Honey

But here's the good news. I hope you recognize this as good news this morning. God doesn't really need you. All right. If that hurts your pride, good.

And the Philistines wake up and their statue of Dagon's fallen over, and so they put it back up, and then the next day, it's cut up into pieces, and then God starts afflicting the Philistines with tumors, right? Okay, so then, and so God afflicts them so much, they're like, we got to give the ark back, so they load the ark up, and they take it back, and then Israel just messes it up again, right? And so God has to judge them and cleanse them.

And then Samuel calls the people to repentance. He calls them at the end of chapter 7 to put away all the foreign gods, to turn only to Yahweh alone, to be faithful to the God that has made them, rescued them, redeemed them, graced them, given them everything that they have.

And in chapters 8 to 14, they turn immediately and come back to God and say, you know what? We've had enough of you being our king. We want a human king just like everybody else. Right after Samuel calls them to not engage in idolatry, to not make something man-made more than what it is. They turn around and they look at the Philistines and the Amalekites and the Ammonites and the Mosquito Bites. They look at all of them. And they all have got human kings and they say, we want a human king like that.

Samuel, if you remember, he gets ticked, right? And God's like, no, no, no, this is what they do. Give them what they ask for. The whole thing is a lesson in be careful in what you ask for. And so then we're introduced to Saul, and there's donkeys and all sorts of crazy stuff. But eventually Saul is dragged, almost kicking and screaming, into the kingship.

And at first it kind of starts out okay, like he wins a pretty significant victory. And it looks like, okay, maybe Saul's going to be a good guy. But the fractures in Saul's character begin to show themselves pretty quickly. He's vain. He's fearful. He's very concerned with image. And that begins to unravel.

And so we were at the end of, right before we started the Summer Psalm series, we were in chapter 14. And Israel's in trouble. They're being invaded. They picked a fight. They poked the bear, the Philistines, and the bear rose up. And Saul and what's left of his army, just a few hundred men, are literally hiding in caves as the Philistines have taken possession of all the strategic military points.

And beginning of chapter 14, Saul's son Jonathan... man, what a great story that was.The faith of Jonathan is so beautiful. He takes his armor bearer, they go out and he's like, let's just go see. Who knows? Maybe God will do something, right? It's just this beautiful story. So he and his armor bearer go out and they enter into danger, trusting in God. And God uses that faith. God shows up and he begins to scatter the Philistines. Jonathan goes out and kills like 20 of them. But then God shows up, and the ground begins to shake. And they become confused, and they're fighting, and they're fleeing.

And Saul realizes what's going on, and he sends the armies out. And all of a sudden, out of nothing but the faith of Jonathan and the goodness of God, the enemy is dispersing. And Israel is being saved and rescued. That's where we're going to pick up this morning in 1 Samuel 14, starting in verse 24.

24 And the men of Israel had been hard pressed that day, so Saul had laid an oath on the people, saying, “Cursed be the man who eats food before it is evening and I am avenged on my enemies.” So none of the people had tasted food.

Now, the men of Israel had been hard-pressed that day. Not just that day, but that day they've been hard-pressed. Like, Jonathan started it, and they got out, and... Sometimes maybe we read these stories and it's like God delivered them, like this was just an easy thing after this. No, no, they were hard pressed. There's still a battle going on. They're unbelievably outnumbered, outmatched. And so they're given everything that they've got.

And the Hebrew word that's used here for hard pressed is an interesting word. It's a word that was used in the exodus of the taskmasters that oppressed Israel when they were enslaved in Egypt. They pressed them down. You think about Israel at the time, like they're being enslaved and the taskmasters would come and remove the straw so that making bricks became more difficult, would give them less food and water so that everything about their lives became more difficult. The Egyptian taskmasters pressed down on Israel.

And now the author of 1 Samuel says, now Saul, the men of Israel are being hard pressed and Saul, their king, instead of making it better for them, instead of making it easier for them, so they're hard pressed that day. So Saul laid an oath on the people. He lays an oath on the people. Now, the word there for oath in the Hebrew, it can mean oath. It means curse. It's the same thing. It's like swearing on a stack of Bibles with lightning bolts attached, right? I make this oath and bind this curse, and he doesn't lay it on himself. He lays it on the people.

