Answers Bible Curriculum 2nd Edition Unit 8 Lesson 75
This week in Sunday school, we move forward in the book of 1 Samuel and look at Israel’s first king. Why was it sinful for Israel to ask for a king when God had already promised that a king would come? How did Saul go from a humble king who sought Yahweh to a fearful king who disobeyed Yahweh’s clear commands? And what can both Israel and Saul teach us about the foolishness of fearing man over God?
Our main text for this lesson is 1 Samuel 8:1-15:35.
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alright well it’s time to get started good morning officially welcome to the Calvary Community Church Sunday School class I’m David Koepp OSHA we’re continuing on in our chronological study of the Bible currently in the book of 1st Samuel last week we saw how God humbled a proud unfaithful judge in Eli and raised up and exalted a new judge a humble judge obedient judge in Samuel in today’s lesson we’re looking at how Samuel oh really the end of the judges period Samuel provides at the transition into the kingship Samuel anoints Israel’s first king we’re gonna see how that happened I’m going to see how that king ruled here’s those first King King Saul he starts out well but quickly turns aside from following Yahweh the Covenant God of Israel and why why did Saul turn aside well it all has to do with the main issue that we’re gonna be looking at today in the scripture and that is the issue of fearing God versus fearing man now ask yourselves this morning do you struggle at all with the fear of man well if you’re honest surely the answer is yes because we all do at times I mean think have you ever been unduly anxious over an upcoming conversation with somebody just thinking about it as a Oh or have you ever intensely craved the love and acceptance of others or have you asked yourself how is it you’re ever going to be able to get by if you lose the support of certain friends or family members or maybe coworkers we to our daily faced with the choice of whether we’re going to fear God or for your man but the Bible is much to say about this topic especially in 1st Samuel so we need to give close attention and what God’s Spirit has for us this morning so let’s go to the Lord and ask for his special blessing on this time Heavenly Father I thank you for these people tuning in and for my brothers and sisters at Calvary I pray that this would be a profitable and edifying time and that you would help me to be able to declare your word accurately and with power but I don’t have power but your spirit has power and I pray that your your spear would be at work to convict encourage and transform your people just as we are meant to be transformed by your word and Jesus name Amen well let’s start by opening our Bibles to first Samuel Chapter eight first samuel chapter 8 is where we’re starting today this is really where we ended last time in the last chapter or in this chapter rather we got up to about first samuel 7 last time in this chapter we are at the end of the judges period samuel is the last judge these deliverer adjudicators in israel and this would be around 1050 BC samuel has just led israel through national repentance they’ve turned from their idols turned back to God and they’ve experienced deliverance from the oppressive Philistines now Philistines are not destroyed but there was a measure of deliverance under Samuel after the people repented but time has gone by samuel is getting old and well what are we gonna do about Israel’s future that’s what’s the concern as we come into first samuel chapter 8 and so let’s take a look at the text we’re gonna read most of verses 1 to 22 but we’ll start with just verses 1 to 9 so follow along with me as I’m reading from 1st samuel 8 it says it came about when samuel was old that he appointed his sons judges over israel on the name of his firstborn was joelle in the name of his second Abijah they were judging in Beersheba his sons however did not walk in his ways but turned aside after dishonest gain took bribes and perverted justice and all the elders of israel gathered together and came to samuel at Rhema and they said to him behold you have grown old and your sons do not walk in your ways now a point to King for us to judge us like all the nations but the king would but the thing was displeasing in the sight of samuel when they said give us a king to judge us and Samuel prayed to the Lord that is yahweh covenant name of god there he always said to Samuel listen to the voice of the people in regard to all that they say to you but they have not rejected you but they have rejected me from being king over them like all the deeds which they have done since the day I brought them up from Egypt even to this day and that they have forsaken me and served other gods so they are doing to you also now then listen to their voice however you shall solemnly warn them and tell them at the procedure of the king who will reign over them now we’re gonna skip over verses 10 to 18 and these verses Samuel warns the leaders of Israel that their King that they want he’s gonna take many of their people and their goods for his own use and someday Israel even cry out to God over the oppressive nature of their king they say we don’t want this king any more and God says I’m not gonna listen to you in that day let’s resume reading now in verse 19 it says nevertheless the people refuse to listen to the voice of Samuel and they said no but there shall be a king over us that we also may be like all the nations that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles now after Samuel had heard all the words of the people he repeated them in Yahweh’s hearing he always said to Samuel listen to their voice and a point then the king so Samuel said to the men of Israel go every man to a city well now as we always do when we’re trying to study it section of Scripture I want to go through that process of observe interpret apply so we start with observations let’s just look at the details the basic details that appear in the sections we read in first one we see that Samuels old the attempts to point his sons as judges over Israel after him there’s a problem Samuels sons are evil they accept bribes they go after dishonest gain because of this situation the elders gather together and they tell Samuel hey we need a king to rule over us and judge Israel give us a king and the others of Israel they point out in verse 5 that this will make Israel just like what like all the nations the other nations around us they have kings we won’t want to now how God said anything to Israel in the past when it came to a coming human King oh he surely did and we’ve seen this evenin our Sunday school class at Genesis 49 verses 8 to 10 just a slight reference there the scepter shall not