* A young boy lived in the country. His family had to use an outhouse, which the young boy hated. It was hot in the summer, cold in the winter, and always smelly. The outhouse was located near the creek so the boy decided that he would push it into the water. After a spring rain, the creek swelled so the boy pushed the outhouse in the creek.
Later that night his dad told him that he and the boy needed to make a trip to the woodshed. The boy knew this meant punishment. He asked his father why to which his dad replied, "Because someone pushed the outhouse into the creek and I think that someone was you. Was it?"
The boy responded that it was. Then he added, "Remember when George Washington's father asked him if he had chopped down the cherry tree? He didn't get into trouble because he told the truth."
"That is correct," the dad said, "but his father was not in the cherry tree when he cut it down."
Rarely do we actually get away with sin without some sort of consequence. Often, we are not the only ones that are hurt by our actions. Consequences can also be far reaching, even reaching into the next generation.
There is a song by the group Casting Crowns called Slow Fade. It describes how our spiritual lives can be gradually eroded by the choices that we make. In many cases, we have had to deal with, or are still dealing with, the consequences of poor choices. Sometimes, those choices don’t seem like much when we’re making them, but they may be of monumental importance in our lives, even though we may be unaware of their impact at the time.
This morning, we are going to look at the life of Saul, the first king of Israel. Saul was certainly a man that made poor choices that eventually led him into madness. I want us to look at those choices that he made.
Before we look at Saul, I want to set the stage for you. Samuel was the prophet that had been leading the people of Israel, however, he was getting old and his sons, who were also priests, were not godly men. They took bribes and did not judge with impunity, so they were not respected by God or by the people of Israel. Finally, after losing a battle, the Israelites informed Samuel that they wanted a king like the other peoples around them. This made Samuel angry and it made God even more angry. God told Samuel to do as they asked and not to take it personally. God told him that it was not Samuel that they were rejecting, but God’s leadership as their king. Remember that God wanted His people to be set apart from the other peoples of the earth. And one of the ways in which they were supposed to be set apart was in their governmental system. While the governmental systems around them were primarily ‘kingdoms’ or dictatorships, the Israelites were supposed to be under a ‘theocracy,’ led by God. God had intended, at that time, to have only prophets between Him and His people, but now they were asking to be like the other peoples around them. Though God had intended them to eventually have a king rule over them, but they were asking for one before God’s intended time for that, and were in essence, rejecting God as their leader.
Having His people be different from other races wasn’t the only reason that God didn’t want them to have a king yet. God also understood quite well the inherent problems that come with putting one man in charge of the people. As John Dalberg said, “power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Also, when you place someone over the people, what is one of the first things that follow? Taxation. As soon as a true governmental system is put in place, taxes must follow in order for the king to have money to feed his family and his armies.
Samuel warns the people about some of these inherent problems and tells them that they have done a great evil in the sight of the Lord by having asked for a king, but he also tells them that God is going to give them one and they are going to be sorry.
So, God has Samuel ordain Saul as the king. Now Saul was a big man. He was head and shoulders taller and stronger in statue than the other Israelites. And he was very good looking. He absolutely looked like a guy that a warring nomadic people would want as a king.
Saul’s call was to protect the people of Israel, especially from the hands of the Philistines. Saul started off well by defeating the Ammonites and rescuing a village from their hands. However, Saul’s first real test of his character would come soon afterward.
Samuel had commanded Saul to wait at Gilgal for him. He had said that he would be there in seven days. Now Saul was like me. He was a punctual person. He waited the seven days that Samuel had told him to wait, but Samuel had not yet arrived. Let’s look at 1 Samuel 13:8-14 to see Saul’s first failure as the King of Israel:
He waited seven days, the time set by Samuel; but Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and Saul’s men began to scatter. So he said, “Bring me the burnt offering and the fellowship offerings.” And Saul offered up the burnt offering. Just as he finished making the offering, Samuel arrived, and Saul went out to greet him. “What have you done?” asked Samuel. Saul replied, “When I saw that the men were scattering, and that you did not come at the set time, and that the Philistines were assembling at Mikmash, I thought, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the Lord’s favor.’ So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering.” “You have done a foolish thing,” Samuel said. “You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time. But now your kingdom will not endure; the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him ruler of his people, because you have not kept the Lord’s command.”