Think about how sad this is, right? Like the king is there to lead them, to guide them, to shepherd them, to nurture them, to nourish them. And now when they're hard pressed, he does exactly what the Egyptian taskmasters had done. He makes it harder on them. He takes this oath out on the people saying, cursed be the man who eats food until it is evening, and I am avenged on my enemies. I take this personally. Curse a lot of things. Don't curse my ability to eat.

But you think about how foolish this is. They're tired. They've been hiding in caves. Now God is giving them this unbelievable victory. And as they're fighting and struggling, their energy is depleting. Their strength is waning. And Saul comes and he says, I know what we should do. We should not energize ourselves. We should not take care of ourselves. And in fact, if I see anybody eating anything, cursed shall they be.

So none of the people tasted food. Be careful what you ask for. We want a king like all the other kings of the nations. God says, be careful what you ask for. They will oppress you. They will take from you. They will make your life more difficult. We're seeing that play out here for Israel in such a profound way. None of the people tasted food.

25 Now when all the people came to the forest, behold, there was honey on the ground. 26 And when the people entered the forest, behold, the honey was dropping, but no one put his hand to his mouth, for the people feared the oath. 27 But Jonathan had not heard his father charge the people with the oath, so he put out the tip of the staff that was in his hand and dipped it in the honeycomb and put his hand to his mouth, and his eyes became bright.

Now, when all the people came to the forest, behold, there was honey on the ground. When the people entered the forest, behold, the honey was dropping, but no one put his hand to his mouth, for the people feared. So they come out of the mountain passes, the barren, rugged wilderness, and they're pursuing the enemies, and they get into the more vibrant, fertile forest, and they come, and what do they find? They see honey everywhere. Honeycombs just dripping with honey.

And honey is the sugar of the ancients. Honey is energy. It's life. It's vibrant. And of course, honey has this rich role in the story of redemption. This is not just random sweetness that they come across. This is the abundance that God had promised them in the land of promise. Remember how over and over again, when God is leading them out of Egypt and he's leading them through the wilderness, he's like, I'm going to take you to a land flowing with milk and honey.

When they were in the wilderness for 40 years and they didn't have any food, what did God provide for them? He provided for them manna. Literally, “what is it?” But it's these wafers. But you read the descriptions of manna, it tasted like bread soaked in honey.

So when they come down in the middle of this battle and they see honey all around them, it's not coincidental. This is not accidental. This is God's provision for them. But no one takes advantage of what God has provided because Saul has made this rash, foolish oath and curse upon the people.

So there's what they need. There's the strength that God has provided. And no one is taking advantage of it because Saul has limited them. But verse 27:

27 But Jonathan had not heard his father charge the people with the oath, so he put out the tip of the staff that was in his hand and dipped it in the honeycomb and put his hand to his mouth, and his eyes became bright.

That's an interesting description here that's given. His eyes became bright. It's a Hebrew word for light. It's the same word that was used in Genesis when God said, let there be light, and there was light (Genesis 1:3). So his eyes brightened, his eyes shone. It's this idea of God bringing life and energy and strength.

Who provided the honey? God provided it. What did God provide it for? For their strength, for their life. So he brightens. As we walk through the rest of this story, it's a strange parody of the creation narrative that we find in Genesis 1-3. There's these intentional echoes and similarities, but twisted and turned.

We have Saul playing God, making commands about eating in the midst of abundance, right? That's Adam and Eve in the garden. They've got every tree there, every fruit, everything that they need, abundance, provision for life. But God says, don't eat from this tree (Genesis 2:16-17). So now we got, we don't want God, we don't want you to be our king. We want Saul. And Saul's going, okay, well, I'm going to act like God then. And so now here, God has given them this abundance of honey. And he's like, don't you dare eat it.

