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SAUL: A LEADER WHO FAILED TO LEARN GOD’S HEART

"You acted foolishly,” Samuel said. “You have not kept the command the LORD your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time. But now your kingdom will not endure; the LORD has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him leader of his people, because you have not kept the LORD’S command."

When I first heard that the passage on Saul is what I would work on, I was at quite a loss.  I did not know how to approach this difficult passage in a very meaningful manner. Saul, however, is very close to each of us.  In terms of probability we are more prone to fail than to succeed in this life.  Particularly, it is quite challenging to start and end well in our race of faith.   Do you know how many people in the Bible really ended well?  Not too many.  At the time of Jesus’ death only a handful of faithful people stood by him. (Jn 19:26-27)  In his final days Paul said, “At my first defense, no one came to my support, but everyone deserted me.” (2Ti 4:16) We are studying these chapters in our Discipleship Conference. All of us want to be faithful and fruitful disciples, don’t we?  Then, isn’t it important for us to learn how to run this race of faith in the long haul?

Jesus Christ is Savior and Lord. Jesus Christ is the Son of David. David is a man after God’s own heart. (Acts 13:22) In a sense, Saul is instrumental in raising David as a man of faith. David ran away from Saul but never fought against him as an enemy. Probably, what David learned most from Saul was what a shepherd king must not do. Anyway, David honored him. At Saul’s death David mourned for him. Billy Graham used David’s lament on Saul as he gave his eulogy at the funeral service of the former President Richard Nixon. Saul was no ordinary king. God appointed him as a king to take care of his people. As the title suggests, Saul as an appointed leader, failed to learn God’s heart. 

First, Saul experienced victory when he learned God’s heart for the people (9:1-12). Saul was the first king of Israel. At the age of thirty he became king.  He reigned over Israel forty-two long years. (1) Saul was from no ordinary family and was impressive in appearance (9:1-27); (2) Samuel anointed him as king (10:1-27); (3) and he led the people of Israel with an impressive first victory (11:1-14).  His father, Kish, was a man of standing. (9:1) He was from an influential family in Israel. Saul was an impressive young man without equal among the Israelites. (9:2)  He was tall and handsome.  In my studies of many prominent  leaders in American history, very few people were short and ugly. Almost all leaders are tall and handsome. They also have fairly good family backgrounds. Therefore, Saul had a good basis to become quite successful.  Saul was responsible and hardworking. He was mindful of his parents. (9:5) He was also humble. When Samuel told him that all the people of Israel wanted him to be their king (9:20), Saul was very modest saying, “But am I not a Benjamite, from the smallest tribe of Israel….Why do you say such a thing to me?” (9:21) Samuel thought that he found the right man and anointed him as the first king of Israel.

Any leader needs time to prove his leadership. Saul’s first victory was to save the people of Jabesh Gilead.  These were the people of Israel who had settled at the other side of the Jordan. As years passed by, these people gradually changed and became somewhat different from the other ten and half tribes of Israel. One day the neighboring nation’s Ammonite king threatened them by saying, “I will make a treaty with you only on the condition that I gouge out the right eye of every one of you and so bring disgrace on all Israel.” (11:2) This is a blatant, abusive threat of a powerful nation over their weak neighbor. The elders of Israel had seven days to respond to this totally unreasonable demand. People wept over this hopeless situation. When Saul heard of the plight of thes people, the Spirit of God came upon him. He burned with anger.  He took a pair of oxen, cut them into pieces, and sent the pieces throughout Israel; proclaiming, “This is what will be done to the oxen of anyone who does not follow Saul and Samuel.”  The terror of the LORD fell on the people. The entire nation was united, mobilized, and fought as one man.  There was a great victory. Even after his victory, Saul handled the victory well and united the nation.  In happiness, Samuel said to the people, “Come, let us go to Gilgal and there reaffirm the kingship.” At Gilgal Samuel confirmed Saul as king in the presence of the LORD. There Saul and all the Israelites held a great celebration. How wonderful it would have been if this happy moment had lasted forever!

Second, Saul started failing as he stopped listening (13:1-14:48).  After Saul’s initial success, Saul failed more than he succeeded;  or the author of the book of Samuel only records the path of his tragic end in meaningful ways.   Each situation, by itself, does not seem too bad.  However, as we put them together, we see certain patterns of failure.

