“The Game of Thrones Begins ”
I. Introduction
Game of Thrones is the title of the American fantasy drama series created for HBO, now in its 5th season. This series is based on the George R. Martin's series of novels entitled A Song of Ice and Fire, sent in the fictional land of Westeros. It is filmed in a Belfast studio; on location elsewhere in Northern Ireland, Malta, Scotland, Croatia, Iceland, the United States. The fifth season is scheduled to premiere on April 12, 2015.
Set in the fictional Seven Kingdoms of Westeros, the series chronicles the violent dynastic struggles among the realm's noble families for control of the Iron Throne. More than 5.3 million people have watched the first 4 episodes.
The series is filled with intrigue, the murder of honest and good men, the murder of evil and foolish men and women, all who have the desire for power.
Game of Thrones would well have been the title of I & II Kings in our Bible. Israel's desire to be ruled by a king was tainted by their worldly aspirations and would bring heavy, painful consequences until God’s true King arrived in Bethlehem.
Samuel, the last Judge of Israel anointed Saul as the first king of Israel. When the 12 tribal leaders came to Samuel asking for an earthly king they had already made the decision to “dethrone” God as their King. So, God gave the Israelites the king they wanted.
As we watch the life and kingship of Saul unfold through the words of I Samuel we will see the “Game of Thrones” changing the human names who would occupy the Thrones of Israel. It was a long and painful history as men and women vied for power, failing to obey God’s word.
I Kings 13 tells us that Saul was 30 years old when he was crowned king and he ruled over Israel for 42 years, until he was 72. These were not easy years. These were years of constant warfare and personal failure. Ultimately Saul and his sons were killed by the Philistines, and the “Game of Thrones” would shift to the family and descendants of David.
This Game of Thrones is still going on in the Middle East to this very day as “strong men” vie for power and control of territory and people.
In many human ways my heart goes out to Saul.
1. 12 tribal leaders did not really want to give up power to a powerful king. He didn’t even have a palace.
2. There was constant shuffling of tribal alliances, and changing borders.
3. Saul had to always gather a volunteer army to fight the neighboring tribes, like the Philistines & Amalekites.
a. In the first battle Saul had 3000 foot soldiers, arraigned against 3000 chariots with horses, 6000 charioteers and soldiers. He was outnumbered and afraid. That’s when we saw King Saul’s patience falter in God. It was his first major political and religious misstep when he failed to wait on Samuel to offer the sacrifice.
b. Our story from the life of Saul in I Samuel 15 shows another fatal mistake.
4. Saul constantly demonstrated a lack of trust in the power of God….because of his lack of patience which Pastor Hues pointed out 2 weeks ago… Saul began to manipulate both God and God’s people creating his own laws, causing God’s people to disobey God’s laws.
There are three questions that I want to try to answer with you this morning.
1. Why does God delight in obedience?
2. Will our disobedience always brings God’s judgment?
3. Is there hope and forgiveness?
II. God’s Command to King Saul was clear. 1 Samuel 15:2–3,
Here’s the background. When Israel came out of Egypt and passed through the wilderness, the Amalekites attacked them. We read about it in Exodus 17:8–16. God gave the Israelites victory, but the evil was never forgotten.
Finally the Lord commands Saul: Thus says the Lord of hosts, "I will punish what then Amalekites did to Israel in opposing them on the way to the “promised land” when they came up out of Egypt. Now go and smite Amalekites, and utterly destroy all that they have; do not spare them.
III. Saul's Fatal Disobedience I Samuel 15:8.9
But verse 9 describes the fatal disobedience of Saul.
Saul and the people spared Agag, the king. They spared the best of the sheep, oxen, the lambs, and all that was good. Saul failed to obey the word of the Lord. His failure also caused the Israelites to disobey God’s command as well, for they did not utterly destroy everything.
The Lord saw this disobedience and he repented that he had made Saul king (v. 11).
Samuel is angry at this turn in God's attitude toward Saul and he cries out to God all night (v. 11, cf. 12:23). The result of his night of prayer is a firm resolve to do what God says. Samuel rises early in the morning and finds out (v. 12) that Saul has gone to Carmel. Why? To set up a monument for himself. He was on his way to Gilgal where he was first made king (11:15).
A. Temptation to disobey God’s command was overwhelmed with personal adulation. This is a classic temptation to sin, the custom made, one-of-a-kind, temptations which Satan has successfully offered to each and every one of us. We're talking about the devil's temptations which manage to bring down almost every person who has ever lived, even pretty good people like you and me.
The seducer Satan, hell's expert psychologist, has made it his eternal work to woo every one of us into doing things which are wrong, which we know are wrong, which we might never normally do, but which at that moment seems acceptable and OK.
B. King Saul was wooed by personal greatness at the expense of obedience to God’s commands.
It’s awfully easy at this point to try to vindicate Saul by thinking, “Well, he almost did everything God said to do.” The truth of the matter is, partial obedience is actually complete disobedience.
