therefore I said, 'Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not asked the favor of the Lord.' So I forced myself and offered the burnt offering."This passage is well known as Saul's downfall, so I'm not going to focus on that so much. However, this verse caught my attention for two points. First, Saul knows that he needs God's blessing before any attack. He knows he won't win on his own strength, for he is vastly outnumbered and underarmed. So he recognizes that his only hope lies in God, and has apparently made arrangements with Samuel to come and give offerings to God for their victory. This is a hopeful sign, which we all know he messes up.
Also, Saul says that he forced himself. What does that mean? He forced himself not to wait any longer before making the offering, because the battle is at hand (though it's not)? He forced himself to take Saumel's place? He forced himself to do something that he knew was wrong? He forced himself to take action before the last of the people abandoned him? In what is he forcing himself, and why?
No comments:
Post a Comment