Author: SFJ Bible

Going Deeper

Saul (3-26-16)

In I Samuel 8:7-18, the people demanded a king.

Why was this a bad thing?

1. Because God was Israel’s King and who can be a better King than God? So, their desire to have a human king was to fulfill selfish, fleshly longings that they believed would bring them to a better place in the land.  But, in the end, this desire was a rejection of God as King.  This is a total offense to God and all that he deserves.
2. The other problem with the people’s demand for a human king was the negative things that would happen to them under the rule of a man.  Samuel warned them of all of this, but they still wanted what they asked for.

Illustrating the old adage, “be careful what you wish for because you just might get it,” the Lord responded to the pleas of the Israelites to give them a king like the other nations. As we turn to 1 Samuel chapter 9, we see Samuel obey God’s command to give the people what they ask for and to raise up Saul as the first King of Israel.

Saul is the people’s idea of a king as he is attractive, large in stature, impressive and noble. But as we have read, he lacks the key quality God wants to see in a king which is “faithfulness of the heart that leads to covenant obedience”. Without this attribute, Saul is a failure in God’s sight, no matter how successful he may appear to the human eye.

Let’s dig into Saul’s story and worship God who is at work in all these things, even in the failed leadership of Israel’s first King.

In 1 Samuel 9:1-2, we read that there was a man of Benjamin whose name was Kish. He was a Benjamin and a man of wealth. He had a son whose name was Saul- a handsome young man. There was not a man among the people of Israel more handsome than he. From his shoulders upward he was taller than any of the people.

Oh, how we love to judge each other based on our looks and outward appearance or performance.  As we will study next lesson, God looks beyond the outer appearance and performance and looks into the heart and character of a man. Again and again, God’s word leads us to look for the fruit and not just the fruit of words or actions, but the fruit that reveals the heart and character of a person.  We would do well to focus on the inside and let that produce what is on the outside.

In 1 Samuel 9:3-14 we read that Saul is sent by his father to look for some lost donkeys and it becomes quite the adventure until he runs into Samuel.  By God’s sovereign appointment, Samuel has instructions for Saul that will change his life and alter the course of all of Israel.

1 Samuel 9:15-16- Now the day before Saul came, the Lord had revealed to Samuel, “Tomorrow about this time I will send to you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him to be prince over my people Israel. He shall save my people from the hand of the Philistines. For I have seen my people, because their cry has come to me.”

In 1 Samuel 9:17-27, Samuel blesses Saul with food and provisions and a place to sleep.

In 1 Samuel 10:1-8, Samuel tells Saul that he will be the prince of the people of God and gave him very specific instructions to follow until Samuel would come meet him again and there provide a burnt offering for the Lord.

1 Samuel 10:9-13 shows us how God was with, working in and through Saul. Saul was given a new heart and the things Samuel said would happen came to pass.  This was especially highlighted in the fact that Saul was prophesying which took the people by surprise as it was out of place for Saul to do this.  The Holy Spirit was at work in these things and God’s hand was setting the table for Saul’s rise to power.  But it is super interesting how it is noted that the people were so shocked as these spiritual things were not who Saul was and weren’t in line with his character. This is yet another sign that what we see on the outside is not always a right indication of who that person is on the inside.  We must take our time to really know who a person is.

In 1 Samuel 10:17-24, Samuel reveals that Saul is the one who will be their king and the people celebrate and shouted, “Long live the king!”.

Read 1 Samuel 13:1-23.

Saul goes from conquest and victory to being pinned in a corner and ultimately out of patience.

In Verse 12, we read that Saul usurped the authority and role of the priest and offered sacrifices to the Lord on his own authority.  This is a blatant act of disobedience.  Now, this doesn’t seem that big of a deal to you and me, but we must understand it is a transgression and willful disobedience against God’s command and even though Saul might have intended to honor the Lord in his actions of sacrifice and burnt offering, he dishonored God by doing it his way.

Can you think of a time when you did what you thought was the right thing, but in the end was still an act of disobedience to your parents, the law or God?  We must be oh so careful to not ever decide that our way is better than God’s way even when it seems to be a good idea in our minds.

1 Samuel 10:13-14- And Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the command of the Lord your God, with which he commanded you. For then the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. 14 But now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought out a man after his own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.”

Samuel makes it clear to Saul that he had broken God’s command and therefore his reign as king will not continue.

