Despite details foreshadowing Saul's inevitable failure, his reign as king seems to start out well - he is even victorious in battle against the Ammonites. But as Samuel pulls away from his function as leader, Saul's ineptness as king becomes more and more apparent, until it becomes so atrocious that his kingship is revoked. The message seems to be that kingship is a lousy form of governance. Once Samuel - God's chosen man - fades away from leadership, things go south. The kings of Israel remove Israel from its natural leader, God. This throws things quite out of whack.
Saul's Success
Saul enjoys a small measure of success before he fails. He is able to defeat his the Ammonites, whose King Nahash has been gouging out the right eye of all the Israelites across the Jordan. In fact, the "spirit of God" comes upon Saul, just as it came upon Samson in times of need. This spirit even gives Saul the strength to chop up a yoke of oxen and send the pieces throughout the territory to call people to battle. Interestingly, this is the same method by which the Levite calls the Israelites to battle in retaliation for his murdered concubine. In that story a Levite calls Israel to battles the Benjaminites; in this one a Benjaminite calls the Israelites to face an outside threat.
After Saul proves himself a competent ruler by defeating the Ammonites, the people call for Saul's detractors to be murdered, and Saul proves his benevolence by pardoning those who spoke ill of him.
Saul's Failure
It is after these displays of goodness that things begin to go south for Saul. Samuel backs out of leadership of Israel, in effect pulling out the rug from under Saul. He invokes the dialectical tensions between God and Israel, warning that the Israelites will be punished if they do not obey the Lord: "If you still do wickedly, you shall be swept away, you and your king" (1 Sam. 12.25). This is a warning against wickedness in the future only; their wickedness in demanding a king is explicitly forgiven.
In 1 Samuel 10, Samuel advises Saul to wait for him seven days at Gilgal so that he may come to make a sacrifice. Saul, waits seven days, and when Samuel does not show up he makes a sacrifice to gain the favor of the Lord in battle against the Philistines. This story parallel's Samuel's similar sacrifice, and in so doing shows how Saul fails where Samuel succeeds. Samuel arrives after the sacrifice has been completed. He is furious with Saul, who explains that Samuel was late and the army needed the favor of the Lord for protection. Apparently Samuel still outranks Saul, as the former judge informs the king that his kingdom will not be established, but will rather be established by another Israelite.
In the tale that follows, Saul's son Jonathan is set up as a foil to his father's inability. Jonathan and his armor-bearer kill 20 men and cause a panic among the Philistines. Though he does not know the cause of the panic (and it is his own son!) Saul takes advantage of it and routs the Philistines.
In a victory that is not really even his doing, Saul makes another mistake by swearing an oath that any soldier that eats food shall die. Of course Jonathan, who has been off turning the tide of battle in the Israelites' favor, does not get the message and eats some honey. When he discovers that his son has violated the oath, Saul is ready to kill his own son. Jonathan is saved by the people, who ransom the brave warrior.
Then we hear of all the good Saul does in war: fighting Moab, the Ammonites, Edom, Zobah, and the Philistines. "He did valiantly, and struck down the Amalekites, and rescued Israel out of the hands of those who plundered them" (1 Sam. 14.48). But in this last action comes Saul's downfall.
God commands Saul (through Samuel) to spare not man, woman, child, infant, ox, sheep, camel, or donkey of the Amalekites. So of course Saul and the people spare Agag (the King) and the best sheep and cattle, and lambs and valuables.
It is at this point that the Lord confides in Samuel his regret of making Saul king. Saul has been an awful king - not carrying out God's commands explicitly as he was charged. And where is he? Building a monument to himself at Carmel. When Samuel confronts Saul the king explains that he spared Agag's life and that the people took the sheep and cattle to sacrifice to God. Even if this were true, it willfully ignores the fact that God commanded for every living thing to be destroyed. Saul has failed as a leader. For his sin against the Lord, Saul's kingship is revoked.
In the third instance of this bloody ceremony, an angry and violent Saul does the Lord's work to Agag, hewing him into pieces before the Lord. Israel is now without a leader.
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