aul 1 amuel 8-15 srael had been ruled by od through prophets. ow they wanted a king to rule over them. What are some demands a king will make? oday we will read about srael s first king. et s see what problems srael now has. rayer ear eavenly Father, lease send our oly pirit into my heart through our Word that we are about to study. elp me to learn about aul, the first king of srael. lease be with the leaders over us pastors, teachers, government, police, and others so that they are good leaders. n Jesus name. men. We want a king! aul amuel, the prophet of od, was old. is sons were prophets over srael, but they were not od-fearing like their father. Because of this the elders of srael asked for a king. hey also wanted to be like other nations who were ruled by a king. amuel didn t like the idea, but he prayed about it. od told him, t is not you they have rejected as their king, but e. isten to what they want, but warn them and let them know what the king who will reign over them will do. amuel warned the people, "his will be the behavior of the king who will reign over you: e will take your sons and put them in his army or he will set some to plow his ground. e will take your daughters to be perfumers, cooks, and bakers. e will take the best of your fields, your vineyards, and your olive groves. e will take a tenth of your grain and he will take your servants and animals. he people still wanted a king. od chose aul from the tribe of Benjamin, ish was his father. ome donkeys were lost so aul and his servant went to find them. hey didn t find the donkeys but traveled to ask the prophet amuel. amuel told them the donkeys were found. e also told aul that aul was the man od chose for a king. amuel anointed aul as king. hen amuel said that when they left they would meet some men who would give them bread and the spirit of the ord would be with aul. aul was then to meet amuel in ilgal in several days to sacrifice to the ord. hings happened just as amuel said it would. amuel called the people together at izpah to tell them what od said. am the od who brought you out of gypt, but today you have rejected e by asking for a king. o od chose aul for a king. When od s and in ur ives ld estament aul - evel 4 6/9/2006
amuel first made the announcement about the new king, aul hid himself. When he was found the people cried out, ong live the king! aul was taller than anyone else. amuel set down some rules, wrote them down and sent the people home. here was much fighting during aul s reign, but at first the ord was with him, and the people rejoiced greatly. amuel again reviewed with the people how od had helped them in the past and how e was with the leaders like oses and Jacob and how when the people disobeyed od, things did not go well. he same would be with a king. Jonathan, aul s son, went to fight the hilistines, but didn t tell his dad. he hilistines were afraid because of Jonathan. aul gave an unwise command to his men. e told them not to eat at all that day. Jonathan did not hear this command and ate some honey he came across. he other men were very hungry and weak, but Jonathan was refreshed. e said that more hilistines would have been killed that day if the men had eaten. When aul heard that Jonathan had disobeyed his command he would have killed his son, but the other soldiers pleaded for him and Jonathan was spared. ne time aul was at war with the malekites. od told aul to destroy all the people and animals. aul and his bey and all is well. isobey and the hand of the ord would be against them. o show them what he said was true he called for thunder and rain. he thunder and rain came and the people feared the ord and amuel. amuel prayed for the people and told them to serve the ord with all their heart. aul was ruling and taking men to fight the hilistine enemies. e was in ilgal waiting for amuel to come and offer a sacrifice. When amuel didn t come, aul offered the sacrifice instead. Because aul disobeyed od s law in doing this the kingdom of srael would be taken from aul s family. army killed many of the people and animals, but spared the life of ing gag and some of the best sheep and oxen. amuel came to aul and asked him why he had disobeyed od. t first aul lied and told amuel he had done what the said. hen aul said, We kept the animals to sacrifice to od. amuel said, as the as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice. amuel then killed the enemy king, gag. amuel left aul and mourned for him because of aul s unbelief. amuel never again went to see ing aul. he regretted that e had made aul king over srael. uter im - od gave is people a king when they asked, but aul did not stay a faithful king. ld estament 2 aul - evel 4
ld estament 3 aul - evel 4 What he tory ells s - Fill in the blanks with the correct word then find the answer in the W. (Words go forward, down and diagonal. ne word is backwards in the puzzle.) 1. was od s prophet in this lesson. 2. srael asked for a. 3. od told amuel, t is not you they have as their king, but e. 4. was chosen as the first king of. 5. was his son. his son fought against the. 6. his son ate and disobeyed a law aul had made. 7. aul disobeyed od s law by burning a instead of waiting for amuel to do it. 8. ne time aul and the army were to destroy the enemies, the and all their. 9. nstead they kept the best animals and spared the life of the enemy, ing, whom amuel later had to kill. 10. he that e had made aul king over srael. J W B W J F F V Q V
What od ells s - od wants us to remember is chosen representatives in our prayers asking od to guide them. ake a list of some of these leaders in your life. hen write a prayer about one of these representatives and take turns sharing your prayers. & V rayer ld estament 4 aul - evel 4
nner im - od wants us to remain faithful to im and is Word. our urn - ead the following passage. cts 5:29 - We ought to obey od rather than men. ive an example of when you may have to obey od and is Word rather than one of od s representatives. assages 1 John 5:3 - For this is the love of od, that we keep is commandments. roverbs 3:5 - rust in the with all your heart, nd lean not on your own understanding. ymn - #295 v. 1, 5, 6 he aw of od is good and wise nd sets is will before our eyes, hows us the way of righteousness, nd dooms to death when we transgress. he aw is good; but since the Fall, ts holiness condemns us all; t dooms us for our sin to die nd has no power to justify. o Jesus we for refuge flee, Who from the curse has set us free, nd humbly worship at is throne, aved by is grace through faith alone. men rayer ear heavenly Father, who clearly shows us what ou wish for us to do and to avoid doing in our Word, prevent us from following our own ways when they are contrary to what ou expect of us. ive us the desire and the strength to follow where ou lead us. When we fail to do as we should, lead us to ask our forgiveness and comfort us with the assurance that our sins are forgiven, for Jesus' sake. men. ld estament 5 aul - evel 4