As we come to our passage this morning, we need to note that we are nearly halfway through our study of 1st Samuel. The general arch of the storyline is that Israel is coming out of the period of the judges where everyone dishonored God by doing what was right in their own eyes instead of living in obedience to God’s commands (Judges 2:11 – 23; 17:6; 18:1; 19:1; 21:25).

One would think that after the tumultuous years of the judges, where Israel was constantly under the hand of God’s discipline, that Israel would have learned their lesson and would have begun to walk in right relationship with the Lord. But the first half of 1st Samuel tells a much different story, a story of continued disobedience and rebellion against God.

In our study we have witnessed Samuel’s mother, Hannah, walking rightly with the Lord in contrast to the reigning priest and his sons, Eli and those worthless boys who took advantage of God’s people financially and sexually, and then we were introduced to Samuel, who has led Israel faithfully, even through the years where they rejected his leadership and demanded a king so they could be like the surrounding nations.

When Israel rejected Samuel, in all actuality she rejected God, the Lord gave her what she deserved in a good-looking king named Saul who would act as a rod of discipline in the hands of a rejected God. Saul’s story has been nothing but gut wrenching. In King Saul we have observed a leader who behaves in cowardly ways, foolishly disobeys God, is more concerned with his own fame than he is with honoring God, and who ultimately will be fully rejected publicly by God in the next chapter for his unfaithfulness.

As I said, this has been a heavy story with tiny little moments of brightness as evil leaders like Eli, his worthless sons, and now King Saul have been contrasted with righteous, godly leaders like Hannah, Samuel, and even Saul’s own son, Jonathan. One can almost feel the palpable sense that the stage is being set for a better king to enter the storyline, not unlike our own longing for a better king in the times we live in. And that better king in the storyline will be none other than King David, who enters the story just two chapters from now, who will emulate the best king to ever come, King Jesus.

But for now, we are still walking alongside King Saul as he goes from bad to worse. Today’s passage finds us right on the heels of God using Saul’s own son, Jonathan, to wage a two-man war against thousands of the enemy which resulted in Israel standing on the verge of complete victory as the enemy began to self-destruct under the miraculous hand of God.

But now the camera shifts back to another scene happening on the same day as King Saul takes center stage once again. We wish that he would learn something from his son, Jonathan but we instinctively know that that is not how this story will go. We have already come to grips with Saul as a cowardly leader, an ungodly leader, and a foolish leader who cares little about obeying God.

Today, we are introduced to him as a hypocritical leader, who despite the fact that he has been rejected by God as the king because of his disobedience, and deserves punishment for his rebellion against God, behaves arrogantly and rashly as he lays a burden of no eating food on his troops amidst the fighting, winds up sentencing his own son to death, and finally lets the enemy return home undefeated. The bottom line here is that our storyteller wants us to see Saul as a hypocrite.

Hypocrisy is something that infuriates the heart of God. Hypocrisy is simply the practice of holding others to standards that are not clearly communicated in scripture, while you yourself ignore and break the clear commandments of Scripture. Some of the best examples of unrepented hypocrisy can be seen in the religious leaders of Jesus’ day. But to be sure, we are all guilty of hypocrisy, probably more than we realize.

As I thought about hypocrisy this week, I became aware of a longing within me to see Saul come to his senses and repent of his hypocrisy; to fully realize the error of his ways and be restored to God. But that is not what happens in the story. It is as if, Saul goes to his death believing that his hypocrisy had some boundaries; that his hypocrisy was in check or that he was not even guilty of hypocrisy.

How destructive would it be for any of us to reach death without ever realizing, admitting, and ultimately repenting of our hypocrisy? This desire, to see no one face death without coming to grips with their own hypocrisy, reminded me of a few scenes from one of my favorite movies, Tombstone.

Tombstone is about Wyatt Earp and Doc Holiday, the famous gunfight at the O.K. Corral and the aftermath of the conflict between Earp, Holiday, and a gang of outlaws known as The Cowboys who were led by the notorious Ringo Kid. Near the end of the movie, Holiday kills Ringo in a gunfight and lays his U.S. Marshalls badge on Ringo’s expired chest. Wyatt Earp enters the scene, picks up the badge and looks at Holiday with a questioning look. Holiday responds with, “My hypocrisy only goes so far”, meaning that he knows he has acted like an outlaw and can no longer wear a badge to cover up his outlaw killing spree. He knows he is a hypocrite and no longer wants to live like one.

