Welcome back to 1 Samuel! Every Wednesday and Friday, I post my thoughts from one chapter of 1 Samuel – today is chapter 14. Read 1 Samuel 14 for yourself, take notes, and compare what you hear from God with what I see and hear. God’s Word is alive and active. We don’t need to see the same things!
If you’ve missed any of the past posts of earlier chapters, you can find them all HERE.
If you are new to reading the Bible, I encourage you to read my post, How to Understand the Bible. It gives you 5 tools to read the Bible, so you understand it. You can also go back and read through the story of Joseph and his family and all of Luke with me.
So let’s go ahead and jump in!
Be a Leaning Leader
Among other things, 1 Samuel 14 is a comparison in leadership styles. Jonathan, the crown prince of Israel, is brave but measured. Saul, the king of Israel, is impetuous and brash – either all in or all out. One saves the day, and the other nearly ruins it, but is one right and the other wrong?
Jonathan sees the outpost of the Philistines, and makes a calculated decision. “If they call us up, it’s a sign to fight. If they call us out, we run.” They are called to fight, and they win, but only after a thoughtful decision. After they win the skirmish, God intervenes further, and the Philistines turn on themselves, giving Israel the upper hand.
Saul rushes into battle. He began to seek God on want to do, but he grew impatient and ran ahead. Let me make a point here. I don’t believe this was wrong or a sin for Saul to go into battle without the direct word from God. With other signs (confusion, the Philistine army running), it was obvious God was at work.
When you see God at work, you need to step into that moment and believe God is with you. Saul rushing into battle was a good and natural decision, it’s what happens next that was a mistake.
Saul makes the rash decision to not allow the men to eat until the battle is won. Jonathan inadvertently sins by eating honey, and the army knowingly sins by eating meat with blood. Saul’s oath should have lead to Jonathan’s death, but the army saved him.
Which is better?
So is Jonathan’s style of leadership better and Saul’s worse? Sometimes, like this time, yes but other times no. Sometimes the calculated leader needs to be pushed into action. Sometimes the emotional leader needs to be slowed down or even pushed ahead. In truth, Jonathan needed Saul, and Saul needed Jonathan.
We are all leaders. As you lead in an area of your life – work, family, civic, church, etc, learn to lean on other leaders for their support. When I lean on you, you cover my weakness with your strength. I can do the same for you.
Unfortunately, that’s not how this story went, and it won’t be the pattern as we finish the story of 1 Samuel . It can be the way you lead in your life. In your family, business, church, you can partner with other leaders who have different strengths. It will keep you from the pitfalls of Saul.
What type of leader are you? Who can you partner with to balance your strengths and weaknesses?
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