Please Note:  This is the last message Pastor Ray was to teach prior to his sabbatical.  The service was canceled due to a snow storm so all that is available are Pastor Ray's notes.

1 SAMUEL 15

1 Samuel also said unto Saul, The LORD sent me to anoint thee to be king over his people, over Israel: now therefore hearken thou unto the voice of the words of the LORD.

• There is no note of time, but probably a considerable interval elapsed before this second trial of Saul was made. God does not finally reject a man until, after repeated opportunities for repentance, he finally proves obdurate. Pulpit Commentary

2 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.

• Centuries before this, the Amalekites were the first peoples to attack Israel after their escape from Egypt (Exo 17:1-16).
• Hundreds of years before, the LORD said He would bring this kind of judgment against Amalek:
• Ex 17:14 And the LORD said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.15 And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovahnissi: 16 For he said, Because the LORD hath sworn that the LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.
• Deut 25:17-19 repeats the point: Remember what Amalek did to you on the way as you were coming out of Egypt, how he met you on the way and attacked your rear ranks, all the stragglers at your rear, when you were tired and weary; and he did not fear God. Therefore, it shall be, when the LORD your God has given you rest from your enemies all around, in the land which the LORD your God is giving you to possess as an inheritance, that you will blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. You shall not forget.
• The Amalekites committed a terrible sin against Israel. When the nation was weak and vulnerable, the Amalekites attacked the weakest and most vulnerable of the nation. So God promised to bring judgment against them.

3 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.

• God clearly told Samuel to tell Saul to bring a total judgment against the Amalekites.
• Utterly destroy. Hebrew, "put under the ban." The word herem, ban, properly signifies a thing set apart, especially one devoted to God; and whatever was so devoted could not be redeemed, but must be slain.
• When a country was put under the ban, all living things, men and cattle, were to be killed; no spoil might be taken, but it was to be burnt, and things indestructible by fire, as silver and gold, were to be brought into the treasury. Everything, in short, belonging to such a nation was looked upon as accursed
• God gave Saul an opportunity to redeem himself with obedience. The judgment was to be a complete and total annihilation of anything that breathed. God’s judgment was severe on those who would destroy His people. It was equally severe to those who disobeyed (cf. Achan in Josh. 7:10–26).
• Some people read the command to utterly destroy these people as being cruel. However, the Amalekites were so corrupted and perverse that they were actually destroying themselves in their perversity and sin. God had given them many years to repent.

4 And Saul gathered the people together, and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand footmen, and ten thousand men of Judah.

5 And Saul came to a city of Amalek, and laid wait (set an ambush) in the valley.

6 And Saul said unto the Kenites, Go, depart, get you down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them: for ye shewed kindness to all the children of Israel, when they came up out of Egypt. So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites.

• Kenites-A people descending from, or nearly related to Jethro, who anciently dwelt in rocks near the Amalekites. Jethro you recall was Moses’ father in law. They were not guilty of the sin against the Israelites, thus they were told to separate themselves before the judgment of God came upon them.

7 And Saul smote the Amalekites from Havilah until thou comest to Shur, that is over against (the east of Egypt) Egypt.

8 And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.

9 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 (were unwilling) utterly destroy them: but every thing that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly.

• Motivated by covetousness, both Saul and the people greedily spared the choice spoil of the land, disobeying God’s Word and demonstrating their faithlessness. They kept the best for themselves and gave God the leftovers.

• Agag was the king of the Amalekites. This sparing of Agag and the best of the livestock proved to be a very serious error. When Saul was wounded on Mt. Gilboa in a battle against the Philistines, it was an Amalekite who ran a sword through him.
• A couple of hundred years after this, we come to the story of Esther, where we find a man by the name of Hamaan who was determined to destroy the Jews. Hamaan was an Agagite, thus 200 plus years after Saul, the nation feels the ramifications of his failure to obey God and destroy all of the Amalekites.
• By using the Amalekites as a type of the flesh nature, this sparing of Agag is a very powerful illustration for all of us to heed. If I do not crucify the flesh, the flesh will crucify me. There is a tendency to hold on to some areas of the flesh thinking that we can control it, but such is not the case. 

Is there a king Agag in your life?

1. Something God has prompted you to eradicate from your life that you haven’t dealt with yet? (something you need to hack to pieces? Or, shake in the fire?)

2. Someone that God has shown you isn’t healthy for your relationship w/him?

3. Some-thought that God continues to remind you to take captive & not allow it to run amok down the alleys of your mind?

10 ¶ Then came the word of the LORD unto Samuel, saying,

11 It repenteth me (lit. I am grieved) 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.

• Samuels heart was broken for Saul. All night-To implore his pardoning mercy for Saul, and for the people.  Is turned back-Therefore he did once follow God.  Otherwise it would have been impossible, he should turn back from following him.

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.

• Set him up a place—Hebrew, "a hand," i.e. a monument, something to call attention to his victory. Saul, apparently taking credit for the victory, established a monument to himself
• The NIV reads, there he set up a monument in his own honor. How tragic it is when we take credit for the victories that God gives unto us. Our flesh is constantly wanting to receive the glory that belongs only to God.         

