1 Samuel chapter 13. Remember, we're leading up to something, right? In 1 Samuel. We're in those chapters that are kind of setting the bases, setting up for what will soon come. This past couple of months ago, the NFC championship game was between the Detroit Lions and the 49ers. The Lions had raced to a 24-7 lead and seemed poised on their way to their first Super Bowl in their team history. But as Lion fans are used to, their opponents, the 49ers, rallied for 27 straight points, resulting in a 34 to 31 Lion loss, the worst meltdown in franchise history. Most analysts blame the Lions head coach, Dan Campbell, for the loss. See, what happened, the Lions had an opportunity coming out of halftime to add to their 17-point lead by kicking a field goal, which would have given them an almost insurmountable advantage. But instead, Campbell opted to go on fourth and two, and they didn't make it. They turned the ball over on downs, and the 49ers scored two unanswered touchdowns in just over two minutes. Later in the fourth quarter, the team trailing now, Lions trailing 27-24. Again, Campbell's faced with the same thing. Fourth down opportunity could tie the game with a field goal, and again he went for it, and they failed. The Lions ended up losing the game by a single field goal. Now, this is just a game. Lions fans will get over it, as they always do. However, it illustrates a couple of things. It illustrates that, one, sometimes poor decisions can change the course or the result of a game or of history or of life. And it also shows how ruin can come suddenly. In chapters 11 and 12, the previous story, it appeared as though the nation of Israel was going to have a sustained victory over their enemies. Remember, King Saul faced the enemy, the Ammonites. He destroyed the Ammonites. Samuel comes in and uses the opportunity of the military victory to call the people to repentance for their desire, their treasonous desire for a king. and they recognized their sin and God forgave them in this short season. Things were looking up for Israel, but the looming final words of Samuel In chapter 12, if you want to look back at the last verse of chapter 12 for a moment, those final words of Samuel suggest that he realized that the old adage is true. The more things change, the more they stay the same. Samuel warned in 1 Samuel 12, verse 25. If you still do wickedly, you shall be swept away, both you and your king." And that is exactly what happened. And it happened suddenly, quickly in the next chapter, the next story that we'll look at today, which is in chapters 13 and 14, which is a single narrative about the sudden ruin of King Saul. Though God will give Israel victory over their oppressors in these two chapters, we're going to learn once and for all what we've been suspecting all along in the exposition, that Saul's leadership was not good. In fact, Saul's leadership was no better than any of the judges, and that he did have indeed the character of the kings of the surrounding nations. I'll begin by reading a portion of chapter 13 where King Saul is under pressure from the Philistines and he panics and he rebels against God. So let's look at 1 Samuel chapter 13. I'll read verses 5 through 14 to begin. 1 Samuel 13, 5. And the Philistines mustered to fight with Israel 30,000 chariots, 6,000 horsemen, and troops like the sand of the seashore in multitude. And they came up and encamped at Mikmash, to the east of Beth Avin. And when the men of Israel saw that they were in trouble, for the people were hard-pressed, the people hid themselves in caves and holes and in rocks, in tombs and cisterns. And some Hebrews crossed the fords of the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. Saul was still at Gilgal, and all the people followed him, trembling. He waited seven days, the time appointed by Samuel. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the people were scattering from him. So Saul said, Bring the burnt offering here to me and the peace offering. And he offered the burnt offering. And as soon as he had finished offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came. And Saul went out to meet and greet him. And Samuel said, what have you done? Saul said, when I saw the people were scattering from me and you didn't come, within the days appointed that the Philistines had mustered at Michmash, I said, now the Philistines will come against me at Gilgal, and I've not sought the favor of the Lord. So I forced myself and offered the burnt offering. Samuel said to Saul, you have done foolishly. You have not kept the command of the Lord your God with which he commanded you. For then the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. but now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought a man after his own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept what the Lord has commanded you. Let's pray. Father, we come before you in need of your grace and mercy. We are in need of your Spirit, Lord, even to understand your Word. Would you open up our understanding today, Father? Would you be merciful today? that not only your people would understand your word, but if anyone would come in here not knowing you, Lord, that you would grant them a new heart, a new mind. They might glorify you. We ask you, Lord, to use this word to glorify your name, to bring about the purposes that you have ordained for it for us today. We ask it in Christ's name. Amen. So as we come to chapter 13, right out of the gate, we face a complicated matter. And I'm just going to take a few minutes to deal with what is a notorious textual problem. I think if you're going to turn off in the sermon, this is probably the time to turn off in the sermon. I'm breaking every rule of preaching by making the first thing the most complicated. But the ESV, I want to read you from the ESV. Verse 1 is translated this way. And you