But remember, Eve enters into this conversation with the serpent and gets deceived and all that. And so she willfully violates it and eats. Whereas Jonathan innocently eats. And whereas Eve's eyes, because she willfully violated God's command, her eyes were opened and she recognizes her deficiency and her sin, and death enters in (Genesis 3:7), Jonathan, when he receives the abundance that God has given, even though Saul has said not to eat it, Jonathan's eyes are brightened. They shine. Life comes to him.

Some interesting things happen. Just pay attention as we keep walking through this.

28 Then one of the people said, “Your father strictly charged the people with an oath, saying, ‘Cursed be the man who eats food this day.’” And the people were faint. 29 Then Jonathan said, “My father has troubled the land. See how my eyes have become bright because I tasted a little of this honey. 30 How much better if the people had eaten freely today of the spoil of their enemies that they found? For now the defeat among the Philistines has not been great.”

One of the people said to him, Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on, Jonathan. Your father strictly charged the people with an oath, saying, cursed be the man who eats food this day. And the people were faint. So they're getting to the end of it. They're hurting. And I love Jonathan's response. Jonathan, he's just blunt. He goes, well, my father has troubled the land. Bad job, dad. My wife would say, red choice. That's what kindergarten teachers do. My father has troubled the land. He's not the commander-in-chief. He's the troubler-in-chief.

He says, see how my eyes have become bright because I have tasted a little of this honey? Look at you. You're all fainting. Look at me. Like, my father has troubled this land. How much better if the people had eaten freely today of the spoil of their enemies that they found? For now the defeat among the Philistines has not been great. Has not been as great as it could have been. If the people would have eaten of the honey, if they would have partaken, they would have been strengthened, they would have been revived, and the victory would have been even greater.

So Saul's vow, his oath, his curse that he thinks is going to make things better actually makes things worse. And we've seen that over and over again in the story. Men making foolish vows and oaths to God. You remember in Judges, Jephthah, Jephthah was one of the judges, and he's coming up to a battle, and he should trust God. But it shows that he doesn't really trust God because he feels the need to make an oath. And so he says to God, you know, God, if you give me victory, when I get home, the first thing that I see coming out of my house, I'll sacrifice to you.

Here's the tragedy of this oath. He didn't need to make it. God was going to give him the victory anyway. So God gets a victory. He comes home. The first thing that comes out of his house is his daughter. And he does end up sacrificing his daughter. It's this tragic story of just making foolish vows and oaths unto God. And it reveals a fundamental misunderstanding of who God is and how he wants us to relate to him. This idea that we need to somehow barter and convince God to do what's good or best for us, we don't need to do that. God always has our best interests at heart.

This foolish vow, it really reveals a lot about Saul and his character. He does it to project strength while he's really hiding his weakness, right? And I don't know, maybe you've been tempted to make a vow to God before, like things get really, really bad. You're in trouble. You know that you can't do it. And so you're like, maybe I'll convince God if I give him something. And church, these stories are written to teach us, to show us. That's not how God wants us to react and relate to him.

Jesus just bluntly says it in the New Testament. He's like, don't make vows. Let your yes be yes. Let your no's be no (Matthew 5:33-37). This is not how God wants us to operate and interact with him. God's not going to be impressed if you offer something that you already owe him. Think about that. God's not all that impressed if he offers you something that you already owe him. Let me ask one simple question. What do you have that you do not owe to God? Nothing. Everything you have has come from him. Everything you are relies on him. He is the author and sustainer of life. You have nothing. You possess nothing that God has not graciously given you. So if you think you can come to God and barter with something that God already owns, God already has given you, you fundamentally misunderstand who you are and who God is. Everything you are, everything you have, is a result of his grace.

Now, I'm not saying you didn't work and you didn't put in the time and effort, but the question, where did you get the ability to work? Where did you get the energy? Where did you get the strength? It all comes back to him. He is the source. Saul's vow, like any rash vow given to God, just reveals our control issues. Saul finds himself in the midst of this battle that started by Jonathan. Jonathan's going to get the credit. He's not going to get the credit. He's got image and identity issues. He's afraid. I know what I'll do. I got to get myself in this. And he makes this rash vow. Thinks, I'm sure I'm trying to be generous and gracious to Saul. Give him the benefit of the doubt that he thinks that this is going to help. We all know what good intentions get us to, right?

