I SAMUEL 16:1-13 | Lesson # 16 | The Call of David

I.  Greetings:

 

II.  Introduction:

            Many of us have several aspects to our lives and David is much like us.  He begins as a "shepherd" and does faithfully shepherd Israel as her king but he was also a great warrior and a great musician for he was responsible for much of Israel's temple music.  Israel's greatest warrior king also influenced much of the Psalter.  So he has this triple aspect:  shepherd/warrior/singer.  This will be our first introduction to David and it will start with his anointing and selection by God from the sheep holds (16:1-13), then it will be followed by his being introduced as a singer/musician (16:14-23) and then as warrior (17:1-58).

            Lets first look at the selection of David....

 

III.  Samuel Struggles/Hesitates to Obey.  I Samuel 16:1-3.

>>>> Have someone read I Samuel 16:1-3.

            Q Why does Saul hesitate to anoint one of Jesse's sons?

               An = He fears Saul's reaction.  Samuel may be the key religious figure in Israel but Saul is now out of the will of God and thus a bit of a lose cannon.  Samuel's fears are justified as we shall see in chapter 22.

            Q Is it OK to be afraid of doing something God ask or wants?

               An = Yes, notice God does not criticize or chastise Samuel for speaking the truth.  Instead of condemning Samuel's fears God shows him a way to deal with a difficult situation.  He gives Samuel a cover for his operation of anointing.

            Q What is God's answer to Samuel's perceived threat from Saul?

               An = Go to the town under the guise of wanting to offer a sacrifice (16:2).

            Note:  God has already made His choice.  David does not come from the insightful choices of men but purely from God's sovereign will.  Fretheim says it well when he calls David's selection "not a human accident but a divine intention" (Fretheim, p. 120).

            Q Does God give Samuel the specific information needed to make his exact selection of one of Jesse's sons?

               An = No.  God gives direction, but often not a complete way.

            Q  Why does God give partial instructions?

            Q Have you ever experienced this:  the need to constantly go to Him?  Why does God do this?

               An = This often frustrates me, but real growth in our faith comes when we "walk" in our faith.  Walking is movement, but usually sustained, more long-term movement.  We are to "walk" with God, and this implies movement, purposeful movement but steady movement "with" God. 

            It is easier to walk, talk, and get to know each than by hearing and running.  Jesus says we are to pray:  "Give us our daily bread".  Not give us bread by the truck load for the whole year.

            I was once asked by my former pastor:  "Well, son, what are you going to do with your life?"  I answered:  "I do not know".  He answered:  "Good, because you cannot do it until you get there."

            Note:  Notice though the end of 16:3.  We are to do what we are told and then further instructions will come.  The key is to obey what we know, then the "more" will open up.

            Note:  There is some tremendous irony here.  Saul is into religion (sacrifice) instead of into God and it is under the guise of "religion" or "sacrifice" that the beginning of his reign's end takes it start.  The sacrifice covers the anointing of his replacement.

 

III.  Samuel Obeys/Listens at Bethlehem.  I Samuel 16:4-13.

   A.  Samuel obeys.  I Samuel 16:4-5.

>>>> Have someone read I Samuel 16:4-5.

            Note:  Samuel physically obeyed.  He made his way to Bethlehem despite his fears or misgivings.  It does not matter how great you are.  You cannot be used of God unless you will "listen" and "obey".

   B.  The Review of Jesse's First Seven Sons:  The Need to Listen.  I Samuel 16:6-10.

>>>> Have someone read I Samuel 16:6-10.

            Note:  Even a great prophet can be fooled.  We need to "listen" to His voice if we are going to serve Him as He desires.

            Q What does the Lord look for in a great leader?

               An = He looks at the heart.

            Q What does it mean to look at the heart?

               An = The word "heart" comes from the Hebrew word lev meaning our hidden thoughts or consciousness.  Something that is central, hidden and has to do with the mind or our thoughts.  God knows what a man really is.  He looks for a man who at his hidden core thinks like Yahweh.  >> Have two different people look up John 7:24 and II Corinthians 5:16.  Have them read these verses to the group.

