I SAMUEL 15 lesson # 15
ANOINTED TO LISTEN
This chapter stresses that outward religious actions or formal ceremony cannot be used as a substitutes for obeying the actual desires of God. Our job is to “hear” or “listen” to His voice, His commands, His desires, not do formal ceremonies that we like to do. Divinely anointed leadership is leadership that listens to God’s voice. To not listen invalidates the anointing.
I. Introduction:
Q Did you ever receive a gift for Christmas or your birthday that you did not like?
Q What if a wife really liked flowers but the husband always gave her candy? How would she feel?
Q What if the husband said: I have taken a survey and most wives prefer candy and since candy is easier to purchase on my way home from work that is what I am going to give you?
Q What is wrong with this husband?
An = He is not listening to his wife. He treats her as a type of wife but not as a real individual person who thinks and has a will.
Q What if someone gave you a gift that you did not really want and deliberately did not give you a gift you deeply desired? How would you feel?
Q If we truly love someone do we not have to love them in their own currency?
Note: We are going to read about Saul, who decided to do godly things, but they were not the things that God wanted.
II. The Straw That Broke the Camel’s Back: The Amalekite War. I Samuel 1
A. Getting Directions: Remembering That Godly Leadership Is Listening. I Samuel 15:1-3.
>>>> Have someone read I Samuel 15:1-3.
Q According to 15:1 what is the role of the one who is anointed of the Lord?
An = That person is to listen to the Words of the Lord.
Q What specific instructions did God give Saul through Samuel in 15:3?
An = Destroy everything that belongs to the Amalekites, everything. This is called in Hebrew “herim”. It is a term often called “holy war”, or in the Bible: “putting something under the ban”. It has a long history in Israel and every Israelite must have known about it. In a “holy war” there was to be no gain for the soldiers. Usually, soldiers were not paid for fighting, but got reimbursed by taking plunder from their enemies if they won. In a “holy war” or “ban” nothing was to be taken (Joshua 7) all was to “devoted to the Lord”. To disobey was to violate the direct command of the Lord.
The Amalekites were dirty plunderers who had robbed and murdered Israelites ever since they had come out of Egypt. They were known as wandering plunders that lived on the edge of civilization. Now the Lord was going to eliminate and judge these vile people. He had decided to use Saul. In Deuteronomy we learn that they would way-lay the weak and straggling of the Israelites and brutally attacked them (Deuteronomy 25:17-19).
Note: Show on the map where this battle probably took place.
B. Saul’s Response to Yahweh’s Word. I Samuel 15:4-9.
>>>> Have someone read I Samuel 15:4-9.
Q Was Saul successful militarily?
An = Yes he was. Also, he was kind and just to the Kenites who were innocent.
Q Who is the subject of almost every verb in 15:4-9?
An = Saul is, almost every time. Five times he is specifically named as the actor in these verses, and he is implied in two other sentences. The author clearly shows Saul as the key actor in these verses. The entire battle is cast as a response by Saul to the Lord’s command.
Q Did Saul and the Israelites obey the command of the Lord to destroy the Amalekites?
An = Yes and no. They did destroy Amalekites but Saul and the army decided to keep the best of the spoil and to keep (for some reason) the king alive.
III. The Encounter Between Saul and Samuel: Confrontation and Repentance. I Sam. 15:13-35.
A. God speaks to Samuel: His Regret About Saul. I Samuel 15:10-12.
>>>> Have someone read I Samuel 15:10-12.
Q According to 15:11 did Saul once follow the Lord?
An = Yes, he did. He now has turned from the Lord. Saul was still religious, as we shall soon see, but he turned away from following the Lord. The Lord sees the heart.
Q What is God’s response to Saul?
An = He regrets, or grieves that Saul has turned out like he has. God is portrayed as One who hurts when we turn away. God is not some cold calculating power, but one who deeply cares about what we do and what we become.
Q Is Samuel happy about this information about Saul?
An = No! In Hebrew it says he was angry and he cried out to the Lord all night. What he was angry about, whether it was with Saul, with himself for anointing Saul, or angry at the situation, we are not told. We can clearly see that Samuel was not happy. What he cried out to God about all night we are also not told. We do not know if it was for Israel or for Saul.
B. Confrontation. I Samuel 15:13-16.
>>>> Have someone read I Samuel 15:13-16.
Q What type of mood is Saul in?
An = Saul is stoked! He has just won a great victory, set up a monument to himself (15:12) and so blesses Samuel. Saul thinks he has done great! Saul is like a mayor using religious language in front of a minister. He then asserts that he is quite an obedient fellow! Saul is blind, it appears, to his errors.
Q What does Samuel’s question about hearing the cattle imply?
An = That Saul’s claim to obey is inaccurate. The presence of the cattle represent Saul’s disobedience.
Q Does Saul confess?
An = No. In verse 15 he first blames the people, then gives a religious excuse for disobeying God and claims that he has done well. He is answering like a politician, not a man of God. He puts the best spin on the occasion that he can; but he is not talking to the public, he is talking to a man of God, who has heard from God.
Note: Notice the pronoun used to refer to God in 15:15. He says he desires to sacrifice to your God. This phrase your God will continue through out the dialogue with Samuel (15:21,30). It is almost a subtle slip of the tongue that reveals how far Saul really is from a vital relationship with God.
