First Samuel 13:8

The Bible says in First Samuel 13:8-14, “And he tarried seven days, according to the set time that Samuel had appointed: but Samuel came not to Gilgal; and the people were scattered from him.[9] And Saul said, Bring hither a burnt offering to me, and peace offerings. And he offered the burnt offering.[10] And it came to pass, that as soon as he had made an end of offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him, that he might salute him.[11] And Samuel said, What hast thou done? And Saul said, Because I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that thou camest not within the days appointed, and that the Philistines gathered themselves together at Michmash;[12] Therefore said I, The Philistines will come down now upon me to Gilgal, and I have not made supplication unto the LORD: I forced myself therefore, and offered a burnt offering.[13] And Samuel said to Saul, Thou hast done foolishly: thou hast not kept the commandment of the LORD thy God, which he commanded thee: for now would the LORD have established thy kingdom upon Israel for ever.[14] But now thy kingdom shall not continue: the LORD hath sought him a man after his own heart, and the LORD hath commanded him to be captain over his people, because thou hast not kept that which the LORD commanded thee.” It says about Saul in verse nine, “And he offered the burnt offering.” That was his great sin, among other sins that Saul committed at this time. Saul was king. He was not a priest. It was not God’s will for Saul to sacrifice offerings. This is an important lesson to learn. In the Old Testament sacrifices were good to perform, but only by those designated to do so. What is God’s will for you? Just because the Lord wants someone else to do something, does not mean He wants you to do it. Being surrendered to God’s will is one of the most important things to serving Jesus. If you resist His will for any reason to do what you want, you are being like King Saul and in effect in rebellion against God.

In verse eleven Saul gave three reasons (excuses) on why he disobeyed God. He gave excuses because he would not take responsibility for his own sins. In verse eleven Saul said the people were scattered, Samuel did not come at the set time, and the Philistines were gathered together for battle. There is only one problem: there is never any excuse to disobey God or to sin. Be honest and admit your sin to the Lord Jesus. That is how to find forgiveness. Confession means being honest. In verse twelve Saul said that he “forced” himself. That was not true. Saul made a decision, the wrong decision. That is why Samuel said in verse thirteen, “Thou hast done foolishly.” There can be terrible consequences to any sin, especially any sin that is not repented of. And so Samuel said in verse fourteen, “But now thy kingdom shall not continue: the LORD hath sought him a man after his own heart.” Of course, we know that the person that the Lord chose to replace Saul was David the shepherd boy. Turn to the Lord, serve the Lord, make you heart perfect towards the Lord Jesus. The Lord sees and knows. The spiritual decisions that you make in your heart will determine your destiny. Repent of your sins quickly and tell the truth to the Lord about them. Thankfully, the Lord Jesus is very merciful and forgives our sins.

The Bible says in First Samuel 13:15-23, “And Samuel arose, and gat him up from Gilgal unto Gibeah of Benjamin. And Saul numbered the people that were present with him, about six hundred men.[16] And Saul, and Jonathan his son, and the people that were present with them, abode in Gibeah of Benjamin: but the Philistines encamped in Michmash.[17] And the spoilers came out of the camp of the Philistines in three companies: one company turned unto the way that leadeth to Ophrah, unto the land of Shual:[18] And another company turned the way to Beth-horon: and another company turned to the way of the border that looketh to the valley of Zeboim toward the wilderness.[19] Now there was no smith found throughout all the land of Israel: for the Philistines said, Lest the Hebrews make them swords or spears:[20] But all the Israelites went down to the Philistines, to sharpen every man his share, and his coulter, and his axe, and his mattock.[21] Yet they had a file for the mattocks, and for the coulters, and for the forks, and for the axes, and to sharpen the goads.[22] So it came to pass in the day of battle, that there was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people that were with Saul and Jonathan: but with Saul and with Jonathan his son was there found.[23] And the garrison of the Philistines went out to the passage of Michmash.” These verses set the stage for us describing the circumstances of the people of Israel at the beginning if the reign of King Saul. Once again we see that war is on the horizon. The Philistines are the enemy. They are organized and on the move. One of the disadvantages of the Israelites is that they cannot even make weapons such as spears and swords out of metal. They only have wooden weapons. Only Saul and His son Johnathan have real swords. Of course, the Lord can make up for any shortcoming or disadvantage that we might have.

