Saul Disobeys God

Context

Saul did not become king by his own authority. The Lord had chosen him, and Samuel—the prophet who spoke God’s word—had anointed him over Israel. Kingship therefore did not place Saul above God’s commands. It made his responsibility to listen even greater.

The judgment about to fall on Amalek reached back to Israel’s journey out of Egypt, when the Amalekites had attacked them along the way. Now Saul received a severe and total command: he was to wage war without preserving captives, livestock, or plunder. Victory would reveal more than military strength. It would reveal whether Israel’s king treated the Lord’s word as final.

Story

Samuel came to Saul with a reminder: the Lord had sent Samuel to anoint him king over Israel, so Saul must now listen carefully to what the Lord said.

God had not forgotten how Amalek had attacked Israel during the journey from Egypt. He commanded Saul to strike the Amalekites and completely destroy them and everything they possessed. The command included men and women, children and infants, and all their livestock. Nothing was to be taken as spoil.

Saul gathered an army of two hundred thousand soldiers, along with ten thousand men from Judah. Near an Amalekite city, he warned the Kenites to leave the area. They had shown kindness to Israel during the journey from Egypt, and Saul did not want them destroyed with the Amalekites. The Kenites departed.

Saul’s army then struck the Amalekites across the region from Havilah toward Shur, near Egypt. His forces killed the Amalekite people, but Saul captured their king, Agag, alive. Saul and the people also spared the best sheep, cattle, lambs, and everything else they valued. They destroyed what they considered worthless but kept what looked good.

The word of the Lord came to Samuel. God said that he regretted making Saul king because Saul had turned away from following him and had not carried out his commands. Samuel was deeply distressed and cried out to the Lord all night.

Early the next morning, Samuel went to find Saul. He learned that Saul had stopped at Carmel and set up a monument for himself before continuing to Gilgal.

When Samuel reached him, Saul greeted him with a blessing and announced that he had carried out the Lord’s command. But the animals Saul had kept could be heard nearby. Samuel asked why he could hear sheep bleating and cattle lowing.

Saul answered that the people had spared the best animals to sacrifice to the Lord. Everything else, he claimed, had been destroyed.

Samuel stopped him and delivered the message God had given during the night. He reminded Saul that although Saul had once seemed small in his own eyes, the Lord had made him head of Israel’s tribes and anointed him king. God had sent him on a specific mission. Why, then, had Saul not obeyed? Why had he taken the plunder and done what was evil in the Lord’s sight?

Saul still insisted that he had obeyed. He had gone where the Lord sent him, destroyed the Amalekites, and brought back Agag. It was the people, he said, who had taken the best sheep and cattle—and they intended to sacrifice them to the Lord at Gilgal.

Samuel answered that offerings could not replace obedience. God did not delight in sacrifice from someone who refused to listen.

“To obey is better than sacrifice.”

Listening to God was better than offering the finest animals. Samuel compared rebellion to divination and stubbornness to idolatry. Because Saul had rejected the Lord’s word, the Lord had rejected Saul as king.

Saul then admitted that he had sinned. He had violated God’s command because he feared the people and listened to them. He asked Samuel to forgive him and return with him so that he could worship the Lord.

Samuel refused. Saul had rejected the Lord’s word, and the Lord had rejected him as king over Israel. As Samuel turned to leave, Saul grabbed the edge of his robe, and it tore.

Samuel used the torn robe as a sign of Saul’s judgment. The Lord had torn the kingdom of Israel away from Saul and would give it to someone better than him. God was not human, Samuel said; he would not lie or reverse this judgment.

Saul again said that he had sinned, but he asked Samuel to honor him before Israel’s elders and people by returning with him. Samuel did go back, and Saul worshiped the Lord.

Then Samuel ordered Agag to be brought before him. The captured king approached, saying that surely the bitterness of death had passed. Samuel answered that Agag’s sword had made women childless, and now his own mother would be left childless. Samuel put Agag to death before the Lord at Gilgal.

Afterward, Samuel returned to Ramah, while Saul went home to Gibeah. Samuel never went to see Saul again during Saul’s lifetime, though he mourned for him. And the Lord regretted having made Saul king over Israel.

What We Learned

• A position given by God never places someone above God’s word. Saul’s anointing made him more accountable, not less.
• Partial obedience is still disobedience. Saul carried out much of the command but deliberately spared Agag and the best possessions, then claimed that he had obeyed.
• Worship cannot be used to excuse rebellion. The plan to sacrifice the animals did not justify keeping what God had commanded Saul to destroy.
• Fear of other people can draw us away from obedience. Saul eventually admitted that he had listened to the people rather than the Lord.
• Confessing a wrong does not automatically remove its consequences. Saul said that he had sinned, but the kingdom was still taken from him.