could read along in your version if you have the ESV or whatever version you use. It seems like that there's some numbers missing. It says Saul lived one year and then became king, and when he had reigned for two years over Israel. Now the literal Hebrew here says this. It says Saul, a son of a year in his reigning, and he has reigned over Israel two years. Now obviously Saul was not one year old when he became the king. So what most Bible translations do, and translators, is they insert a number here. That number is not present in the original Hebrew. It's not present in any Hebrew manuscripts. There's an assumption that a number was lost. They usually put in either a 30 or a 40. And this is, I'll just demonstrate it to you, illustrate it from two different versions of the NASB. I'll read from the 1977 version and then the 1995 version. The 1977 version of the NASB, verse one reads, Saul was 40 years old when he began to reign and he reigned 32 years over Israel. The 1995 of the same version in ASB says this, Saul was 30 years old when he began to reign and he reigned 42 years over Israel. But there's no evidence that either the 30 or the 40 was intended here. You see how the two versions swap them? Other translations, I think, incorrectly understand this as suggesting that the author is saying that Saul was a young man when he became king. And I don't think that's what the author intends. What's going on here? Well, it's possible that the original author himself didn't know Saul's age. And he just left the blank, maybe with the intention of one day putting that number in and filling it in later. If that was the case, then that would explain why all the copies would have the same omission of the number. It's also possible that something was lost. Perhaps a 30 or a 40. But again, no copies exist with that number. Now, if you notice, there's two numbers there. I think it's unnecessary to add anything to the second number of verse 1, where the literal translation goes like this, and he has reigned over Israel two years. Again, translators thinking about these verses know Book of Acts in the New Testament, chapter 13, as Paul is preaching the gospel at Antioch in the synagogue. He's giving the history of Israel and he says, they asked for a king and God gave them Saul, the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for 40 years. So translators try to reconcile this and say, well, why does this say 2 years and why does this say 40 years? So what some translations do is assume that the digit 4 was lost there. But what I find right, or correct, or the best way, there's no really way of knowing for sure. This is, again, one of those rare versus notorious for a textual issue. But I like what the ESV does. It follows, actually, what the King James did, saying that when it says Saul was king over two years, putting the word when in there. And when Saul, when he had reigned for two years over Israel, then blank follows the rest of the chapter. The events of chapter 13, as we're going to see, lead Samuel to pronounce God's rejection of Saul as king. So even though in God's eyes Saul is rejected two years into his reign, he officially remains the king for a total of 40 years, or over 40 years. Now, I said all this not because Saul's age is important. I did it intentionally to show you an example of a rare case in Scripture. You won't hear this preached often, but when it comes up, we need to deal with it. It's a rare case where perhaps something in the original was lost. And it shows how Bible scholars and translators have dealt with potentially lost texts. It ought not faze us to find a few examples in the scripture that we cannot be sure about the original text. If indeed a number was lost, it was providentially lost. So we can be sure that it's unimportant for us to this narrative. Saul's age is not important at the end of the day, or else God would have preserved that number. We do not need original manuscripts supposedly dictated from God or written by the hand of God to assure us of God's Word. Our scripture is written by human authors, copied from generation to generation to generation, carefully by human copyists, translated by human beings, all of whom, as careful as they are, are subject to human error. And as such, even if errors are introduced to the copies and to the translation, as is the case here, that doesn't change our confidence that the Bible that we have is the God-inspired, God-preserved, perfect Word of God. Now, others deal with this in different ways. They latch on to a version and say, this is the inspired version. Typically, the King James Only cult does this. This is God's Word. As a matter of fact, it corrects the Greek I heard recently, the King James. But brethren, we literally have thousands of ancient manuscripts from which we can compare and contrast so that we know beyond any reasonable doubt what God's Word says. Now, what does God's Word say? Let's get into the exposition. Now, I'm not going to be able to read every verse. I hope that you've read it. We've always put you in the email to remind you of the chapters that we're doing because they are long sections of scripture trying to cover a complete narrative in one sermon. So, I hope you read it, but I will summarize every point. In verses 2 through 4, Saul chooses an army of 3,000. He gives 2,000 with himself. He gives 1,000 to Jonathan. And this is the first time we're introduced to Jonathan, who we're later going to discover is Saul's son. Jonathan will be the one then to take initiative against the Philistines. And although it was the calling of the king to lead the army and defeat the enemy, it will be his son who actually does it. Look at verse 3. Jonathan defeated the garrison of the Philistines that was at Geba, and the Philistines heard of it. And Saul blew a trumpet throughout all the land, saying, Let the Hebrews