Looking a Bit Deeper – Part Eight

In the last article (The Tidings, November 2013), we discussed Saul’s fall. We saw how he had had gone from being a leader who could lead the people to life, to a leader who sought to even bring death to his own son! How the mighty had fallen — and fallen because of pride and envy!

In this article, we hope to develop this theme a bit, and also move beyond just the narrative of the battle against the Philistines. We want to go a little bit deeper into the meaning beneath the story. We’ve been able to paint a picture of what happened, but we want to try to look further into the record and see more of the types and examples hidden within. In doing so, may we be reminded of the depth of Scripture and the value of true humility.

Connections to Joshua

First, as we attempt to look deeper into Saul’s character, one of the things we see is that Saul likely had an additional “hero” to Gideon. Not only did Saul seek to be like that man of faith, but it also seems as though he wanted to be like Joshua — another man who had led the people of God to victory. Just consider these connections:

When Joshua went to fight against the city of Jericho, he put a curse upon the city and told the people that they were forbidden to take any of the spoil.

“And the city shall be accursed, even it, and all that are therein, to the Lord: only Rahab the harlot shall live, she and all that are with her in the house, because she hid the messengers that we sent. And ye, in any wise keep your­selves from the accursed thing, lest ye make yourselves accursed, when ye take of the accursed thing, and make the camp of Israel a curse, and trouble it” (Josh 6:17-18).

Saul then followed Joshua’s example — while he specifically said that he initiated the curse upon food so that he might be avenged upon his enemies (1 Sam 14:24), perhaps this was also one of his motivations. Just as Joshua’s attack upon Jericho involved a curse and he forbade the people from partaking in the spoil, so did Saul’s attack upon the Philistines. He put a curse upon the people which forbade them from eating of the spoil (1 Sam 14:30) until the evening.

When Joshua fought to save the Gibeonites, he was near the Valley of Ajalon. There, he prayed that both the sun and the moon would stand still — allowing him to continue his battle through the night.

“Then spake Joshua to the Lord in the day when the Lord delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon; and thou, Moon, in the valley of Ajalon” (Josh 10:12)

Standing near the same location as Joshua (1 Sam 14:31), Saul tried to do the same thing. He tried to push his men through the night and have them fight just as Joshua’s men did.

After Joshua went to attack Ai, God was not with him because someone had broken the curse and Israel had brought a curse upon themselves.

“Israel hath sinned, and they have also transgressed my covenant which I commanded them: for they have even taken of the accursed thing, and have also stolen, and dissembled also, and they have put it even among their own stuff” (Josh 7:11).

By stealing from the spoil of Jericho, Israel took of the accursed things and sepa­rated themselves from God’s intervention. The same thing happened during Saul’s assault on the Philistines — Jonathan broke the curse by eating the honey and in turn separated Saul from receiving instruction from God. Saul’s mind was perhaps on the situation that had happened with Joshua, because immediately after God’s silence, Saul knew that God had refrained from working with Israel because of an unresolved sin in the camp (1 Sam 14:38).

In finding out who had broken the curse upon Jericho, Joshua was told to bring out the people by tribe, then by family, then by household, and then by individual. God would sort through those people until only the one who had broken the curse remained:

“In the morning therefore ye shall be brought according to your tribes: and it shall be, that the tribe which the Lord taketh shall come according to the families thereof; and the family which the Lord shall take shall come by households; and the household which the Lord shall take shall come man by man” (Josh 7:14).

When Saul sought to find the one who had sinned, he followed a similar method. Just like Joshua, he sought to have God direct him to the man. Saul’s method, just like Joshua’s, involved separating the people into groups until the individual was found.

Joshua was told to kill the one who had broken the curse:

“And it shall be, that he that is taken with the accursed thing shall be burnt with fire, he and all that he hath: because he hath transgressed the covenant of the Lord, and because he hath wrought folly in Israel” (Josh 7:15).

Just as Joshua was told to kill the one who had broken the curse, Saul stated that he would kill the man who had broken his curse. Quite possibly, Saul’s envy had blinded him to the fact that these were clearly two different situations, and he used the example of Joshua to justify his attempt to kill Jonathan.

The troubler of Israel

Thus, in a number of ways, it would appear as though Saul sought to be like Joshua. Nevertheless, the tragic part about Saul’s heroes is that he never quite became like them. Just as with his attempts to be like Gideon, he didn’t understand the key to Gideon’s success — his humility and his faith. It was the same with his efforts to be like Joshua. Saul didn’t understand that Joshua’s humility and faith were what made him a pliable vessel with which Yahweh could work; because of this, Saul never became like Joshua. Though he tried to be like Joshua in bringing a curse upon the people during the battle, his curse was entirely misplaced. It was all about his own honor, whereas Joshua’s was so that the spoils of Jericho could be devoted to God; it was about God’s honor! When Joshua prayed that the sun might stand still so that they could fight through the night, it against wasn’t for his own glory. It was for the glory of Israel and their God (Josh 10:13) — so that they could be avenged of their enemies. When Joshua had Achan stoned, it wasn’t because he thought that Achan was some sort of challenge to his authority. It was because Achan had purposefully flouted God’s commands. Yet all of Saul’s actions were founded upon his own selfish ambition and his own conceit. Because of this, he was nothing like either Gideon or Joshua. Instead, he tragically became more like Achan. When Achan was stoned by Joshua and all of the people, Joshua condemned him as the one who had “troubled” Israel:

“And Joshua said, Why hast thou troubled us? the Lord shall trouble thee this day. And all Israel stoned him with stones, and burned them with fire, after they had stoned them with stones” (Josh 7:25).

