Foolish or Follow

 DEVOTION

1^ST SAMUEL

FOOLISH OR FOLLOW

1 Samuel 13:1-14

13:1 Saul was [thirty] years old when he became king, and he reigned over Israel [forty-] two years. 2 Saul chose three thousand men from Israel; two thousand were with him at Micmash and in the hill country of Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan at Gibeah in Benjamin. The rest of the men he sent back to their homes. 3 Jonathan attacked the Philistine outpost at Geba, and the Philistines heard about it. Then Saul had the trumpet blown throughout the land and said, "Let the Hebrews hear!" 4 So all Israel heard the news: "Saul has attacked the Philistine outpost, and now Israel has become a stench to the Philistines." And the people were summoned to join Saul at Gilgal. 5 The Philistines assembled to fight Israel, with three thousand chariots, six thousand charioteers, and soldiers as numerous as the sand on the seashore. They went up and camped at Micmash, east of Beth Aven. 6 When the men of Israel saw that their situation was critical and that their army was hard pressed, they hid in caves and thickets, among the rocks, and in pits and cisterns. 7 Some Hebrews even crossed the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. Saul remained at Gilgal, and all the troops with him were quaking with fear. 8 He waited seven days, the time set by Samuel; but Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and Saul's men began to scatter. 9 So he said, "Bring me the burnt offering and the fellowship offerings." And Saul offered up the burnt offering. 10 Just as he finished making the offering, Samuel arrived, and Saul went out to greet him. 11 "What have you done?" asked Samuel. Saul replied, "When I saw that the men were scattering, and that you did not come at the set time, and that the Philistines were assembling at Micmash, 12 I thought, 'Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the LORD's favor.' So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering." 13 "You acted foolishly," Samuel said. "You have not kept the command the LORD your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time. 14 But now your kingdom will not endure; the LORD has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him leader of his people, because you have not kept the LORD's command."

NIV

First, it is interesting the insert of (thirty) and (forty) as the Hebrew does not have the words for those two numbers in this verse. However, our story is about Saul who Samuel told him that he acted foolishly. In those days, there were three distinct positions, prophet, priest, and king, each with their appointed roles in Israel. Saul took on all three roles in that one act of offering a sacrifice to seek the LORD’s favor. Saul was chosen by God, through the prophet Samuel to be the king, but he was not neither a priest or a prophet and thus he acted outside the command of the LORD, and instead of gaining the LORD’s favor, he lost the favor of God and his reign over Israel would not last, as the LORD sought out a man after his own heart. We know this to be David. Luke records this event for us in the Acts of the Apostles, where the Lord testified about David, “I have found David, son of Jesse, a man after my own heart, he will do everything I want him to”. Two lessons for us stand out in these verses of Samuel. First, we should not attempt to do that which we are not called to do. We cannot afford to act foolishly as Saul was charged with by Samuel. We need to be about doing that which we have been called and empowered to do. If we apply this to those in the ministry, we know that God gave the church four, maybe five gifts, as he gave some to be Apostles, some to be prophets, some to be Evangelists, and some to be Pastors and teachers. In Greek, the word Kai is used between Pastors and teachers, which is used to connect two words. Thus, we believe the Pastor and teacher are one gift. The point being is that if one is called to be an evangelist, that person should not try to be an Apostle, prophet, or pastor all wrapped up as one. This would apply to each of the gifts to the church, and with the other gifts given to all within the church, each should be faithful to that which they have been gifted and empowered. It would be foolish to think we can be used in all the gifts at the same time, as Saul thought he was compelled to do. Secondly, this testimony about David being a man after God’s one heart has the merit of pondering or considering why God would say that David would do all that he wants him to do. David was not a perfect man by any means, as we know the story of Bathsheba. This would mean that God did not expect David to be perfect to be a man after his own heart, but that David would do whatever God instructed him to do, or whatever God wanted David to do. This could apply to any of us if we are faithful in doing what God has called us to do. However, here is where the rub comes in, as we need to be aware of what God wants us to do. Of course, as a believer, we would think that would include all the commands of the Lord. Every verse in the New Testament could be considered how the Lord expects us to live; however, Jesus made it clear that loving God with our whole being and loving others as we love ourselves, wraps up all the law and the prophets. Therefore, if we keep those two, everything else will follow, yet even if we cannot comply perfectly, it does not mean we are not a person after God’s own heart. Still, we should want to do whatever the Lord wants us to do. The desire of our hearts should be to do whatever the Lord desires us to do. Because Jesus said that if anyone would come after him, we must deny ourselves and take up our cross and follow him. That is where we put the old self on the cross to die, or even after the old self is dead, we still must be able to deny ourselves if we want to follow Jesus. This is one of the more difficult things to do because we have desires and wants in this life that we chase after for ourselves. How do we deny that part of us? How do we seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and still want things we want? That is the question.