Kindness Bestowed: 1 Samuel 15:4-6
God calls us to be servant leaders. An act of service frequently goes farther in the life of another than we think. We might consider an act of service to be small or easily managed, but the service we perform might be enormous in the eyes of the one receiving aid.
Saul summons the army, and this time two hundred thousand soldiers show up for battle. The Bible does not say Saul threatened the people to muster them, so we assume he did not. It does raise the question of how he got two hundred thousand soldiers when he could only get a few thousand against the Philistines.
It is impossible to know the answer to this question, for the Bible does not say. One possibility is the Amalekites were an ancient foe and the Hebrew people had a long desire to get revenge. It could be this mobilization originated with Samuel and the people had more confidence in Samuel’s leadership coming from God. Certainly, God is strong enough to move people to action when He desires, so perhaps the people showed up at the movement of His Spirit.
We do know Saul takes a moment to warn the Kenites to flee. While it might seem like a questionable military decision because it shows Saul’s hand and opens the door for the Kenites to betray his plans to the Amalekites, this was the ancient world. Mobilizing two hundred thousand warriors would have tipped Saul’s hand. The Amalekites knew Saul was coming for them for days, if not longer. They could see the dust as the soldiers and their supply wagons moved. They would hear word from the shepherds who took their herds and moved to avoid conflict with the army. The one thing ancient armies could not do was sneak up on someone. Spies might be able to infiltrate an enemy town, but no army could quietly surround an enemy without tipping their hand.
This moment between Saul and the Kenites demonstrates the grace of God. God has no desire to punish the Kenites, even if they are living among the Amalekites. Moses’ father-in-law was a Kenite. Moses’ brother-in-law served as a guide for the Hebrew people as they crossed the Sinai Peninsula. As a people, the Kenites didn’t do anything particular to help the Hebrew people, but they didn’t attack them in their vulnerability, either. Even so, individuals within the Kenite community were a significant help to the Hebrew people. It is remembered.
What a significant contrast to the opening verses of this chapter. Saul is commanded to destroy the Amalekites because Amalek mustered a band of warriors and came to harass the Hebrew people. The Kenites are spared because Moses’ father-in-law and brother-in-law helped the Hebrew people.
We never know the potential generational impact a single act of kindness might have on a family or a group of people. Regardless of our ability to understand, God calls us to be servant leaders.