Instead God will command another man who lives to honor God. In verse 14, we read the phrase that will become most famous in describing King David, “a man after his own heart”.  While David will be far from perfect and will himself have many moments of disobedience and sin, he will have a heart, a character, a core desire to honor God and not himself.  Just like the heart of the saved and redeemed that lives to honor God even though we struggle with sin.  We no longer live as slaves to our sin but live to honor and worship the one true God.

God is surely at work to show the people of Israel the difference between the kind of king they desire and pick based on outward appearance and the kind of king that God has for his people ultimately a King that will be totally righteous forever and ever- Jesus Christ.

Later in chapter 15, we see the next step of selfish disobedience by Saul against God.

Long before the time of Saul in the days of the wilderness wandering, Israel had been savagely attacked from the rear by the Amalekites, a deed the Lord had promised to avenge someday (Ex. 17:8- 16). The time had now come so Samuel commanded Saul to destroy the Amalekites totally, that is, to place them “under the ban”. This was a wartime practice of total destruction of a people and their property.  This kind of ban was only able to be decreed by God, but Saul failed to obey the command and kept some of the spoils of the land and even the king himself to benefit by personally and to show off to his people upon his return.   Once again, Saul is a perfect representative of his people who only want what they want.  He doesn’t hold in high regard the instruction of the Lord and does his own self-benefitting thing.  For this, he would be punished.

Read 1 Samuel 15:10-35.

Saul is filled with excuses and doesn’t own up to his sinful actions.  Samuel is patient with him and makes it clear that God desires our obedience before our sacrifice or offerings.  If we obey him from the get go, we show him that we honor him above our sinful longings.  To ignore his commands and be disobedient and think we will just bring an offering of atonement is to manipulate our Lord. May we fight sin and our desire to do it our way.  May we love to honor God and obey his commands.
May we be men after his own heart in that we truly want to live for him in all we do despite the fact that we struggle with sin.

By His grace and for His glory,

-Shepherd

Soldiers for Jesus MC

1 Samuel 15:1-32

The Lord Rejects Saul

15:1 And Samuel said to Saul, “The LORD sent me to anoint you king over his people Israel; now therefore listen to the words of the LORD. 2 Thus says the LORD of hosts, ‘I have noted what Amalek did to Israel in opposing them on the way when they came up out of Egypt. 3 Now go and strike Amalek and devote to destruction¹ all that they have. Do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’”

4 So Saul summoned the people and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand men on foot, and ten thousand men of Judah. 5 And Saul came to the city of Amalek and lay in wait in the valley. 6 Then Saul said to the Kenites, “Go, depart; go down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them. For you showed kindness to all the people of Israel when they came up out of Egypt.” So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites. 7 And Saul defeated the Amalekites from Havilah as far as Shur, which is east of Egypt. 8 And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive and devoted to destruction all the people with the edge of the sword. 9 But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep and of the oxen and of the fattened calves² and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them. All that was despised and worthless they devoted to destruction.

10 The word of the LORD came to Samuel: 11 “I regret³ that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following me and has not performed my commandments.” And Samuel was angry, and he cried to the LORD all night. 12 And Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning. And it was told Samuel, “Saul came to Carmel, and behold, he set up a monument for himself and turned and passed on and went down to Gilgal.” 13 And Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, “Blessed be you to the LORD. I have performed the commandment of the LORD.” 14 And Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears and the lowing of the oxen that I hear?” 15 Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites, for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen to sacrifice to the LORD your God, and the rest we have devoted to destruction.” 16 Then Samuel said to Saul, “Stop! I will tell you what the LORD said to me this night.” And he said to him, “Speak.”

17 And Samuel said, “Though you are little in your own eyes, are you not the head of the tribes of Israel? The LORD anointed you king over Israel. 18 And the LORD sent you on a mission and said, ‘Go, devote to destruction the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.’ 19 Why then did you not obey the voice of the LORD? Why did you pounce on the spoil and do what was evil in the sight of the LORD?” 20 And Saul said to Samuel, “I have obeyed the voice of the LORD. I have gone on the mission on which the LORD sent me. I have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and I have devoted the Amalekites to destruction. 21 But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the best of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the LORD your God in Gilgal.” 22 And Samuel said,

  “Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,
    as in obeying the voice of the LORD?
  Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,
    and to listen than the fat of rams.
23   For rebellion is as the sin of divination,
    and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry.
  Because you have rejected the word of the LORD,
    he has also rejected you from being king.”

