The Lord Rejects Saul
1 Samuel 15:10-23 NLT
10 Then the Lord said to Samuel, 11 “I am sorry that I ever made Saul king, for he has not been loyal to me and has refused to obey my command.” Samuel was so deeply moved when he heard this that he cried out to the Lord all night.
12 Early the next morning Samuel went to find Saul. Someone told him, “Saul went to the town of Carmel to set up a monument to himself; then he went on to Gilgal.”
13 When Samuel finally found him, Saul greeted him cheerfully. “May the Lord bless you,” he said. “I have carried out the Lord’s command!”
14 “Then what is all the bleating of sheep and goats and the lowing of cattle I hear?” Samuel demanded.
15 “It’s true that the army spared the best of the sheep, goats, and cattle,” Saul admitted. “But they are going to sacrifice them to the Lord your God. We have destroyed everything else.”
16 Then Samuel said to Saul, “Stop! Listen to what the Lord told me last night!”
“What did he tell you?” Saul asked.
17 And Samuel told him, “Although you may think little of yourself, are you not the leader of the tribes of Israel? The Lord has anointed you king of Israel. 18 And the Lord sent you on a mission and told you, ‘Go and completely destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, until they are all dead.’ 19 Why haven’t you obeyed the Lord? Why did you rush for the plunder and do what was evil in the Lord’s sight?”20 “But I did obey the Lord,” Saul insisted. “I carried out the mission he gave me. I brought back King Agag, but I destroyed everyone else.
21 Then my troops brought in the best of the sheep, goats, cattle, and plunder to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal.”
22 But Samuel replied,
“What is more pleasing to the Lord:
your burnt offerings and sacrifices
or your obedience to his voice?
Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice,
and submission is better than offering the fat of rams.
23 Rebellion is as sinful as witchcraft,
and stubbornness as bad as worshiping idols.
So because you have rejected the command of the Lord,
he has rejected you as king.”
Examine the Scriptures
1 Samuel 15:10-23 NLT
The Lord Rejects Saul
10 Then the Lord said to Samuel, 11 “I am sorry that I ever made Saul king, for he has not been loyal to me and has refused to obey my command.”
Saul was not loyal to God. He was not acting any differently than the kings of the surrounding nations.
Saul was refusing to obey the Lord’s commands.
1 Samuel 12:14-15 NLT
14 “Now if you (Israel) fear and worship the Lord and listen to his voice, and if you do not rebel against the Lord’s commands, then both you and your king will show that you recognize the Lord as your God. 15 But if you rebel against the Lord’s commands and refuse to listen to him, then his hand will be as heavy upon you as it was upon your ancestors.
Saul clearly violated God’s commands given in 1 Samuel 12:14-15.
Sinful behavior grieves God’s heart.
Genesis 6:6 NLT
6 So the Lord was sorry he had ever made them (humans, before the flood) and put them on the earth. It broke his heart.
Psalm 78:40 NLT
40 Oh, how often they (Israelites) rebelled against him in the wilderness
and grieved his heart in that dry wasteland.
Ephesians 4:30 NLT
30 And do not bring sorrow to God’s Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption.
- Saul was not loyal to God and he refused to obey God’s commands. (This is certainly a formula for failure.)
- God felt genuine sorrow when he contemplated Saul’s sin.
Saul’s behaviors do not change God’s plans.
Isaiah 46:9-10 NLT
9 Remember the things I have done in the past.
For I alone am God!
I am God, and there is none like me.
10 Only I can tell you the future
before it even happens.
Everything I plan will come to pass,
for I do whatever I wish.
Samuel was so deeply moved when he heard this that he cried out to the Lord all night.
- Samuel was grieved and upset with Saul.
12 Early the next morning Samuel went to find Saul. Someone told him, “Saul went to the town of Carmel to set up a monument to himself; then he went on to Gilgal.”
7 miles south of Hebron.
- Saul was giving himself, not God, credit for the military victories over the surrounding nations.
Saul was filled with pride.
Saul’s behaviors were self-centered.
- Saul commemorated his own accomplishments by erecting a monument to himself.
13 When Samuel finally found him, Saul greeted him cheerfully. “May the Lord bless you,” he said. “I have carried out the Lord’s command!”
- Saul wanted Samuel to believe that he had done as God had commanded him to do.
Saul was either acting deceitfully or ignorantly.
Saul is less than honest in his statements to Samuel.
14 “Then what is all the bleating of sheep and goats and the lowing of cattle I hear?” Samuel demanded.
15 “It’s true that the army spared the best of the sheep, goats, and cattle,” Saul admitted.