For example, I recently came across an old, old story about a lady who went to her butcher to buy a chicken. The honest man put the bird on the scale, announced the weight and was told, "That's a little small, do you have another?" He went back to the cooler and found out this chicken was his only chicken. Not wishing to lose the sale, the normally honest butcher took the same chicken, put it on the scale and added a little pressure from his thumb. He shared the new and inflated weight with his customer who said, "That's wonderful, I'll take them both."
Temptation - it's an easy thing to preach about. It's easy because all of us are voluntary victims of Satan's seductions.
We're not alone read God's Holy Word; go ahead, open the Book to just about any page and you will see one of God's heroes being successfully snared by Satan. In the beginning he told Adam and Eve they could be like God if they ate from the forbidden tree. He used a jealous rage to encourage Cain to kill Abel. He whispered words of doubt about God being able to keep His word into the ears of ancient Abraham.
He encouraged Jacob and Rachel that it would be just fine to be a little bit sneaky steal his brother’s blessing. Jacob thought there was nothing wrong in showing special, preferential treatment to his favorite sons. The devil was there when Moses disobeyed God, and he cheered on the Children of Israel as they continuously complained about God's grace. The devil helped send King Saul on an ego trip.
After the battle with the Amalekites we find Saul traveling to Mt. Carmel to do what? To build a monument to himself.
People grasp at greatness. So powerful is the desire to be great, so strong the desire to be number one, people are willing to undertake some pretty peculiar stunts. Ripleys Believe it Not has a entire list. The book is full of people who want their name names remembered. The case is made: people grasp at greatness.
What is happening in our own country as we watch people seek the power of the presidency, …truth being buried for self aggrandizement.
It has, almost since the beginning of time, been that way. Scripture implies that it was a desire to be as great as God that caused Satan to stumble into his sin of rebellion. It was a wish to be as knowledgeable as the Lord, which led our first ancestors, Adam and Eve, to take a bite out of the forbidden fruit.
Look through Scripture and it is positively filled with people who got involved with issues of greatness. The brothers Isaac and Esau got into a family feud as to which would receive a special blessing. Joseph's brothers sold him into slavery because they believed he considered himself to be better than they. King Saul struggled for recognition and power. Not even Jesus' disciples managed to escape an ongoing debate about greatness. The eighteenth chapter of Matthew shows the Twelve jockeying for the #1 position.
Why Does God Hate Disobedience?
. Disobedience Shows a Misplacement of Fear
Why did Saul obey the people instead of God? Because he feared the people instead of God. He feared the human consequences of obedience more than he feared the divine consequences of sin. He feared the displeasure of the people more than the displeasure of God.
Saul’s Disobedience Shows a Misplacement of Praise
Samuel goes to meet Saul, and (in v. 13) Saul says, "Blessed be you to the Lord; I have performed the commandment of the Lord." Samuel asks “what the sound of bleating sheep and lowing oxen mean if you really destroyed everything the way God said.” Excuses are made.
Come on Samuel… this isn’t my fault… it’s God’s fault for making me king over a disobedient people… Samuel… you know how they are…! That didn’t work so he tried another excuse: Samuel… the people spared the best of the sheep in order to sacrifice them to God." Saul tried to persuade Samuel that it was a noble intention that led him to disobey God and keep the best sheep and oxen alive (v. 21). He said they wanted to sacrifice these to the Lord in Gilgal.
But nothing Saul says will work now because the Lord had given Samuel insight into the true motive of Saul and the people. The people wanted the spoils of war and Saul wanted a monument.
He has disobeyed the commandment of the Lord.
I Samuel 15:22 (read)
But Saul was not content with the glory of God and the honor of being his chosen king. He wanted his own glory and his own praise. And the submissive path of obedience does not offer that kind of praise and glory. And so he did things his own way.
So it stands to reason that God will be displeased with disobedience because at every point it is an attack on his glory. When we disobey God’s word it means that we like Saul have opted to:
• put the fear of man in the place of the fear of God.
• elevate human acclaim above pleasure in God.
• seek a name for itself instead of a name for God.
Finally Saul admits His failure. (verse 24) "I have sinned; for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord and your words. As Samuel turned to leave Saul…. (read v 27)
C. Saul was offered forgiveness when He and Samuel worshipped the Lord, yet the consequences of his disobedience would be lived out over the next 40 plus years as he saw his replacement in his own palace.
True, your temptation may not be like Saul’s, or mine, and mine is not likely to be yours, but Satan doesn't care. He has a trap with each of our names on it; he has the words to make us believe he will give us good if we will do just a little evil. His success means we sinners need a Savior. We need to be brought close to the One who has never messed up; we need to worship the Christ who rejected all of Satan's offers. Only through faith and daily immersing our mind, our body and soul in the words of Jesus can we be set free from Satan's snares.
When Jesus was standing before Pilot, Pilot was correct when he said: “Behold the King of the Jews” for He gave his life on the cross so that we might experience His forgiveness and live again in obedience. Jesus was about His heavenly Father's mission to seek and save the lost, to bring light to those in darkness; to be the way to heaven; the truth to those who had deep questions about the purpose of life.