hear. And all Israel heard it said that Saul had defeated the garrison of the Philistines. For now, simply note, Jonathan defeated the Philistine garrison. Saul appears to take the credit for it. The next three verses, which I already read earlier, the Philistines are mounting a formidable attack, a counterattack on Israel. And the Israelites are fearful. It says in verse 6, they hid themselves in caves, holes, rocks, tombs, and cisterns. And some crossed over and they were trembling. They knew they were in trouble. They were scared. It is at this time that Samuel was expected to show up. Samuel, remember, is the prophet of Israel, the prophet priest, if you would. And he was going to come and he was going to offer a sacrifice. And he was going to give Saul a specific word from the Lord. And he told him he'll be there in seven days. So Saul waited seven days. And on the seventh day, he saw things happening around him. His armies are scattering. There's no direction that he has from the Lord. So he thinks, well, hey, I'm the king. Well, I'm just going to do this act. I'm going to take this. Maybe I don't have the authority to do it, but I'm just going to do it. The people I'm sure will understand why I did this. And as soon as he finishes, still on the seventh day, Samuel arrives. And in verse 11, he says, what have you done? language which reminds me of Genesis 3 and Genesis 4 when God comes into the garden and says to Adam and then later to Cain, what have you done? And Saul makes this response. It's reminiscent of the response of Adam and Cain with excuses. He says the people were scattering and then there's an emphatic you here in the original. You didn't come on time. And if Philistines were mustering up an army, he blames everyone but himself for his impatience. And then he shrouds his disobedience in religious terms. He says, I hadn't sought the Lord's favor, so I forced myself to offer this burnt offering. In other words, I didn't really want to do it, but I had to do it. And Samuel cuts through it all. Look at verse 13. He summarizes. Saul's action. You have done foolishly. You have not kept the command of the Lord your God with which he commanded you. That nails it. That nails Saul's action. It was foolish and it was disobedient. It was also prideful of Saul to think that he could just order this on his own. He had no specific authority to offer a sacrifice. Kings can forget that they are subjects to a greater king. So Samuel tells Saul, you're done. That's it. Your kingdom will not continue. The Lord has another man, a man after his own heart. He's waiting in the wings to be the king. Now some commentators look at this and say, this is too harsh. This is too harsh a penalty. Saul had good motives in what he did. They say that Samuel actually is the one that was wrong. Some commentators actually go so far as to say Samuel's the one. He's being overly strict. I want to read you from the commentary of Matthew Poole. He pondered this question. Was Saul's penalty too harsh? In his commentary, he writes, Men are very incompetent judges of God's judgments, because they see but very little, either of the majesty of the offended God, or of the heinous nature and aggravations of the offense. Men see nothing but Saul's outward acts, which seem small, but God saw how wicked a mind and heart he did this. Secondly, God doth sometimes punish small sins severely, as that all men may see what at least sin deserves, and how much they owe to God's free and rich mercy for passing by their great offence. See, brethren, when we read a text like 1 Samuel 13, or you read any text of judgment, or you look at the way God judged Adam in the garden, or any text, our response should not be, well, He treated them so harshly. But rather, why has He treated me as He has? Why has He not counted my sins against me? Why has He removed my transgressions as far as the east is from the west? When you see those texts of judgment, we look at ourselves and marvel at His grace. Now let's see what we can learn from Saul's sin here. There is an outline if you'd like to follow along. The first thing is that authority is an entrustment that we must guard. We need to be careful with authority. See, as king, Saul forgot that he was subject to a greater king. So if you're in any position of authority, whether at work, in the church, in your family, You have to be careful because your flesh is going to be tempted to misuse that authority in pride, and then you will justify its abuse. They have that saying, that old saying, absolute power corrupts absolutely. If you have been entrusted with any realm of authority, it's an entrustment. You need to guard that. Folly and pride will rise up in your heart and you will misuse that authority if you don't guard it. A warning here to husbands and fathers to beware that pride not swell in your heart. You are men under authority. You are men under the command of God's word to love your wives, to live with her and your children with understanding. Your authority does not give you the right to disobey God and exasperate your wife or exasperate your children. If you have an entrustment from the church, whatever it might be, to lead, to preach, to be up here, to speak His Word, to read His Word, to pray, that is a delegated authority. You are ultimately in submission to the Lord. Pastors, we are subject to God and His Word and to one another. That's why the Word of God prescribes a plurality of elders very clearly in the scripture. Solo pastors are outside of the realm of God's Word. They are being disobedient to God. I'll add, women pastors are being disobedient to God. We have to be subject to God's Word. A pastor who is unaccountable is not subject to God's Word, and it opens up the door for pride, and it opens up the door for misuse of authority. We must guard the entrustment of authority. Secondly, fear provokes