Saul’s Final Fall

Transcript

GRS 2-67
5/6/2007
Saul’s Final Fall
1 Samuel 15
Gil Rugh

We are studying the book of first Samuel and we come to chapter 15 and chapter 15 is one of those chapters that you find yourself coming back to. It’s not a chapter that is a happy chapter. It is about the final fall of the man Saul and his final rejection as King of Israel. Saul has been the main character in chapters nine to 15 of first Samuel. Samuel, remember, is the last of the judges, so the book of judges flows into first Samuel. Samuel being the last of the series of judges that the book of judges was about, he is also a prophet and a priest and it felt to him to anoint the first King of Israel who as you are aware was the man Saul.

Only three chapters here focused on his rule as King, chapters 13, 14 and 15. Now his reign as King is not over at chapter 15. His reign will carry on through first Samuel, but his rejection is finalized in chapter 15. His rebellion is refusal to trust God and manifest his trust in the living God by obedience has already precipitated the announcement of the end of his line back in chapter 13, verse 13.

Samuel said to Saul you have acted foolishly. You have not kept the commandment of the Lord or God which he commanded you for now the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever but now your kingdom shall not endure, the Lord has sort out for himself a man after his own heart. The Lord has appointed him as ruler over his people because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you. So the end of his dynasty if you will has already been announced. It will be a one man dynasty really.

There will be no line of Saul on the throne of Israel because of disobedience. The tragedy of Saul’s life is he didn’t learn from failure and so we come to chapter 15. We find failure added to failure and the real problem with Saul seems to be he had no true living relationship with the God of Israel. He has never come into submission to the God of Israel. It goes through the form. He is a Jew. He is from the tribe of Benjamin. He comes from a notable family recognized for their valor but Saul seems to be always on the fringe as far as the relationship with God is. He is around what God is doing and in many ways God is using him for his purposes, but Saul never seems to have that true relationship with the living God.

We come to chapter 15. You see again stubborn rebellion. The unwillingness to do what God tells him to do and there is a difference here. This happened in chapter 13, but in chapter 13 Saul was under tremendous pressure. Remember in chapter 13 he was being confronted with the Philistine army that was overwhelming in size. It was an army that was well equipped and yet within the army of Israel there were only two armed men with swords and spears. That was Saul and his son Jonathan and the Army of Israel was frightened and unraveling and remember they were hiding in the caves and holes in the ground and houses.

So his disobedience in chapter 13 is not excusable, but as we look at it from a human perspective we will say well it was disobedience in the phase of overwhelming pressure. It’s still disobedience and he is not excused for it, but when you come to chapter 15 you see that Saul is disobedient in just the opposite kind of circumstances where he is in the position of overwhelming victory, crushing his enemies, triumphant from the beginning and yet he manifest what his true character is, disobedience to God in that situation as well, look at how chapter 15 begins.

Then Samuel said to Saul, the Lord sent me to anoint you as King over his people, over Israel. Now therefore listen to the words of the Lord. Saul is reminded that Samuel is God’s instrument in his life. Samuel is the one who speaks the words of God to Saul. Samuel came as God’s messenger to anoint Saul. He gave him the word from the Lord regarding his appointment as King and this is the reminder that Saul is to be obedient to the words that God speaks crucial. Now therefore listen to the words of the Lord, you are King because God sent me to anoint you. Listen now, pay attention to what God has to say, thus says the Lord of hosts. I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel how he said himself against him on the way while he was coming up from Egypt.

Saul’s assignment is to be God’s instrument of judgment on the Amalekites. The basis for judgment goes back 400 years to the time of the Exodus from Egypt and on that occasion the Amalekites opposed Israel, back in Exodus chapter 17 and fought against Israel, wouldn’t allow them to come through the land, come back to Exodus 17.

