BY GBILE AKANNI
(Living Seed Vol 12 No. 2 August 2005)
n the last edition, we began to look intently into the secret reasons why Saul, the son of Kish, the first king of Israel was laid on the shelf even at the prime of his years. We noted that it was a silent imperceptible deviation that started pushing Saul out of God’s favour. Though God is merciful and enduring, He will not strive and struggle with the stubborn spirit of a man for ever. As we turn to chapter 15 of I Samuel, we saw God again taking another step to draw Saul nearer and to give him another opportunity to repair his relationship with God. But it all ended up in further disaster. It shows the final descent and decline of Saul. It shows how he finally banged his opportunities with God on the matter of the spoil from Amalek. How the Lord repented setting up Saul as the king in Israel. It would seem God was still holding out to Saul a chance of making his life right with God. God does not discard a man until He has given him every opportunity to repent and make amends. God was still granting Saul some measure of victory in every battle he set out for on behalf of Israel, but he did not take that advantage to repair his broken relationship with God and to seek further fellowship with his discipler, Samuel.
A fresh opportunity to redeem his relationship with God
“Samuel also said unto Saul, The Lord sent me to anoint thee to be king over His people, over Isreal; now therefore hearken thou unto the voice of the words of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way, when he came up from Egypt. Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass. 1Sam. 15: 1-3.
A fresh instruction was given to Saul in the discharge of the mandate God gave him. The reason and the basis of the anointing he carried is being called forth again, so that he can walk in the consciousness of his commission. Every anointed man in God’s service must not lose sight of the purpose of that anointing. It must not be used for personal pleasure or for any other purpose that may suit our interest. It is also the compelling reason while he must hearken to the voice of the words of the Lord.
Samuel said to Saul, “I am the one the LORD sent to anoint you king over his people Israel; so listen now to the message from LORD.” 1 Sam 15:1 NIV.
The opening statement of that verse is very significant. It would seem Samuel needed to re-affirm his authority to bring this instruction to Saul now. Saul may have become great and unreachable, but he must not forget who raised him up. Leaders must not ignore their personal disciplers if they will live long in the anointing. Samuel was ever available to be sent to instruct Saul and to make sure he walked in the purpose of the anointing of the Lord on his life.
The commission God was giving to Saul on the battle against the Amalekites was definite. God first shared with Saul on the reason for the battle. He advanced to him the offences of the Amalekites and the Lord’s vow to punish them from generation to gencration. This assignment was part of the fulfilment of prophecy. Saul must walk into this with a definite sense of responsibility to bring to pass God’s word against the Amalekites. The instruction was also clear:
“Go and attack the Amalekites and completely destroy everything they have. Don’t leave a thing; kill all the men, women, children, and babies; the cattle, sheep, camels, and donkeys.” 1Sam 15:3.
Completely destroy everything they have. Don’t leave a thing; kill all the men, women, children, and babies; the cattle, sheep, camels, and donkeys. It was emphatic and not ambiguous in any sense. It was repetitive. Saul could not claim lack of understanding in any of these clear instructions. What to do was well outlined. Things were even mentioned particularly. It is important for God’s servants to listen and get details of their commission clearly, so as to walk and work within the divine boundaries set for him or her. Joshua was also given clear instruction on the battle against Jericho just as Saul was being given now.
God gave the victory, Saul flew on the spoils.
“And Saul gathered the people together, and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand footmen, and ten thousand men of Judah. And Saul came to a city of Amalek and laid wait in the valley. And Saul said unto the Kenites, Go, depart, get you down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them: for ye shewed kindness to all the children of Israel, when they came up out of Egypt. So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites. And Saul smote the Amalekites from Havilah until thou comest to Shur, that is over against Egypt. And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them: but everything that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly. Then came the word of the Lord unto Samuel saying, It repented Me that I have set up Saul to be king: for he is turned back from following Me, and hath not performed my commandments. And it grieved Samuel; and he cried unto the Lord all night. And when Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning, it was told Samuel, saying, Saul came to Carmel, and behold, he set him up a place, and is gone about, and passed on, and gone down to Gilgal. And Samuel came to Saul: and Saul said unto him, Blessed be thou of the Lord: I have performed the commandment of the Lord. And Samuel said, What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear? And Saul said, They have brought them from the Amalekites: for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto the Lord thy God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed. Then Samuel said unto Saul, stay and I will tell thee what the Lord hath said to me this night. And he said unto him, Say on. And Samuel said, When thou wast little in thine sight, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel, and the Lord anointed thee king over Israel? And the Lord sent thee on a journey, and said, Go and utterly destroy the sinners the Amatlekites, and fight against them until they be consumed. Wherefore then didst thou not obey the voice of the Lord, but didst fly upon the spoil, and didst evil in the sight of the Lord? And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the Lord, and I have gone the way which the Lord sent me, and have brought Agag the king of the Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the Lord thy God in Gilgal. And Samuel said, Hath 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 hearken than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, He hath also rejected thee from being king.” 1 Sam. 15:4-23.
