Reading this passage kind of leaves you feeling a little yucky does it not? It is kind of like watching a movie go from bad to worse, or maybe it is more like watching a movie that you know has a sad ending while hoping the ending has changed somehow.

We have kind of been warned all along that the story of Israel’s first king was never going to end well because we know that it has been a story of Israel’s rejection of God as her One True Saving King as she demanded a human king so that she could become just like the surrounding nations. It is almost as though Israel wanted to be just like the rest of the world while holding onto some of her religious clothing. This always leads to destruction.

As I said, it is a sad story that kind of leaves you feeling a little sick to your stomach. And it is not like the warning signs have not been clear. Even just over the last few weeks we have been challenged to think about what we have refused to surrender in obedience to God as well as the worthless and pathetic things we replace God with.

See, we have to remember that Israel did surrender to God in obedience at Gilgal during Samuel’s renewal gathering (11:12 – 12:25) but we were left wondering just how long their surrender would last and it was also a challenge to us to surrender anything that stood in the way of wholeheartedly obeying God in our daily lives.

It is almost as though God knew that Israel’s surrender was only skin deep which is probably why the details of Samuel’s warnings and instructions in chapter twelve were so straight forward when he said in 12:24 – 25 “fear the LORD and serve him faithfully with all your heart. For consider what great things he has done for you. But if you still do wickedly, you shall be swept away, both you and your king”.

In short, Samuel bluntly told the people that anything that stopped them short of wholehearted, fully surrendered, obedience to God was worthless and pathetic and would lead to complete destruction. That was the ending tone from last week’s passage. And even though we know generally how the story ends – with Saul’s demise and the rise of a king chosen directly from the heart of God – it is still really shocking to see just how foolish Israel’s newfound king really is.

I mean… think about it… what kind of fool do you have to be to hear the warnings of the last few weeks of passages and to not get your act together, to not surrender everything to God, to still hold onto whatever is standing between you and full obedient trust in the One who gave everything to save you? 

Well, I want to be the first one to say that after studying this passage in light of the last few weeks of hard warnings, that I am still guilty of acting like a spiritual fool. Samuel quite literally asks Saul why he acted like a fool in verse 13 of our passage and honestly, I can empathize with him as I survey the circumstances of his behavior.

But the main question we should probably wrestle with as we study this passage is this, “What does it look like to be a spiritual fool, or what are the marks of a spiritual fool? How would you and I know if we were guilty of being spiritual fools like King Saul?” Keep those questions in mind as we dive into the text where the first thing, we see is King Saul finally assembling his army in verses 1 – 2.

1Saul lived for one year and then became king, and when he had reigned for two years over Israel, 2Saul chose three thousand men of Israel. Two thousand were with Saul in Michmash and the hill country of Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin. The rest of the people he sent home, every man to his tent. 3Jonathan defeated the garrison of the Philistines that was at Geba, and the Philistines heard of it. And Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, “Let the Hebrews hear.” 4And all Israel heard it said that Saul had defeated the garrison of the Philistines, and also that Isarael had become a stench to the Philistines. And the people were called out to join Saul at Gilgal.

5And the Philistines mustered to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots and six thousand horsemen and troops like the sand on the seashore in multitude. They came up and encamped in Michmash, to the east of Beth-aven. 6When the men of Israel saw that they were in trouble (for the people were hard pressed), the people hid themselves in caves and in holes and in rocks and in tombs and in cisterns, 7and some Hebrews crossed the fords of the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. Saul was still at Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling.

8He waited seven days, the time appointed by Samuel. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the people were scattering from him. 9So Saul said, “Bring the burnt offering here to me, and the peace offerings.” And he offered the burnt offering. 10As soon as he had finished offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came. And Saul went out to meet him and greet him. 11Samuel said, “What have you done?” And Saul said, “When I saw that the people were scattering from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines had mustered at Michmash, 12I said, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the favor of the LORD.’ So I forced myself, and offered the burnt offering.” 