You will note something here and I will just remind you of it later, we won’t come back. Verse 8 of Exodus 17 Amalek came and fought against Israel at Rephidim and this is the occasion where Joshua leads the armies out and Moses stands on the top of the hill with his arms outstretched and so Aaron and Hur, verse 12, supports his hands so they held up and so Joshua has the victory. Verse 13, Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword, but they opposed Israel, stood against God’s people and for that they are guilty. Then verse 14 the Lord said to Moses, write this in a book as a memorial, recite it to Joshua that I will utterly blood out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.

400 years have past, now God is going to be good to his work. Response to this victory, note, remember this, Moses built an altar and named it the Lord is my banner. Moses gives all the glory and all the honor to God and builds an altar and there declares that the victory is the Lord’s and the honor is his and he said, the Lord has sworn, the Lord will have war against Amalek from generation to generation. Then you see, he puts this together, verse 14, God says he will blood out the memory of Amalek from under heaven. Verse 16, there will be war from generation to generation. So the annihilation of Amalek, the Amalekites is not going to happen immediately and so over 400 years the Amalekites have continued their opposition to Israel.

Turn over to the book of judges, just before Samuel, judge’s chapter three. Verse 13 and this is under the first judge in Israel, verse 13 and he gathered to himself the sons of Ammon and Amalek and he went and defeated Israel. So this is Eglon king of Moab, and if you could remember the study of judges, now he gathers allies to subjugate Israel, the king of Moab and you note, the allies include Ammon and Amalek, the sons of Ammon, the sons of Amalek, the Amalekites. There they are joined again to try to defeat Israel over in chapter six of judges.

Verse three and this will be in the time of the judgeship of Gideon, for it was when Israel had sworn, in other words in the days when the crops had been put out and you get ready for harvest the Midianites would come up with the Amalekites, you know, they are again the Amalekites. The sons of the East and go against them, they will camp against them, destroy the produce of the earth, leave no substance in Israel as well as no sheep, ox or donkey. They would come into the land and devastate it, down in verse 33 of chapter six. Then all the Midianites and the Amalekites, the sons of East assembled themselves. They crossed over to see the Amalekites involvement in opposing Israel.

Chapter seven verse 12. Now the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the sons of the East were lying in the valley and very numerous and so on. The Amalekites came forward in their opposition against Israel and over the generations they continued that opposition. The God said he was going to annihilate the Amalekites, destroy them completely.

So, now you come to first Samuel. 15 verse three and we read now go, the instruction of God through Samuel to Saul. Now go and strike Amalek and utterly destroy all that he has, do not spare him, but put to death both man and woman, child and infant, ox, sheep, camel, donkey, every single human being, every single animal and you see that expression ‘utterly destroy’, go now go and strike Amalek and utterly destroy. The translation of a single Greek word Herem. We would have it H-E-R-E-M. It means the ban, remember when something was put under the ban it was set apart for destruction before God, sometimes called devoted to destruction because God said it belongs to me, it is a time when he has determined that judgment will fall and so now the Amalekites are to come under the judgment of God. That means there will be no mercy here and men, women, children, babies, animals going to be wiped out, that’s Saul’s instructions.

It’s an awesome assignment when God’s time of judgment comes you can’t claim mercy. There is to be no mercy for the Amalekites here, remember Revelation 14, when we get to the ultimate time of God’s ultimate judgment. It says the nations will experience the wrath of God mixed in full strength in the cup of his anger, you know what it means? Mixed in full strength in the cup of anger, means there will be no mercy mixed into dilute it. It will be complete wrath and anger. The time of judgment comes on sins. So, here it is for the Amalekites, this is crucial.

Turn back to the book of Leviticus 27 there are several passages we could go to, but Leviticus 27, because this foundational to what is going to happen. Leviticus 27 verse 28, the end of the verse, anything devoted to destruction is most holy to the Lord. No one who may have been set apart, devoted to destruction, put under the ban among men shall be ransom, he shall be put to death. There is no escape when something is put under the ban, devoted to destruction under the Herem, there is no escape. You can’t ransom it, you can’t pay a price. It is doomed to destruction. So, come back to first Samuel 15 the day of grace is past for the Amalekites. 400 years they have been under the general, what we call common grace of God and they have manifested their relentless character in opposing God by opposing the people of God.