God handed over the Amalekites indeed into Saul’s hand. He defeated them all the way from Havilah to Shur, east of Egypt. This marked total defeat for the Amalekites. Saul captured King Agag of Amalek alive. What a victory and a showdown for the enemies of God. Anointing on Saul was made effective and fulfilling. Here comes the test of faithfulness for every man of God. Saul spoilt the show with the spoil from Amalek. He spared Agag’s life and did not kill the best sheep and cattle, the best calves and lambs, or anything else that was good; he only destroyed what was useless or worthless. The love of material things of Amalek drew the affection of Saul from the Lord who called and empowered him for the battle.
Saul was rejoicing that he had won a battle, not knowing his incomplete obedience amounted to total disobedience before God. He gathered the booties of Amalek and made himself obnoxious to the Lord. He brought the enemy of the Lord into his bosom and lost the bosom of God’s love. The rest of his life now would be under the frown of the Almighty. Saul did not wait to hear the heavenly verdict over his assignment before he went to Carmel to set up a monument in his honour. He was very quick to erect a Statute in his name and honour. All these pointed to the backslidden heart of Saul. It showed he had become big in his heart. There is rebellion now within him, which would not give all glory to the Lord who actually gave the victory. His heart had decayed from the worthy position of humility he was in chapter 11 when he first began. A little leaven indeed leavens the whole lump.
On the other side, God in heaven watched every stage of the battle. His eyes went to and fro the entire place and over all the army of Israel as they received instruction from Saul to spare the best of the sheep, calves and all the good things of Amalek. He watched Saul receive Agag alive and kept in his bosom. That same night, not a day after, the Lord woke up His servant and confidant, Samuel with a lamentation:
“It repents Me that I have set up Saul to be king. For he has turned back from following Me and has not done My commands, And it grieved Samuel, and he cried out to Jehovah all night.” 1Sam. 15:11. Saul has again become a reason for regret, just like it happened before the destruction of the world of Noah. For God to regret setting up Saul as king in Israel was the height of divine disfavor over Saul. It grieved Samuel. It broke his heart as a shepherd. It brought him to the place of mourning again. He cried to the Lord all night. He must be pleading for mercy and for another chance for Saul. He apparently had not seen the arrogance and flagrant ignominy that Saul had put up and the extent to which he had gone in his rebellion and pride. He desired to be worshipped now, as he has erected a monument for his own honour. He thought to cover his disobedience with activities of religious sacrifice, as if it would make for God’s desire for a man that trembles at His word. Saul was no more waiting for instruction from Samuel’s mouth. He could now go anywhere he liked. He paraded himself about all over the land.
Samuel came early in the morning seeking for Saul. He had left. He has gone around and passed on and gone down to Gilgal. It was not to Ramah he first went. Saul would no longer return to where he was raised and anointed. He avoided where he could be confronted with the truth. He now gathered sycophants and praise singers around him. When you notice these quiet deviations in your consecration, it is time to check if you are not going the same way Saul went. Saul became arrogant even to Samuel. He would argue with him now and contend with him as if Samuel was only seeking to accuse him for what he never did. He put up a strong defence to explain his wrong action. All these are the parameters of a heart that has departed from the simplicity of Christ. Saul would work hard at a cover up of his misdeeds except for the bleating of the flock and the sound of the sheep that would not co-operate at the time. He would quickly look for something that “Jehovah your God” has appetite for as the reason for that flagrant disobedience to a clear instruction. What can a sinner hide himself under, that the all seeing eyes of God will not be able to pick him up? Is there any motive of the heart that is hidden to the Lord, the Omniscient one? Saul made a fool of himself in this effort at cover-up.
Samuel, the prophet, with whom God communed even in the ear, had come with a clear word from the Lord. Until he spoke to declare the oracle the Lord gave him over the night, Saul was forever on his defence lane. Looking closely at the word that Samucl brought to Saul, we discover the root of this decay in the heart of Saul.
