Saul Is Rejected as King
15:1 Then Samuel said to Saul, “I was the one the Lord sent to anoint you as king over his people Israel. Now listen to what the Lord says.
Jehovah sent Samuel to give King Saul a message.
15:2 Here is what the Lord of hosts says: ‘I carefully observed how the Amalekites opposed Israel along the way when Israel came up from Egypt.
The Amalekites were nomadic descendants of Esau. During the Exodus, the Amalekites attacked the lame and crippled stragglers. Jehovah promised that He would seek revenge upon the Amalekites.
15:3 So go now and strike down the Amalekites. Destroy everything that they have. Don’t spare them. Put them to death – man, woman, child, infant, ox, sheep, camel, and donkey alike.’”
Jehovah ordered the cherem curse upon the Amalekites.
15:4 So Saul assembled the army and mustered them at Telaim. There were 200,000 foot soldiers and 10,000 men of Judah.
Saul assembled his army, ready to fulfill Jehovah’s command.
15:5 Saul proceeded to the city of Amalek, where he set an ambush in the wadi.
Saul planned an ambush outside of one of the main Amalekite cities.
15:6 Saul said to the Kenites, “Go on and leave! Go down from among the Amalekites! Otherwise I will sweep you away with them! After all, you were kind to all the Israelites when they came up from Egypt.” So the Kenites withdrew from among the Amalekites.
The Kenites befriended Israel during their wilderness wanderings, so they were warned to leave.
15:7 Then Saul struck down the Amalekites all the way from Havilah to Shur, which is next to Egypt.
Saul attacked and destroyed the Amalekite army.
15:8 He captured King Agag of the Amalekites alive, but he executed all Agag’s people with the sword.
Every soldier was executed, except for King Agag.
15:9 However, Saul and the army spared Agag, along with the best of the flock, the cattle, the fatlings, and the lambs, as well as everything else that was of value. They were not willing to slaughter them. But they did slaughter everything that was despised and worthless.
Saul disobeyed Jehovah. Every living person and animal was to die. Saul wanted to advance his political career by making King Agag a public spectacle. He wanted to add livestock to his wealth.
15:10 Then the word of the Lord came to Samuel:
Jehovah was not happy about Saul’s decision.
15:11 “I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned away from me and has not done what I told him to do.” Samuel became angry and he cried out to the Lord all that night.
Jehovah knew that Saul would be rebellious, but he gave Israel the kind of king that they deserved. Israel was rebellious, so they received a rebellious king.
15:12 Then Samuel got up early to meet Saul the next morning. But Samuel was informed, “Saul has gone to Carmel where he is setting up a monument for himself. Then Samuel left and went down to Gilgal.”
Instead of giving God the credit for the victory, Saul went to Carmel to set up a monument for himself.
15:13 When Samuel came to him, Saul said to him, “May the Lord bless you! I have done what the Lord said.”
Saul claimed that he had followed Jehovah’s instructions.
15:14 Samuel replied, “If that is the case, then what is this sound of sheep in my ears and the sound of cattle that I hear?”
Samuel wanted to know why the cherem curse was not applied to the livestock.
15:15 Saul said, “They were brought from the Amalekites; the army spared the best of the flocks and cattle to sacrifice to the Lord our God. But everything else we slaughtered.”
Samuel claimed that the animals were kept for sacrifice.
15:16 Then Samuel said to Saul, “Wait a minute! Let me tell you what the Lord said to me last night.” Saul said to him, “Tell me.”
Samuel had a message to Saul from Jehovah Himself.
15:17 Samuel said, “Is it not true that when you were insignificant in your own eyes, you became head of the tribes of Israel? The Lord chose you as king over Israel.
Jehovah usually accuses men with their own words. The question was, “Did Jehovah take an insignificant person such as yourself and choose you to be King of Israel?”
15:18 The Lord sent you on a campaign saying, ‘Go and exterminate those sinful Amalekites! Fight against them until you have destroyed them.’
Jehovah commanded Saul to apply the cherem curse upon the Amalekites.
15:19 Why haven’t you obeyed the Lord? Instead you have greedily rushed upon the plunder! You have done what is wrong in the Lord’s estimation.”
Instead of obeying Jehovah, Saul chose plunder over obedience.
15:20 Then Saul said to Samuel, “But I have obeyed the Lord! I went on the campaign the Lord sent me on. I brought back King Agag of the Amalekites after exterminating the Amalekites.
Saul then argued that he did obey Jehovah.
15:21 But the army took from the plunder some of the sheep and cattle – the best of what was to be slaughtered – to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal.”
Notice that Saul said “the Lord your God.” Many theologians take this as evidence that Saul was not a believer. Saul pleaded that the soldiers insisted on not killing the livestock. Saul preferred to obey his soldiers rather than God.
15:22 Then Samuel said, “Does the Lord take pleasure in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as he does in obedience? Certainly, obedience is better than sacrifice; paying attention is better than the fat of rams.
God prefers obedience over bloody sacrifices.
15:23 For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and presumption is like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has rejected you as king.”
Rebellion against God is equal to being involved in the occult. Saul refused to be obedient to Jehovah, so Jehovah rejected Saul as His king.
15:24 Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned, for I have disobeyed what the Lord commanded and what you said as well. For I was afraid of the army, and I followed their wishes.
Saul confessed his sin, but the cup of wrath was already overflowing. Eventually, a believer can commit a sin that will bring upon God’s judgment.
15:25 Now please forgive my sin! Go back with me so I can worship the Lord.”
Saul asked for Samuel to forgive his sin.
15:26 Samuel said to Saul, “I will not go back with you, for you have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel!”
Samuel refused his request. Saul was no longer Jehovah’s king. Saul would be on his own for the next fifteen years.
15:27 When Samuel turned to leave, Saul grabbed the edge of his robe and it tore.
Samuel left, but Saul grabbed his robe. The robe tore, meaning that God was finished with Saul.
15:28 Samuel said to him, “The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you this day and has given it to one of your colleagues who is better than you!
The tearing of the robe symbolized that Jehovah had torn the kingdom away from Israel and given it to someone else.
15:29 The Preeminent One of Israel does not go back on his word or change his mind, for he is not a human being who changes his mind.”
God is not like a human who often changes his mind.
15:30 Saul again replied, “I have sinned. But please honor me before the elders of my people and before Israel. Go back with me so I may worship the Lord your God.”
Saul did not want the elders to know that he had been rejected by God.
15:31 So Samuel followed Saul back, and Saul worshiped the Lord.
Samuel agreed to this request.
Samuel Puts Agag to Death
15:32 Then Samuel said, “Bring me King Agag of the Amalekites.” So Agag came to him trembling, thinking to himself, “Surely death is bitter!”
Samuel asked for the presence of King Agag.
15:33 Samuel said, “Just as your sword left women childless, so your mother will be the most bereaved among women!” Then Samuel hacked Agag to pieces there in Gilgal before the Lord.
King Agag was a brutal king who had left many women childless. Now, his mother would grieve for him.
15:34 Then Samuel went to Ramah, while Saul went up to his home in Gibeah of Saul.
The king and prophet went back to their hometowns.
15:35 Until the day he died Samuel did not see Saul again. Samuel did, however, mourn for Saul, but the Lord regretted that he had made Saul king over Israel.
The two departed, never to see each other again.