Scripture:
1 Samuel 15:24-28New International Version (NIV)
24 Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned. I violated the Lord’s command and your instructions. I was afraid of the men and so I gave in to them. 25 Now I beg you, forgive my sin and come back with me, so that I may worship the Lord.”
26 But Samuel said to him, “I will not go back with you. You have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you as king over Israel!”
27 As Samuel turned to leave, Saul caught hold of the hem of his robe, and it tore. 28 Samuel said to him, “The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to one of your neighbors—to one better than you.
Introduction:
A man went on a hike in an area of remote cliffs. He was a very experienced hiker, tracker and survivalist. He had been in the area for several days camping on his own. He absolutely loved it. One afternoon, he decided to go for a hike in a nearby gorge. As be came upon the area he saw a beautiful bald eagle just about to take off. As he fumbled to get his camera out to capture the picture, he loss his footing and slipped off the edge into the gorge.
While tumbling down the cliff's side, he managed to grab hold of a branch jutting out from the rocks. Not being able to gain a foot hole, the man thought for certain that he was doomed. Hopeless and growing ever weaker, he concluded that he would certainly plummet to his death at the bottom of the gorge. With the last ounce of fight he could muster, he shouted, "Can somebody please help me!" To his surprise a voice shouted back to him, "I am here. I will help you!."
"Quickly!", he exclaimed, "I am losing my grip!"
"Do you trust me?", the helper asked.
"Yes, please just help me!", the man retorted.
"Let go.", the helper said.
The man, fearing for his life pleaded with the helper, "Is there no other way?!"
"No,", the voice replied.
Hanging there and growing weaker, the man asked, "Is there anyone else up there!"
The people of Israel, even after rescue after rescue shouted up to Samuel and to God, “Is there anyone else up there!”, when they asked for a king. God granted that request and allowed Samuel to anoint Saul as ruler of the people. However it wouldn’t be too long before King Saul REBELLED against God, was REBUKED by Samuel and finally REJECTED by God.
Transition:
Saul controlled his fate. He could have stayed on course and followed the Instruction given him by God through Samuel, but instead he gave us an example of the RESULTS OF REBELLION, and REBELLED against the Lord’s command.
Point 1: REBELLED against God.
God gave specific instructions to Saul through Samuel. He was to destroy the Amelikites and wipe them out completely to repay their deeds against the Israelites when they came out of Egypt. There was no real cloudiness in the command or aspects that required deep thought to understand. Destroy them COMPLETELY! Saul would have understood that the Amalekites in their persistent refusal to fear God sowed the seeds of their own destruction. We read in Deuteronomy 25: 17-19 that God encourages the people to not forget the offense of the Amalekites and that they would blot out even the memory of that enemy from the face of the earth.
While the thought of Saul proceeding without flinching at the prospect of slaying women and children may seem cold to us, the battle field in that time was the arena of divine retribution and we read in Exodus 34:7 that the Lord does not leave the guilty unpunished. Saul had a job to do, but instead he REBELLED, against the order of the Lord. With echoes of Deuteronomy 1:26, 1 Samuel 15:9 doesn’t say that Saul couldn’t destroy what remained, rather, he and his men were unwilling! Saul decided to go off the tracks and plot his own destructive course.
Illustration:
In The Way to Holiness, Samuel Brengle wrote:
To many, however, the command seems harsh. They have been accustomed to commands accompanied by kick and blows. But we must not forget that ‘God is love,’ and His commands are not harsh but kind. They come from the fullness of an infinitely loving and all-wise heart. They are meant for our good. If a railway train could think or talk, it might argue that running on two rails over the same road year after year was very common-place. But if it insisted on larger liberty and jumped the track, it would certainly ruin itself. So the man who wants freedom, and refuses to obey God’s commands to be holy, destroys himself. The train was made to run on the track and we were made to live according to God’s commandment to be holy. Only in that way can we gain everlasting good.
Transition:
Saul was given instructions that would help him to stay on track. Like the train, Saul derailed and ruined himself. His REBELLION against the Lord led to his REBUKE from Samuel.
Point 2: REBUKED by Samuel
The Lord comes to Samuel and expresses to him His grief of making Saul king because he has turned away from the Lord in his rebellion. Samuel was troubled because of this. Samuel confronts Saul on his actions and catches him in a lie. Saul Claims to have carried out the Lord’s instructions unaware that Samuel already knows the truth. Once his sins have found him out, he begins to shift the blame to the people to alleviate the crimes he committed.
