I don't know about the rest of you, but I don't have to utmost faith in our dear King Saul. He seems a bit of a Barney Fife.
Ive got a couple of question embedded in this one.
We begin with what seems like a farewell address by Sam at the start of 12, but he continues to appear throughout today's reading.
Saul 1st misstep of the day is giving an offering to the Lord, which apparently ISN'T in his contract. Lest he forget, he's a king, not a Priest. Samuel gets super angry. This is his job and even if he is stepping down, or dying or whatever he is doing, HE WANTS TO DO IT. He says its a commandment, but I need to be reminded of that one. Then he gets sorta high school. He tells Saul that his days are numbered and that there is someone which God is totally smitten with, named David.
Saul's then does the wackiest thing yet. He swears that his soldiers will not eat until the enemy has been beaten and curses anyone who does? (wild guess who eats?)
Really??!
Super hungry, weak soldiers? This is a good thing? I imagine MAYBE he thought they would fight harder in order to eat?
His son doesn't know about the vow not to eat and so.....he eats.....he eats honey and all of a sudden he's feeling better and seeing better and fighting better. Its like 5 hour energy BC.
Like any good father Saul decides that his son must die for breaking the vow. This guy just does not inspire confidence in me.
The people beg for his life to be spared and it is. So, at least we have that to feel good about.
There is also a point in the reading in which we learn that there are no metal worker in all of Israel. Then it says the Philistines say "lest the Hebrew make swords or spears" I read this like it was up to the Philistines as to whether or not the Hebrew had metal workers?
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Yes, the Philistines had control over the Israelites during this time. And I figure to keep the chances of an uprising down, they wouldn't let them practice metal work.
I'm not too confident in Saul either. I think he acts rashly too often. He's always doing, or saying something before he thinks it out. And it doesn't seem as though he listens to directions very well. It's like he hears the first part and then tunes the second part out. I bet this isn't the last time he does that.
Sacrifices to the Lord are only to be done by the Priests. Saul should have been a little more patient, not a virtue of his.
I've told you before the power I believe words really have. And I think we see here that they are powerful. Saul decried something, and although it wasn't Biblical really, God to some extent enforced it. When they couldn't figure out why things weren't going their way, they asked God who did what; and Jonathan got pointed out. Words are very powerful. As I've said before, God SPOKE the world into existence.
The people of Israel acted hastily when they asked for a king. And Saul acts hastily all the time. Maybe the lesson here is to think things through. To be patient. Do your part, but don't force God's timing. You'll get what you need right on time. Not a second too soon and not a second too late.
Saul is a perfect example of non-perfection. Even though Saul allowed God to change his heart, that didn't make Saul a perfect person by a long shot. He still makes mistakes, some huge and some small. I do think he's making a fairly sincere effort to obey. I think his not listening to all of the directions and his impatience are and will get him into trouble. He may have gotten a changed heart, but that apparently doesn't mean that he still doesn't have work to do to maintain that change. So even though Saul exercised his free will and chose to ask/allow God to change his heart, he still has free will so he can still faulter in that change by making poor, rash, decisions. Maybe that's part of his problem. Maybe he thinks, well, God has changed my heart so anything I do now must be ok. There are several "Christians
"/"Christian" religions, today, that think that way.
Btw, I am very familiar with someone who, like Saul, only hears the first part of things. And, no, it's not Crystal. It's actually my brother. I know he wouldn't mind me telling this, so.. He works for me, and he does that A LOT. I'll tell him something that he needs to do and he only hears the first part of it. In fact, he literally, will only remember the first part of it. Or, at least, so he claims. Either way, Saul seems to have this very same problem. Attention to detail, as we say in the military.
Jamie says:
"So even though Saul exercised his free will and chose to ask/allow God to change his heart, he still has free will so he can still faulter in that change by making poor, rash, decisions. Maybe that's part of his problem."
Jamie,
If it is still up to Saul to do the work (i.e. make the right decisions), what's the point of asking/allowing God to "change his heart"? Doesn't this seem like an empty gesture on Saul's part and, more importantly, a pointless exercise for God?
Your conception of free will is increasingly contradictory and absurd. Please clarify.
Also you aren't in the military. You were in the military.
Just like I was in the military, and now others serve in my stead.
I'm not in elementary school either, or on the high school baseball team, or a member of any other company I previously worked with.
I'm not dating my prom date anymore either.
Holy cow, I was waiting for this reading and forgot....
It reminded me of one of the greatest bullshit verses in the Bible. It comes later but I like the tie-in with controlling the weather. One of the key themes that you see in the Bible when you start to realize it was written by men ignorant of science and meteorology is explainations for weather anomalies are always attributed to God!
Read this one...
James 5:17
Elias ... prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months.
Good job Elias you killed every living thing on Earth that needs water you jerk!
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