When you were little in your own sight
The basis of Saul’s deviation is actually hereby implied. Saul started out as a humble, simple and unassuming man in God’s service. We noted that though anointed as king, he went back to his native home and was about his shepherding business. He never saw the throne as something to grab and contend for. Saul would not defend himself against the sons of Belial who refused to bring him presents. Saul would not speak about himself. He waited to be introduced. All this was possible because of the disposition of heart he had. He was little in his own sight. But now, something else had entered Saul’s heart. He had now become big in his own estimate. He may have become drunk with power and quietly felt he ought not wait for any instruction from an old prophet like Samuel. He saw himself as the man in charge. There was a lifting up in his heart. Pride in the heart is the root of every disobedience. Pride says, “You too can decide what to do, must you wait on another’s will?” Pride is the manifestation of the spirit of independence and rebellion. It is the desire to be great and to be honoured. It is the reason behind the blowing of the trumpet of one’s achievement as we earlier noted in the foregoing chapters in the life of Saul. Pride detests public disgrace and will do everything to cover up before men what is wrong in the heart. God saw pride in Saul and He said Saul has departed from following me. A proud man can not follow another. He will soon seek to be on his own. Many men who rose to prominence from nothingness and obscurity often forget where God picked them up as they begin to beat their chest over what the Lord has accomplished through them by His anointing on their lives. They now seek to put their monument on the streets, on the billboards and even in the Church. The advertisement for their meetings speaks more of them than the God who raised and anointed them for His service. They break away from their masters and disciplers, so they can shine on their own. Saul went this way and lost his place in God’s program. He was rejected as King. Though he still occupied the throne, God no longer reckons with him.
Saul pounced on the spoils
This is the next canker that has destroyed several men in the work of God: greed for the spoils. It must be noted that every anointing brings in the spoils. Whenever God begins to use a man significantly, there will be plunders and fallouts that accompany the ministry. But this is also the spoiler of the Holy oil on so many of God’s servants. Saul did not restrain himself and his troop from taking the spoils of war from the Amalekites despite the fact that God clearly told him to destroy all things. He was lured to gather things of sinners as if it would add to his own prosperity. Until a man has overcome the innate desire to amass wealth and to live in luxury, he has no hope of escape from the spoils. Spoils come not only in cash or in material worth. It also comes in honour and respect that men place on our heads. You may spoil your anointing as you allow men to place the crown on your head and share with you the glory that belongs to the Lord.
Offerings and sacrifices as a substitute for obedience
This is another misconception that belied Saul’s downfall. When men think the fear of the Lord in the heart could be substituted with activities and offerings at the altar, they are prone to relax on their personal consecration and commitment to the Lord. They may increase the size of their tithes and offerings as if it would buy their way with God. Some fail to attend the bible study meeting and the time of communion with God, but hope to send their fatted calves as if it will make for their absence from the divine presence. Saul thought God could be appeased with an offering. He had a wrong understanding of the Lord’s interest. He might have thought that the regular routine offerings, burnt sacrifices and all the blood of bulls and goats are the very desire of God in His people. He learnt his lesson the hard way.
“Hath 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 hearken than the fat of rams.”
Samuel, a faithful priest and prophet in this great declaration brought forth a principle in the heart of God, which many misunderstood over the years and which greedy prophets of the kind of the sons of Eli misinterpreted just for their personal gain. Though it is in these sacrifices and burnt offerings that the priests found their up-keep, it took integrity of heart for Samuel to set the truth in its place with this statement. He spoke the very heart of our Lord Jesus, who declared in Heb. 10:5-7 that God has no pleasure in sacrifices and burnt offerings but He delights in men who come to do His will from their hearts. God seeks men who will obey Him implicitly and promptly rather than those who bring the fat of rams to atone for a known and deliberate sin. In this, Saul’s excuse for sparing the best of the sheep and the rams fall short of divine approval. We ought to place priority on obedience and right living in all we do and preach than on sacrifices and burnt offerings. God’s word in Isa.66: 1-3 is very emphatic on God’s priority. “To this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembles at My word.” God instituted the burnt offerings and the sacrifices pending the time of reformation in the heart of men, when they would bear His law in their hearts. To obey is better than sacrifice and to hearken than the fat of rams. Sacrifices and burnt offerings in the hand of a man who is bent on his own way are irritating to God. It comes with a foul smell to His nostrils.