31 They struck down the Philistines that day from Michmash to Aijalon. And the people were very faint. 32 The 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.

They struck down the Philistines that day from Michmash to Aijalon, and the people were very faint. So by the end of the day, everybody's toast. Like, it's just a mess. And because of the nature of sin, it's going to go from bad to worse. Part of this story is about the rippling nature of sin, the unintended consequences of unwise, poor decisions.

Saul's sin, Saul's foolishness of binding all of Israel not to eat, not only limited the victory over the Philistines that they could have experienced, but it leads to greater sin. And that's what sin leads to sin. We see this in so many ways. You tell a little lie, and then somebody catches you in that, and so what do you do? You double down. And that lie grows, and it grows, and it grows. Our sin, as much as we like to think of our sin as simply ours, we're not individuals that live in isolation. We are part of community. And so our sin not only hurts and affects us, but by its very nature, by the definition of what it is, it breaks and hurts the community that we find ourselves in and the people around us. And it spreads. And like throwing a rock into a pond, the ripples of our sin spread out. It's the story of the fall in the garden. It's the story here, right?

So it continues at verse 32. The 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. The way that this is written, it's very visceral. It's very dramatic. It's like they're into the day. So Saul cursed them not to eat anything during the day. So now the day is done. And so they fall upon the prey that they have taken like ravenous animals. And like animals, that's how they eat it. They're killing the sheep. They're killing the calves on the ground and literally just eating it uncooked, bloody.

Now, God had been very, very clear in the Torah, in the law, the covenant given to Israel. You shall not eat meat with the blood in it.

10 “If any one of the house of Israel or of the strangers who sojourn among them eats any blood, I will set my face against that person who eats blood and will cut him off from among his people. 11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life. 12 Therefore I have said to the people of Israel, No person among you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger who sojourns among you eat blood. 13 “Any one also of the people of Israel, or of the strangers who sojourn among them, who takes in hunting any beast or bird that may be eaten shall pour out its blood and cover it with earth. 14 For the life of every creature is its blood: its blood is its life. Therefore I have said to the people of Israel, You shall not eat the blood of any creature, for the life of every creature is its blood. Whoever eats it shall be cut off.

He lays it out in Leviticus chapter 17, verses 10 to 14. In verse 11, he explains it. He says, for the life of the flesh is in the blood. And I've given it to you for the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by life. It is the blood that purifies. It is the blood that allows us to once again stand in God's presence.

So Saul's command, hey, don't eat anything during the day leads Israel to be so famished, so faint, so broken, that when they're finally released to eat, they just go mad like wild animals. And they're just eating the flesh with the blood in it. The blood is sacred. It's the God-given means for atonement and purification. Eating it raw like this is a desecration of the very symbol of life and sacrifice, profaning what points to redemption. It's not just about eating the meat with the blood in it. The thing is rarely the thing. It's about what it represents. It's about what they've become.

33 Then 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.” 34 And 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. 35 And Saul built an altar to the LORD; it was the first altar that he built to the LORD.

And it says then they told Saul. It's interesting they. Who's the they? Well, there's always a tattletale somewhere. They told Saul, behold, the people. That's how tattletales do it. People. They're telling the truth. Behold, the people are sinning against Yahweh by eating with the blood. People are sinning against Yahweh. The word here, there's lots of words for sin in the Hebrew. This is the dominant word in imagery. It's the Hebrew word for missing the mark. It's an archer term, right? So it's very simple to understand. Like when you shoot an arrow, you're aiming at something, right? And if you miss it, missing the mark, that's kind of the primary metaphor for sin. It's not being who we're supposed to be, not doing what we're designed to do. It's going a different direction. Sinning. They're missing the mark by eating the meat with the blood.

