God Refuses Saul as King
v1 Samuel said to Saul, "The Lord sent me to anoint you as king over his people, the Israelites. Now listen to this message from the Lord." v2 This is what the most powerful Lord says, “The Israelites came out of the country of Egypt and went to the country of Canaan. But the Amalekites tried to stop them. So I will punish the Amalekites. v3 Go and attack the Amalekites. Completely destroy everything that lives. Do not save anything. Kill the men and women, children, and babies. Kill their cows and sheep. Kill their camels and donkeys."
v4 So Saul called his army together. They met at Telaim. There were 200,000 soldiers and 10,000 men from the tribe of Judah. v5 Saul and his army went to a town in the country of Amalek. They waited in a valley. v6 Saul warned the people from the Kenite tribe, "Go away. Leave the Amalekites. I will destroy the Amalekites. I do not want to destroy you. You were kind to the Israelites when they came out from the country of Egypt." So the Kenites left the Amalekites.
v7 Then Saul attacked and defeated the Amalekites. He fought them all the way from Havilah to Shur, which is east of Egypt. v8 Saul seized Agag alive. Agag was king of the Amalekites. Saul killed all the people with his sword. v9 But Saul and his army let Agag live. They did not kill the best old and young sheep or the fat cows. They let all the good animals live. They did not want to destroy them. But they destroyed all the animals that were weak and worth nothing.
v10 Then the Lord spoke to Samuel, v11 "I am sorry that I made Saul king. He has stopped following me. He has not obeyed my commands’. Samuel was very sad. He prayed aloud to the Lord all that night.
Commentary
We learn in Verse 2 about the most powerful Lord. God is the ruler of everything that he made. God is the true captain of the Israelite army. God made their army successful.
The Amalekites lived in the land that was between southern Israel and the country of Egypt. They did not build many towns. Instead, they lived in tents. They wandered about the land. They attacked the Israelites and other nations. The Amalekites stole animals and crops from the farms in those nations. You can read how the Amalekites tried to stop the Israelites in Exodus 17:8-16. So God said that he would destroy the Amalekites completely (Exodus 17:14 and Deuteronomy 25:17-19). This was God’s war. God is holy. The Amalekites were evil (verse 18). They had opposed God. So God decided to ‘completely destroy’ them. God did not always do this with Israel’s enemies. (God did it with the town of Jericho in Joshua 6.) God gave very clear commands in verse 3. He said, "Do not save anything." No one could misunderstand what God meant.
The Kenites probably lived near or with the Amalekites. They had not opposed God. Some of the Kenites lived with the Israelites (Judges 1:16). Saul did not want to kill them by mistake.
God gave Saul success in this battle. In many battles, God let the Israelite army keep the animals or goods that they seized. Sometimes Saul and his army seized the king and put him in prison. This showed other nations that the Israelites had the most powerful leader. But this time God wanted to punish the Amalekites. Saul did not understand God’s purpose. Saul did not obey God’s clear commands. Instead, Saul did what he thought was right. God had given the Israelites the type of king that they wanted. God wanted the king of the Israelites to follow and obey him. He wanted a king that he could trust. God wanted the king to love him. He wanted the king to give him honor. But Saul did not behave like this. God was sad that Saul had not obeyed him. Samuel was very sad about this too.
v12 Samuel got up early the next morning. He went to meet Saul. Someone told Samuel, "Saul went to the town of Carmel. He put up a column to give himself honor. Then he went to the town of Gilgal."
v13 Samuel went to find Saul. Saul said to Samuel, "May the Lord bless you. I have obeyed the Lord’s commands."
v14 But Samuel said, "Why can I hear the voices of sheep and cows?"
v15 Saul answered, "The soldiers took them from the Amalekites. They saved the best sheep and cows. They will sacrifice them to the Lord your God. We destroyed all the other animals."
v16 Samuel said to Saul, "Stop talking. I will tell you what the Lord said to me last night."
Saul said, "Tell me."
v17 Samuel said, "In the past, you thought that you were not an important person. Now you are the leader of all of the Israelite tribes. God anointed you as king of Israel. v18 The Lord gave you a task. He said to you, “Go and destroy the Amalekites. They are evil people. Fight against them until they are all dead”. v19 Why did you not obey the Lord? Why did you keep the best things? Why did you do what God said was wrong?"
v20 Saul said, "I did obey the Lord. I did what the Lord told me to do. I destroyed all the Amalekites. I brought back Agag their king. v21 The soldiers did not kill the best sheep and cows. They brought them to sacrifice to the Lord your God at Gilgal."
v22 But Samuel replied, "Is the Lord most pleased when people give him offerings and sacrifices? Or is he most pleased when people obey him?
v23 You sin if you refuse to obey the Lord. This sin is as bad as doing evil magic. You refused to do what the Lord commanded. Now the Lord has refused you as king."