Verses four to nine of first Samuel 15 brings us to Saul’s actions which are disobedience. Saul gathers the armies of Israel and the numbers are mentioned in verse 4. They come to the city of Amalek and they set an ambush in verse five, then God tells the Kenites, Saul tells the Kenites that they should leave. The Kenites are different people than the Amalekites and they are spared because they showed kindness to Israel when they left Egypt. We won’t take time to go back to Exodus 18, remember Moses father in law Jethro is a Kenite. Kenites showed kindness to Israel, so 400 years later that kindness is being rewarded. So Saul said to the Kenites, go depart down from among the Amalekites so that I do not destroy you with them for you showed kindness to all the sons of Israel when they come up from Egypt, so the Kenites leave.

So Saul defeated the Amalekites, verse eight, he captured the Agag the king of the Amalekites alive and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword, but Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the ox, and the fatlings, the lambs and all that was good, they were not willing to destroy them utterly, but everything despised and worthless that they utterly destroyed. Now you remember the instructions of God in verse three, you utterly destroy all man, women, child, infant, ox, sheep, camel, donkey. Well Saul defeated the Amalekites.

It’s in his power to do exactly what God has said, but he captures the king and keeps him alive. They take the best of the spoil and don’t destroy them and thus you have disobedience. Then the word of the Lord, verse 10 came to Samuel saying I regret that I had made Saul king for he has turned back from following me and has not carried out my commands. That’s interesting here, God regrets that he made Saul king and know there is a discussion today in theology called open theism, or openness theology that says God doesn’t know the future and they come to a passage like this and say God didn’t know Saul wouldn’t turn out.

Obviously that’s not true. Well God changed his mind? No, but as we would look at it and God would express it I have regret that I had made Saul king. He is going to make a change here, but didn’t his plan not include this change? Of course it did, all you have to do is read further down in the chapter, come down to verse 29.

Samuel is speaking here, now God speaks to Samuel in verse 11 and says I regret that I have made Saul king. In verse 29 Samuel speaks and said also the glory of Israel will not lie or change his mind for he is not a man that he should change his mind. So obviously Samuel when God says I regret that I have made Saul king doesn’t understand that to mean that God has changed his mind. The way you might think a human being has all of a sudden my plans are totally changed. No. There is going to be a change in the kingship in Israel, but God’s plan included Saul’s rebellion in that sense. Look over in Malachi chapter three verse six, for I the Lord do not change. Therefore you o sons of Jacob are not consumed. You see he did not promise a permanent line for Saul and his descendants as kings. That was a conditional opportunity humanly speaking for Saul as we saw in chapter 13. To the nation Israel God has made an irrevocable commitment and his plan has clearly set forth. For Saul there was a conditional offer or opportunity, but Saul failed with his disobedience.

You can just go down James chapter one verse 17. He have heard that every good gift and every perfect act of giving comes down from the father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow caused by turning. In other words he never changes. There is no variation, he is the same yesterday, today and forever. There is no shadow caused by turning. He doesn’t change, so there is not some different position with him in that sense. The same thing, he is the God who does not change. So the, I regrets that I have made Saul king and Samuel understands this, this is the unchanging God speaking means that Saul’s opportunities are over and he will be replaced and that is what is going to happen. You see something about Samuel’s godly character.

When was the last time you spent a whole night in prayer. This is not even for one of his own kids so to speak. One of his own children, for someone like that, this is for Saul and look at the end of verse 11, Samuel was distressed and cried out to the Lord all nights. Samuel as a Godly man we noted something in our previous studies of how other passages and the prophets marked him out as one of the great man in prayer in the Old Testament. He realizes the tragedy this is. Saul doesn’t recognize.

