Joel M Bradshaw

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.–1 Samuel 14

Chapter 14 is huge and so we did it in two days. Yesterday Jonathan had a weird battle plan. Today Saul has a rash vow. Nobody could eat until Saul was satisfied that his feelings were comforted. He wanted revenge and so his warriors had to go without until that happened. Fight all day, men, but don’t you dare have a snack!

So in an almost comical fashion, the soldiers won the battle and came upon a herd of oxen. They were so hungry that they started slaughtering their spoils of war for an impromptu barbecue. The text gives us the impression that they were doing more eating than cooking, though.

Word got back to Saul that the people were sinning against God by eating meat with the blood still in it (Leviticus 19:26). Saul momentarily cared for the opinion of God and had an altar built so that the food could be sacrificed and enjoyed properly. The narrator informed us that it was the first altar Saul had built.

We are left to wonder if this was the narrator taking a shot at Saul like I did with my “momentarily” line above. Or maybe the narrator was just informing us. Worship of God should have been paramount in the king’s life. It should be in ours, as well. Caring about the things of God should matter most.

We get the impression with Saul that he cared about himself first and only about God when it was convenient. Maybe he feared being linked to the men’s sinning. If you think about it, his vow or curse was probably linked to God in his mind. So Saul then would have invoked God in a manner that influenced those under him to sin against God. That’s a messy situation right there. Maybe Saul felt guilty. Nonetheless, it was his first altar.

It’s never too late to do the right thing, but the right thing becomes the right thing when the motives are right. Saul should have repented of his attitudes and decisions. Instead he tried to tack on a religious moment to his selfishness. Time to examine your own decisions and worship. I know I will.–JMB