Saul Part 3: 1 Samuel 15
Recap – We’ve been looking at how Saul changed, by examining the different forces that shaped his life
- Man of standing – born into a family that had some wealth and influence
- Family – his tribe brought a great deal of shame on Israel and were almost wiped out.
- Physically gifted – head taller than anyone else in all Israel, and handsome
- Cares about what people think (father’s concern for them, Samuel getting what seers get)
- Not ambitious – never wanted to be king
Having the responsibility of king becomes the dominant force that shapes Saul’s character because it’s the primary factor of influence upon his core character trait
Care continuum
Saul’s core character trait is his concern for others. This character aspect influences every aspect of his life. Concern for others can be viewed as a spectrum. On one end of the spectrum, you have “no care” and on the other end of the spectrum you have “too much care.”
<—No Care for what others think — Appropriate Care——-Too Much care—->
The goal is to avoid each of those extremes by remaining in the middle of the continuum, where we have the appropriate level of care for what other people think and feel. What is happening on an internal level as we move back and forth along that spectrum is that we are alternately hardening our hearts (blocking out our feelings) or allowing the emotions of our heart (insecurity, fear, worry) to have more and more free reign.
<—Hardening of heart —— dealing with heart —— free reign of heart —>
The end result is that in Saul’s case, we head towards apathy on the left end of the scale or paranoia on the right side. My opinion is that when we first encounter Saul, he is naturally insecure, but still closer to the middle. 1 Sam 15 shows how his decisions are steadily moving him from insecurity towards paranoia.
It may be tempting to think, “Well, why did God give Saul the kingdom if it was going to have such a negative effect on him?”
Have to realize that having the kingdom could have had the opposite effect on Saul
- Could have driven him to be closer to God. From what the scriptures show us, Saul never really had a relationship with God.
- Could have transformed him to be secure in God. Saul gets a lot of confirmation that he is chosen and that God is with him, but he struggles to believe it and keeps trying to create his own confirmation.
- The hard decisions could have kept him in more in the middle of that “care continuum.” Focusing on obeying God would have provided boundaries for his feelings.
We all have character that is being shaped and developed by how we are following God’s expectations.
In 1 Samuel 15, we see another pivotal moment in the shaping of Saul’s character. It’s helpful to understand the dynamics at work.
- In between the initial battle with the Philistines and the battle this chapter describes, Saul fights valiantly against a LOT of enemies. Remember – just because he’s got insecurities doesn’t mean that Saul doesn’t also have great qualities.
47 After Saul had assumed rule over Israel, he fought against their enemies on every side: Moab, the Ammonites, Edom, the kings[e] of Zobah, and the Philistines. Wherever he turned, he inflicted punishment on them.[f] 48 He fought valiantly and defeated the Amalekites, delivering Israel from the hands of those who had plundered them.
- Also constant and bitter war with the Philistines (end of chapter 14)
- Samuel has told Saul that his kingdom will not
last, BUT still brings him a message from the Lord of a mission from God that he
is to carry out.
- Is this a chance for Saul to redeem himself? In his message, Samuel speaks of the anointing, NOT the rejection.
- At the very least, it’s an opportunity to show God/Samuel that he can fully carry out God’s commands.
Remember the two types of direction Saul has been given – very specific and quite general.
- Here is very specific direction. Saul isn’t told to simply kill the Amalekites, but to kill everything that belongs to them; all the people but also all their animals. Samuel even lists them specifically
- We’ve said that up to this point, Saul has done
best with very detailed direction or information; that’s where we have seen his
best qualities shine through.
- Go find the donkeys; here is what will happen to you after you leave (1 Sam 10), and wait 7 days, etc.…
So this is a tailor made scenario for Saul to succeed, but Saul doesn’t follow all the commands
7 Then Saul attacked the Amalekites all the way from Havilah to Shur, near the eastern border of Egypt. 8 He took Agag king of the Amalekites alive, and all his people he totally destroyed with the sword. 9 But Saul and the army spared Agag and the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves[b] and lambs—everything that was good. These they were unwilling to destroy completely, but everything that was despised and weak they totally destroyed.
Q. Why keep Agag alive?
Q. Why not destroy the best cattle and other livestock?
Put another way, “How was it possible to rationalize the decisions to disobey God’s commands?
This is where you start to see the cumulative effects of how Saul’s character is affecting his decision-making. Remember: Saul’s core character trait is his concern.
- When that concern is about people it is fueled more by a natural insecurity than a natural confidence (challenges of being taller than everyone else, feeling the least because of family history, having standing, but not much natural ambition, etc.)
Saul has struggled to believe God is with him, struggled to believe that he should be king. The times we have seen him disobey God have been because he’s looking for some kind of confirmation that can build up his self-confidence or self-esteem.
Fueling his self-esteem starts becoming his primary focus for his actions.
Plunder is a large part of the battle.
- Keeping Agag alive gives Saul a victory trophy that he can use to feed his confidence. He can show Agag off to everyone.
- The plunder of the animals makes the men
happy….with Saul.
- Compare with 2 Chron. 25: 5-13 – Israelite mercenaries are hired for 100 talents of silver, but are dismissed (not allowed to partake in the battle). Even though they get paid, they are angry because they didn’t get a chance to get the plunder. They kill 3000 people in towns belonging to Judah and carry off a great amount of plunder for themselves.
Saul runs into his character. How do I show people that God is with me; that I deserve to be king, if I don’t have some kind of proof of my victory?
How do I keep these men following me if I don’t allow them to bring back plunder? My men abandoned me before with the Philistines. Perhaps I can keep them following me by being the king who makes them wealthy.
These are likely things that Saul was considering.
The challenge is that Saul’s challenge of needing more than God’s word to follow him is what he is training the troops to do. He’s training them to only follow him because of the personal benefit to them, not obedience to God’s commands.
The conversation with Samuel is very revealing.
I have carried out the Lord’s instructions
The soldiers brought [the cattle] from the Amalekites
We brought the best to sacrifice to The Lord your God
We totally destroyed the rest
When Saul talks about himself it is as one who has completely obeyed God. It’s the soldiers (separate from him) who brought the cattle back. When he has to group himself with the soldiers, it’s to highlight what he thinks will appeal to Samuel (sacrifices to the Lord his God) or to highlight his obedience (we totally destroyed the rest)
Closing Thoughts
It’s important for us to think about our own “core character traits.” Each of us could put together a continuum that would help us chart where we are and where we are headed. In this chapter, there are accelerators that start moving Saul more quickly along his continuum, such as losing his most important spiritual adviser.
Take time to think through where you are right now, and whether there are factors that are moving you towards one end or the other of your own character continuum.
Ruben's Lesson Notes 