1 Samuel 14:24-52
Saul’s Rash Oath
24 And the men of Israel were distressed that day, for Saul had placed the people under oath, saying, “Cursed is the man who eats any food until evening, before I have taken vengeance on my enemies.” So none of the people tasted food. 25 Now all the people of the land came to a forest; and there was honey on the ground. 26 And when the people had come into the woods, there was the honey, dripping; but no one put his hand to his mouth, for the people feared the oath. 27 But Jonathan had not heard his father charge the people with the oath; therefore he stretched out the end of the rod that was in his hand and dipped it in a honeycomb, and put his hand to his mouth; and his countenance brightened. 28 Then one of the people said, “Your father strictly charged the people with an oath, saying, ‘Cursed is the man who eats food this day.’” And the people were faint.
29 But Jonathan said, “My father has troubled the land. Look now, how my countenance has brightened because I tasted a little of this honey. 30 How much better if the people had eaten freely today of the spoil of their enemies which they found! For now would there not have been a much greater slaughter among the Philistines?”
31 Now they had driven back the Philistines that day from Michmash to Aijalon. So the people were very faint. 32 And the people rushed on the spoil, and took sheep, oxen, and calves, and slaughtered them on the ground; and the people ate them with the blood. 33 Then they told Saul, saying, “Look, the people are sinning against the LORD by eating with the blood!”
So he said, “You have dealt treacherously; roll a large stone to me this day.” 34 Then Saul said, “Disperse yourselves among the people, and say to them, ‘Bring me here every man’s ox and every man’s sheep, slaughter them here, and eat; and do not sin against the LORD by eating with the blood.’” So every one of the people brought his ox with him that night, and slaughtered it there. 35 Then Saul built an altar to the LORD. This was the first altar that he built to the LORD.
36 Now Saul said, “Let us go down after the Philistines by night, and plunder them until the morning light; and let us not leave a man of them.”
And they said, “Do whatever seems good to you.”
Then the priest said, “Let us draw near to God here.”
37 So Saul asked counsel of God, “Shall I go down after the Philistines? Will You deliver them into the hand of Israel?” But He did not answer him that day. 38 And Saul said, “Come over here, all you chiefs of the people, and know and see what this sin was today. 39 For as the LORD lives, who saves Israel, though it be in Jonathan my son, he shall surely die.” But not a man among all the people answered him. 40 Then he said to all Israel, “You be on one side, and my son Jonathan and I will be on the other side.”
And the people said to Saul, “Do what seems good to you.”
41 Therefore Saul said to the LORD God of Israel, “Give a perfect lot.” So Saul and Jonathan were taken, but the people escaped. 42 And Saul said, “Cast lots between my son Jonathan and me.” So Jonathan was taken. 43 Then Saul said to Jonathan, “Tell me what you have done.”
And Jonathan told him, and said, “I only tasted a little honey with the end of the rod that was in my hand. So now I must die!”
44 Saul answered, “God do so and more also; for you shall surely die, Jonathan.”
45 But the people said to Saul, “Shall Jonathan die, who has accomplished this great deliverance in Israel? Certainly not! As the LORD lives, not one hair of his head shall fall to the ground, for he has worked with God this day.” So the people rescued Jonathan, and he did not die.
46 Then Saul returned from pursuing the Philistines, and the Philistines went to their own place.
Saul’s Continuing Wars
47 So Saul established his sovereignty over Israel, and fought against all his enemies on every side, against Moab, against the people of Ammon, against Edom, against the kings of Zobah, and against the Philistines. Wherever he turned, he harassed them. 48 And he gathered an army and attacked the Amalekites, and delivered Israel from the hands of those who plundered them.
49 The sons of Saul were Jonathan, Jishui, and Malchishua. And the names of his two daughters were these: the name of the firstborn Merab, and the name of the younger Michal. 50 The name of Saul’s wife was Ahinoam the daughter of Ahimaaz. And the name of the commander of his army was Abner the son of Ner, Saul’s uncle. 51 Kish was the father of Saul, and Ner the father of Abner was the son of Abiel.
52 Now there was fierce war with the Philistines all the days of Saul. And when Saul saw any strong man or any valiant man, he took him for himself.
A rash vow or oath leads to dire consequences. Saul vowed to kill anyone who stopped to eat before they could smite all their enemies who had come against Israel until they were filled with the fear of God by Jonathan who attacked them and who then fled from Jonathan and his armorbearer as the LORD set them running. Saul did not trust God to fight the battle not his people of the armies of the LORD (Exodus 12:41), therefore, he put a curse of death on anyone who did not fight through until the Philistines were obliterated. This was so extreme as to apply even if they just stopped to renew their strength by taking a bite to eat along the way. This rash vow had Saul face the dire consequences of that lack of faith and reliance on threats to win the battle that was not his; his own son had stopped for honey to invigorate himself for battle and was almost killed for it. Jonathan let everyone know how that had helped him fight better and would have had a greater victory if the others had been do the same as he. One consequence was that the army was so exhausted and starving after they pushed the enemy back that they began to eat the spoil of sheep, oxen, and calves, slaughtering and eating them with their lifeblood (Genesis 9:4-5) as was for by God as a reminder of the life of Abel that was taken, whose blood was shed by Cain. Any lifeblood shed was only for an atoning sacrifice before the LORD and was poured out (Leviticus 5:9, 17:13, 14), never allowed to be eaten lest the sacrifice was sullied by sin. They were stopped from sinning further by Saul when he saw this and set up an altar to sacrifice properly and offer the meat to the people in a way honoring God. This was the first altar he built. He then wanted to continue the pursuit of the enemy and polled the people who responded with, “Do what seems good to you.” The priest then cast lots for God’s will to be known and found a hindrance of some hidden sin. God did not answer Saul for the question of whether to go after the Philistines. He swore that even if his own son was guilty, he would die for disobeying the king’s order, not the order of God, however. He put himself and Jonathan against the rest and the lot fell on them, not the army. The lot then showed his son had done the deed of eating the honey and was to die for it, yet it was not sin against God their Father, but against the rash oath of his father. The people stood up with indignation at this because Jonathan had defeated many of the enemy by working with God for their deliverance. Saul relented from both killing his son and pursuing the enemy further, adding to his sins of bad judgment and rash self serving actions. His hesitancy allowed the Philistines to continue to harass Israel as much as they harassed them instead of achieving the victory of humble obedience that God had intended for their king and nation. They had demanded a king over the King of kings and the results were beginning to show. This was but the beginning of the consequences of a rash vow without regard to God’s word. We should learn that this means we are to allow the Lord to lead us (James 4:15, 16-17) and not our decisions apart from His word. We also only partake of the lifeblood of our sacrificial Passover Lamb, Jesus Christ, and not take the life of another as (Acts 15:29, 21:25) these did under bad leadership. May we then enjoy the food given us (Romans 14:14, 1 Timothy 4:3, 6:17) lawfully by Him without their lifeblood for our sustenance to fight the good fight and not make other foods a religious restriction.
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