13And Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the command of the LORD your God, with which he commanded you. For then the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. 14But now your kingdom shall not continue. The LORD has sought out a man after his own heart, and the LORD has commanded him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept what the LORD commanded you.” 

15And Samuel arose and went up from Gilgal. The rest of the people went up after Saul to meet the army; they went up from Gilgal to Gibeah of Benjamin. And Saul numbered the people who were present with him, about six hundred men. 16And Saul and Jonathan his son and the people who were present with them stayed in Geba of Benjamin, but the Philistines encamped in Michmash. 17And raiders came out of the camp of the Philistines in three companies. One company turned toward Ophrah, to the land of Shual; 18another company turned toward the border that looks down on the valley of Zeboim toward the wilderness.

19Now there was no blacksmith to be found throughout all the land of Israel, for the Philistines said, “Lest the Hebrews make themselves swords or spears” 20But every one of the Israelites went down to the Philistines to sharpen his plowshare, his mattock, his axe, or his sickle, 21and the charge was two-thirds of a shekel for the plowshares and for the mattocks, and a third of a shekel for sharpening the axes and for setting the goads. 22So on the day of the battle there was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people with Saul and Jonathan, but Saul and Jonathan his son had them. 23And the garrison of the Philistines went out to the pass of Michmash.

#1: FINALLY ASSEMBLING AN ARMY (VV. 1 – 2)

When you examine the first two verses of our text, it seems like King Saul is finally assembling an army to begin waging war against the Philistines like he had been instructed to do back in chapter ten (10:5 – 8). Or is he? Is he really assembling an army to wage war against the Philistines? Some commentators think that Saul is merely assembling a personal army or a personal enterourage.2

Either way, it is clear that he assembles two thousand men for himself and one thousand men for his son Jonathan, he positions his team in the hills of Bethel and Jonathan’s team back in his hometown where there was an occupying force of Philistines already present (10:5). Is this further evidence of Saul’s cowardice, that he positions himself far away from his occupied hometown and leaves his son with an army half the size of his own? Interestingly, the text tells us that he sends the rest of Israel home and decides not to amass an army big enough to deal with the sizeable enemy that we soon find in his backyard.

All in all, it seems like it took Saul three years to finally assemble an army to wage war against the Philistines and the army he assembled was poorly put together, by far was too small, and he positioned himself with the most resources far away from any real danger.

This is what spiritual fools do. Spiritual fools procrastinate their obedience and only perform any kind of obedience halfheartedly and haphazardly. If this is not bad enough, Saul takes his foolishness to the next level in verses three and four when he basically takes credit for Jonathan’s victory over the Philistines.

#2: SAUL TAKES THE CREDIT FOR JONATHAN’S VICTORY (VV. 3 – 4)

In verses 3 – 4, Jonathan fires the first shot against the Philistines as he defeats them in Saul’s hometown which then leads to Saul blowing the trumpet of war throughout Israel bragging about how he defeated a small band of Philistines in his hometown and then using his fake news episode to call Israel to arms.

When the narrator tells us in verse four “that Israel had become a stench to the Philistines”some commentators imagine that in striking the first blow through his son Jonathan, Saul deceptively undermined some political agreement he had with that small band of Philistines in his hometown.3 If this is the case, then it explains why Saul is actually nowhere near his hometown at the time, why he had the bulk of the fighting forces, and why his son was the one who actually did the deed.

Did Saul order Jonathan to wage war against the Philistines knowing that the army he assembled was super small? Or did Jonathan embark upon waging war without Saul’s order, believing that God would give the victory? We do see in the next chapter that Jonathan is more of a man of faith than his cowardly father, but either way, Saul does wind up taking the credit for Jonathan’s victory.

This is something spiritual fools often do; they take the credit for the victory that does not belong to them. This always leads to disaster when we take credit for something that we had little or nothing to do with. It is kind of like living as though your salvation depends upon you and then celebrating every act of your obedience as though you were the Savior who was nailed to a cross. Not only does this kind of behavior reveal deep seeded spiritual pride within us, but it also makes us more vulnerable to the enemy’s advances since pride comes before the fall.