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.

• Saul did not perform the commandment of The Lord. Instead of destroying all of the livestock and the King Agag, he did what he thought was the right thing to do

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.

• They-That is, the people.  Thus, he lays the blame upon the people; whereas they could not do it without his consent; and he should have used his power to over-rule them.
• This is the nature of hypocrites to be impudent against the truth, to condemn others and justify themselves. Geneva Bible

16 Then Samuel said unto Saul, Stay (Stop!), and I will tell thee what the LORD hath said to me this night. And he (Saul) said unto him, Say on (tell me).

• The Lord's messengers must point out and condemn the sins of rulers as well as of people; and let nothing hinder them from declaring with plainness and fidelity the whole revealed will of God. FBN

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?

• Saul’s status before he became king was as a humble and lowly Benjamite (cf. 9:21).

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 (wiped out).

19 Wherefore then didst thou not obey the voice of the LORD, but didst fly (pounce) 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.

• Saul once again is making excuses for his disobedience to God. He blames the people for the keeping of the animals.
• Instead of confessing his sin and repenting, Saul continued to justify himself.
• Prov 28:13 He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy.

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.

• The Lord wants living obedience from the heart, not dead animals on the altar.  Samuel wasn’t belittling sacrifices, but pointing out that the condition of the heartdetermines the value of the sacrifice!!!
• Psa 51:16 For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering. 17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
• Disobedience to God's express command is not to be compensated with sacrifice. JWN
• Samuel stated that God desires heart obedience over the ritual sacrifice of animals (cf. Ps. 51:16, 17; Is. 1:10–17). The sacrificial system was never intended to function in place of living an obedient life, but was rather to be an expression of it (cf. Hos. 6:6; Amos 5:21–27; Mic. 6:6–8). John MacArthur

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.

• In some of the margins of translations we see the word divination instead of witchcraft. Rebellion is as witchcraft because when I rebel against The Lord, I am actually saying that I will determine or divine what is right for me.
• To know God’s will & deliberately disobey it is to put ourselves above God, & therefore become our own god. This is the vilest form of idolatry!
• Rejected from being king- addressing the subject of leadership, John Wesley said,those are unworthy to rule over men, who are not willing that God should rule over them.
• A universal principle is given here that those who continually reject God will one day be rejected by Him. John MacArthur

24 ¶ And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD, and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice (he gave in to them).

• This overdue confession appears to be generated more by a concern over consequences (regret) than by sorrow over having offended holy God (repentance) because he bypasses his personal responsibility by shifting blame to the people.
• Saul is demonstrating worldly sorrow, not godly sorrow that works repentance.

25 Now therefore, I pray thee, pardon my sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship the LORD.

• Return with me. Saul was concerned about having Samuel’s visible presence as a show of support in front of the people. He wanted to appear to be approved by God.

26 And Samuel said unto Saul, I will not return with thee: for thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD hath rejected thee from being king over Israel.

27 And as Samuel turned about to go away, he laid hold upon the skirt of his mantle (the hem of his robe), and it rent.

• The tearing of Samuels robe was illustrative of how God had torn the kingdom away from Saul. Though Saul was still recognized as king for another 15 years, he was deposed by The Lord here in chapter 15.

28 And Samuel said unto him, The LORD hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and hath given it to a neighbour of thine, that is better than thou.

• Saul’s judgment was a settled matter on the day of his disobedience with the Amalekites. The neighbor of course was David.

29 And also the Strength of Israel (the Glory of Israel) will not lie nor repent (change His mind): for he is not a man, that he should repent.

• God doesn’t need to repent, because God never makes a mistake. This repudiation of Saul and selection of David does not mean that God went from plan A to plan B. God had from the beginning chosen another who would be after His own heart.

30 Then he said, I have sinned: yet honour me now, I pray thee, before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and turn again with me, that I may worship the LORD thy God.

• Honor me- Saul was still thinking of himself and how he could best salvage the situation for self-gain.

31 So Samuel turned again after Saul; and Saul worshipped the LORD.

• Samuels purpose in agreeing to Saul’s request is not to honor Saul, but to carry out the divine sentence on Agag and is so doing to reemphasize Saul’s neglect of duty. NIV Study bible

32 ¶ Then said Samuel, Bring ye hither to me Agag the king of the Amalekites. And Agag came unto him delicately. And Agag said, Surely the bitterness of death is past.

• Delicately- cheerfully, since he had gained the favor and protection of the king.

33 And Samuel said, As thy sword hath made women childless, so shall thy mother be childless among women. And Samuel hewed Agag in pieces before the LORD in Gilgal.

• This was an act of divine judgment to show the holy wrath of God against wanton sin.

34 Then Samuel went to Ramah; and Saul went up to his house to Gibeah of Saul.

35 And Samuel came no more to see Saul until the day of his death: nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul: and the LORD repented that he had made Saul king over Israel.

• The rejection of Saul as king was the cause of great grief to Samuel. 1 Sam 19.24 tells us that there was at least one more encounter between Saul and Samuel.