15:1 God sends Samuel to Saul. God charged Samuel to counsel Saul on His behalf because Saul is in desperate need of personal reflection. For though he began humbly, Saul's pride has begun to overshadow his faith, causing detriment to the children of Israel but also to his own soul. The worst thing we can ever do is reject and dismiss the command of God, Matthew 12:32 and Saul on the verge of doing so.
15:2-3 God is invested in our well-being. Though He could have swiped Saul off of the map, He instead provides Saul with a redemptive track. God entrusts the fulfillment of a long-held promise; In Exodus 17:14-16 God promised to thoroughly reduce Amalek because of its corruption. Saul is told to "attack and utterly destroy" and is expected to completely fulfill this command.
Saul is thus given an opportunity to finally exert Godly-obedience over personal pride. We are each unlikely contenders; God chooses us not because we are strong but because we are weak, Deuteronomy 7:7. He magnanimously continues to provide us with the opportunity and material to make the massive impacts on humanity we could never make without Him... even when we falter the first... or second or third or fourth time. God chooses what is meek and humble and downtrodden by the world because of it. Saul will need to humble himself in order to remain chosen.
It is beautiful that God entrusts us with so much. He does not say "I'm going to let you take out the garbage today." No, that task is too simple for a child of God. Every day we live obedient to Him, He calls us to utterly destroy and remove garbage from the earth as a life's mission. Our impact stretches beyond the curb. And this is especially important because we often do not give God reason to trust us with such important work. Saul has evidenced his pride and disobedience several times, still God elects him to deliver a promise made to Moses hundreds of years ago.
As God requires us to be all in, He requires the same of Himself. He's all in. God asks us to be wholeheartedly invested because He is wholeheartedly invested. The ugliness of our fallibility does not steer Him away. God continues to work with Saul and He will continue to work with each of us. He's the iron-worker... but if we, the iron, will not bend to His hand and His flame, our obstinacy disallows His great work.
15:4 Saul assembles the army of 200,000 foot soldiers and 10,000 men of the tribe of Judah.
15:5-6 He also gives the Kenites an opportunity to leave, as the children of Israel plan to defeat and destroy all the is in the land of Amalek, according to God's will. This caution and choice offered to the Kenites evidences, before the battle even begins, that God will not allow an innocent to be caught in the violence of taking down evil. (Humans, regrettably, do not always offer this same compassion when engaged in battle).
15:7-9 Saul and the army attack Amalek as commanded by God... but they neglect to obey Him fully. To the word, to the letter. Instead of destroying everything, Saul has King Agag taken captive. The soldiers decide to keep the "best" livestock. That which they determined "worthless" they destroyed. This is not merely about livestock: their actions professed unfaithfulness, for if God determines something unworthy, it is unworthy and not to be spared or kept.
15:10-11 If Saul will not follow God's direction, God will not allow Saul to lead. God communicates with Samuel His deep distress. God counseled the children of Israel on the dangers of having a king other than Himself. Everything He warned of has come true and it bothers Him that so many are suffering because of it.
Samuel is grieving, too. As the Lord's prophet, he is intricately attuned God's emotion. He is personally invested in the well-being of the tribes of Israel. It pains Samuel to contemplate the irony of it: God provided selfless prophets who led without these prideful mistakes but the children rejected them and begged for a desultory and selfish-by-nature king.
15:5-6 He also gives the Kenites an opportunity to leave, as the children of Israel plan to defeat and destroy all the is in the land of Amalek, according to God's will. This caution and choice offered to the Kenites evidences, before the battle even begins, that God will not allow an innocent to be caught in the violence of taking down evil. (Humans, regrettably, do not always offer this same compassion when engaged in battle).
15:7-9 Saul and the army attack Amalek as commanded by God... but they neglect to obey Him fully. To the word, to the letter. Instead of destroying everything, Saul has King Agag taken captive. The soldiers decide to keep the "best" livestock. That which they determined "worthless" they destroyed. This is not merely about livestock: their actions professed unfaithfulness, for if God determines something unworthy, it is unworthy and not to be spared or kept.
15:10-11 If Saul will not follow God's direction, God will not allow Saul to lead. God communicates with Samuel His deep distress. God counseled the children of Israel on the dangers of having a king other than Himself. Everything He warned of has come true and it bothers Him that so many are suffering because of it.
Samuel is grieving, too. As the Lord's prophet, he is intricately attuned God's emotion. He is personally invested in the well-being of the tribes of Israel. It pains Samuel to contemplate the irony of it: God provided selfless prophets who led without these prideful mistakes but the children rejected them and begged for a desultory and selfish-by-nature king.