- Saul blamed the army for disobeying the Lord’s command by sparing the best of the sheep, goats, and cattle.
Look closely at the facts recorded in the scriptures.
1 Samuel 15:9 NLT
9 Saul and his men spared Agag’s life and kept the best of the sheep and goats, the cattle, the fat calves, and the lambs—everything, in fact, that appealed to them. They destroyed only what was worthless or of poor quality.
“But they are going to sacrifice them to the Lord your God.
- Saul tried to justify his disobedience by claiming that the animals were brought as a sacrifice to the “Lord your God”.
Contrary to the order to destroy everything, Saul and his men would most likely end up eating a portion of the meat being sacrificed to the Lord.
Note: Samuel did not say “my God” or “our God”.
We have destroyed everything else.”
16 Then Samuel said to Saul, “Stop! Listen to what the Lord told me last night!”
“What did he tell you?” Saul asked.
17 And Samuel told him, “Although you may think little of yourself, are you not the leader of the tribes of Israel? The Lord has anointed you king of Israel.
1 Samuel 9:21 NLT
21 Saul replied, “But I’m only from the tribe of Benjamin, the smallest tribe in Israel, and my family is the least important of all the families of that tribe! Why are you talking like this to me?”
- As the king of Israel and the leader of the army, Saul bore the responsibility for his actions and the actions of his army.
18 And the Lord sent you on a mission and told you, ‘Go and completely destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, until they are all dead.’
- God put Saul in a leadership position to carry out His agenda.
19 Why haven’t you obeyed the Lord? Why did you rush for the plunder and do what was evil in the Lord’s sight?”
- Saul and his soldiers willingly and greedily took the spoil.
20 “But I did obey the Lord,” Saul insisted. “I carried out the mission he gave me. I brought back King Agag, but I destroyed everyone else.
- Instead of confessing his sin and repenting, Saul continued to justify his actions.
21 Then my troops brought in the best of the sheep, goats, cattle, and plunder to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal.”
Gilgal was a religious center.
22 But Samuel replied,
“What is more pleasing to the Lord:
your burnt offerings and sacrifices
or your obedience to his voice?
Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice,
and submission is better than offering the fat of rams.
- Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission is better than offering the fat of rams.
God values obedience more than ritual.
Even the best sacrifice without obedience gains nothing.
Hosea 6:6 NLT
6 I want you to show love,
not offer sacrifices.
I want you to know me
more than I want burnt offerings.
Micah 6:6-8 NLT
6 What can we bring to the Lord?
Should we bring him burnt offerings?
Should we bow before God Most High
with offerings of yearling calves?
7 Should we offer him thousands of rams
and ten thousand rivers of olive oil?
Should we sacrifice our firstborn children
to pay for our sins?
8 No, O people, the Lord has told you what is good,
and this is what he requires of you:
to do what is right, to love mercy,
and to walk humbly with your God.
- The sacrificial system was intended to be an expression of an obedient and loving heart.
23 Rebellion is as sinful as witchcraft,
and stubbornness as bad as worshiping idols.
Rebellion and stubbornness are sins of the heart.
Saul’s behavior was an indication of the condition of his heart.
Luke 6:45 NLT
45 A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart.
- Saul was behaving like a pagan king.
So because you have rejected the command of the Lord,
he has rejected you as king.”
Saul continually rejected God.
Saul was guilty of:
Disobedience,
Rebellion.
Stubbornness, arrogance,
Rejecting God’s Word
Saul did not live up to God’s previously stated expectations of a king.
1 Samuel 12:13-15 NLT (repeated from earlier in this lesson)
13 All right, here is the king you have chosen. You asked for him, and the Lord has granted your request.
14 “Now if you fear and worship the Lord and listen to his voice, and if you do not rebel against the Lord’s commands, then both you and your king will show that you recognize the Lord as your God. 15 But if you rebel against the Lord’s commands and refuse to listen to him, then his hand will be as heavy upon you as it was upon your ancestors.
Previously when Saul, not Samuel, offered a sacrifice to the Lord.
1 Samuel 13:13-14 NLT
13 “How foolish!” Samuel exclaimed. “You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you. Had you kept it, the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. 14 But now your kingdom must end, for the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart. The Lord has already appointed him to be the leader of his people, because you have not kept the Lord’s command.”
Saul set his own will above the commands of the Lord and this behavior cost him dearly.
Although Saul would still be recognized by the people of Israel as their king for about fifteen more years, Saul was disposed by the Lord right then.
- God disposed Saul and his descendants from the throne of Israel.
1 Samuel 16:14 NLT
14 Now the Spirit of the Lord had left Saul, and the Lord sent a tormenting spirit that filled him with depression and fear.