His weak excuses were lacking in two areas and he is called out on both. First, it doesn’t matter what commendable acts the captured bounty was going to be used for. It was meant to be destroyed. Secondly, even if it was the soldiers fault, he is the King. He should have commanded them otherwise or at the very least not try to shift the full blame to them. Samuel having heard enough tells Saul to stop!
Stop! Translated into the original Hebrew, it’s the same verb found in Psalm 46:10 “be still”. In other words, your time of talking is done; now listen to what the Lord says. His disobedience has not only led to being REBUKED by Samuel but had a more severe penalty. Samuels rebuke was the precursor to his removal from royal office.
Illustration:
Criticism is always difficult to accept, but if we receive it with humility and a desire to improve our character it can be very helpful. Only a fool does not profit when he is rebuked for his mistakes. An article on the subject stated that when we are criticized we ought to ask ourselves whether the criticism contains any truth. If it does, we should learn from it, even when it is not given with the right motivation and in the right spirit. The article then offered these four suggestions: (1) Commit the matter instantly to God, asking Him to remove all resentment or counter-criticism on your part and teach you the needed lessons. (2) Remember that we are all great sinners and that the one who has criticized us does not begin to know the worst about us. (3) If you have made a mistake or committed a sin, humbly and frankly confess it to God and to anyone you may have injured. (4) Be willing to learn afresh that you are not infallible and that you need God's grace and wisdom every moment of the day to keep on the straight path.
When we are criticized, let's accept what is true and act upon it, thereby becoming a stronger person. He who profits from rebuke is wise.
Transition:
Saul Did none of these things. Instead he made excuses and tried to shift the blame. However, no matter how much finger pointing he did, the fault for his actions and inactions rested solely on his shoulders. It was his REJECTION of God that led to his REJECTION as king.
Point 3: REJECTED by God
It’s important to note that in this situation, both the Amalekites and the war are both secondary players. The primary interest in this episode is Saul’s inability to hear God and obey. It’s his lack of obedience that reminds us that the RESULT OF REBELLION is REJECTION. Obedience was a fundamental constant that was to be exhibited by the king. In fact, it was a requirement for his office.
When Samuel anointed Saul king, we read in 1 Samuel 12:14 that very stipulation, “But, if you do not obey the Lord, and if you rebel against His commands, his hand will be against you, just as it was against your fathers.” Saul ignored that warning and REJECTED the commands of the Lord and rejection begat rejection!
Besides sparing Agag, Saul further missed the mark in his attempt to remedy the situation by claiming that what was set aside, the best of the lot, was to be sacrificed to the Lord. Samuel scolds him saying in verses 22- 23, “…Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as obeying the voice of the Lord? To obey is better than to sacrifice…Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He has rejected you as king.”
Illustration:
It’s like trying to watch a DVD purchased in the United States on a DVD player made in England. It doesn’t work. The DVD player will continually reject the DVD because they aren’t compatible. The DVD doesn’t follow the same coding and system rules as the DVD player and therefore will continually be rejected.
Transition:
Saul’s REBELLION against God led to his REBUKE by Samuel and his inevitability of him being REJECTION by God.
Conclusion:
The RESULTS OF REBELLION can only be rejection. Sometimes we read scripture and are stirred to conclusions of: Why didn’t he just follow the Lord’s commands? Surely, I would have! In reality we are all Saul at one point or another. Any act counter to what God has commanded us is an act of rebellion. Our biggest offense may be not keeping two commands given to us by Jesus. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.
When we realize that we are on par with the rebel Saul , its then that we ought to seek redemption and turn from our rebellious ways and fall in line with the security that comes with the commands of Christ. Terence Fretheim reminds us in his book Divine Foreknowledge that the divine rejection of Saul was as king. In other words, God REJECTED the king not the man. Commissioner Phil Needham suggested in his book When God Becomes Small, that when we are stripped of everything God has allowed us to have, we realize who we truly are. We can be like Saul and continue to rebel or realize how fragile we are and take hold of the opportunity to claim allegiance to God again!
Chorus:
Change My Heart Oh God
Create In Me
Bibliography
Longman, Tremper. / Garland, David E, Wm VanGemeren, D. A. Carson, Walter W. Wessel, and Mark L. Strauss. The Expositor's Bible Commentary: Revised Edition. Revised ed. Vol. 3. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2010. N. pag. Print. 1 Samuel ~ 2 Kings.
The New Interpreter's Bible Commentary. Vol. 2. Nashville: Abingdon, 1998. Print.
Brengle, Samuel Logan. Helps to Holiness. London: Salvationist Pub. and Supplies, 1948. Print.
Fretheim, Terence E. The Suffering of God: An Old Testament Perspective. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print.