Commentary
The Lord is most pleased when people hear and obey him. This is better than when they sacrifice the best sheep to him. Pride is a sin that is as bad as worshipping idols.
In chapters 10 and 11, we see that Saul was a humble man. But Saul became proud. He was proud of his success in the battle. He did not give God honor. Saul probably made the column from stone. Everyone who saw it would give Saul honor.
In verse 13, Saul said, "I have obeyed the Lord’s commands." But this was not true. Saul had not obeyed all the commands. Perhaps he told a lie on purpose. Or perhaps he thought that he had obeyed enough. When Samuel demanded an answer, Saul blamed the soldiers (verses 15 and 21). Saul gave an excuse. He said that the soldiers wanted to sacrifice the animals to God. In fact, the soldiers probably wanted to keep the animals for themselves.
Saul led the army. He should have commanded the men to kill all the animals. Saul used the phrase, "the Lord your God’. He did not say, "the Lord our God." Saul knew that he did not follow God now. He did not follow him as he used to. God had commanded the Israelites to give him offerings and sacrifices (Leviticus 1-7). This was how God forgave their sins. But God cannot forgive a person who refuses to obey him. If a person did not obey God, their sacrifice had no value.
When a person does not obey God, they sin. The Bible calls this sin "rebellion." Verse 23 gives us a very serious warning. Evil magic comes from the devil. Rebellion is as bad as evil magic. People who worship idols do not give honor to God. They think that the idol is better than God. A proud person thinks that he is the best person. He gives honor to himself. He does not give honor to God or worship him.
v24 Then Saul said to Samuel, "I have sinned. I did not obey the Lord’s command or your words. I was afraid of the people. I did what they wanted. v25 Now I appeal to you. Please forgive my sin. Come back with me so that I may worship the Lord."
v26 But Samuel said to Saul, "I will not go back with you. You refused the Lord’s command. Now the Lord refuses you as king of Israel."
v27 Samuel turned away from Saul and left. But Saul seized the edge of Samuel’s coat and it tore. v28 Samuel said to him, ‘The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today. He has given it to one of your neighbors who is better than you. v29 The Lord is the glory of Israel. He does not lie. He does not change his decision. He is not like a man who changes his decision’.
v30 Saul replied, "I have sinned. But please give me honor in front of the leaders and people of Israel. Come back with me so that I can worship the Lord your God." v31 So Samuel went back with Saul. Saul worshipped the Lord.
v32 Then Samuel said, "Bring Agag, king of the Amalekites, to me."
v33 But Samuel said, "You have killed many people. Now some mothers do not have any children that are still alive. Now your mother will have no children." And Samuel cut Agag into pieces in front of the altar at Gilgal.
v34 Then Samuel left Gilgal and went to his home in Ramah. But Saul went to his home in Gibeah. v35 During the rest of his life Samuel never saw Saul again. But Samuel was very sad about Saul. And the Lord was very sorry that he had made Saul king of Israel.
Commentary
At last, Saul confessed that he had sinned. But he did not realize that God would not change his decision. So, Samuel had to repeat what God had said. Saul sinned because he was afraid of the people. So, he did what they said instead of what God commanded. This was a foolish way to behave. The way to become wise is to fear the *Lord (Proverbs 9:10). This ‘fear’ means to respect the Lord. And to obey him and give him honor.
Verses 27-28 are like picture language. Saul had turned away from following the Lord. The Lord did not want the Israelites to turn away from him too. The ‘kingdom’ means the people and the land that Saul ruled as king. The new king of a country is usually the son of the previous king. But God took his authority away from Saul. God gave it to one of Saul’s ‘neighbors’, not to one of his family. This man was David. David was better than Saul was because David obeyed the Lord.
‘The Lord is the glory of Israel’ means that the Lord lives forever. This emphasizes that God is not like people. He has very different qualities from theirs. Saul realized then that nothing could change God’s decision. Saul did not want Samuel to leave him. Saul said that he wanted to worship the Lord. But Saul really wanted Samuel to give him honor. Saul wanted the people to think that nothing had changed. Samuel changed his decision the second time that Saul asked. He went back with Saul. Saul worshipped the Lord. But Samuel did the job that Saul should have done.
Agag was still in chains when he went to Samuel. But Agag thought, "I do not think that I will have the bitter pain of death now." Agag thought that he would not have to die. But Samuel punished Agag by killing because he had killed so many people.
After this, Samuel left Saul. They lived only 10 miles apart. Samuel never went to visit Saul again because God had refused him as king. Samuel was as sad about Saul as if he had died. And the Lord was sad about the first king of Israel too. Saul continued to rule Israel until he died many years later. But from this day, Saul had many problems. And he was not a good leader.
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