The weight of Disobedience
Disobedience in God’s sight is not just a refusal to carry out an instruction. It points to the condition of the heart. He sees it as rebellion. It is a deliberate decision to choose another god or to become the god in yourself. It is the very iniquity God saw in Lucifer that made him a fallen angel today. Disobedience is the manifestation of rebellion in the heart. Unspoken rebellion is revealed in sluggishness to obey or even in incomplete obedience. It is as the sin of witchcraft. Disobedience is also seen as stubbornness. It is the expression of a strong unbending will. It is the deliberate decision of the heart not to yield to authority and to rather usurp that authority. It is like rejecting the Lordship of the Lord and setting up an idol to provoke Him unto jealousy. God does not tolerate rivals.
God’s judgment on Saul
“For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, He hath also rejected thee from being king, and Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord, and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice. Now therefore, I pray thee, pardon my sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship the Lord. And Samuel said unto Saul, I will not return with thee: for thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord hast rejected thee from being king over Israel. And as Samuel turned about to go away, he laid hold upon the skirt of his mantle, and it rent, And Samuel said unto him, the Lord hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and hath given it to a neighbour of thine, that is better than thou. And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent: for He is not a man, that He should repent. Then he said, I have sinned: yet honour me now, I pray thee, before the elders of my people, and before Israel, turn again with me, that I may worship the Lord thy God. So Samuel turned again after Saul; and Saul worshipped the Lord. Then said Samuel, Bring ye hither to me Agag the king of the Amalekites. And Agag came unto him delicately. And Agag said, surely the bitterness of death is past. And Samuel said, As thy sword hath made women childless so shall thy mother be childless among women. And Samuel hewed Agag in pieces before the Lord in Gilgal. Then Samuel went to Ramah; and Saul went up to his house to Gibeah of Saul. And Samuel came no more to see Saul until the day of his death: nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul: and the Lord repented that He had made Saul king over Israel.” I Sam 15:23-35.
Saul had great opportunity to have repented, but up till this point there was no evidence of genuine brokenness and heart contrition in him. Though God had seen the end of Saul, even before Samuel was sent to confront him, he failed to take the advantage of repentance as a way of obtaining mercy from God. He clung tenaciously to his arguments even when there was no hiding place. Now let us examine very closely God’s verdict on Saul and why he failed to obtain mercy despite his seeming plea for pardon.
Because you have rejected the Word of the Lord
Here in this statement is the “because” of Saul’s failure. God does not punish any man without a just cause. God is not vindictive, neither is He arbitrary in dealing with any man. He also does not displace a man He has placed in position without showing him why. This “because”? was read out to Saul and he had no speech against it.
Saul’s rejection of the Word of the Lord could be in several ways. It could mean that in essence Saul treated the word of the Lord as of no value. He saw in it no weight as to compel obedience. He saw no reason in it, as to demand deep consideration of thought. He saw no consequence in it, as to act in accordance so as to avoid what it might imply if otherwise treated. In rejecting the word of the Lord, Saul cast aspersion and disdain both on the Lord, who Himself has exalted His word above His name and then on His messenger who laid all his life down to proclaim it as if all of life depended on it.
This again implied that Saul had turned his ear away from the wisdom and the direction it bears. The lamp it ought to be to his feet and the light it ought to be on his path in life, he has deliberately put off and quenched, as if he had another light to navigate his way through this wilderness of the world. Saul in doing this has refused the life that the word of the Lord imparts to those who receives it. He has decided not to live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God, but to wait on his common sense. It is to make nothing of the discretion of the Almighty, as if it is actually boring and useless.
This in another sense means he has rejected, cast off and away from him, the authority of God and the personality of the Most High encapsulated in His word. God’s word is His thought and standpoint over any matter. Saul rejecting this word amounted to him throwing away, as mere dung, the view of God over the matter in which the word has spoken to him. Since God’s word is Spirit and Life. It is God’s means of creation. Saul, by this act, has also resisted the Spirit and the Life of God. He has contended with the right of God as the creator. Woe to him that strives with his maker (Isa.45:9-10), and this was what Saul has done by rejecting the word of the Lord.
He has also rejected you from being king!