24 Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice. 25 Now therefore, please pardon my sin and return with me that I may bow before the LORD.” 26 And Samuel said to Saul, “I will not return with you. For you have rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD has rejected you from being king over Israel.” 27 As Samuel turned to go away, Saul seized the skirt of his robe, and it tore. 28 And Samuel said to him, “The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you this day and has given it to a neighbor of yours, who is better than you. 29 And also the Glory of Israel will not lie or have regret, for he is not a man, that he should have regret.” 30 Then he said, “I have sinned; yet honor me now before the elders of my people and before Israel, and return with me, that I may bow before the LORD your God.” 31 So Samuel turned back after Saul, and Saul bowed before the LORD.

32 Then Samuel said, “Bring here to me Agag the king of the Amalekites.” And Agag came to him cheerfully.⁴ Agag said, “Surely the bitterness of death is past.”

Footnotes

[1] 15:3 That is, set apart (devote) as an offering to the Lord (for destruction); also verses 8, 9, 15, 18, 20, 21

[2] 15:9 The meaning of the Hebrew term is uncertain

[3] 15:11 See also verses 29, 35

[4] 15:32 Or haltingly (compare Septuagint); the Hebrew is uncertain

(ESV)

1 Samuel 13:1-23

Saul Fights the Philistines

13:1 Saul lived for one year and then became king, and when he had reigned for two years over Israel,¹ 2 Saul chose three thousand men of Israel. Two thousand were with Saul in Michmash and the hill country of Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin. The rest of the people he sent home, every man to his tent. 3 Jonathan defeated the garrison of the Philistines that was at Geba, and the Philistines heard of it. And Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, “Let the Hebrews hear.” 4 And all Israel heard it said that Saul had defeated the garrison of the Philistines, and also that Israel had become a stench to the Philistines. And the people were called out to join Saul at Gilgal.

5 And the Philistines mustered to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots and six thousand horsemen and troops like the sand on the seashore in multitude. They came up and encamped in Michmash, to the east of Beth-aven. 6 When the men of Israel saw that they were in trouble (for the people were hard pressed), the people hid themselves in caves and in holes and in rocks and in tombs and in cisterns, 7 and some Hebrews crossed the fords of the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. Saul was still at Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling.

Saul’s Unlawful Sacrifice

8 He waited seven days, the time appointed by Samuel. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the people were scattering from him. 9 So Saul said, “Bring the burnt offering here to me, and the peace offerings.” And he offered the burnt offering. 10 As soon as he had finished offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came. And Saul went out to meet him and greet him. 11 Samuel said, “What have you done?” And Saul said, “When I saw that the people were scattering from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines had mustered at Michmash, 12 I said, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the favor of the LORD.’ So I forced myself, and offered the burnt offering.” 13 And Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the command of the LORD your God, with which he commanded you. For then the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. 14 But now your kingdom shall not continue. The LORD has sought out a man after his own heart, and the LORD has commanded him to be prince² over his people, because you have not kept what the LORD commanded you.” 15 And Samuel arose and went up from Gilgal. The rest of the people went up after Saul to meet the army; they went up from Gilgal³ to Gibeah of Benjamin.

And Saul numbered the people who were present with him, about six hundred men. 16 And Saul and Jonathan his son and the people who were present with them stayed in Geba of Benjamin, but the Philistines encamped in Michmash. 17 And raiders came out of the camp of the Philistines in three companies. One company turned toward Ophrah, to the land of Shual; 18 another company turned toward Beth-horon; and another company turned toward the border that looks down on the Valley of Zeboim toward the wilderness.

19 Now there was no blacksmith to be found throughout all the land of Israel, for the Philistines said, “Lest the Hebrews make themselves swords or spears.” 20 But every one of the Israelites went down to the Philistines to sharpen his plowshare, his mattock, his axe, or his sickle,⁴ 21 and the charge was two-thirds of a shekel⁵ for the plowshares and for the mattocks, and a third of a shekel⁶ for sharpening the axes and for setting the goads.⁷ 22 So on the day of the battle there was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people with Saul and Jonathan, but Saul and Jonathan his son had them. 23 And the garrison of the Philistines went out to the pass of Michmash.