            Note:  Samuel does not panic even though he sees son after son that the Lord's rejects.  Samuel will wait where Saul never would.

   C.  The Selection of David:  Picking the Dark Horse.  I Samuel 16:11-13.

>>>> Have someone read I Samuel 16:11-13.

            Q Where was David when he was sent for?

               An = He was at work, menial work, but work.  He was tending sheep.  Taking care of sheep is not a very prestigious job.  Even today in Montana sheep herders are not considered to be very reputable people.  It is more of a "no-brainer" job.  But notice God selected a man who was at work and someone who took his work seriously.

            >>> Have everyone turn to I Samuel 17:34-35 and have someone read it.

            Q What kind of worker is David?

               An = He takes seriously every task no matter how menial.  Most young men would have run at the sight of a ferocious animal but David holds in there.  He does not run away from tough tasks.  See 17:36, it is faithfulness in dealing with the sheep that has taught him that God will be faithful in one of the key moments of his life and Israel's life.  Little private actions prepare us for the big public actions.

            Q Which Israelites were given the announcement of the birth of the Messiah?

               An = In Luke 2:8-19 we learn that it was shepherds, the poor, the "low-end of the blue collar" working scale that is chosen to hear the angels sing.  It was not the great Rabbis or the members of Herod's court.  Jesus and David came from humble circumstances.

            Note:  The fact that David is the eighth son is significant.  He is outside the "hallowed" number seven, he is the runt of the litter, the least son.  He was not even invited to the sacrificial feast.  He participates in a long line of "Dark Horse Motif" selections of Israelite leaders.  In racing terms a "dark horse" is one no one expects to win.  The great judges of the book of Judges are for the most part "long shots", people you would not expect to be selected.  In Judges you have Gideon, the coward, Jephthah, the bandit, Ehud, the left handed one (when almost everyone else is right handed), and Deborah, who was a woman, which was very unusual in those days.

            Q What happens to David when he is anointed with oil?

               An = The Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward.

            Q What does that mean?

               An = We are not told, where in Saul's case we are given a lot of details with a lot of little miracles and finally the great military victory against the Ammonites.  Here nothing is said except that the Spirit has fallen.  It is interesting to note that both Saul and David were genuinely anointed by the Spirit.  Saul was given all the tools to succeed as much as David was given.  The key difference is "listening".

            Q Does God still select men today?

            Q What type of men will He be looking for?

            Q What should young men and women be about before their selection? 

               An = They should be working and learning to be faithful.  Also, the selection of David is good news for those who are "little" without prestige.  God can select anyone.

            >>>>  Have someone read Luke 16:10

I SAMUEL 15 | Lesson #15 | ANOINTED TO LISTEN

This chapter stresses that outward religious actions or formal ceremony cannot be used as a substitutes for obeying the actual desires of God. Our job is to "hear" or "listen" to His voice, His commands, His desires, not do formal ceremonies that we like to do. Divinely anointed leadership is leadership that "listens" to God's voice. To not "listen" invalidates the "anointing".


I. Greetings/Introduction:
Q Did you ever receive a gift for Christmas or your birthday that you didn't like?
Q What if a wife really liked flowers but the husband always gave her candy? How would she feel?
Q What if the husband said: I have taken a survey and most wives prefer candy and since candy is easier to purchase on my way home from work that is what I am going to give you?
Q What is wrong with this husband?
An = He is not listening to his wife. He treats her as "type" of wife but not as a real individual person who thinks and has a will.
Q What if someone gave you a gift that you didn't really want and deliberately did not give you a gift you deeply desired? How would you feel?
Q If we truly love someone do we not have to love them in their own currency?
Note: We are going to read about Saul who decided to do godly things but they were not the things that God wanted.

