1 Samuel 13:19-23 - Obedience is total and personal allegiance to God

In 1 Samuel 13:15 saw the army of Saul dwindled. From a force of 3,000, it shrank to 600. Coming against the massive Philistine’s force of 6,000 horsemen, 30,000 chariots and scores of people as numerous as the sand with 3,000 was already difficult, let alone 600. Victory from the human standpoint was nigh impossible. Saul was rendered powerless. As if this was not bad enough, no blacksmith in Israel could be found. The Philistines had deliberately allowed this to happen so that the people of Israel could not make iron weaponry. Even to maintain their farming equipment, the Israelites had to turn to the Philistine blacksmiths for service. Hence their enemy was monopolizing the situation and was even making a substantial profit out of it. This is to say that they were virtually disarmed.  

We do not know how long this situation had existed, but Israel was at a serious disadvantage. The plan of the Philistines was to ensure that no weapon could be found in the hand of Israel’s force on the day of battle. Verse 22 said that none of the men of Israel had a spear or a sword. The only two persons that had them were Saul and Jonathan.  No one needs to second guess what the outcome of the battle would be. The impending result was plain and obvious. Interestingly, verse 23 said, “And the garrison of the Philistines went out to the pass of Michmash” setting the stage for what would happen in the next chapter of the book.

The issue at hand was not so much the serious disadvantage Israel was confronted with. The root of the problem confronting them was that they had a disobedient king, who had failed to follow the instructions of God. What was terrifying for the Israelites was not the Philistines but that the hand of God that was set against them. This account underscores the importance of walking in obedience to God. Obedience is a choice. Only in choosing to obey God can the resources of heaven be released into whatever circumstance we encounter, to help us overcome it. We remember what is written in Hebrews 5:8.  The author of that letter said that “Although He (Jesus) was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered.” The circumstances we encounter in life are never there to thwart or intimidate us. They are there to point us to God so that we can learn to walk in Him trustingly. Here’s what Tim Keller said, “The essence of Christian obedience is not do’s and don’ts but personal allegiance to Jesus.” This is what we must seek to maintain – allegiance to Jesus.