Excuses

Seven days.

Those had been His words, His instructions, His deadline.

Samuel had promised to meet Saul in Gilgal, the site of a mustering, anxious Israelite crowd. Israel had barely begun to follow their first king when the first real test of his mettle presented itself. Philistia had gathered: “thirty-thousand chariots and six thousand horsemen and troops like the sand on the seashore in multitude” (1 Sam. 13.5), all armed with the very sorts of weapons they had prevented Israel from possessing. Israel hid and fled from the Philistine invaders, many of them forsaking God’s promised land west of Jordan and fleeing east into Gad and Gilead. Many centuries from now Jeremiah would ask whether there was “balm in Gilead” (Jer. 8.22). Israel needed healing & guidance now more than ever, and Saul was told that the aged judge from Ramah would come through once more for them.

And yet Samuel still hadn’t arrived. Did Saul anxiously wait for sundown on the 6th day to see if Samuel would arrive? Did he sit up all night waiting for the elderly prophet of YHWH? Did Saul anxiously peer through the greylight of early dawn, speaking words of encouragement and assurance to his nervous commanders, and they to their more-nervous Israelite brethren?

However it went, each time Saul looked to the ridge or horizon or tree line toward Ramah, there was still no Samuel.

At some point during the seventh day some of the Israelites reached their breaking point, allowing their trembling to override their unwillingness to betray God’s anointed king and His yet-to-arrive priest. Like fans leaving a losing contest prior to the final buzzer, or sheep convinced of their shepherd’s absence, they began to scatter from Saul.

It was at this point when Saul reached his own breaking point, allowing excuse after excuse to flood his mind and override his unwillingness to betray God’s commandment. Saul impatiently orders the burnt offerings and peace offerings be brought near, sacrifices that were to be offered only upon Samuel’s arrival, and they begin the bloody betrayal of YHWH. Throats are slit, animals are flayed and portioned, fat and flesh and forehead all arranged on atop wood on an altar of stone, then set ablaze. What was said to be a sweet-smelling savor in the presence of YHWH instead becomes sour and astringent, as are all offerings made to God in defiance of God’s will.

It was at this precise moment when Samuel arrived, uttering the very words YHWH Himself uttered to Saul’s wayward ancestor, Cain “What have you done?” (Gen. 4.10) What follows next is a study of excuses, of reasons offered to defy the will of the author of Reason, of impotent attempts to pacify the wrath of an omnipotent God.

“And Saul said, ‘When I saw that the people were scattering from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines had mustered at Mishmash, I said, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the favor of the LORD.’ So I forced myself, and offered the burnt offering.’” (1 Sam. 13.11b-12 ESV)

“the people were scattering from me”
Saul’s first reason for disobeying God’s commandment was based on the scattering Israelites. The implication is clear: “It’s their fault. If they would have stayed loyal to me, faithful to me, trusted in me and stuck around, I wouldn’t have had to offer the sacrifice.” The irony couldn’t be clearer: If Saul had been loyal to YHWH, placed his faith in YHWH, trusted in YHWH, and abided in YHWH’s command to wait for Samuel, the people’s actions wouldn’t have swayed his mind. Saul wasn’t forced by the people to do anything, just as the people weren’t forced by the Philistines to abandon Saul. This wouldn’t be the first time Saul would throw Israel under the bus in defense of his actions (1 Sam. 15.15, 21).

