1 Samuel said to Saul, “I am the one the Lord sent to anoint you king over his people Israel; so listen now to the message from the Lord.
Wow! Can you believe this? It is hard for us now to fathom this. So let me explain what he is saying. This is Samuel, the little kid who has been in the temple since the day he was weaned. He is the one the Lord spoke through when Eli and his sons were so corrupt. Yet Saul is already trying to replace Samuel with some other priest, this would be like the New England Patriots getting rid of Tom Brady after he led them to 9 super bowls. This would be like the Chicago Bulls breaking up the Bulls after they had won their 6th championship. It is unbelievable and yet, sadly, it is true.
2 This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘I will punish the Amalekites for what they did to Israel when they waylaid them as they came up from Egypt. 3 Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy[a] all that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.’”
Yes, Saul failed in the last battle with the Philistines. He didn’t listen carefully to the word of the Lord, he didn’t put himself on the altar, he had the sin of unbelief. But I think we have all had this experience, I have. When you do, when you realize the Lord spoke to you and you did not carefully follow exactly what He said that burns you. That is something you remember again and again. Now Saul has a second chance. Don’t be a fool, remember how hard it was the first time and this time take it seriously. Start by building an altar. Start by giving yourself fully to the lord. Pray over this word till you are filled with faith.
4 So Saul summoned the men and mustered them at Telaim—two hundred thousand foot soldiers and ten thousand from Judah. 5 Saul went to the city of Amalek and set an ambush in the ravine. 6 Then he said to the Kenites, “Go away, leave the Amalekites so that I do not destroy you along with them; for you showed kindness to all the Israelites when they came up out of Egypt.” So the Kenites moved away from the Amalekites.
Wow, a lot of improvement from the last battle. We see real strategy, he remembers the word of God and treats the Kenites properly.
7 Then Saul attacked the Amalekites all the way from Havilah to Shur, near the eastern border of Egypt. 8 He took Agag king of the Amalekites alive, and all his people he totally destroyed with the sword. 9 But Saul and the army spared Agag and the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves[b] and lambs—everything that was good. These they were unwilling to destroy completely, but everything that was despised and weak they totally destroyed.
Not again! Seriously, what did God say? What did Samuel say? “Totally destroy[a] all that belongs to them. Do not spare them.” This may seem unchristian to you. Know this, Haman was a descendant of the people that Saul spared, Haman almost wiped out Israel in a mass genocide. This is who the Amalekites are, another kind of bully. They are the dog that bites, but not the heroic guard dog that takes on the robber to protect the house, they are like the hyenas looking to pick off the elderly and the children. They are like a snake secretly planning to wipe out an entire people because one guy (Mordecai) didn’t bow low enough when you passed by. God is omniscient, you aren’t. Also the idea that Saul spared these out of some kind of Christian charity is false, he kept the things that were valuable to enrich himself and his supporters.
10 Then the word of the Lord came to Samuel: 11 “I regret that I have made Saul king, because he has turned away from me and has not carried out my instructions.” Samuel was angry, and he cried out to the Lord all that night.
Samuel knew that this would be Saul’s second (and last chance), that is why he was so explicit with the instructions.
12 Early in the morning Samuel got up and went to meet Saul, but he was told, “Saul has gone to Carmel. There he has set up a monument in his own honor and has turned and gone on down to Gilgal.”
The hits keep coming. “Set up a monument in his own honor.” This is what the world does but it is not what men of faith do. God has blessed us with all blessings that we would be to the praise of His glory.
13 When Samuel reached him, Saul said, “The Lord bless you! I have carried out the Lord’s instructions.”
This is the kind of person who just does not get it, can’t get it, he is incapable of getting it. He knew that it was crucial to “carry out the Lord’s instructions” but simply glossed over those instructions, ignoring the things that he wanted to ignore.
14 But Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of sheep in my ears? What is this lowing of cattle that I hear?” 15 Saul answered, “The soldiers brought them from the Amalekites; they spared the best of the sheep and cattle to sacrifice to the Lord your God, but we totally destroyed the rest.”
Once again pin the blame on God. We ignored God’s instructions because we wanted to sacrifice to the Lord!
16 “Enough!” Samuel said to Saul. “Let me tell you what the Lord said to me last night.” “Tell me,” Saul replied.
There have to be consequences. If you raise and train people where there are no consequences then they assume there are no consequences.
17 Samuel said, “Although you were once small in your own eyes, did you not become the head of the tribes of Israel? The Lord anointed you king over Israel. 18 And he sent you on a mission, saying, ‘Go and completely destroy those wicked people, the Amalekites; wage war against them until you have wiped them out.’ 19 Why did you not obey the Lord? Why did you pounce on the plunder and do evil in the eyes of the Lord?” 20 “But I did obey the Lord,” Saul said. “I went on the mission the Lord assigned me. I completely destroyed the Amalekites and brought back Agag their king. 21 The soldiers took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of what was devoted to God, in order to sacrifice them to the Lord your God at Gilgal.”
This is a great question, why did you do this? You used to be small in your own eyes so how is it that you think you know better than God, that you can ignore His explicit instructions? This is really a central question to this book, how do you raise a David, how do you produce a David, how do you spot a David? Think about it, every single football team wants this skill. They would all have drafted Saul as one of the top 3 picks and like Tom Brady they wouldn’t have drafted David until pick #199. Tom Brady was not very good that first year, barely made the NFL, how do you produce a Tom Brady from an average or even below average quarterback prospect? Right now it is a mystery, when we see David we can get some more insight. But this is Samuel’s great question.