depart from Judah it says until the one to whom it belongs comes and he shall have the Dominion of the peoples 4 numbers 24 numbers 24 verses 17 to 19 Balaam in his Oracle he says a star shall arise in Jacob and a scepter from Israel that’s talking about a king or Deuteronomy 17 in the law of Moses itself Deuteronomy 17 verses 14 to 20 there are regulations as to how a king should act in Israel God says there’s gonna be a time when you’re gonna ask for a king here’s how a king should act and then first samuel 2:10 a verse that we looked at together last time hannah praised the spirit inspired prayer and she acknowledges that yahweh will give strength to his king and he will exalt the Horn of his anointed so there’s certainly been reference to Kings before in the Old Testament and have these passages treated a coming kingship positively negatively or in a neutral way well surely it’s positive we’re looking forward to the coming king that God Himself will support and who will serve God but in our passage what Samuels reaction to the people’s request for a king verse 6 it says this displeased Samuel it praise to God about it moreover notice God’s response verses 7 and 9 he says Samuel do as they request but he notes his jewels not really rejecting you Samuel and your leadership they’re actually rejecting me and my leadership as king god knows that this latest act fits with Israel’s general pattern of rebellion and apostasy they’ve been doing this since Egypt God says they tell Samuel though warn them about this coming King and reports them what this kingship is gonna require them Samuel does but as we see in verse 19 the elders don’t listen to Samuels warning they persist they reiterate why they want a king and it’s not only notice that they can be like all the nations but also said the king may judge them go out before them and fight their battles now that last phrase is particularly significant because what did or let me say it this way who previously claimed that he would fight the battles on behalf of Israel and bring the victory it was God God says I will go before you I will fight for you see this in Exodus 14 14 Deuteronomy 1:30 Joshua 23 10 it’s something that God has said again and again to Israel but now as you says we want a human King to fight our battles Samuel repeats Israel’s words to God and God confirms that Samuel should appoint a king for Israel not the most encouraging passage but let’s now that we’ve observed these details let’s ask some questions of interpretation bringing together these details to make conclusions about something that’s not explicitly stated now how is the coming kingship presented here it’s a positive negative neutral surely it’s negative right Israel’s request for a king is likened to rejecting God himself you can’t get much more evil and rebellious than that but how can this be when previous scriptures painted the coming of a human king to Israel in such a positive light how can it be positive in other scriptures but negative here to help us to understand let’s see if there’s anything the text mentions that would suggest why obtaining the kingship as they as they sought to do was evil let’s first consider their method as the people look for a king they do not actually approach God who is their king ultimately they don’t approach God to find out whether it is appropriate that a human king should be raised up over them at this moment did not say God you know we think we would like this we think this would help us we think this would be honoring to you with this please you know instead they demand a human king of Samuel right now they do not consult God’s approval timing and this is presumptuous I can even I would say this is even evil so their method is at fault but more importantly their motivation let’s consider their motivation the is July elders give two main reasons as to why they want a king the first one is that we might yeah we might be like all the nations they say now ask yourselves how often is righteous action going to be produced by seeking to be like those who don’t know God almost never maybe it’s other nations around Israel they don’t have a covenant with Yahweh they don’t have the one true God dwelling among them these other nations they serve false gods that commit abominable deeds and Allah says they want to be like them why would they say that well surely it’s because these Israel thinks these other nations have a good thing and Israel’s missing out I mean look at their kings look at how wise their system is look at what they can accomplish with that mighty king and all those big armies that that king is able to raise we obviously are lagging behind me and we are missing out in Israel we don’t have a kick we don’t have a king like all the nations really Israel is discontent they’re coveting what the other nations have and they are not satisfied they distrust God’s provision for them God says I’ll be your King I’ll take care of you Israel says mm-hmm we’re missing out we need what the other nations got so this is clearly sinful motivation they want to be like the other nations but along with that they say we want a king who will find our battles for us as we noted God promised that he would fight Israel’s battles unusual speak as and in indeed time and time again God did just that he proved no human king no human army can handle the power of Yahweh these are mighty deliverance but what’s difficult about relying on God for victory well it means you got to seek God means you got to obey Him means you can’t just keep following after your sin if you want God to fight for you it also means exercising uncomfortable faith I mean cuz yeah God did deliver in mighty ways but how many times was it only at the last moment hour only against overwhelming odds yeah you 300 people I want you to go against 120,000 oh yeah there are they’re about to assault this city now army bigger than the air more than the number of sand particles on the seashore but don’t worry I just pray I’ll take care of you God’s ways are glorious but they really test Israel’s faith and Israel’s tired of it I mean wouldn’t it be nice surely they’re thinking something like this in themselves would it be nice if we had a king and a mighty army that we could see I mean we could look at the thousands of those soldiers and watch them march out against the any an hour tall strong regal looking ruler we could see all that and and we could feel comfortable and secure yeah the king will take care of it yeah army will take care of it we don’t have to worry so much about flying on God now now this is subtle thinking but God is not fooled he calls out Israel’s wickedness he says really by asking for a king according to these motivations what they’re really saying is that they’d rather have nothing to do with me I