When we point the finger at others, three more point back at ourselves. Note Samuel’s response from God in 1 Sam. 13.13-14: “YOU have done foolishly. YOU have not kept the command…with which He commanded YOU…YOU have not kept what the LORD commanded YOU.” (emp. mine). When we make the choice to disobey God, we have only ourselves to blame. When God commands us obey, He expects us to obey no matter what decisions are made by those around us. “For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” (Matt. 7.14 ESV)

“you did not come within the days appointed”
Saul’s second reason for disobeying God was based on Samuel’s arrival, which was late according to Saul. The day wasn’t over, because sacrifices are not offered in the dark. Samuel arrives “As soon as (Saul) had finished the burnt offering” (v.10), meaning he DID arrive within the specified timeframe. Saul believed that the success and failure of his pending battle against the Philistines hinged on sacrifice, not obedience to God’s commandments (not the first time he will do this either: 1 Sam. 15.22). Also, don’t miss the implication against God in Saul’s complaint. Samuel’s “late” arrival (in Saul’s eyes) was tantamount to God failing to uphold His end of the bargain. Saul failed to trust that God would not command him to wait seven days and then fail to deliver Samuel to arrive within that time frame, even if it was near the end of it.

God has a way of allowing time to test His servants’ faithfulness. Abraham was commanded to sacrifice Isaac, and God waits until the last possible moment to stay Abraham’s hand, testing his willingness to obey God’s instructions (cf. Gen. 22.10). God’s delay is the crux of the scoffer’s argument in 2 Peter 3.4 ESV: “…Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.” Beware lest we use time as a reason to defy He who set time in motion and exists outside of time (cf. Ps. 90.2-4). Disobeying God based on timing is an implication that God’s timing, and therefore God’s perfect wisdom and judgment, are subject to reproach. To put it bluntly, THAT approach never ends well.

“the Philistines had mustered at Mishmash… the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal”
“All the circumstances and all the dangers were as well known to God as they were to Saul, and God had bidden him wait until Samuel came” (Barnes’ Notes on the Bible, 1 Sam. 13.13). God knew about the army of the Philistines, He knew precisely how many chariots, how many horses, and how many hairs grew under the helmets of every single Philistine in that camp (cf. Matt. 10.30). NOTHING in this scenario is unknown or unaccounted for by God. And yet, Saul treats the situation as if unless he offers sacrifice and appeases his God (a very idolatrous, Canaanite notion), then he will be destroyed. Saul made his success and failure (and therefore his actions) based on helping himself, not pleasing God.

How sad it is that we often choose disobedience in a vain effort to help ourselves! God promises happiness in Him by following His ways and His instructions, and yet every sinner from Eve onward has sought betterment outside of God’s will, with disastrous results. Do we trust God so little? So often, that’s exactly the case. When we become self-centered instead of God-centered, we forget that HE is still in charge, that HE is the one who judges us based on our choices (2 Cor. 5.10), and that HE will deliver us by HIS power in HIS time. A set of circumstances that would require us to defy God’s will do not exist, no matter how we may choose to view them in the moment.

“so I forced myself, and offered the burnt offering”
Of the four reasons, this one is the most pitiable. In essence, “I didn’t want to, but I did it anyway.” Based on all the previous reasons, Saul puts his defiance of the Almighty in the same category as swallowing bitter medicine. What does Saul expect Samuel to say? “Oh, you didn’t want to? Well, that’s alright, your heart was in the right place…” False. Saul’s heart wasn’t in the right place. A rightly placed heart WILL NOT DEFY GOD. This pathetic final excuse perfectly highlights the utter weakness of Saul’s character, a weakness that is highlighted again in his beggarly grasping of Samuel’s robe two chapters later (1 Sam. 15.27).

And yet, lest we look down from our high horses on Saul, are not our excuses as pathetic as his? We justify all sorts of defiance of God by claiming 1. we know better and 2. we would do better if we could. You know, the “I’m doing the best I can” argument, or the “Well, God knows my heart” argument. If we are defying God’s will, we are NOT doing our best, and God knows the truth about our heart. Paul highlighted the war between flesh and spirit in Romans 7.7-24, and yet at NO point justified the desires of his flesh with “good intentions”. Instead, he highlights the utter despair of his condition: “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Rom. 7.24-25a). We must cease justifying disobedience by claiming good intentions. Obey God. Force yourself when necessary. “Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.” (Heb 12.3-4)