Even through chapter 15 he is oblivious to the tragedy that has overtaken him but Samuel knows. He spends all night in prayer because this is a matter that affects the people of God and so he is before the Lord, remember how Moses would do that for Israel. So here what now for Israel and Samuel intercedes and prays. Verse 12, Samuel arose early in the morning to meet Saul. He had business to take care of, it hadn’t been pleasant business, but he comes now after a full night of prayer to do it. Same, he came in the morning to meet Saul.

It was told Samuel saying Saul came to Carmel and behold, he setup a monument for himself then turned and proceeded on down to Gilgal. He has had a great victory. So first thing Saul does is build a monument to himself for his honor and glory, remember when we were in Exodus when Moses and Joshua defeated the Amalekites and I said remember this passage and after the victory over the Amalekites what did Moses do? Built an altar to the Lord and named it the Lord is my banner, gave all the honor and all the glory to the Lord, but here is Saul in his pride, himself confident building a monument to himself, he had no sense that he has failed to honor the Lord.

It’s all about the victory that he want, here I have crushed my enemies, I deserve a monument. Moses defeats his enemies and he built an altar to the Lord and calls it the Lord is my banner. Verse 13, Samuel came to Saul. Saul said to him blessed are you of the Lord, I have carried out the command of the Lord. What’s this man thinking? You know, he spiritually dead. He is happy to see Samuel. He didn’t even stop to think, you know, the lord said every single thing is under the ban and must be destroyed. He has the audacity to come and meet Samuel and tell blessed of the Lord, I have carried out the command of the lord and the response of Samuel is classic.

What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears and the lowing of the oxen which I hear? I mean according to verse three, there weren’t to be any surviving animals from the Amalekites. Saul comes down saying I have carried out the command of the lord. Samuel says, oh you have? Then what's this baying of the sheep, the bleating of the sheep, the lowing of the oxen? There weren’t to be any sheep, there weren’t to be any oxen. How can you tell me you have obeyed the commandment of the Lord? What do I hear? Saul said, now note this pattern of sin, they have brought them from the Amalekites for the people spared the best of the sheep and oxen of course for good purpose, to sacrifice to the Lord. Your God, wouldn’t you want the people to honor your God? But the rest we have utterly destroyed, you know, see where Saul puts himself?

They spared some of the animals. The people spared the best of the animals. We have destroyed the rest. They did this, but I am part of that group who put the rest under the ban and devoted them to destruction and carried it out. You know, sin always works that way. Saul and we will see this as we move along, knows he has done the wrong thing, just try to cover it here. This is what the people did and even put it in the best light there, they had good intensions because they intend to make a sacrifice and can you be upset we are going to sacrifice to the Lord your God, don’t you want your God to be honored? They kept the best so they could honor the Lord with the sacrifice and of course, you know, well I didn’t do that, we did destroy the rest. So try to put everything here in the best light and cover it for yourself. They brought them, the people spared them, but the rest we have destroyed and we are going to make a sacrifice.

Samuel interrupts Saul before he can say anymore. Verse 16, Samuel said to Saul wait and let me tell you what the Lord said to me last night. Remember when Samuel was up whole night praying, the Lord was telling him the situation, you are not to hear from Saul. He already knew when he went out to meet Saul. The Lord has told him. So Saul says, go ahead speak.

Verse 17, Samuel said, is it not true though you were little in your own eye, you were made head of the tribes of Israel. The Lord anointed you king over Israel, remember Saul couldn’t understand, I am from those littlest tribe, Benjamin. When they were ready to anoint him as king they couldn’t find him because he was hiding among the baggage, how quickly our opinion of ourselves change? Now he is building monuments to himself. The Lord sent you on a mission, verse 18 and said, go and utterly destroy the sinner, the Amalekites. Fight against them until they are exterminated. Why then did you not obey the voice of the lord but rushed upon the spoil and did what was evil in the sight of the Lord? Saul is going to argue his case.

Saul said to Samuel, I did obey the voice of the Lord, went on the mission which the Lord sent me and have brought back Agag king of Amalek and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. And then, you know, wait a minute, is it obedience or disobedience? Partial obedience is disobedience. How can you say I have obeyed the commandment of lord when the command was to destroy every single person and in the breath you are saying I have brought back alive the king of the Amalekites.