don’t wanna have to keep worrying about pleasing your way just give us a king and he’ll take care of us so why was it evil that Israel asked for a human King not because having a human king was evil in itself it was the method and the motivation initials asking for a king it was always God’s good design to give Israel a human king but not so that Israel could stop paying attention to God or just pursue their own fleshly lusts rather God’s king was to act as an agent of justice and righteousness in the land leading the people of Israel and even the surrounding nations to award God and not away from him you go through the book of Judges it’s clear Israel needs a king to lead the people in a United Way after Yahweh but that’s not my issue once a king even in Jesus’s day that’s not the kind of King they want and one a military deliverer who will fight their battles not someone who will lead them back to Yahweh and repentance so Israel does evil but God tells Samuel to do is is a request give them the king why if evils in Israel’s hearts why grant their request why not refuse or even judge them for making that evil request all few answers come to mind first of all it is a judgment actually God was going to judge the evil requests by giving Israel exactly what I wanted you want a king like the surrounding nations I’ll give you a king like the surrounding Nations you think this King now is gonna bring you happiness and security and deliverance but I tell you he’s going to be come to you a source of oppression you will cry out to me because of your King and this will be a judgment on you and isn’t this really the way that all sins and idols work sometimes in judgment God says you know what you really want this Idol I’ll give it to you and you’ll realize how unsatisfying it is and how oppressive it is you don’t you know one experience that kind of judgment that’s why you want to keep following after God so certainly this is granted partially as a judgment but also it is just the faithfulness of God God had already promised that Israel would have a coming human king now as you’ll sought this king for evil purposes but that does not change the fact that God promised one so he’s gonna keep his promise he says I’m still gonna give him a king I think there’s a third element though it’s not just a judgment it’s not just a testimony of God’s faithfulness it’s also an act of love it’s an act of love remember God chose to set his love on Israel because of his covenant with Abraham this unilateral grace founded covenant with Abraham God has determined to do good to Israel and nothing is gonna stop God from doing the good he has determined he would still give Israel a good human king just like he promised a king after God’s own heart a king that would establish justice and direct the people back to God it wouldn’t be Israel’s first king God’s King would come via David and ultimately David’s descendant the greater David Jesus Christ the god man God had set his love on in John he said I’m going to give you a good king first the prototype and David later the god man Savior Messiah Jesus so for the sake of his love and for the sake of his good purposes of bringing that ultimate King to come God granted evils Israel’s evil motivated request for a king so what happens next well we won’t take the time to read the next few chapters but I’ll sum up a little bit of what we see in first samuel 9 to 12 God raises up a man named Saul tall handsome kingly looking Benjamite to be Israel’s first king God tells Samuel to anoint saw with the holy oil from the tabernacle designating Saul as God’s chosen and set apart King really–that’s Messiah this is the Anointed One he’s specially set apart to Yahweh God then changes Saul’s heart God’s Spirit comes upon Saul and power saw for all the responsibilities of kingship and at his coronation Saul actually tries to hide himself he’s not ready to become King doesn’t feel worthy to become king but people find him and they they proclaim him King and this new kingdom of Israel this is the first time we see a kingdom in Israel it starts very optimistically ammonites so people on the eastern side of Israel one of their neighbors they rise up and attack an Israelite city and saw empowered by the Spirit of God he goes and delivers Israel but even Kings are not immune to the principle that we saw last time with Samuel Eli those who honor me I will honor but those who despise me will be lightly esteemed when Saul begins to turn away from God the kingship becomes a curse both on Israel and on Sol himself let’s see how this happens take a look at first Samuel 13 first Samuel 13 we’re gonna start in verse 5 I’ll sum up verses 1 to 4 Saul has just kicked off another war with Philistia he smote one of the Garrison’s that they had in Canaan they’re ready to fight Israel therefore he summons all Israel to get ready to fight against the Philistines but digital summons their armies – and let’s see let’s see how that plays out verse 5 / Samuel 13 now the Philistines assembled to fight with Israel thirty thousand chariots and six thousand horsemen and people like the sand which is on the seashore and abundance ‘no came and camped in mcNeish east of Beth even when the men of Israel saw that they were in a strait the people were hard-pressed and the people hid themselves in caves and thickets and cliffs and cellars Henan pits also some of the Hebrews crossed the Jordan into the land of ganon gillian but as for saw he was still in Gilgal and all the people followed him trembling now he waited seven days according to the appointed time set by Samuel but Samuel did not come to Gilgal and the people were scattering from him so saul said bring to me the bird offering and the peace offerings he offered the burnt offering as soon as he finished offering the burnt offering behold samuel came and saw went out to meet him and to greet him but Samuel said what have you done and Saul said because I saw that the people were scattering from me and that you did not come within the appointed days and that the Philistines were assembling at mcmaster for I said now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal well I have not asked the favor of Yahweh so I forced myself and offered the burnt offering Samuel said to Saul you have acted foolishly you have not kept the commandment of Yahweh your God which he commanded you for now Yahweh would have established your kingdom over Israel forever but now your kingdom shall know the ahwe has sought out for himself a man after his own heart and yahweh has appointed him as ruler over his people because you have not kept what Yahweh commanded you and Samuel arose and went up from Gilgal to Gibeah of Benjamin and saw number the people who are present with him about six hundred men start again with