June 29, 2008
Portrait of a Politician
The Arrogant King
1 Samuel 13:5-15
Robert Clinton has studied and written a great deal about leadership. Clinton has come to the conclusion that over 70% of leaders don’t finish well. For Christian leaders, he offers six factors that contribute to leadership failure.
One is, leaders quit learning and growing. Contentment is a killer. In second place is character weakness. Third leaders stop living according to their convictions. The fourth factor is, they stop living and leading for the sake of the long-term and settle for the short-term. Fifth, they forget their influence and purpose. Finally and most critically, leaders who end poorly lose their vibrant relationship with God.
Last time we began a study of an OT leader who not only ended poorly, his whole life and rule are a case study in bad leadership. He was Saul, the first king of Israel. I’ve called his account a “portrait of a politician“. One reason for that is, he lived for his image. When you study the chapters dealing with Saul’s reign you can’t help thinking, this guy was a leader who lived for the “photo-op“. He cared much more about people’s opinion than he did about God’s. Saul also made decisions repeatedly without consulting God.
He was incurably jealous -- his jealousy gushed from his great self-centeredness. And, Saul disobeyed God without hesitation because of a drive to hold on to power.
We started in chapter 8 of 1 Samuel. You remember how the account began: the nation came to the aging prophet Samuel and demanded a king -- mostly, because they wanted to be like other nations. And -- to the prophet’s utter amazement -- God granted their request.
Between that beginning in chapter 8 and where we pick up in chapter 13, Saul was publicly designated as king, by Samuel and by God -- that was in chapters 9 and 10. One of the new king’s first challenges was from the Ammonites, who threatened Jabesh-gilead. God’s Spirit came powerfully on Saul -- he slaughtered a yoke of oxen, and he sent pieces throughout Israel, and threatened he’d do the same to the oxen of anyone who did not come to the defense of their fellow Israelites. That move produced a force of 330,000 troops -- and ended in huge victory for Israel. That’s in chapter 11.
In chapter 12, Samuel again warns God’s people. Notice up in chapter 12 -- there’s a powerful assurance of God’s continued graciousness toward His people. Look for just a minute at 12, verse 20. They’ve already confessed it was evil to ask for a king. And Samuel says, "Do not fear. You have committed all this evil, yet do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. You must not turn aside." (1 Samuel 12:20, 21)
Then comes this powerful promise of God’s grace -- "For the Lord will not abandon His people on account of His great name, because the Lord has been pleased to make you a people for Himself." Then -- with intense seriousness -- Samuel reminded them of a Truth Israel was so prone to forget. It won’t be their king, it won’t be their army which will give them security and deliverance from enemies, it will be their God Who will defend them -- as He’s done again and again in their history.
Saul’s predicament
In chapter 13, things get dicey again, for Israel and their new king. We’re going to see, this is a test from God -- it’s an examination over the Truth Samuel just told them.
Saul’s son Jonathan has attacked a Philistine garrison. And the Philistines reacted -- with a massive build-up of force against Israel. As things continue, the situation goes from bad to worse. Verse 5 reports, the Philistines’ army included 30,000 chariots and 6,000 horsemen. There’s no number of foot soldiers, but we find out, it’s huge.
Saul again has to summon Israel to war, even though he’s just sent them home. But there’s a problem: the volunteers this time are few and far between -- and when those who do come see the Philistine hordes their numbers start evaporating. The image of their opponents is in verse 5 -- we’re told the forces were like the sand on the seashore -- it would remind you of one of those massive battle forces in Lord of the Rings.
So naturally, verse 6, when the men of Israel saw that they were in a strait (for the people were hard-pressed), then the people began to hide themselves in caves, in thickets, in cliffs, in cellars and in pits. Some put the river between themselves and the battle front. And the few that were left at the end of verse 7, with Saul at Gilgal followed him with trembling.
I’ve never been at a battle front, but I can imagine, no line officer or commanding officer would want either these odds or the morale described here. Saul was looking, on the one hand, at vastly overwhelming odds -- on the other at his little rag-tag group full of depressed morale. Saul becomes a desperate leader. And we discover that God has prepared this circumstance to test him.
We read that Samuel made an appointment with Saul: he said, he’ll come to front lines in a week. There, he would do what a prophet or priest of God would normally do -- he would make an offering to God and call on God to be gracious and favorable to His people once more. His presence would remind the little army that was left of God’s great power and ability in spite of their diminished resources.