In this case, Saul the ever-loving fool that he is, is so blinded by his own pride that he fails to see that his behavior enrages the enemy and puts him and all of Israel on the radar as public enemy number one for a massive force of Philistines who are ready to rid the area of the people who had become a stench in their noses.

#3: THE PHILISTINES PREPARE FOR WAR (VV. 5 – 7)

In verses 5 – 7, the Philistines prepare for war by gathering up “thirty thousand chariots and six thousand horsemen and troops like the sand of the seashore” to oppose King Saul and his measly little entourage of three thousand soldiers. Israel literally begins to crumble under the terrifying weight of the size of the enemy breathing down their necks.

The text tells us that Israel literally began hiding “in caves and in holes and in rocks and in tombs and in cisterns” as they followed King Saul “trembling” with fear (vv. 6 – 7). This is a picture of a people so demoralized and overcome with fear that they literally have no backbone in the face of the enemy, despite the fact that God has saved them time and time again throughout the centuries.

But this is the picture of what happens when spiritual fools come face to face with a formidable enemy like Satan, Sin, and Death. Even though we know that Jesus has defeated the enemy at the cross, and the empty tomb, and has promised eternal victory in the presence of God, when we become spiritual fools, we wind up having no backbone when the enemy bares his ugly teeth.

And what is Saul’s plan now? Now that he and all Israel are running scared? What is he going to do? Is he going to call upon God to come and rescue him? Is he going to rely on the knowledge of centuries of promises kept by Israel’s redeeming God? Is he going to acknowledge his foolishness and call out to God in humble submission and surrender?

Is he going to let go of his worthless and pathetic pride? Of course not! Saul, the biggest fool alive at the time of our passage decides to take matters into his own hands even further as he offers some sacrifices to God that only a prophet or priest should have offered.

#4: SAUL DECIDES TO OFFER A SACRIFICE TO GOD (VV. 8 – 12)

Way back in chapter 10, Samuel had instructed Saul to wait in Gilgal for Samuel to come and to offer the sacrifices and to give him instructions before waging war against the Philistines. But the problem now is that the Philistines have been prematurely provoked into a war where Israel is currently outnumbered by more than a thousand to one. The odds are completely against Israel and the king she believed would give her victory like the surrounding nations had experienced.

I have to give Saul some credit here. He did wait the seven days that Samuel told him to wait, according to verse 8. But can you imagine how fearful it would have been to wait for seven days, being outnumbered as Israel was? The moral of the story is this, Saul, the big fool that he was, waited till somewhere on the seventh day and then he caved under the pressure and took matters into his own hands and offered the sacrifice.

One commentator notes that “it was an extraordinary thing to expect obedience from Saul… because in those circumstances… he would have to trust God against every instinct, against every evidence, and against every aspect of his experience at the moment”.4 That same commentator also notes that “the foolishness of disobedience and the wisdom of obedience can only be seen when we take into account something other than circumstances” because the wisdom of obedience can only be seen in light of the faithfulness of God.5

Saul is a fool because he allowed the circumstances of his life to dictate his disobedience instead of allowing the faithfulness of God to fuel his obedience in the face of imminent danger. Notice this too, when Samuel does show up, presumably towards the end of the seventh day, he asks Saul what he has done in verse 11, and Saul goes on to explain that against his better judgment, he went ahead and did the unthinkable. His response is a bold-faced excuse and justification of his sinful mistrust of the Lord’s commands.

He essentially says that since Samuel did not show up on time and since the people were leaving by the droves, and since the enemy was so formidable, he was forced to commit sin. The blame, according to Saul, lay at the feet of a tardy Samuel, on the backs of a retreating Israel, and on the heads of a terrifying enemy; this was not Saul’s fault, he was forced to sin against his better judgment. The man who hid in the baggage when called by God to be the king, is now hiding behind a mountain of baggage that I would call a mountain of blaming and excuse making.

