The Long Road from Anointment to Appointment
Brevity is one of the great problems associated with
any written account of a person’s life. In real
life, there are 24 hours in a day, 365 days in a year, and many people live
to old age. And yet, we often read written accounts of lives in a few short
pages. This certainly occurs in 1 Samuel. At the beginning of the book, Eli and
his sons are still ruling Israel, and Samuel has not been born. Shortly
thereafter, Samuel is born, he receives prophesy from God in his teen years,
and has grown to be a respected man before Eli and his sons die. Then, he rules
over Israel, grows to an old age, and the elders of Israel come to him to ask
for a king to rule over them. Then, God has Samuel anoint Saul as King of
Israel, and according to most Bible historians, Saul reigns for 25 or more
years before he falls from God’s favor and David receives God’s anointing as
the future King of God’s people.
David eventually comes to live with Saul in his palace, forms a close
relationship with Saul’s son Jonathan, becomes a very successful military
leader in Saul’s army, and spends approximately seven years with Saul and his
family before he flees from Saul’s jealous rage and murderous attempts on his
life. Then David spends 4 years running from Saul in the wilderness, and another 4
years in the land of the Philistines, before Saul and Jonathan are defeated by
the Philistines, and both die in battle. A remarkable amount of time has
passed, and yet 1 Samuel can be read in less than 2 hours.
Ultimately, this makes the book difficult to
understand and digest, because the casual reader is not keeping track of time
and thinking about what must have transpired for circumstances to transition
from one thing to the next. As a result, the reader is sometimes left with such
a brief view of Saul that they don’t notice that he was a successful King of
Israel for many years, and it was many years before he fell from God's grace. Saul was also known as God’s anointed. David would have heard this and many
wonderful stories during his early years about the success of Saul’s rule, the wealth
Saul brought to the nation of Israel, and the victories Saul won. Saul ruled
for several years before David was even born, and he was all that David knew as
King for all of his growing years. Then, although David was anointed as the
future King of Israel, he was not yet appointed, and it had been impressed on
his heart that Saul was God’s anointed.
It is important to keep this in perspective as we read
of the death of Saul and his son Jonathan. Although these events led to David
becoming King, they also marked the end of a great period for Israel, and surely
David and all of Israel understood the implications for their future. With that in mind, let’s recount the events in 1
Samuel 31.
1
Samuel 31 - Now the Philistines fought against Israel; the
Israelites fled before them, and many fell dead on Mount Gilboa. The
Philistines were in hot pursuit of Saul and his sons, and they killed his sons
Jonathan, Abinadab and Malki-Shua. The fighting grew fierce around Saul, and
when the archers overtook him, they wounded him critically.
Saul said to his
armor-bearer, “Draw your sword and run me through, or these uncircumcised
fellows will come and run me through and abuse me.”
But his armor-bearer was
terrified and would not do it; so Saul took his own sword and fell on it. When
the armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he too fell on his sword and died with
him. So Saul and his three sons and his armor-bearer and all his men died
together that same day.
When the Israelites along
the valley and those across the Jordan saw that the Israelite army had fled and
that Saul and his sons had died, they abandoned their towns and fled. And the
Philistines came and occupied them.
The next day, when the
Philistines came to strip the dead, they found Saul and his three sons fallen
on Mount Gilboa. They cut off his head and stripped off his armor, and they
sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines to proclaim the news in
the temple of their idols and among their people. They put his armor in the
temple of the Ashtoreths and fastened his body to the wall of Beth Shan.
When the people of Jabesh Gilead heard what the Philistines
had done to Saul, all their valiant men marched through the night to Beth Shan.
They took down the bodies of Saul and his sons from the wall of Beth Shan and
went to Jabesh, where they burned them. Then they took their bones and buried
them under a tamarisk tree at Jabesh, and they fasted seven days.
The reference to the people of Jabesh Gilead is a
reminder of Saul coming to their recue nearly 40 years earlier. Of course they
were sad! They would not be alive if it were not for Saul.
Now let’s take a close look at how David learns of
Saul’s death in 2 Samuel 1:1-12.
2
Samuel 1:1-12 - After the death of Saul, David returned
from striking down the Amalekites and stayed in Ziklag two days. On the third
day a man arrived from Saul’s camp with his clothes torn and dust on his head.
When he came to David, he fell to the ground to pay him honor.
“Where have you come
from?” David asked him.
He answered, “I have
escaped from the Israelite camp.”
“What happened?” David
asked. “Tell me.”
“The men fled from the
battle,” he replied. “Many of them fell and died. And Saul and his son Jonathan
are dead.”
Then David said to the
young man who brought him the report, “How do you know that Saul and his son
Jonathan are dead?”
“I happened to be on
Mount Gilboa,” the young man said, “and there was Saul, leaning on his spear,
with the chariots and their drivers in hot pursuit. When he turned around and
saw me, he called out to me, and I said, ‘What can I do?’
“He asked me, ‘Who are
you?’
“‘An Amalekite,’ I
answered.
“Then he said to me,
‘Stand here by me and kill me! I’m in the throes of death, but I’m still
alive.’
“So I stood beside him
and killed him, because I knew that after he had fallen he could not survive.
And I took the crown that was on his head and the band on his arm and have
brought them here to my lord.”
