[Saul] has set up a
monument in his own honor. (1 Samuel 15:12)
You
know the old saying: Power
corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Maybe that's what
happened to Saul; I don't know, but something changed. More than one biblical
scholar has suggested Saul was mentally unstable – no big surprise there, but
it probably doesn’t figure in our case study for today.
When
he was first anointed by Samuel, he seemed to have been God's man for the job,
but over time something happened. In the beginning he was humble and even a
little shy. When they looked
for [Saul], he was not to be found. So they inquired further of the Lord,
"Has the man come here yet?" And the Lord said, "Yes, he has hidden
himself among the baggage" (1 Samuel 10:21,22).
After
rescuing the people of Jabesh Gilead, and celebrating victories over the
Philistines (due to Jonathan's heroic and unexpected attack) and the Amalekites,
this once humble man started to believe his own press, and even dedicated a
statue to himself.
How
does “he has hidden himself among the
baggage” become “he has set up a
monument in his own honor”?
What
is it about success that changes a person? Is it the financial reward? Is it
the acclaim? Must accomplishment inevitably bring a sense of entitlement? Is this kind
of thing always connected to power and privilege? Could this happen to us?
How
will you protect yourself from the pitfalls of success?
More than one biblical scholar has suggested Saul was mentally unstable ... Saul certainly did act like he was mentally unstable, especially in his love/hate relationship with David, but would God personally select Saut as the king to his people knowing he was mentally unstable? I have a hard time swallowing that, and yet it would be hard to dispute his later behavior. Do you think he was mentally unstable to start with or did he undergo a change by some of his decisions later on that rendered him unstable? Would success alone do that? He seemed to be unstable right from the start with David.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like you would be more comfortable with the idea that God might not have known Saul would crack than the idea that God knew what was coming but chose Saul anyway.
DeleteAny answer to your question would only be conjecture but I do believe Saul's insistence on trusting in his own awesomeness and his failure to put his trust in God may have been too much pressure to bear once things really started going against him.
Then Saul prayed to the LORD, the God of Israel, “Why have you not answered your servant today? If the fault is in me or my son Jonathan, respond with Urim, but if the men of Israel are at fault,[l] respond with Thummim.” Jonathan and Saul were taken by lot, and the men were cleared. 42 Saul said, “Cast the lot between me and Jonathan my son.” And Jonathan was taken.
ReplyDeleteNot that I wanted Jonathan to be killed, but why was it okay to spare him once it was found out what he had done unwittingly in eating the honey? I know Saul wanted to kill him but the people did not. If this was such a big sin that God singled Jonathan out, as he did, then did God want Jonathan killed? It seems that God was more with Jonathan than he was with Saul. This was quite confusing to me.
Another good question. God simply pointed out that Jonathan ate the honey; he did not command his death. If Saul had carried through with his vow to kill anyone who ate before the battle was over, it certainly would have been bad news for Jonathan, and seemingly unfair since Jonathan never got word of the fast.
DeleteNot to be a pest, but the very last line of scripture for today was: And the LORD regretted that he had made Saul king over Israel.
ReplyDeleteSince God is omniscient, wouldn't He know that Saul was going to be rebellious and disobey him? It also sounded like he was repentant for his disobedience, yet God did not forgive him and instead said He would give the kingdom to someone else. Was Saul's sin unpardonable? Was there nothing he could do to find favor with God again and keep his kingdom?
There is much debate over the meaning of "omniscient." There's no way I'm going there in a short blog answer. If you'd like to explore this further I have a book or two I could recommend.
DeleteWhen I regret a decision I've made, it's usually because things didn't turn out the way I hoped. I would only be guessing to say what regret means for God.
Was Saul sorry for what he did or was he sorry he got caught? Maybe it was not just a matter of one decision, but more a matter of character that made God realize Saul could not be trusted.