The reality of what happens here is that Saul proves just how much of a fool he is when he impatiently sins against God by offering what only a priest or a prophet was qualified to offer and then he blames his sin on Samuel, on the people who were deserting him, and on the enemy that was breathing down his neck. Spiritual fools use religious things to make themselves look good and to make others look bad. This is the beginning of God’s full rejection of king Saul.

#5: GOD BEGINS TO REJECT SAUL PUBLICLY (VV. 13 – 14)

In verses 13 – 14, Samuel confronts Saul for his foolishness when he says, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the command of the LORD your God, with which he commanded you. For then the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. But now your kingdom shall not continue. The LORD has sought out a man after his own heart, and the LORD has commanded him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept what the LORD commanded you.” I cannot imagine how heavy this moment must have been. I would like to think that if a prophet of God spoke these words to me, that I would fall down on my face before the Lord in repentance.

But the reality is this… If I was in King Saul’s shoes at this very moment, I probably would not have repented. You can only turn a deaf ear to clear warnings for so long before your conscience becomes seared by your sin and you become totally oblivious to the impending doom that is headed your way.

God’s rejection of Saul was always going to be part of this story because Israel had rejected God in her desire to be like the other nations, and her demand for a human king. Israel got the human king she deserved because God simply chose to give them a human king like the other nations had; one that neither loved nor obeyed God from the heart.

It was as though Saul was completely oblivious to the fact that he was not only disqualified from leading Israel, but he had already disqualified himself in relationship with God. Spiritual fools are usually oblivious to the disqualifying nature of their own sin. When we act like spiritual fools in this way – when we become willfully oblivious to our own sin – it is like we willingly position ourselves to be completely surrounded by our enemies. This is exactly what happens to Saul in verses 15 – 18.

#6: SAUL AND HIS ARMY ARE SURROUNDED (VV. 15 – 18)

In verses 15 – 16, we see that Samuel leaves Saul – probably disgusted with him and hoping to see some shred of repentance in him. But what does Saul do? Instead of falling on his face before the Lord in humble, surrendered repentance, he gathers his dwindling army – a measly 600 men at this point – and heads out to face the enemy.

In verses 17 – 18, we see that from their position, back in their hometown, Saul and Jonathan and their army of 600 can see the surrounding enemy forces and they are forced to watch as the enemy sends out one raiding party after the next to harass Israel on all sides.

The Philistines have literally surrounded Israel’s foolish king and his dwindling army. The enemy is completely unchecked in their harassment of Israel as they send out war parties to inflict harm throughout the entire country. Israel is being harassed on every side, pinned down by the enemy, and weakening in military strength as every moment passes by. This is what spiritual fools do; spiritual fools live in a constant state of dwindling spiritual strength and vitality as they helplessly observe their own destruction.

It would have been nice if Israel even had enough firepower to stand a fighting chance against the enemy but even that is not the case because in the final words of our passage, we learn that Israel is not only surrounded, outnumbered, and weak, but they are also poorly armed.

#7: ISRAEL IS DISARMED BY THE ENEMY (VV. 19 – 23)

Only a complete fool would go out to face the enemy, completely outnumbered, with his forces dwindling by the moment, without adequate firepower. Right? I mean, how foolish does one have to be to not see the need to regroup, get your heart right with God and then face the enemy with the firepower of Heaven at your fingertips? I guess the answer is, “Pretty foolish!”

This is exactly what foolish King Saul does. Verses 19 – 22 basically throw the final nail in the coffin of King Saul’s leadership when we learn that Israel has no weapons of warfare and that they had willingly been paying a heavy price just to keep their farming equipment repaired by the Philistine blacksmiths. Saul had literally amassed a 600-person army full of gardeners when what he needed was an army of well-armed warriors. What an absolute fool! As one commentator pointed out, while spiritual fools may not immediately look like fools, “the fool says in his heart (not in his mind) that there is no God (Psalm 14:1, 53:1)”.6 All the religious trappings in the world cannot cover up this kind of spiritual foolishness that flows out of an utterly corrupt heart.

