Out of the many unnoticed factors that led to Saul becoming King of Israel…
One other thing we shouldn’t overlook is family dynamics.
I can speak from personal experience about how big of an impact conflict in the family can have on your life journey…not to mention your emotional and mental well-being.
My parents divorced when I was 3 years old.
My dad soon remarried and before he had kids with his second wife, things were great.
My stepmother adored me and cared for me like her own son.
However, things quickly turned bitter after she had her first biological child.
I remember one time I was having breakfast with both my stepmother and her young boy (my half-brother) who was in a baby carriage at the time.
I was about maybe 8 or 9 years old (I can’t remember exactly how old I was at the time).
Now I don’t know why but all of a sudden I pointed to Ken (my baby half-brother) and I flat-out asked her “Do you love him more than me?”
Remember, I was young and had no idea that such a sensitive question was inappropriate and would make my stepmother uncomfortable.
I remember she nodded her head “no” in response to my question…
But now when I look back as an adult, I can clearly remember there was an uncomfortable pause before she nodded her head “no” to communicate to me that she didn’t love her own biological baby more than she loved me.
This was obviously total booooooool sheeeeeeet!
Of course, she loved her own biological children more than she loved me.
I’d say that’s perfectly normal and natural and I don’t have a problem with it.
Anyways, why did I innocently ask my stepmother such an uncomfortable question?
I guess because deep down inside I could sense this newborn child was a threat to my current and dominant “only son” status in the family.
It’s like I knew I was on my way out.
And sure enough, as the years went by…
And as my stepmother gave birth to two other children…
I felt more and more threatened and became more and more jealous of them…
And I’ll be honest with you…
Because I felt so isolated, threatened, and alone…
My behavior and attitude toward them sometimes became downright abusive.
So in this sense, I can relate to how Ishmael must have felt when Isaac was born…
And I feel for him when he was finally “kicked out” of the family and forced to move away from his own father.
But back to my story…
It also didn’t help that my biological mother did everything in her power to poison me with hate toward both my father and his second wife.
Yes, I do believe my own mother was a very emotionally abusive and narcissistic woman.
Even after I became an adult, she would send letters to me that said things like this:
“Please, be careful about your own father and that wife of his – stay away from her completely. She always has wanted you out of the way so her kids and her family benefit from the financial benefits from your father”.
And then she ended that particular letter like this:
“F&%K your dad and his family, after the divorce none of his relatives ever contacted you, sent you a letter, a card, nothing! F&%k your Dad and his mother, she was horrible and told your Dad to abandon you and me both”.
Trust me, I’ve only given you the teeny tip of the iceberg of all the venom that was written in that four-page hate-filled letter.
Man, it’s just jampacked with lies and gaslighting bs.
Needless to say, there’s a reason why I had to cut ties with my own mother in order to protect my mental health.
Life’s just too short to be around such bitterness and negativity.
Anyways, why do I bring this up?
And what in the world does this have to do with Saul rising up to become king?
Well, everything man!!!
Because consider this.
From the outset, there were natural rivalries among the 12 tribes directly connected to who the mother of their tribal founder was.
Recall that Judah’s mother was Leah.
She was the less favored wife of Jacob…
But a legal wife with wife status nonetheless.
Ephraim and Manessah’s mother was Rachel (actually grandmother to be accurate) and she was Jacob’s most favored wife.
Dan’s mother was one of Jacob’s concubines named Bilah…
And Gad’s mother was another one of Jacob’s concubines named Zilpah…
This meant their status within Israel wasn’t as great as Ephraim and Judah’s.
You don’t think this might’ve ruffled some feathers of bitter jealousy and envy?!
Things actually got so bad that Reuben went in and slept with Bilah, his father’s concubine.
This was nothing less than a political move prompted by insecurity and fear to gain family power…you can read more about it by clicking HERE.
Heck, even the way the tribes were organized by Moses and placed around the Tabernacle was based on family ties and status.
For example, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun formed one unit and were placed on the most prestigious side (the east side) of the Tabernacle because their common mother was Leah.
You had best believe all of these relationships carried directly over into Israel’s new circumstances once they settled in the land of Canaan…
And they also affect how and why Saul suddenly came to power as king…
So that’s your takeaway for today.
Remember, NOTHING happens in a vacuum.
Politics and tribal and family conflicts all played a major part in how things unfolded the way they did in ancient Israel.
I’ll be pointing them out to you as we move forward.
And don’t forget, political and family conflicts also play a major part in how YOUR life turned out…whether personal or professional.
The good news is through your faith…
You can rise above the negative impact caused by family conflict…
And fulfill the divine destiny God has in store for you.
Because God is a master at turning lemons into juicy lemonade…
In the Book of Genesis, Ishmael may have been cast out of the family…
Yet God assured him he would become the founder of a great nation.
So he was still greatly blessed!
Stay frosty.
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