Saul’s Foolish Oath
1 Samuel 14:24-46 NLT
24 Now the men of Israel were pressed to exhaustion that day, because Saul had placed them under an oath, saying, “Let a curse fall on anyone who eats before evening—before I have full revenge on my enemies.” So no one ate anything all day, 25 even though they had all found honeycomb on the ground in the forest. 26 They didn’t dare touch the honey because they all feared the oath they had taken.
27 But Jonathan had not heard his father’s command, and he dipped the end of his stick into a piece of honeycomb and ate the honey. After he had eaten it, he felt refreshed. 28 But one of the men saw him and said, “Your father made the army take a strict oath that anyone who eats food today will be cursed. That is why everyone is weary and faint.”
29 “My father has made trouble for us all!” Jonathan exclaimed. “A command like that only hurts us. See how refreshed I am now that I have eaten this little bit of honey. 30 If the men had been allowed to eat freely from the food they found among our enemies, think how many more Philistines we could have killed!”
31 They chased and killed the Philistines all day from Micmash to Aijalon, growing more and more faint. 32 That evening they rushed for the battle plunder and butchered the sheep, goats, cattle, and calves, but they ate them without draining the blood. 33 Someone reported to Saul, “Look, the men are sinning against the Lord by eating meat that still has blood in it.”
“That is very wrong,” Saul said. “Find a large stone and roll it over here. 34 Then go out among the troops and tell them, ‘Bring the cattle, sheep, and goats here to me. Kill them here, and drain the blood before you eat them. Do not sin against the Lord by eating meat with the blood still in it.’”
So that night all the troops brought their animals and slaughtered them there. 35 Then Saul built an altar to the Lord; it was the first of the altars he built to the Lord.
36 Then Saul said, “Let’s chase the Philistines all night and plunder them until sunrise. Let’s destroy every last one of them.”
His men replied, “We’ll do whatever you think is best.”
But the priest said, “Let’s ask God first.”
37 So Saul asked God, “Should we go after the Philistines? Will you help us defeat them?” But God made no reply that day.
38 Then Saul said to the leaders, “Something’s wrong! I want all my army commanders to come here. We must find out what sin was committed today. 39 I vow by the name of the Lord who rescued Israel that the sinner will surely die, even if it is my own son Jonathan!” But no one would tell him what the trouble was.
40 Then Saul said, “Jonathan and I will stand over here, and all of you stand over there.”
And the people responded to Saul, “Whatever you think is best.”
41 Then Saul prayed, “O Lord, God of Israel, please show us who is guilty and who is innocent.” Then they cast sacred lots, and Jonathan and Saul were chosen as the guilty ones, and the people were declared innocent.
42 Then Saul said, “Now cast lots again and choose between me and Jonathan.” And Jonathan was shown to be the guilty one.
43 “Tell me what you have done,” Saul demanded of Jonathan.
“I tasted a little honey,” Jonathan admitted. “It was only a little bit on the end of my stick. Does that deserve death?”
44 “Yes, Jonathan,” Saul said, “you must die! May God strike me and even kill me if you do not die for this.”
45 But the people broke in and said to Saul, “Jonathan has won this great victory for Israel. Should he die? Far from it! As surely as the Lord lives, not one hair on his head will be touched, for God helped him do a great deed today.” So the people rescued Jonathan, and he was not put to death.
46 Then Saul called back the army from chasing the Philistines, and the Philistines returned home.
Examine the Scriptures
1 Samuel 14:24-46 NLT
*** How can we apply the content in this lesson to our lives?
Saul’s Foolish Oath
24 Now the men of Israel were pressed to exhaustion that day, because Saul had placed them under an oath, saying, “Let a curse fall on anyone who eats before evening
Not permitting a soldier to eat puts the soldier at a serious disadvantage.
In combat soldiers burns a massive number of calories.
Eating calms many people down and well-fed soldiers are more confident.
A good military commander always takes care that everyone eats something before combat. They might even order you to do so.
Saul’s inept leadership left his men weak and fatigued.
- Saul put his soldiers at a serious disadvantage fighting the Philistines (v. 23) when he said, “Let a curse fall on anyone who eats before evening …”
Saul was not thinking about the welfare of his soldiers.