observations on this section and verse five we hear about this Philistine army that’s assembled against Israel it’s composed of people like the sand of the sea along with six thousand horsemen and thirty thousand or maybe more likely three thousand in the original text six thousand horsemen and three thousand chariots remember chariots were feared war machines now initial sees what they’re up against that is Israel do they run and hide if you look at that huge army look at their machines we can’t win against them they scatter from salt now there are some who stay with Saul but they’re few they’re trembling they’re getting them fewer and fewer every day in verse 15 were told Saul’s down to just six hundred people by the time Samuel arise Saul was at Gilgal a certain town waiting for Samuel and verse 8 tells that verse 8 tells us that Saul waits for Samuel seven days according to the appointed time set by Samuel Samuel apparently had said to Saul I’m gonna come within seven days wait for me I’m gonna offer sacrifices and I’m gonna give you direction seven days have gone by or most of seven days has gone by and there’s no sign of Samuel and people were scattering from Saul battled with the Philistine Horde is quickly approaching Samuel is not come so Saul commands that the animals for the peace and burnt offerings to God be brought to Saul and he will offer them himself without Samuel but as soon as he’s done sacrificing the burnt offering what happens Samuel arrives it’s like in a movie right very cinematic it’s like the smoke of the altar goes up and when it clears for just a moment being there Samuel just standing there still within the appointed time now there’s the end of verse 10 it’s kinda a little bit surprising you might expect that Shaw would be a little sheepish but he goes out to meet and greet Samuel like everything’s great Samuel says to Saul what have you done but notice Saul’s response he gives three reasons for why he’s offered the sacrifice now now Samuel I can explain the people were scattering from me you didn’t come in the appointed time and the Philistines are gathering a Mick rash and I hadn’t asked you always favor yet via sacrifice notice how he concludes his defense in verse 12 Saul he says I forced myself to offer the sacrifice what is noticeably missing from Saul’s words to Samuel any confession of sin any sort of repentance and so how does Samuel respond it does not give any credibility to solace defenses and say oh oh okay I understand now he instead declares five truths – saw he says you’ve done foolishly you’ve disobeyed God’s command you could have had your kingdom establish perpetually but now your kingdom shall not endure God will raise up someone else to rule a man after his own heart Sam and then leave saw with his few trembling troops that’s not a good place to be left let’s quickly ask a few interpretation questions again now that we’ve observed Saul does not admit any guilt here instead his defense is clearly an effort at what is it not blame-shifting it’s not my fault that people were scattering I had to do something to keep them here and inspire them it’s the people’s fault if they’d stuck around I wouldn’t had to do this or it’s not my fault Samuel you didn’t come on time I had to do something since you failed or it’s not my fault look that Philistines are ready to attack I had to do something to get God on my side if I weren’t for the Philistines I wouldn’t have done it and none of these are sufficient excuses what’s even more interesting is when Saul says he forced himself I forced myself to do it what does this phrase imply about Saul’s action it implies a certain necessity and even nobility and what Saul did you know I really didn’t want to do it but I I was strong enough to overcome my feelings that told me not to do it for the greater good I had to do what was necessary I was strong enough to do it I was able to force myself yeah I know it’s crazy to go do this without You Samuel but I was able to do it here’s the king of Israel raised up by God himself but he’s not leading the people to follow after God in faith what’s he doing he is sinning against God himself and setting a terrible example for Israel but before we analyze Saul further and what’s really going on in his heart let’s take a look and another great failure that saw participates in in 1st Samuel 15 turn over to 1st a mule 15 in the intervening text Jonathan the son of Saul acts full of faith in God and he initiates deliverance against the Philistines the Philistines flee remember these massive Philistines Philistines flee from Jonathan Israel pursues God grants victory Saul then fights a number of other wars with Israel’s neighbors and Saul performers valiantly and then God sends a message to Saul in 1st Samuel 15 first name of 15 in verses 1 to 3 God commands Saul to completely destroy the Amalekites that’s a people who lived in a kind of southern section of Canaan completely destroy the men women children and their animals why because the how the Amalekites treated Israel and Israel came up from Egypt and went to go into the Promised Land the Amalekites opposes you’ll even attacked Israel God says I’m remembering that and now it’s time for judgment Saul you’ve been officially commissioned to be my agent of judgment and utterly destroy this pea and they’re animals let’s see how salt responds to this commission from God follow along with me starting in verse 4 of chapter 15 it says then solve some of the people and numbered them into Lane two hundred thousand foot soldiers and ten thousand men of Judah Saul came to the city of Amalek and set an ambition the valley it’s all said to the key Knights go depart from among the Amalekites so that I do not destroy you with them for you showed kindness to all the sons of Israel when they came up from Egypt so the key Knights departed from among the Amalekites so Saul defeated the Amalekites from Havilah as you go to sure which is east of Egypt he captured a gag the king and the Amalekites alive and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword but Saul and the people spared a gang and the best of the Sheep the oxen the fatlings the Lambs and all that was good and we’re not willing to destroy them utterly but everything despised and worthless that they utterly destroyed when he keep going here in the word of Yahweh came to Samuel saying I regret that I have made Saul King for he has turned back from following me and has not carried out my commands samuel was distressed it cried out to Yahweh all night samuel rose early in the morning to meet saul and it was told Samuel saying this all came to Carmel and behold he set up a monument for himself then turned and proceeded on down to Gilgal Samuel came to Saul and Saul said to him blessed are you of Yahweh I have