And he said, Saul says, it's hard to read this and not roll my eyes. You have dealt treacherously. Who dealt treacherously in this story so far? Well, I guess they all have because they did eat the meat with the blood in it. But why and how did they get to that? They got to that condition because of Saul's actions. But Saul's not a guy that takes responsibility for himself. So when he hears what's going on, well, it can't be his fault. He couldn't have done it. You've dealt treacherously. So roll a great stone to me here. And 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. And Saul built an altar to Yahweh. It was the first altar that he had built to Yahweh, to the Lord.

So now the king who has created the mess in the first place is playing catch-up, building an altar to try to fix it. We see that Saul's regard for Yahweh is reactive, not proactive. And this is the first time he's built an altar to the Lord. That's kind of a sad statement in and of itself. Saul's been about building up his own kingdom, which is exactly what God said a human king would do. And it's exactly what Israel had asked for. And now they're paying the price for it. His folly, his foolishness created the vacuum for sin to just flood in. And that's what sin does. It spreads. It spreads. It infects.

Jesus uses the imagery of yeast spreading through. Just a little bit comes in, and then soon everything is infected. This is how sin works. I was reminded this week, and forgive me, this is a ridiculous illustration, but you ever been on a road trip with somebody that just doesn't like to stop? Right like we're going you're like I gotta go to the bathroom too bad you get in 300 miles we'll stop and you can go then you know. Kept thinking about that this week. Saul's like, you're not going to eat anything. Nobody gets to eat while we're in the middle of this battle. It's like a guy driving. And I remember this friend of mine, and he told me he and his wife had had their little son with them. He was three years old. And they were going with his dad on a road trip in his dad's RV. And his dad was one of those dads. Like, we're going. We're not stopping. Well, three-year-olds... He was just kind of in that, out of that, in the midst of the potty training thing. And sure enough, they're on the road and he comes and says, I got to go potty. And grandpa's like, we're not stopping. And my friend is like, come on, dad, just pull over. He's got to go to the bathroom. No, we're not stopping. Grandpa reaches over and pulls out an empty two liter, you know, bottle and passes it back to the three-year-old.

Now, I could have told the dude this was not a good idea, right? But he's like, he's committed. We're not stopping. We're going to save time. We're going. So he handed the empty two-liter bottle to the three-year-old, and the three-year-old pulls down and positions the bottle and gets ready to pee in the bottle, and they hit a bump. And once it started, it wasn't stopping. So you got, here's a three-year-old in the RV, spraying everywhere. Saved a lot of time, didn't he, by not stopping. That's, man. Every time you try to convince yourself that your sin is just about you, it doesn't affect anybody, I want you to think about that three-year-old boy spraying his family in the RV because that's what sin does.

6 Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump?

Paul, 1 Corinthians 5:6, Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Sin ripples, sin spreads. One rash oath and the bloodshed spreads.

36 Then Saul said, “Let us go down after the Philistines by night and plunder them until the morning light; let us not leave a man of them.” And they said, “Do whatever seems good to you.” But the priest said, “Let us draw near to God here.” 37 And Saul inquired of God, “Shall I go down after the Philistines? Will you give them into the hand of Israel?” But he did not answer him that day. 38 And Saul said, “Come here, all you leaders of the people, and know and see how this sin has arisen today. 39 For as the LORD lives who saves Israel, though it be in Jonathan my son, he shall surely die.” But there was not a man among all the people who answered him. 40 Then he said to all Israel, “You shall be on one side, and I and Jonathan my son will be on the other side.” And the people said to Saul, “Do what seems good to you.” 41 Therefore Saul said, “O LORD God of Israel, why have you not answered your servant this day? If guilt is in me or in Jonathan my son, O LORD God of Israel, give Urim. But if guilt is in your people Israel, give Thummim.” And Jonathan and Saul were taken, but the people escaped. 42 Then Saul said, “Cast the lot between me and my son Jonathan.” And Jonathan was taken. 43 Then Saul said to Jonathan, “Tell me what you have done.” And Jonathan told him, “I tasted a little honey with the tip of the staff that was in my hand. Here I am; I will die.” 44 And Saul said, “God do so to me and more also; you shall surely die, Jonathan.” 45 Then the people said to Saul, “Shall Jonathan die, who has worked this great salvation in Israel? Far from it! As the LORD lives, there shall not one hair of his head fall to the ground, for he has worked with God this day.” So the people ransomed Jonathan, so that he did not die. 46 Then Saul went up from pursuing the Philistines, and the Philistines went to their own place.