6.9 of the 7 appointed days pass -- Samuel hasn’t come! And we heard the rest of the story as Jeff read it.
Saul rashly steps in -- and orders the materials for the burnt offerings and peace offering be brought to him -- and he offers them up himself. And, like he was on cue, while the smoke of the meat and incense are still in the air, Samuel arrives.
At this point in the account, we get God’s view of what was going on that day. Look at verse 10: Saul goes out to meet Samuel -- it says, he greeted him. That word greet carried the idea of blessing. God’s blessing on you, Samuel, man of God! Notice there’s no word about what he’d just done. But Samuel doesn’t bless Saul in return. He just issues a terse question: “What have you done?”
Saul, like most of us when we’ve sinned, had some great excuses all ready. The first is in verse 11: the people were scattering from me!! Samuel, I had to do something to get the people to stay focused and loyal and not also run away. Saul sacrificed Righteousness on the altar of fear. He did the expedient to keep people around.
His second excuse -- You did not come within the appointed time!! Now, just a note -- but in verse 8 we read, he waited seven days, according to the appointed time set by Samuel. Samuel said he’d be there in seven days. And when did Samuel come? On that seventh day. What Saul saw as urgent dictated something had to happen, even if it was something sinful.
The third excuse: the Philistines were assembling at Michmash, therefore I said, “now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal.” In reality, if you read the text, you see
the Philistines were camped, not advancing. But Saul looks at the situation and interprets it to mean, defeat is imminent and -- he just thought he’d go ahead and see if he could get God to step in and act. We’ll talk more about what’s behind his thinking.
Saul’s all about shifting blame and responsibility. Like many leaders, he will not admit his rash act and sin. Like a lot of people, he wanted authority but no responsibility. He lusted for power but rejected accountability. He wanted command over the nation, but would not submit to the leadership of God or others. That particular crossroads of character always significantly determines a leader’s success or failure.
Samuel rejects Saul’s flimsy excuses, then rebukes him for his foolishness.
Then he pulls back the curtain on what God was doing that day in Saul’s situation -- and shows him what he had not seen because the immediate had so blocked his view of God.
The real test
Verse 13 reveals the real leadership test God was giving Saul. Look how the last part reads: for now the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. (13:13)
The sad news for Saul is, God has looked for a man after His own heart -- and God has found him -- and it’s not you, Saul. You have failed God’s final exam.
I see at least three questions Saul was asked that day. Here’s one: Let’s ask ourselves how we do with each one.
* How do you react when your circumstances grow huge and your resources shrink?
You can’t help but remember a similar situation with Gideon in Judges 7. Like Saul, Gideon had looked at a huge force across a valley. Gideon’s enemies were the Midianites. But after Gideon had a significant force together, the Lord came and said, “you’ve got too fighting men, Gideon!“ The reason was, if they’d been victorious, Israel would boasted of their great victory.
God thinned them out -- anyone who was fearful was told to go home. 32,000 troops shrank to 10,000 by that means. But God came again and said, “Gideon, it’s still too many.” So Gideon was told, take them down to the water -- any soldier who bent down to lap water like a dog was sent home. Anyone who dipped a hand in water to drink while still looking alertly around, was kept. Gideon’s force dropped from 10,000 to 300. You can read the rest of the story -- Judges 7 -- but it’s just one more testimony of the Truth Saul never learned. God is your rescuer. He is your national security, your defender, your strength, your hope when the crisis strikes! His people and nation exist by His hand and He will continue to be its defense.
A second question from Saul‘s test paper:
How do you respond when God’s schedule conflicts with yours?
Through Samuel God simply told Saul, “wait.” Don’t act on your own, don’t make your own decision, don’t jump ahead. Wait for Samuel. You wait for God to show up and for God to work in the way that only God can! Saul held out for most of the prescribed time, but then he caved at the last minute. In the spiritual life, that attitude is hidden arrogance. It’s when Saul -- and we, revert to, “I’m in charge, so I’m going to do what I want to do!“ Saul was arrogant, he was impatient and impulsive and he was in sin.
The third test question: the most important of all:
How do you respond, when God is all you have?
We get so used to our resources, and quick-fixes, and tools and abilities and people at our disposal to help us out of tight situations. And those are well and good; but the time comes when God pushes our backs to the wall, he pushes us to the edge of the cliff, especially as leaders -- and He tests us by taking away what we are so used to having and depending on. Suddenly we’re at the brick wall. Maybe it’s when a job evaporates. Or there is simply no money, in spite of good spending habits. Maybe it’s the diagnosis that doesn‘t leave any wiggle room. Or, our spouse gets taken from us. As a leader, maybe, you’ve got a vision of what God wants to do, but you’ve got no partners to help accomplish it. When all the props get kicked out -- the ones we’ve relied so often -- then what? Saul just drove ahead in a very human way -- and the results were catastrophic.