II. The Straw That Broke the Camel's Back: The Amalekite War. I Samuel 1
A. Getting Directions: Remembering That Godly Leadership Is Listening. I Samuel 15:1-3.
>>>> Have someone read I Samuel 15:1-3.
Q According to 15:1 what is the role of the one who is anointed of the Lord?
An = That person is to "listen" to the Words of the Lord".
Q What specific instructions did God give Saul through Samuel in 15:3?
An = Destroy everything that belongs to the Amalekites, everything. This is called in Hebrew "herim". It is term often called "holy war", or in the Bible: "putting something under the ban". It has a long history in Israel and every Israelite must have known about it. In a "holy war" there was to be no gain for the soldiers. Usually soldiers were not paid for fighting but got reimbursed by taking plunder from their enemies if they won. In a "holy war" or "ban" nothing was to be taken (Joshua 7) all was to "devoted to the Lord". To disobey was to violate the direct command of the Lord.
The Amalekites were dirty plunderers who had robbed and murdered Israelites since they had come out of Egypt. They were known as wandering plunders who lived on the edge of civilization. Now the Lord was going to eliminate and judge these vile people. He had decided to use Saul. In Deuteronomy we learn that they would way-lay the weak and straggling of the Israelites and brutally attacked them (Deuteronomy 25:17-19.
Note: Show on the map where this battle no doubt took place.
B. Saul's Response to Yahweh's Word. I Samuel 15:4-9.
>>>> Have someone read I Samuel 15:4-9.
Q Was Saul successful militarily?
An = Yes he was. Also, he was kind and just to the Kenites who were innocent.
Q Who is the subject of almost every verb in 15:4-9?
An = Saul is almost every time. Five times he is specifically named as the actor in these verses, and he is implied in two other sentences. The author clearly shows Saul as the key actor in these verses. The entire battle is cast as a response by Saul to the Lord's command.
Q Did Saul and the Israelites obey the command of the Lord to destroy the Amalekites?
An = Yes and no. They did destroy Amalekites but Saul and the army decided to keep the best of the spoil and to keep (for some reason) the king alive.