disobedience. Rather than waiting for Samuel to offer the burnt offering, Saul panicked. He allowed fear to drive him to disobedience. And by way of application, we too need to be cautioned. Fear provokes disobedient actions, brothers and sisters. You're gonna regret every decision that you make based on fear. The Bible says in 2 Timothy 1.7, for God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a disciplined mind. Brother, sister, you need not be driven by fear. You don't have to do things because you fear something. We need to live by faith. Fear will either paralyze you from carrying out God's will, or it will lead you to do something against God's will. It will lead you in the opposite way of faith. Faith will always mobilize you to walk by the Spirit, and faith will mobilize you to obey God. And in this particular case, brothers and sisters, in this particular case, we should have pause or be on guard against fear of usurping authority. That's exactly what Saul did. He usurped authority. He allowed his fear to take over for him to do something he should not have done. So, for example, in your life, if there is a situation at work, or in the church, or even in your household, in your family, And the divinely delegated authority in that situation neglects their responsibility. It could be very tempting for you, who know what to do, to usurp that authority, to take matters into your own hands, to think, to justify. Something's not getting done here. I'm just going to do it myself. My husband isn't doing that. He isn't doing this. My husband isn't leading our children. So I'm going to do it myself. Beware of this temptation. It's strong, because you know what you can do. But when you usurp the authority, you're going against ultimately God's Word. You may indeed be able to do something, but if you do something that is outside your realm, you're outside of the will of God. Wait, rather, and leave it to God. Thirdly, The danger of hastiness or impatience. The danger of hastiness. We also learn here the danger of hastiness. Saul did not wait quite long enough. His fear drove him to become impatient. How many times in our lives do we carry out in haste something because we're afraid? We think we're going to miss that opportunity. And if I miss that opportunity, I got to jump on it. I got to be the first one. And I never inquire of God. Proverbs 19.2 says, whoever makes haste with his feet misses his way. Proverbs 21.5, the plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty. He contrasts hastiness with diligence. Be diligent to ask the Lord. Don't let anxiety drive you to jump into things that are not good for you. The Lord will accomplish what concerns you. Only rest and wait. Fourth, good intentions does not absolve you. We can learn here from Saul's negative example. Good actions, even possibly done with good motives, I don't think necessarily he was exaggerating his motives. He probably had good motives, but he was disobedient. See, while our motives and our intentions are important when we're carrying out God's will, we want to do it with the right heart and the right motives, obviously, but right motives never justify disobedience by saying, I had good intentions. You may indeed have good intentions. When you say, I intend to share the gospel with that unsaved man who I'm dating. Great intention. But God's Word says you should not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. I intend to give all my gambling winnings to the needy. And God's Word says be on guard against all covetousness. We can have great intentions. I want to protect that person, so I'm going to lie to them. Breaking God's Word. Your intention. does not absolve you of the sin. And this is one of the hardest truths, by the way, for people in our culture to receive. In the West, this is the philosophy that they drum into your head since the moment you're born, almost. Drum it into you. Follow your heart. Your heart will never lead you astray. As long as you follow your heart, you'll never leave. That is bunk, rubbish. Learn from Saul here, this one act of disobedience, this lack of trust, was enough for God to take away the kingdom. And Saul's ruin came swiftly, as did his power. His power came quickly, and his rule and his reign was taken away, his kingdom is taken away. He's dwindling down here, the armies are down to 600 men, his fall is quick and deep, and in verse 15, even Samuel, the prophet, leaves him alone. His good intentions did not rescue him. Moving on now to verse 17. In verse 17, the Philistines set out this three-pronged attack from the north, from the east, and from the south of Mikmash. They come up against Israel. Israel's in this hopeless condition. In verses 19 to 23, it shows how dependent they are on the Philistines. They're demilitarized. No Israelite has any sword except for Jonathan and Saul. That's it. Their economy is completely dependent on the Philistines. I'll just read one verse in there so you have an idea. Verse 22. So on the day of battle there was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people with Saul and Jonathan. But Saul and Jonathan, his son, had them. And I think that's the first time it identifies Jonathan as his son. And you can understand now, why are the people so afraid? Why are they hiding in tombs? That means among dead bodies, by the way. They're hiding because they're desperate. And I think the author here is basically saying, in essence, they're dead. They need a resurrection. The last time things were this bad in Israel, you have to go back to the Judges again, Judges chapter 6. Midian had been oppressing them economically and forcefully for seven years. And in Judges chapter 6, verse 2, it says, So they were already there, and they're just now inhabiting them again. But if you know your Bible, you think Judges 6, what's that? Hopeless conditions, but