The strong word here is “also”. This was just but a response to what Saul had done. It is in the same measure that Saul measured out to God that He has measured back to Him. This is in keeping with God’s word to Eli, as He showed him why he could not continue in the priesthood (1 Sam.2:29-30; Gal.6:7-8)
Saul would henceforth be of no value in the sight of God. He would no longer reckon with him as the king among His people. God would henceforth act as if there is not a man on the throne of Israel. He would not hearken to his prayer. His cry to heaven would be treated as if no one is speaking. He would no longer honour Saul with His glorious presence. Saul would be treated as a nonentity among men. Little things will overpower him. His word among men will also be treated lightly. The authority of a king will henceforth be withdrawn from him. Saul would not die immediately; he would have to go through the agony of rejection. He would walk in dark places henceforth. The lifter up of his head has decided to bring him to the dust of the earth and let him bury his head in shame. The next over thirty years of his life shall be in the darkness that disobedience usually casts a man. He would walk henceforth under the wrath of God. He would miss Communion with the Lord and with Samuel. He would have no word from the Lord again, since he has despised the word of the Lord. He could go back to diviners and witches he once expunged from the land, to seek light and direction but all to no avail. He would henceforth walk in direct opposition to the wind of God. This was the great conflict that Saul entered from that day forward. This indeed is the barest minimum any disobedient servant of God will get in this world and in the world to come, eternal rejection and condemnation. Saul’s life must speak to our own hearts as we bear any measure of His anointing on our heads. And this verdict was repeated again in verse 26, when Samuel said to Saul, ‘I will not return with you’, despite his plea for pardon in verse 25 and for Samuel to return with him that he may worship the Lord. Samuel still reiterated this stand of God as if he saw no repentance in that plea. He could not return with him to the altar when there was no brokenness of heart. Samuel has here again proved to every minister of the word, how to handle sinners even when they will want to come to the altar with offerings, while the noise of their sin is still bleating in the ears of God. Repentance must be deep from the heart and not just on the lip, just to get away with Shame.
Saul’s superficial repentance
“And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord , and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice. Now therefore, I pray thee, pardon my sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship the Lord. And as Samuel turned about to go away, he laid hold upon the skirt of his mantle, and it rent. Then he said, I have sinned: yet honour me now, I pray thee, before the elders of my people, and before Israel, turn again with me, that I may worship the Lord thy God.” 1 Sam 15:24,25,27,30.
Examining the confession of Saul will immediately help us to see why it did not meet divine approval. God did not consider it at all, for it was not even as deep as the tears of Esau (Heb.12:16-17). “I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD, and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice.” Ordinarily, this looked like a deep confession, but it lacked the heart penitence. Samuel said “You have rejected the word of the Lord” but Saul reduced the gravity of the offence by saying it is just a transgression of the commandment of the Lord and the word of Samuel. He saw it as a mere missing of the line of God’s commandment and the word of Samuel. Fake repentance in a man is known by the way he seeks to reduce the gravity of his sin, by crediting the message he has heard and rejected as the word of the messenger. He wanted to paint the picture as if Samuel is only seeking vengeance because he had not obeyed his personal instruction to him. This is the quiet blackmail that stubborn, unrepentant sinners bring upon the servants of the Lord who preach holiness of life, as if it were their personal will they seek to enforce on the people of God.
And even in that confession, Saul was still seeking where to shift the blame. He was not ready to accept responsibility for his misbehaviour. He quickly added the reason for that slight mistake of his: “because I feared the people and obeyed their voice”. What another lie in other to cover up a sin. As we have studied all the previous chapters, we could not see anywhere the voice of the people prevailed on Saul. If for anything, all they said was “Do whatever seems right to you” in 1Sam. 14:36. He had bound them with an oath before, that no one must taste honey even with the tip of his rod and they were all obedient. How could Saul now turn around and say, he feared the people?
“And now please pardon my sin and turn again with me so that I may worship the Lord”
This again was not a plea to the Lord, whom he has rejected. It was a plea to Samuel as if he was the one who was the problem. He wanted to paint Samuel as the black dog who must be appeased. It was as if God Himself had no problem with him if and only if Samuel would pardon him and turn with him to worship the Lord, who was only waiting for Samuel to forgive him and come with him for worship. Saul refused to face the Lord, with whom he had to deal in this matter. He preferred to hinge on a mere man. He felt peace with the man of God was enough to conclude his misbehaviour. This is the mistake many servant of the Lord makes in our time. They allow men to appease them with gifts and praises as if that is sufficient to secure forgiveness from the Lord, whose word they have rejected. Saul esteemed the presence and personality of Samuel a more necessity in life than God’s presence in his life. He felt even if God would not go with him anymore, Samuel’s company with him is sufficient. It was a deception of the devil. How could Samuel turn to go with a man who has dishonoured his own Lord and
Master? In this we must exercise discernment as we discharge the duties of our ministries. We must not be seen to sanctify a man whose heart is against the Lord with our revered presence. Sitting in his car or standing with him in the public will give him assurance that all is well. It will bring conflict to the hearts of simple saints who know the word of the Lord and walk daily in His fear. It is not our pardon that is primary for a sinner. It is God’s own pardon that is crucial. We must not come to a place where men quietly place us in the place of God. The sin offering meant for God, must be burnt out completely unto Him, no priest must share in this. Here, Saul was placing a snare on the part of Samuel. There was no readiness with him whatsoever to face God and seek reconciliation with Him. Of course, Samuel’s sharp response “I will not return with you…” is very apt for our learning; and his action, corresponding with his word is a clear instruction for any sincere man of God, as he turned around to go.