Saul’s critical flaws start appearing from chapter 13. Saul was no ordinary king.  He was a shepherd king whom God had appointed to take care of his people. In this sense, Saul’s position was spiritual more than political. Anyway, Saul’s bad habit was this: he did not listen. Let’s see how it happened.  Saul was by nature not a warrior. Since the nation was constantly at war with the Philistines, he gathered many fighting men. (31:1-3) The Philistines assembled to fight Israel with an overwhelmingly superiority in their numbers of weapons and huge armed-forces “as numerous as the sand on the seashore.” (13:5-6)
Without knowing what else to do, Saul remained in Gilgal and all the troops with him were quaking with fear. (13:7) At Samuel’s instruction, he was supposed to wait for him. After waiting for seven days, the time set by Samuel, Samuel had not yet come to Gilgal. Saul’s men started leaving. Just as Saul finished making the offering, Samuel arrived as he had promised. (13:9) Saul explained his compelling reason why he had to offer burnt offerings.  “’You acted foolishly’, Samuel said. ‘You have not kept the command the LORD your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time.  But now your kingdom will not endure, the LORD has sought out a man after his own heart and anointed him leader of his people, because you have not kept the LORD’s command.’” (13:13, 14) At first glance, it seemed that Samuel’s verdict was too severe. It was because Samuel saw the deadly sign of Saul’s failures so clearly. It was not Samuel’s but God’s command that Saul had rejected. Since Saul failed to pay attention to Samuel or God, do you think he would have paid attention to anyone else?

The events in 14:1-45 do not involve Samuel. It shows a certain pattern of leadership. While Saul’s army did nothing to take any offensive action against the Philistines; Saul’s son, Jonathan along with his armor-bearer, attacked the Philistine military post.  Then, panic struck the whole enemy army. The Philistines in confusion were striking each other with their swords. Then, the Israelites gained strength and courage and fought valiantly. At the moment of victory Saul foolishly ordered his men not to eat, but to fast and fight to the end. In this way, the army of Israel, out of hunger and exhaustion ate meat that had blood in it. (14:33)  Later, Saul even tried to punish his son Jonathan by death for eating some honey which broke this oath. It was only after all the leaders opposed him and prevented him from doing such foolish act, that Saul stopped (14:45) What does this show? Saul as a leader put his honor above the people he was to serve. 

In  14:46-48 the author records Saul’s victories. Saul fought against their enemies on every side; the people of Moab, the Ammonites, Edomites, the kings of Zobah, and the Philistines. Wherever he turned, he inflicted punishment on them.  He fought valiantly and defeated the Amalekites, delivering Israel from the hands of those who had plundered them. Saul experienced victories in many battles. Anyway, he rescued the people for a while from the tyrannical hands of their enemies.

Third, Saul rejected the word of the Lord and he was rejected (15:1-35). It is one thing to stop listening.  It is quite another to reject someone’s words. Saul rejected the word of the Lord. After seeing Saul’s victories in many battles, Samuel spoke to Saul.  At this time, Samuel made the serious nature of God’s command and the specific aspects of Saul’s mission very clear.  Samuel said, “I am the one the LORD sent to anoint you king over his people Israel; so listen now to the message from the LORD. 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.   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.” (15:1-3). This rare command was given to Saul as an instrument of God’s judgment against the nation that had inflicted pains and sufferings on the people of Israel.

At the climax of Word War II, President Truman had to make an agonizing decision. It was to order dropping atomic bombs on Nagasaki and Hiroshima in Japan. Why did he do that?  Truman feared that without such drastic action the cost of the war would be more than tens of millions of people.  He had to make a quick end to the war. In doing so, he had to put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels (well, there weren’t any camels), cars and everything in these cities. So that’s what happened. With such drastic action, the war ended. Five years later General McArthur recommended dropping nuclear weapons on China to end the Korean War. At this time, Truman refused. Once was more than enough. No more. Personally, I am so thankful that Truman did not use nuclear weapons against the Chinese people.

Anyway, what Saul had to do was a very rare moment in history. Then, what did Saul do?  He attacked the Amalekites as he was told.  He won the victory.  But Saul and his army spared their king, Agag and the best of the sheep and cattle, the calves, and lambs—everything that was good.  These they were unwilling to destroy completely, but everything what was despised and weak they totally destroyed. (15:7-9) After this, we see a most intense conversation between God, Samuel, and Saul.

God is grieved and then angered. He makes some final decisions (15:1-19).  God was grieved just before he decided to destroy all the world by the flood. (Gen 6:6)  Is it because quality decisions are made in grief rather than anger? Then, the word of the LORD came to Samuel, “I am grieved that I have made Saul king, because he has turned away from me and has not carried out my instructions.”  Here, God was not angry. Anger often facilitates a temporary emotional outburst with sporadic, unpleasant actions. Grief leads to a resolve with a permanent disposition toward consistent patterns of unpleasant actions. God was grieved. He was very sad about the failures of Saul. Samuel was also troubled and he cried out to the LORD all that night.  Here is God’s assessment. God indicated that Saul was not fit to lead as king of Israel any more. Saul had turned away from God. He had defied God’s instructions. Samuel was shocked. In sorrow and grief Samuel cried out to God all night.  Decisions made in deep grief are final.

Samuel went to Saul. Saul initially welcomed Samuel with a great pompous sense of victory.  Saul gave one excuse after another for his failure to obey the instructions given him.  Here, Samuel pointed out the failures of Saul by saying, “Although you were once small in your own eyes, did you not become the head of the tribes of Israel?  The LORD anointed you king over Israel.  And he sent you on a mission, saying `Go, and completely destroy these wicked people, the Amalekites, make war on them until you have wiped them out. ‘Why did you not obey the LORD?  Why did you pounce on the plunder and do evil in the eyes of the Lord?” (15;17-19)  Samuel was crying inside as he shared these words.