Then, in one of the final scenes of the movie, Doc is on his deathbed, Earp is sitting at his bedside, and Doc opens his eyes and says, “I have been investigating the Roman Catholic Church and it appears that my hypocrisy knows no bounds” to which Wyatt Earp responds, “Doc, you are no hypocrite, you only like to sound like one”.

Moral of the story here, most people do not recognize their hypocrisy, even when faced with death. It would be better, though, to come to grips with your hypocrisy sooner than death and to find yourself a friend who will speak the truth to you regarding your hypocrisy, instead of consoling you because of their own guilty, hypocritical conscience, as was the case with Wyatt Earp.

Wyatt Earp was more of a hypocrite than Doc because he lived with a woman whom he called his wife while engaging in an affair with another woman he eventually married, on top of literally living as an outlaw most of his life while using the badge to legalize his illegal behavior. Reminds me of King Saul!

Saul has friends who would speak truth to him regarding his hypocrisy (Samuel and Jonathan and even David later in the story) but he held onto his self-inflated view of his own heart and the lie that he was no hypocrite, all the way to his death.

With that in mind, we would do well this morning to examine the story and see what our good friend, the Bible, has to say to us regarding our own hypocrisy, so that we might say with Doc that our “hypocrisy knows no bounds” or in other words, that our hypocrisy is worse than we imagined, and be able to seek forgiveness at the foot of the cross of a much better king named Jesus. So, what can we learn about our own hypocrisy from our passage today? Let’s look at the text together…

24And the men of Israel had been hard pressed that day, so Saul had laid an oath on the people, saying, “Cursed be the man who eats food until evening and I am avenged on my enemies.” So none of the people had tasted food. 25Now when all the people came to the forest, behold there was honey on the ground. 26And when the people entered the forest, behold, the honey was dropping, but no one put his hand to his mouth, for the people feared the oath. 27But Jonathan had not heard his father charge the people with the oath, so he put out the tip of the staff that was in his hand and dipped it in the honeycomb and put his hand to his mouth, and his eyes became bright. 28Then one of the people said, “Your father strictly charged the people with an oath, saying, ‘Cursed be the man who eats food this day.’” And the people were faint. 29Then Jonathan said, “My father has troubled the land. See how my eyes have become bright because I tasted a little of this honey. 30How much better if the people had eaten freely today of the spoil of their enemies that they found. For now the defeat among the Philistines has not been great.”

31They struck down the Philistines that day from Michmash to Aijalon. And the people were very faint. 32The people pounced on the spoil and took sheep and oxen and calves and slaughtered them on the ground. And the people ate them with the blood. 33Then they told Saul, “Behold, the people are sinning against the LORD by eating with the blood.” And he said, “You have dealt treacherously; roll a great stone to me here.” 34And Saul said, “Disperse yourselves among the people and say to them, ‘Let every man bring his ox or his sheep and 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 they slaughtered them there. 35And Saul built an altar to the LORD; it was the first altar that he built to the LORD.

36Then Saul said, “Let us go down after the Philistines by night and plunder them until morning light; let us not leave a man of them.” And they said, “Do whatever seems good to you.” But the priest said, “Let us draw near to God here.” 37And Saul inquired of God, “Shall I go down after the Philistines? Will you give them into the hand of Israel?” But he did not answer him that day. 38And Saul said, “Come here, all you leaders of the people, and know and see how this sin has arisen today. 39For as the LORD lives who saves Israel, though it be in Jonathan my son, he shall surely die.” But there was not a man among all the people who answered him. 40Then he said to all Israel, “You shall be on one side, and I and Jonathan my son will be on the other side.” And the people said to Saul, “Do what seems good to you.” 41Therefore Saul said, “O LORD God of Israel, why have you not answered your servant this day? If this guilt is in me or in Jonathan my son, O LORD, God of Israel, give Urim. But if this guilt is in your people Israel, give Thummim.” And Jonathan and Saul were taken, but the people escaped. 42Then Saul said, “Cast the lot between me and my son Jonathan.” And Jonathan was taken.