Then David and all the
men with him took hold of their clothes and tore them. They mourned and wept
and fasted till evening for Saul and his son Jonathan, and for the army of the
Lord and for the nation of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword.
At this point, the casual reader naturally asks, why
is David and his men are so sad about the death of Saul? After all, Saul has been pursuing and
trying to kill David for many years. Well, this brings us full circle to the comments
that I made at the beginning of this writing. Saul was Israel’s first king, he
was anointed by God, and led Israel successfully for many years before losing
favor with God. Saul was all that David and his men had ever known. He and
Jonathan were their heroes for many years. The news of their death was indeed
grave!
I’m quite certain that the messenger expected a great
reward for bringing this news to David, and I am reminded of a phrase that I
heard many times years ago. “He told a lie when the truth would have done better.”
1
Samuel 1:13-16 - David said to the young man who brought
him the report, “Where are you from?”
“I am the son of a
foreigner, an Amalekite,” he answered.
David asked him, “Why
weren’t you afraid to lift your hand to destroy the Lord’s anointed?”
Then David called one of
his men and said, “Go, strike him down!” So he struck him down, and he died. For
David had said to him, “Your blood be on your own head. Your own mouth testified
against you when you said, ‘I killed the Lord’s anointed.’”
At this point, David pours out his heart for Saul and
Jonathan, and we hear something far removed from some of our modern day sappy
love songs, in the verses David writes in their honor.
1
Samuel 1:17-27 - David took up this lament concerning
Saul and his son Jonathan, and he ordered that the people of Judah be taught
this lament of the bow (it is written in the Book of Jashar):
“A gazelle[a] lies
slain on your heights, Israel.
How the mighty have fallen!
“Tell it not in
Gath,
proclaim it not in the streets of Ashkelon,
lest the daughters
of the Philistines be glad,
lest the daughters of the uncircumcised
rejoice.
“Mountains of
Gilboa,
may you have neither dew nor rain,
may no showers fall on your terraced
fields.[b]
For there the
shield of the mighty was despised,
the shield of Saul—no longer rubbed with
oil.
“From the blood of
the slain,
from the flesh of the mighty,
the bow of
Jonathan did not turn back,
the sword of Saul did not return
unsatisfied.
Saul and Jonathan—
in life they were loved and admired,
and in death they were not parted.
They were swifter
than eagles,
they were stronger than lions.
“Daughters of
Israel,
weep for Saul,
who clothed you in
scarlet and finery,
who adorned your garments with ornaments of
gold.
“How the mighty
have fallen in battle!
Jonathan lies slain on your heights.
I grieve for you,
Jonathan my brother;
you were very dear to me.
Your love for me
was wonderful,
more wonderful than that of women.
“How the mighty
have fallen!
The weapons
of war have perished!”
Amazing. Clearly, David’s feelings for Saul are rooted far from the circumstances of Saul’s insanity in his later years. David
had great respect for Saul’s anointing from God, and great love and admiration
for both Saul and Jonathan. As for David’s statements concerning Jonathan, it
is unfortunate that a portion of this verse is sometimes perverted by people who
completely miss the meaning of the phrase “Your love for me was wonderful, more
wonderful than that of women.” I can only imagine that they have never experienced
intimate love, or their only interpretation of intimate love is of a sexual, and far less meaningful nature.
After these events, David became King over the tribe
of Judah (2 Samuel 2), and Israel is suddenly divided. The House of Saul still
reigned over a large portion of Israel, and Abner (Saul’s cousin) arranged for
Saul’s son Ish-Bosheth to reign as King outside of the portion of Israel controlled
by either David or the Philistines. A 7.5 year war between the House of
David and the House of Saul takes a great toll on the nation of Israel. During
this time, the House of David continually grows in strength, and the House of
Saul steadily weakens. At some point, Ish-Bosheth and Abner have an altercation
that leads to Abner meeting with the elders of Israel to seek their approval to
make David King over all of Israel, and Abner arranges a meeting with David to
make plans for this to transpire. However, before David is appointed,
Abner and Ish-Bosheth are both murdered and mourned by all of Israel. Then
David finally receives the appointment associated with a much earlier
anointment, to be King over all of Israel.
David eventually captures Jerusalem from the Jebusites
(a Canaanite tribe), builds his palace, and solidifies his rule by defeating the
Philistines. In everything that David does during this time period,
he seeks God’s approval and assurances, and God blesses his actions, giving him
victory over his enemies at every turn. It has not been so many years from the time
that David nearly lost everything (including his relationship with God), and
his eyes are firmly focused on following God, obeying his commands, and honoring
God’s appointment on his life.
Have
you thought about God’s anointment for your life?
You will probably not become the King of a great nation, and you may never have
earthly riches. But God has wonderful plans for you, and you have the opportunity
to fulfill God’s plans for your life every day. Don’t judge your life through the
eyes of humans. God’s thoughts are different from our thoughts, and things that
you view as insignificant can make a tremendous difference for those around
you. Also, keep David’s story in mind. Anointment and appointment are words
that sound alike, but there is often a considerable amount of time that
separates the two. God anoints us, and then he prepares us before He appoints
us. We don’t have to be ready for our appointment to receive God’s anointment.
We just have to give ourselves over to God, and seek His plans for our lives.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Feel free to leave a comment.