Back in 2000 Eric Moussambani swan in the Olympics for his country Equatorial Guinea. Unlike most of the other competitors Eric had never seen an Olympic sized pool before, so he was at a significant disadvantage. His heat started like anyone else’s, except before the buzzer sounded for the start of the race, his two competitors both launched off their starting marks too early. This disqualified them from the heat.
Eric swan the race alone and finished in 1 minute, and 52.72 seconds. To put that into perspective, the gold medal swimmer in the same event won with a 48.3 second time. Eric did break a record with his time, being the slowest time recorded in Olympic history, which meant he wouldn’t move on to the next round. However, he won the heat.
Eric’s story has inspired others because, even though he came to the Olympics with no chance of competing at the level of other swimmers, he worked hard and showed his dedication. Yet there is another story, the other two swimmers. Eric wasn’t real competition, yet the other swimmers’ false starts meant that neither of them could get the win. It goes to show you that sometimes, it’s not the world around us that keeps us from winning, but our own false starts.
This idea of false starts, brings us back to our summer series in the book of First Samuel, where we’ll be reading through chapter 13, starting in verse 1. As we open up to First Samuel 13:1, let’s refresh our memories on where we are so far in this second section of First Samuel.
Three week ago, we looked at God’s choosing of Saul in response to the people desiring a human king. We’re told about the commendable attributes that he had in appearance, obedience, and humility. However, we also saw a few weaknesses as well: unwillingness to finish a task, and pushing responsibility onto others. Saul seemed to have a good start, but a good start isn’t the goal, a good end is. So we talked about how the way we can end well in our walks with God is to have a consistent self-evaluation before the Lord. Where we bring our thoughts and actions before God and have him transform them to his.
Following that, we looked at Saul’s coronation as king and his first victory. The through line of which was an understanding that it is God who establishes kingdoms and wins victories, and it is God who removes kings and kingdoms from the face of the earth. We should never lose sight that no king, dictator, president, general, or prime minster establishes themselves, but it is God who does so for his own purposes.
Finally last week, we read through Samuel’s farewell address to the people of Israel. He had been God’s prophet and judge for a good portion of his life, and he had lived in front of Israel since he was a young boy. In his life he had shown what it meant to be a faithful follower of God, and he called Israel to be faithful too. We walked away from last week with two understandings: We should seek to walk faithfully, because we are responsibly for our own walks with God. Though we may influence each other’s walks, in the end we each are answerable for how we have walked in this life.
With the stage set, we move into chapter 13, verses 1 where we’ll begin to see the cracks forming in Saul’s rule. Let’s read together.
1 Saul lived for one year and then became king, and when he had reigned for two years over Israel,
Let’s stop right here before getting into the rest of the passage. This first verse is very confusing and if we don’t address it from the git-go, your mind might be wondering and wandering as we move through the rest of the passage. It seems to state that Saul was a one-year old when he took the throne. We know that’s not the case, because of everything we read before about Saul’s appearance being that of a fully grown, taller and more handsome than everyone else, man. So what does the “one year” language mean?
The Hebrew word that is translated “one year” is shaneh (shah-NAH), and it means X-amount of time or a revolution of time. It can be as little as a one year as stated in the text, or an entire era of time. As I interpret, the author is saying, there was the era or time when Saul wasn’t king, and then there was a time when Saul was king. How old was Saul when he became king? The Scriptures are unclear, it could be about thirty, or it could be about forty. The forty number was probably more correct because his son Jonathan was a fully grown man, which would mean that Saul had to have had him at the earliest in his twenties. But the actual age doesn’t matter, what mattes is that there was a time when Saul wasn’t king and after that, he became king. The significant part of the verse is actually the second half, where we’re told, it only took two years to get where we are in the passage. So let’s continue with it.
2 Saul chose three thousand men of Israel. Two thousand were with Saul in Michmash and the hill country of Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin. The rest of the people he sent home, every man to his tent. 3 Jonathan defeated the garrison of the Philistines that was at Geba, and the Philistines heard of it. And Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, “Let the Hebrews hear.” 4 And all Israel heard it said that Saul had defeated the garrison of the Philistines, and also that Israel had become a stench to the Philistines. And the people were called out to join Saul at Gilgal.
5 And the Philistines mustered to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots and six thousand horsemen and troops like the sand on the seashore in multitude. They came up and encamped in Michmash, to the east of Beth-aven. 6 When the men of Israel saw that they were in trouble (for the people were hard pressed), the people hid themselves in caves and in holes and in rocks and in tombs and in cisterns, 7 and some Hebrews crossed the fords of the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. Saul was still at Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling.
