What did Saul do wrong here?
- Thread starter brinny
- Start date
Saul disobeyed God and it cost him his kingdom. However, it was foreordained that the scepter would not depart from Judah.
David came from his forefather Judah and Jesus came from his forefather David.
There are a few problems. Firstly who said there is to be a burnt offering sacrifice so as to find favor with God? Secondly Saul did not wait for Samuel, the Priest, who would have counseled him in the will of God. Thirdly there is the one little commandment which states "Thou shalt not murder-kill", (period). As for the context of the passage you quoted, (which likewise states in 1 Samuel 13:13 that Saul had "not kept the commandment of YHWH thy God") the entire episode and main problem appears to be answered two chapters later in another separate event, (I quote it fully so I can highlight what I mean).
1 Samuel 15:10-23 KJV
10. Then came the word of the Lord unto Samuel, saying,
11. It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king: for he is turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandments. And it grieved Samuel; and he cried unto the Lord all night.
12. And when Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning, it was told Samuel, saying, Saul came to Carmel, and, behold, he set him up a place, and is gone about, and passed on, and gone down to Gilgal.
13. And Samuel came to Saul: and Saul said unto him, Blessed be thou of the Lord: I have performed the commandment of the Lord.
14. And Samuel said, What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?
15. And Saul said, They have brought them from the Amalekites: for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto the Lord thy God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.
16. Then Samuel said unto Saul, Stay, and I will tell thee what the Lord hath said to me this night. And he said unto him, Say on.
17. And Samuel said, When thou wast little in thine own sight, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel, and the Lord anointed thee king over Israel?
18. And the Lord sent thee on a journey, and said, Go and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they be consumed.
19. Wherefore then didst thou not obey the voice of the Lord, but didst fly upon the spoil, and didst evil in the sight of the Lord?
20. And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the Lord, and have gone the way which the Lord sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.
21. But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the Lord thy God in Gilgal.
22. And Samuel said, Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.
23. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, he hath also rejected thee from being king.
Hope that helps.
He was supposed to wait for Samuel.
He didn't.
1 Samuel 10 KJV
(8) And thou shalt go down before me to Gilgal; and, behold, I will come down unto thee, to offer burnt offerings, and to sacrifice sacrifices of peace offerings: seven days shalt thou tarry, till I come to thee, and shew thee what thou shalt do.
(8) And thou shalt go down before me to Gilgal; and, behold, I will come down unto thee, to offer burnt offerings, and to sacrifice sacrifices of peace offerings: seven days shalt thou tarry, till I come to thee, and shew thee what thou shalt do.
He didn't.
brinny
New member
Thank you both for your responses. i had the most difficult time understanding why it wasn't a good thing for Saul to "honor" God with what he did....
it has been difficult for me to understand many parts of the Old Testament, including everything about Saul and I Samuel.
Thank you kindly.
it has been difficult for me to understand many parts of the Old Testament, including everything about Saul and I Samuel.
Thank you kindly.
Confusion is understandable without further study.
Sometimes it helps to zoom in. And sometimes it helps to use that wide angle lens to see the big picture.
God had already decided to anoint David as king, and that it would be a perpetual throne.
Saul, on the other hand, was never promised a perpetual throne.
God allowed Saul to be anointed king because the people did not want to wait on God. They wanted a king NOW. They did not wait on God's choice.
They selected Saul for all the wrong reasons.
Consider the prophetic implication:
John 5 KJV
(43) I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.
(43) I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.
Yes his first sin was he shoulda waited for Samuel, he was in fact grasping to himself Samuel's office as prophet.
But then the offering was an offering of things that were cursed, God had ordered them to be destroyed....it was the offering of Cain.
But then the offering was an offering of things that were cursed, God had ordered them to be destroyed....it was the offering of Cain.
It is a great mistake to suppose that Saul was damned, or any of the Jews who fell into disobedience. The blessings of obedience were temporal and the punishments for disobedience were temporal....
And also Saul did reign for the full 40 years and had many victories.....read David's lamentation for Saul.
And also Saul did reign for the full 40 years and had many victories.....read David's lamentation for Saul.
brinny
New member
It confuses me.....just wondering if Saul was a Godly man....
David, from what i understand honored Saul's position as king throughout Saul's reign as king and even after Saul died he honored him as king, even after Saul had conspired against David and attempted to kill David numerous times (even after David demonstrated that he would never intend harm against Saul).
Yes, David lamented Saul and Saul's son (David's best friend) Jonathan, upon their deaths.
What i wonder, is if Saul would've done the same for David.
It seems tragic to me.
Thank you kindly.
Improper sacrifice
David's action toward Saul was his keeping with the Law of God.
It's interesting however how David used the very same tactic Saul tried unsuccessfully to have David killed in battle, David used this on Uriah.
brinny
New member
Yes, that was loathe-some and wicked. Uriah would've given his life for David. He was one of David's best men.
:up:
Saul lost the kingship for relatively minor transgressions, when compared to some of the things David did. Hard to get around that.