Saul Disobeys In Battle 13: 1-13 Essay

I. Saul disobeys in battle 13:1-15 A. Background of Saul 13:1 1. Saul’s age 13:1a 2. Number of years Saul has been king 13:1b B. The start of the battle 13:2-7 1. Saul’s strategy 13:2 a. Saul takes 2,000 men 13:2a b. Jonathon takes 1,000 men 13:2b 2. The first attack 13:3-4 a. Jonathon attacks Philistine outpost 13:3a b. Saul summons the Israelites 13:3b-4 3. Philistines prepare to fight 13:5 4. The Israelites fled and hid 13:6-7 a. Israelites hid in caves and rocks 13:6 b. Other Israelites were scared 1) Some crossed the Jordan River 13:7a 2) Those who were stayed remained in fear 13:7b C. Samuel rebukes Saul 13:8-15 1. Saul waits for Samuel 13:8-9 a. Saul waits seven days
His lack of authoritative thinking can be seen as a sin of commission.2 He didn’t follow out his role like God had planned. Another major sin committed by Jonathon can be seen in I Samuel 14:24-52. This is where Saul has commanded the army not to eat anything and fast until the victory was finalized. At first Jonathon does not know of the command his father had made but then he is warned by a couple of Israelites and yet still does not listen. He denounces his own father and tells the army that his father does not know what he is talking about. Blenkinsopp writes that, “Jonathon was ignorant, which led to the cultic sin which, in its turn, provided the ambiguity arising out of the unsuccessful appeal to God.” 3 He doesn’t care that his army is faint and can’t eat all his cares are about himself. At the end of the day Saul turns to God to ask for his guidance in their victory. When God ignores Saul, he realizes that something that they have done has displeased him. The character of Jonathon really shines in this part of the story. When the Lord reveals to Saul that it was Jonathon who had committed the sin, Jonathon should be put to death. Instead Saul asks God to take him instead of his son. Jonathon does not say anything back to Saul but was about to let him die if the Israelites had not come up with a solution. Being the son of Israel’s king and a leader of the army, Jonathon does not show that his heart is
The passage in I Samuel doesn’t deny that Saul didn’t have faith in God; it only shows that he wasn’t fully strong enough in his faith to fulfill the role that God had planned out for him as king. In I Samuel 13:1-15, it talks about Saul’s first disobedient act. The Israelites are all prepared for battle and the command from God was to wait until Samuel had arrived then he would give them further instructions. Saul waited for the right amount of days but grew impatient and started the sacrifice without Samuel. It doesn’t seem here that Saul tried to disobey God. He carried out the command to wait for Samuel but didn’t fully finish the task. Another similar situation happened in I Samuel 15 when God had specifically commanded Saul to destroy all of the Amalekites and leave nothing of theirs alive. Saul believed he was doing the right thing by saving the animals as sacrifices to God. He carried out God’s plan but again didn’t fully fulfill it. “Saul in this story is not so much wicked as he is foolish and frustrated, his intentions are good but he pursues them in self defeating ways.”4 His actions seem to be pious in sparing the animals but in the end sets God against him even more. Saul seems to start doing what God has asked but then becomes selfish and caught up in the battle more than God’s ultimate plan. These two passages reflect Saul as being impatient and