To follow on from yesterday, this incorrect thinking about who’s kingdom Saul was ruling didn’t just hurt Saul, it hurt the kingdom he was given to steward.
1 Samuel 14:24 ESV
And the men of Israel had been hard pressed that day, so Saul had laid an oath on the people, saying, “Cursed be the man who eats food until it is evening and I am avenged on my enemies.” So none of the people had tasted food.
To give context, when Saul made the sacrifice instead of Samuel in the last post, it was because Israel had come out with 3000 soldiers to fight but the Philistines came with more than 30,000! All of the Israelites hid themselves because they knew they were way outmatched. Saul ends up with only 600 directly with him. But then one day Saul’s son Jonathan is stirred with this crazy faith, goes to the Philistine garrison with just his armour bearer and they start slaughtering them. Just these two guys kill twenty enemies in their first charge and it causes the whole garrison to run away. Saul and the Israelites see that something's wrong with the Philistines so they start chasing them and have this amazing victory.
Then, because he knows everyone is tired but he doesn’t want to stop the chase Saul makes this stupid oath out of his own pride. His own son is the one who disobeys because hadn’t heard it (Jonathan was the reason they were having this moment of victory, but he was too busy being awesome to hear Saul’s oath remember) and even he openly tells everyone when he finds out about it “yeah, my dad was an idiot for saying that.” Saul would have killed him for it too except everyone stood in the way and sanity prevailed.
The victory Israel could have had that day would have been so much bigger, but Saul was too busy thinking about himself and his image. Everyone lost out because of his mistake. Here’s Jonathan’s quote in full rather than the “he’s an idiot” paraphrase.
1 Samuel 14:29–30 (ESV)
Then Jonathan said, “My father has troubled the land. See how my eyes have become bright because I tasted a little of this honey. 30 How much better if the people had eaten freely today of the spoil of their enemies that they found. For now the defeat among the Philistines has not been great.”
Then Jonathan said, “My father has troubled the land. See how my eyes have become bright because I tasted a little of this honey. 30 How much better if the people had eaten freely today of the spoil of their enemies that they found. For now the defeat among the Philistines has not been great.”
It reminds me of Jesus’s words NOT to make these kind of oaths, full of drama and high consequence. Pointing out we can’t control anything outside of our own actions, not even whether we get grey hairs or not. Saul’s oath was all because he wanted to control things for his glory. You need to keep fighting so I will be avenged on my enemies. To let my Aussie voice respond to this statement “they weren’t just your enemies mate, they’re all Israel’s”. And that’s what happens when you try to take authority that isn’t yours to take. For you to keep it, you have to be in control. And because it takes a lot of work to try and keep that control, you trick yourself into thinking it’s all about you. And that causes everyone else around to be hurt and affected.
God isn’t interested in how charismatic you sound, He’s interested in whether you’re honouring Him, honouring the people He’s placed in your care, and whether you’re doing what He’s called you to do. Humility helps you stick to your lane, it prevents you from trying to be in control over everything you're not meant to be, and everyone is better off for it.