Now, verse 36, Saul's doubling down. He doesn't care that they're very faint. He doesn't care how tired they are. So Saul says, you know what? Let's go down after the Philistines by night and plunder them until the morning light. Let us not leave a man of them. So the people have just sinned and he built an altar and tried to fix it. And he's like, okay, now it's dark. Let's just keep it up. Let's go fight in the dark. Let's just go keep pursuing it. And they said, his army said to him, do whatever seems good to you. But the priest said to him, hold on a sec. Maybe we should ask God. Let's draw near to God. Let's see if God thinks this is a good idea or not.

And fortunately, Saul actually listens to the priest here. And so it says that Saul inquired of God, shall I go down after the Philistines? Will you give them into the hand of Israel? But he did not answer him that day. God did not say a word. Saul on the surface is taking advantage of this opportunity. In reality, he's doubling down on his abuse of the people. And they go with it because he's the king. It's probably Ahijah, the high priest, who says to him, hey, let's talk to Yahweh. And Saul agrees to do that, and he calls out to God, probably with the priest, maybe with the Urim and the Thummim, and he calls out to God, God, should we go do this? And crickets from God. Nothing.

And this worries Saul, and he rightly assumes that Yahweh is silent because there is sin in the camp. So Saul said, come here, all you leaders of the people, and know and see how this sin has arisen today. For as the Lord lives who saves Israel, though it be even in Jonathan my son, he shall surely die. Now remember, he has no idea Jonathan has eaten the honey. He's just trying to play a big man, right? Like, no matter what, even if it's my son, we're going to take care of this. The arrogance of Jephthah, foolishness of making a vow that doesn't need to be made.

He says, but there was not a man among all the people who answered him. That's interesting. There's at least a few people that knew what Jonathan had done and all this sort of stuff. But of course, I don't think God's not answering because Jonathan ate the honey. I think God's not answering because Saul is being a foolish king. But God is going to point out what happened here.

So he said to all of Israel, You shall be on one side. Jonathan and I shall be on another side. People said to Saul, Do what seems good to you. Therefore Saul said, O Lord, God of Israel, why have you not answered your servant this day? If this guilt is in me or in Jonathan my son, O Lord, God of Israel, give Urim. But if this guilt is in your people, Israel, give Thummim. And Jonathan and Saul were taken, but the people escaped. Then Saul said, Cast a lot between me and my son Jonathan. And Jonathan was taken.

And Saul said to Jonathan, Tell me what you have done. I love this. Jonathan's character is such a striking contrast to Saul's character. Jonathan said to him, I tasted a little honey with the tip of the staff that was in my hand. Here I am. I will die. No excuses, no equivocation, no bartering, raw honesty. Well, I did eat some honey. And you are the king and you made the vow. So here I am. It's the words of Samuel when God calls him. Here I am. It's the word of Abraham. It's the word of Jacob. It's the word of the patriarchs. Here I am, Lord. Here I am. Let me die. Here I am. I will die.

Saul, Saul says, God do so to me and more also, you shall surely die, Jonathan. He just doubles down. Think about that. Because of the foolish oath that he has made, he's now condemning his own son to death. Father against son. Oath over mercy. Heartbreaking.

Verse 45 gets interesting. The people have been silent. The people have said over and over again, whatever seems good to you, Saul. But now it turns. Then the people said to Saul, shall Jonathan die who has worked this great salvation in Israel? Can you imagine how that stung Saul's pride? The people say, shall Jonathan die? He's worked this great salvation in Israel. Far from it. As Yahweh lives, there shall not one hair of his head fall to the ground, for he has worked with God this day. The contrast is left in the silence. He's worked with God this day. What have you done?