Verse 21, but the people took some of the spoiled sheep and ox and the choicest of the things devoted to destruction, you see. Saul knows they were devoted to destruction. He knows they were under the ban. He is a Jew. He was raised in the tribe of Benjamin. He knew what was required of those things under the ban. We spared, the people spared the best of the animals that were under the ban, devoted to destruction, but they did it with a good intension to sacrifice to the Lord.

Well how twisted we become in our thinking? The thing that God will be pleased, that the things he had condemned to destruction would now be offered as a sacrifice to him. I mean that we could sanctify our disobedience. What kind of thinking is this? I mean that we could sanctify our disobedience, what kind of thinking is this? I mean, we will make a sacrifice with these animals, you said to destroy them and kill them, but we had a better idea. We are going to honor you with the sacrifice. We are going to honor you with our disobedience, I mean how twisted do we become in our thinking.

Saul is still blaming the people you know, the people, verse 21, took the animals yielding knowledge that he was part of it before this was done. Verse 22 and 23, verses you probably have marked in your Bible. Samuel said, as the Lord is much delight in burnt offering and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord, behold to obey is better than sacrifice and to heed than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of divination and insubordination is as inequity and idolatry because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has also rejected you from being king.

God is more concerned with obedience than sacrifice. I mean this becomes a plaguing problem of Israel. They thought they could go through their religious motions and rebel against God in their hearts, but God would say its okay because they are going through the religious motion. That’s why the prophet Isaiah begins his prophecy in chapter one with God saying to Israel “don’t bring your sacrifices any longer, its sacrilege, its trampling my courts” It’s making a mockery of my worship. If you would pursue sin and disobedience and then come and offer a sacrifice.

Saul was more concerned with the physical action of sacrifice than I was with your obedience. In Psalm 51 verses 16 and 17 you don’t need to turn every time. David made clear the sacrifices of God are a broken and a contrite hearts. This is David writing after his sin with Beersheba, you know, you don’t want sacrifices, you want a broken and contrite heart, there is a place for the sacrifices that God required in the Old Testament, but if they didn’t come from our heart of submission and obedience, they were repulsive to God, sad-sad case.

Rebellion, verse 23 is as the sin of divination. Insubordination as inequity and idolatry, is there any such thing as a little bit of idolatry? No. I mean idolatry is idolatry as idolatry. I mean if we say now we are going to worship the Lord, let’s bow before him and then before you leave you are going to come up and kiss the statue of Mary this evening.

We had an evening of idolatries worship because idolatry is idolatry as idolatry and now he says that insubordination is as inequity and idolatry, rebellions like the sin of divination, think of the most open acts of false worship and that’s how God sees rebellion of our heart, the refusal to obey. This has lead to your rejection because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has rejected you from being king.

Serious matter, you know this point Saul is sorting it out thinking he did the best of both, I mean he is so convinced, he has made a statue to honor himself, built a monument for himself up in verse 12. He is confident to tell Samuel oh blessed of the Lord it’s good to see you I have carried out the command of the Lord because he did some of what God said and we look at it and say how could he be so foolish and you look around at the church of Jesus Christ today that has the word of God instructing what to do and we think God is going to be so pleased because we have come up with a better balance than he had and he tells us to preach the word of the being tenancies and latencies and we have decided that doesn’t work so well, but we will do some of that, we won’t totally disagree, but we will do this and that, we mix all of this up and we are just sure, I mean we forget. What did I tell you to do? Well yes Lord, but we are like Saul arguing our case. The people didn’t want that Lord, they weren’t happy with that, they didn’t like to hear that, they did what they got to do with anything. I mean what are we thinking? We don’t put enough attention to simple obedience.