The Bible says in First Samuel 14:1-6, “Now it came to pass upon a day, that Jonathan the son of Saul said unto the young man that bare his armour, Come, and let us go over to the Philistines' garrison, that is on the other side. But he told not his father.[2] And Saul tarried in the uttermost part of Gibeah under a pomegranate tree which is in Migron: and the people that were with him were about six hundred men;[3] And Ahiah, the son of Ahitub, I-chabod's brother, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, the LORD's priest in Shiloh, wearing an ephod. And the people knew not that Jonathan was gone.[4] And between the passages, by which Jonathan sought to go over unto the Philistines' garrison, there was a sharp rock on the one side and a sharp rock on the other side: and the name of the one was Bozez, and the name of the other Seneh.[5] The forefront of the one was situate northward over against Michmash, and the other southward over against Gibeah.[6] And Jonathan said to the young man that bare his armour, Come, and let us go over unto the garrison of these uncircumcised: it may be that the LORD will work for us: for there is no restraint to the LORD to save by many or by few.” These verses help us to understand the young man named Jonathan. We will find later that he is a great friend to David, and we can see why. We see here that Jonathan is brave, he is responsible, and he is a doer (he gets things done.) And he is full of faith in the Lord. The statement that Jonathan makes at the end of verse six is a great statement: “it may be that the LORD will work for us: for there is no restraint to the LORD to save by many or by few.” In other words, Jonathan knew a great secret about life. In order to accomplish a great thing for God, you must attempt a great thing for God. It is better to try and fail than to never try. Expand your horizons. Enlarge yourself and your heart. Get into the battle for men’s souls. God gives the results. Even if your efforts result in what human beings call failure, what is really important is what God thinks about it. Jonathan was a true believer. That means that he knew God can do anything. One person plus God makes a majority.

The Bible says in First Samuel 14:7-15, “ And his armourbearer said unto him, Do all that is in thine heart: turn thee; behold, I am with thee according to thy heart.[8] Then said Jonathan, Behold, we will pass over unto these men, and we will discover ourselves unto them.[9] If they say thus unto us, Tarry until we come to you; then we will stand still in our place, and will not go up unto them.[10] But if they say thus, Come up unto us; then we will go up: for the LORD hath delivered them into our hand: and this shall be a sign unto us.[11] And both of them discovered themselves unto the garrison of the Philistines: and the Philistines said, Behold, the Hebrews come forth out of the holes where they had hid themselves.[12] And the men of the garrison answered Jonathan and his armourbearer, and said, Come up to us, and we will shew you a thing. And Jonathan said unto his armourbearer, Come up after me: for the LORD hath delivered them into the hand of Israel.[13] And Jonathan climbed up upon his hands and upon his feet, and his armourbearer after him: and they fell before Jonathan; and his armourbearer slew after him.[14] And that first slaughter, which Jonathan and his armourbearer made, was about twenty men, within as it were an half acre of land, which a yoke of oxen might plow.[15] And there was trembling in the host, in the field, and among all the people: the garrison, and the spoilers, they also trembled, and the earth quaked: so it was a very great trembling.” Our God is an amazing God. When God wants to give victory, He gives victory, no matter what are the odds or the circumstances. The Lord also gives wisdom. He gave wisdom to Jonathan of when to attack. And that is a very good point. We need to know not only what to do, but also when to do it. Hopefully, you will find the leading of the Lord to find your spouse (if God wants you to get married), but it will take wisdom also to know when to get married. Some people marry too soon, which causes other changes to their lives such as having to leave college before completing their course of study. Some people wait too long to get married, and then become overcome by temptations and circumstances that complicate their lives and even harm their testimony.

The Bible says in First Samuel 14:16-23, “And the watchmen of Saul in Gibeah of Benjamin looked; and, behold, the multitude melted away, and they went on beating down one another.[17] Then said Saul unto the people that were with him, Number now, and see who is gone from us. And when they had numbered, behold, Jonathan and his armourbearer were not there.[18] And Saul said unto Ahiah, Bring hither the ark of God. For the ark of God was at that time with the children of Israel.[19] And it came to pass, while Saul talked unto the priest, that the noise that was in the host of the Philistines went on and increased: and Saul said unto the priest, Withdraw thine hand.[20] And Saul and all the people that were with him assembled themselves, and they came to the battle: and, behold, every man's sword was against his fellow, and there was a very great discomfiture.[21] Moreover the Hebrews that were with the Philistines before that time, which went up with them into the camp from the country round about, even they also turned to be with the Israelites that were with Saul and Jonathan.[22] Likewise all the men of Israel which had hid themselves in mount Ephraim, when they heard that the Philistines fled, even they also followed hard after them in the battle.[23] So the LORD saved Israel that day: and the battle passed over unto Beth-aven.” Obviously, this was a great victory for Israel. How did this victory come to pass? From a spiritual standpoint we know that God made it happen. Partly from a human standpoint, it was set up by Jonathan and his bravery and his determination in his seemingly small victory when he and his soldier defeated twenty Philistines as recounted in the previous verses. That little victory changed everything. It put great fear into the Philistines, and it emboldened the children of Israel. Do not despise the day of small things. Serve the Lord where you can and how you can. We will not know the total effect of what we do until we get to heaven. Be a leader, not a follower. Your godly life and your determination to do the right thing just might change an entire nation. Only God knows. You might only lead one person to Christ in all your life, but that one might lead thousands. Jesus promised in John 15:16, “…that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain…”

___________________________________________________