“Sha’ul’s men on watch in Giv‘at-Binyamin could see the enemy camp scattering and running in all directions. Sha’ul ordered the forces with him to call the roll and see who was missing. So they called the roll, and found Y’honatan and his armor-bearer not present.”-1 Samuel 14:16
Jonathan and his armor-bearers’ little adventure with the Philistines had stirred up quite a hornet’s nest.
The Israelite soldiers who had been guarding Saul’s encampment noticed the Philistine soldiers scattering like bees and immediately reported it to Saul.
When he heard the news, Saul knew there was only one reason for all this commotion.
One of his men, without his permission, had taken it upon themselves to harass the Philistines.
To find out who it was, Saul ordered a roll call, and wouldn’t you know it?
He soon found out that only Jonathan and his armor bearer were missing.
This didn’t surprise Saul knowing his son’s reckless nature.
With that mystery solved, Saul then called for his High Priest, Achiyah, and ordered him to bring the Ark of God.
Now, no one knows where the Ark was being stored at this time.
The last record we have is that it was being kept in the home of some priest in Kiryat-Ye’arim.
However, since it was normal for the Ark to accompany the soldiers in battle, it makes sense it was traveling with this group.
Now, let’s take a good look at Saul’s character.
As I explained earlier, he is a perfect picture of what a Godly ruler is NOT.
Saul had one eye on the confusion emerging from the Philistine camp,
On the other hand, he couldn’t ignore his gut feeling that he should consult God before taking any action.
So he called the High Priest and had him perform a divining ritual to seek God’s Will.
However, he soon lost patience and interrupted the High Priest
Saul told him “Put your hand down”.
What exactly was going on here?
Simple, the High Priest was using the Urim and Thummim to get God’s response on the best course of action to take.
The two stones (kind of like ancient dice) were stored in a small pouch attached to the High Priest’s breastplate.
How it worked is that the High Priest would remove the stones from the pouch and then throw them back in to get a divine answer.
Again, Saul’s hasty nature is on full display here.
He liked the idea of seeking the Lord on matters, but when it came to implementing, he didn’t have the patience to follow through and reverted back to his own flesh when it came time to make decisions.
In this case, he rudely interrupted the High Priest while he was trying to consult with God.
There are a couple of interesting takeaways we can get from this.
First, don’t be so freakin’ impatient.
If God has outlined a series of steps necessary to achieve a certain outcome, then be patient and diligent in following those steps, instead of losing your cool and stopping the process halfway through.
Ya feel me.
Second, and this goes back to yesterday’s post.
Trust that the process God has outlined for you is valid and will work.
Don’t be like Saul here, who started the process, but midway got impatient, lost confidence in what was being done, and then decided to impulsively rely on his own flesh to decide certain matters.
This is really important.
Whether you’re trying to implement a business plan, diet, or install a new positive habit in your life, TRUST the process man.
Give it time to work.
Later.
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“Be patient, then, brothers and sisters,
until the Lord’s coming. See how the
farmer waits for the land to yield its
valuable crop, patiently waiting for
the autumn and spring rains. You too,
be patient and stand firm, because
the Lord’s coming is near.”
-James 5:7-8
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