1Samuel, chapter 15, comments

 

1Samuel 15:1 ¶  Samuel also said unto Saul, The LORD sent me to anoint thee to be king over his people, over Israel: now therefore hearken thou unto the voice of the words of the LORD. 2  Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way, when he came up from Egypt. 3  Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass. 4  And Saul gathered the people together, and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand footmen, and ten thousand men of Judah. 5  And Saul came to a city of Amalek, and laid wait in the valley. 6  And Saul said unto the Kenites, Go, depart, get you down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them: for ye shewed kindness to all the children of Israel, when they came up out of Egypt. So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites. 7  And Saul smote the Amalekites from Havilah until thou comest to Shur, that is over against Egypt. 8  And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. 9  But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them: but every thing that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly.

 

Samuel gives a direct order to Saul to destroy everything that Amalek has, both human and animals. Read Exodus, chapter 17, starting in verse 8. Here Amalek refers to the descendants of the king who fought against Israel.

 

Exodus 17:16  For he said, Because the LORD hath sworn that the LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.

 

Saul separated the Kenites from the Amalekites due to their past kindness to Israel. Moses’ father in law was a Kenite.

 

Judges 1:16  And the children of the Kenite, Moses’ father in law, went up out of the city of palm trees with the children of Judah into the wilderness of Judah, which lieth in the south of Arad; and they went and dwelt among the people.

 

As was the slayer of Sisera.

 

Judges 4:17  Howbeit Sisera fled away on his feet to the tent of Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite: for there was peace between Jabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite.

 

Judges 5:24  Blessed above women shall Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite be, blessed shall she be above women in the tent.

 

But Saul disobeyed Samuel and did not destroy every animal and person even sparing Agag the king of the Amalekites.

 

1Samuel 15:10 ¶  Then came the word of the LORD unto Samuel, saying, 11  It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king: for he is turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandments. And it grieved Samuel; and he cried unto the LORD all night. 12  And when Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning, it was told Samuel, saying, Saul came to Carmel, and, behold, he set him up a place, and is gone about, and passed on, and gone down to Gilgal. 13  And Samuel came to Saul: and Saul said unto him, Blessed be thou of the LORD: I have performed the commandment of the LORD. 14  And Samuel said, What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear? 15  And Saul said, They have brought them from the Amalekites: for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed. 16  Then Samuel said unto Saul, Stay, and I will tell thee what the LORD hath said to me this night. And he said unto him, Say on. 17  And Samuel said, When thou wast little in thine own sight, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel, and the LORD anointed thee king over Israel? 18  And the LORD sent thee on a journey, and said, Go and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they be consumed. 19  Wherefore then didst thou not obey the voice of the LORD, but didst fly upon the spoil, and didst evil in the sight of the LORD? 20  And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the LORD, and have gone the way which the LORD sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. 21  But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God in Gilgal. 22  And Samuel said, Hath 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 hearken than the fat of rams. 23  For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king.

 

What is repenteth as used in this context. Let’s go back to my comments in Genesis.

“Genesis 6:6 ¶  And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. 7  And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.

What does the idiomatic expression, it repented the Lord, mean?

Judges 2:18  And when the LORD raised them up judges, then the LORD was with the judge, and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge: for it repented the LORD because of their groanings by reason of them that oppressed them and vexed them.

Something is presented to God that, by His very nature, He will not ignore, even though He knew, by virtue of His omniscience, that it would happen. The wickedness of mankind grieved God at His heart and demanded a certain path which He had prepared in His foreknowledge. Because the expression, it repented the Lord, like most idiomatic expressions, has a meaning that goes beyond simply the definitions of the individual words strung together it requires us to use our reasoning ability, something we do not like to do when someone is willing to spoonfeed us their own careless reading.

By the context the creation of mankind repented the Lord because it grieved Him at His heart and His purpose is to erase the life He created, not just man, because it repented Him.

The word repent clearly in other contexts in the Bible means to turn from something or to change one’s mind about something. Here, as part of this expression it means more than that. By viewing this context we see that the Lord was grieved by mankind’s wickedness as the definition of how the Lord was repented by something. The Lord did not repent or change His mind or turn from something He planned. Something repented Him with the Lord being the object of the phrase and not the subject, as mankind’s wickedness caused Him to grieve. We all understand this. We have known something sickening was coming in our minds but still were sickened by it when it came to pass and we required ourselves to go to the next action. I know my child is going to fall down but he must learn. Still, it anguishes me when it happens. I know I must grow old and weak, if I am to live, but it is not an easy thing to experience. Man has disappointed God, but He knew He would. It doesn’t make the experience any more comfortable. From before the foundation of the world God knew He would come to live in a body and be tortured and murdered on the cross at Calvary but that foreknowledge didn’t make it any more pleasant.