You might think that this is a trivial thing, but it was actually a huge thing. You see, God was always very careful to separate the kingship from the priesthood. For all intents and purposes, Moses had all the duties of a king, but as those of you in the Bible study may remember, Moses was not allowed into the Tent of Meeting when the presence of God had descended on it. Only Aaron and his sons were allowed into the Tent of Meeting when God’s presence was in it.
In fact, there are only two people mentioned in the entire Old and New Testaments that are said to be priest and king. Can anyone tell me who those people are (Melchizedek & Jesus). Melchizedek was called the King of Salem and the priest of God Most High. Jesus is called our Great High Priest because it is He, and He alone, that intercedes with God on our behalf. He is also proclaimed as the King who’s reign will never end. No one else is ever given both titles or both responsibilities. Not even David, the man after God’s own heart.
In making the burnt offering himself, Saul was usurping the power and responsibilities of the priesthood and this was inexcusable in God’s eyes. So you see, though Saul probably thought that he was doing a good thing by ‘helping God out’ and making sure that the offering was offered to God before he left for war, his impatience caused him to commit a grave sin in the eyes of the Lord.
Saul makes another grave error. He issues a foolish command and attaches an oath to it (1 Samuel 14:24):
Now the Israelites were in distress that day, because Saul had bound the people under an oath, saying, “Cursed be anyone who eats food before evening comes, before I have avenged myself on my enemies!” So none of the troops tasted food.
So Saul forced his troops to fast at the same time as he was asking them to fight. Any reasoned person could tell you that was a bad idea. His troops were weak from lack of food and their fighting ability would have been greatly reduced. Saul’s son Jonathan had not heard about his father’s oath. He happened upon some wild honey, so he dipped his staff into it and ate the honey before anyone that was with him could stop him. They told Jonathan about his father’s oath. He told them that it was a foolish oath and that the Israelites would have done even better against the Philistines if they had been able to eat.
This foolish command had an even greater consequence attached to it. Because the people were so hungry from all the fighting, they slaughtered all the animals of the Philistines and ate the raw meat with the blood in it, which violated one of the commandments of God (Leviticus 17:10):
‘I will set my face against any Israelite or any foreigner residing among them who eats blood, and I will cut them off from the people.
After the soldiers had eaten and were refreshed, Saul decided that they would hold a sneak attack against the Philistines that night. But Ahijah the priest told Saul that he should inquire of the Lord whether God would deliver them into his hands or not, so Saul didh so. However, God didn’t answer. So, Saul had the leaders of the troops draw lots to find out who had committed the sin and vowed that whoever it was would surely die. The lots eventually showed them that it was Jonathan that had sinned. He told Saul about eating the honey and Saul said that he would surely die. The soldiers, however, would not allow Saul to kill Jonathan, so they all went back to their own homes.
So Saul’s foolish oath caused the soldiers to sin and nearly caused his son to die. In addition to that, Saul and his soldiers were unable to deal the blow that would have decimated the Philistines. Instead, the Philistines were able to recoup and eventually killed both king Saul and his son Jonathan.
Saul would make one final poor choice. He attacked the Amalekites and spared their king and the best of the animals. The Amalekites were under a ‘destroy all’ command from God. This was the final straw for God and He told Samuel that He had rejected Saul because Saul was disobedient.
Sometimes, in our lives, we make poor choices that are not in themselves sins, but then lead us into sin thereafter. Paula and I were watching a program where a married man was in a bar and a beautiful woman propositioned him and they left the bar together. Paula asked me what I would have done in his place. I said that I wouldn’t have gone to the bar in the first place.
Saul made stupid proclamations and oaths that caused the people around him to sin. He also disobeyed God. Saul continued to make poor decisions, even as David rose in prominence. Saul even sought out a witch to conjure up Samuel’s spirit from the grave.
It was these types of decisions that caused God’s presence to leave him and eventually pushed Saul toward madness and additional poor choices.
It is important in our lives to seek God’s will in all things. The choices that we make, though they may not be sinful of themselves, may lead us down paths we were never meant to travel. Saul spoke first, thought second, and sought God third. We need to do those things in the reverse order.
You may have important decisions to make. Seek God’s will before you decide what to do. Some of your choices may not seem like much at the time, but could influence the rest of your life. Should I go out with this person? Would God approve? Should I take this job? Should we buy this? Should I go to school here?
Think about the decisions you have made. Are you still reaping the problems associated with them? Resolve to seek God’s help before you make decisions. Seek Him early and often…
(Prayer)
