1 Samuel 13:8-23--Saul's Unlawful Sacrifice

1 Samuel 13:8-23
English Standard Version

Saul's Unlawful Sacrifice
8 He waited seven days, the time appointed by Samuel. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the people were scattering from him. 9 So Saul said, “Bring the burnt offering here to me, and the peace offerings.” And he offered the burnt offering. 10 As soon as he had finished offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came. And Saul went out to meet him and greet him. 11 Samuel said, “What have you done?” And Saul said, “When I saw that the people were scattering from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines had mustered at Michmash, 12 I said, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the favor of the LORD.’ So I forced myself, and offered the burnt offering.” 13 And 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. 14 But now your kingdom shall not continue. The LORD has sought out 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 commanded you.” 15 And Samuel arose and went up from Gilgal. The rest of the people went up after Saul to meet the army; they went up from Gilgal to Gibeah of Benjamin.

And Saul numbered the people who were present with him, about six hundred men. 16 And Saul and Jonathan his son and the people who were present with them stayed in Geba of Benjamin, but the Philistines encamped in Michmash. 17 And raiders came out of the camp of the Philistines in three companies. One company turned toward Ophrah, to the land of Shual; 18 another company turned toward Beth-horon; and another company turned toward the border that looks down on the Valley of Zeboim toward the wilderness.

​19 Now there was no blacksmith to be found throughout all the land of Israel, for the Philistines said, “Lest the Hebrews make themselves swords or spears.” 20 But every one of the Israelites went down to the Philistines to sharpen his plowshare, his mattock, his axe, or his sickle, 21 and the charge was two-thirds of a shekel for the plowshares and for the mattocks, and a third of a shekel for sharpening the axes and for setting the goads. 22 So on the day of the 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. 23 And the garrison of the Philistines went out to the pass of Michmash.

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To understand what the text meant about seven days being the appointed time that he should wait, we'd have to look back to chapter 10, verses 7-8, "7 Now when these signs meet you, do what your hand finds to do, for God is with you. 8 Then go down before me to Gilgal. And behold, I am coming down to you to offer burnt offerings and to sacrifice peace offerings. Seven days you shall wait, until I come to you and show you what you shall do.”  The key commandment here for Saul is that he was supposed to wait for Samuel, not that he was supposed to count off what he believed to be the seven-day waiting period and then take matters into his own hands as soon as he deemed that Samuel was late.

So then, how was it that Samuel knew that it was time to come meet Saul?  First, the Spirit would have told him, but second is the fact that Saul blew the trumpet to tell all the men of the nation to gather together once again at Gilgal.  Saul left his 2,000 men at Michmash while he's waiting for Samuel and our text yesterday told us that many of them hid or fled while this was going on and Saul is not unaware of the fear within the people, especially those under his command.  He too is anxious and wants to do something to help ease the anxiety within himself and the others around him, so he decided foolishly that he should not wait any longer for Samuel and should offer the burnt offering himself.  Just when he had finished making this offering is when Samuel arrived and Samuel rebuked him for making such a foolish decisions.

Because of this decision, Samuel tells Saul that his kingdom will not continue and he will not have an everlasting dynasty (like what will be promised to David later)--the LORD says that was what Saul could have had if he had not acted foolishly as the LORD would have continued to bless him and his family for as long as they continued to be obedient to the LORD's covenant.  Though Jonathan did nothing wrong he would have to live with the consequences now that the throne would never be his and furthermore, he would be best friends with the one that the LORD would give the throne to.  Jonathan is quite the man of character to not only not desire the throne but to do everything he could to support David as the LORD's choice when that time comes.  "The LORD has sought out 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 commanded you.”  "A man after God's own heart" is exactly how the LORD describes David later, and it is to point back to this description of the kind of king that the LORD was seeking to lead His people.

Saul returns to the battlefront and when he gets back he counts his troops again to find that only 600 of the 2,000 men he had left there remain.  Saul and Jonathan take their men and make a new camp at Gebah of Benjamin, but the Philistines remained encamped at Michmash.  The Philistines came out of their camp in three companies and made raids on Ophrah, to the land of Shaul while the second company made raids on Beth-horon, and the third company turned towards the border that looks down the Valley of Zeboim towards the wilderness.  This part of the text doesn't tell us exactly what they were up to, but in a few verses it will say that that people will be without weapons and without blacksmiths to make weapons, so this was likely the purpose of these raids....to take away any weapons of war and any ability of the people to make new weapons.  The only sword and spear left in the hands of the people rested in the hands of Saul and Jonathan.

Since there were no blacksmiths left in Israel, every Israelite took whatever they had that could be sharpened and used as a weapon--plowshares, mattocks, axes, and sickles--all instruments used for farming--to the Philistines to have them sharpened, and they paid the Philistines one-third of a shekel for sharpening their axes and setting their goads.  So when the day of battle came the Israelites were mismatched both in numbers and in weaponry which is just the way the LORD likes it, because in this way He can obviously work a miracle and get all the glory for it.