[MUSIC PLAYING] The Bible From 30,000 Feet-- Soaring Through the Scripture
From Genesis to Revelation. [MUSIC PLAYING] Would you turn in
your Bibles, please, to the book of 1 Samuel. The books of Samuel and
Kings and Chronicles form a new period in
history that last 575 years. The are books of transition. And 1 Samuel is the first of
the first and second books-- 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2
Kings, 1 and 2 Chronicles. In the Hebrew Bible, it was
simply the Books of Samuel, the Books of Kings, and
the Books of Chronicles. Interestingly, in
the Greek version-- this is just all extra,
added information. It's a bonus. It's for free. In the Septuagint
version, 1 and 2 Samuel is 1 Kings and 2 Kings. And 1 Kings and 2 Kings
is 3 Kings and 4 Kings. So in our Bibles, it's 1 Samuel,
2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles, and 2 Chronicles. It begins around 1100 BC
and stretches all the way to the Babylonian captivity. Now, we'll be talking a
little bit about those dates and that time later on. What's important for you to
know is that, essentially, this will cover almost to the very
end of Old Testament history. Once they go into
captivity and then they return from captivity-- and that's the books
of Ezra and Nehemiah-- Esther is thrown in there
somewhere-- when they return, there's 400 years of silence. And then God speaks again
afresh in the New Testament. So we're beginning
a march in 1 Samuel to the end of 2
Chronicles which takes us all the way to the
Babylonian captivity. Somebody once said that
there's three types of leaders. There's those who
make things happen, those who watch things
happen, and those who have no idea what's happening. [LAUGHTER] We find all three of
those types of leaders in the book of 1 Samuel. And we find those
three types of leaders in four distinct people-- Eli, Samuel, Saul, and David. Those are the four big
pillars that this book really is centered around-- Eli, Samuel, Saul, and David. So it's the story of a priest,
a prophet, a politician, and a poet. And you know, preachers
like to alliterate things. So these are handles you can
grab a hold of for memory. The key concept of this book,
as I see it, is influence. Influence-- good
or bad influence. Sometimes you can
have tremendous power and be a wonderful,
awesome influence. At other times, you
can have lots of power and you can be the worst
example to the people that you are called to lead. So we're going to look
at the role of a prophet, the ruin of a priest,
the rule of a politician, and the rise of a poet. Now, because we're
at 30,000 feet and you can see how many
chapters are in this book-- 31-- we can't be afforded
the same type of pace we had last time in the Book of
Ruth with only four chapters. We could almost read
the whole thing. And we didn't even do that. So we are, again, at
cruising altitude. We are, again, at 30,000 feet. And we're just going to
notice the landscape. And I'm going to break it down
for you in terms of the most memorable things to look at. Now, many will regard
Samuel as the last judge in the period of judges. And they call him that
for a good reason. The book of 1 Samuel says that
he judged Israel for 40 years. So he could be
classified as a judge. But more than that, he is called
also in this book a "seer." And a "seer" was the old
name, this book tells us, for a prophet. So when Samuel
emerges on the scene, God calls him to be a
prophetic voice to the nation. So you can look at
him as the last judge and the first
prophet, technically, in terms of the prophets
that emerge on the land. The book opens with a couple-- a guy by the name of Elkanah
and his wife, Hannah. Actually, he has two wives. So you can just see
that this is shortly after the period of judges. There are problems,
even in this family. Any man that thinks he
can please two women is absolutely insane. [LAUGHTER] He has two wives. And he is unable to please them. One is named Hannah. And she really occupies
the main thrust of the early
chapter of chapter 1 and even chapter 2 of this book. They are infertile. Peninnah, the other
wife, can bear. But Hannah is infertile. And because of that,
she is in deep grief. And in her grief, she
does the right thing, man. She talks to the Lord about it. And the Lord opens up her womb. And so we come to the role of
a prophet when we look here. I'm going to take you
to chapter 1, verse 20. I'm not going to
begin in verse 1. God answers the
prayer of Hannah. Verse 20, "it came to pass in
the process of time that Hannah conceived and bore a
son, and called his name 'Shmuel,'" that's the
Hebrew pronunciation-- "Samuel," as we say it, "saying,
'Because I have asked for him from the Lord.'" She names the baby
after a circumstance at the baby's birth. She feels that this is a
direct answer to prayer. She asked God for a child. God gave her this child. So she calls the child
"God Hears," "Shmuel," or "God Answers." God has answered my prayer. I'm going to look at
you and call you by name your whole life. I'm going to say, hey, God
Answers, come over here. Hey, God Hears, it's
time for dinner. So she will be reminded
of the answered prayer every time that name is called. Well, she goes to the
tabernacle where she had prayed and tells the priest that is
presiding over the tabernacle by the name of Eli in
those days, in verse 27, "For this child I
prayed, and the Lord has granted me my petition
which I asked of Him." Now, from the birth of
Samuel, the judge/profit to the death of
Saul is 94 years. So in this book, we're covering
about a hundred-year period. She goes back home