III. The Encounter Between Saul and Samuel: Confrontation and Repentance. I Sam. 15:13-35.
A. God speaks to Samuel: His Regret About Saul. I Samuel 15:10-12.
>>>> Have someone read I Samuel 15:10-12.
Q According to 15:11 did Saul once follow the Lord?
An = Yes, he did. He now has turned from the Lord. Saul was still religious as we shall soon see, but he turned away from following the Lord. The Lord sees the heart.
Q What is God's response to Saul?
An = He regrets, or grieves that Saul has turned out like he has. God is portrayed as One who hurts when we turn away. God is not some cold calculating power, but one who deeply cares about what we do and what we become.
Q Is Samuel happy about this information about Saul?
An = No! In Hebrew it says he was "angry" and he cried out to the Lord all night. What he was angry about, with Saul, with himself for anointing Saul, angry at the situation, we are not told. We can clearly see that Samuel was not happy. What he cried out to God about all night we are also not told. Was it for Israel, for Saul?
B. Confrontation. I Samuel 15:13-16.
>>>> Have someone read I Samuel 15:13-16.
Q What type of mood is Saul in?
An = Saul is stoked! He has just won a great victory, set up a monument to himself (15:12) and so blesses Samuel. Saul thinks he has done great! Saul is like a mayor using religious language in front of a minister like: "Praise the Lord, Jesus reigns!" He then asserts that he is quite an obedient fellow! Saul is blind it appears to his errors.
Q What does Samuel's question about hearing the cattle imply?
An = That Saul's claim to obey is inaccurate. The presence of the cattle represent Saul's disobedience.
Q Does Saul confess?
An = No. In verse 15 he first blames the people, then gives a religious excuse for disobeying God and claims that he has done well. He is answering like a politician, not a man of God. He puts the best spin on the occasion that he can, but he is not talking to the public, he is talking to a man of God, who has heard from God.
Note: Notice the pronoun used to refer to God in 15:15. He says he desires to sacrifice to your God. This phrase your God will continue through out the dialogue with Samuel (15:21,30). It is almost a subtle slip of the tongue that reveals how really far Saul is from a vital relationship to God.
C. Discussion of True Religion: Formal Ceremony or Obedience. I Samuel 15:17-23.
>>>> Have someone read I Samuel 15:17-21.
Q What does the rhetorical question in the first part of 15:17 mean?
An = Saul once knew his origin. He was once humble, knowing that God was the One who made him king. Notice Samuel also reminds Saul of his mission which was to completely destroy, not get rich.
Q What did Saul do that was wrong? Why was it wrong?
An = Notice that when Samuel accuses him of disobeying he puts in three phrases: You "disobeyed the Lord" (the Hebrew has the "voice" of the Lord), you "broke the ban" on the plunder, and you "did evil" in the sight of the Lord. What Saul did in the breaking of the ban what to put aside the "will of God", His very voice.
Note: To knowingly disregard the will of God is to become our own God. We decide what is good and evil. We have the knowledge of good and evil. We then place ourselves in the place of the Lord (Genesis 3:5).
Q Does Saul confess?
An = No. He again puts a good face on his actions and points out all the good he did. He certainly did do much good, but he was now in the place of deciding what issues were to be obeyed and what issues were not to be obeyed. Again, Saul is like much of our politicians. When questioned they never quite answer the question but go on telling us how much good they have done.
Q Who does Saul blame?
An = He blames the people.
>>>> Have someone read I Samuel 15:22-23.
Q What does Samuel mean by the statement in 15:22?
An = That formal ceremony is OK, Samuel certainly did formal ceremonies, but they do not please God like obedience does.
Q What does Samuel mean by the statement in 15:23?
An = That disobedience to what God tells us to do is just the same as playing with the occult or idolatry. This should have deeply offended Saul or deeply troubled him. Saul was so careful to be religious. We have seen this all through the passage. From an outward point of view Saul looked so great.
Q Is God impressed with Saul's religious activities?
An = He knows Saul's heart and that it has rejected Him and so He pronounces that Saul will lose the kingship. This is one of the major themes of all I Samuel: God knows our hearts and His knowledge can go beyond appearances. This will become clearer and clearer as we continue into Samuel.
D. Phoney Repentance. I Samuel 15:24-31.
>>>> Have someone read I Samuel 15:24-25.
Q Is Saul sincere?
An = It appears that he is. He confesses that he has sinned and has broken the Lord's commandment. It has taken a long time to bring about this confession. We are not able to tell if the threat against his kingship (23b) or the shocking news that his disobedience was as idolatry and witchcraft (23a) motivated the confession.
Q Who does Saul now admit he was afraid of?
An = The people. He also says something very strange he equates the Lord's command with Samuel's command. Saul could be politically maneuvering again. He has apologized to Samuel and confessed his wrong as a violation of Samuel and God's commandments. It could be he is trying to placate Samuel, or it could be a sincere understanding that Samuel represents the voice of the Lord. The text leaves the question open at this point.
Q In verse 25, does Saul want Samuel to come back because he needs the prophetic guidance with him again or does he want Samuel with him so he can look good before the people?
An = Again, our text leaves that open. It hard to tell from the outward appearance if people are sincere. In many ways this seems like a very sincere act of repentance, or it could be concern that Saul does not want to let the people know that the godly Samuel disapproves.
>>>> Have someone read I Samuel 15:26-31.
Q Does Samuel believe Saul?
An = No. In verse 26 Samuel tells Saul you are still in a state of rejecting God's Word. In verse 29, he lets Saul know that the statement of Saul being dropped from the kingship is not a threat but a done-deal. Saul could still make things right with God, but the kingship was lost. Saul appears to worried again about public appearance and image (15:30).
Q Does Saul ever pray to God or confess to God?
Q What seems to make Saul take this issue seriously?
An = When his power is threatened and then he makes a confession. What is disturbing is Saul's constant worry about how it will look. He is willing to confess privately but his constant reference to proper public image is disturbing. It is almost as if Saul deeply wants to be religious, but to not take God seriously as a Person who has a will.
Note: (if time allows do this) In verse 29, Samuel says God does not change His mind, but this seems to contradict both verses 11 and 35. What I believe is happening here is a delicate balance that is so common through out Scripture. Yes, God does change His mind. See Exodus 32:14 and there are 28 other times where God is said to regret or repent. What all of these various situations have in common is that there is a definite "emotional" aspect to all of these references. >> Read Genesis 6:6 and here one can since the passion, the emotion in God who loves humans and grieves about their choices. God is deeply concerned when we sin and reject Him because He is source of life and He knows we will die without Him. God loves us and therefore we can grieve, or hurt God. This is what I believe 15:11 and 15:35 are saying.
What I believe Samuel is saying in 15:29 is that though God is moved He is not fickle. He does not try to run mind games on us and just threaten us but never really mean it. He does not act like human beings do where words are cheap. This is what I believe Samuel is trying to get across to Saul who seems to think this issue will just blow over and he can go back to "religious but disobedient" way of life.
E. Bad News. I Samuel 15:32-35.
>>>> Have someone read I Samuel 15:32-35.
Note: Note Agag thought he was going to escape out of this fix but got fixed by Samuel. Also, Samuel and Saul permanently part ways, but neither God nor Samuel was happy with this result. God never desires the death of the wicked.