one of the greatest victories in the history of the nation. Judges 6 is where the army of Gideon slayed the Midianites with just 300, freeing Israel finally from their tyranny. So when you come to the end of chapter 13, and you see Israel in despair, and you see how ill-equipped they are for battle, and you see what a poor commander Saul is, and he's not trusting the Lord, you say to yourself, depends. Where are you coming from, I guess? You say to yourself, either it's hopeless, or you say to yourself, this is the beginning where God's gonna work. And that's what's going to happen. The Lord, despite all of this, will defeat the strong by the weak. Just like Hannah's song, Samuel's mother prophesied back in chapter 2, the bows of the mighty are broken, but the feeble bind on strength. So chapter 13 leaves us in this condition. Helpless, powerless, a fool for a king. but an alert Bible student is not hopeless. We know that God never forsakes his people. In fact, historically, in the nation of Israel, there tended to be more spiritual trouble when their armies were strong. In fact, the total helplessness of Israel often provided the backdrop to Yahweh's deliverance. So have no doubt, you who trust Yahweh and know Him, Israel will again be resurrected from the tombs in which they are hiding. There is in the nation yet a remnant who have faith, and one of them is Jonathan, as we're going to see. They're not losing heart in the midst of this. They're thinking God will raise up a deliverer. But who is it going to be? Who is going to deliver them this time? Well, if you read it, which I think you have, you know the answer to that. It's not King Saul who God chooses this time. It is his son, Jonathan. And Saul is going to continue to sink here. There's a contrast in chapter 14 between Saul and Jonathan. It's a lengthy chapter. I will not read all of it, but I'll try again to pick out the highlights and summarize the narrative. Chapter 14 opens with Jonathan and his armor bearer plotting another attack against the Philistine garrison. Saul is in a cave, a pomegranate cave, near his home in Gibeah, and his army is now dwindled down to 600 men. Among these men, the text tells us, are Ahijah, the brother of Ichabod, who, remember him? Ichabod, the glory left, that was Eli's grandson, the son of Phineas. Remember Phineas? Phineas was that adulterous, meat-loving, thieving priest, right? So the author's obviously doing something here. He's intending to think of, well, Saul's with this group. Saul's associated with Ichabod and Eli, the priest. And then later on, look at verse 18. They also have something that hasn't popped up in a few chapters. They have the Ark of the Covenant. Look at verse 18. So Saul said to Ahijah, Ahijah is this basically defunct priest. Saul said to Ahijah, bring the Ark of God here. For the Ark of God went at that time with the people of Israel. And again, the reason I think he mentions all this detail is to link Saul with the previous generation. To link Saul with the failed leadership of the past. They're with Saul. Saul is with the old guard. At least they're having an influence on his thinking. He's with the descendants of the defunct priesthood of Eli, Ahijah. He's thinking of failed strategies about bringing the Ark of the Covenant that already failed. That's my lucky charm. Remember those chapters earlier? Well, Saul is at least being influenced by this old guard. superstitious, hypocritical leadership that have already proven failures. Though he is king, also this tells us Saul is a lot more like Eli before him than he will be like David ahead of him. Now in contrast to Saul's perfunctory reliance on the old guard, look at verse 6. I think verse 6 really is the key statement to understanding Jonathan, his son, and his faith. Here's that key statement. Listen to this carefully. Come, let us go over to the garistine of these uncircumcised. It may be that the Lord will work for us, for nothing can hinder the Lord from saving by many or by few. Highlight that verse or circle it or something and meditate on that. It is so practical for your day-to-day life when you're faced with trials. It may be, may be that the Lord will work for us. Nothing can hinder him from saving by many or by few. He doesn't express concern over the size of the Philistine army. He counts the Philistines merely in religious terms here. They are ungodly, right? They're uncircumcised. Nothing can hinder the Lord. Jonathan knew he saw his father's victory over the Ammonites with a huge army, so he knew that God could deliver by many. He saw that happen. He knew it was not an army that delivered them, it was Yahweh that delivered them. His language here also, I think, foreshadows one who is to come, the kindred spirit of Jonathan, a friend of Jonathan, another man of faith who's waiting in the wings to come on the center stage, In chapter 17, when King David, or not yet King, but David, boy David, is faced with another Philistine giant, not an army, but one Goliath, he says this in chapter 17, he says, Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God? And it's no wonder that Jonathan and David were such great friends. They shared the same faith, the same spirit. Jonathan was a man who knew his God and did great exploits. He had a very clear conviction about the nature of God and how he operates by many or by few. He is undefeated. Jonathan knew this. So he and his armor-bearer determined. They asked the Lord for a sign, and the Lord gives them the sign that if the Philistines call us up here, that'll be our sign to go ahead and attack this garrison. Just the two of them, him and his armor-bearer, one sword, two men, one sword. Verse 11. It says, both of them show themselves to the garrison of the Philistines. And the Philistines said, look, Hebrews are coming out of their holes where they had hidden themselves. And