Saul laid hold on the skirt of Samuel’s robe and not on God.
As innocent as this might seem, it revealed the heart of Saul. He did not seek a personal relationship with God. Though he had been graciously filled with the Holy Spirit and had even prophesied among the prophets, Saul did not cherish a personal walk with the Lord, as to cry to Him not to leave him. He seemed to have confidence in the robe of Samuel than the invisible anointing that he was about losing in his life. Even holding to Samuel was not that he would follow him wherever he went as a sign of genuine repentance; it was just to hold the man of God down to his level and to keep him in that place of disobedience where he was sitting. The right thing would have been for Saul to rise up and run after Samuel to Ramah or to the mount where the vial of oil was first turned upon his head. He would have torn his own garment and put on sack clothes and spray ashes on his head, running with tears across the city crying for mercy. He would have dismissed the ceremony, dismantled the monument he erected and pursue Samuel wherever he was going. Saul only tore the robe of God’s servant. It was unlike the tearing of the mantle in the hand of Elisha, when he was seeking the double portion of the Spirit of God on Elijah, his discipler. No wonder, this robe tearing did not bring double portion of the anointing on Saul, rather it brought double pronouncement of his doom.
I have sinned: yet honour me now…
It was not the horror of sin that bothered Saul. It was not the loss of favour with God that troubled his soul. It was not the emptiness of a departed anointing that made him cry. It was not the darkness of a life without God that Saul feared. Saul was only concerned about retaining his honour and dignity before men. Here was a sinner seeking to be honoured; a reproachable fellow abhorring reproach among his subjects. His heart betrayed him in his words in this verse 30. All through this encounter with Samuel, Saul did not want anyone to know of what has happened between him and God and between him and Samuel. He wanted to rubberstamp his wrong life with the honourable life and testimony of a man of God like Samuel. All this holding of Samuel’s robe is to take a photograph to show men how close he was with Samuel, that he could even hold his robe and that they actually worshipped the Lord together. What a heart we see in Saul. It reveals several things in the lives of several leaders and pastors in our land. We are so concerned about our honour and respect and names, rather than a proper secret relationship with God. Preachers will not be afraid to commit immorality with a lady in Church and yet will pay highly to cover it up. He could fly abroad to bring great preachers, so he can stand by their side on the crusade ground just to maintain his honour among the followers. The fading glory is kept under the veil of great titles and honorary degrees. Saul’s heart is not far from what is commonly displayed among us today.“and turn again with me, that I may worship the Lord thy God” Saul had actually progressed in his distance from the Lord. Earlier, he had said “that I may worship the Lord’, but in this verse, it is the Lord, thy God. It is not his God again, but the Lord, the God of Samuel. In this we see a man who was not making any attempt to bridge the gap. He only needed that worship of this strange God just to keep the allegiance of the people and to maintain his own honour. Is that a reflection of what we do? Do we just engage in the worship of a God who is now so distant to us in our hearts, but to make an impression on people that we are still so close to Him? Do we just want to be in the shadow of others who can bring God’s presence down by their lives and their commitment to Him, so we can reap the benefit of the offering? Man of God, do you now invite speaking speakers, to pull the crowd and to bring the Presence down, so you can appear to be in the rank and to collect the offering of the people in honour to God and what He is doing in their lives?
Though Samuel at this point returned to worship the Lord with Saul. It did not change anything for him. The note of rejection remained on his life till death. Samuel never came to see Saul again till he was called to glory. It was a final parting. Saul lost the fellowship with God and with God’s servant. But why did Samuel turn again after Saul, to worship the Lord? you may ask.
