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Sandj
Chapter 13: verse 1... I know I said this before, but I am intrigued by the similarities between Saul being the Isrealites first fleshly king, and Jesus being their eternal King... here is another example again as they both started their "work" at 30 years old (see Luke 3:23)... on a different note, it is amazing that Saul ruled so long, because from history lessons that I remember it seems like kings seldom ruled so many years, as they were always getting killed by other ambitious people wanting to rule, too
verse 2... interesting how he makes up armies for both him and his son... I find it curious that Jonathan did not live with him... did some time pass between him being thirty and starting to rule, to the time when verse 2 happens? because otherwise, Jonathan couldn't be more than like 15 at the extreme most, could he? just curious
verse 3-4... crazy that Jonathan attacked, but Saul was blamed/credited for it... also, interesting that the people state that this is the reason the two peoples are warring... did they forget the whole deal about the Ark back in Chapter 4-7? reminds me of the game "telephone" where one person is told something secretly and they are supposed to whisper it to the next person in line, and so on, until the last person says out loud what they heard... the message is never the same at the end... major reason not to share or spread gossip! hard to tell if you are passing along truth or creativity... also the study notes point out that fighting the Philestines was to be "Saul's life's work" (see chapter 9:15-16), yet, Saul did not start his "work"... Jonathan was the instigator that got Saul on track to do what God had wanted him to do... God seems to do this... He gives us direction, and if we don't get going, then He provides some "motivation"... like when the early Christians were told to go out and tell everyone about Jesus, yet they all stayed in Jerusalem, so a great persecution came and made them scatter... got them out among those who didn't know about Jesus, yet (see first few chapters of Acts)... motivation... I think it is that way in our lives sometimes, too... God doesn't force us to obey Him... we always have the option to ignore His will in our lives... however, I know that there have certainly been times of "motivation" in my life, either through the admonishiment of others, or through "pruning" circumstances (see John 15:2) that have helped me regain my focus on the task at hand: God's will lives out in my life.
verse 5-7... why were they so afraid! yes, the Philistines were big and mean and ugly (?... literary exaggeration, maybe?)... but the Isrealites had God on their side... right?... didn't God make the Philistines give His Ark back to the Isrealites only a few chapters ago?... but, oh yes, between that show of God's omnipotence, and now, the people had forsaken their King and demanded a new one (see Chapter 8:7-8)... and although this new king has been appointed by God, and has already been proven in battle (Chapter 11), and really tall himself (see Chapter 9:2), he is still just an Isrealite and never fought the scary Philistines!... I don't know about you, but the Iraelites constant lack of faith in God so far throughout these first 9 books of the Bible is really getting old and irritating... but, I am glad that God is so patient and forgiving with them, because my lack of faith is equally constant and irritating, too, I am sure... I guess I partly hope that the Isrealites will finally "get it" so that I can live vicariously through their faith victory... but if that kind of perfection was able to be reached, we wouldn't have needed Jesus, huh? (see Hebrews 12:2)
verse 8-10, 13-14... did Saul only wait until morning on the 7th day? for Samuel still apparently shows up that same day, and only a short time later... and now, because of Saul's impatience and compeltion to "do it himself", he will miss out on the blessing that God had intended to bestow upon him and his generations... how often do we get tired of waiting on God, and try to run ahead... like God's timing is imperfect or something... and to what detriment do our thoughtless, careless, imperfect actions bring? how often do we stand in our own way because we try to "clear" the way for God?... yet, we are reminded in Hebrews 10:35-39, "So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. For in just a very little while, "He who is coming will come and will not delay. But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him." But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved."... Hebrews 12:1-3 encourages us to continue strong in our perseverance, as does 1 Corinthians 9:24... and James reiterates the importance and reward of persevering in James 1:12... and Jesus, too, in Matthew 25, expresses the importance of not giving up on waiting on God, or giving in to the temptation to "do it your own way"... doing things the way Saul did is easy to fall prey to, but we must remember that we love and are loved by a God who has perfect timing in all things, especially the important ones (Romans 5:6), He is faithful and perfect in His ways (Deuteronomy 32:4), yet we are not (Romans 3:23, James 3:2a, 1 John 1:10, Hebrews 6:18), so we can/should trust in Him, not in ourselves, and we would be wise to not try to use our faulty rationalization to try to "out think" or "out plan" God (Isaiah 55:6-11, especially verses 8-9)... God is God, and we are not (Psalm 86:9-11)
verse 11-12...crazy how Saul blames everyone else for his poor judgement: Samuel, the army men, the Philistines... so often we do not want to fess up to our mistakes... yet, God clearly states many times over that if we will just confess our sins to Him, "He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:9, but same idea can be found all throughout the Bible).