—before I have full revenge on my enemies.”
Saul called the Philistines “his” enemies. Saul perceives the conflict with the Philistines more a personal vendetta than a battle for the honor of the Lord and the security of the Lord’s people.
- Saul perceived the conflict with the Philistines as a personal vendetta, rather than a battle for the honor of the Lord and the security of the Israelites.
Saul was thinking about himself.
So no one ate anything all day, 25 even though they had all found honeycomb on the ground in the forest. 26 They didn’t dare touch the honey because they all feared the oath they had taken.
An oath was an extremely serious matter in the ancient Near East. One did not violate a king’s oath without suffering severe consequences.
- Saul’s soldiers honored the king’s commands.
27 But Jonathan had not heard his father’s command,
Saul and Jonathan were not always camped in the same location.
Example:
1 Samuel 13:2 NLT
2 Saul selected 3,000 special troops from the army of Israel and sent the rest of the men home. He took 2,000 of the chosen men with him to Micmash and the hill country of Bethel. The other 1,000 went with Saul’s son Jonathan to Gibeah in the land of Benjamin.
and he dipped the end of his stick into a piece of honeycomb and ate the honey. After he had eaten it, he felt refreshed.
- Jonathan ate some honey.
Jonathan felt refreshed after eating some honey.
Eating healthy food provides the energy needed to stay active.
- Since Jonathan had not heard his father’s command, it seems reasonable for him not to be held accountable for not following his father’s instructions.
28 But one of the men saw him and said, “Your father made the army take a strict oath that anyone who eats food today will be cursed. That is why everyone is weary and faint.”
29 “My father has made trouble for us all!” Jonathan exclaimed.
This was a strong accusation from Jonathan.
This same verb was used in Joshua 7:25
Joshua 7:25 NLT
25 Then Joshua said to Achan, “Why have you brought trouble on us? The Lord will now bring trouble on you.” And all the Israelites stoned Achan and his family and burned their bodies.
Jonathan is holding his father accountable for his actions.
“A command like that only hurts us. See how refreshed I am now that I have eaten this little bit of honey. 30 If the men had been allowed to eat freely from the food they found among our enemies, think how many more Philistines we could have killed!”
- Jonathan saw the foolishness of Saul’s command and recognized how it hurt Israel’s cause instead of helping it.
Saul’s foolish oath limited Israel’s victory.
31 They chased and killed the Philistines all day from Micmash to Aijalon,
The Philistines were heading out of the Promised Land on their way back to their homeland. (See verse 46.) Aijalon is near the Philistines own territory.
growing more and more faint.
The men were growing more and more faint as a result of not eating.
32 That evening they rushed for the battle plunder and butchered the sheep, goats, cattle, and calves, but they ate them without draining the blood.
Saul had said, Let a curse fall on anyone who eats before evening. It was now evening and the soldiers were permitted to eat.
In their haste to eat, they did not properly drain the blood from the animals.
Leviticus 17:13-14 NLT
13 “And if any native Israelite or foreigner living among you goes hunting and kills an animal or bird that is approved for eating, he must drain its blood and cover it with earth. 14 The life of every creature is in its blood. That is why I have said to the people of Israel, ‘You must never eat or drink blood, for the life of any creature is in its blood.’ So whoever consumes blood will be cut off from the community.
- After chasing and fighting the Philistines, Saul’s soldiers ate meat without draining the blood. Eating meat with blood is strictly prohibited for any native Israelite or foreigner living among the Israelites.
33 Someone reported to Saul, “Look, the men are sinning against the Lord by eating meat that still has blood in it.”
- As a result of obeying Saul’s instructions (fasting all day), the soldiers disobeyed God’s instructions (eating meat without draining the blood..
“That is very wrong,” Saul said.
- Saul recognized the fact that the men were disobeying the law of God but did not seem to see that he was at least partially responsible for their disobedience.
However, this would have never happened had it not been for Saul’s foolish oath.
“Find a large stone and roll it over here. 34 Then go out among the troops and tell them, ‘Bring the cattle, sheep, and goats here to me. Kill them here, and drain the blood before you eat them. Do not sin against the Lord by eating meat with the blood still in it.’”