Wow! Can you believe this? It is hard for us now to fathom this. So let me explain what he is saying. This is Samuel, the little kid who has been in the temple since the day he was weaned. He is the one the Lord spoke through when Eli and his sons were so corrupt. Yet Saul is already trying to replace Samuel with some other priest, this would be like the New England Patriots getting rid of Tom Brady after he led them to 9 super bowls. This would be like the Chicago Bulls breaking up the Bulls after they had won their 6th championship. It is unbelievable and yet, sadly, it is true.
2 This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘I will punish the Amalekites for what they did to Israel when they waylaid them as they came up from Egypt. 3 Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy[a] all that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.’”
Yes, Saul failed in the last battle with the Philistines. He didn’t listen carefully to the word of the Lord, he didn’t put himself on the altar, he had the sin of unbelief. But I think we have all had this experience, I have. When you do, when you realize the Lord spoke to you and you did not carefully follow exactly what He said that burns you. That is something you remember again and again. Now Saul has a second chance. Don’t be a fool, remember how hard it was the first time and this time take it seriously. Start by building an altar. Start by giving yourself fully to the lord. Pray over this word till you are filled with faith.
4 So Saul summoned the men and mustered them at Telaim—two hundred thousand foot soldiers and ten thousand from Judah. 5 Saul went to the city of Amalek and set an ambush in the ravine. 6 Then he said to the Kenites, “Go away, leave the Amalekites so that I do not destroy you along with them; for you showed kindness to all the Israelites when they came up out of Egypt.” So the Kenites moved away from the Amalekites.
Wow, a lot of improvement from the last battle. We see real strategy, he remembers the word of God and treats the Kenites properly.
7 Then Saul attacked the Amalekites all the way from Havilah to Shur, near the eastern border of Egypt. 8 He took Agag king of the Amalekites alive, and all his people he totally destroyed with the sword. 9 But Saul and the army spared Agag and the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves[b] and lambs—everything that was good. These they were unwilling to destroy completely, but everything that was despised and weak they totally destroyed.
Not again! Seriously, what did God say? What did Samuel say? “Totally destroy[a] all that belongs to them. Do not spare them.” This may seem unchristian to you. Know this, Haman was a descendant of the people that Saul spared, Haman almost wiped out Israel in a mass genocide. This is who the Amalekites are, another kind of bully. They are the dog that bites, but not the heroic guard dog that takes on the robber to protect the house, they are like the hyenas looking to pick off the elderly and the children. They are like a snake secretly planning to wipe out an entire people because one guy (Mordecai) didn’t bow low enough when you passed by. God is omniscient, you aren’t. Also the idea that Saul spared these out of some kind of Christian charity is false, he kept the things that were valuable to enrich himself and his supporters.
10 Then the word of the Lord came to Samuel: 11 “I regret that I have made Saul king, because he has turned away from me and has not carried out my instructions.” Samuel was angry, and he cried out to the Lord all that night.
Samuel knew that this would be Saul’s second (and last chance), that is why he was so explicit with the instructions.
12 Early in the morning Samuel got up and went to meet Saul, but he was told, “Saul has gone to Carmel. There he has set up a monument in his own honor and has turned and gone on down to Gilgal.”
The hits keep coming. “Set up a monument in his own honor.” This is what the world does but it is not what men of faith do. God has blessed us with all blessings that we would be to the praise of His glory.
13 When Samuel reached him, Saul said, “The Lord bless you! I have carried out the Lord’s instructions.”
This is the kind of person who just does not get it, can’t get it, he is incapable of getting it. He knew that it was crucial to “carry out the Lord’s instructions” but simply glossed over those instructions, ignoring the things that he wanted to ignore.
14 But Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of sheep in my ears? What is this lowing of cattle that I hear?” 15 Saul answered, “The soldiers brought them from the Amalekites; they spared the best of the sheep and cattle to sacrifice to the Lord your God, but we totally destroyed the rest.”
Once again pin the blame on God. We ignored God’s instructions because we wanted to sacrifice to the Lord!
16 “Enough!” Samuel said to Saul. “Let me tell you what the Lord said to me last night.” “Tell me,” Saul replied.
There have to be consequences. If you raise and train people where there are no consequences then they assume there are no consequences.
17 Samuel said, “Although you were once small in your own eyes, did you not become the head of the tribes of Israel? The Lord anointed you king over Israel. 18 And he sent you on a mission, saying, ‘Go and completely destroy those wicked people, the Amalekites; wage war against them until you have wiped them out.’ 19 Why did you not obey the Lord? Why did you pounce on the plunder and do evil in the eyes of the Lord?” 20 “But I did obey the Lord,” Saul said. “I went on the mission the Lord assigned me. I completely destroyed the Amalekites and brought back Agag their king. 21 The soldiers took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of what was devoted to God, in order to sacrifice them to the Lord your God at Gilgal.”
This is a great question, why did you do this? You used to be small in your own eyes so how is it that you think you know better than God, that you can ignore His explicit instructions? This is really a central question to this book, how do you raise a David, how do you produce a David, how do you spot a David? Think about it, every single football team wants this skill. They would all have drafted Saul as one of the top 3 picks and like Tom Brady they wouldn’t have drafted David until pick #199. Tom Brady was not very good that first year, barely made the NFL, how do you produce a Tom Brady from an average or even below average quarterback prospect? Right now it is a mystery, when we see David we can get some more insight. But this is Samuel’s great question.