I Samuel 10-13, Saul’s bad choices that led to dethronement

1. First bad choice: Not telling good news. In 10:9-16. His uncle comes to him and he talks about the donkeys. Not about being made king. What?

10:14 Saul’s uncle said to him and to his servant, “Where did you go?”

He said, “To seek the donkeys. When we saw that they were not found, we came to Samuel.”

15 Saul’s uncle said, “Please tell me what Samuel said to you.”

16 Saul said to his uncle, “He told us plainly that the donkeys were found.” But concerning the matter of the kingdom, of which Samuel spoke, he didn’t tell him.

When Christians come together, they should share good news of God working in their lives. Paul Christensen spoke on Gospel conversations, and it was a clear, insightful sermon on one of our responsibilities that should be a joy. Do we talk about the most important truth of our lives?

Psalm 107:2 Give thanks to Yahweh,[a] for he is good,
    for his loving kindness endures forever.
2 Let the redeemed by Yahweh say so,
    whom he has redeemed from the hand of the adversary,
3     and gathered out of the lands,
    from the east and from the west,
    from the north and from the south.

He also does not mention that he had just become a temporary prophet, which was a great honor. The phrase “Is Saul also among the prophets?” became a proverb for them, but what does that mean? (More of an expression, like “it’s raining cats and dogs,” which makes no sense) It became an expression of wonder (or sarcasm) when someone of lower background became or was seen as someone of the higher classes, the educated, the elite. Nothing in Saul’s background would have made him a prophet, or king. David at least was from the family of Judah.

II. Second bad choice: To let Fear control him. 10:17-27. The people are called together at Mizpah for Saul to be pronounced king. He was hiding. What was he fearful about, and why was he hiding? Doubting what God had done for him. When he came out, people were impressed by his physical presence. But there were wise guys who stated doubts about Saul’s ability, understandably.

So his start was not promising. From then on he appears to be unsure of his own calling, place, and role, as well as his abilities, despite the miracles and promises of God that he could do it and be the king. He does show leadership in some ways, such as being merciful, and leading battle. So we have the sovereignty of God and the human choice and behavior. Saul fails, God does not. Saul did not have to fail; that was his choice.

Chapter 11. Nahash the Ammonite tries to conquer the town of Jabesh Gilead. The leaders of the town say they will submit to him if no one from Israel comes to help in 7 days. Nahash figures Saul won’t do anything about it. But Saul does, and raises an army that defeats the Ammonites. The victorious Israelites are happy about their new king and say in 11:12, “Who were those who said Saul should not reign over us? They should be executed? But Saul, who has strengths as a military leader, shows mercy, and Samuel arranged a ceremony to “renew the kingship of Saul.” He wasn’t so much made king as revealed as king. Not the greatest analogy, but Christ is king now; in the future he will be revealed to all as king, to those who do not know. And we need to be reminded Christ if King.

Chapter 12: Read Samuel’s speech; it is masterful. Despite what others do, we have to do the right thing. Other people’s actions do not provide us an excuse. Having a king does not absolve them of their responsibility to be faithful to God and His law. God will restore you if you repent. God will not forsake you because of who He is, not because you are deserving. To not pray is a sin. Samuel will continue to be faithful until the end.

Chapter 13 In 1 Samuel 13, Saul and his army were waiting for Samuel to arrive to offer a sacrifice before going to war. Samuel had not yet come, and the soldiers were preparing to flee rather than fight the Philistines. Growing impatient, Saul chose to offer a sacrifice on his own.

In a sense this was a test. He was impatient for Samuel’s return; Samuel came when he was supposed to. Samuel was not late. Saul was also not a priest and not really supposed to offer sacrifices, but the real issue was his disobedience in not waiting until the appointed time. It is possible the whole king role was already going to his head. As

The Jews were allowed to have a king but he was not supposed to be like the pagan kings, who were gods to the people or mythic figures and could do whatever they pleased. They were laws unto themselves, but the Jewish king was supposed to live under the law of God and the authority of the prophets. Interestingly, this conflict of faith v. secular leadership and authority has gone on throughout history and is still with us today even though we try hard in this country to keep it separate and under law. Religious groups have certain rights (speech, assembly, taxation) but still of course live under secular authority as well (things like building codes, background checks for childcare workers, social security and income taxes on employees, food codes). The limits of each is an ongoing struggle, as we saw with COVID. As good citizens we probably should not expect to be special, but there are times when Christians as a whole church or community have to “sue for peace and our rights.”

From Got Questions.org:

Just as Saul finished the sacrifice, Samuel arrived and said, “You have done a foolish thing. . . . You have not kept the command the LORD your God gave you” (1 Samuel 13:13). Why was offering a sacrifice foolish? Because Saul had disobeyed a direct command from the prophet Samuel given in 1 Samuel 10:8: “Go down ahead of me to Gilgal. I will surely come down to you to sacrifice burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, but you must wait seven days until I come to you and tell you what you are to do.”

These seven days were evidently to teach Saul patience and dependence upon God. He waited the seven days, but just barely. As soon as the week was up, he offered the sacrifice on his own, refusing to wait any longer for Samuel. In this presumptuous act, Saul showed a variety of weaknesses that made him unfit to be king, including impatience and self-reliance. His offering showed that he did not want to work together with Samuel or obey God; rather, he wanted to take control of the situation himself. The king was to follow the Lord’s commands, yet Saul felt he could do as he chose and thus made a foolish mistake.

Another, indirect reason that Saul’s action was wrong is that Saul was not a priest or Levite. Thus, he could not legally offer a burnt offering or peace offering. Saul was of the tribe of Benjamin and was not to do the work of a priest. However, the biblical text notes that the direct reason why Saul’s sacrifice was sinful was that Saul disobeyed Samuel’s command. Samuel was a prophet and person of authority, and the word of the Lord had been spoken through him to Saul.

In fact, King David, the king who followed Saul, offered a burnt offering to the Lord. In 2 Samuel 24:25, we read, “David built an altar to the LORD there and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings.” In this case, however, David did so in obedience to the command of the prophet Gad (2 Samuel 24:18–19).

Many valuable lessons can be learned from Saul’s situation. First, it is clear that God desires our obedience. Second, much patience is often needed to fully follow God’s Word. Third, there are negative consequences when we choose our own way instead of God’s. Though it may not be easy or convenient, obeying God’s Word is the best choice for our lives and for our service to others.

Main takeaways from this lesson: I wanted to say, Be a Samuel, not a Saul. And there is some truth to that, at least in Samuel’s words and actions. The Bible does not put much stock in human heroes or role models; they are all flawed. Follow Jesus. Know Him. Benefit from his saints’ lives and contributions.

Pray.

Take personal responsibility.

Let the redeemed of the Lord say so.

Know God will not forsake His people because He is true and has promised not to. He will not forsake us. Hebrews 13:5. Be free from the love of money, content with such things as you have, for he has said, “I will in no way leave you, neither will I in any way forsake you.”