I SAMUEL 14 | Lesson #14 | FAITH VERSUS RELIGION: THE POWER OF OATHS

I.  Greetings:

 

II.  Introduction:  Faith Vs. Religion.

            Q How many of you have ever coached or played on a soccer team, football team or a basketball team?

            Q What if you as the coach suggested that you fasted from early morning until late afternoon on the day of the championship game?  What would happen?

               An = Your chances of winning would dramatically drop down.  You need physical nourishment to do a physically challenging task.  In ancient warfare, it was hand to hand combat.  It was a contact sport.  To fast during a day long battle would be quite a blunder.

            Note:  We are going to read of such a blunder that is covered with the guise of super religious piety.  The person making the mistake is very pious, very religious.  We are also going to read of faith and sometimes to the outside observer it is hard to tell the difference.

 

III.  Victory Over the Garrison:  A Victory of Faith.  I Samuel 14:1-15.

   A.  The situation:  I Samuel 14:1-5.

>>>> Have someone read I Samuel 14:1-5.

            Q From just reading 14:1 what sort of picture do you get of Jonathan?

               An = He is certainly not afraid of the Philistines and is an aggressive lad.  Maybe, he knew his dad would stop him if he told him where he is going.  Remember, it was Jonathan's action in 13:3 that started all this trouble.

            Q What is Saul doing?

               An = He was staying at the base with six hundred men.  He is sitting with his troops and Jonathan is moving out to confront the enemy.  Notice also that your author wants you to know that Saul has the priest with him (14:3).  Saul is portrayed as very religious.  However, so was the priest's great grand father Eli, and he was not favored by God.

   B.  Jonathan's Courage of Faith:  I Samuel 14:6-15.

>>>> Have someone read I Samuel 14:6-10.

            Q Is Jonathan over bold?

            Q On what is Jonathan's faith based on according to 14:6?

               An = His faith is based on his knowledge of God and his knowledge of God's ability.  He knows "if" God is with him he can succeed.  He does not command or "claim" anything of God, he just knows that with God in the equation, much can be done. 

>>>> Have someone re-read I Samuel 14:7-10

            Q  Does Jonathan give God the ability to veto his plans?

            Q  Is Jonathan certain God will bless his plans?

               An = No, however, if God is "with" them they will succeed.  Jonathan's attitude is "who knows", who knows what God will do (Davis p. 138).

            Q Would you like to have been the armor-bearer of Jonathan?  Would it have been exciting or frightening to have such a boss?

>>>> Have someone read I Samuel 14:11-15.

            Q Did God bless Jonathan's efforts?  How do we know?

               An = Jonathan and his armor-bearer not only polish off 20 Philistines but God is the one who really starts the ball rolling.  It is His earthquake that shakes the land that should remind us of I Samuel 7. 

>>>> Have someone read I Samuel 7:10-11

            Q  Who was the man of faith in chapter 7?

