Saul Rejected

I Samuel 15:10-23

GOLDEN TEXT: “Because thou hast rejected the Word of the Lord, He hath also rejected thee from being king.”—I Samuel 15:23

THE rending of the Kingdom of Israel from Saul meant more than his own displacement; it meant that his son and successive heirs should not continue as the Lord’s representatives in the Kingdom. Saul’s error in this trial was his failure to carry out the command of the Lord explicitly. He slew all the Amalekites, old and young, except the king whom he kept alive, possibly thinking to exhibit him in some kind of triumphal display. But as for the flocks and herds, he consented with his people to spare all that were desirable.

The slaughter of the Amalekites did not mean that, being admittedly wicked, they went forthwith to eternal torment. Death was the same for the Amalekites as it was for their cattle—a termination of whatever was desirable in the present life. As they were evidently a very depraved people, it meant the ending of comparatively uneventful and useless lives. They all went down to the great prison-house of death—Sheol, Hades, the tomb, from which God foreknew and had already arranged a great redemption, an awakening from the sleep of death. It was secured to them and to all mankind by the sacrifice, centuries afterward, of Christ.—I Tim. 2:6; I John 2:2

It is quite true of the Amalekites, as it was of the Amorites that they would have been cut off sooner, but their iniquity was not yet come to the full. One lesson to be learned from this is that even with nations that are not under a special covenant with God as was Israel, there is a certain divine supervision—that their iniquities go not too far; and that when these iniquities have reached their full, punishment is to be expected. We know not the particulars respecting the Amalekites; but, knowing the character of God, and His justice and mercy, we maybe sure that in some particular sense of the word their iniquities had come to the full-and-running-over measure before this order for their execution was committed to Saul.

The general narrative—Samuel’s indignation and the Lord’s positive statement—clearly indicates that King Saul had not misunderstood his instructions, but had, with considerable deliberation, violated them. Seeing that the prophet was not likely to sympathize with his violation of the divine command, Saul began hypocritically to represent that all the sheep and oxen captured from the enemy were to be sacrificed to the Lord. Incidentally, this would have meant a great feast for the Israelites, for the flesh of animals so sacrificed was eaten by them. The prophet stopped the king in his explanation and delivered the divine message of reproof and judgment—Saul’s rejection as king of Israel.

In applying the principles of this lesson to the Lord’s people today, if we think of the Amalekites as representing sins and remember that the Lord’s command comes to us to put away sin entirely, we may gain a good lesson. Like Saul, many are disposed to destroy the vilest things connected with sin, but they spare those things that, while they appear from the fleshly human standpoint to be more desirable, are a deterrent to the higher spiritual interests. How deceitful are the natural heart and mind! How necessary it is that all who would be in accord with the Lord should be true-heartedly devoted to carrying out the Lord’s instructions in their every detail, thoroughly sincere; and that, under the Lord’s direction, we should seek to eliminate from our lives every sinful principle, evil teaching, evil doctrine and all unholy words, deeds and thoughts!

King Saul sought to defend his course, and to lay the responsibility for the saving of the spoil upon the hosts of Israel who, with himself, were very desirous of offering sacrifices to the Lord. The prophet’s answer is the substance of this study. He clearly pointed out to the king what the latter should have known and what all should recognize; namely, that offering sacrifice is far less pleasing to the Lord than is obedience to His Word.

So it is with the Lord’s people today. It is not ill-gotten wealth that we may sacrifice to the Lord; not the proceeds acquired directly or indirectly by wrongdoing that constitutes an acceptable offering to Him. Our sacrifice must be from the heart. He who gives his heart, his will, to the Lord, gives all; he who gives not his will, who comes not in heart obedience unto the Lord, can offer no sacrifice that would be acceptable to Him. “Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice” should be deeply engraved upon all consecrated hearts.

QUESTIONS:

What far-reaching consequences attended God’s rejection of Saul to be king over Israel?

What is the proper relationship between obedience and sacrifice?

What lesson for Christians is there in Saul’s disobedient course?

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