1 Samuel 15:1-16 (CLICK HERE FOR BIBLE VERSES)
Hi GAMErs,
Today’s passage is 1 Samuel 15:1-16. As usual, I encourage you to read the passage yourself first and see what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help, then read the GAME sharing below. Let’s go!
1 Samuel 15:1 (NIV)
1 Samuel said to Saul, “I am the one the LORD sent to anoint you king over his people Israel; so listen now to the message from the LORD.
On verse 1: Samuel comes to Saul with a message. But before sharing that message, Samuel reminds Saul of that day when the LORD sent Samuel to anoint Saul as king. Samuel is reminding Saul that it was the LORD who made it possible for Saul to be king. There is no exaltation, no promotion, no lifting up of any person if God did not allow it. As Psalm 75 says, “He brings one down; he exalts another”. In other words, God is sovereign and we could not reach any height in life without Him.
1 Samuel 15:2-3 (NIV)
2 This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘I will punish the Amalekites for what they did to Israel when they waylaid them as they came up from Egypt.
3 Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy everything that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.'”
On verses 2-3: You might be asking, “How could God command the complete wiping out of an entire nation like the Amalekites?” Remember that the Amalekites had a history of treating the Israelites mercilessly. When the Israelites were escaping from Egypt, the Amalekites ambushed them and killed the weakest and most vulnerable among them (Exodus 17:8; Deuteronomy 25:17-19). God had given the Amalekites centuries to repent of their sins. Yet rather than turning from their evil ways, the Amalekites continued for centuries to invade, harass and plunder the Israelites as they had done before (see Judges 6:3 and 1 Samuel 14:48). God would not be a just God if He did not punish wrongdoing. By commanding Saul to destroy the Amalekites, in His justice God was now bringing judgment against the Amalekites and incapacitating them from committing any more evil.
What can we learn from this? God watches the way people treat one another, and especially the way the people of the world treat the children of God. Being holy and just, God is committed to punishing evil and wrongdoing. He may relent and show mercy for a time, but if we stubbornly refuse to repent, one day He will make sure that justice is served.
1 Samuel 15:4-6 (NIV)
4 So Saul summoned the men and mustered them at Telaim–two hundred thousand foot soldiers and ten thousand men from Judah.
5 Saul went to the city of Amalek and set an ambush in the ravine.
6 Then he said to the Kenites, “Go away, leave the Amalekites so that I do not destroy you along with them; for you showed kindness to all the Israelites when they came up out of Egypt.” So the Kenites moved away from the Amalekites.
On verses 4-6: Saul summoned his men to ambush the Amalekites (v4-5), but he also went out of his way to warn the Kenites so that the Kenites would not be caught in the middle of their attack. The Kenites had a friendly relationship with the Israelites. For example, Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, was a Kenite (Judges 1:16). What can we learn from this? When you must do something that you know is going to hurt others, do what you can to avoid it being more hurtful than necessary and to avoid hurting more people than necessary.
1 Samuel 15:7-9 (NIV)
7 Then Saul attacked the Amalekites all the way from Havilah to Shur, to the east of Egypt.
8 He took Agag king of the Amalekites alive, and all his people he totally destroyed with the sword.
9 But Saul and the army spared Agag and the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves and lambs–everything that was good. These they were unwilling to destroy completely, but everything that was despised and weak they totally destroyed.
On verses 7-9: Saul did not obey as God required. God commanded Saul to “attack the Amalekites and destroy everything that belongs to them.” (v3) While Saul did launch the attack (v7), Saul and his men were unwilling to destroy those things that they considered good (including the best of the Amalekites’ livestock) and spared King Agag (v8-9). They only destroyed those things which they considered worthless (v9). Saul would later say that he “carried out the Lord’s instructions” (v13), when in fact he hadn’t. Partial obedience is still disobedience. When we only partially obey God’s Word, we’re still disobeying God’s Word.
1 Samuel 15:10-11 (NIV)
10 Then the word of the LORD came to Samuel:
11 “I am grieved that I have made Saul king, because he has turned away from me and has not carried out my instructions.” Samuel was troubled, and he cried out to the LORD all that night.
On verses 10-11: Saul’s actions grieved God and troubled Samuel. So Samuel spent all night crying out to God. What can we learn from this? When you receive news that troubles you, don’t go first to your friends and complain. Instead, go first to God in prayer. That’s what godly people do, like Hannah, David, Daniel, Moses and Jesus. As I shared last Sunday, the path to peace when you’re under pressure is prayer.
1 Samuel 15:12-13a (NIV)
12 Early in the morning Samuel got up and went to meet Saul, but he was told, “Saul has gone to Carmel. There he has set up a monument in his own honor and has turned and gone on down to Gilgal.”
13 When Samuel reached him…
On verses 12-13a: Samuel went to find Saul (possibly at the town of Shur – v7), and when he couldn’t find him there, he kept searching for Saul and found him at Gilgal. The fact that Samuel had a hard time reaching Saul, and the fact that Saul had set up a monument in his own honor, suggests how far Saul had fallen away from God. Yet Samuel continued to chase after Saul. Isn’t that the love of God? No matter how far we run away from Him, God’s love has this way of chasing after us.
1 Samuel 15:13-16 (NIV)
13 When Samuel reached him, Saul said, “The LORD bless you! I have carried out the LORD’s instructions.”
14 But Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of sheep in my ears? What is this lowing of cattle that I hear?”
15 Saul answered, “The soldiers brought them from the Amalekites; they spared the best of the sheep and cattle to sacrifice to the LORD your God, but we totally destroyed the rest.”
16 “Stop!” Samuel said to Saul. “Let me tell you what the LORD said to me last night.” “Tell me,” Saul replied.
On verses 13-16: Saul had become so set in his ways. On the surface he appeared very spiritual, yet deep down he was extremely self-centered and unspiritual. Saul became an expert at justifying his disobedience to God. Samuel had enough of Saul’s excuses. Samuel saw right through Saul and was ready to rebuke him.
What can we learn from this? Like Saul, we all have blind spots, areas of our lives where we don’t see how we may be hurting others or ourselves. We need people in our lives who can speak the truth in love to us. Thank God for the Samuels God has placed in your life. May we always be open to hearing what they have to say.
Heavenly Father, thank You for Your love that chases after me when I’m distant from You. It’s easy to get down on Saul for all the ways he was hard-hearted, self-centered and stubborn toward You. Yet I must be careful not to sin in those same ways. May I go the whole way in obeying Your call on my life. May I not settle for partial obedience (which is really disobedience). Thank You for placing Samuels in my life who can see the blind spots I don’t see and speak the truth in love to me. In Jesus’ name, AMEN!
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