Footnotes

[1] 13:1 Hebrew Saul was one year old when he became king, and he reigned two years over Israel; some Greek manuscripts give Saul’s age when he began to reign as thirty years

[2] 13:14 Or leader

[3] 13:15 Septuagint; Hebrew lacks The rest of the people . . . from Gilgal

[4] 13:20 Septuagint; Hebrew plowshare

[5] 13:21 Hebrew was a pim

[6] 13:21 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams

[7] 13:21 The meaning of the Hebrew verse is uncertain

(ESV)

1 Samuel 10:17-26

Saul Proclaimed King

17 Now Samuel called the people together to the LORD at Mizpah. 18 And he said to the people of Israel, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘I brought up Israel out of Egypt, and I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all the kingdoms that were oppressing you.’ 19 But today you have rejected your God, who saves you from all your calamities and your distresses, and you have said to him, ‘Set a king over us.’ Now therefore present yourselves before the LORD by your tribes and by your thousands.”

20 Then Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel near, and the tribe of Benjamin was taken by lot. 21 He brought the tribe of Benjamin near by its clans, and the clan of the Matrites was taken by lot;¹ and Saul the son of Kish was taken by lot. But when they sought him, he could not be found. 22 So they inquired again of the LORD, “Is there a man still to come?” and the LORD said, “Behold, he has hidden himself among the baggage.” 23 Then they ran and took him from there. And when he stood among the people, he was taller than any of the people from his shoulders upward. 24 And Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see him whom the LORD has chosen? There is none like him among all the people.” And all the people shouted, “Long live the king!”

25 Then Samuel told the people the rights and duties of the kingship, and he wrote them in a book and laid it up before the LORD. Then Samuel sent all the people away, each one to his home. 26 Saul also went to his home at Gibeah, and with him went men of valor whose hearts God had touched.

Footnotes

[1] 10:21 Septuagint adds finally he brought the family of the Matrites near, man by man

(ESV)

1 Samuel 10:1-16

Saul Anointed King

10:1 Then Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it on his head and kissed him and said, “Has not the LORD anointed you to be prince¹ over his people Israel? And you shall reign over the people of the LORD and you will save them from the hand of their surrounding enemies. And this shall be the sign to you that the LORD has anointed you to be prince² over his heritage. 2 When you depart from me today, you will meet two men by Rachel’s tomb in the territory of Benjamin at Zelzah, and they will say to you, ‘The donkeys that you went to seek are found, and now your father has ceased to care about the donkeys and is anxious about you, saying, “What shall I do about my son?”’ 3 Then you shall go on from there farther and come to the oak of Tabor. Three men going up to God at Bethel will meet you there, one carrying three young goats, another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a skin of wine. 4 And they will greet you and give you two loaves of bread, which you shall accept from their hand. 5 After that you shall come to Gibeath-elohim,³ where there is a garrison of the Philistines. And there, as soon as you come to the city, you will meet a group of prophets coming down from the high place with harp, tambourine, flute, and lyre before them, prophesying. 6 Then the Spirit of the LORD will rush upon you, and you will prophesy with them and be turned into another man. 7 Now when these signs meet you, do what your hand finds to do, for God is with you. 8 Then go down before me to Gilgal. And behold, I am coming down to you to offer burnt offerings and to sacrifice peace offerings. Seven days you shall wait, until I come to you and show you what you shall do.”

9 When he turned his back to leave Samuel, God gave him another heart. And all these signs came to pass that day. 10 When they came to Gibeah,⁴ behold, a group of prophets met him, and the Spirit of God rushed upon him, and he prophesied among them. 11 And when all who knew him previously saw how he prophesied with the prophets, the people said to one another, “What has come over the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?” 12 And a man of the place answered, “And who is their father?” Therefore it became a proverb, “Is Saul also among the prophets?” 13 When he had finished prophesying, he came to the high place.

14 Saul’s uncle said to him and to his servant, “Where did you go?” And he said, “To seek the donkeys. And when we saw they were not to be found, we went to Samuel.” 15 And Saul’s uncle said, “Please tell me what Samuel said to you.” 16 And Saul said to his uncle, “He told us plainly that the donkeys had been found.” But about the matter of the kingdom, of which Samuel had spoken, he did not tell him anything.

Footnotes

[1] 10:1 Or leader

[2] 10:1 Septuagint; Hebrew lacks over his people Israel? And you shall. . . . to be prince

[3] 10:5 Gibeath-elohim means the hill of God

[4] 10:10 Gibeah means the hill

(ESV)