Commuter Bible OT John Ross

Saul starts to crack under pressure and becomes increasingly paranoid, imagining that David could strike at any moment. He accuses his men of not caring about him and conspiring against. Doeg the Edomite speaks up, remembering that he had seen David get supplies from Ahimelech. In a rage, Saul visits Ahimelech, accuses him of treason, and assigns Doeg the task of slaughtering an entire city of priests and their families. Only one priest escapes the massacre, and he flees to David. Later, Jonathan visits with David in Horesh and renews his covenant with his friend.

In our last episode, King Saul’s jealousy and hatred for David began to grow as David successfully conquered the Philistines in battle time after time. Saul began plotting David’s demise, but his plans to see him killed were all foiled. Today, Saul’s rage becomes clear to everyone. Saul instructs his son Jonathan and all of his men to kill David. Jonathan and David are close companions, however, and Jonathan helps David escape from the king. As he runs away unarmed and unprepared, he visits Ahimelech at Nob and loads up on supplies including the consecrated bread of the presence and the sword of Goliath, which had been kept there until that time.

When the subject of a historical account like this one tells you the reason why he will be victorious before he achieves his victory, we should probably pay attention to that right? So often when someone references David & Goliath, they frame it as if it’s about a big guy versus small fry, and the underdog wins the day because of his ingenuity. Let’s just make this clear: you and I are not David and this account is not about being brave and facing your giants. If anything, we are the cowering Israelites who cannot face our foe; we need a champion, a savior, to step forward in the power of God and rescue us from sin and death.

The Lord sends Samuel to tell King Saul that he is to wipe out the Amalekites completely, because they opposed Israel when God brought them out of Egypt. King Saul decides that he will wipe out everyone and everything, except for King Agag of the Amalekites, and, you know, all the good stuff. You can’t destroy the good stuff, right? Because of this disobedience, the Lord tells Samuel that he regrets making Saul king. Samuel rebukes King Saul, and proceeds to take care of business where Saul failed to do so. After this, the Lord sends Samuel to Jesse of Bethlehem, because he has selected one of his sons to be king in Saul’s place.

Israel is at war with the Philistines, and when our last reading ended, we were informed that a garrison of Philistines had taken control of the pass at Michmash. Up until this point, the Israelites had no blacksmiths and had been taking their weapons and tools to the Philistines to have them sharpened. This meant that only Saul and his son Jonathan had weapons of war. Jonathan sneaks away from the camp with his armor bearer to find the Philistine garrison, and voices his trust in the Lord God on the way. The Lord not only grants Jonathan victory, he sets chaos in motion amongst the Philistines, who end up destroying each other. Later, Saul makes a rash oath that reveals how unfit he is to reign as king.

In our last episode, Saul had just been anointed as king by Samuel the prophet and priest of Israel. In today’s episode, he is appointed as king in Gilgal to a fuller degree, complete with sacrifices and rejoicing. Samuel gives Saul instructions to wait for him there, but when the newly minted king feels like he is pressed for time he assumes that it will be best to make the burnt offering himself. King Saul, however, is not a part of the priesthood, and while he is king, it doesn’t mean that he can do whatever he wishes, especially if it means going against the Lord’s statutes. As we’ll find out today, Saul’s tendency to pay little attention to God’s instructions has huge ramifications on his life and his reign as king.