“”Where have you been?” Saul’s uncle asked him and his servant.
“We were looking for the donkeys,” Saul replied, “but we couldn’t find them. So we went to Samuel to ask him where they were.”
“Oh? And what did he say?” his uncle asked.
“He told us that the donkeys had already been found,” Saul replied.
But Saul didn’t tell his uncle what Samuel said about the kingdom.”
1 Samuel 10:14-16 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/1sa.10.14-15.NLT
Saul was God’s answer to Israel’s rejection. They demanded a king like the other nations around them. In doing so, they declared openly that they no longer recognized God as King. Saul looked the part, handsome, standing a head taller than his fellow Israelites, but he was a coward. Though God’s Spirit filled him until he testified with the prophets, he had no confidence in his calling and even less confidence in God.
“The Philistines mustered a mighty army of 3,000 chariots, 6,000 charioteers, and as many warriors as the grains of sand on the seashore!
The men of Israel saw what a tight spot they were in; and because they were hard pressed by the enemy, they tried to hide in caves, thickets, rocks, holes, and cisterns. Some of them crossed the Jordan River and escaped into the land of Gad and Gilead.
Meanwhile, Saul stayed at Gilgal, and his men were trembling with fear.
Saul waited there seven days for Samuel, as Samuel had instructed him earlier, but Samuel still didn’t come.
Saul realized that his troops were rapidly slipping away.
So he demanded, “Bring me the burnt offering and the peace offerings!”
And Saul sacrificed the burnt offering himself.
Just as Saul was finishing with the burnt offering, Samuel arrived.
Saul went out to meet and welcome him, but Samuel said, “What is this you have done?”
Saul replied, “I saw my men scattering from me, and you didn’t arrive when you said you would, and the Philistines are at Micmash ready for battle.
So I said, ‘The Philistines are ready to march against us at Gilgal, and I haven’t even asked for the Lord’s help!’
So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering myself before you came.”
“How foolish!” Samuel exclaimed.
“You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you.
Had you kept it, the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever.
But now your kingdom must end, for the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart.
The Lord has already appointed him to be the leader of his people, because you have not kept the Lord’s command.””
1 Samuel 13:5-14 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/1sa.13.5-7.NLT
Every other king of Israel would be measured by this same standard- their obedience to God. “He did what was pleasing in the Lord’s sight like his father, David,” the man after God’s own heart or he followed after Ahab or Jeroboam, who would later become synonymous with disobedience and leading God’s people further astray. Saul was barely established as king before taking matters into his own hands lost him the kingdom.
Scripture gives just a glimpse into the day of Saul’s coronation, but it’s more than enough to see just how easy it was to impress the Israelites.
“Later Samuel called all the people of Israel to meet before the Lord at Mizpah.
And he said, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, has declared: I brought you from Egypt and rescued you from the Egyptians and from all of the nations that were oppressing you.
But though I have rescued you from your misery and distress, you have rejected your God today and have said, ‘No, we want a king instead!’
Now, therefore, present yourselves before the Lord by tribes and clans.”
So Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel before the Lord, and the tribe of Benjamin was chosen by lot.
Then he brought each family of the tribe of Benjamin before the Lord, and the family of the Matrites was chosen.
And finally Saul son of Kish was chosen from among them.
But when they looked for him, he had disappeared!
So they asked the Lord, “Where is he?”
And the Lord replied, “He is hiding among the baggage.”
So they found him and brought him out, and he stood head and shoulders above anyone else.
Then Samuel said to all the people, “This is the man the Lord has chosen as your king. No one in all Israel is like him!”
And all the people shouted, “Long live the king!””
1 Samuel 10:17-24 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/1sa.10.17-24.NLT
Almighty God wrecked Egypt to ransom His chosen children. He parted seas, felled walls, miraculously provided food and water, and drove out nations to provide a homeland for Jacob, but it was never enough. Enter one handsome, cowering giant and they’re all swooning and shouting, “long live the king!”
Jesus said, “For I have come to you in my Father’s name, and you have rejected me.
Yet if others come in their own name, you gladly welcome them.
No wonder you can’t believe!
For you gladly honor each other, but you don’t care about the honor that comes from the one who alone is God.”
John 5:43-44 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/jhn.5.43-44.NLT
“Jesus told them, “This is the only work God wants from you:
Believe in the One he has sent.””
John 6:29 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/jhn.6.29.NLT
Saul was chosen by God as the first king of Israel. God’s Spirit empowered him to prophecy and to lead Israel into battle against her enemies, but the Spirit did not remain with him as it does with those of us who believe in God through Jesus. Since the Pentecost recorded in Acts 2, every true believer has been marked by God’s indwelling Spirit, His guarantee of God’s presence with us and of eternal life to come. (Ephesians 1:13, II Corinthians 5:5) God is with us, giving us everything we need for living a life of godliness. (II Peter 1:3)
“So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives.
Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves.”
Galatians 5:16 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/gal.5.16.NLT
“For we live by faith, not by sight.”
2 Corinthians 5:7 NIV
https://bible.com/bible/111/2co.5.7.NIV
“After these signs take place, do what must be done, for God is with you.
Then go down to Gilgal ahead of me. I will join you there to sacrifice burnt offerings and peace offerings.
You must wait for seven days until I arrive and give you further instructions.””
1 Samuel 10:7-8 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/1sa.10.7-8.NLT
Saul’s justification for offering the sacrifice before Samuel arrived sounds good on the surface. This formerly timid Benjamite had stepped into his God-given role and become the take-charge leader that God’s people needed. After all, Samuel told him to do what must be done. Usurping Samuel’s role by offering sacrifices to the Lord was akin to Israel’s offense in asking for a king in the first place, both basically said we no longer need you. You are outdated. Yesterday’s news. Irrelevant.
“Samuel was displeased with their request and went to the Lord for guidance.
“Do everything they say to you,” the Lord replied, “for they are rejecting me, not you.
They don’t want me to be their king any longer.
Ever since I brought them from Egypt they have continually abandoned me and followed other gods.
And now they are giving you the same treatment.”
1 Samuel 8:6-8 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/1sa.8.7-8.NLT
More than once, Saul attempted to placate Samuel by pretending obedience.
“So I said, ‘The Philistines are ready to march against us at Gilgal, and I haven’t even asked for the Lord’s help!’ So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering myself before you came.””
1 Samuel 13:12 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/1sa.13.12.NLT
“It’s true that the army spared the best of the sheep, goats, and cattle,” Saul admitted. “But they are going to sacrifice them to the Lord your God. We have destroyed everything else.””
1 Samuel 15:15 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/1sa.15.15.NLT
“Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God.
You will always harvest what you plant.”
Galatians 6:7 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/gal.6.7.NLT
“For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.
And having chosen them, he called them to come to him.
And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself.
And having given them right standing, he gave them his glory.
What shall we say about such wonderful things as these?
If God is for us, who can ever be against us?
Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else?”
Romans 8:29-32 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/rom.8.29-32.NLT
“For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ.
It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes—the Jew first and also the Gentile.”
Romans 1:16 NLT
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