C. Discussion of True Religion: Formal Ceremony or Obedience. I Samuel 15:17-23.
>>>> Have someone read I Samuel 15:17-21.
Q What does the rhetorical question in the first part of 15:17 mean?
An = Saul once knew his origin. He was once humble, knowing that God was the One who made him king. Notice Samuel also reminds Saul of his mission, which was to completely destroy, not get rich.
Q What did Saul do that was wrong? Why was it wrong?
An = Notice that when Samuel accuses him of disobeying he puts in three phrases: You “disobeyed the Lord” (the Hebrew has the “voice” of the Lord), you “broke the ban” on the plunder, and you “did evil” in the sight of the Lord. What Saul did in the breaking of the ban what to put aside the will of God, His very voice.
Note: To knowingly disregard the will of God is to become our own god. We decide what is good and evil. We have the knowledge of good and evil. We then place ourselves in the place of the Lord (Genesis 3:5).
Q Does Saul confess?
An = No. He again puts a good face on his actions and points out all the good he did. He certainly did do much good, but he was now in the place of deciding what issues were to be obeyed and what issues were not to be obeyed. Again, Saul is like many of our politicians. When questioned, they never quite answer the question, but go on telling us how much good they have done.
Q Who does Saul blame?
An = He blames the people.
>>>> Have someone read I Samuel 15:22-23.
Q What does Samuel mean by the statement in 15:22?
An = That formal ceremony is OK, Samuel certainly did formal ceremonies, but they do not please God like obedience does.
Q What does Samuel mean by the statement in 15:23?
An = That disobedience to what God tells us to do is just the same as playing with the occult or idolatry. This should have deeply offended Saul or deeply troubled him. Saul was so careful to be religious. We have seen this all through out these passages. From an outward point of view Saul looked so great.
Q Is God impressed with Saul’s religious activities?
An = He knows Saul’s heart and that it has rejected Him and so He pronounces that Saul will lose the kingship. This is one of the major themes of all I Samuel: God knows our hearts and His knowledge can go beyond appearances. This will become clearer and clearer as we continue into Samuel.
D. Phoney Repentance. I Samuel 15:24-31.
>>>> Have someone read I Samuel 15:24-25.
Q Is Saul sincere?
An = It appears that he is. He confesses that he has sinned and has broken the Lord’s commandment. It has taken a long time to bring about this confession. We are not able to tell if the threat against his kingship (23b) or the shocking news that his disobedience was as idolatry and witchcraft (23a) motivated the confession.
Q Who does Saul now admit he was afraid of?
An = The people. He also says something very strange. Saul equates the Lord’s command with Samuel’s command. Saul could be politically maneuvering again. He has apologized to Samuel and confessed his wrong as a violation of Samuel and God’s commandments. It could be he is trying to placate Samuel, or it could be a sincere understanding that Samuel represents the voice of the Lord. The text leaves the question open at this point.
Q In verse 25, does Saul want Samuel to come back because he needs the prophetic guidance with him again or does he want Samuel with him so he can look good before the people?
An = Again, our text leaves that open. It is hard to tell from the outward appearance if people are sincere. In many ways this seems like a very sincere act of repentance, or it could be concern that Saul does not want to let the people know that the godly Samuel disapproves.
>>>> Have someone read I Samuel 15:26-31.
Q Does Samuel believe Saul?
An = No. In verse 26 Samuel tells Saul He is still in a state of rejecting God’s Word. In verse 29, he lets Saul know that the statement of Saul being dropped from the kingship is not a threat but a done-deal. Saul could still make things right with God, but the kingship was lost. Saul appears to worried again about public appearance and image (15:30).
Q Does Saul ever pray to God or confess to God?
Q What seems to make Saul take this issue seriously?
An = When his power is threatened, then he makes a confession. What is disturbing is Saul’s constant worry about how it will look. He is willing to confess privately, but his constant reference to proper public image is disturbing. It is almost as if Saul deeply wants to be religious, but to not take God seriously as a Person who has a will.
Note: (if time allows do this) In verse 29, Samuel says God does not change His mind, but this seems to contradict both verses 11 and 35. What I believe is happening here is a delicate balance that is so common through out Scripture. Yes, God does change His mind. See Exodus 32:14. There are 28 other times where God is said to regret or repent. What all of these various situations have in common is that there is a definite emotional aspect to all of these references. >> Read Genesis 6:6 and here one can sense the passion, the emotion in God who loves humans and grieves about their choices. God is deeply concerned when we sin and reject Him, because He is the source of life, and He knows we will die without Him. God loves us, and therefore we can grieve or hurt God. This is what I believe 15:11 and 15:35 are saying.
What I believe Samuel is saying in 15:29 is that though God is moved, He is not fickle. He does not try to run mind games on us and just threaten us but never really mean it. He does not act like human beings do where words are cheap. This is what I believe Samuel is trying to get across to Saul, who seems to think this issue will just blow over and he can go back to a religious but disobedient way of life.
E. Bad News. I Samuel 15:32-35.
>>>> Have someone read I Samuel 15:32-35.
Note: Agag thought he was going to escape out of this fix, but got fixed by Samuel. Also, Samuel and Saul permanently part ways, but neither God nor Samuel was happy with this result. God never desires the death of the wicked.