We have touched on the period of the Judges, and we move into the time of the Kings. Brace yourself. There are few moments to be proud of.
Saul is to be the first king. He comes from a wealthy family, he is tall and good looking. I’ll bet he was smart and strong too. And just to top it off a little, he isn’t a proud man. When it comes time to anoint him, he is found hiding among the baggage. No wonder some of the people said “this guy can’t lead us anywhere”. But isn’t that the point? We aren’t supposed to trust in the king, we look to God, the King for our orders. And since Israel now has a king, the first thing that they should require is that their king listens to The King. What value is an earthly leader who doesn’t take orders from his/her heavenly superior?
Saul begins well..and that’s as far as this reading takes us, so let’s celebrate that today. Saul does what the king is supposed to do. He unifies the people and pardons those who were opposing him. He leads the nation to victory, and defeats the wicked king Nahash. When I read how Nahash had gouged out the right eye of everyone in Israel, I want to kill him myself. What sort of depravity is that, anyway?
The middle east has been a place of violence and depravity with no respect for human life for a long, long time. As the United States tries to get involved and bring our values to the area, I wonder if we understand the enormity of the problem. How can people who worship false gods become (or act like) people who serve a different god? There was day when the U.S. served the Lord, it’s how we developed the laws and protocols that we have. It’s why our society works the way that it does. Without Jesus, none of this works.
Without Jesus, families don’t work, communities don’t function and nations become dysfunctional. Nothing works right unless God is at the head of it. That’s just reality. Trying to fix something without replacing the bad “brain” is an exercise in futility.
What does that have to do with this passage? Hmmm. I’m not sure.
God has clearly chosen to bless Saul, who comes from wealth and power. So, God isn’t opposed to us having wealth and power….as long as we use them and they don’t begin to control us. I also notice that Samuel gives Saul numerous confirmations that this appointment is from God. Saul needs to know that Samuel isn’t acting on his own….God is directing him. That is going to be important later.
When Saul hears that the people are oppressed, he becomes righteously angry. I think that the Holy Spirit is angry when God’s people are oppressed. God doesn’t want us to walk through this life (even though it’s temporary) with one eye. No one has a right to deface God’s property, and that is what we are. If you molest the servant of another king, then you answer to the king. Saul represents God well as he fights against the Ammonites.
By the way, do you remember where the Ammonites came from? Lot’s younger daughter who got him drunk and slept with him gave birth to a son who became the father of that nation. There were two sisters, both daughters of Lot, and when the older one slept with her father, she gave birth to a son who became the father of the Moabites. Both of these nations opposed Israel fiercely, and caused them much grief.
When we get away from God’s plan for us, it takes us down pathways that always end up causing us more harm than good.
It probably seemed good to those girls to have descendents at the time. But their descendents became ruthless, evil people who killed thousands.
We should always be careful to remain as obedient as we can, because our intentional deviations from God’s plan will set in motion realities that cause harm to many.
Faithfully,
PR