Chapter 12 ended with Samuel encouraging King Saul and the people to follow and be obedient to God, and the very next chapter records Saul disobeying God’s commandments. Saul and his men were encamped against the Philistines and the people were frightened. Saul was to wait for Samuel, but when he didn’t come, Saul grew tired of waiting and decided to take matters into his own hands, offering a sacrifice, on his own, without a priest.\u00a0When Samuel arrived, God announced through Samuel the end of Saul’s kingdom and that Saul’s descendants would not reign after him. It sounded as if the end of his reign was going to happen at that exact moment. However, Saul reigned another 20 years; nevertheless, that it would end, was a certainty.<\/p>\n
God was seeking \u201ca man after His own heart,\u201d meaning someone who desires<\/em> to obey God. Saul learned that the cost of obedience was slight (waiting a few more days for Samuel) compared to the cost of continued disobedience (the loss of his kingdom). Saul was not a patient man and was quick to shift the blame to others, which would eventually cost him everything.<\/p>\n Life is made up of long waiting periods, linked together by short bursts of activity. The child has to wait until she is old enough to have a bicycle, the young teenager until she is old enough to drive a car, to get her diploma, to meet her husband, to own their first home. The art of waiting is not learned all at once, and patience is in as short a supply today as it was then. Saul is an illustration of the danger of allowing impatience to rule our lives and the folly of trying to run ahead of God. Saul made a wrong choice, and the tragedy was that he refused to repent. He paid dearly for it for the rest of his life. May we learn from Saul and not make the same mistake today.<\/p>\n LORD, we wait on You this day, in Jesus’ name.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n =============================================================<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1 Samuel 13 KJV<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1<\/sup>\u00a0Saul reigned one year; and when he had reigned two years over Israel,\u00a0\u00a02<\/sup>\u00a0Saul chose him three thousand\u00a0men\u00a0<\/em>of Israel;\u00a0whereof\u00a0<\/em>two thousand were with Saul in Michmash and in mount Beth-el, and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin: and the rest of the people he sent every man to his tent.\u00a03<\/sup>\u00a0And Jonathan smote the garrison of the Philistines that\u00a0was\u00a0<\/em>in Geba, and the Philistines heard\u00a0of it<\/em>. And Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, Let the Hebrews hear.\u00a04<\/sup>\u00a0And all Israel heard say\u00a0that\u00a0<\/em>Saul had smitten a garrison of the Philistines, and\u00a0that\u00a0<\/em>Israel also was had in abomination with the Philistines. And the people were called together after Saul to Gilgal.\u00a05<\/sup>\u00a0And the Philistines gathered themselves together to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots, and six thousand horsemen, and people as the sand which\u00a0is\u00a0<\/em>on the sea shore in multitude: and they came up, and pitched in Michmash, eastward from Beth-aven.\u00a06<\/sup>\u00a0When the men of Israel saw that they were in a strait, (for the people were distressed,) then the people did hide themselves in caves, and in thickets, and in rocks, and in high places, and in pits.\u00a07<\/sup>\u00a0And\u00a0some of\u00a0<\/em>the Hebrews went over Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. As for Saul, he\u00a0was\u00a0<\/em>yet in Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling.\u00a08<\/sup>\u00a0And he tarried seven days, according to the set time that Samuel\u00a0had appointed:\u00a0<\/em>but Samuel came not to Gilgal; and the people were scattered from him.\u00a09<\/sup>And Saul said, Bring hither a burnt offering to me, and peace offerings. And he offered the burnt offering.\u00a010<\/sup>\u00a0And it came to pass, that as soon as he had made an end of offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him, that he might salute him.\u00a011<\/sup>\u00a0And Samuel said, What hast thou done? And Saul said, Because I saw that the people were scattered from me, and\u00a0that\u00a0<\/em>thou camest not within the days appointed, and\u00a0that\u00a0<\/em>the Philistines gathered themselves together at Michmash;\u00a012<\/sup>\u00a0Therefore said I, The Philistines will come down now upon me to Gilgal, and I have not made supplication unto the\u00a0LORD: I forced myself therefore, and offered a burnt offering.\u00a013<\/sup>\u00a0And Samuel said to Saul, Thou hast done foolishly: thou hast not kept the commandment of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0thy God, which he commanded thee: for now would the\u00a0LORD\u00a0have established thy kingdom upon Israel for ever.\u00a014<\/sup>\u00a0But now thy kingdom shall not continue: the\u00a0LORD\u00a0hath sought him a man after his own heart, and the\u00a0LORD\u00a0hath commanded him\u00a0to be\u00a0<\/em>captain over his people, because thou hast not kept\u00a0that\u00a0<\/em>which the\u00a0LORD\u00a0commanded thee. 15<\/sup>\u00a0And Samuel arose, and gat him up from Gilgal unto Gibeah of Benjamin. And Saul numbered the people\u00a0that were\u00a0<\/em>present with him, about six hundred men.\u00a0\u00a016<\/sup>And Saul, and Jonathan his son, and the people\u00a0that were\u00a0<\/em>present with them, abode in Gibeah of Benjamin: but the Philistines encamped in Michmash.\u00a017<\/sup>\u00a0And the spoilers came out of the camp of the Philistines in three companies: one company turned unto the way\u00a0that leadeth to\u00a0<\/em>Ophrah, unto the land of Shual:\u00a018<\/sup>And another company turned the way\u00a0to\u00a0<\/em>Beth-horon: and another company turned\u00a0to\u00a0<\/em>the way of the border that looketh to the valley of Zeboim toward the wilderness. 19<\/sup>\u00a0Now there was no smith found throughout all the land of Israel: for the Philistines said, Lest the Hebrews make\u00a0them\u00a0<\/em>swords or spears: 20<\/sup>\u00a0But all the Israelites went down to the Philistines, to sharpen every man his share, and his coulter, and his axe, and his mattock.\u00a021<\/sup>\u00a0Yet they had a file for the mattocks, and for the coulters, and for the forks, and for the axes, and to sharpen the goads.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a022<\/sup>\u00a0So it came to pass in the day of battle, that there was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people that\u00a0were\u00a0<\/em>with Saul and Jonathan: but with Saul and with Jonathan his son was there found.\u00a023<\/sup>\u00a0And the garrison of the Philistines went out to the passage of Michmash.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Chapter 12 ended with Samuel encouraging King Saul and the people to follow and be obedient to God, and the very next chapter records Saul disobeying God’s commandments. Saul and his men were encamped against the Philistines and the people were frightened. Saul was to wait for Samuel, but when he didn’t come, Saul grew […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"yes","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6476"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6476"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6476\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16162,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6476\/revisions\/16162"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6476"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6476"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6476"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}