Reflections on 1 Samuel 15

1 Samuel 15 (Contemporary English Version)

1. One day, Samuel told Saul: The LORD had me choose you to be king of his people, Israel. Now listen to this message from the LORD:
   
2. "When the Israelites were on their way out of Egypt, the nation of Amalek attacked them. I am the LORD All-Powerful, and now I am going to make Amalek pay!
   
3. "Go and attack the Amalekites! Destroy them and all their possessions. Don't have any pity. Kill their men, women, children, and even their babies. Slaughter their cattle, sheep, camels, and donkeys."
   
4. Saul sent messengers who told every town and village to send men to join the army at Telaim. There were two hundred ten thousand troops in all, and ten thousand of these were from Judah. Saul organized them,
   
5. then led them to a valley near one of the towns in Amalek, where they got ready to make a surprise attack.
   
6. Some Kenites lived nearby, and Saul told them, "Your people were kind to our nation when we left Egypt, and I don't want you to get killed when I wipe out the Amalekites. Leave here and stay away from them." The Kenites left,
   
7. and Saul attacked the Amalekites from Havilah to Shur, which is just east of Egypt.
   
8. Every Amalekite was killed except King Agag.
   
9. Saul and his army let Agag live, and they also spared the best sheep and cattle. They didn't want to destroy anything of value, so they only killed the animals that were worthless or weak.
   
10. The LORD told Samuel,
    
11. "Saul has stopped obeying me, and I'm sorry that I made him king." Samuel was angry, and he cried out in prayer to the LORD all night.
    
12. Early the next morning he went to talk with Saul. Someone told him, "Saul went to Carmel, where he had a monument built so everyone would remember his victory. Then he left for Gilgal."
    
13. Samuel finally caught up with Saul, and Saul told him, "I hope the LORD will bless you! I have done what the LORD told me."
    
14. "Then why," Samuel asked, "do I hear sheep and cattle?"
    
15. "The army took them from the Amalekites," Saul explained. "They kept the best sheep and cattle, so they could sacrifice them to the LORD your God. But we destroyed everything else."
    
16. "Stop!" Samuel said. "Let me tell you what the LORD told me last night." "All right," Saul answered.
    
17. Samuel continued, "You may not think you're very important, but the LORD chose you to be king, and you are in charge of the tribes of Israel.
    
18. When the LORD sent you on this mission, he told you to wipe out those worthless Amalekites.
    
19. Why didn't you listen to the LORD? Why did you keep the animals and make him angry?"
    
20. "But I did listen to the LORD!" Saul answered. "He sent me on a mission, and I went. I captured King Agag and destroyed his nation.
    
21. All the animals were going to be destroyed anyway. That's why the army brought the best sheep and cattle to Gilgal as sacrifices to the LORD your God."
    
22. "Tell me," Samuel said. "Does the LORD really want sacrifices and offerings? No! He doesn't want your sacrifices. He wants you to obey him.
    
23. Rebelling against God or disobeying him because you are proud is just as bad as worshiping idols or asking them for advice. You refused to do what God told you, so God has decided that you can't be king."
    
24. "I have sinned," Saul admitted. "I disobeyed both you and the LORD. I was afraid of the army, and I listened to them instead.
    
25. Please forgive me and come back with me so I can worship the LORD."
    
26. "No!" Samuel replied, "You disobeyed the LORD, and I won't go back with you. Now the LORD has said that you can't be king of Israel any longer."
    
27. As Samuel turned to go, Saul grabbed the edge of Samuel's robe. It tore!
    
28. Samuel said, "The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel away from you today, and he will give it to someone who is better than you.
    
29. Besides, the eternal God of Israel isn't a human being. He doesn't tell lies or change his mind."
    
30. Saul said, "I did sin, but please honor me in front of the leaders of the army and the people of Israel. Come back with me, so I can worship the LORD your God."
    
31. Samuel followed Saul back, and Saul worshiped the LORD.
    
32. Then Samuel shouted, "Bring me King Agag of Amalek!" Agag came in chains, and he was saying to himself, "Surely they won't kill me now."
    
33. But Samuel said, "Agag, you have snatched children from their mothers' arms and killed them. Now your mother will be without children." Then Samuel chopped Agag to pieces at the place of worship in Gilgal.
    
34. Samuel went home to Ramah, and Saul returned to his home in Gibeah.
    
35. Even though Samuel felt sad about Saul, Samuel never saw him again. The LORD was sorry he had made Saul the king of Israel.
    

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    Saul again proved to be unworthy and unfit to be king. Was this because he was unable to lead the people? No, it was because he was unwilling to fully obey the Lord who made him king. He was weak of character. The Lord gave him a very clear assignment: "Now go and attack the Amalekites and completely destroy everything they have. Do not spare them. Kill men and women, children and infants, oxen and sheep, camels and donkeys.'" (15:3) They were placed under the "ban of holy war." (Exodus 17:8-16) Everything was dedicated to the Lord. Saul followed the Lord's instructions except he spared the king and the best of the livestock.
    
    We see in verse 12 Saul's likely motivation for this disobedience when Samuel went to confront Saul for his disobedience. Samuel couldn't find Saul because he "went to Carmel where he set up a monument for himself." Saul had become proud over this great victory, as if he had done it on his own. Besides setting up the monument for himself it appears that he intended to display the king and the best of the livestock as trophies of his great leadership.
    
    Though Samuel did not witness any of this, the Lord spoke to him and told him, "I regret that I made Saul king, for he has turned away from following Me and has not carried out My instructions." (15:11) When Samuel confronted Saul, Saul made excuses. First he blamed his men, saying, "The troops brought them from the Amalekites." Then he attempted to make it seem a good thing by saying they spared the best sheep and cattle, "in order to offer a sacrifice to the LORD your God." (15:15) Samuel's response to this is a classic and often quoted statement from scripture, "Does the LORD take pleasure in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the LORD? Look: to obey is better than sacrifice, to pay attention is better than the fat of rams." (15:22)
    
    The great lesson in this for us all to learn is that no act of worship takes the place of obedience. Furthermore, we learn that partial obedience equates to disobedience. It is like the math equation in which any number multiplied by zero is still zero. We cannot choose those instructions from the Lord we like and obey those and disobey by not doing those things we don't like and conclude that we have been obedient. Obedience times zero is zero - disobedience. Samuel added to this classic statement an even more sobering statement: "For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and defiance is like wickedness and idolatry." (15:23) Disobedience (rebellion) is equivalent to divination, wickedness, and idolatry. So the full equation looks like this: partial obedience = disobedience = idolatry.
    
    Saul confessed his sin and asked for forgiveness. With forgiveness we can start fresh and have a new beginning but we cannot necessarily return to the way things were. The kingship was taken from Saul because of his sin even though God forgave him the sin. Though the people recognized him as king another 15 years, to the Lord he was deposed.