8 He waited seven days, the time appointed by Samuel. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the people were scattering from him. 9 So Saul said, “Bring the burnt offering here to me, and the peace offerings.” And he offered the burnt offering. 10 As soon as he had finished offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came. And Saul went out to meet him and greet him. 11 Samuel said, “What have you done?”
Usually we don’t do this, as our intention is to read through a whole passage before we discuss it, but I want to stop with a little tension in the air, as Saul meets up with Samuel. We cannot miss this moment. Samuel shows up on the seventh day only after Saul conducts the religious ceremonies that only the priests were allowed to perform.
A lot can be said about this. First, on the ceremonies side of it. The reason why it was forbidden for Saul to perform these offerings is due to the prescriptions within the covenantal agreement between God and Israel. We might think, “what’s the big deal” but the reason it is a big deal is because Israel is in contract with God. It is similar to any contact we might sign to buy a car, rent a house, or have a cell phone. If we were to rent a house, pay the deposit, and then trash the place, we would be in breach of the contract, kicked out, and our deposit would be used to fix the house. The contact between God and Israel had the perception that only the tribe of Levi was allowed to make offerings to God on behalf of the people. Saul is in breach of that contract, and as the king, he is more responsibly than any other person. Remember last chapter, Samuel called the people to follow God with all their heart, and the king too.
Secondly, why did Saul jump the gun here? When Saul first met Samuel, he was told by the women he met that the people would wait until Samuel showed up to bless the food. No matter how long it took, they waited. This was the first thing that Saul learned about Samuel, but he didn’t really learn it. What we learn in the rest of verse 11 and verses 12, is that the situation in which Saul found himself in made him anxious, telling Samuel that he “forced” himself, and so he performed the ceremony in rebellion against God’s command. He rebelled against the counsel of God’s command, against the precedent set by Samuel, and his own inclination to wait.
In reply, this is what Samuel tells Saul in verse 13.
13 And Samuel said to Saul, “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. 14 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.” 15 And Samuel arose and went up from Gilgal. The rest of the people went up after Saul to meet the army; they went up from Gilgal to Gibeah of Benjamin.
In Saul’s unwillingness to wait on the Lord and to follow his commands as an under-king to the true King, Saul lost his kingdom. It will take time for this to come about, but we learn in verse 14 that Samuel already knows that God is at work to bring about another to take Saul’s place.
The chapter ends with the Israelites needing to make weapons out of their farming tools, a sign that under Saul’s leadership, they’re on their own once again. God isn’t providing against the overwhelming odds and we might wonder why? Why is God not providing for the people, when it was only Saul who messed up?
The reason why is verse 15, when Samuel left the town, the people followed their human king and rose up with him. The people chose Saul over God, and God gave them over to their own desire. But that desire was contrary to God and they went to battle without God going before them.
The chapter ends on this ominous note. What’s going to happen at the battle? Will the Philistines, with their chariots, horses, and soldiers, wipe out the Israelites with their converted farming tools? We’ll leave that for next week.
However, we can walk away with Jesus’ words from Matthew 6:25, 32-33, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? … For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”
Seeking God’s kingdom above the kingdoms of this earth and above the kingdoms of our own self, is what Saul failed to do. Saul only reigned for two years before his kingdom became more important that God’s. His anxiousness overrode his understanding of God’s command, his trust in his mentor Samuel, and his own conscious. Why? Because his eyes were on his circumstances and his need to make sure his kingdom was secure. Yet, as disciples of Jesus, we are called to look to Christ’s kingdom. His commands are better than ours. His example is better than any humans. His will is better than our own.
But how do we accomplish this not being anxious and trusting the Lord? The Holy Spirit gives us this through Paul in Philippians 4:4-7, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
We over come anxiousness by rejoicing in the Lord as we bring our request before him, leaving them with him, for him to work out as he sees fit. God is the king, his will will be done whether we fight against it or not. When we fight against it, we will experience all the problems our anxiety worried about. Yet if we trust in the Lord, leaving our worries and anxiety in his hands, he will bless us with his peace and our heart and minds will be guarded against the enemy as we trust ever greater in Jesus.
My challenge for you this week is this, we are going to be taking communion and we’re going to do something a little different. We’re going to pass the bread and cup together and I want you to take a moment and lay your petitions upon the Lord. Any worry of the kingdom of this world lay at the feet of the King of kings. Any anxiety that plagues your heart or mind, bring it before the God of peace. Then, pick up rejoicing that God is going to work it out in his way and in his time.
Let us petition the Lord together in the unity of Christ, and let us rejoice with one another in the greatness of our God. Amen.
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