the men of the garrison hailed Jonathan and his armor bearer and said, come up to us, we will show you a thing. Jonathan said to his armor bearer, come up after me for the Lord has given it into the hands of Israel. So by these two men, they slay 20 Philistines in their fort. And that's only the beginning of the victory. In verse 15, it goes on to say that there was a panic in the camp. Look at verse 15. There was a panic in the camp, in the field, and among all the people. The garrison and even the raiders trembled, and the earth quaked, and it became a very great panic. And as we're going to see, if you go down and look to verse 20, this panic would build up, and the Philistines would actually turn their swords against each other. Verse 20. This is Yahweh's MO. Right? This is how God works. This is how He works by the few. Encouraged by this, then, the Hebrews come out of hiding. Those that are hiding in Philistine territory, those that are hiding in Ammonite territory, those that are hiding in the caves, they all come out and now they follow hard against the Philistines in battle. But ultimately, verse 23 summarizes and says, the Lord, Yahweh, saved Israel that day. The Lord delivered Israel. Just like Jonathan said in verse 6, by few. First by few, then by many. Many came later. So just like he did with Gideon, God saved his people. Here, using two men and one sword. So I ask you, what are you facing? What battle are you facing that you see potentially as being insurmountable or impossible? Maybe you feel like you're in a dead end, nothing's changing. Maybe at work, maybe in a situation in your life. And the world's adage is coming into your mind, the more things change, the more they stay the same. And that rings far too true for you. Maybe you're battling a sin in your life or some temptation and you see little change. Maybe you find yourself up against some obstacle. Debt, or physical pain in your body, or rebellious children, or a bad marriage. And it feels like an uphill climb. And you're tired of it, really. You're really getting tired. You see, I'm making no progress. And then you have your adversary, the devil, seeking to discourage, to steal, and destroy, firing his fiery darts at you. And then you have the world tempting you, saying, hey, you can always come back and join us. We'll give you a nice, easy off-ramp away from Christ. Remember. Remember this text. Remember Jonathan's statement. Remember that helplessness need not lead to hopelessness. Rather, helplessness is often God's starting point. So be patient and pray and cry out to God with your need. Take up your shield of faith with which you can extinguish every fiery dart of the wicked one. And take up the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. And with that armor in place, stand still and see what God will do for you. Hallelujah. Brethren, we have at our disposal things that are far great, far greater resources than they had in ancient Israel. A sword, one sword. You have the Holy Spirit. You have the Holy Spirit dwelling inside of you. You have the Son of God interceding for you. You have an armor that you bear. And if God is for you, who can be against you? Your battle belongs to the Lord. You're not gonna prevail using carnal means. You're not gonna prevail, you're not gonna win by taking control of the situation. You can't hide out in a cave on your own either. Maybe the reason you feel like you're making no progress is that you're relying on yourself to pick yourself up from this situation. You're relying on your willpower, your efforts. If you do, I tell you, the more things change, the more they stay the same. That's how the world lives. We make our resolutions. Self-will, self-power. But there's no power in that, there's no fortitude, there's no initiative to bring about a lasting change. But in Christ, the more things change, the more you become like Him. So don't give up. Like the song says, we're fighting a battle that He's already won. So learn to apply His victory on the cross and His triumphant resurrection to your situation and you might live a victorious life of overcoming sin and fear and pride and legalism and self-reliance or whatever it is that you're battling. Now we come to verses 24 to 30 of chapter 14. Saul again doesn't disappoint. He does something again foolish and he follows another judge with a rash vow. If you remember the story of Jephthah, Saul makes a similar vow here that almost cost the life of his own son. Now get the story here. They just won a great battle and instead of rewarding the victory, Saul pronounces a curse on anyone who will take anything to eat. Look at verse 24. Saul laid an oath on the people saying, cursed be the man who eats food until it is evening and I am avenged by my enemies. So no one of the people had tasted food. And I think the author's intention where he places this in the text is basically to say, Saul ruins everything. Now Saul knew how to celebrate a victory. If you remember back in chapter 11, when he became the king and the people wanted to go around and say, let's gather up all those that were against you. And Saul says, no, no one's going to die this day. This was the Lord's battle. He delivered me. Right? Remember that? Well, how quickly he's fallen in folly. Then in verse 25, the Lord appears to have some way provided honey on the ground, but Saul's oath forbids the people from enjoying that honey, being nourished by that honey. Look at verse 26. The honey was dropping, but no one put his hand to his mouth, for the people feared the oath. So Saul's oath kept the people from enjoying what God had provided for them. Brethren, this is what legalism does. He's acting as a legalist here. King Saul lays a burden on the people. He lays down the law. He says this, thou shalt not eat, and if you do, you will die. Sounds like the garden, right? Also sounds