The House of Saul
A Lesson on a Lack of Obedience to God
King Saul was a mess from the very beginning.
My wife and I recently finished watching The House of David on Amazon. And while I am sure there are a lot of opinions about the show, it inspired me to go back and read through Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles.
In doing so, I decided that I would deep dive King Saul, King David, and King Solomon. And while I am still working my way through King Saul’s reign as the first king of Israel, I have found that his reign was a hot mess from the very beginning.
Yet, today, what I wanted to look at was one particular chapter of his story. Which is where The House of David picks up for the first season, but this chapter of the Bible explains to me something that many of us need to understand: obedience.
And more specifically, the result of a lack of obedience.
1 Samuel 15: The Downfall of Saul
Before we get into the downfall of Saul, I want to share something about him and his family that you find in the previous chapter. Right at the end of the previous chapter, we read about Saul’s Kingdom.
In this short section (1 Samuel 14:47-52) we learn that Saul has many military successes against the enemies of Israel. We also learn about his family, three sons and two daughters. And we learn that if you were a strong, young man, you were conscripted into the army because Saul’s Kingdom fought constantly with the Philistines.
This section would make you think that he had a successful Kingdom in all that he had done and in his family. But the reality is that his disobedience to God would be his downfall. And it comes in the form of a call, an action, and a justification.
The Call of Saul
“This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies has declared: I have decided to settle accounts with the nation of Amalek for opposing Israel when they came from Egypt, Now go and completely destroy the entire Amalekite nation—men, women, children, babies, cattle, sheep, goats, camels, and donkeys.” - 1 Samuel 15: 2-3
Saul is called to wipe out the Amalek people completely. No one is to be left alive. Not even their livestock. God comes to Samuel, gives this message for Saul with specific instructions, and then Saul is to carry it out.
Now, I could see how this might be a difficult thing to do for a king. Wipe out and entire nation? Men, women, children, and their livestock? I can completely understand how that is a tall order.
Yet, that is the order. That is the call of Saul. Take up the Israelite army and wipe out the Amalek people. Now, there are a few thing to understand about this people group, first they are descendants of Esau. The judgement upon them is for the way the Amalek people ambushed the Israelites as they fled Egypt.
Nevertheless, there is a history between Amalek and Israel, and God is now calling for the accounts to be settled.
The Action of Saul
Then Saul slaughtered the Amalekites from Havilah all the way to Shur, east of Egypt. He captured Agag, the Amalekite king, but completely destroyed everyone else. Saul and his men spared Agag’s life and kept the best of the sheep and goats, the cattle, the fat calves, and the lambs—everything, in fact, that appealed to them. They destroyed only what was worthless or of poor quality. - 1 Samuel 15:7-9
Saul get’s the army together and marches out into battle against the Amalekites. As with almost every other battle Saul takes Israel into, they win the day. But, they do not follow the call that God gave them going into the battle. The action is there, but it is not completely carried out.
Instead of wiping out everyone and every livestock animal, Saul decides to capture King Agag and kept all of the Amalekite’s finest animals. It says that they kept everything that appealed to them.
Saul’s action was a partial obedience. Yes, he wiped out the people. Well, all except the King who is the representation of the people. Yes, they wiped out some animals. Well, all that were of poor quality, but they kept the good ones because they liked these animals.
They didn’t follow God’s command, his call, and they didn’t do it out of their own selfish desires. This leads to the downfall of Saul. But Saul tries to cover his tracks.
The Justifications of Saul
“It’s true that the army spared the best of the sheep, goats, and cattle,” Saul admitted. “But they are going to sacrifice them to the Lord your God. We have destroyed everything else.” - 1 Samuel 15:15
God speaks to Samuel again, and tells him how he regrets putting Saul on the thrown of Israel and how Saul has disobeyed him. And while this distresses Samuel and he pleads to God for a second chance for Saul, it is confirmed that things are about to change.
Samuel goes to Saul to tell him what he heard from God, but Saul acts like he did exactly what God does. When Samuel confronts him with the reality that Saul failed to obey God, Saul gives this week justification that they kept the animals for sacrifice.
Saul repeatedly attempts to justify his actions. Even when Samuel reminds him exactly what God said, Saul refuses to accept that he failed to obey God. And at this point, this lack of obedience and lack of repentance leads to the downfall of Saul
Obedience is Better than Sacrifice
But Samuel replied, “What is more pleasing to the Lord: your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to his voice? Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission is better than offering the fat of rams. Rebellion is as sinful as witchcraft, and stubbornness as bad as worshiping idols. So because you have rejected the command of the Lord , he has rejected you as king.” - 1 Samuel 15:22-23
Saul rejected the Lord’s command and so, God rejected Saul as king.
There is a lesson in this for our lives today. We are reminded that when God calls us to do something, we need to follow through with it. Completely. He doesn’t want half the action, he wants all of it.
And he doesn’t want to bargain with us. He wants us to go all-in with him. To live a life of obedience. And live out our faith through trusting him and obeying his commands on our lives.
Now, I’m not talking about rules and regulations. I’m talking about convictions God has placed in your life. These are the things that God has spoken to you and wants you to be about and to do in your life.
Our obedience is better than our giving. Our obedience is better than our ritual. God wants us to obey when he calls us into something. Sure, you might wrestle with him on the front end, but he wants your action to be 100%.
Spend some time asking God today if there have been places in your life where you haven’t been obedient to the calls in your life. Confess, repent, and then follow through with what God has placed on your life.
J.R. HEIMBIGNER is a #1 Bestselling Christian Author on Amazon who writes about faith and writing books. You can pick up my other books here:
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