What's the word say? Do it, but don’t do it, but how many times you had that with your kids as they are little growing up? You are telling them on this, but. No but, do it, but, no, says the God do it, it’s not so difficult, do it. No way to say we sit and it’s easy to sit impious judgment of Saul just can’t understand that man oh it’s terrible but we think oh yeah this is all right, God is more pleased with us today. We have a completed revelation, a clarity of his instructions, but somehow we feel the pressure too and that’s where we are going. Look what Saul says in verse 24.

Saul now acknowledges his sin it being confronted clearly openly by Samuel. Saul said to Samuel I have sinned. I have indeed transgressed the commandment of the Lord and your words, now we get to the heart of it, because I feared the people and listened to their voice. Everything up to this point has been a lie. He didn’t want to do what the people didn’t want to do.

The people didn’t want to destroy all of the best of the animals and Saul wanted them to like him, I mean what are we going to do? Whom am I going to preach to if nobody comes? Whom am I going to be king over? They decide they don’t like me. So I have sinned, I transgressed the commandment of Lord and your words. He knew what Samuel said. He knew what God said through Samuel I transgressed those words. The reason is I feared the people. I listened to their voice. God told me to do this, but the people wanted to do this and I decided I will go with the people.

Now how can God have a king like that? I mean and I take these words to heart as a pastor. God tells me to do this, but the people want me to do, what should I do? I need is there a reason to discussion? Your life, your friends I want you to do one thing. God says this is what you have to - oh I don’t know what to do. What do you mean you don’t know what to do? I don’t know whether to obey God or disobey God. I don’t know whether I want God to be pleased with me or my friends to be pleased with me. Oh what a choice. Let me say there is no choice, I mean we do what God says. I mean everyone else decide to do other, I must do what God says right? I heard the people, listened to their voice. He is unusable in God’s service as king of his people. Now therefore please pardon my sin and return with me that I may worship the Lord, he says well he is repented.

Samuel said to Saul I will not return with you, you have rejected the word of the Lord. The lord has rejected you from being king over Israel. There is no undoing what has been done here. Saul is done. He is not finished as king in a sense, he will be king now for another, could be as much as 15 years, but he is done. I mean he serves in the capacity. He is the king of Israel, David will recognize him as king of Israel till he is dead, but he is a rejected man. You had rejected the world of the Lord. The Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel. Samuel turns to leave, Saul reaches out and grabs on to Samuel’s robe and the robe tears. Samuel said to him the Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today. He has given it to your neighbor who is better than you. Also the glory of Israel will not lie or change his mind, he is not a man that he should change his mind, this is settled. It’s done, you are finished. There is no going back. You can’t repent and God will say oh okay it will be okay. It’s done.

There is no way to change what has happened here. Then he said I have sinned, but please honor me now before the elders of my people and before Israel. Saul doesn’t want to lose face before the people. Samuel doesn’t come and they don’t have a formal act of worship where Samuel as the priest of God here. Saul could lose all face, I mean the people would then look at him as the discard and reject, you know, where is the concern here? Honor me before the people.

Samuel will do this because Saul is still king just like David will honor and respect Saul because he is still God’s anointed king. The rejection has been announced, but God has not yet replaced him formally and so he must be honored as king and so Samuel does honor that request and Saul is still to be recognized as the king of Israel even though it has been made clear to this king of Israel that you are rejected by God and you will be replaced and your line will end.

Samuel went back from following Saul, went back following Saul, Saul worshipped the Lord. It’s not over now. Samuel said bring me Agag king of the Amalekites, Agag came to him cheerfully. Agag said, surely the bitterness of death has passed. I mean, you know, no hard feelings. We lost the battle and sure you are not still upset about it. Remember Samuel had functioned as a judge over Israel for many years as well as priest and prophet. He is not some timid little man.

Samuel said as your sword has made women childless so shall your mother be childless among women and Samuel hued Agag to pieces before the Lord at Gilgal. He just took the sword and cut him into pieces and that’s the end of Agag. Samuel went to Ramah, Saul went up to his house at Gibeah. Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death for Samuel grieved over Saul and the Lord regretted that he had made Saul king over Israel and again that expression at the end of the chapter, the Lord regretted that he had made Saul king over Israel indicates that Saul has failed the test and God has determined to replace him with the man after his own heart as he said in chapter 13.