Ephesians 1:4  According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:

Luke 22:44  And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.

We must understand that God is not a disinterested bystander to our affairs. He dearly loves His creation and loved all mankind, even the most wicked, at the cross of Calvary. What we do affects Him profoundly. If it were not so He would not have let us so much as touch Him.”

So here God was grieved that He had made Saul king by Saul’s disobedience but that is something He had to know would happen due to his omniscience, His knowing all things past and present.

 

In verse 13 Saul makes the claim that he has obeyed, a claim many Christians make, when neither he nor they have done any such thing.

 

Verse 22 says….Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. 23  For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.

 

This is a bold statement that we can take to our own hearts. When we disobey God it is akin to witchcraft and idolatry. As you and I study the books of the New Testament and see what God has called us to do and to think and to believe as Christians we have to understand that our rejection of what God calls for Christians to do and not to do is linked to witchcraft and idolatry, something we usually don’t think of.

 

Starting with loving God if we will not follow the precepts and admonitions given to us no amount of tithing or church attendance will erase that blot on our Christian life. We will and sometimes do quench the Holy Spirit’s influence as the very mind of God within us is ignored, much to our dismay and misery, if we indeed are saved.

 

Samuel declares that Saul’s kingship is doomed and will come to an end. God has rejected him from being king.

 

Finally, notice how Saul blames the people like Adam blamed Eve for his disobedience and Aaron blamed the Hebrews for his idolatrous behavior.

 

1Samuel 15:24 ¶  And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD, and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice. 25  Now therefore, I pray thee, pardon my sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship the LORD. 26  And Samuel said unto Saul, I will not return with thee: for thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD hath rejected thee from being king over Israel. 27  And as Samuel turned about to go away, he laid hold upon the skirt of his mantle, and it rent. 28  And Samuel said unto him, The LORD hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and hath given it to a neighbour of thine, that is better than thou. 29  And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent: for he is not a man, that he should repent. 30  Then he said, I have sinned: yet honour me now, I pray thee, before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and turn again with me, that I may worship the LORD thy God. 31  So Samuel turned again after Saul; and Saul worshipped the LORD.

 

Saul seems to be repentant and while that may have saved his soul from Hell it does not help him retain the kingdom because he has proven himself untrustworthy. Saul’s paranoia and enormous ego will be his downfall, added to his willingness to disobey God.

 

I think it is important to say that while you might forgive an employee who steals from your cash register or a teacher or preacher who is caught in some immoral act you would be a fool to restore them to their former position of trust as they have proven themselves unworthy. I can be in prison and ask honestly for forgiveness but understand that I may never be let out early as I have proven that I am untrustworthy. A plea for pardon is not a guarantee of a changed life, habits, or attitude. The adulterer may be forgiven, be pardoned by God, but never be trusted again with the sacred pledge of marriage. Your behavior reveals your character.

 

Verse 29 is very interesting. Although I’ve discussed in the previous passage how something repented God, this verse makes it clear that God doesn’t change His mind like men and women do. His repenting is based on His will and His foreknowledge of what mankind would do. Mankind’s repentance is based on regret and fear and self-disgust even. Here God is called by a name the Strength of Israel with the S capitalized.

 

Samuel grants Saul a respite from total humiliation in front of the elders of Israel by worshipping the Lord with him, something even enemies can agree to do if they believe in God.

 

1Samuel 15:32 ¶  Then said Samuel, Bring ye hither to me Agag the king of the Amalekites. And Agag came unto him delicately. And Agag said, Surely the bitterness of death is past. 33  And Samuel said, As thy sword hath made women childless, so shall thy mother be childless among women. And Samuel hewed Agag in pieces before the LORD in Gilgal. 34  Then Samuel went to Ramah; and Saul went up to his house to Gibeah of Saul. 35  And Samuel came no more to see Saul until the day of his death: nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul: and the LORD repented that he had made Saul king over Israel.

 

Samuel does Saul’s part for him by slaying the king of Amalekites. The wicked Agag thinks he has cheated death. But he is sorely mistaken. Agag is the ancestor of Haman, the villain of the book of Esther.

 

Esther 3:1  After these things did king Ahasuerus promote Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and advanced him, and set his seat above all the princes that were with him.

 

It is important to note here that Samuel mourns for Saul. Remember that God does not take pleasure in the destruction of the sinner. This is a recurring theme in Ezekiel.

 

Ezekiel 33:11  Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?