43Then Saul said to Jonathan, “Tell me what you have done.” And Jonathan told him, “I tasted a little honey with the tip of the staff that was in my hand. Here I am; I will die.” 44And Saul said, “God do so to me and more also; you shall surely die, Jonathan.” 45Then the people said to Saul, “Shall Jonathan die, who has worked this great salvation in Israel? Far from it! As the LORD lives, there shall not one hair of his head fall to the ground, for he has worked with God this day.” So the people ransomed Jonathan, so that he did not die. 46Then Saul went up from pursuing the Philistines, and the Philistines went to their own place.

47When Saul had taken the kingship over Israel, he fought against all his enemies on every side, against Moab, against the Ammonites, against Edom, against the kings of Zobah, and against the Philistines. Wherever he turned he routed them. 48And he did valiantly and struck the Amalekites and delivered Israel out of the hands of those who plundered them.

49Now the sons of Saul were Jonathan, Ishvi, and Malchi-shua. And the names of his two daughters were these: the name of the firstborn was Merab, and the name of the younger Michal. 50And 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. 51Kish was the father of Saul, and Ner the father of Abner was the son of Abiel. 52There was hard fighting against the Philistines all the days of Saul. And when Saul saw any strong man, or any valiant man, he attached him to himself.

#1: SAUL CREATES A STUPID LAW (VV. 24 – 35)

Our story begins in verse 24, on the very same day that Jonathan waged his two-man war against the enemy. While he is away waging his two-man war, his father creates a stupid law that mandates his army to eat no food until his name is avenged with the enemy. I immediately notice that Saul cares very little about avenging the name of God who is being dishonored by the enemy as they attack Israel; Saul only cares about avenging his own reputation. On top of that, he says that any person who does eat food before vengeance is executed will be cursed.

The scene shifts in verses 25 – 30 to a few hours later when Jonathan and his armor-bearer join the rest of the army as they enter a forest in hot pursuit of the enemy. Jonathan not knowing about the stupid law his father had passed, finds some honey, eats it, regains his strength for battle, learns of the stupid law, and then voices his disproval of his father’s foolish leadership as he points out that “the defeat among the Philistines has not been great” because his foolish father weakened his army by starving them (v. 30).

In the final scene of this portion of our text, in verses 31 – 35, after fighting all day, Israel’s army is starving and they begin to gorge themselves on the spoils of war in an ungodly manner, without draining the blood out of the meat first. The report reaches Saul’s ears, and he is livid with his army’s disobedience. So, he decides to play the role of a priest as he sets up a proper altar to drain the blood from the animals so that Israel can eat their food properly.

At face value it appears that Saul is doing the right thing here. But one commentator helped me to see Saul’s hypocrisy when he says that “The man who did not obey God in chapter 13 and expressed no confidence in God when faced with his enemies, who devised the crazy plan to save himself by starving his troops, now sounded so concerned about the people’s act of disobedience! [Therefore], he tried to put it right by playing the priest… [without] the slightest suggestion that he saw how he [is the one who] had caused the problem”.2

The bottom line here is that King Saul was the real problem; that has been obvious since we first met him, but it became alarmingly clear in chapter 13 when he failed to obey God and then played the victim when confronted by Samuel. Now, Saul is revealed as a hypocrite who creates stupid man-made laws and then fails to live in obedience to God’s commands, while outwardly playing religious games as he pretends to act like a priest.

This is what hypocrites do; they create stupid man-made laws while they fail to live in obedience to the clear written commands of the Bible. If that is not bad enough, Saul’s hypocrisy continues without any restriction as he moves forward with dropping the hammer of punishment on his very own son for ignorantly breaking his stupid man-made law.

#2: SAUL DROPS THE HAMMER OF PUNISHMENT (VV. 36 – 46)

In verses 36 – 37, Saul decides to make a night raid against the enemy and Israel seems to be a little disgusted with him when they respond to his decision by saying “Do whatever sems good to you”. It is almost as though Saul’s troops are fed up with him after his stupid starvation tactic.

