Chapter 61 Saul Rejected as King

The people had been engaged in warfare all day and were faint for want of food; and as soon as the hours of restriction were over, they devoured flesh with the blood, thus violating the law that forbade the eating of blood. {EP 452.4}

During the day’s battle, Jonathan, who had not heard of the king’s command, unwittingly offended by eating a little honey as he passed through a wood. Saul had declared that violation of his edict should be punished with death; and though Jonathan had not been guilty of a willful sin, and though God had wrought deliverance through him, the king declared that the sentence must be executed. “God do so, and more also,” was his terrible sentence; “thou shalt surely die, Jonathan.” {EP 453.1}

Saul could not claim the honor of the victory, but he hoped to be honored for his zeal in maintaining the sacredness of his oath. The people refused to allow the sentence to be executed. Braving the anger of the king, they declared, “Shall Jonathan die, who hath wrought this great salvation in Israel? God forbid: as the Lord liveth, there shall not one hair of his head fall to the ground; for he hath wrought with God this day.” {EP 453.2}

Jonathan’s deliverance was a severe reproof to the king’s rashness. Saul felt a presentiment that his curses would return upon his own head. He returned to his home, moody and dissatisfied. {EP 453.3}

Those most ready to excuse themselves in sin are often most severe in condemning others. Many, like Saul, when convinced that the Lord is not with them, refuse to see in themselves the cause of their trouble. They indulge in cruel judgment of others who are better than they. {EP 453.4}

Often those who are seeking to exalt themselves are brought into positions where their true character is revealed. So it was in the case of Saul. Kingly honors were dearer to him than justice, mercy, or benevolence. Thus the people were led to see their error. They had exchanged the pious prophet, whose prayers had brought down blessings, for a king who had prayed for a curse upon them. {EP 453.5}

Had not the men of Israel interposed, Jonathan, their deliverer, would have perished by the king’s decree. With what misgivings must that people afterward have followed Saul’s guidance! How bitter the thought that he had been placed upon the throne by their own act! {EP 454.1}

This chapter is based on 1 Samuel 15.

Saul’s errors were not yet irretrievable. The Lord would grant him another opportunity to learn the lesson of unquestioning faith in His word and obedience to His commands. {EP 455.1}

When reproved by the prophet at Gilgal, Saul felt he had been treated unjustly and offered excuses for his error. Samuel loved Saul as his own son, while Saul resented Samuel’s rebuke and thenceforth avoided him so far as possible. {EP 455.2}

But the Lord sent His servant with another message to Saul: “Thus saith the Lord of hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way,

when he came up from Egypt. Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.” The Lord through Moses had pronounced sentence upon the Amalekites. The history of their cruelty toward Israel had been recorded with the command, “Thou shalt blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven; thou shalt not forget it.” Deuteronomy 25:19. {EP 455.3}

For four hundred years execution of this sentence had been deferred; but the Amalekites had not turned from their sins. Now the time had come for the sentence, so long delayed, to be executed. {EP 455.4}

To our merciful God the act of punishment is a strange act. “As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live.” The Lord is “merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, ... forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin.” Yet He will “by no means clear the guilty.” Ezekiel 33:11; Exodus 34:6, 7. While He does not delight in vengeance, He will execute judgment upon the transgressors of His law. He is forced to do this to preserve the inhabitants of the earth from utter depravity and ruin. In order to save some, He must cut off those who have become hardened in sin. {EP 455.5}

But while inflicting judgment, God remembered mercy. The Amalekites were to be destroyed, but the Kenites, who dwelt among them, were spared. This people, though not wholly free from idolatry, were worshipers of God and friendly to Israel. {EP 456.1}

On receiving the commission against the Amalekites, Saul at once proclaimed war. At the call to battle the men of Israel flocked to his standard. The Israelites were not to receive either the honor of the conquest or the spoils of their enemies; they were to engage in the war solely as an act of obedience to God. God intended that all nations should behold the doom of that people that had defied His sovereignty. {EP 456.2}

“Saul smote the Amalekites... . and took Agag the king... . But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them: but everything that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly.” {EP 456.3}

This victory served to rekindle the pride that was Saul’s greatest peril. Ambitious to heighten the honor of his triumphal return, Saul ventured to imitate the customs of the nations around him, and spared Agag. The people reserved for themselves the finest of the flocks, herds, and beasts of burden, excusing their sin on the ground that the cattle were to be offered as sacrifice to the Lord. It was their purpose, however, to use these merely as a substitute, to save their own cattle. {EP 456.4}

