{"id":58006,"date":"2019-06-22T07:58:28","date_gmt":"2019-06-22T04:58:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=58006"},"modified":"2023-01-16T15:09:36","modified_gmt":"2023-01-16T13:09:36","slug":"you-may-look-small-in-your-own-eyes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/you-may-look-small-in-your-own-eyes\/","title":{"rendered":"You May Look Small In Your Own Eyes"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\u201cYou may look small in your own eyes, but you are the head of the tribes of Israel\u201d (15:17). With these words the prophet Samuel unsparingly exposes the psychological root of Saul\u2019s failure for which he is now to lose his kingdom. The king is chronically lacking in self-esteem.<\/span><\/p>\n

Saul has just admitted that he disobeyed the prophet\u2019s command not to spare the animals of Amalek after defeating Israel\u2019s mortal enemy because his men insisted, and Saul didn\u2019t dare defy them. As he shamefacedly confesses: \u201cI did wrong to transgress the Lord\u2019s command, but I was afraid of the troops and yielded to them\u201d (15: 24). A leader who betrays crucial principles out of fear of his followers is finished. Even if he limps on in office, as did Saul, his authority has been fatally undermined.<\/span><\/p>\n

The end of the preceding episode foreshadows Saul\u2019s fall and sheds further light on its causes. His son Jonathan led a daring guerrilla attack on the Philistines that sets up victory for the Israelites. Jonathan then helps himself to some honey on the end of his stick, not knowing that his father Saul had placed a curse on any man who eats food before nightfall on the day of the battle. When Jonathan\u2019s trivial transgression comes to light, Saul declares that his son must die. But the troops protest, \u201cShall Jonathan die after bringing this great victory to Israel? Never!\u201d (14:45). Saul backs down in the face of their vehement opposition and spares Jonathan.<\/span><\/p>\n

Saul is clumsy and irresolute in his wielding of absolute authority. He makes up a tyrannical rule, tries to enforce it in a cruel and self-sabotaging way and then caves to his followers when they point out the outrageous injustice of it all. One may well imagine that this incident shook Saul\u2019s faith in his own judgment and planted in him the seeds of fear of his people\u2019s opposition.<\/span><\/p>\n

Did Saul ever have a chance? Was he doomed to fail? After all, his shortage of self-confidence appeared the first time we met him when he protested to Samuel his unworthiness to be king, being \u201conly a Benjaminite, from the smallest of the tribes of Israel\u201d (9:21). Wasn\u2019t the flaw that led to his eventual undoing evident from the outset?<\/span><\/p>\n

There is a big difference, though between the episodes of Jonathan and Amalek, which suggests that Saul\u2019s failure was not inevitable. In chapter 14, Saul gives in to his troops\u2019 objections to his carrying out a command that he himself invented. In today\u2019s chapter he surrenders to their opposition even to carrying out a command that came from God. Its divine origin could have made the difference. \u00a0Lack of self-worth plagues many of us, even a king of Israel. But when we are filled with a divine command and purpose, we can be bigger than our vacillating, selves, overcome the doubting voices within and face down the crowds that would dissuade us.<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":58007,"id":58007,"title":"isam15-small","filename":"isam15-small.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/isam15-small.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/you-may-look-small-in-your-own-eyes\/isam15-small\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"isam15-small","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":58006,"date":"2019-06-22 04:58:11","modified":"2022-09-14 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