1 Sam 15:1 Samuel also said to Saul, “The LORD sent me to anoint you king over His people, over Israel. Now therefore, heed the voice of the words of the LORD. 2 Thus says the LORD of hosts: ‘I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, how he ambushed him on the way when he came up from Egypt. 3 Now go and attack Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them. But kill both man and woman, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’”
Saul had been annointed (not appointed) to be the King of Israel. At one time we see that Saul was very much in Gods will and favor. God used Saul to accomplish Gods overall purpose for His people, and the greatest King of Israel might NEVER have had the opportunity to be King if not for Saul’s dis-obedience. Saul was very blessed......he even prophesied! I want to show you a few things about Saul.....
First off, God did NOT want Israel to have a King, did He? Or didn’t He? Deut 17:14 “When you enter the land which the Lord your God gives you, and you possess it and live in it, and you say, ‘I will set a king over me like all the nations who are around me,’(15) you shall surely set a king over you whom the Lord your God chooses, one from among your countrymen you shall set as king over yourselves; you may not put a foreigner over yourselves who is not your countryman.
It wasn’t the fact that Israel wanted a King....it was WHY they wanted one....1 Sam 8:5 and they said to him, “Behold, you have grown old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint a king for us to judge us like all the nations.”
They told Samuel that "hey.....everybody else has a king.....why shouldn’t we have one? They just wanted to be like everybody else! Samuel tried to warn them.....kings can be costly! Look at vs 20 that we also may be like all the nations, that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.”
So we see that that the people wanted a King because number 1, everybody else had one, and 2.....they wanted the king to judge them and "go fight their battles for them." These motives were in direct rebellion to God, for it was God who brought them to where they were.....He was with Joshua (not a king) at the battle of Jericho. He was with Gideon (not a king) as the army of Israel routed the Midianites.
God had also given the people His word, prophets, judges.......but people kept wanting to ignore Gods guidance and be like the "other" people. Judges 3:7 The sons of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and forgot the Lord their God and served the Baals and the Asheroth.
So God relented...and gave Israel what it desired....a king. Sometimes it’s not good to get everything we desire, is it? If we are where we should be with God, our desires should line up exactly with Gods will. I know we have all used that scripture "God will give you the desires of your heart" but I want you to know if what you desire is not of God but of your own selfish flesh, it’s not gonna be good for you even if you DO get it! But I want to look at Saul.....a good man of God in the beginning!
First, like I said, Saul prophesied! Look at 1 Sam 10:9 So it was, when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, that God gave him another heart; and all those signs came to pass that day. 10 When they came there to the hill, there was a group of prophets to meet him; then the Spirit of God came upon him, and he prophesied among them. Verse 12 says that everyone started considering Saul among the prophets....pretty heady company, huh? But Saul became dis-obedient...and Gods spirit left him, didn’t it? He had Gods blessings to destroy the Amalikites...which had been a problem to the Israelites for a LONG. LONG time, hadn’t they? You can see them pestering the Israelites way back in the wilderness! God wanted to put a stop to them once and for all......get rid of them. Sometimes we have things in our life that just pop up every now and then....and we need to get rid of them once and for all, don’t we?
Let’s see what happened......remember in vs 3 God told Saul to get totally rid of everything that had anything to do with the Amalikites....even down to their livestock! God didn’t want a trace to be left! Look at vs 8 He also took Agag king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. 9 But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were unwilling to utterly destroy them. But everything despised and worthless, that they utterly destroyed.
Anything that they thought they could use, they kept, didn’t they? I’m a pack-rat. I keep stuff way too long. Never know when you might need something, and just as sure as I throw something away, I’ll find out the next week or two that I needed it! Gotta try to cover ourselves, don’t we? But they dis-obeyed God. Once again, it wasn’t the sheep themselves that made the sin....it was the rebellion! Saul tried to sugar-coat it when he got busted by Samuel tho’.......look at vs 13.
13 Then Samuel went to Saul, and Saul said to him, “Blessed are you of the LORD! I have performed the commandment of the LORD.” 14 But Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?” 15 And Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites; for the people spared the best of the sheep and the oxen, to sacrifice to the LORD your God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.” 16 Then Samuel said to Saul, “Be quiet! And I will tell you what the LORD said to me last night.” And he said to him, “Speak on.” 17 So Samuel said, “When you were little in your own eyes, were you not head of the tribes of Israel? And did not the LORD anoint you king over Israel? 18 Now the LORD sent you on a mission, and said, ‘Go, and utterly destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.’ 19 Why then did you not obey the voice of the LORD? Why did you swoop down on the spoil, and do evil in the sight of the LORD?” 20 And Saul said to Samuel, “But I have obeyed the voice of the LORD, and gone on the mission on which the LORD sent me, and brought back Agag king of Amalek; I have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. 21 But the people took of the plunder, sheep and oxen, the best of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice to the LORD your God in Gilgal.” 22 So Samuel said:
“Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings 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.
23 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft,
And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.
Because you have rejected the word of the LORD,
He also has rejected you from being king.” 24 Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice. 25 Now therefore, please pardon my sin, and return with me, that I may worship the LORD.” 26 But Samuel said to Saul, “I will not return with you, for you have rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD has rejected you from being king over Israel.”
Our needs, wants, desires.....they need to be God-centered. If you are praying for something that is all about you and not about God....if you are holding on to something that you need to let go of....just in case....you need to let it go. You don’t have to be a spiritual pack-rat....God WILL supply all your needs...according to His riches in glory,,,,and He has some pretty good riches, doesn’t He? Better than any you or I can supply!
We might never have known of the greatest king of Israel...except for Saul’s rebellion. Are you rebelling today? Is there something you just can’t quite get rid of totally? If you keep rebelling, the spirit may leave you as it left Saul. Put it on the altar...give it to God...TODAY!
