20 Saul’s Unlawful Sacrifice

Hebrews chapter 13 presents us with the increasing regression of Saul, as we see his insecurities, at the same time he failed to trust in the Lord.

1 Preparing for War

Two years into Saul’s reign, Israel once again faced confrontation from the Philistines. However, what we see here, is Saul developed Israel’s first standing army:

Hebrews 13:1-2

Saul split the new army into two divisions, one which he commanded, and the other led by his son Jonathan.

2 Jonathan’s Attack

Now that Israel had a standing army, they no longer had to only react to the Philistine threats, but could finally become proactive against the constant threats of their enemy:

1 Samuel 13:3-4

Even though the current situation wasn’t the height of conflict between Israel and the Philistines, Jonathan and Israel knew from past experience, that the Philistines would continue their harassing and wars against them. So, Jonathan and his regiment struck first.

Throughout much of First Samuel, we see how Jonathan was both a great military strategist and leader.

After Jonathan’s first strike at the Philistines, Saul had trumpets blown throughout the land, primarily to give boldness and encouragement to the people.

In verse 4, we see that Israel’s sudden boldness and determination, caused them to become an abomination to the Philistines.

There’s a great parallel to how the enemy constantly harasses and attacks the believer, who has likewise become an abomination to him.

The apostle Paul warned the Ephesian believers of the need for vigilance and preparedness with the whole armor of God, since the enemy is relentless in his attacks:

Ephesians 6:12-13

The believer must always remember, that our boldness comes from standing in the power of the Lord’s might.

3 Saul’s Sinful Act

While the blowing of the trumpets was designed to embolden the Israelites, all it did was to anger the Philistines:

1 Samuel 13:5-15

While Saul’s new army totaled three thousand, the Philistines thirty thousand chariots alone, six thousand horsemen, and countless foot soldiers.

Once the Israelites realized how greatly they were outnumbered, their boldness vanished, and they sought hiding places wherever they could find them.

Even their desire of having a strong king to cause fear in their enemies, seems like a distant memory.

Israel was reaping the consequences of desiring an earthly king, rather than the Lord to lead them.

In verse 8, Samuel had advised Saul to wait for him at Gilgal. However, when Samuel had not shown after seven days, Saul illegally and sinfully, stepped into Samuel’s priestly role:

Hebrews 13:9

The Lord had made a clear separation between the priesthood and the monarchy, yet as more of Saul’s character was being revealed, we see how he wasn’t satisfied with only the civil leader (king) but be he desired to be the religious leader (priest) as well.

2 Chronicles 26, records the instance of another king Uzziah, who attempted to assume the role of a priest. In his case, God struck him with leprosy.

In 1 Samuel 10, Samuel arrived just as Saul was concluding the illegal sacrificial offering. When Samuel inquired “What have you done?” Saul showed more of his character flaws, as he attempted to make excuses.

He blamed his actions upon Samuel’s delay, and then his fear that the Philistines would attack, because the Lord would have been upset that a sacrificial offering had not been made.

Samuel however, got straight to the point, and spoke of how the Lord had judged Saul, and would remove the kingdom from him:

1 Samuel 13:13-14

4 No Weapons for the Army

1 Samuel 13:16-23

The Philistines organized their attack, as they split their large army into three companies, which would cause the Israelites to split their much smaller army as well.

Additionally, the Israelites were greatly disadvantaged, since the Philistines had prevented them from having blacksmiths in the land. Therefore, Israel was unable to have the same kind of military equipment as did the Philistines.