Have A Taste

And the men of Israel were distressed that day, for Saul had placed the people under oath, saying, "Cursed is the man who eats any food until evening, before I have taken vengeance on my enemies." So none of the people tasted food. 1 Samuel 14:24

This is a strange story, and it relates to Saul’s attitude toward God. After being anointed King of Israel, Saul was not up to the task. He was timid and feared failure, so when a challenge came, he relied on his own know how rather than obedience to God’s command. At one point when he was to kill every person and animal of a certain kingdom Saul instead spared the King and the flocks. "Why waste good animals? It just doesn't make sense." Saul was not confident enough in the Lord his God to obey what he could not understand. This is the same spirit that Achan had in Joshua 7. In victory Achan was not satisfied and took the Babylonian garment, the silver and gold in contradiction to God’s edict.

Jonathan, King Saul’s son, along with his armor barer made a bold attack on a Philistine outpost that threw the Philistines into great confusion and rallied the downtrodden Israelites to a great victory. So why was Saul intent on having everyone suffer hunger in the midst of victory? It was because he thought it would please God and give him more favor. The thing is, they had already won and were mopping up after the Lord had obviously gone before them in the battle. Saul was blind to God’s ways.

Saul’s son, who was igniting a faith victory, was not around to hear Saul’s curse on the one who would eat before evening and innocently tasted some honey he found in the forest. The honey gave him physical renewal and he questioned his father’s wisdom in making the soldiers abstain from food during the battle. Triumph was on the menu for Jonathan and no one, not even the King, was going to spoil it.

How miserable we are when we try to do God’s work without God’s help. When Saul finally asked God’s help, God would not show him what to do so he looked for someone to blame. Every bad thing that happened in Saul’s life was due to his own sin and pride. To prove he was righteous he was willing to sacrifice the one spiritual person in the crowd, his own son. Saul tried to lift himself up but was torn down instead and ultimately would die in battle because of his foolishness.

“Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.” (James 4:10) Had Saul learned this lesson of humility and reliance on the Almighty history would have been kinder to him.

Saul lived in defeat, and finally tasted death as a broken man. Though Jonathan who tasted the honey and was revived would also die in battle, he was never defeated in spirit because he trusted in the Lord. “Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good;
Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!” (Psalm 34:8)