with the child, weans the child till the child
is between three and five years of age. But notice this. "Therefore," verse 28, "I
have lent him to the Lord," she says. "I have lent him to the Lord. As long as he lives, he
shall be lent to the Lord. And so they worshiped
the Lord there." Now, that's a strange
phrase, right. Here's my kid. I'm going to lend him to God. Because truth be told,
God lent the child to you. He's really not yours. You're a steward
over that child. But each child, I believe,
is a special creation of God. And we see ourselves as
parents, as stewards, for a period of
time to help shape. But she says to
Eli, here's my son. I'm going to lend him to God. It's a strange phrase. What it means is,
I am irrevocably giving him over to the
service of the Lord. And essentially,
she drops him off at the tabernacle
from a very young age to be a priest in training,
or a prophet in training, or a seer in training. He is to remain
in the tabernacle and be exposed to the rules, the
principles, the values of God. She is giving her
child to the Lord. Now, sometimes we use this verse
when we do baby dedications, that these parents are
lending this child in hopes that this child will walk
and serve the Lord all the days of his or her life. Hannah's greatest desire
was that her child follow God's call for his life. Hannah's greatest desire
was not, number one, go to the best
schools; number two, get the best possible
education and be the smartest in the
class; number three, make varsity volleyball
or basketball. None of that. She was focused primarily-- not that those things are bad-- primarily on a spiritual
value, a spiritual emphasis-- to serve the Lord all
the days of his life. Somebody once said, kids are
the only earthly possession you can take with you to heaven. And so we think of, how can I
train this child to walk hard after the ways of the Lord? So that's the role of a prophet. He's emerging from
this point on. Now, interspersed with
the role of a prophet comes the ruin of a priest. I told you his name. We've already read about him
in terms of this conversation she is having with him. His name is Eli. He is serving as the
priest of the tabernacle. Now, Eli was an
interesting guy-- a good guy, a godly guy, but
very passive as a parent. Because his own
kids who will serve in the tabernacle
as priests with him will do some
pretty gnarly things. And all he will do is
say, why did you do that? He won't put a stop to it. He won't kick them
out of the priesthood. He just asked a lame
question without any follow-through response. So he's very, very passive. Chapter 2 verse 12, it
says, "Now the sons of Eli were corrupt. They did not know the Lord." Now, just mark that. They're on staff in God's house. And they don't know the Lord. Some people think, well,
if you go to church, you're a Christian, right? And that just sort of
automatically happens. I come to church, therefore
I must be a Christian. Well, you can go to a
garage and you will not become an automobile. [LAUGHTER] Going to a place of anything
doesn't make you necessarily what that thing is all
about or specializing in. In fact, I would say
that Christian hangouts, like churches, are
sometimes more dangerous. Because they're sometimes
filled with people who think, that's all I have to do, is
just attend and listen and sing, and I'm right with God. I say that it's dangerous
for this reason. Think of it in terms
of spiritual warfare. Think of what I'm about to say
in terms of spiritual warfare. The upper room in Jerusalem-- Jesus had His Last Supper
with His disciples in-- I know you've often
read the passage and gone, man, that would
have been so cool to be a part of the Last Supper. Probably the upper room
was the most dangerous room in all of Jerusalem that
night, because Satan was there at that supper. It said when the supper was
ended, Satan entered Judas. So he was there all along,
ready to get to somebody who was that close to Jesus Christ. Well, Eli's sons-- by the
way, they're named Hophni and Phinehas-- they're immoral. And they're immoral with
the tabernacle itself because young women would
come to the tabernacle. He'd be checking them out
instead of worshipping God. And then he would lay
with them-- that is, have sexual
relations with them-- somewhere near the
door of the tabernacle. He will find out-- Eli will find out-- ask the question,
why do you do it? But make no
remediary act at all. Not only that, but they become
corrupt with the sacrifices that people are bringing. That's also mentioned
in this book. So in the midst of all that
corruption that's going on-- that's mentioned about
in verse 22, by the way, of chapter 2-- in the midst of all that,
God calls a prophet. God called Samuel to be a
prophet, chapter 3, verse 1. Hears the call. "Then the boy Samuel ministered
to the Lord before Eli. And the word of the Lord
was rare in those days." It's a remarkable passage. I have underlined this in my-- I'd say bible-- my bibles that
I have had over the years. I always underline this verse. It's insightful. It says, "The word of the
Lord was rare in those days. And there was no
widespread revelation." God wasn't speaking
much in those days. And for a good reason-- people were not listening
much in those days. God had nothing more to say
to a people that wouldn't hear what he had to say. Everyone is doing
right in his own eyes-- last verse of Judges tells us. That's their MO. So I think that's how God works. If you don't want
to hear His voice, God has nothing
more to say to you. If God gave you a directive,
