Thought from today’s Bible reading from 1 Samuel 13-14.
After the Philistines were defeated, due in large part to the bravery of Jonathan, Saul issued a foolish and selfish executive order. It is one that should remind us of the dangers of having one fallible man possessing so much authority.
“So the Lord delivered Israel that day, and the battle spread beyond Beth-aven. Now the men of Israel were hard-pressed on that day, for Saul had put the people under oath, saying, ‘Cursed be the man who eats food before evening, and until I have avenged myself on my enemies.’ So none of the people tasted food.
“All the people of the land entered the forest, and there was honey on the ground. When the people entered the forest, behold, there was a flow of honey; but no man put his hand to his mouth, for the people feared the oath.
“But Jonathan had not heard when his father put the people under oath; therefore, he put out the end of his staff that was in his hand and dipped it in the honeycomb, and put his hand to his mouth, and his eyes brightened. Then one of the people said, ‘Your father strictly put the people under oath, saying, “Cursed be the man who eats food today.”‘ And the people were weary.
“Then Jonathan said, ‘My father has troubled the land. See now, how my eyes have brightened because I tasted a little of this honey. How much more, if only the people had eaten freely today of the spoil of their enemies which they found! For now the slaughter among the Philistines has not been great’” (1 Samuel 14:23-30).
Notice that God delivered the Israelites and had blessed them with the spoil of the land. Yet Saul, the king, because of his selfish, self-serving priorities (avenging himself on his enemies), issued an order restricting the use and enjoyment of a blessing that had been given by God.
Jonathan, knowing nothing of the order, partook of this blessing and benefited from it. When one of the people told Jonathan of the king’s order, Jonathan criticized his own father, pointing out the fact that the king was troubling Israel by issuing orders restricting the use of God’s blessings, thereby withholding good from the people.
God certainly ordained government for a purpose. “It is a minister of God to you for good” (Romans 13:4). Therefore, as this example reminds us, when government seeks to restrict or withhold those things with which God has blessed the people, it is acting in direct violation of its divinely-given role.
Tomorrow’s reading: 1 Samuel 15-17
[I’m using the Chronological reading plan on the Bible Gateway website if you’d like to follow along, too.]
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