Not only that, but we also notice that Saul has no desire to seek the Lord’s direction here because it is the priest who recommends in verse 36 that they “Draw near to God here”before venturing forward. This is what hypocrites do, they give very little thought to the things of the Lord because they are too consumed with their own image in the mirror.

Speaking of image in the mirror, Saul must agree with the suggestion from the priest, or he would look like the hypocrite he really is. So, instead of seeking the Lord’s presence, and instead of coming to the Lord in humble submission regarding his previous sinfulness in chapter 13, he tells the Lord his plan and asks two yes or no questions, to which he receives no answer.

The nonanswer from God should have been enough to alert Saul to the fact that he was asking the wrong questions from the wrong heart. But as good hypocrites do, Saul went on a witch hunt to find whoever was responsible for his failing prayer life. His failing prayer life could not possibly be his fault, right? Of course not! The people of Israel must be the guilty party!

So, to prove that he was innocent, Saul gathered his troops in verses 38 – 42 , he divides them on one side with he and Jonathan on the other side and basically rolls some dice to see – under God’s sovereign control of the dice roll – who in fact was the guilty party, and to his surprise, Jonathan was revealed as the sinner. This is a fact that stumped me for a little while since we know that the Lord is not answering Saul because of Saul’s own sin. So why did the Lord sovereignly choose to assign guilt to Jonathan?

I think the answer to that question is revealed once again by God’s use of stark contrasts to make a point. We know that Jonathan is not the reason for Saul’s failed prayer life, but Jonathan is the one whom the Lord chooses to be the scapegoat in this situation. Why? When you examine verses 43 – 45, Saul interrogates Jonathan, similar to Samuel interrogating Saul in the previous chapter.

Jonathan, to his credit, answers the interrogation honestly in contrast to Saul’s blame shifting in chapter 13. And then, Saul moves the needle of punishment from the original fine of being “cursed” from verse 24 of our text, to the death penalty for his very own son who committed a crime of ignorance against a man-made law. The bottom line here, is that Saul, the hypocrite, wants to kill his own son to save his own hypocritical face, while God, later on down the road will give his own son so that hypocrites like you and I can be given new shining faces at the foot of a bloody cross.

So, the moral of the story here, by Jonathan’s humility and the people’s ransom of him, God is shown to be the redeemer of humble and repentant sinners while Saul has been shown to be the hypocrite who will stop at nothing to make himself look good, shift the blame off himself, and ultimately make someone else pay with their life for his own failed spiritual life.

Interestingly, the result of Saul’s blatant hypocrisy, that obviously knows no bounds, even though he believes he is as innocent as a dove, the result is that Saul stops waging war against the enemy and the enemy goes home undefeated (v. 46).

This is what hypocrites do; they pretend to be holy while bringing the hammer of punishment against other sinners who ignorantly break stupid man-made laws as they allow the enemy to remain undefeated. All-in-all, Saul’s reign as Israel’s first king is pretty unremarkable. Nothing to write home to mom and dad about. That is the point of the final verses of our passage this morning.

#3: SAUL’S UNREMARKABLE LIFE (VV. 47 – 52)

Verses 47 – 52 are a summary of Saul’s reign as Israel’s first king along with a note regarding his family members. These verses seem to be out of place because we know that Saul’s earthly reign as Israel’s first king is far from over. We have the other half of the book to study before we see Saul relinquish his hold on the throne in death.

So why is the summary here now? All the commentators I read agree that this is God’s way of letting us know that he is done with Saul and that his reign is absolutely unremarkable.3The significance of this summary rests on three facts: One, Saul’s reign is over, Two, there is no mention of God in the summary, and Three, Saul is described as a king who punished his enemies but only had one decisive victory against “those who plundered Israel” (v. 48).4

All in all, this is the stark cold reality for a hypocrite who goes to his grave without coming to grips with the depths of his own hypocrisy. Hypocrites live their lives working to build their public persona into some kind of remarkable image while giving no serious thought or work to repenting and living in obedience to God. People who pursue remarkable lives are doomed to dying and leaving unremarkable legacies for generations to come.

This is the end of the hypocrite who says, “my hypocrisy only goes so far” and then never fully comes to terms with the truth that their hypocrisy knows no bounds; they die unremarkably after living unremarkable lives… as though their existence was a stain on mankind and an alarming example of how not to live.