15:12 Samuel is sent to Saul again. But this time, Saul is gone. Saul has gone to build a monument for himself in celebration of the victory! Saul's hubris has become plain; his regard for God is nonexistent.
15:13 Saul is still celebrating when Samuel reaches him. Arrogance has rendered him ignorant, as it always does. The reason it is important to God that we do not claim His victories as our own is because we begin to leave Him out. And when we enter battles without Him, we quickly find ourselves to be inept and sufficiently defeated. It is dangerous for us to live as Saul is living. We can only walk through seas God has parted.
15:13 Saul is still celebrating when Samuel reaches him. Arrogance has rendered him ignorant, as it always does. The reason it is important to God that we do not claim His victories as our own is because we begin to leave Him out. And when we enter battles without Him, we quickly find ourselves to be inept and sufficiently defeated. It is dangerous for us to live as Saul is living. We can only walk through seas God has parted.
15:14 Saul is cheering the victory but all Samuel can hear is the evidence that Saul has not obeyed God. The sounds of the livestock are proof that Amalek was not utterly destroyed.
15:15 Still not realizing the gravity of the situation, Saul tries to wave off the noises of the livestock. He basically says to Samuel: Oh calm down, we'll offer the loot as sacrifice to the Lord "your" God - certainly Saul has shown that he does not claim God as his.
15:16 Saul's flippant comment brings Samuel to the brink and he shouts: Be quiet! Samuel declares that he will no longer allow this disrespect for God fill the space. Samuel tells Saul that God gave him a dream the night before and Saul asks Samuel to speak it.
15:17 Samuel explains that when Saul was humble, God made him king.
15:18-19 As king, God instructive Saul to do specific things but he disobeyed. Why? Samuel asks rhetorically.
15:20-21 Saul explains that he did destroy Amalek - except for the king. And says that all of the livestock that were taken were offered as sacrifice. Saul and his soldiers served God evidence of their disobedience rather than reverence and gratitude.
15:22-23 Samuel begins to explains a crucial point:
“Has 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 heed than the fat of rams.
For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft,And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.Because you have rejected the word of the Lord,He also has rejected you from being king.”
We profess and display our faith not through sacrifice but through love and obedience (further corroborated in Isaiah 1:11 and Hosea 6:6). Saul thinks he can purchase God by throwing him a bone... unintentional sacrifice pun. If we do not align ourselves with God's authority, we openly defy Him. For His way is righteous and any other way is rebellion.
Saul has rejected God and therefore, God has rejected Saul from being king.
15:24-26 The rejection of God is a basin too deep to climb out of. We know that Saul is not being genuine because God always answers a repentant heart. Being king bred too much pride in Saul; he has proven that he could never reign as king and simultaneously serve God. As a prophet of God, Samuel will not remain with a soul unwilling to follow the will of God. As genuine souls with righteous intention, we can never lose God's presence. But Saul is not genuine, he is simply desperate to retain his power.
15:27-29 So fierce is his desperation that Saul reaches and grab's Samuel's robe to pull him back. Instead of succeeding, he merely tears off a piece of it. Samuel tells Saul that the tear is symbolic of Saul's separation from the kingdom of Israel. God has already chosen a replacement and His decision is final.
15:30-31 The pain of separation from God is so strong that Saul sought His comfort. His prayers would not restore his position as king, but if they authentic, they might help to restore him as a man.
15:32-33 Samuel completes the mission that Saul was supposed to complete. Samuel has king Agag brought to him and explains to the king that his evil actions have resulted in his death. Samuel kills king Agag.
15:34-35 Samuel departs from Saul and Saul returns home. Although Samuel no longer counsels or even communicates with Saul, he continues to care about him and simultaneously regret the destruction his pride caused As a prophet and child of God, Samuel is compassionate. But Samuel also understands that that which is corrupt must be confronted and removed from positions of power.
15:30-31 The pain of separation from God is so strong that Saul sought His comfort. His prayers would not restore his position as king, but if they authentic, they might help to restore him as a man.
15:32-33 Samuel completes the mission that Saul was supposed to complete. Samuel has king Agag brought to him and explains to the king that his evil actions have resulted in his death. Samuel kills king Agag.
15:34-35 Samuel departs from Saul and Saul returns home. Although Samuel no longer counsels or even communicates with Saul, he continues to care about him and simultaneously regret the destruction his pride caused As a prophet and child of God, Samuel is compassionate. But Samuel also understands that that which is corrupt must be confronted and removed from positions of power.
