"Now the war against the Philistines was severe all the days of Saul; and when Saul saw any mighty man or any valiant man, he attached him to his staff." (verse 52)
Time: This book is a biography of Samuel's life and career up to his death. It took place over a period of about 110 years, stretching from the closing days of the judges, when Samuel was born (ca. 1120 BC) through the death of Saul (1011 BC).
What the Lord is Saying: In Chapter 14, after Jonathan went forward and initiated the defeat of the Philistines, it seems that Saul feels threatened by this. He therefore erects a requirement that no one of his army and people can eat anything until he can avenge himself and this issue. The people are starving and out of their need for hunger they start devouring the spoil of the Philistines and along the way eat the blood of animals which is strictly prohibited by the Law. Saul confronts them on this. He has to be reminded by a priest to draw near to God. He does do this, and in not hearing an answer expects that some sin must have gotten in the way. The sin he believes is Jonathan and him eating of the honeycomb on the ground, despite not knowing his father's requirement. Saul in his urgency to fulfill the requirement is ready to kill Jonathan.
Verse 47 and 48 provide a summary of all that Saul had done in his wars up to this point. In verse 49-51 is another summary of who his sons are (Jonathan, Ishvi, and Malchi-shua), his daughters (Merab, Michal) and his wife Ahinoam, the captain of his arm, his uncle Abner, his father Kish. He concludes by saying in all of his wars with the Philistines, when he found good soldiers, he brought them into his regime.
In chapter 15, verse 1 is another summary given by Samuel - confirming his anointing of Saul as king and also confirming the Lord's work to punish Amelek (sons of Esau) (verse 2) who attacked and opposed the Lord's people. And now Saul (verse 3) is to completely eradicate and destroy these people which would mean not taking their spoils.
And yet, Saul will now in the remaining verses not follow through completely on this destruction but will instead spare some groups. He saves the Kenites (verse 6) stating their kindness to Israel. He spared Agag, the king of the Amalekites (verse 8) and instead it says, "everything despised and worthless, that they utterly destroyed." Saul felt justified in what he spared.
There does seem a possible problem in what Saul is doing. On the surface at times, it seems like he is doing the Lord's work, but rather than following it to a tee, he adapts it and changes the command to fit what he feels is right, justifying it himself. It is a problem I think we all have at times. We adjust the Lord's commands to fit our needs and wants. We perhaps say, "Oh, God couldn't have meant that." We do this because we think we know better than God. We have done this. We justify divorce, abortion, being unequally yoked. We justify lying and coveting. We justify the Sabbath day and working on Sunday. We text OMG thinking we are not blaspheming God. We skate often on the commands that God gives, making it seem more reasonable to us. But are we really following God's command or are we adjusting them slightly to make them more palpable to us and our ways.
Summary: An overview of the victories Saul has been involved in is given and he is commissioned by Samuel to eradicate the Amalekites, he almost does it complete, but makes a few adjustments to fit his liking.
Promise: Our focus should be on faithfulness to the Lord before any of the other achievements we pursue.
Prayer: God, your ways are right and I admit sometimes I feel like it is too harsh and so in the process, I make adjustments to adapt things to my own way. But Lord, I need to be a people that is straight forward in obeying Your commands. Help me to really trust You and do the things you are asking me to do. Thank you for this truth and this lesson that you give. Thank you for the richness of this text and how Your word speaks of so much to us. Help me to honor You with my words and actions always.
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