1 Samuel 13

[MEST] 1 Samuel
1 Samuel 13
“Why Saul?...Why?”
Here we see the start of the decline of king Saul... in just one chapter we’ll see; pride, unbelief & impatience, deception & lies, and foolishness...

PRIDE > [Read 13: 1-4]
Saul had reigned for 2 years when he set up his army. Over 300,000 men had “volunteered.” But here we see that Saul only chose 3,000 men and then divided them between him and Jonathan. Why?

What did this “gathering of an Israel army” do to the surrounding nations?

Here is the first time we’re introduced to Jonathan. What sort of stuff are we told about him?

What does attacking a Philistine outpost show us?

Even though Jonathan seems to have accomplished quite a big task... it gets hardly mentioned. Why?

In verse 3, King Saul calls the Israelite army “Hebrews” instead of “Men of Israel.” Why? What’s the significance of this?

UNBELIEF & IMPATIENCE > [Read 13: 5-9]
The Philistines camped at Micmash (less than 20 miles away from the Israelite army) and the obviously outnumbered the Israelites. What did the Israelites do?

Samuel told Saul that he had to wait for him for 7 days. How might Saul have been feeling?

Why did Samuel take so long to meet him?

Read James 1: 1-18. How does this passage relate to this story?

So, in the last chapter, we saw King Saul lead his 300,000 strong army to victory... but now his army is just 600 men. What did Saul need to learn from this?

Saul didn’t want to go into battle without first making an offering to God. What could this tell us?

Later we’ll see that Samuel reminds Saul that God is looking for obedience, not sacrifice. What does this mean in this story? What does this mean in our lives?

If Saul had just waited a few more minutes, everything would have been ok, but his impatience cost him dearly. How can this individual impatience be connected to Israel as a nation? And how can we relate to this?

DECEPTION & LIES > [Read 13: 10-12]
Saul’s first lie was in his way of greeting Samuel. How? How are we guilty of this?

Saul’s second lie was with his blame and excuse making. How? How are we guilty of this?

Saul’s third lie was this “compelled to offer the burnt offering.” How? How are we guilty of this?

Saul is very good at making excuses... but not too good at anything else! He’s quick to blame others... but doesn’t like being blamed himself. This is our human condition and it spans right back to Adam & Eve. How?

FOOLISHNESS > [ Read 13: 13-14]
How is Saul showing his foolishness?

After this sin of Saul, Samuel announces God’s judgement. What was it?

Now that their ruler had failed, we see how this mighty army of Israel was actually very insecure...
A Dwindling Army > [Read 13: 15-16]
Saul’s army had gone from over 300,000 to 3,000, and was now just 600. The Philistine army was “like sand on the seashore.” This scenario is similar to Gideon’s... but what are the differences?

[Read 13: 17-18, 23] < A Threatened Army
The Philistines sent “raiding parties” to the north, south, east and west... the Israelites were completely surrounded. What lesson was God trying to teach them? What can we learn from this?

A Deprived Army > [Read 13: 19-22]
It was bad enough that Saul didn’t have much of an army... but now we see they lacked equipment too! How can we see comparisons between this and the church today? But, read Eph. 6: 10-17. What does this tell us?