similar to the Pharisees in Luke chapter five, who chided the disciples for eating and drinking instead of fasting the way they did. Jesus said to them, he says, can you make wedding guests fast? while the bridegroom is with them? See, there are seasons, yes, there are seasons when fasting is appropriate, but this was not one of them. They just had a great victory. And Jonathan understood this. He hadn't heard his father's command, so he ate some of the honey and he was strengthened by the honey. When the people told him about his father's oath, Jonathan said, look at verse 29, My father has troubled the land. Troubled the land. Last time you hear that in the scripture is back to Achan during the time of Joshua because he brought something in, some unholy thing, and he troubled the land. My father troubled the land. He says, see how my eyes have become bright because I've tasted a little of this honey. How much better if the people had eaten freely today of the spoil of their enemies that they found. For now the defeat among the Philistines will not be great. He prophesies, and he's actually true. As it turns out, what Jonathan says is right. He understood his father's folly, that he was placing the people under bondage, that instead of enjoying their victory, this victory wasn't going to be so great. It won't even feel like a victory, in fact. Saul's decree robbed the joy from God's people. Be sure, brother and sister, that your enemy is always out trying to spy out your freedom and send some legalism or some legalistic idea to tell God's people that they ought not be enjoying what he has provided for them. Be on guard for it. By verse 31, the battle is finally over and now the people are finally permitted to eat and the folly here of Saul's injunction is so clear because his law actually exacerbates the appetite of the people. It makes their sin worse. This is what the law always does. This is how the law operates. The Apostle Paul says this in Romans chapter 7, he speaks about it, the law cannot weaken sin, it actually empowers sin, it inflames sin. In Romans 7, 5, he talks about sinful passions being aroused by the law. Most provocatively, in Romans 7, 9, he speaks autobiographically, he says, I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. What an argument against legalism that is. He writes in Romans 5.20, the law came, when the law came it increased sinning. Saul's law did just that, it amplified sin. Not only does Saul's law result in weakened people, but finally when they have the opportunity to eat, they devour the meat unlawfully. I ask, what good is a command to fast if it ends up in gluttony? They were unlawfully eating the blood. And finally Saul says, this stops it. He says, I'm going to build an altar. And it's sad because this is, as the scripture says, this is the first altar that Saul built. First altar that Saul built is not an altar of worship, like all those before him leading up to him. It's actually an altar to atone for the sin of the people. Further sin is added in 36 to 41 because now Saul, this narcissist Saul, discovers or he thinks like, hey, there are more Philistines to conquer and I didn't ask the Lord yet what I should do. So he asks the Lord, what am I supposed to do? And God doesn't answer him. And again, that narcissism that Saul has presumes that it must be because someone broke his law. Must be that. Look at this in verse 36. Then Saul said, Let us go down after the Philistines by night and plunder them until the morning light. Let us not leave a man of them." That's Saul, that's again him jumping ahead. The people, they're afraid, do whatever you want. But the priests, thankfully, there's some people there of a sound mind, they say, let us draw near to God here. Verse 37, and Saul inquired of God, shall I go down after the Philistines? Will you give them into the hand of Israel? He did not answer him on that day. God did not answer. So look what Saul's mind runs to in verse 38. He makes this oath on the life of his son. Saul thinks there's some Achan in the camp. who sinned, that's keeping God's blessing away. And you know what? He was right. It was him. Again, very different from King Saul in chapter 11. Very different. When he said, no one's going to die this day, right? How quickly the mighty fall. Now here in this victory, instead of celebrating, he vows to kill the transgressor, even if it's his own son. And he makes this foolish vow. I want to read verses 40 to 42. It's very dramatic. I'm going to read it from the ESV, but realize if you're reading a different version, verse 41 won't be in your version. It's, again, believed another textual thing from the Septuagint that came into the text. An explanatory note of what's going on here got incorporated into the text. Let's look at verse 40. Then he said to all Israel, You shall be on one side, and I, Jonathan, my son, on the other side." So he's dividing up the people. He's going to cast a lot here. And the people again say, do what seems good to you. Verse 41. This is what is the added, probably explanatory note that made it into some texts. Therefore Saul said, O Lord God of Israel, why have you not answered your servant today? If this guilt is in me or in Jonathan, my son, O Lord, God of Israel, give Urim. If this guilt is on your people, Israel, give Thummim. And Jonathan and Saul were taken, meaning the Thummim came up. It was Jonathan and Saul were taken. And Saul said, cast the lot now between me and my son, Jonathan, and Jonathan was taken. The Urim and the Thummim are believed to be the gemstones that the high priest had in making decisions. There were lots that were cast in deciding God's will. Basically, equivalent today, flipping a coin, if you would. It's a one in two chance of the answer. And that was what might have been used. It really just says he cast the lot, but that's what might have been