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29 March. 1 Samuel chapters 13-14
Saul proved himself to be a strong warrior; towards the end of chapter 14 it lists several other tribes that he conquered during his reign. But he had his faults, most of which had a common root in impatience and not thinking of consequences. At the start of this section, he leads a small and successful raid on the arch enemy, the Philistines. He should not have been surprised that this unprovoked attack ended a period of truce and drew out the full strength of their army, which was better equipped with infantry, cavalry and chariots, while Israel had few weapons of any kind as a result of the Philistines ‘arms embargo’. Clearly military strategy was not his strong point. Fortunately God was with the Israelites and they were not defeated.
A second failure as a result of impatience was religious rather than military, when he offered a sacrifice (which only Levites were supposed to do). Not even a king could offer sacrifice, just as our Queen, although titular head of the Church of England, is not ordained and so may not celebrate communion.
Saul’s third, and nearly most disastrous mistake was to impose a fast on his troops on penalty of death, not realising that his own son was out of the camp at the time and did not hear it. When Jonathan is found to have broken the fast (and incited others to do so), his father appears more inclined to keep his oath at the expense of his son’s life than to see sense and admit his mistake. This is not quite the same as Abraham’s near-sacrifice of Isaac, as it was not God who put Saul to the test. It is closer to Jephthah’s vow in Judges 11 where his own daughter is unwittingly the subject of her father’s unthinking promise. But it still shows what we would now consider dangerous fanaticism that puts “religious truth” ahead of even one’s own children’s lives. Fortunately for Jonathan, his fellow soldiers see sense and pay an unspecified ransom to redeem him.