See, unlike Adam, the people did not remain silent. They call it out. We will not do this. And then verse 46, it says, and the people ransomed Jonathan so that he did not die. It's a great Hebrew word. It's this loaded term meaning to redeem, to buy back. There's often this substitutionary price that is to be paid, like the scapegoat in Leviticus 16 that's sent off with the sins of the people. It's this transaction. Now, the text doesn't tell us how much they ransomed Jonathan. I don't think the how is important in this context. What's being conveyed here is that the people interceded and did not allow the foolish oath of Saul to result in the death of Jonathan, who was innocent. And so they ransomed Jonathan so that he did not die.

It ends here in verse 46. Then Saul went up from pursuing the Philistines, and the Philistines went to their own place. In some ways, that's so tragic because of what could have been. The Philistines will continue to be a thorn in the life of Israel. So much pain in the future could have been avoided if Saul wouldn't have been so foolish and made such a rash vow, created such a brokenness within Israel to the point that they didn't capitalize on the victory that God had already and was already giving them. So Saul goes up from pursuing and the Philistines go to their own place.

It's a strange and interesting story. And I think it just screams of the gospel message. It not only points back to Genesis and echoes that, but it does point forward to the gospel and to Jesus. Saul's curse and Jonathan's near sacrifice, it's a shadow of the ultimate thing. Jesus, the innocent son, steps into our folly, tasting death's bitterness so that we get life's honey. That's the story of the gospel.

45 For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.

Mark 10:45, you know this, it nails it. For even the son of man came not to be served, but to serve and to give himself, to give his life as a ransom. In the same way that the people ransomed the innocent one, Jonathan, so that he did not die. Here's the strange, mysterious twist of the gospel. In the gospel, the innocent one, the one who had never sinned, the one who knew no sin, he willingly, like Jonathan, here I am, I will go. Not my will, yours be done (Luke 22:42). The innocent one is killed. But death cannot hold him, so the innocent one is raised. Comes and ransoms us. He pays the substitutionary price, breaking the curse of the law.

13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”—

Galatians 3:13, Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. And because of that, he's been given the name that is above every name (Philippians 2:9). Because of that, he's been anointed and installed as not just king, but king of kings and Lord of lords (Revelation 19:16). No more do we have foolish kings making rash vows that bind us and hurt us and destroy us. For now we have a king who speaks only life. A king who we don't ransom. A king who has ransomed us.

Oh, the beauty and the glory of the Gospel. The beauty and the glory of the faithful king who has ransomed us. Jesus. Jesus. By living a sinless, perfect life doesn't increase the ripple of sin. But he takes all the ripples of sin, my sin and yours, upon himself. He steps into it, shedding his own blood. Remember, the life is where? In the blood. He sheds his blood on the ultimate altar to atone for my sin, for your sin, as the scripture says, for the sin of the world (John 1:29). Jesus is the one that Jonathan points to, the ultimate redeemer, the ultimate restorer, the ultimate rescuer who gives his life that we might have life, that dies a death of sin, not his sin, but our sin.

Jesus is the great redeemer. And because of Jesus, we're not left in the ripple of sin. We're not left in the bloodshed. For His grace rolls in and covers us so that we are declared righteous, that we are declared clean, that we are set free from the power of sin and death. Church, hear me this morning. You don't need to make some outrageous rash vow in order for God to give that to you. It is freely given. This is the nature of the gospel because this is the nature of our God. You don't earn. You don't barter. You don't manipulate. You don't coerce. You don't need to make some sort of oath. God, if you save me, God, if you rescue me, I'll do this and this and this and this. You can't offer God something he already deserves and you already owe. The God in his grace has freely and graciously given us Jesus, the great king, the great and true high priest, the word of God made flesh, who has paid what we owed, died the death that we deserve, that we might live in the righteousness that he has accomplished.

Church, live in the gospel of grace. Run to King Jesus. Let him be for you what only he can be.

Amen.