CONCLUSION…

In conclusion, let us review what we have learned from this sad story of Saul’s hypocrisy.

  1. Hypocrites create stupid man-made laws while they fail to live in obedience to the clear written commands of the Bible.
  2. Hypocrites pretend to be holy while bringing the hammer of punishment against other sinners who ignorantly break man-made laws as they allow the enemy to remain undefeated.
  3. Hypocrites live their lives working to build their public persona into some kind of remarkable image while giving no serious thought or work to repenting and living in obedience to God.

So, a hypocrite, ignores his own disobedience to God, creates stupid man-made laws, pretends to be holy outwardly, punishes other sinners for their ignorance, leaves the enemy undefeated, and cares more about their public persona than the hard work of inner spiritual growth.

Where do you and I see ourselves in this description of the hypocrite? Think about your marriage or any other relationship you may have, friends, coworkers, etc. Think about your own spiritual vitality, your love for God’s Word, your communion with God in prayer, your commitment to investing your time, talent, and treasure into the kingdom of God through the ministry of the local church.

Where do you see yourself acting like a hypocrite? Loving your own preferences more than God’s clear written commands. Worrying about your public persona more than your own inner spiritual growth. Being enamored by your harsh criticism of other broken sinners rather than identifying areas of sin and needed repentance in your own life. Generally being more concerned about you instead of being concerned with the things of God. Giving your enemies – Satan, Sin, and Death – free passes into the inner hallways of your heart rather than waging war because you are too preoccupied with some earthly pursuit. Where do you see yourself in these descriptors?

If I am honest, I see myself in far too many of these categories. I let my preferences become my own little man-made laws and expectations. I find myself obsessing over my public image when I could spend that energy on genuinely pursuing the presence of God. As far as being enamored by my own harsh criticism of other people who fail due to their own peculiar weaknesses and ignorance, yeah, let’s just say that in my mind (if not even in my words) I am guilty of forming harsh criticism of others when I could spend that energy fighting my own sin more vigorously.

Here is what encourages me though, I know a better King! One who will never create a stupid man-made law to make himself look good. One who will never punish me for my ignorance. One who is the same, yesterday, today, and forever. He never changes. He is not one person behind closed doors and then another person in public. He gently convicts me of my hypocrisy and then he provides a way of escape where he ransoms me from the death penalty.

His name is obviously Jesus. In Jesus, you and I have the perfect picture of a true King who lived without cowardice, without pride, without arrogance, without fear, without insecurity, and without hypocrisy. To weary sinners and hypocrites like you and I, he invites us into his grace-filled, corrective presence.

To pursue the presence of Jesus is to literally chase the presence of his loving, and corrective grace. We do not pursue Jesus to get a free pass for our self-centered hypocrisy; we pursue Jesus to get the shot of loving grace that is needed for our continued perfection. That bloody cross is what humiliates my hypocrisy with my wife, my children, my friends, my church family. That empty tomb is what empowers me to wage war against my hypocrisy with all the strength and focus of the resurrected King.

The promise of heaven is what keeps me steadily moving forward (even if it is baby steps) in my pursuit of Christlike perfection as I am reminded that my hypocrisy knows no bounds therefore I need a good friend in the person of Christ crucified, risen, and returning, to point out my hypocrisy and to relieve me of the consequences of that sin as he points me to the real hope of eternity. Though my hypocrisy knows no bounds, it is no match for the preserving, sanctifying power of our crucified, risen, and returning Savior.

Cling to him my friends and he will transform all of us into his very own image so that in death we can all say, my hypocrisy knew no bounds until it met the King of kings and the Lord of lords at the foot of a bloody cross, in the doorway of an empty tomb, in light of the hope of heaven! – Amen!!5

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 John, Woodhouse, 1 Samuel: Looking for a Leader, Preaching the Word Commentary, (Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway, 2008), 251 – 252.

3 Victor, P., Hamilton, Handbook on the Historical Books: Joshua, Judges, Ruth, Samuel, Kings, Chronicles, Ezra-Nehemiah, Esther, (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2001), 249.

4 Ibid.

5 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), 276 – 279.