05/25/2022 – Day 087 – 1 Samuel 11 – 15 // “But be sure to fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things he has done for you…” I Samuel 12: 24-25
Here are my three references to verbatim commentary to our readin today:
*A – “Halley’s Bible Handbook” – pg 181 / *B – “The Matthew Henry Commentary – pg. 297 / *C – The Evidence Bible – NKJV – footnotes to specific verses.
Again, I copy the commentary verbatim. Why would I paraphrase from a recent reading? It certainly would not improve it and the risk of changing the author’s articulate meaning is unacceptable.
So, I would like to start with Halley’s Summary over these very same chapters under; “Saul as King”:
“Saul was of the tribe of Benjamin, which in the days of the Judges, had almost been annihilated; and of the city of Gibeah, where the horrible catastrophe had started (see page 171 – *A2) [ “Amelikites were descendants of Esau, a wandering tribe, centering mainly in north part of Sinai peninsula, but roaming in wide circles, even into Judah, and far to the east. First to attack Israel on departure from Egypt. Moses authorizized their extinction. (Exodus 17: 8-16). They have disappeared from history.” (*A2)
Tall, handsome and humble, Saul began his reign with a brilliant victory over the Ammonites. And misgivings about the new ‘Kingdom’ disappeared.
Then followed Samuel’s warning to nation and king, not to forget GOD, confirmed by a miraculous thunderstorm (chapter 12).
Saul’s First Mistake (chapter 13). His successes rapidly went to his head. Humility gave place to pride. He offered sacrifice, which was the exclusive function of priests. This was the first sign of Saul’s presumptive self- importance.
Saul’s Second Mistake (chapter 14). His silly order for the army to abstain from food, and his senseless death sentence for Jonathan, showed the people what a fool they had for a king.
Saul’s Third Mistake (chapter 15). Deliberate disobediance to God. For this he heard Samuel’s ominous pronouncement. ‘Because you have rejected God, God has rejected you from being king.”
Funny, on priority this one is last, but in 11:2 -3 , I was bewildered by the apparaent senselessness of the treaty dialogue between Naash and the elders of Jabesh.
First, to shed light on Nahash’s reply to the elders treaty request, here is the footnote to 11:2:
“The enemy wanted to destroy their ability to fight. It was because they covered their left side with a shield that their right eye was essential to fighting.” (*C)
Now let’s turn to Matthew Henry’s commentary for the remaining explanation:
“III. The beseiged desire, and obtain, seven days’ time to consider of this proposal, v. 3. Nahash, no imagining it possible that, in so short a time, they should have relief, and being very secure of the advantages he thought he had against them, in a bravado gave them seven days, that the reproach upon Israel, for not rescuing them, might be greater, and his triumphs the more illustrious.” (*B)
“As to Saul’s disobediance , here is my bible footnote to 13:12; “It is a true test of conversion when the professing Christian has the choice of feeling ‘compelled’ to do something that is, in direct contrdiction to God’s Word. Are we willing to compromise the truth based on our circumstances. See Psalm 15 for the mindset and the reward of the godly.” (*C)
And this was an amazing footnote to 14:12 with symbolic meaning connected to the literal scene: “Jonathan dipping his staff into a honeycomb , not being aware of Saul’s order not to eat , with a penalty of death: “The rod of the Law dips into the sweet honey of the gospel and enlightens the eyes. The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes.” (Psalm 19:8). See Ephesians 1:18 for the result of enlightened eyes.” (*C)
And finally, on the deliberate disobediance of Saul to God’s command:
“15:15 True repentence never tries to justify itself. The mouth of the true penitent is stopped (See Romans 3:19) Here Saul reveals his sinful heart by blaming others for his own sins. He was truly the offspring of Adam, who blamed God and Eve, rather than himself for his transgression. Listen closely to the mouth of sinners as you use the Law to bring the knowledge of sin, if you ask, ‘ How many lies have you told in your life?’ you will hear. ‘Everyone lies,’ or, ‘They are only little white lies.’ Sinners, like Saul, want to spread the blame to others or trivialize their transgressions. Sul says that ‘we … destroyed.’ but then he blames ‘the people’ for what ‘they’ did wrong. The root cause of his problem is revealed when he refers to ‘your God’ — not his own. Idolatry, having our own concept of the nature of God, is at the root of most sins. See 1 Corinthians 10: 1-14 for an example.
Soli Deo Gloria!