26 Saul Rejected as King – Part 3

Even though the Lord had given Saul explicit directions as to how he should conduct the battle against the Amalekites, Saul had his own agenda. The Lord had instructed Saul, that he was not to leave any Amalekites survivors, nor to take any of spoils of war. Instead, Saul allowed Agag, the Amalekite king to survive, and he allowed the people to take a great many spoils.

But in revealing his character, when Samuel confronted Saul about the situation, the king attempted to shift the blame to the people, who he said wanted to save the very best of the Amalekite animals to be sacrificed to the Lord:

1 Samuel 15:15

Saul’s attitude showed, that he disregarded by the Lord, and His prophet Samuel, as he saw himself as having the ultimate say, since he was the king.

1 Samuel Confronts Saul

After allowing Saul to speak his mind, Samuel then declared God’s word to the king:

1 Samuel 15:16-21

Even though Saul had often crossed the line, attempting to assume roles that belonged to priests only, the Lord still viewed Samuel as the religious leader for His people, and as His prophet, Samuel was still God’s spokesman.

He began his address to Saul, by relating how when Saul was first tasked with becoming king, he was “little in (his) own eyes” which depicted a shy, and introverted man.

However, over time, pride began to swell Saul’s heart and head, and he was determined to always have his own way.

Therefore, Samuel recounted how the Lord had sent Samuel on a mission which was to utterly destroy the Amalekites, and that as king, Saul had disobeyed the Lord’s command.

In verse 19, Samuel made it clear that Saul had disobeyed God’s “voice” which spoke to that fact that he had disregarded God’s clear command.

While Samuel was very direct in showing how the king had clearly disobeyed the Lord, Saul was completely dishonest and failed to take any personal responsibility:

2 Saul’s Weak Defense

Saul continued saying that he had obeyed the Lord’s commands and fulfilled his mission. It was simply “selective obedience” in play, since the only obedience, was in that he had destroyed the Amalekite army. However, he had disobeyed, by allowing king Agag to regain alive, as well as taking spoils from the defeated enemy.

Sadly, this is often a problem, when individuals will obey the Lord to a degree, thus falsely, causing them to believe that they’re in obedience.

The problem with that thinking, is that anything less than complete obedience, is simply rebellion.

In the case of Saul, it was quite ironic, that the same Saul who had strongly imposed his position as king, then attempted to claim that he relented to the will of the people, because he “feared” them.

It is also ironic, that Saul who had once illegally attempted to offer a sacrifice, had no problem with the people offering a sacrifice of animals which the Lord had forbidden.

3 God’s Judgment against Saul

After Saul’s excuses and deflections, Samuel declared the Lord’s judgment against the king:

1 Samuel 15:22-29

Samuel presented Saul with a rhetorical question, showing that the Lord isn’t desirous of sacrifices in deference to obedience.

On another occasion, the prophet Isaiah spoke of the attitude of God’s people who said and did the “right things” but their hearts were far from Him:

Isaiah 29:13

Rather than simple outward actions such as sacrifice, the Lord wants the inward action, of hearts which are surrendered to Him:

Psalm 51:16-17

In verse 23, we’re shown just how dangerous a rebellious attitude is, as the Lord sees it as being on par with an abominable sin such as witchcraft. In that, we see that disobedience to the Lord is never a trivial matter.

Samuel was very clear to Saul, that because the king had rejected God’s word to him, the Lord had rejected Saul as king. However, it would still be 25 years, before the Lord would remove from the throne.

In verses 24-29, Saul offered a watered-down repentance, by again stating the reason he allowed the people to take Amalekite spoils, was because he feared the people.

He then asked Samuel to return with him, so that they might be seen as worshipping the Lord together. This was another revelation of Saul’s character, as he continually wanted to be seen by the people as someone he truly wasn’t.

Saul’s desire was simply to be elevated in the eyes of the nation. This shows that he didn’t truly repent, but rather he wanted to put the issue behind him.

When Samuel declined Saul’s request, and turned to leave, the king reached and grabbed hold of the prophet’s robe, it tore, which symbolized what would take place with Saul himself, as Samuel told him the Lord had torn the kingdom from Saul and had “given” it to another.

The word ”given” shows that in the Lord’s eyes, the kingdom had already been removed from Saul.

4 Fulfilling God’s Will

While Saul stated he had “sinned” those weren’t words of repentance, but it was still that he desired to be seen in a good light by the nation:

1 Samuel 15:30-35

While we cannot know for certain, but it’s possible, the reason Samuel eventually returned with Saul, was because even though the kingdom had been “removed” from Saul, since the Lord had not yet raised upon a replacement, Saul was the only king the nation had at that time.

After worshipping alongside Saul, Samuel then did what Saul had refused to do, as he executed the Amalekite king Agag.

The chapter ended on a sad note, as Samuel then departed from Saul’s company, and never saw him again.