               An = Samuel

            Q  Who is the man of faith in chapter 14?

               An = Jonathan.  The last time that the Israelites had beaten the Philistines in a large battle.  There was a man of faith. 

>>> Have someone re-read I Samuel 7:13

            Q  Was it hard to get there in order to fight? 

               An = Jonathan and the armor-bearer had to work hard to get into the situation they were in.

            Q  What does that tell you?           

IV.  The Resulting Battle:  I Samuel 14:16-30.

   A.  The Battle:  I Samuel 14:16-23.

>>>> Have someone read I Samuel 14:16-23.

            Note:  This story is told very dramatically.  The lookouts can see the people "melting away".  This huge army is scattering every where. 

            Q  Who is "melting away"?  Whose army?

               An = It is not the Israelites who are "scattering" but the Philistines.  It makes a difference when God's people have God with them.  Notice nothing happened when the Saul and his priest were "sitting" under the pomegranate tree.

            Q  After Saul ascertain's who is there and who is not there what does he do in 14:18?

               An = He was trying to get religious and seeks a religious object. 

            Q  When Saul sees that the noise of the confusion gets greater and greater what does he abandon?

               An = His religious ceremony right in the middle of it (14:19).  This is typical of Saul in these chapters:  he is impetuous:  13:9, 14:24 and here.

            Q  Does Saul join the battle with his men?

               An = Yes, Saul is not a coward.  However, here is a follower where previously in chapter 11 he was a leader when anointed by the Spirit.

            Q Who helps out in the battle?

               An = Those Hebrews who had been turn-coats (who turn-coated again) and the neighboring Ephraimites who had been hiding.  When fortunes turn so does one's popularity.  Everyone loves a winner.

            Q What really gave the Israelites the victory?

               An = It was really God's earthquake.  God uses Jonathan and Saul but it is His earthquake that really gives the victory.  It is God who gives the increase, but He does use us to "sow" and "water" the seed.  God uses men, but ultimately it is Him who wins the battle.

>>>> Have someone read I Samuel 14:24-30.

            Q  Saul has gotten religious again.  What has he done this time? 

               An = He now puts the entire army under a fast.  He seems to want to personalize the whole affair.  See 14:24, in that he also wants revenge.

            Note:  The text says the battle entered the forest where there was honey on honeycombs readily available to the troops.

            Q Who is the only person that eats some of the honey?  Did he know?

               An = Only Jonathan and he does not know about the oath Saul put the army under.

            Note:  The people greatly feared oaths.  They did not eat food.  Saul was God's anointed and he had put the entire people under oath before God and the text says the people were afraid:  14:26.

            Q When Jonathan learns of the oath is he impressed?

               An = No he isn't.  He calls his father's action "trouble" for the nation.  The people got so tired that their victory was lessened or mitigated because they had the Philistines on the run and could not capitalize on the situation because of the "oath of fasting".

 

V.  The Aftermath to the Battle:  A Double Sin.  I Samuel 14:31-46.

   A.  The People Sin:  Eating the Blood.  I Samuel 14:31-35.

>>>> Have someone read I Samuel 14:31-35.

            Q What religious taboo did the Israelites break?

               An = They ate the meat in the hunger without properly draining the blood.  This respect of the blood was deeply ingrained in the people's understanding because the blood was the fluid of life and belonged to God alone (cf. Genesis 9:4; Leviticus 17:11;  Deuteronomy 12:23  see McCarter p. 248).  This was a serious sin against a commandment that God had given as opposed to the oath that Saul decided upon. 

            Q  What did Saul's religious burdens actually do?

               An = It helped the people to truly sin against what God wanted.

            Q Have you ever experienced something like this, where someone's misguided religious fervor hurt people more than helped them be pleasing to God?

            Q Does Saul act decisively once he sees the problem his oath has caused?

               An = Yes!  Saul is a sincerely religious and pious man.  The text clearly shows that Saul believes in religions rules and takes them seriously.  He brings a rock so that the animals can be slaughtered on it and so that the blood can run down and drain.

