Now the men of Israel were pressed to exhaustion that day, because Saul had placed them under an oath, saying, “Let a curse fall on anyone who eats before evening—before I have full revenge on my enemies.” So no one ate anything all day. [1 Samuel 14:24 (NLT)]
Last week, when writing how Jephthah’s reckless vow caused his daughter’s death, I remembered how Saul’s equally foolish vow nearly cost his son’s life. While Israel was at war with the Philistines, Saul and his 600 men were camped near Gibeah. Israel was seriously out-numbered by the better-armed Philistines and, because their enemy controlled the pass at Micmash, Saul’s troops could proceed no further. Although the rest of Saul’s men were afraid, Jonathan and his armor bearer were confident that the Lord was with them. Tired of the hopeless standoff with their enemies, the two snuck out of camp and headed toward the Philistine garrison. After passing through two treacherous cliffs and scaling a steep slope, they entered the enemy outpost and, outnumbered ten to one, killed them all.
Their brief skirmish threw the entire Philistine army into a panic and, when the earth shook, there was mass confusion among Israel’s enemy. Seeing the chaos from afar, Saul and his men rushed into battle. The battle went so well that even deserters who’d defected to the Philistines and Israelites who’d been hiding in the hills joined in fighting Israel’s foe.
During Jonathon’s absence from camp, Saul vowed a curse upon anyone who ate before evening and he exacted revenge on his enemies. Not knowing of his father’s vow, however, Jonathon paused during the battle to eat some honey he found. When told of his father’s vow, he recognized it for what it was—a foolish curse. “My father has made trouble for us all!” Pointing out how just a little honey restored his energy, he added, “A command like that only hurts us.”
Indeed, rather than inspiring his troops with his reckless vow, Saul impaired them and even caused them to sin. Because none of his men dared pause during battle to eat the spoil of their enemies, they grew fatigued. Had they not been faint from hunger, their victory over the Philistines would have been far greater. That evening, the famished men broke the law by not properly butchering the captured meat and eating it without draining the blood.
Upon discovering Jonathon’s accidental transgression, Saul insisted that his son deserved death. He was as willing as was Jephthah to sacrifice his own child to fulfill a vow that never should have been made. Backing down and allowing Jonathon to live would have required Saul to admit the error of his imprudent vow, so the proud king doubled down by making yet another rash vow—that God should strike and even kill him if his son didn’t die. Saul’s men knew that, without Jonathon’s courageous act, there would have been no victory to celebrate and refused to bow to the king’s wishes. In response to Saul’s vow, they swore that not a hair on the Jonathon’s head would be touched. Facing such bold defiance from his own men, Saul reluctantly rescinded his order. The man so willing to sacrifice his own son to fulfill his first foolish vow, was not so willing to face death to fulfill his second one!
Let us learn from the rash vows of both Saul and Jephthah and think carefully before making promises to God or anyone else. Talk is cheap—but not when it costs someone else their life!
In the years following the exiles’ return to Judah and the rebuilding of the Temple, adherence to the Law grew lax. Knowing how to live a Jewish life depended on knowing the commandments of the Torah but the people had drifted away from God and His word and were committing the same sins that got them exiled! More than fifty years after the Temple’s rebuilding, Ezra arrived in Jerusalem. As a priest and teacher of the law, Ezra was shocked to find such disobedience. He tore his clothes and pulled his hair in sorrow before kneeling in prayer. He led the people in prayers of confession and repentance after which they swore a solemn oath to follow the Lord’s commands.
Even without knowing what a petard is, we probably know that when someone gets “hoisted by his own petard,” he’s been foiled by his own scheme. When Shakespeare’s audience heard this phrase spoken by Hamlet in 1600, they knew a petard was a bomb. In the bard’s day, hoisted had more than one meaning. Along with lifted, it meant removed or taken out. Taken literally, Hamlet’s phrase meant that his enemy would be blown up by his own bomb!
In a classic Peanuts comic (drawn by Charles Schulz), the meek Linus asked his bossy big sister Lucy, “Why are you always so anxious to criticize me?” She answered, “I just think I have a knack for seeing other peoples’ faults.” When Linus queried, “What about your own faults?” Lucy replied, “I have a knack for overlooking them.” Along with her over-sized ego, Lucy has what psychologists call “fundamental attribution error.”
Since we both attended liturgical churches as girls, my friend and I were trying to recall the terms for the various parts of a traditional church building. We knew the foyer is called the narthex and the congregation sits the church’s nave. We also knew the altar rail usually separated the nave from the chancel in the front. It’s from the chancel that the service is conducted and where the altar, pulpit, and lectern are located. We even recalled that the sacristy was the room holding Communion supplies and linens. Since we were worshipping in a park that morning, my friend asked the location of our sanctuary. In historic usage, sanctuary and chancel were synonymous but, in modern usage, a sanctuary consists of the entire worship space of a church. With no building, we had no narthex, nave, or chancel but we did have a worship space; our sanctuary was a gazebo in a county park.
As we settled into our pews in the sanctuary, people talked loudly, called out to one another, laughed raucously, visited other pews, and checked their phones even after the organist started his beautiful prelude. It wasn’t until the pastor stood at the pulpit and started speaking that they eventually quieted down and put away their phones. As I wondered what became of the awe and reverence that should accompany us into God’s house, I again thought of the time Israel brought the sacred Ark of the Covenant into battle with them. Putting aside their idolatry, consider the lack of respect given to this religious chest designed by God and representing His presence among His people.