verse 15... God can do great things with 600 men, and even less... He regenerated the tribe of Benjamin, and brought forth a king from it (Saul, see Judges 20-21, and 1 Samuel 9-10)... God even used Gideon and his 300 men to save Isreal (see Judges 7-8)... but in both of those examples, God was there, among the men and in the situation... what scares me, for Saul, in this verse, is that Samuel left him... did God leave Saul, then, too?... I hope not, for Saul's sake
verse 16-18... why did the Philistines go to different areas than where Saul and his army were? did they figure Saul was harmless and want to take advantage of gaining as much plunder as possible while Saul was incapacitated?
verse 19-21... wow, now that is a battle strategy... not only keep them from being armed, but make a nice "buck" while they are at it... the Philistines are not only planning to plunder them with their victory in battle, but they are extorting the people before hand, too... I suppose I could go into a political warning about the US and overseas companies, healthcare reform, etc, but I won't... however, we should be aware of these types of underhanded things that we tolerate, which seem annoying, or even fanciful, but harmless... when we find ourselves completely controlled by outside influences, I am pretty sure it was not because we gave away all of our control in one day... just a few examples, although there are plenty... we used to say that false religions, magic, vampires, etc were bad things, and God calls them that, too(Leviticus 19:26, Leviticus 7:27, and Leviticus 17, Acts 21:25, Deuteronomy 18:9-14, Acts 19:13-20, 2 Kings 21:1-15, 2 Chronicles 33:1-20, Isaiah 44)... yet, now, we eagerly go to Yoga classes, watch "fun kid" shows like Wizards of Waverly Place, and buy all kind of paraphanalia for Harry Potter and Twilight... they are harmless, right?... and how did we begin to assume that?... we embraced free love in the 60s right, and promoted the ways of the east during that time, right?... Bewitched was a cute show about a sweet lady and her nice husband, right?... and I dream of Jeanie was about a pretty girl and an upstanding citizen, right?... what could be the harm in watching those... or Sabrina the Teenaged Witch?... harmless, right?... or playing "Yu-Ge-Oh" or whatever?... none of them make anyone kill people or anything, right?... they are entertainment or even exercise and ways of socializing... yet, they are still based on false religion practices, satanic worshippers, and all kinds of other evil things... sounds harsh that way, huh?... why? because we have been taught to be "tolerant" and "open minded"... but at what cost?... how has our culture changed since we began to allow "harmless" things to creep in?... ever wonder why God is so easily taken out of everything anymore?... why Christians are apologetic instead of convicted? any connection at all in any of this?... Jesus taught us to love everyone, but He did not teach us to condone everything, and He told us to put God first about all else (Matthew 22:36-40, Matthew 21:12-15, 1 Corinthians 10:23)... and, in fact, God tells us NOT to associate ourselves with the ways of the world, and NOT to permit these things into our lives (1 John 2:15-17, Galatians 5:16-26, Ephesians 4:17-32, Colossians 3:1-17)... why? because by doing so, even for the sake of "fun" or "health", we are giving Satan a foothold (Ephesians 4:27)... it is my fear that one day we will end up in a world where the "harmless" has become a nightmare... we will not have planned for that to happen, but we will not have tried to prevent it either... we must be proactive about removing those things that so easily entangle us (Hebrews 12:1), so that we can keep ourselves, and those we love, free from the attractive yet destructive grasp of evil... and so we are prepared for "battle" (2 Corinthians 10:2-7a, Ephesians 6:10-20), instead of ending up like Saul's men in verse 22... however, I want to leave us with some words of hope to ponder in the midst of all this... "if My people, who are called by My Name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land." (2 Chronicles 7:14)
sandJ
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