Rebellion is contagious. God does not support rebellion as a means of dealing with any man he has placed in authonty even when he has derailed in life. Though Saul has been rejected, he still must be protected from the ridicule of the people, lest they touch the anointing on his head, while they seek to resist his person. It is difficult to resist a man in authority, without tampering with the authority he bears. And the authority he bears is God’s, not his. If you touch him, you touch the anointing and the authonty he carries and so you unwittingly touch the Lord who appointed him. He may be wrong in life and in his action, but as long as he stands in the office where he was appointed by God, his word still carries the finger of God. All must be patient with him till the Lord who put him there is ready to remove him or deal with him as He deems fit. When Saul touched the matter of his honour “before the elders of my people, and before Israel” he has appealed to the authority of God on his life by the reason of the anointing. Samuel, a man of understanding himself, who knew God’s stand on delegated authonty and God’s honour on a man, knew he had to tum again and worship the Lord with this Saul to protect the entire nation from flouting God’s authonty on Saul. He would be entitled to these till God has found a replacement and actually till he dies. Even though Saul has turned against the Lord and his purpose, he was still carrying on his head the anointing and consequently God’s authority. Even Samuel himself cannot flout it. He can only walk in fear (though doing the will of God, lest Saul will stretch the scepter of authority against him). This explains his fear and the need to disguise in seeking to go to the house of Jesse to anoint David in the next chapter. This also was the reason why David had to be careful not to touch the Lord’s anointed even while Saul was being moved by jealousy and the demon to pursue him in the wilderness. It is noteworthy that all the discourse between Samuel and Saul hitherto had been behind closed doors. God does not discipline his servant in the public glare of his followers, except when the man has remained adamant. Though God has rejected Saul, it was still a secret between him and Samuel. No one in Israel had known as yet. It will only be known as the days go by if Saul did not seek genuine restoration. God gave him a space to make amend still. This worship was to keep that matter a secret until Saul himself will betray himself to the people by his wrong actions.
Samuel turned again after Saul for another purpose. Since the worship is public, it was necessary for Samuel to denounce the sin and disobedience of Saul without announcing God’s rejection on his life, so that no one will follow in that footstep in the future. Amalekites have been earmarked for death till all their generations have been wiped out of the face of the earth. Samuel in obedience to that word must deal with Agag in the presence of the Lord and in the presence of all Israel, thus putting a difference between that which is right and that which is wrong. Agag, true to his nature was a rebel even at the point of death. Saul’s disobedience had given him boldness and audacity to disdain God’s oracles. He did not show any sign of remorse, rather he walked delicately, majestically and daintily to the place of slaughter, as if he was an hero. Saul’s disobedience had emptied his death of all the agony and the bitterness, which ought to have brought him to know the fear of the Lord. He came as if from the bosom of his friend to an intruder, who just wanted to make life difficult for everybody, especially to his friend, Saul. This is what disobedience in God’s people does to the unbelieving world. It hardens them against the word of God and against His judgment. It makes sin look less sinful in the heart of the unconverted. Agag came to the place of slaughter with no agitation. He felt in his heart that death is no more a matter. When he feared to die, in the presence of his own people, he was spared. He was taken away as an unconquerable leader, who can only be taken alive. So his people still believed in his power till they died. Saul did not allow the people to see the end of a wicked leader in their own land, so they could learn the fear of God. Samuel stood up to execute Agag again not arbitrarily. He advanced to his face the reason why he must be hewed this way. God does not practice unrighteousness to anyone even if he be the son of an uncircumcised stranger. What a man sows, that shall he reap. “As thy sword hath made women childless, so shall thy mother be childless among women.” With this judgment, Samuel hewed Agag in pieces before the Lord in Gilgal in the presence of Saul and all the people. In this way, Samuel put sin to rest among the people. He by this singular action had removed the accursed from the congregation of Israel. Though Agag was hereby slaughtered in Gilgal, it would appear as if some of his sons were smuggled out in the compromise of Saul, who later gave birth to Hamedatha, the Agagite, who was the father of Haman, who planned the execution of the Jews in the days of Esther and Mordecai. It was this same Amalekites that destroyed Saul on the day of battle in chapter 31.
Final Parting
“Then Samuel went to Ramah; and Saul went up to his house to Gibeah of Saul. And Samuel came no more to see Saul until the day of his death: nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul: and the Lord repented that he had made Saul king over Israel.” 1Sam 15:34-35.
