1 Samuel 14-16 A New King

Thoughts

Samuel 14

Priest at the time: Ahijah who is a descendant of Eli the priest.He was the son of Ahitub, making him the nephew of Ichabod (the child born when the ark was captured in 1 Sam 4).

Jonathan and his armor-bearer secretly leave Saul’s camp. Jonathan trusts God can save “by many or by few.”

He proposes a sign: if the Philistines invite them to come up, that will be God’s signal to attack. The Philistines mock them and invite them up.

Jonathan and his armor-bearer climb the cliff and kill about 20 men in a small area.

Saul’s watchmen see the Philistine camp in chaos.Saul assembles his troops and discovers Jonathan is missing. The Lord saves Israel that day; the battle spreads beyond Beth-aven.

Saul places the army under a foolish oath not to eat until evening, hoping to push them harder, but the soldiers grow weak.

Jonathan, unaware of the oath, eats honey and is strengthened. Other soldiers warn him of his father’s oath; Jonathan criticizes it as harmful to Israel’s success. The soldiers then pounce on the plunder and eat meat with blood, breaking God’s law.

Saul wants to pursue the Philistines at night, but Ahijah advises seeking God’s guidance. God does not answer, so Saul assumes someone has sinned.

The lot reveals Jonathan, who admits he ate honey. Saul declares Jonathan must die. But the people intervene and rescue Jonathan.

A summary of Saul’s reign: he fought Moab, Ammon, Edom, Zobah, Philistia, and Amalek.
He had four sons (Jonathan, Ishvi/Abinadab, Malchi-shua, Ish-bosheth) and two daughters (Merab and Michal).

Samuel 15

God commands Saul to COMPLETELY destroy the Amalekites  because of their past opposition when Israel came out of Egypt (Exod 17; Deut 25).

Saul gets 210,000 troops and attacks the Amalekites from Havilah to Shur. He spares the Kenites (allies of Israel). Saul defeats the Amalekites but spares Agag, their king, and keeps the best sheep, cattle, and goods even though God told him not to.

The Lord tells Samuel: “I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following me.” Samuel is deeply troubled white Saul sets up a monument for himself at Carmel.

Samuel asks Saul: “What then is this bleating of sheep and lowing of oxen that I hear?”

Saul blames the people, saying they spared the best animals to sacrifice to the Lord.Samuel rebukes him 

Samuel calls for Agag. Samuel declares: “As your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women.” Samuel hacks Agag to pieces before the Lord.

Samuel 16

The Lord tells Samuel to stop mourning Saul and go anoint a new king from Jesse’s sons in Bethlehem.

Jesse’s sons are brought before Samuel.

Eliab, the eldest, looks impressive, but God tells Samuel: “Man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.”

David, the youngest, is still out tending sheep. When David is brought in, the Lord says, “This is the one.”

Samuel anoints David in the presence of his brothers, and the Spirit of the Lord comes powerfully upon David from that day forward. Meanwhile, the Spirit departs from Saul.

An “evil spirit from the Lord” (a spirit of torment) begins troubling Saul.

Saul’s servants suggest finding someone skilled at playing the lyre to soothe him, which ends up being David. 

Questions

Why do people (Jonathan) get to choose signs and what they mean according to God?

How did old Samuel hack a king to pieces?

What is an “evil spirit from the Lord”? Did He just send it?

Can the Spirit of the Lord be on two people at once? Numbers 11:25 says “he took some of the power of the Spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders.” but like can the full Spirit of the Lord be on two people at once in the OT?

Why does it say not to look at appearance but then describes David as having a good appearance?

Application

Most people use chapter 16 for ‘God looks at the heart while man looks on the outside’ or something like that. I also see the contrast between Saul and Jonathan leading up to David’s reign. We see the fall of a king, the courage of a prince, and then the lifting up of a humble shepherd. Israel gets to see in real time how God can easily tear down the proud and honor the faithful. We start to see what God and Samuel warned them about in the first place.