Master Teacher. R.H. Boyd Publishing Corporation
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Название: Master Teacher

Автор: R.H. Boyd Publishing Corporation

Издательство: Ingram

Жанр: Религия: прочее

Серия:

isbn: 9781681677620

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СКАЧАТЬ all his servants, that they should kill David.SAUL spoke with his son Jonathan and with all his servants about killing David. But Saul’s son Jonathan took great delight in David.2 But Jonathan Saul’s son delighted much in David: and Jonathan told David, saying, Saul my father seeketh to kill thee: now therefore, I pray thee, take heed to thyself until the morning, and abide in a secret place, and hide thyself:2 Jonathan told David, “My father Saul is trying to kill you; therefore be on guard tomorrow morning; stay in a secret place and hide yourself.3 And I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where thou art, and I will commune with my father of thee; and what I see, that I will tell thee.3 I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are, and I will speak to my father about you; if I learn anything I will tell you.” image

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      The beginning of chapter 19 may have the reader asking: Did I read that right? Did Saul order his son and servants to kill David? It would not be unusual for any of the kings of Israel’s neighbors of that time to issue an order to neutralize a threat to the kingdom. However, for the first king of Israel to issue such an order indicated just how far he had patterned himself after the kings of the world rather than God. Israel’s outcry for a king was not made from a willingness to follow God. Israel wanted a change from the years of being led by judges and prophets. This was a new generation who looked more to the material success of other nations and admired what they saw in them. Saul, tall and handsome, appealed to their notions of what a king/leader should look like. However, Saul proved to not be a positive example for Israel to follow. King Saul failed to follow God’s protocol. It was customary to allow prophets/priests to guide military leaders in matters of war and peace. Instead, Saul usurped the priestly role by offering sacrifices himself rather than wait on the God-ordained prophet to do so. This angered God so much that He rejected Saul as king and instructed Samuel to anoint David as the future king. Saul could not have known any of this or he never would have invited David into his home to eat at his table. What he did know was what Samuel told him: “The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today, and has given it to a neighbor of yours, who is better than you” (1 Sam. 15:28, NKJV). In Saul’s mind, David presented that kind of threat, so he ordered his son and servants to kill David just to be sure. The desire to kill David was rooted in Saul’s disobedience of God and his anger at God’s chastisement. Sin clouded his judgment and ability to see David as innocent and chosen by the Lord.

      Jonathan clearly showed his love and willingness to take great risks to protect David by arguing David’s case to his father. In the effort to protect David, Jonathan undermined his father’s desire to ensure Israel’s kingdom was passed down to his son (Jonathan). Saul was motivated by self-interest while Jonathan was motivated by the interest of another. Deep friendship cares for the other even at times of sacrifice. This kind of love is best exemplified on the cross, as Jesus sacrificed His life not for His own benefit, as He needed nothing from humanity, but for humankind.

      Connect with Learners: What are you willing to lose on behalf of a friend? Have you ever sacrificed anything on behalf of a friend? Do you have any friends for whom you would put your life in peril?

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       II. A Friend’s Impassioned Plea (1 Samuel 19:4–7)

KJV NRSV
• • • 1 Samuel 19:4–7 • • • • • • 1 Samuel 19:4–7 • • •
4 And Jonathan spake good of David unto Saul his father, and said unto him, Let not the king sin against his servant, against David; because he hath not sinned against thee, and because his works have been to thee-ward very good: 4 Jonathan spoke well of David to his father Saul, saying to him, “The king should not sin against his servant David, because he has not sinned against you, and because his deeds have been of good service to you;
5 For he did put his life in his hand, and slew the Philistine, and the LORD wrought a great salvation for all Israel: thou sawest it, and didst rejoice: wherefore then wilt thou sin against innocent blood, to slay David without a cause? 5 for he took his life in his hand when he attacked the Philistine, and the LORD brought about a great victory for all Israel. You saw it, and rejoiced; why then will you sin against an innocent person by killing David without cause?”
6 And Saul hearkened unto the voice of Jonathan: and Saul sware, As the LORD liveth, he shall not be slain. 6 Saul heeded the voice of Jonathan; Saul swore, “As the LORD lives, he shall not be put to death.”
7 And Jonathan called David, and Jonathan shewed him all those things. And Jonathan brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence, as in times past. 7 So Jonathan called David and related all these things to him. Jonathan then brought David to Saul, and he was in his presence as before.

      The impassioned plea of Jonathan suggests he and David were not mere associates but beloved friends who found a common cause to support each other. Yet Jonathan and David’s backgrounds could not have been more different. How did these two become so close? Jonathan was a prince of Israel. He lived a life surrounded by wealth, servants, and an awareness that he someday would be crowned king after his father. This was his father’s dream, who would have it no other way. Missing from his father’s thinking was that it was God who appointed him to be king through the prophet Samuel and it would be God who saw to the next king. “But it is God who executes judgment, putting down one and lifting up another” (Ps. 75:7, NRSV). Jonathan in his own right was a man of courage, strength, and determination who was a veteran of combat. In one battle with the Philistines, he alone killed over twenty Philistines (1 Sam. 14:14). His single act of courage inspired others to join forces with his father. Jonathan garnered such respect among Israel’s army that when Jonathan violated an oath of his father that would have resulted in the punishment of death, the leaders in Israel’s army interceded to his father in order to spare his life (1 Sam. 14:24–46). Jonathan’s life dispelled any notion that a child raised in such wealth and grandeur could not relate and partner with another person raised on the opposite side of the tracks.

      David on the other hand was raised in the small town of Bethlehem where the Judaean mountains that stood between them could not have been more symbolic of the differences in the way David was reared from Jonathan’s upbringing. David, the youngest of seven sons of Jesse, grew up as a keeper of sheep. There his character was molded into a young man described by servants of Saul as a fine-looking brave warrior who played the harp and a man whom the Lord was with (1 Sam. 16:18). It was David’s skill in playing the harp that first gave him favor with King Saul. Saul had СКАЧАТЬ