This morning at Morning Prayer we heard a terrifying story about how King Saul forfeited his kingship by failing to completely slaughter the men, women, children, infants, and livestock of a rival kingdom. According to his chaplain and mentor, Samuel, God wanted everything killed, no exceptions. Saul tried to bend the rules, sparing the "best of the sheep and the cattle," as well as the defeated king. When Samuel appears, Saul tries to placate him by suggesting that the surviving animals be sacrificed to Yahweh, but Samuel is not to be appeased. He pronounces a sentence of deposition upon Saul, and proceeds to hack the captive king in pieces.
It is from this bloodthirsty episode that the great King David emerges to become Israel's ideal ruler. Interestingly, David (with at least one glaring exception) seems to have shared some of Saul's tenderheartedness. But the whole story stands out as an example of how religion, even true-blue biblical religion, can contribute to the darkest kind of political violence.
The incarnate word of God is present in this story, but not in the "official" editorial line of its author/redactor. Christ is present in the murdered infants, the slaughtered lambs, and the dismembered king. Still is.
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