Saul, through a priest, has beseeched the Lord for his blessing on attacking the fleeing Philistines. God, however, is not answering. How will Saul respond to God’s silence? Will he be impatient again, unable to wait on the Lord?
Actually, no. We read in 1st Samuel 14, verse 38, Saul believes that God’s silence is the result of sin in the camp, which is a throwback to a situation in Israel’s conquest of the Promised Land of Canaan about 350 years prior. A man named Achan had kept plunder from battle that was forbidden by God, and as a result Israel lost a battle. God revealed what happened, Achan was put to death, and Israel had victory. Perhaps now, Saul wonders, God is not speaking because something like Achan’s sin happened again.
Notice in verses 38-39, Saul is giving God glory, and he boldly declares that this sin needs to be dealt with by capital punishment, even if it is his son, Jonathan. Saul likely believes there is no way it could be his own son, especially as we read in verse 40, because he separates himself and Jonathan from the rest of the army. Saul is thinking it has to be some soldier in the army who has sinned.
So in verses 41-42, Saul prays to God asking God to reveal the truth through the use of the Urim and Thummin. The Urim and Thummin are two stones that were given by God to the priests of ancient Israel to reveal God’s will. It was the same as casting lots. The priest would reach into the pocket of the priestly ephod, and the stone chosen was believed to be God revealing his choice.
Saul thinks for sure the soldiers will be chosen, but no, the stone chosen was the Urim, meaning it was either Saul or Jonathan who had sinned. This must have astounded Saul. So they cast the lot again, this time deciding between Saul or Jonathan. Jonathan was revealed to be the sinner. Jonathan then explains that he had eaten honey, breaking the oath his father had imposed on all the soldiers. As a result, Jonathan must now die.
Saul boldly says in verse 44, “May God deal with me, be it ever so severely, if you do not die, Jonathan.” On the one hand, I give Saul credit for standing firm on his oath. On the other hand, Saul seems to be ludicrous here, allowing his own son to die for something so stupid, a ridiculous oath that Saul himself instituted. It’s bonkers. This situation is super intense. Is Jonathan scared? Is Saul feeling any regret? Is God okay with this? Interestingly, the people who speak up are not who you’d expect to speak up.
The soldiers know it is ridiculous. Look how they respond in verse 45,
“But the men said to Saul, ‘Should Jonathan die—he who has brought about this great deliverance in Israel? Never! As surely as the Lord lives, not a hair of his head will fall to the ground, for he did this today with God’s help.’ So the men rescued Jonathan, and he was not put to death.”
I love it that the rescue here comes from the common people, the regular military foot soldiers speak up. When there is an injustice, even if we think we are nobodies, we should speak up. We have a voice. These guys see the insanity of Saul’s decision, they speak up, and they avert a terrible injustice. People with God’s heart speak up. They are not silent. They speak up on behalf of the oppressed, the marginalized, the hurting, the poor.
Saul’s pride must have been wounded that his oath was not respected by his son. Saul’s pride must have been wounded that he, the king, was overruled by the men. But I wonder if Saul was also breathing a sigh of relief because he knew his oath was ridiculous and he didn’t want to lose his son over it. I wonder if Saul knew that his son had a heart after God’s own heart, and Saul didn’t?
1st Samuel chapter 14 concludes in verses 46-52 with a summary of Saul’s military history and family tree. The summary is generally positive about Saul. Throughout his reign, Israel was always at war with the Philistines, yet he won many battles, delivering Israel. But in this chapter we learned something about Saul, he is not the man after God’s own heart that God is looking for.
You can grow a heart that is after God’s own heart. Paul writes an amazing prayer about this in Ephesians 3:14-19. Hear this prayer.
“For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”
Filled to the measure of the fullness of God. Strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being. Christ dwelling in your hearts through faith. Rooted and established in love.
These are all wonderful descriptions of a person with a heart after God’s own heart because God himself lives in our hearts. Yes, “God lives in our hearts” is a figurative saying. What it means is that genuine followers of Jesus have union with Christ through his Spirit who lives in us. Our bodies are the temple of the Spirit. As we walk in step with the Spirit, God transforms our whole person so that his fruit flows from our lives. Walk with him. Get to know him. Invite him into your life. Ask him to fill you and empower you to live for him.
Photo by Tsunami Green on Unsplash
Engaging Scripture 