So that night all the troops brought their animals and slaughtered them there. 35 Then Saul built an altar to the Lord; it was the first of the altars he built to the Lord.
The first and only alter built by Saul mentioned in scripture.
- Saul attempted to prevent more sin by his soldiers by properly draining the blood from the animals slaughtered for food.
36 Then Saul said, “Let’s chase the Philistines all night and plunder them until sunrise. Let’s destroy every last one of them.”
At this point Saul decided to pursue the Philistines all night to kill and plunder them.
His men replied, “We’ll do whatever you think is best.”
Again, Saul’s soldiers complied with his commands.
But the priest said, “Let’s ask God first.”
- Ahijah the priest tells Saul that he should seek God’s council before acting.
37 So Saul asked God, “Should we go after the Philistines? Will you help us defeat them?” But God made no reply that day.
- Saul follows Ahijah’s advice, but God does not reply to Saul’s question.
38 Then Saul said to the leaders, “Something’s wrong! I want all my army commanders to come here. We must find out what sin was committed today.
- Saul interprets God’s lack of response a result of someone’s sin.
39 I vow by the name of the Lord who rescued Israel that the sinner will surely die,
even if it is my own son Jonathan!”
- Saul makes another foolish, irrational oath.
But no one would tell him what the trouble was.
40 Then Saul said, “Jonathan and I will stand over here, and all of you stand over there.”
And the people responded to Saul, “Whatever you think is best.”
“Whatever you think is best.” (Also in verse 36)
More compliance by the people.
41 Then Saul prayed, “O Lord, God of Israel, please show us who is guilty and who is innocent.” Then they cast sacred lots,
The practice of casting lots is mentioned seventy times in the Old Testament and seven times in the New Testament.
These lots may have been the Urim and Thummim ………
Exodus 28:30 NLT
30 Insert the Urim and Thummim into the sacred chestpiece so they will be carried over Aaron’s heart when he goes into the Lord’s presence. In this way, Aaron will always carry over his heart the objects used to determine the Lord’s will for his people whenever he goes in before the Lord.
God allowed the Israelites to cast lots in order to determine His will for a given situation.
Biblical examples:
Distributing land to the tribes of Israel.
Joshua 18:10 NLT
10 And there at Shiloh, Joshua cast sacred lots in the presence of the Lord to determine which tribe should have each section.
Duties of the Priests
1 Chronicles 24:5 NLT
5 All tasks were assigned to the various groups by means of sacred lots so that no preference would be shown, for there were many qualified officials serving God in the sanctuary from among the descendants of both Eleazar and Ithamar.
and Jonathan and Saul were chosen as the guilty ones, and the people were declared innocent.
42 Then Saul said, “Now cast lots again and choose between me and Jonathan.” And Jonathan was shown to be the guilty one.
- Jonathan was guilty of violating, unintentionally, Saul’s oath. He was not guilty of violating a command from God.
It would be hard to say that Jonathan had violated: Children obey your parents. He had not even known of Saul’s oath.
43 “Tell me what you have done,” Saul demanded of Jonathan.
“I tasted a little honey,” Jonathan admitted. “It was only a little bit on the end of my stick. Does that deserve death?”
Again, Jonathan had more common sense than his father.
44 “Yes, Jonathan,” Saul said, “you must die! May God strike me and even kill me if you do not die for this.”
- Saul wanted to kill his own son for disobeying his (Saul’s not God’s) command.
Saul, full of pride and egotism, was intent on fulfilling his vow.
45 But the people broke in and said to Saul, “Jonathan has won this great victory for Israel. Should he die? Far from it! As surely as the Lord lives, not one hair on his head will be touched, for God helped him do a great deed today.” So the people rescued Jonathan, and he was not put to death.
- The soldiers who had gone along with Saul’s requests thus far now refused to follow his orders when he called for Jonathan’s execution.
They recognized that Saul’s rule about abstaining from eating was not divine law. They correctly saw that even though Jonathan had violated Saul’s rule, he had obeyed God’s order to drive Israel’s enemies out of the land.
The “people” recognized the fact that God helped Jonathan do a great dead.
46 Then Saul called back the army from chasing the Philistines, and the Philistines returned home.
The Philistines continued their retreat to their homeland.
