Introduction In this passage of Scripture Saul is stripped of crown and throne by God. Yet Saul continues to rule in his own power and in his own strength. The passage illustrates God s divine hatred towards sin and his wrath and judgment against sin. Sin is anything that falls short of the glory of God; sin is anything that is inconsistent with the nature and the character of God. Sin is not limited to things we do; sin can be something we fail to do. Clearly the Bible is filled with commandments from the Lord; instructions from God. Sin is sin because it is different from God; sin is always against God. Sin is described in the Bible as personal (Rom.3:23) and whatever fails to conform to the character of God. The Bible doesn t simply describe the things we do as sin; but that we are sinners; we have a fallen nature, a sin nature (Rom. 5:19; Eph. 2:3). The Bible teaches we are under sin (Rom. 3:9; 11:32; Gal. 3:22). To be under sin means we are without merit; we can do nothing to contribute to our own salvation. We are saved by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. In Christ we are saved from the penalty of sin; Christ is the remedy for sin; the divine method of dealing with sin; before the cross is said to have been atonement; a word which means to cover or hide. The blood of bull and goats could not and did not take away sin (Heb.10:4). When a sinner offered a sacrifice; it was an admission of guilt; and the just penalty for sin is death; the covering symbolized a future cleansing when Christ would fully and finally take away our sin. We are not only saved from the penalty of sin; and the guilt of sin but we are saved from the power of sin. Christians still have the disposition to sin and do sin. That simple fact is declared by the Scriptures and human experience. Based on the fact that Christians sin; the New Testament sets forth a divine provision, a way of deliverance. We as Christians are not called to live in bondage to the law; or to the legal requirements of the Mosiac system; rather we are delivered by God s grace in Christ; from the burden of a covenant of works. We do not do good things in order to be accepted; but rather we are accepted in Christ; and our good works flow from an accomplished acceptance. We cannot live by the energy of our own flesh. In contrast to the Law--we are called to live by grace, and in grace and through grace. In Grace we are not treated as we deserve; but rather God treats us with infinite mercy and grace. We are saved by grace; and kept by grace; and ruled by grace. Grace is God s unmerited favor. When God saves a sinner by grace; it is necessary that God deal with every sin; since all sin demands judgment. This sin has been dealt with in the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross of Calvary. Every obligation must be cancelled; every debt remitted. The Bible says the just shall live by faith. 1
1 Samuel 15:17 (NKJV) So Samuel said, When you were little in your own eyes, were you not head of the tribes of Israel? And did not the Lord anoint you king over Israel? 1 Samuel 15:18 (NKJV) Now the Lord sent you on a mission, and said, Go, and utterly destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed. 1 Samuel 15:19 (NKJV) Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord? Why did you swoop down on the spoil, and do evil in the sight of the Lord? The message of Samuel contains three elements; (1) Samuel reminds Saul of his former insignificance and the source of his present high position (v.17). Saul owed everything; everything to the Lord. (2) Samuel sweeps away the refuge of lies; the cobwebs of excuses; the paper thin excuses which Saul sought to hide; by reminding him of the crystal clear commandment of God; the plain terms of God s orders; (3) then Samuel directs Saul and holds up a statement--like a flashing sword--like a piercing light--like an unmistakable rock; why didn t you obey the voice of the Lord? Why did you decide to keep what God ordered destroyed? 1 Samuel 15:20 (NKJV) And Saul said to Samuel, But I have obeyed the voice of the Lord, and gone on the mission on which the Lord sent me, and brought back Agag king of Amalek; I have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. Saul skillfully dodges the question. Please note what Saul does not do: He does not tremble at the word of the Lord. Saul denies any wrong doing. Saul continues to sew his flimsy garment; his sinful spider web; but the garment will not be able to cover him. Saul is pleading special circumstances; religious circumstances; he begs Samuel to see his sparing the best for God s sake; and for God s purposes. Saul escapes the bruising but cannot escape the crushing. Why does Saul spare Agag? Is it because Agag is a king? Is it because of pride? We are told in 1 Corinthians 11:31-32; For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world. God waits for us to self-judge or confess; but if we will not judge ourselves; then the Father must judge us. When the child is judged by the Father; the child is disciplined or chastened. That discipline has a purpose--that we be not condemned with the world. 1 Samuel 15:21 (NKJV) But the people took of the plunder, sheep and oxen, the best of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal. 1 Samuel 15:22 (NKJV) So Samuel said: 2
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. 1 Samuel 15:23 (NKJV) 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. Rebellion is self-will. Samuel knows only too well the fallacy of believing that if one follows the general will of God he can avoid the specifics. He knows too that God cannot be placated with sacrifices when a person s heart is manifestly in rebellion against His will (Cyril Barber & John Carter; Always A Winner; p.77). (1) Simple Submission to the will of God is elevated above all the religious activity; loading altars; lighting candles; giving gifts; writing checks; (2) self -will--sinks to the lowest depths, to the depths of idolatry (EMPTINESS--Hebrew word for idol). (3) the stern sentence of final disapproval; final rejection is given. Is there a warning here for us? What is it the Lord is looking for? More service? More sacrifice? The Lord Jesus is interested in the one sacrifice--the hardest sacrifice--the setting aside of self will. The Lord is looking for absolute surrender. Faith and obedience are necessary parts of each other; there can be no obedience without faith, and faith without obedience is dead (Bishop Harvey Goodwin, Parish Sermons; First series, p. 195). The Bible teaches that the believer s fallen nature has been judged by the crucifixion; Paul writes in Romans 6:1-10 that we died, that we were buried and that we were raised with Christ. Now God makes it morally possible for the presence of the Holy Spirit to live inside us; we have the Spirit of God; we reckon our Old Man dead to sin (Rom. 6:4,11) and we are allowed to live through the Lord Jesus Christ. The Rejection Of The Flesh (vv.24-25) 1 Samuel 15:24 (NKJV) Then Saul said to Samuel, I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice. Saul cites fear as the reason for his disobedience. 3