Under Saul’s foolish leadership, Israel had become dependent upon the enemy who ruthlessly disarmed them; they depended on the enemy for their livelihood while sacrificing their ability to match the enemy’s preparedness for war. Spiritual fools lay down their weapons to rely on their enemies for their daily provisions. What an absolute joke Israel and her king had become in such a short amount of time.

APPLICATION…

By way of application, we come back to our original question: What are the marks of a spiritual fool? What does it look like to act like a spiritual fool? How can we evaluate our own hearts to see what spiritual foolishness we need to repent of? In short order, we have learned that…

A Spiritual Fool…

  1. Procrastinates obedience and only obeys half-heartedly.
  2. Takes the credit for victory that does not belong to them.
  3. Has no backbone when the enemy shows up.
  4. Uses religion to make themself look good and others look bad.
  5. Is oblivious to the disqualifying nature of sin.
  6. Lives in a constant state of dwindling spiritual strength.
  7. Trades spiritual weapons to rely on the enemy for daily provision.

I know that as I survey this list of the marks of a spiritual fool, I am convicted of the many areas where I fail to surrender to the Lord and let go of worthless and pathetic things that seek to replace God’s rule and reign in my heart. I do struggle often with procrastinating obedience, with thinking that I had a hand in my own salvation, with wimping out when the enemy shows up on the doorstep of my heart, with using religious things to make myself look good and making others look bad, with overlooking the disqualifying and devastating nature of my own sins, with not addressing my own dwindling spiritual strength, and with trading spiritual power for earthly provision.

One commentator helpfully notes that “Saul lost his kingdom for want of two- or three-hours patience. While Saul’s sins appear small compared to David’s… there is no sin too little because the God whom we sin against is no little God. Every sin is a forfeiture of the heavenly kingdom. It is not the sinning that ruins men… it is the sinning without repentance that ruins men. Sinning and repenting, falling and not getting up again, while excusing, blame shifting, and justifying our sins… this is what leads to the forfeiture of the rewards of obedience”.7

CONCLUSION…

In conclusion, the bottom line is that I need the Lord to renew a right heart within me. I need God to renew a right heart that is fully surrendered and letting go of the weak, and worthless, and pathetic things of this world. And the beauty of the gospel is that where there is bad news there is also good news.

You see, I know of a King who never procrastinates. One who did single handedly win the victory of salvation over Satan, Sin, and Death, at a bloody cross, and an empty tomb, and then extends the hope of eternity to all who trust in him. One who never wimped out in the face of the enemy. One who never uses religion to make you and I look bad. One who never overlooks sin but patiently addresses sin by the power of the Holy Spirit. One who possesses all the spiritual power of heaven, and offers weapons of mass spiritual destruction to those who walk by obedient faith in him.

His name is Jesus. His cross is where we surrender and let go of the worthless and pathetic idols that have a chokehold on our hearts. The empty tomb is where we receive lasting spiritual strength. And the hope of heaven is where we find the resolve to resist spiritual foolishness in the face of the most daunting circumstances.

Repenting from spiritual foolishness means surrendering and letting go of worthless and pathetic worldly things and clinging by faith to a crucified, risen, and returning King of kings! – Amen!

1 Unless otherwise specified, all Bible references are to the English Standard Version Bible, The New Classic Reference Edition (ESV) (Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers, 2001).

2 Matthew, Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible, New Modern Edition, Complete and Unabridged in Six Volumes, Volume 2 (Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, 1991), 270 – 273.

3 Ibid.

4 John, Woodhouse, 1 Samuel: Looking for a Leader, Preaching the Word Commentary, (Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway, 2008), 234 – 235.

5 Ibid., 235.

6 Ibid., 227.

7 Matthew, Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible, New Modern Edition, Complete and Unabridged in Six Volumes, Volume 2 (Peabody, Massachusetts: Hendrickson Publishers, 1991), 272.