Saul, on the other hand, excused himself further by saying, “But I did obey the LORD.  I went on the mission the LORD assigned me.  I completely destroyed the Amalekites and brought back Agag their king.  The soldiers took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of what was devoted to God, in order to sacrifice them to the LORD your God at Gilgal.” In this time of excuses, he shared that he knew he was supposed to carry out God’s command. He lied that the reason why he saved the best was to offer sacrifices to God—not his God but Samuel’s God. Here, Samuel replied, “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD?  To obey is better than sacrifice and to heed is better than the fat of rams.  For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry.  Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has rejected you as king.” (15:22-23).  Certainly, Samuel did not want to say these words.  But he had to.

Saul said, “I have sinned.  I violated the LORD’s command and your instructions.  I was afraid of the people and so I gave in to them.  Now I beg you, forgive my sin and come back with me, so that I may worship the LORD.” (24-25) But Samuel said, “I will not go back with you.  You have rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD has rejected you as king over Israel.” (26)  “As Samuel turned to leave, Saul caught hold of the hem of his robe, and it tore.  Samuel said to him, “The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to one of your neighbors—to one better than you.  He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind, for he is not a man, that he should change his mind.” (27-29). Saul replied, “I have sinned.  But please honor me before the elders of my people and before Israel; come back with me, so that I may worship the  LORD your God.” (30) Saul’s concern was not repentance. He did not care what God thought of him. Nor did he take it seriously what Samuel said to him.  His main concern was keeping his honor before the people. All he paid attention to was the appearance of Samuel’s support in the eyes of his people. So Samuel went back with Saul and Saul worshiped the LORD.  Samuel put King Agag to death there. (32-33)

“Then Samuel left for Ramah, but Saul went up to his home in Gibeah of Saul.  Until the day Samuel died, he did not go to see Saul again, though Samuel mourned for him. And the LORD was grieved that he had made Saul king over Israel.” (34-35) This is the way that Samuel ended having any relationship with Saul. He had no more contact,  no more conversations. Samuel complete cut off communications.  Samuel mourned for Saul all of his life because Saul had rejected the word of the Lord and the LORD had rejected Saul.

Fourth, Saul reaped what he sowed (8:1-19:24, 22:6-23, 24:1-22, 26:1-25). The remaining chapters describe how Saul followed destructive paths. One day Saul heard the song of the women of Israel, “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands.” (18:7) Saul became very angry. (18:8) From that time on Saul kept a jealous eye on David. He wasted so much of his energy over David who was nothing but a loyal general. In the course of his senseless struggles against David, he hated everyone including the priests of Nob. (22:6-19) His spirit was tormented by an evil spirit day and night.  He lived as a fallen man experiencing trouble and distress all the time. (Ro 2:8-9) Eventually, in the battle field he committed suicide—died alone and sad.

God is not so impressed with our initial successes. Winning an NBA championship requires a winning score in numerous games—not just a few initial games. Our walk with God is one on the path of long obedience. People fail. We all fail in one way or another because we have all fallen. (Ro 3:23) Increasingly, I am convinced that the real failure in life is the failure to learn from failures. What Saul was lacking was just one thing his lack of a learning mind.

A New York Times columnist advised high school graduates writing the following words: “…What young people really need is a lesson in how to choose a spouse and how to make and keep friends. Yet there are no courses on how to choose a spouse…Instead, society is busy preparing us for all the decisions that have a marginal effect on human happiness.” Saul gathered many people around him but he had no real friends. Samuel could have been a real friend to Saul. Samuel was so happy and eager to instruct Saul. Did Saul listen to him?  Did he learn from him? Most of all, God appointed Saul as the king over Israel. Did he listen to God?  Did he learn God’s heart for his people? Saul reaped what he sowed. His tragic end is the culmination of his failure to listen, obey, and learn. In Galatians 6:7-8 we read, “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked.  A man reaps what he sows.  The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Sprit, from the Sprit will reap eternal life.” We reap what we sow. This is a most sobering lesson.

Conclusion:
The God of Saul teaches us the awesome reality of this life. If we reject the word of the Lord, then we are rejected. In spite of all our sins, we do not want to be rejected forever.  So, do we have any hope? Jesus says, “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.” (Jn 6:37) Why do we obey God? The point of this study must ultimately turn our hearts to God through Jesus Christ who obeyed God fully and prepared for us the path of obedience to God through grace and truth. Praise and thank God for Jesus Christ who leads us to the path of long obedience so we can learn God’s heart for this generation and bear fruit that will last.

June 14, 2009; Dr. Paul Hong; Toledo, UBF

Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION ®. NIV®;. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society.
Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.