Fear still plagues us today. We are sometimes afraid of what people will think. We are afraid we will not achieve our goals or our ambitions if we submit to the will of God. 1 Samuel 15:25 (NKJV) Now therefore, please pardon my sin, and return with me, that I may worship the Lord. Samuel cannot pardon sin. Only God can forgive sin. There is a line by us unseen That crosses every path, The hidden boundary between God s patience and His wrath. The gates of repentance close on Saul. Stunned by the awful sentence of rejection he begins to grieve. Looking over the edge of the precipice on which he stands, he fears, he turns, he confesses, but never enters the gates that welcome him. His cry is not that of a penitent, he retreats into his miserable subterfuge of making the people the scapegoat (Pell; pp.138-139). 1 Samuel 15:26 (NKJV) But Samuel said to Saul, I will not return with you, for you have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel. The rejection begins when Saul rejects the word of the Lord. The rejection continues when the Lord rejects Saul from being king over Israel. Make no mistake about it. You cannot reject the word of the Lord and expect acceptance by the Lord. Samuel is disgusted with Saul s superficial and shallow repentance. Saul has been caught. Saul is sorry that his sin has found him out; Saul is beginning to feel the consequences of his sin; but Saul is far from real awareness of just how awful his sin really is. 1 Samuel 15:27 (NKJV) And as Samuel turned around to go away, Saul seized the edge of his robe, and it tore. The picture is of Saul falling to his knees and reaching out and grabbing the edge of Samuel s robe. Saul may be trying to detain the prophet by force. It is true that to kneel and hold the hem of the garment of an individual was a sign of submission and loyalty. 1 Samuel 15:28 (NKJV) So Samuel said to him, The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today, and has given it to a neighbor of yours, who is better than you. 4
1 Samuel 15:29 (NKJV) And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor relent. For He is not a man, that He should relent. Just in case you live in a world where you believe God changes His mind; read and embrace what the Scripture teaches; the prophet calls the God of Israel the Strength of Israel. God will not lie nor relent (change His mind). He is not a man (sorry Mormons); God not human with all the faults and failures and flaws that is consistent with fallen human nature. Three phrases demand our attention. (1) The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you TODAY; the downfall of Saul began that day; he ceased to be God s king; retaining honor before the people (see v.30); but in the sight of God Saul was the real ghost; the phantom; ruling by nothing else than sheer personal will power; which is in fact what Saul wanted. (2) a neighbor of yours --and we will be introduced to this neighbor soon; the man after God s own heart; and the two will be contrasted side by side; and (3) the Strength of Israel or HOPE--a phrase which occurs only here. The word means perpetuity; truth, glory, victory, trust and confidence. 1 Samuel 15:30 (NKJV) Then he said, I have sinned; yet honor me now, please, before the elders of my people and before Israel, and return with me, that I may worship the Lord your God. Saul is more concerned about what the people might think; instead of what God thinks and wants. Saul wanted a good reputation--but was unwilling to pay the price for a good character. 1 Samuel 15:31 (NKJV) So Samuel turned back after Saul, and Saul worshiped the Lord. 1 Samuel 15:32 (NKJV) Then Samuel said, Bring Agag king of the Amalekites here to me. So Agag came to him cautiously. And Agag said, Surely the bitterness of death is past. 1 Samuel 15:33 (NKJV) But Samuel said, As your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women. And Samuel hacked Agag in pieces before the Lord in Gilgal. Samuel finds a rather colorful and poetic way of saying; You are a dead man. Samuel hacks Agag in pieces. The scene is brutal. God commanded that it be done. And Samuel does it before the Lord. This God s holy wrath; God s appointed judgment against sin. We are given a graphic picture of how God feels about sin. 1 Samuel 15:34 (NKJV) Then Samuel went to Ramah, and Saul went up to his house at Gibeah of Saul. Conclusion 5
Saul had lost his best friend; he had lost the Lord s blessing; he had lost the kingdom. From now on, he would be on a dark winding road that would end with him becoming a castaway and being slain by one of the very Amaekites he had refused to destroy (Wiersbe; OUTLINES p.265) 1 Samuel 15:35 (NKJV) And Samuel went no more to see Saul until the day of his death. Nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul, and the Lord regretted that He had made Saul king over Israel. What a sad verse. Chafin; One of the characteristics of the true prophet is that he finds no joy in the word of judgment. Saul is not rejected for any single sin. Saul is rejected because of his attitude and actions. Saul wants fears human beings rather than God. Saul wants honor from rather than from God. Saul is willing to speak and act religious; to appease God and to appease the true believer. Saul is clearly disobedient, he is clearly untruthful, and he is clearly hypocritical. 6