The separation between Samuel and Saul pictures the separation that exists between Saul and God because Samuel is God’s spokesman, he is the prophet. The word of the lord comes through Samuel, but Samuel had no more meetings with Saul till the day of his death. God is done with Saul in that sense, even though he is still God’s anointed and he is to be respected in that line. All right let me just summarize some of these things in a series of points here and then we will close.

First thing I noted is God keeps his word, back in verse two of chapter 15, I will punish Amalek for what he did, when Israel came up out of Egypt 400 years have past, it doesn’t matter. God keeps his word. Judgment will come. Promised judgment will come just like promise blessings will come. Remember in second Peter chapter three, Peter warned about those would come in the last days mocking and say where is the promise of his coming, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation, nothing is changed.

You know all this talk about coming judgment blah – blah – blah and where are the blessings, you know, Christians have been saying the same thing for thousands of years and it hasn’t happened, get over it, it isn’t going to happen, that we are reminded, you know, the Lord is faithful to his words. Time goes by, I am an older man now I mentioned when I taught the high school group I was a young man.

Now I look back I said to Merlin the other day, looked at my body in the mirror and said how did I get in this old man’s body? I made a look and say who does this belong to? I said it’s me, oh my goodness, how did I get here? I said no, you know, I am going to replace the mirrors in our house that’s the solution. Let myself, well how I exist in my mind is how I will exist, you know, with the Lord, a day is as a thousand years, a thousand years is a day, what do think in a 100 billions years from now, we are going to think of this life. Oh I never thought I would get over, see it just seems like nothing and David says we spent our lives as a tale that has been told. It just goes by, look back and say where did it go, look at the high school young people graduating from high school. They just scratch their head and say, man the time is gone by, I am glad it’s happened. I am glad we are at this point, but it goes by quickly. So God keeps his words.

Number two, God’s holy and just requires sin to be punished. Note this point, verse three, when it comes time sin will be punished. No one anywhere who has ever born on the phase of this earth can escape punishment for sin. Sin will be punished, those who place their faith in Christ come under the blessing of his provision, but sin will be punished. He himself bore our sin on the cross. I mean my sin was punished, sin will be punished. Either you take hold of Christ by faith and he bares your punishment or ultimately you will spend eternity in hell, it’s God’s holiness require sin to be punished.

Number three, there is no mercy in judgment. Now don’t misunderstand, there is mercy. God is a God of mercy, a God of kindness, a God of grace, but you understand when God determines this is the Day of Judgment there is no mercy in it. There is no mercy for the Amalekites, no mercy for the oldest women, the most helpless infants and so I don’t like to think of God that way, well God presents himself here, every single Amalekites regardless of sex, regardless of age is to be wiped out. There will be no mercy for the Amalekites as God has commanded Saul. I mentioned revelation 14:10 those who have not believed in Christ will experience the fullness of God’s wrath mixed in the cup of his anger, full strength, no mercy mixed in, not diluted at all. That will be an eternal hell. The smoke of their torment, revelation 14 says goes up into the ages of the ages. God’s wrath, no mercy in judgment.

Number four, God will not destroy the righteous with the wicked, the Kenites are delivered and there is mercy. Abraham appeal to God on this basis in Genesis 18 when he appealed for deliverance of Lot and his family, you will not destroy the righteous with the wicked, shall not the judge of all the earth do right? And God does not destroy the righteous with the wicked.

Number five, great temptation often comes on the heels of prosperity and great victory. Verses seven to nine, Saul defeated the Amalekites, his enemies are crushed and is going to be a crushing defeat for him ultimately and we need to be aware of that, we think oh we have done well. This must be the blessing of the Lord, God must be pleased, look what's happening and the bottom-line question is were you obedient as though because Saul defeated the Amalekites, that will what cover the disobedience? I mean God could wipe out the Amalekites without Saul, great temptation often comes on the heels of prosperity and great victory and that mass doesn’t sometimes makes us insensitive to the seriousness of our disobedience, that somehow in the flush of success it seems like it’s alright to minimize the disobedience.