used. Jonathan, the lot falls on Jonathan. Jonathan then admits that he ate the honey, but he was willing to accept the consequences. And King Saul, instead of employing an appeal here, as was his right, he affirms in the most chilling words, God do so to me and more also, you shall surely die, Jonathan. You shall surely die out of the mouth of his father. A clear window into the depravity and the wretched condition of Saul's heart. It's only the rational people who save Jonathan's life from the consequences of Saul's foolish oath. At least the people have some sense of justice. They know Jonathan was a hero. Look at verse 45. Then the people said to Saul, Shall Jonathan die, who has worked great salvation in Israel? led them in this battle. Shall Jonathan die who has worked this great salvation in Israel? Far from it. As the Lord lives, here's an oath, as the Lord lives there shall not one hair of his head fall to the ground for he has worked with God this day. So the people ransomed Jonathan so that he did not die. The people's voice now are God's voice. No longer the king. The king is ineffectual. Now the people's voice rules. And Jonathan's life is preserved. If it was up to Saul, he would have killed the person, even if it's his own son, killed the person who brought them victory. Jonathan would have made a great king. I think as you read, you get that kind of idea. Jonathan would have been a better king than his father. But he understood that the kingdom belonged to the Lord, and the Lord would appoint whom he had to be king. Finally, then, Saul goes home, and he leaves the Philistines to themselves. He doesn't pursue them. They retreat, and they're going to come back another day. And in Israel, the more things change, the more they stay the same. I think if you heard the reading in Psalm 78 this morning, you realize that, right? The more things change, the more they stay the same. The last six verses summarize the military accomplishments, and the curtain comes down now on Act 2. The story of Saul is now concluding. Throughout his reign, Saul was militarily successful. He fought armies on every side, the Ammonites, the Philistines, the Amalekites. He delivered Israel out of the hands of those who were plundering them. God was being merciful on the nation despite his disfavor on the king. You know, the disfavor on the king usually meant a loss for the nation, but God was giving them that respite that they sought when they wanted a king. God gave them the king and the rest, but he showed them they're not linked. The king and the rest both come from him. This also shows that outward victory does not always mean that everything is okay. See, history's assessment of King Saul is that he was successful. He succeeded in war. He defeated his enemies. But Yahweh is not looking for winners. He's looking for disciples. He's not looking for sacrifice, he's looking for obedience. You know, you can be in your situation at work, you can achieve the highest place of vocational success in whatever field you're in. You may win every award that your company offers or that your league offers. You may be a great success in the eyes of the world, but fail miserably in the eyes of God. Two assessments, both true. Saul delivered Israel, Saul disobeyed God. In the end, only one of those matter. And then we come to the last statement, verse 52. And I would encourage you, if you have not read it, read it in light of hearing the summary now, because you really want to hear what God says about this. Verse 52. As we close, Act 2 of 1 Samuel. There was hard fighting against the Philistines all the days of Saul. And when Saul saw any strong man or any valiant man, he attached to himself. He attached him to himself. If you remember way back when the curtain came down on Acts 1, which was Samuel's act at the end of chapter 7, this is the report of the summary of Samuel, 1 Samuel 7, verse 13. It says, So the Philistines were subdued and did not again enter the territory of Israel. And the hand of the Lord was against the Philistine all the days of Samuel. Here it says, it was hard fighting against the Philistines all the day of Saul. Very different results here between the man of peace and the man of war. Even with his military accomplishments, Saul was a man of war. And one who lives by the sword, literally in his case, dies by the sword. Samuel, on the other time, a man of peace. He kept the land at peace. Saul was what the people wanted, though. They wanted a king like the nations. It was not enough for them to have Samuel. Battles and wars were the repercussions of them choosing that king who they wanted. They got exactly what they wanted. They got a king who was just like the nations. But in their two stories, Samuel and Saul, God is showing them and us that you don't need a king who's strong like the nations. You need a godly king like Samuel. And Jonathan could have been that person, but God didn't choose him. But we're going to see, brothers and sisters, very soon, the sun is about to rise on this shadow kingdom, this kingdom, this twilight kingdom. Jonathan will be completely loyal to another man, David, because he knows that he is the one who God chose. And ultimately, these two stories are not a contrast between Saul and Jonathan, or Saul and Samuel, or even Saul and David, ultimately David's royal son, the king of kings, the king of the universe, the lion of the tribe of Judah, Jesus the anointed, the prince of peace. And brethren, that's our kingdom that we are in, as we heard in the call to worship earlier. The kingdom of light, not in shadows, not in darkness, The sun is rising on Twilight Kingdom and the long shadows of dawn are about to emerge. But, brothers and sisters, we are in a kingdom of light. Closed Curtain, Act 2. Brother Nathan will lead us in a prayer. Afterwards, we'll take two to three minutes of silence.