King Saul's Vengeance on the Borg

Suggested Reading: 1 Samuel 14:13-30 or 1 Samuel 14 (the whole story)

In Star Trek: First Contact, Captain Picard comes face to face with the Borg, the enemy who had enslaved him, taken control of his body and subjugated his mind, bending it to their control. At one point, the rest of his command crew recommend abandoning the Enterprise and setting the self-destruct, both because the ship has been infested by the Borg and because destroying the ship will eliminate the current Borg threat to Earth. Picard gives a fiery speech about drawing a line and refusing to allow the Borg to go any further. Picard advocates taking the fight to the Borg and refusing to allow the ship to be destroyed.  Only after a relative stranger intervenes does Picard realize that he isn't focused on defeating the Borg or keeping them from harming Earth but on hurting them, on taking revenge for the hurt they caused him. Upon making this realization, Picard grudgingly  abandons his quest for revenge and finally decides to do what is best for his crew.

There is a similar revenge-motivated story in 1 Samuel where the main character doesn't learn his lesson. Saul has led the Israelites into battle against the Philistines. Saul is so intent on destroying the Philistines that he 'bound the people under an oath, saying, “Cursed be any man who eats food before evening comes, before I have avenged myself on my enemies!” So none of the troops tasted food' (1 Samuel 14:24, NIV). Saul's son, Jonathan, unaware of the oath his father has placed on the people takes a small taste of honey after going on his own covert mission in which he routed the Philistines in their own camp. Saul finds out about Jonathan's taste of honey when God refuses to answer whether or not they should pursue the Philistines and finish the slaughter. Even upon discovering that the offender is his own son, Saul insists on carrying out the curse and killing Jonathan. Only the intervention of the people saves Jonathan from his father's oath.

As you read the story, you discover that Jonathan (even though he agreed to let his father kill him) thought that Saul's oath was reckless and that it prevented the soldiers from being at their best, and Jonathan was right. Saul didn't place the people under that oath because it would help them defeat their enemies but because he hoped it would motivate them to slaughter the Philistines faster. Why? Read Saul's words again, “Cursed be any man who eats food before evening comes, before I have avenged myself on my enemies!”  Saul was only concerned about having revenge on his enemies, not the oppressors of his people, not the people who had enslaved his fellow Israelites, not even the people who had mocked God. Saul put the people into a harmful situation because he thought it served his own selfish purposes. Saul was focused only on himself and revenge against his enemies and cared nothing for his people.

How often do we do the same thing? As leaders, teachers, supervisors, employers, parents? How often do we put the people for whom we are responsible in impossible situations to fit our own selfish desires? How often are we so focused on what we want that we destroy any chance at healthy relationships because the people around us can tell that we are making rash, selfish decisions?

The irony is, as in both cases above, if the leaders had focused as much on what was good for their people as their own desires, they would have gotten what they wanted. Picard would have defeated the Borg faster. Saul's people would have had enough strength to pursue the Philistines, and they wouldn't have been held up, trying to figure out who had violated the vow.

Ultimately, focusing on ourselves and what we want to the detriment of everything else leaves us in a position where the people who depend on us get hurt, and we rarely get what we want.  If you are responsible for someone, or even if you only exert a small amount of influence, take care of your people and do what is right for them. It will go better for you as well.

Feeding Jesus to the Lions

Suggested Reading: Acts 7:54-8:3, 9:1-9

The lions roared as the crowds yelled and screamed. Eager for the executions to be finished so the games could begin, the masses laughed and jeered as the great cats tore apart their victims, traitors to the empire who dared to believe there was a higher power than Caesar, religious zealots who refused to deny their God even in the face of death. The ragged edges of limbs lay dripping blood on the sand while the wretches from whom they had been ripped cried out in agony until the lions attacked again.

More than a century earlier, the first Christian martyr was killed in a much more personal way. Stephen stood his ground, asking God to forgive his attackers as they hurled stones at him, bruising, piercing and battering him until he finally died. Those who stoned Stephen placed their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul, whose presence legitimized their mob violence, a man who agreed so much with their visceral rage at the Jesus-follower that he obtained authorization to arrest and imprison other Jesus-followers. Those imprisoned would likely be convicted of blasphemy and killed like Stephen.

