FBC Morning Light – May 6, 2023

Saul’s Unlawful Sacrifice at Gilgal

Good Saturday morning, people of faith. We are going to be looking at 1 Samuel chapters 13 through 16 today, not our usual two chapters, because they all tie together so well and because this is going to be for Saturday and Sunday.

So what's going on here in 1 Samuel 13 through 16 is we see the first king of Israel, Saul, and he's just coming off of some a major triumph at Jabesh, Gilead, and is now starting to make some bad choices.

And we're going to look at those choices and what happens through those choices in 1 Samuel chapters 13 through 16. Let me start by reading in chapter 13 verses the end of verse 7 through verse 14. As for Saul, he was still in Gilgal, and all the people following him trembling.

Then he waited seven days according to the time set by Samuel, but Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the people were scattered from him. So Saul said, Bring a burnt offering and peace offerings here to me, and he offered the burnt offering.

Now, just a reminder, Saul was a Benjaminite. There is no provision anywhere for a Benjaminite to perform as a priest, yet here he is. Now, it happened as soon as he had finished presenting the burnt offering that Samuel came, and Saul went out to meet him that he might greet him, and Samuel said, What have you done?

Saul said, When I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines gathered together at Mishmash, then I said, The Philistines will now come down on me at Gilgal, and I have not made supplication to the Lord.

Therefore I felt compelled and offered a burnt offering. So Saul starts pointing the finger at Samuel. It's because you didn't come here in time. Oh, and we got these Philistines. This is gonna be a problem, so I'm going to make this offering an unlawful offering to God.

And Samuel said to Saul, You have done foolishly. You have not kept the commandment of the Lord your God, which he commanded you. For now the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever, but now your kingdom shall not continue.

The Lord has sought for himself a man after his own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be commander over his people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you. So this is the beginning of the end for Saul, and Saul wanting to appease the people that were scattering around him made an unlawful offering.

Saul’s Rash Oath and the Blood Violation

Chapter 14, this downward spiral continues, and I'm going to read for you in verse 24 what he says. And the men of Israel were distressed that day, for Saul had placed the people under oath, saying, Cursed is the man who eats any food until evening before I have taken vengeance on my enemies.

Notice that this vow is very centered on Saul. It's about what he does in taking vengeance on his enemies. It's not about what the Lord does. And in this oath, it's a self-glorification of Saul, and it ends up distressing the people.

And the story goes on that Jonathan hasn't heard of this oath, and he has eaten some honey, and he broke that oath, and bad things are happening all around. It says the people drove the Philistines back, and they won this battle, and in verse 32 of chapter 14, it says,.

And the people rushed on the spoil, and took sheep, oxen, and calves, and slaughtered them on the ground. And the people ate them with the blood, which was a direct violation of what they were supposed to do.

They were just so famished from not being able to eat because of Saul's rash vow. Well, the downward spiral of Saul continues in chapter 15. In chapter 15, starting in verse 1, Samuel also said to Saul, The Lord sent me to anoint you king over his people over Israel.

Now therefore heed the voice of the words of the Lord. Thus says the Lord of hosts, I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, how he ambushed him on the way when he came up from Egypt. Now go and attack Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them.

But kill both man and woman, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey. That pretty much covers everything. There's not supposed to be anything left. Yet we read in verse 9, after he goes off, wins the battle, Saul and the people spared Agag.

That was the king of Amalek. Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were unwilling to utterly destroy them. But everything despised and worthless, that they utterly destroyed.

Saul has now descended to the point where he is directly disobeying God, and directly disobeying that word from Samuel, from God. And so now the story continues in the next chapter, chapter 16. The Lord speaks to Samuel, says, Now the Lord said to Samuel, How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel?

Fill your horn with oil and go, I am sending you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided myself a king among his sons. And Samuel at first doesn't want to go, but is compelled to go by the Lord.

The Lord Looks at the Heart in Choosing David

And verse 7 is a famous verse that we see quoted a lot, says, But the Lord... This is after Samuel saw the oldest son of Jesse, says, But the Lord said to Samuel, Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him.

For the Lord does not see as man sees. For man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. And then finally, in verses 12 and 13, after seeing the rest of Jesse's sons go past him, before him, we finally get to David.

So he sent and brought him in, that is David. He was ruddy, that's red, with bright eyes and good-looking. And the Lord said, Arise, anoint him, for this is the one. Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers.

And the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel arose and went to Ramah. And we see a lot of things in these chapters. We see a king who is more concerned about his position, about his stature in front of people than in front of God.

And that causes him to break the law, to disobey, and to disregard what the Lord had for him. And yet we see one rising from this situation that the Lord says is a man after his own heart. And in the preceding chapters this week, I'm certain that we will hear a lot from pastor in the morning devotionals about this, the second king of Israel, David.

Let's take a moment and pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for your word. Help us to not be like Saul. Help us to, when we're given the position or the option of doing what is right or doing what pleases people, to choose what is right.

Not that those are necessarily opposites of one another, but help us to choose always what's right and always what you command, and not what comes from our wants and desires necessarily. Help us to walk with you this day.

It's in your son's name, Jesus we pray. Amen. Have an excellent day, people of faith.