Israel's first king who is, almost without exception, seen as a failure and a poor spiritual model by Christians. This unfavourable perception is, unfortunately for Saul, further emphasized by the easy comparison most of us make with David who served under him and served as the proverbial 'albatross' on his spirit. His story is told in 1 Sam 9-31).
Saul came from the tribe of Benjamin, a tribe that, thus far in Israel history, was known only for its outrageious treatment of the Levite with his concubine and their refusal as a tribe to surrender those who were guilty (Judg 19-21) and that featured little else in the subsequent history of Israel. They would probably have been forgotten had not Israel rejected the sons of Samuel whom he had appointed as judges over them, and asked for a king to rule over them instead (1 Sam 8). Sent out by his father to look for a donkey that had gone missing, Saul was pointed out to Samuel by God as the man He would have as king over Israel. While there were some troublemakers who doubted his ability, he soon proved himself when he dealt a crushing blow to the Ammonitesa who were harassing the Transjordan city of Jabesh (Chap 11). His next fight with the Philistines quickly got himself into trouble with Samuel (who was supposed to have retired) when Saul, concerned that the men of Israel were scattering in fear, began to seek the Lord by offering up the burnt offering himself, instead of waiting for the delayed elder. When Samuel finally arrived and learned what Saul had done, he exploded into condemnation, asserting that, because Saul had failed to keep the command God had given him, Saul's kingdom would not now endure, but, instead will be given to someone else (13:13-14). While most commentators take this as the moment of God's rejection of Saul as king, it is not, however, at all clear what specific command of the Lord that Saul had disobeyed. Neither does the text indicate clearly that Samuel's utterance was a "thus says the Lord" kind of pronouncement. Samuel may be a man of God (and a towering one) but he was not a man without his faults. Saul's explanation that he did what he did because "he had not [yet] sought the Lord's favour" is too often overlooked or dismissed out of hand.
What earned Saul his rejection was his failure to properly carry out the cherem upon the Amalekites (Chap 15). The cherem was a divine command instituted at special times which called for the total destruction—including women and children—of Israel's enemies. It represented a special kind of sacrifice to Yahweh, who alone can call for it. Saul, fearing the people who wanted the loot for themselves, spared Agag the Amalekite king, and the sheep and cattle instead (v21). In clear affirmation, the editor of the book of Samuel proclaims, "And the Lord was grieved that he had made Saul king over Israel" (v35).
Saul would continue as king, defending Israel and fighting against the Philistines. In the process, however, he met his demon, David. David's victory over Goliath quickly made David far more popular than Saul; "Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands" (1 Sam 18:7). Saul's life, when he was not fighting the Philistines, was now focus on the possibility of getting rid of David (whom Samuel had anointed, in the meantime, as the new king), and in the process, he drove himself into the most shameful and futile excesses. Still fighting the Philistines, he died in battle in Beth Shan; critically wounded he killed himself so as not to be abused by the enemies (Chap 31).
Because Christians tend to take divine rejection so seriously (and we should) we also tend, therefore, to dismiss Saul too quickly and fail to appreciate him for what he had accomplished. As a king he strived hard to defend Israel against the enemies that surrounded her, did so with considerable success and, in the end, gave his life for it. And he was loved for it; the men of Jabesh (whom he had rescued when he first became king) risked their lives to retrieved his body (and his son Jonathan's) from the battlefield. The northern tribes with whom he was associated remained loyal to his house, until Abner (Saul's commander)—out of self-interest—plotted against his son.
Saul was the first king Israel ever had; he therefore had no model upon which to pattern his rule. And ruling Israel—stiff-necked and quick to find a quarrel, as so clearly evident in the book of Judges—was one of the most difficult tasks under the sun. Even a man of Moses's stature found it a burden. And then, Moses had all the Israelites immediately at his call since he lived as their immediate neighbours. Israel was spread all over Canaan in Saul's case; they could far more easily ignore Saul's charges than it was with Moses. Taken everything concerned objectively, Saul could not be faulted as a king per se. His failure lay in the lack of a truly vibrant relationship with the true king of Israel, of whom he was only a vicar. If he had, he would not have had to fight the struggles he obviously had with both Samuel and David that he did, and recognize that the kingdom of God is far bigger than our self, however august the office God has placed us in.
©ALBERITH
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