amalekites, and rescued Israel from those who plundered them.

In verse 52, we're told the conflict with the Philistines was fierce all of Saul's days.

So whenever Saul noticed any strong or valiant man, he enlisted him.

God is also going to enlist a new man, a new king.

Not one that fits with the heart of the Israelites, but one who fits with his own heart.

He is going to choose someone who no one expects, someone who's going to be so much better at saving Israel, because unlike Saul, he actually trusts God.

But that's a story for next time.

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