Point six, the godly are grieved by sin verse 11, Samuel was distressed and cried out to the Lord all night. You know, Saul has replaced Samuel. Samuel was the judge of Israel. Israel rejected Samuel and rejected God, the God of Samuel. Samuel is not delighted to have Saul fall. He is distressed, he is grieving at the end of chapter 15, not delighted, see that’s what happens you shouldn’t have replaced me. The people shouldn’t want a replacement, not delight in the sin of others in a godly person.

Point seven, fallen man is self-centered, verse 12 he takes the glory to himself, here Saul is building a monument to himself even though he has not been obedient, he has been disobedient.

Point eight, sinners will not accept the responsibility for their sin. What’s Saul want to say? Here is what the people did, here is what the people wanted to do. We destroyed everything else under the ban, but they did this, remember in the garden in Genesis three when God comes and confronts Adam, what did he say? Oh the woman that you made for me, she gave me the fruit and we just always think that somehow we will escape the consequences of our sin by shifting the blame for our sin. Sinners cannot escape responsibility and accountability.

Point nine, verse 23, all disobedience to God is great sin. I still wanted to delude myself by thinking well this disobedience, that wasn’t major and you could put and try to build a case for that as Saul did here. One king, how many thousands of people among the Amalekites died, I mean I just spared Agag and just the best of the animals, give me some credit. There is no credit given to Saul, no credit given to Saul for partial obedience. God gives it as complete disobedience. You might as well been worshiping demons, you might have well been involved in idolatry. That’s all like your partial obedience. All disobedience is great sin. We have a hard time with that today, we like to have little sins which are little disobediences and we need to see what God does.

Number ten, this is a great one, we must fear God, not man, verse 24. Saul said to Samuel I sinned because I feared the people and listened to their voice, that never been an excuse for me, never be an excuse for you. It wasn’t an excuse for Saul. I just have to determine I will do what God says. I will do what God says, well what about if all the people want to do this? Then they will have to do that. I will do what God says. That has to be our commitment, does it not? Is he God? I mean this vote of 5000 people offset? What God says, so 5000 people want to do this and God says do this, oh do I go with the 5000 or I go with God? We must fear God, not man. Our desire must be to please God but not men.

And man is concerned with religious appearance, the 11th point I have, not a walk with God, in verse 30 when all said and done Saul says, do this before the people for me. It still doesn’t have the sense, the chapter ends not with Saul grieving, with Samuel grieving, it takes a godly man to realize how serious sin is and how awful its consequence is and with no end on that note. There is grief in the service of the Lord, the chapter ends with Samuel grieving over Saul. Even faithful ministries, Samuel hasn’t sin, Saul has. Paul will later write, does any fall into sin and I am not grieved, if I can use this word here and carry it over to Saul? I mean, you know, does it break your heart when people sin? You see a fellow believer fall into sin? Well it’s nothing to me? No, and there is grief.

Here is Samuel being faithful and it’s a terrible burden, a tremendous burden maybe you are having a terrible burden and there will come time when chapter opens up, God will set enough grief. I have rejected Saul so you move on and we move onto chapter 16 and David will be anointed king. He will assume the role of king, but God’s blessing is now on David, no longer on Saul. Let’s pray to God.

Thank you Lord for your word, thank you for these Old Testament accounts, this reveals something of the wonder of your character, your faithfulness to Israel. Lord, they provide lessons from history for us to learn from today. Lord, may we grasp it even more fully, more deeply the importance of obedience, where God has blessed us and given us your word and Lord, it is a word to be obeyed. You are a God who must be honored, honored with our obedience. Lord, we would desire that for ourselves personally. Lord, we desire that for our church family, we would be careful to give you all the honor and glory and maybe a passion that we have as your people to be obedient to all that you have said, we pray in Christ’s name, Amen!