25th.: Saul’s First Altar
Saul's son, Jonathan caused a big commotion in the Philistine camp.
This commotion turned into a rout (1st Sam. 14:20-23).
Unfortunately, Saul had commanded the people to not eat until evening.
He did not want anyone wasting time with eating.
Therefore, the people were too famished to totally defeat the Philistines (1st Sam. 14:24-30, especially v30).
At evening, when Saul’s food ban ended, the people flew into the food, not preparing it according to the Jewish laws.
Therefore, “... Saul built an altar unto the Lord.” (1st Sam. 14:35a).
Building the altar to the Lord also put a disciplined approach to killing the animals for the Jews.
The Hebrew language experts say that Saul began to build the altar, but that he actually did not finish it.
If this is so, Saul was too impetuous to diligently seek the Lord.
Saul sought the Lord half-way, being distracted by many things, such as defeating the Philistines.
As a result, God stayed away from him.
How do we seek the Lord, with singleness of mind, or in a distracted way?
“… let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.” (James 1:7-8)