Along time ago in a galaxy far, far away a young Jedi Knight by the name of Anakin Skywalker a talented and gifted young man was mislead by a Sith Lord, he then became Darth Vader, This had a fair bit to do with fear because of his desire to save his beloved. l could tell you the whole story but let me play you a clip that tells the story. (Show the clip of this happening from ‘The Revenge of the Sith’.)
I guess that you probably found that most enlightening if not a little surprising, the truth is that this was a sci-fi story which for those of us that exist in reality it is half a step off being a fairy story, but it has an interesting parallel in scripture.
This is a part of history where a young man was picked out from among his fellow Israelites as being physically a head above the rest, a young bloke from the tribe of Benjamin who was appointed and anointed as King over the United Kingdom of the Hebrews, as the first of the Hebrew Kings. This happened as the people wanted a king like other nations. The Spirit of God was with him in a mighty way in 1 Samuel 10:6-7 we read this “The Spirit of the Lord will come upon on you in power, and you will prophesy with them; and you will be changed into a different person. Once these signs are fulfilled, do what ever your hand finds to do, for God is with you.”
So it was, Saul became King Saul at the age of thirty and he reigned for forty-two years, then it all finished for him in a way that no man let alone any king should have life finish. (Read, 1 Chronicles 10:1-14)
The verses that I want to address are those that deal why this Great man died, he was indeed a man who was great warts and all, and given that he was still able to fight at the age of seventy two he was quite some man, but why was it he died?
Saul died because:
• He was unfaithful to the LORD
• He did not keep the word of the LORD
• He even consulted a medium for guidance
• He did not enquire of the LORD
As a result he was dead, and his kingdom became David’s Kingdom. Now Saul was a great man and a powerful king. He even prophesied with the prophets of the time, he was anointed for God’s purpose, but he was a bit inclined to jump the gun and not be reliant on God to the degree that God required, I guess that we can all say that there are times when we have blundered on when God has said not to go in a certain direction in our lives. We also can behave in ways that are not where God wants us to be going.
The interesting thing with Saul is that he knew he was on the wrong path but he continued on it. This comes from 1 Samuel 24:16-17, it’s about one of Saul’s encounters with David, “Is that your voice, David my son?” And he wept aloud. “You are more righteous than I, “he said, “You have treated me well, but I have treated you badly.”
In this case the word righteous is to be read as upright, just and innocent according with God’s proper standard. Saul knew he was out of sorts and what did he do about it?
Well what else would you do he consulted a witch! The king who had previously outlawed the consulting of mediums and witches went off and consulted one himself, the witch of Endor herself. Not the planet Endor of Star Wars fame where Ewok’s live but the real Endor which is a village in Israel.
The truth about Saul is that blew it, he had the knowledge, The Holy Spirit was with him, but he neglected his relationship with God, he became fearful and didn’t enquire of God, he did not keep God’s word, but in his fear, in his desire for answers he sought a different path.
A question for you, do you ever go down a shady path? Now I know that this is not politically correct, as there seems within Kiwi psyche a thinking that says, “if it’s not hurting anyone else that’s alright with me.”
This is an interesting statement; Saul probably thought that what he was up to would only have negative repercussions for him, if any at all. This was not so, his sons died with him, his armour-bearer died with him, the nation of Israel got an extreme thrashing from the Philistines.
There were also ongoing repercussions, David became king, Saul could have had an everlasting kingdom, for proof of this read 1 Samuel 13:13…but instead it belonged to David’s line.
So where does that leave us? What is it that we can learn from the way Saul blew it?
1) Saul died because he was unfaithful to God, so no surprises we should remain faithful to God! But why, because God rewards faithfulness, this from Proverbs 2:8, “for he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones” this is a promise of God. This is not to say there will never be life issues, because in life there are issues but there is a spiritual protection that is given because of a person’s faithfulness to God! When we neglect our relationship with God it can be fatal, but faithfulness to God brings life!
2) The second reason Saul died was because he did not keep the word of the LORD, can you see the ducks of Saul’s demise lining up here? Remember what I said about Saul, The Holy Spirit was with him, he was a prophet, a God anointed King, but he played by his own rules, when things didn’t suit him. When fear set in the word of God was neglected. This from Jesus, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” (Matthew 4:4)
In keeping the word of the LORD we have life, Saul had moved from the Word so far it was part of his downfall.
Do we keep the word? Are you ever offended by something that comes out of scripture, if so that’s a good thing because the word is pointing you to a right track for living, the gospel causes offence to those who require guidance into right living with God. Those who are spiritually dead can gain life through the word of God. When we neglect our relationship with God it can be fatal but Faithfulness brings life, God’s word brings life!
If God’s word get up your nose, breath it in, like air it brings life.
3) Saul died because he consulted a medium for guidance, now this is a large bold statement, but this king who had previously outlawed the mediums and witches but in his fear he consulted one, He crossed over to the dark side for a bit of info. Before I venture on from here I want to lay something to rest.
Star Wars great story, great concept, a Hollywood blockbuster and all that. The Force, interesting but not in keeping with scripture, remember a galaxy far, far away, this dark side / light side stuff, all a bit yin and yang really.
With God there is only one side for he is Holy and because of His Holiness He extends His grace to us who don’t deserve it. Grace is given where it is not deserved and new life comes forth. Evil does exist, but it is already defeated.
As believers we are to put our trust in God alone, this from Leviticus 19:31 “Do not turn to mediums or seek out spiritists, for you will be defiled by them. I am the LORD your God.” If we go on to read Leviticus 20:6 God even says he will set his face against the person who does consult them.
The issue in this day and age when it appears no big deal to have your cards or palm read or seek after some ‘spiritual’ council, is that in doing so you separate yourself from God’s Spirit and open yourself up to evil spirits.
At a more introductory level, TV programmes about mediums, these vampire series that portray demons as good guys and horror movies about real evil, open people up to a spiritual realm that is real, and outside of the best God has for them. There’s a great lesson to be learnt from Acts 16 where Paul and his mates encountered a slave girl who had an evil spirit that predicted the future and when this was cast from her owners took Paul and Company to court as her owners had lost a source of income.
Spiritualists, mediums, Ouija boards, tarot card readings anything tied to the occult can get you into being bound up in spiritual bondage that is well out side the freedom that the Spirit of God brings.
When we neglect our relationship with God it can be fatal, but Faithfulness brings life, God’s word brings life, and the Spirit that brings life is the Holy Spirit.
4) Saul died because he did not enquire of the LORD. How’s this for a no brainer. This king had been a prophet, a Spirit filled man, but he failed to seek after God’s guidance, and he died, he even died by his own hand. He sought after guidance from elsewhere, but not the LORD.
Do we do that, it might be that we have a concern, so we ask all and sundry about it, an issue with the kids, a relationship, our job, which car to buy, which person to date, plane to fly on, we ask everyone with out praying about it, or we might just not ask anyone but just keep it all inside, because God won’t be interested. This from Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding and he will make your paths straight.”
When we neglect our relationship with God it can be fatal but Faithfulness brings life, God’s word brings life, The Spirit that brings life is the Holy Spirit, and enquiring of God directs Life.
Maybe life at times for you is tough because you are not allowing God to do what he wants to do in your life, it may have any number of causes, like Saul it could be fear, it could be what others require of you, it could just be because life took some turns that got you to wherever you are, but while neglecting our relationships with God can be fatal both physically and spiritually, getting our lives aligned to His purpose will bring life.