   B.  The Sin of Jonathan:  Eating the Honey.  I Samuel 14:36-46.

>>>> Have someone read I Samuel 14:36-37.

            Q Are the people willing to follow Saul in his mop-up action?

               An = Yes they are.

            Q What does Saul do next?

               An = He now wants to do more religious activities.  The priest maybe was smarting from the stopped ceremony in 14:19 and wanted some input into the victory.  God had granted them great victory without the priest's help.  Saul seems hesitant and bound by his religious sensibilities and now listens to the priest, and they lose the momentum of the battle opportunity that God's earthquake had provided.  He listens to a priest (not Samuel) and loses a great chance to deal the Philistines a strong defeat.

            Q How is this different than his son Jonathan?

               An = Jonathan is forward looking and practical.  Sometimes our religious sensibilities are not concerned with what God Himself really wants.  The priest wanted to do all the right rituals, but ritual does not save, God does.  Ritual is to lead us to God, not to take the place of God.

>>>> Have someone read I Samuel 14:38-44.

            Note:  Now Saul has moved from strong direction (which the people are willing to follow in 14:36) to divisive accusation and the people go along with this too.  Leaders can lead in good ways and bad ways the people will follow.  Saul now, instead of fighting the enemy is looking to fight his fellow Israelites.  He has moved from saving his people to "purging", usually not a good sign of positive leadership.  It is a lot easier to "purge" than to fight the evil.

            Q Have you ever seen this done in church?

            Q How many oaths does Saul take in these few verses of 14:38-44?

               An = Saul makes an oath in 39 and another one in 44.  The phrase "as the Lord lives" is an ancient oath formula.

            Note:  The lots that were cast were from the priest's neck and called the Urim and Thummim.  The best scholarship acknowledges that we do not know much about them.  They could not be compelled to answer from what the biblical stories that speak of them indicate.  God could refuse to activate them so that they would give an answer.  Remember it was with such lots that Saul's reign was partly justified before all Israel.  Remember also though, that it was the victory over the Ammonites that truly cemented the legitimization of Saul's reign.

>>>> Have someone read I Samuel 14:45-46.

            Q Who now takes an oath?

               An = the people do in 14:45.  Saul is God's anointed and he has taken three oaths (24,39,44) but the people over-ride Saul with a counter oath of their own and they have better theology.  They knew it was through Jonathan that victory had come.  They had practical proof of God's blessing and they seemed to have grown tired of Saul's over religiosity when it bordered on injustice.  Jonathan had made an innocent mistake and Saul was willing to kill him because of it.

            Note:  Remember when Saul won his great victory over the Ammonites in 11:13?  He was gracious to those who did not come to the battle.

            >>> Have someone read I Samuel 11:13.

            Q What was the reason Saul gave for forgiving those men on that day?

               An = For this was the day that God rescued Israel.  When His grace is given to us it should be given to others.  Saul is not willing to forgive Jonathan for making an innocent mistake, but even willing to kill him despite the fact that it was his faith that brought about the victory in the first place.  Saul has subtlety changed.  He is quite religious but now bordering on being very ungodly with his religious activities.  He has the letter of the law but seems to have lost the spirit.

 

VI.  Conclusion.  I Samuel 14:47-52.

            Q Did God curse Saul because three of his oaths taken on God's Name where broken and ignored?

               An = No.  The proof is in what follows.

>>>> Have someone read I Samuel 14:47-52.

            Note:  God gave Saul a lot of victories.  He is presented as a valiant and successful military commander.  I think the author placed this little summary here in the text of Saul and his family to let the reader know that the oaths were certainly not the cause of Saul's downfall.

            Note:  There has been a change in things.  In chapter 11:3,9,13 the word in Hebrew to save is used in reference to Saul's work.  In chapter 14 the same root word is used again three times but this time in connection with Jonathan's deed (14:6,23,45).

            Q  Is Saul is treated fairly in these last few verses?

               An = Yes, Saul was changing but still God was using him.  We need to be as courageous as the Bible and see the good about people despite the bad that is there too.