carried out the command of Yahweh but Samuel said what then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears and the lowing of the oxen which I hear Saul said they have brought them from the Amalekites for the people spared the best of the sheep and oxen to sacrifice to Yahweh your God but the rest we have utterly destroyed and Samuel said to Saul wait and let me tell you what you always said to me last night and he said to him speak Samuel said is it not true though you were little in your own eyes you were the head of the tribes of Israel and Yahweh anointed you king over Israel and you always sent you on a mission and said go and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites and fight against them until they are exterminated why then did you not obey the voice of Yahweh but rushed upon the spoil and did what was evil in the sight of Yahweh then Saul said to Samuel I did abate a voice of Yahweh and went on the mission on which he always sent me in a broad pack a gag the king of Amalek and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites but the people took some of the spoil sheep and oxen the choices of the things devoted to destruction to sacrifice to Yahweh your God at Gilgal Samuel said has the always much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of Yahweh behold to obey is better than sacrifice and to heed then the fat of rams for rebellion is as the sin of divination an insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry because you have rejected the word of Yahweh he has also rejected you from being king then Saul said to Samuel I have sinned have indeed transgressed the command of Yahweh and your words because I feared the people and listen to their voice now therefore please pardon my sin and return with me and I may worship Yahweh Oh Samuel said to Saul I will not return with you for you have rejected the word of Yahweh and Yahweh has rejected you from being king over Israel as Samuel started to turn to go Saul seized the edge of his robe at or so Samuel said to him Yahweh has joined the kingdom of Israel from you today and giving it to your neighbor who is better than you also the glory of Israel will not lie or change his mind for he is not a man that he should change his mind and he said I have sinned but please honor me now before the elders of my people and before Israel and go back with me that I may worship Yahweh your God so Samuel went back following salt and saw worshiped Yahweh then Samuel said bring me a gag the king of the Amalekites and a guy came to him cheerfully and a guy said surely the bitterness of death has passed but Samuel said as your sword has made women childless so shall your mother be childless among women and Samuel hewed a gag to pieces before Yahweh at Gilgal and Samuel went to Rhema but Saul went up to his house at Gibeah of Saul Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death for Samuel grieved over Saul and Yahweh regretted that he had made Saul king over Israel this is much larger section there’s a lot we could say about it let’s just make certain observations with the time that we have so I’ll received a commission from God but how did Saul respond to that Commission did he fulfill what God called him to do all Saul destroys most of the Amalekites but he spares the king and he spares the best of the livestock also here later on in the scriptures that they’re still Amalekite people that Saul spared as well because they’re going to come back to afflict Israel so Saul is not complete in his charge or in his obedience to God any response God tells Samuel that God regrets making Saul King Saul’s disobedient Samuel too is distressed over Saul and he cries out all night to God then Samuel goes to meet Saul but when he does he hears that Saul’s moved on to a different place but in the meantime according to verse 12 what is all done he set up a monument oh good a monument to Yahweh oh no this is a monument to himself a monument to Saul samuel finally catches up with saul notice Saul’s reception of Samuel he blesses Samuel and reports that he saw has fulfilled God’s command then Samuel asked pointedly why do I hear all the sounds of animals it’s all explained so well you know the people and not me they brought the animals to sacrifice to God samer mine saw how God made Saul King Saul used to be humble God made him King and then God commissioned saw specifically just to destroy all the Amalekites and their animals Samuel asked Saul why did you not obey God Saul notice in verse 20 he insist that he has obeyed God but the people were the ones who took the spoil as sacrifices then Samuel says some pretty profound poetry points out the sauce and basic truths to God what is better than any sacrifice or religious ritual obedience what is worse than even divination or idol worship disobedience and he solemnly pronounces on Saul because you have rejected God in his word God has rejected you from being King hey reiterating what he had said before this is doubly confirmed Saul you will not be king over Israel now soul does something surprising in verse 24 he admits his sin he confesses his sin and the reason for it and noticed the reason he says I feared the people I didn’t want to lose their approval or support that’s why I did it he asks for Samuels pardon and then he asked for Samuel to go with him to worship sano refuses says I’m not going with you you rejected God solvent seizes Samuels garment you gotta imagine that must’ve been a somewhat forceful grab and garment tears then Samuel reiterates to saw that God has torn the kingdom from Saul is gonna give it to a better man he says that God will not change his mind about this because God is not a man that he should change his mind and then Saul confesses his sin again but then requests that Samuel go with him to worship and notice the reason verse 30 that you or that I might be honored before the elders and the people of Israel samuel acquiesces and he follow Saul and worships together before the people then notice samuel does something that Saul would not do he calls for a gag to be brought forth he kills a gang but not just kills it says he hewed him or he hacked him to pieces he cut a gag into little bits now well first of all that’s a little gory second of all Wow Samuel is an old man and he’s doing this that’s what he does Samuel stalled and separate and were told that Samuel continues to grieve over Saul and God again we’re told regrets making Saul king over Israel so again not a super happy section but a very instructive one now that we’ve made these observations let’s go again to interpretation questions yeah mark you mentioned a few comments it is interesting that Saul says your God Yahweh your God doesn’t say my god is that loaded with significance possibly maybe he