This test means two battles were brewing that day. See, for God’s leader the real battle isn’t the one with the Philistines, it is the one going on inside him. And it’s that battle and that battle alone which will settle some fundamental issues -- issues like, “who is really in control
of all of life? -- Is it God, or is it me?” If you’re a leader at any level, that control issue is the one with which you’ll repeatedly have to wrestle. The other is the faith issue: “in what or in Whom am I trusting?”
Now don’t think Saul turned in a blank test booklet that day. He had answers to those questions -- but they were the “way wrong” answers! That’s because his answers flowed from a world view and life view which were defective and deficient.
Think with me about Saul’s view of God.
From our NT perspective we look at Saul offering the sacrifices and don’t quite get it. What’s so seriously wrong. From an OT perspective, Saul operating as if God was not absolutely holy. There was a God-prescribed way and there were God-prescribed people who could offer sacrifices. The king of all people was to understand God and His Law and hold them in reverence. For Saul to take up the offerings was to spurn God’s holiness. Our dumbed-down Americanized view of God has done the same for us -- we’ve treated God has good, but certainly not as holy.
The way Saul offered the sacrifices also tells us He viewed God as a good-luck charm. Notice, he wasn’t going to God in prayer day by day as the situation would have warranted -- it was out of desperation that God became the accessory his life and leadership needed. It’s sort of like when we start asking God to work when our ideas and attempts have failed, or that we pray only when a situation becomes absolutely critical.
Saul’s view of God also seems to be Someone to be obeyed if and when circumstances allow it. This was an emergency, a special case, so disregarding righteousness was permissible.
This is the “I know what God says, but” theory of life and morality and behavior. God is not large to Saul, He’s small. God is not Holy, He overlooks sin. God is not serious, His commands are suggestions.
Do you understand that your view of God determines how you approach every area of life. It certainly will determine your view of leadership. Because Saul’s view of God was defective, Saul’s view of leadership was also deficient.
1. He believed that people’s actions should determine a leader’s course. His army was down to practically nothing, more people were taking off, so Saul simply took things into his own hands.
2. He believed waiting on God would bring disaster. He learned that the opposite is true.
Not waiting for God to transform his view and Israel’s situation that day brought disaster into his life that day. Disaster would mark him for the rest of his life and reign.
3. He believed that doing something (even disobeying) was better than doing "nothing" (waiting on God).
Saul was an activist, obviously. He’d waited long enough. But he hadn’t spent time in God’s presence, had not leadership from God. He’s a model of what it looks like to make up your own mind about your life and future and ask God to bless it.
4. He believed God could be manipulated for the leader’s advantage.
Saul’s greatest error that day was in how he treated God. Life and leadership and battle was all about Saul; he’d missed it completely. He didn’t understand that his relationship with God was the most critical element in his life and reign. He didn’t maintain accountability to God and his lack of leadership was the evidence.
Steps I will take
If there is something we could take away from this day of testing in Saul’s life, I think it would be three profound Truths about God that we need to chew on and begin to grasp their ramifications for all we’re about. Both our self-centered culture and a self-oriented Christianity in the Church in America have helped us long deny their validity but they are True none the less and the sooner you grasp them and begin to live accordingly, the sooner you will live life under God and become His brand of leader.
They are profound but they are quite simple.
Truth one: God is God. Doesn’t matter that we have sidelined Him. God has become like the field-goal kicker we call on when we’re in a pinch and we want Him to come save the day. God’s not interested in a bit part in your life, He will be God and King and Lord. Deal with it!
Truth two: God can be trusted. It does not matter what your situation and circumstance tell you; it does not matter that every possible wrong thing happen or that death itself comes to stalk you -- God can be trusted, because He is God. Grow in your trust. Learn His Character and determine to grow in your faith, especially if you want to grow in your leadership.
Truth three: God is to be obeyed. We have been sold a bill of goods when it comes to a soft squeezable, sweet God who doesn’t worry about sin anymore. Our view of Him has become a harmless sweet gentle God we can call upon from time to time. God requires our faithfulness to Him. The greater one grows in leadership, the higher the degree of accountability to God, not the less.