Where was Jesus when his followers were persecuted, mistreated and murdered? Where was the Savior who had healed the sick, raised the dead, and commanded the forces of nature?  Where was the man who had inspired such devotion by being crucified himself and then rising from the dead?

In Acts chapter 9, Jesus finally confronts Saul about persecuting his followers. How does he identify himself? "I am Jesus the one you are persecuting." (Acts 9:5, NIV)

Every time Jesus' followers were persecuted, every time they were stoned, crucified or thrown to the lions, he was there with them, experiencing every hurt they experienced, identifying with them, standing with them in their pain. When a Christian is persecuted, Jesus himself takes on their hurts and pains. Never does a believer face persecution or hardship without Jesus at his side. Never does Jesus allow his people to suffer alone.  Like the big brother stepping up to his younger sibling's bully, Jesus declares, "When you mess with my people, you mess with me."

If we are to be like Jesus, shouldn't we stand with his followers who are being persecuted? Shouldn't we identify with them, encourage them, and do what we can to end their mistreatment? Jesus gave us the example to follow. Are we willing to follow it?

Interrupting Jesus' Crucifixion

Suggested Reading: 1 Samuel 13:7-14

When I was in college, I was part of a drama ministry team called Love Company. We travelled around to various churches, schools, prisons, and any other places that would have us, presenting the Gospel through drama and theater. One of the skits we did was a very powerful reenactment of Jesus ' crucifixion in which Jesus literally takes someone's place on the cross and then, once he has risen, offers forgiveness to his executioner. There was one particular performance where I, as one of the guards escorting Jesus to the cross, had just exited the stage, and it occurred to me that I did not remember anyone grabbing a necessary prop for the next segment of the skit. I was off-stage and would have had to make my way back onstage in full sight of everyone, disrupting the skit in order to, ostensibly, "save" the skit. I had my hand on the door, ready to move but finally decided to wait and see what happened. After all, I was a newbie. We had people in the group and onstage who had been doing this for several years. So I waited and listened. No one had forgotten that key prop. I just hadn't seen the person grab it. But if I had let my uncertainty reign and my impatience rule me and tried to take care of things myself, I would likely have ruined the moment and hindered what the Holy Spirit was doing.

In 1 Samuel 13, King Saul was waiting on the eve of a massive battle. He had been wanting for Samuel to arrive to seek the Lord's blessing with a sacrifice. But as the window for Samuel's arrival drew to a close, Saul noticed his men getting restless and slipping away, and he grew impatient. Time was almost up and Samuel hadn't arrived yet. So Saul took it upon himself to do what only the anointed priest should do, and Saul offered the sacrifice himself. But just as Saul was finishing with the burnt offering Samuel arrived (1 Samuel 17:10, NLT). When Samuel realized that Saul had taken it upon himself to offer the burnt offering, rather than waiting for him,  Samuel told him, "But now your kingdom must end...because you have not kept the Lord's command" (1 Samuel 13:14, NLT). The sad thing is, if Saul had only waited a few more hours, everything would have been fine. After all, Samuel arrived just as he was finishing the sacrifice. But Saul allowed his uncertainty and impatience to rule him, and he was unable to trust either God to honor him for his obedience or Samuel to show up when he was supposed to. As a result, he lost the blessing of God and, ultimately, his kingdom.

How often do we suffer the same fate that Saul did? How often is time running short and we allow our impatience to prod us into acting before it is time? How often do was see people not acting when we think they should and assume they are not going to do what is right or to keep their word? How often do we allow our fear and uncertainty to prompt us to take action when, if we just trusted God a little longer, we would be able to see that God has taken care of everything, that all of the props are where they are supposed to be? How often do we assume that, because we haven't seen what God is doing in the people around us, that God is not doing anything in those people at all? How often do we allow our uncertainty and our fear to prompt us to take action instead of trusting God and waiting just a little bit longer?

Impatience, when it is born of fear and uncertainty, is a signal that we do not really trust God. But God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control (2 Timothy 1:7, ESV). If we want the blessing of God on our lives rather than the judgment of God, we must resist the urge to act like Saul. We must exercise self-control, power, and love and not allow our fear and impatience to drive us to sin.