didn’t feel right saying my god so there’s a little bit of a conscience working on him but let’s have some interpretation questions why does Samuel hack a gag to pieces I mean it’s not a little much well clearly this is an object lesson isn’t it Saul was not careful to obey the whole command of God and he left some of it undone but Samuel in contrast he’s careful to obey God’s Word so much that he will utterly make sure that it is done not just by running a gag through but by cutting him into little bits Saul you see what you should have done something like this now the question of obedience is never how little do I need to do before it’s sin the question instead is how much can I do to make sure that I fully please God if you find yourself thinking in terms of bare minimums what’s the minimum I have to do to leave my family spiritually what’s the minimum I have to do to be involved in the church if you’re thinking that way you were thinking foolishly you’re thinking the opposite of Samuel here is thinking more like Saul why had salt left egg AG alive in the first place you kill all the rest why did you leave their King alive we don’t know text doesn’t tell us in particular but likely just because of the behavior of other Kings at this time it was to treat him as a trophy Kings often would show off other captive kings as symbol of their own power their own glory if you’ve had a little collection of King to conquered that would make you seem like a really great they’re really great King a really great Conqueror so Sol’s indulging in that when Saul is confronted over his disobedience what do we see him doing again protesting his innocence and shifting blame now this time they saw eventually admits his sin and he even admits their reason for his sin it was because he feared the people now why would fear of man why would fear of the people cause Saul to leave the best animals alive can you see the connection well the people wanted these animals and Saul was afraid of opposing that desire if I force these people to give up the animals that they really wants well people might turn against me maybe they won’t support me in my wars anymore or maybe they’ll remove me as king so I got to keep the people on my side I have to let them take the animals that’s what Saul was thinking Saul admits this he admits his sin but does he repent of it does he actually turn from this fear of man and turned back to fearing Yahweh I think the answer is clearly no and how do we know that from the passage look the way he treats Samuel at the end Saul insists that Samuel go with him why so that Saul might be honored in front of the people he admits his fear of man but then he says please help me indulge my fear of man don’t let me be Dishonored you walk out of here with that disapproving face everybody’s gonna know that you rebuked me please don’t do that come with me worship with me show me that you show everyone that you support me I need that it’s all still behaving according to the same paradigm that he was behaving before he craves the honor and support of the people and he says Samuel you can’t leave I need you to honor me he doesn’t change so in these last two passengers in first Samuel 13 and 4 same of 15 we see Saul committing serious sins direct rebellion against Yahweh he’s not waiting for Samuel in order to get God’s direction or offer sacrifices he’s deliberately disobeying God’s charge and his mission against the Amalekites but based on what we’ve seen and heard of Saul what heart sins are at the root of his disobedience Saul partially said it himself but is it not both pride and fear of man now he’s committing certain external sins but they’re all motivated by these two factors pride and fear of man Saul thinks nothing of making monuments to himself showing off captured kings as trophies and excusing his sins is actually piety I forced myself Samuel this is because Saul has turned away from that humble perspective he had he now sees himself as deserving of honor praise submission support doesn’t remember the only God really deserves these things and anything that Saul has including his kingship is a gift it’s a gift from God to be gratefully accepted and responsibly exercise but not clung to y’all way to what seems best to him don’t sin in order to keep some treasure that Yahweh has given you Saul also fears fears man he fears the desertion of the Israelites he fears the onslaught of the Philistines he fears the animosity to soldiers after they plundered the Amalekites at all costs Israel wants to secure the approval of his fellow Israelites because Saul thinks if the Israelites are on my side and I can protect what I really really value I can protect the kingship I can stroke my pride and I can secure myself against the enemies of Israel if I just have the people on my side I’ll be safe you can see there’s a parallel between what we’ve seen in first time you’ll eight and what we’ve seen in these latter two chapters I see between a Judah you mentioned a verse we’re going to come back to that verse in the end because it’s a good summary of what we’re seeing here but there’s the same error in judgment made by Israel as made by Saul do you see it in both instances there is a foolish trust in the visible the visible things of the world over the invisible God while the king was the fleshly source of security for the Israelites oh we just had a strong King we’ll be safe the people were the fleshly source of security for salt off I just had their support I’ll be safe we’ll be safe and when it came to battles Saul performed bravely when the numbers were on his side but when victory looked impossible Saul despaired along with the people even in his devotion to God Saul look to externals rather than the internal essence twice Saul figures that he can just sacrifice the correct animals to God and that will be more important than actually obeying God that will cover it Saul just like Asia was not willing to put his trust in the invisible God for deliverance but instead he looked to people he looked to worldly wisdom he looked to his own performance he looked to rituals in order to get what he wanted and get what he needed or what he thought he needed but in this is fatal miscalculation Saul essentially rejected God as did Israel and thus God rejected Saul no Saul’s life I will see this more Saul’s life is really a profound warning to us today by clinging tightly to the kingship and longing inordinately for the approval of people salt ensured that he would lose the kingship and be disapproved by God you know because that is often when it comes down to which do you love more the approval of men in the approval Oh God Saul loved and trusted in earthly treasures more than God and in doing so he ended up losing both his earthly treasures and God