1 Chronicles 10

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1 CHRONICLES 10

PASSAGE FOR REFLECTION

So Saul died for his breach of faith. He broke faith with the Lord in that he did not keep the command of the Lord, and also consulted a medium, seeking guidance. He did not seek guidance from the Lord. Therefore the Lord put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David the son of Jesse. 1 CHRONICLES 10:13, 14

REFLECTION

We are told in this passage that Saul died for his breach of faith by not keeping God's command and also for consulting a medium. Was this too draconian a measure? Afterall he was God's anointed king. Could God not have cut him some slack? A more troubling question confronts us: will the same fate fall on us if we were to do the same?

Let us look again at what Saul had done. In 1 Samuel 15, we are told that King Saul had been instructed by God through Samuel to destroy everything belonging to the Amalekites after the Israelites had defeated them. King Saul did not carry this out. Instead, he kept everything that was good for himself and his soldiers, and against God's clear instructions, spared their king, King Agag. For this, God told King Saul that he would remove him as king and that God would no longer answer King Saul when he called on him.

Shortly after this incident, the Philistine army went against the Israelite army (1Samuel 28). When Saul saw the Philistines, he was terrified and sought the Lord. But the Lord was silent. When king Saul received no answer from the Lord, he sought the help of a medium. For doing so, God confirmed through Samuel that king Saul and his heirs would die in battle the next day.

What was so grave about king Saul's sin? Did such disobedience warrant the death sentence for king Saul? Was there anything that king Saul could have done to avert such a tragedy?

Israel was God's very special and precious nation. In fact, God had on many occasions even referred to Israel as His child. Before all the other nations, Israel was God's showpiece as well. The fact that they were thriving in the midst of hostile nations that were many times more powerful was testimony to God's protection over them. For that period of his life, king Saul was the custodian entrusted with leading Israel to follow God. He was merely God's servant. His role was to take instructions from God and lead Israel according to those instructions. But instead of seeing himself as custodian or caretaker, king Saul treated Israel like his personal property. He behaved as if Israel was his and that he could do with the nation in whatever way he wanted.

Think of it this way: suppose you employed a nanny or babysitter for your young child. You would expect the nanny to take instructions from you as to how to bring up your child. What if the nanny treated your child as her own, not in a good way of loving and caring for your child, but bringing the child up in ways contrary to your convictions and instructions, and even refusing to acknowledge you as parent? Would you not instantly remove the nanny?

Could king Saul still have repented and averted this tragedy? Any answer to this question would be speculative, as the fact is that instead of humbling himself and repenting, King Saul sought the help of a medium when God ignored him. It was a direct insult to God. King Saul through his action was in effect saying to God, "Ok, if you don't help me, I'll find someone else to do the work for me." The audacity of it all! This, coming from a servant entrusted with the care of God's beloved child Israel, was surely unpardonable. But would God have forgiven King Saul if he had repented? Throughout the reign of the kings of Israel and Judah, we see that each time a king, however bad he was, repented and earnestly sought God, God pardoned. God is not punitive. What He wants is to protect His children from harm. Anytime the custodian repents and decides to take instructions from God, God will pardon and reinstate the custodian.

RELATE

God entrusts many people to our care. For most of us, God entrusts our family members to our care. They could be our children, or our parents or grandparents, or our siblings. Then God also entrusts to our care, our classmates or colleagues. For some, our entire office, our clients, or business associates or subordinates or superiors. And then there are those entrusted to us in church - our small group members, or other partners in our ministries. As custodians of those entrusted to us, we are expected to give God's love to them. We are in effect pastors to them. 

So we need to ask ourselves this question very frequently: how do I regard those entrusted to me? Do I regard them as mere tools that are at my disposal to do things for my benefit, or do I see them as persons precious to God and entrusted to me to care for? Do I consult God for wisdom and help as to how to care for them, or do I simply devise ways to make them do my bidding?

REST

Make me a servant, humble and meek,

Lord let me lift up those who are weak.

And may the prayer of my heart always be,

Make me a servant, make me a servant, make me a servant today.

Chiu Ming Li