Samuel went to Ramah in sorrow of heart for his backsliding disciple. Though he would not broadcast this incidence as if to discredit Saul, he did not give Saul up in the place of prayer. He mourned for Saul, as though for the dead. He cried to the Lord for his restoration, as he was so jealous for God’s heritage under Saul’s care. Though he severed his physical fellowship and appearance from Saul, he did not take away his heart from him until the Lord had to instruct him to let go. He wept sore for a wasted anointing. He was still holding on, when God had concluded the case of Saul and had closed his own chapter ready to move on in search of another man after His own heart.
Saul on his own part went up to his house in Gibeah of Saul. He went on with life but with a note of rejection on his spirit. He was now empty and vague. He has lost the weight of God’s presence in his life. He must have longed for the sweet songs of the sanctuary. Though the residue of the Spirit remained in him as he prophesied occasionally, the reality of the power was gone. Saul would not see Samuel again. He was too arrogant to go down on his knees and get to Ramah to seek out his old Master. He held to his gun until death took him out of the scene. He still had to live and fill up the throne while God prepares the replacement in David. Saul was alive, as though dead. On the part of God, it was a daily regret. Each time God looked down on the earth and saw Saul, it evoked a note of regret and sorrow. Saul lived the next thirty years of his life under the wrath of God. God fed him, protected him, provided for him, but with him God was not pleased. It was the same as it was with the fathers in the wilderness, who for forty years walked under the cloud but with God’s wrath looming on their heads. He only waited for him to die. Why did God not kill him immediately you may ask? Well, God is his own interpreter. The longsuffering of God again was shown here if Saul may find room to turn to the Lord. Saul failed in this. There was Jonathan who won the affection of the Lord, who could have helped Saul to repent and at least die in God’s favour even if he cannot continue to reign over Israel, but Saul grew worse and worse in his rebellion against God and his purpose. He rather turned against Jonathan, who bore a different spirit.
Saul, in his backsliding was still an instrument in God’s hands to train His man, David. The wilderness training that produced godly character in David was at the instance of Saul. If a man fails to be a vessel of honour for noble use, God can still overrule his misbehaviour and use it to produce something glorious in the vessels of mercy and glory. It is in this connection that Pharaoh was a servant in God’s hand to resist Moses in letting Israel go out of Egypt in peace, so that God might show His mighty power through the disobedience of Pharaoh.(Rom.9: 17-23). This chapter concludes with a lot of deep thoughts. Samuel has come to the end of another hard ministerial experience. He would not be able to walk boldly on the street again, as the man on the throne is now apostate. He would only minister in a corner, waiting for God’s intervention and revival. Philistines would gain upper hand now over the people of God, for their leader is a man in whom God has no delight. Saul walked daily in rebellion and rejection. He gathered battles with no divine assurance. The thumim and the urim were now silent. Worship was now a ritual and a formality. God is in search of another man. Could you be in the office of ministry while God is looking for another man? Could your labours only be raising a note of regret in heaven? Everything is now in suspense. The only thing to do was what Samuel engaged himself with. Prayer and intercession! As we draw conclusion on why God discarded Saul, you will notice that God was very slow in arriving at this standpoint. It was not His will for Saul to fail and to be laid on the shelf. But persistent disobedience and self-will was the undoing of Saul, a man of rare opportunity, picked from obscurity and brought into the limelight of God’s favour.
What do you say to all these, my brother and my sister? Has the Lord been giving you a long rope to pull, so you can recover your lost years? Has He graciously allowed you to look into this article again as another input to rescue you from final dismissal from what glory you were called to share with Him and with the saints? Are you being driven by the spirit of mammon like Judas Iscariot of old, who bought a field with the reward of iniquity and finally fell headlong? He missed his portion in the glorious ministry for which he had earlier left all to follow Jesus. He became a by-word till this day. What is it that the Holy Spirit has been warning you continually about, O Man of God? Why must you perish with the perishables of this age, leaving an enduring inheritance for others to occupy? Saul failed not only because he made mistakes. He failed because he failed to cry out for mercy. Do not put away this message until you have cried to the Lord this day.
Are you the one who claim to stand? Beware lest you fall. Take this as God’s sign post of the dangers ahead: the danger of presumption; the danger of complacency; the danger of not ending well. Saul started so gloriously but did not end well. How do you hope to end this journey? Take heed to this timely warning. The local proverb says “When death is catching your age mates, it is only giving you warning signs, the next burial may be yours”. Rise up and pray and block every loop hole around your life today. May you know His upholding grace. God bless you.
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