it’s the most foolish calculation it’s like what Jesus says in Matthew 16:25 Matthew 16:25 for whoever wishes to save his life will lose it but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it this is fundamental to Christianity right this is fundamental to true religion the way up is the way down if you want security exultation vindication it comes by humbling yourself before God proceeding after him in obedience letting go of all the treasures of the world letting go of any Idol that you had did you cling to anything in the world you say no this is great I need this I must have this well what’s the inevitable result that thing won’t satisfy you that thing won’t secure you and you can’t keep it you lose it and even worse you’ll lose gone your God says you can’t serve me and idols at the same time consider the exact opposite of what Jesus says to his disciples in Matthew 6 at the 6:30 but seek seek first the Lord and his kingdom and all these things all these physical things all these things you worry about are often get tempted to be concerned about these things will be added to you God will take care of it I mean isn’t this the most basically wise calculation that you can make hmm turn against God trust in man I won’t get the things I need and I’ll lose God or trust in God receive God in eternal life and get God’s perfect perfect provision in my life who wouldn’t do that well it takes faith it takes an uncomfortable faith doesn’t it it takes that humbling yourself before God Saul was not willing to do which Israel was not willing to do and thus they reap the consequences of their proud way now pride and fear man they really do go together and even as Christians those can be things that we fall into the Spirit is speaking to us from this passage that we are to turn away from that just repent from that faulty way of thinking that proud way of thinking and instead fall after God trust in God we’re now essentially moving into application now and let’s do that in a more formal way I kind of had to restrain myself in terms of applications from this passage because there’s so many that we could talk about especially when it comes to the fear of man and dealing with sin at a root level but I’m just gonna boil it down into two main applications I hope that you’ll consider continue to meditate over these passages and what you’ve heard today consider these things more and how they should make a difference in your life but to two applications I want to bring to your attention two main applications remember always the third aspect of Bible study it’s not really complete until you’ve applied it we’re meant to be changed by the Word of God so how are we meant to be changed number one be we’re trusting and the broken reeds of this world now I say broken Reed I’m referring to well actually this is a phrase used in the scriptures somebody says and you know Israel’s trusting in that broken Reed of Egypt that if a man leads on it it will break and it will pierce his hand and you know what the securities of this world that just like that they’re broken Reed’s when you try and lean on it not only does it not support you but it the the sharp part of it goes right into your hand and cuts you that’s what it’s like when you turn to some false security some uncertain security of this world and we’re very tempted to do this right and our better moments when we’re thinking so billion we’re thinking scripturally yeah we say oh no I trust God but so often we’re tempted to depart from God and trust in something else look for something else for our security or satisfaction the government our health the love and support of friends and family at popularity hardwork medicine and technology many things sinful flesh wants to go to these things and and try and cling to them for security why because they’re visible and because having them seems to suggest you won’t need to rely on God anymore oh I don’t have to worry look at all the money we’ve saved I’ll have to worry I’ve got all these friends who can support me support us if things start going badly but will any of these anything like them truly secure you from life’s troubles well they always keep you safe in at peace far from it any of these so called sources of security they will bring with them troubles themselves and they can all be lost in an instant money health technology medicine friends they can all be lost and they often are brothers and sisters I just not be taken in by the fall of if I only had blank then I could be happy and secure but until then uh I just I can’t be at rest if you’re thinking that way while relying on the broken reeds of the world will never find true security never find true peace and worse will put in danger our eternal security because God says if your trusting is something else you’re not trusting in me and that that brings judgment none of these things money technology then doctors secure eternal life for you that’s only in the mercy and grace of God in Jesus Christ so really for both why look to the broken reeds of the world for your provision in this life and also for your provision in the life to come and certainly don’t pray to God that you might receive some worldly security so that you don’t need him anymore now we all want to express this to God but in our heart sometimes we can be thinking this right oh god I just really want you to change this situation so I’m not so forced to rely on you that’s not trust and the broken reads of the world but what instead should we do trust our invisible and faithful God this is the same lesson that God is trying to teach Israel again and again in the Old Testament and it’s the same lesson that we need to learn to everything on earth will fail but God will not yes he will make his people exercise uncomfortable faith he will bring about glorious deliverance at the right time but it’s maybe not the time that you want or the time that you expect it will require you to humble yourself and say god knows what he’s doing I don’t deserve anything God is being gracious to me God is the only steadfast rock he is the sovereign Lord he can and will take care of you if you will look to him you can know that if you have God nothing truly can shake you now if you stand up for God if you follow after God it may cost you it may cost you dearly it may cost you even those things that we would otherwise cling to for security may cost you your money may cost you your possessions may cost you your friends even your family but you know what if it does you will still be alright why because you have God you have the rock what else do you need you know the words of Martin Luther’s famous hymn a mighty fortress is our God the last verse says let Goods and kindred go this mortal life also the body they may kill God’s truth abideth still his