Saul’s presumptuous disregard of the will of God proved that he could not be trusted with royal power as the vicegerent of the Lord. While Saul and his army were marching home in the flush of victory, there was anguish in the home of Samuel. He had received a message from the Lord: “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.” The prophet wept and prayed all night for a reversal of the terrible sentence. {EP 457.1}

God’s repentance is not like man’s repentance. Man’s repentance implies a change of mind. God’s repentance implies a change of circumstances and relations. Man may change his relation to God by complying with the conditions upon which he may be brought into the divine favor, or he may, by his own action, place himself outside the favoring condition. Saul’s disobedience changed his relation to God; but the conditions of acceptance with God were unaltered, for with Him there “is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” James 1:17. {EP 457.2}

With an aching heart the prophet set forth the next morning to meet the erring king. Samuel cherished a hope that Saul might, by repentance, be restored to the divine favor. But Saul, debased by his disobedience, came to meet Samuel with a lie upon his lips: “Blessed be thou of the Lord; I have performed the commandment of the Lord.” {EP 457.3}

To the prophet’s pointed question, “What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?” Saul answered, “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.” In order to shield himself, he was willing to charge upon the people the sin of his disobedience. {EP 457.4}

The message of Saul’s rejection had to be delivered before the army of Israel when they were filled with pride over a victory accredited to the valor and generalship of their king, for Saul had not associated God with the success of Israel in this conflict. When the prophet saw the evidence of Saul’s rebellion, he was stirred with indignation that he should lead Israel into sin. With mingled grief and indignation he declared, “I will tell thee what the Lord hath said to me this night... . 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?” He repeated the command of the Lord concerning Amalek and demanded the reason of the king’s disobedience. {EP 457.5}

Saul persisted in self-justification: “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. 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.” {EP 458.1}

In solemn words the prophet swept away the refuge of lies and pronounced the irrevocable sentence: “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. 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.” {EP 458.2}

As the king heard this fearful sentence, he cried out, “I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord, and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice.” Terrified, Saul acknowledged his guilt, but he still persisted in casting blame on the people. {EP 458.3}

It was not sorrow for sin, but fear of its penalty, that actuated the king of Israel as he entreated Samuel, “I pray thee, pardon my sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship the Lord.” If Saul had had true repentance, he would have made public confession of his sin; but it was his chief anxiety to maintain his authority and retain the allegiance of the people. He desired the honor of Samuel’s presence to strengthen his own influence. {EP 458.4}

“I will not return with thee,” was the answer of the prophet: “for thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord hath rejected thee from being king over Israel.” As Samuel turned to depart, the king, in an agony of fear, laid hold of his mantle to hold him back, but it rent in his hands. Upon this, the prophet declared, “The Lord hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and hath given it to a neighbor of thine, that is better than thou.” {EP 459.1}

An act of justice, stern and terrible, was yet to be performed. Samuel commanded that the king of the Amalekites be brought before him. Agag, guilty and merciless, came at the prophet’s command, flattering himself that the danger of death was past. Samuel declared: “As thy sword hath made women childless, so shall thy mother be childless among women. And Samuel hewed Agag in pieces before the Lord.” This done, Samuel returned to Ramah. {EP 459.2}

When called to the throne, Saul was deficient in knowledge and had serious defects of character. But the Lord granted him the Holy Spirit and placed him where he could develop the qualities requisite for a ruler of Israel. Had he remained humble, every good quality would have been gaining strength, while evil tendencies would have lost their power. This is the work which the Lord proposes to do for all who consecrate themselves to Him. He will reveal to them their defects of character and will give to them strength to correct their errors. {EP 459.3}

Though when first called to the throne Saul was humble and self-distrustful, success made him self-confident. The valor and military skill displayed in the deliverance of Jabesh-gilead roused the enthusiasm of the whole nation. At first he ascribed the glory to God, but afterward took honor to himself. He lost sight of his dependence on God and in heart departed from the Lord. Thus the way was prepared for his sin of presumption at Gilgal. The same blind self-confidence led him to reject Samuel’s reproof. Had he been willing to confess his error, this bitter experience would have proved a safeguard for the future. If the Lord had then separated Himself entirely from Saul, He would not have again spoken to him through His prophet, entrusting him with a definite work to perform, that he might correct the errors of the past. {EP 459.4}

When Saul persisted in his stubborn self-justification, he rejected the only means by which God could work to save him from himself. At Gilgal, a religious service performed in direct opposition to the command of God only placed him beyond the help that God was willing to grant. In the expedition against Amalek, the Lord was not pleased with partial obedience. God has given men no liberty to depart from His requirements. {EP 460.1}