Achan had been the troubler of Israel — and sadly, so was Saul:

“Then said Jonathan, My father hath troubled the land: see, I pray you, how mine eyes have been enlightened, because I tasted a little of this honey?” (1 Sam 14:29).

Through his curse, Saul had troubled Israel. Though he sought to be like Joshua, he had become more like Achan.

Nevertheless, all together, Saul had done a number of things throughout this account that connected him with Joshua — demonstrating that Joshua, just like Gideon, was another of Saul’s heroes. Saul was a man who was in the house of believers and who gave himself positive role models — the men whom he wanted to follow were men of faith and men who had delivered Israel from their enemies.

This is what makes the picture of Saul such a powerful image. It isn’t a picture of a man who was always sinful and who never had any inclination towards following God. Saul was a man who understood Scripture — well enough to even have two Biblical role models and follow their example in a number of the details in his life — and not only so, but he also had times where he recognized and acknowl­edged God’s power. Yet nevertheless, despite this understanding and despite this faith which he had at times, he became overtaken by his pride and his desire to be praised by men — even to the point of justifying that he could kill his own son for something which he had done in innocence and which could be covered under the law.

The lesson from this story should have quite an impact. It isn’t simply about gain­ing knowledge — because if we don’t have the right attitude when we approach Scripture, we can be just like Saul. We can gain a strong knowledge of events and characters in the Biblical record, but we can still become blinded by our own desire for honor and our own thirst for praise. This is something to which all of us are susceptible — Saul was part of the household of faith and at times had very faithful actions. Just as he did, we too — despite the knowledge that we may have — can fall into the trap of wanting to follow God for our own glory and wanting to compete with other believers, even wishing bad things upon them so that we might look good. It is this attitude which led to Saul almost killing his own son; and though it is highly unlikely that we will reach that point, it was also this attitude which led to the rejection of Saul from being king and which effectively thrust him from the favor of God. If we are not careful and if we do not examine our own motives and attitudes, the same type of thinking can easily come into our own minds.

By no means is this meant to say that we should not seek after knowledge. Scripture is clear that God wants us to know Him, and that knowledge will lead to grace and peace (2 Pet 1:2). Knowledge is foundation which we must have. Without it, we are lost. Yet even with it, we must continue to do what we can to strive against our own pride and our own envy. Knowledge can certainly help us in this battle, but that knowledge must change our attitude, our perceptions, and our faith.

The type of Christ — and of the Jews

Such is one of the major lessons that comes out of the story of Jonathan and his father fighting the garrison of the Philistines — but there is another. This second lesson is one which should develop within us that essential humility which Saul lacked and should put us in awe of our God — because hundreds of years before His son was born, there were pictures and glimpses of his life all throughout Scripture. This story is one of them.

First, notice the connections between Saul’s story here and the story of the Jews at the time of Christ:

• Saul’s worship of God was almost entirely focused on the praise and honor of men. The same was said of the Jews at the time of Christ (Matt 23:5; John 12:42-43).
• Saul had a great knowledge of many incidents in Scripture — even honoring faithful men of old, but he was stuck in ritualism. So it was with the Jews (Mark 7:5-7; John 8:53)
• Because of his adherence to self-serving worship and rituals, Saul had the kingdom taken from him and given to someone who was more worthy. The same happened with the Jews (Matt 21:43).
• All throughout the battle, Saul could not deliver the people. He helplessly sought to bring salvation, but never did anything. It was the same with the Jews — their efforts could not save them (Rom 9:31-33)
• Saul’s vain tradition had brought him to a point where he was actually willing to kill a righteous man who had “violated” it. Thus did the Jews to the Lord (John 5:18).
• One of Saul’s greatest motives for wanting to kill Jonathan was likely envy. The same was true for the Jews and the Lord Jesus (Matt 27:18).

So many of the events of the chapter symbolically point to Saul representing the Jews at the time of the Lord Jesus Christ. Combining this with the details that are shown about Jonathan, a beautiful picture of the Lord appears:

• Jonathan was a man of humility — and just like Christ, though he could have exalted himself as the king’s son, he made himself of no reputation and took upon himself the form of a servant, fighting the battle against the enemy (Phil 2:5-9).
• Through his faith, Jonathan delivered his people from certain death — and through his faith, the Lord did the same for his people (Gal 1:4).
• Jonathan truly was innocent — he had only broken the “commandments of men” and not the doctrine of God. He was blameless — like the Lord (John 8:46).
• Just as the Master, Jonathan willingly submitted to the death which was brought upon him (John 10:18).
• Yet, showing a picture of the Lord Jesus, he was rescued from seeing corrup­tion (Acts 2:31).

The stories of Saul and Jonathan perfectly converge to foreshadow and show a type of the story of the Lord Jesus Christ — because ultimately, it is his story that is the story of Scripture. The Word of God revolves around the man who is the Word made Flesh. May we recognize this, and as we live our everyday lives, may we seek to align our lives in the same way. Just as God’s book focuses upon the one who has been given all power in heaven and in earth, may we seek to change our lives so that they do the same — so that they focus upon the one who is the living and powerful Son of God. In doing so, may we search through our minds, scouring our thoughts for any self-serving worship and thoughts like those of Saul, and may we follow the example set down by the Lord Jesus Christ — giving our lives in service to the Father and humbly submitting to His will so that He might be glorified in all things.