kingdom is forever if you know God and Jesus Christ who is the only Savior then you have an unshakeable secure place in the kingdom of God a kingdom that will not pass away if you have that and if you have God on your side why fear why fear man why fear the loss of anything in this world you won’t lose what you ultimately need you won’t lose any ultimate treasure you won’t lose God and you won’t lose your place in God’s kingdom where you will dwell with him and he with you so what does this mean we need to take this truth seriously we need to actually start living by faith and not by sight this is something that we can so easily affirm with our mouths and yet not do practically with our lives you know I was thinking about this I was part of a Bible study yesterday where we were talking all about the sovereignty of God God is indeed sovereign but do we actually live in light of that truth I mean if if God is really all-powerful and he’s really on our side then why are we so fearful all the time why do it’s like a slight challenge come to our faith and we say oh no what am I going to do instead of realizing I have gone on my side yeah things might be a little difficult but the Lord will provide why am I gonna fear when the scripture says the same thing if God is for us who can be against us and then one of the song says by our by my god I can run against a troop I can face a whole troop of enemies by my god I can leap over a wall I don’t know about you but it’s pretty difficult to leap over a wall but he says if God is with me and I know he can enable me to do whatever he’s called me to do why be afraid so ask yourselves I mean actually I should say this first this may sound really radical but it’s basic to being a Christian isn’t this fundamental to being a follower of Christ no longer fear the world or man but instead fear God Revere God say I at the uttermost I do not want to dishonor God I don’t want to with my life by submitting to anxiety and fear by say essentially to God God I can’t trust you you’re not worthy of my trust and you just haven’t given me a good enough track record to believe you a reverence for God what’s nothing to do with that kind of thinking or heart speaking it says no oh God I want you are the true God and you were totally worthy of my trust and adoration what you’ll provide this will be hard maybe this will be hard maybe it won’t be the Lord you’ll provide so where do you need to apply this truth in your life it’s fundamental we’re gonna hear it again and again the scriptures where do you need to apply it today where’s that that aspect of fearing man or just fear in general where you say oh I don’t know if I can trust God you can trust God and if you are willing to if we blessed and you’ll be vindicated but if you’re not willing to remember Saul remember Israel and their fear they rejected God in order to obtain the favor of man but what did they receive the rejection of God you don’t want to be rejected by God not when such a blessed alternative exists as was referred to in the comments proverbs 29:25 the fear of man brings a snare but he who trusts in Yahweh will be exalted that’s a promise and you can take hold of it because God’s Word is true some other comments there I noticed from Mark John 12 43 we saw people didn’t go after Christ because they loved the approval of men rather than the approval of God and that is a snare and mark also mentions Hebrews 12 27 29 we have a kingdom that cannot be shaken we have a God who is with us so we don’t have to fear yeah Rory mentioned you another who really mentions another application this is fundamental when it comes to the gospel right proclaiming the gospel we fear the reaction of people and that’s often why we don’t speak but let’s remember we have God on our side they don’t have anything on their side their arm is the arm of flesh to use scriptural language but our strength is in the Lord if God is working that person’s heart he will turn even if you don’t give an imperfect presentation his heart will believe maybe not immediately maybe you’re just planting a seed but why are you afraid be faithful God will vindicate you and any negative response you get you won’t really be able to shake you now of course we nobody wants a hostile response nobody wants people that to dislike them and hate them and it hurts it hurts whenever you experienced that but it shouldn’t unduly shake you it shouldn’t rattle you to your core and you say oh I I will never do that again because that’s not the heart of faith and that’s not the heart that is intent on pleasing the Lord above all that’s the heart that fears man we don’t want that again remember the example of Saul well that’s it for this week if you have other questions or comments as others have done you can post them in the chat hall I’ll stay around a little bit afterwards to interact with you of course you can always email me at Daffy cap osha at gmail.com next week we look at what has already been alluded to in this lesson God says I’m raising up a different King a king after my own heart and we’re gonna see how God indeed does that with certain shepherd young shepherd named David God’s true king will come to Israel through David but even he is just the prototype of a much greater king that we have in Jesus Christ let’s close our time of study with prayer Heavenly Father we thank you for your word and we know that this is a challenging word from your spirit today because it gets to what is a fundamental conflict that we all have in our cell which is the fear of man versus the fear of you Oh God deliver us from the fear of man deliver us Lord from our lying on mere flesh first strength and security Jeremiah 17 Lord I’m reminded of that text says cursed is the man who trusts in mankind it makes flesh his strength but later on it says but blessed is the man who makes the ahwe his trust and his strength Lord we want that enable us to do that God we know it will require us to be humble it will require our repentance and letting go of any earthly treasure but please spirit of God enable us to do that Lord if any have been fundamentally trusting in something else other than you for security in this world and salvation in the next I pray that they would repent and I thought today Lord they would repent and believe in the only Savior in rock Jesus Christ I want to pray that you bless the rest of the time of worship and learning today and thank you for these people who have turned into listen I pray that you would work wonderfully in their lives in Jesus name Amen well thank you all again for joining me in this time of steady I’ll hang around for a little bit afterwards if you would like to ask a question or share a comment but otherwise I’ll see you in the other livestream service and I’ll see you next week