Day 15: 1 Samuel 15:12–29

“Does the Lord take pleasure in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord? Look: to obey is better than sacrifice” (v. 22).

God commanded Saul to utterly destroy the Amalekites, including all the people and all the livestock. God is sovereign. He owes us no explanation as to why He desired for this entire population to be exterminated. However, we can assume they were a vile and godless people, because God is merciful and compassionate.

We do know from Deuteronomy 25:17–19 that the Amalekites had once attacked Israel when they were traveling from Egypt to the Promised Land. They had followed the Israelites and attacked the stragglers. But whatever the reasons God had for ordering the destruction of the Amalekites, Saul led the Israelite army to victory but then disobeyed. They kept the king and the best of the livestock.

Have you noticed how a small disobedience left unchecked always grows? Saul’s actions back in chapter 13 grew from fear and concern for public opinion. In chapter 15, however, he had nothing to fear; his disobedience had become open and self-serving.

When God told Samuel what Saul had done, the prophet cried out all night in grief. Then he proceeded to confront Saul directly. The confrontation speaks to us as we consider our approach to God’s instructions. When God speaks, we must learn to follow Him with complete obedience.

Saul made some very serious presumptions. He kept King Agag alive to present him as a trophy—a public exhibit. He did not slaughter the sheep and cattle for the very same reason: he saved the best to make himself look better. Verse 9 ends with a sad commentary on Saul’s actions:

These they were unwilling to destroy completely, but everything that was despised and weak they totally destroyed.

Saul had the audacity to improve on God’s command. Several breaches in Saul’s character become evident in this dramatic chapter.

First, Saul was arrogant. Remember that we said he was self-centered? If we needed any further proof of Saul’s pride and audacity, verse 12 certainly provides it. Saul went directly to Carmel and built a monument to himself.

Next, note how Saul refused to take responsibility for his actions. He first excused himself for disobeying God by claiming he spared the best of the sheep and cattle for a sacrifice to the Lord. Amazing, isn’t it? Believe it or not, we can sometimes use God as our excuse for disobedience too. One woman told me she was certain God’s will was for her to leave her husband because she simply wasn’t happy. Another woman explained to me that she had found the man God intended her to marry, though she was already married.

Saul not only tried to use God as his excuse for disobedience; he also claimed he was afraid of, and gave in to, the people (v. 24). When we’ve done something wrong or foolish, we find shouldering the responsibility difficult, don’t we? At times we are all tempted to blame someone else when we’ve blown it. I wonder if the outcome might have been different if Saul simply had admitted that he made a wrong choice.

Saul minimized the seriousness of disobedience. In verse 23, Samuel made a striking statement. He said, “Rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry.”

The comparison seems puzzling until we consider that rebellion is a means by which we attempt to set the course of our futures. We try to choose our own futures by our independent actions. Divination attempts to foretell or sway the future. In the same verse, God likens arrogance to the evil of idolatry. When we are arrogant, who becomes God in our lives?

We see the final stage of Saul’s disobedience and disintegration later on in chapter 28. Once again he had to go into battle. By this time Samuel was dead. Saul sought without success to contact God. Since the Lord chose to remain silent, Saul, in an attempt to contact Samuel, consulted a medium known as the witch of Endor. We see the fleshing out of Samuel’s earlier statement. Saul’s rebellion became literal witchcraft.

How does a man who is the people’s choice lose a kingdom? Saul provides a sad object lesson. All his life he focused on himself instead of his God. Therefore, he feared public opinion; he would not trust God but rather had to feel he was in control. He disobeyed, because obedience requires the trust and humility he did not possess.

Saul. The first king of Israel. The people’s choice. Not an accident waiting for a place to happen but a train wreck mangling the lives of others. Sad but true. A head taller but a heart shorter.