God gave you a revelation, God gave you His
word, and you're not about obeying that, why should
He speak anything more to you, until you say, OK,
I'm going to do that. I'm going to agree with that. I'm going to get in line
with that principle. So, "The word of the Lord
was rare in those days. There was no
widespread revelation." I am intrigued by
that verse, because I think this verse could be
said about many pulpits, even in our own country. "The word of God was rare. There was no
widespread revelation." This is why Paul told a young
Timothy years later, preach the word. Be ready in season
and out of season. I believe-- my opinion-- is that
most contemporary preaching is marked by a lack of
confidence in scripture. Scripture isn't preach. It's not, thus says the Lord,
here is the word of the Lord. It's just cool, clever sayings
and my opinions about life. And I'm not interested in
any preacher's opinion. I don't come to a church to
hear a preacher's opinion or a clever, witty saying. I want to hear a sure
word from the Lord. Amen. Amen. Well, unfortunately, many
become embarrassed by the Bible. But the Bible says,
about the Bible, this. Hebrews 4, "The word of God is
living and powerful, sharper than a two-edged sword. It is a discerner
of the thoughts and the intents of the heart,"
that little section ends. I think that the
modern church has become more fascinated
with technology rather than theology. And I think we need to get
back to good theological, through-the-Bible, doctrinal
preaching to strengthen believers, especially
in this day and age. So having said that,
Samuel is young. And not like the
rest of the people who are not listening to the
word of the Lord, Samuel is. He's all ears. So three times,
the Lord calls him. And it's funny
how He calls them. He calls him like this. Samuel. And He wakes him
up out of a sleep. Samuel gets up out of his sleep
and goes to Eli the priest, who goes, what do you want? Eli goes, [FEIGNS A YAWN]
what are you talking about, what do I want? He said, well, you
called my name. He goes, I didn't
call your name. Go back to bed. So he goes back to bed. When he falls asleep,
God interrupts his sleep. Samuel. He wakes up again, goes to Eli. Same thing-- go back to bed. Third time it happens-- after the third time,
verse 9, "Therefore Eli said to Samuel, 'Go lie down. And it shall be, if
He calls you,'" He, meaning this is God speaking. It's not me. It's God. "'If He calls you,
that you must say, speak, Lord. Your servant hears.'" I love this. It's sort of like saying,
well, pick up the phone, dummy. [LAUGHTER] If God's calling you from
Heaven, pick up the phone. Sometimes God calls us, and
we don't wait long enough to get an answer. We pray about something. And then, well,
what did God say? I don't know. I didn't, like, hang around
to, like, wait for it. Now, I'm not saying that God
will always say something. And certainly don't expect an
audible sound out of Heaven. But the Lord can, on
occasion, speak to you. Just yesterday--
and I don't need to tell you the example
of my own personal life-- but I felt the Lord spoke. And He happened to speak
of very important scripture about something I was wrestling
over and dealing with, with another person. The Lord spoke as clear as day
in my mind an answer to that. And it was so good
for me to hear it. And it just hit the
nail right on the head. So "Speak, Lord,
your servant hears." Tell God that. Answer the phone. "So Samuel went and
lay down in his place. Now the Lord came
and stood and called, as at other times, 'Samuel! Samuel!'" And Samuel, you can
just picture the kid getting up out of bed, smile on his face. Here goes, I'm
answering the phone. "Speak, Lord. Your servant hears." Now, something just
to make a note of. God calls him three times,
but does not reveal His will until the fourth time. Gets his attention. And then He tells
him the revelation after he says, "Speak,
Lord, your servant hears." Let that be an
encouragement to you. If you pray about something,
don't just do it once. Jesus said ask. Continue to ask. It's in the continual tense. Ask, seek, knock. Keep coming. Keep asking. Paul the Apostle had what he
called in 2 Corinthians, 12, a thorn in the flesh-- a messenger of Satan,
he said, to buffet me. He said three times I
pleaded with the Lord that He would take it from me. Three times. And then the Lord told him, my
grace is sufficient for you. So, man, keep knocking. Keep seeking. Keep praying. Down to verse 19, it
says, "So Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him
and let none of His words fall to the ground." That is remain unfulfilled. God made good on the
word that He gave to this seer/prophet/judge. Verse 20, "All Israel from Dan,"
way up north, "to Beersheba," that's way down
south-- the length and breadth of the country. "All Israel from
Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel
had been established as a profit of the Lord." By the time we get to chapter
4 and chapters 4 through 7, reveal a crisis in the land. There is a transition
going on in leadership. We're going to see the
transition take place here. There's a crisis
going on in the land. And the crisis is an invasion. It's an incursion of
the Philistines, who have migrated and settled along
and just inland from the sea coast of Israel. The Philistines are
occupying the land. And so because of
the crisis, you're going to see the people
demand a leader-- I mean, a leader like
other nations have. Now, just to backup
on the Philistines, you read about them
a lot, especially in these books of the Bible. They were, at one period
of Jewish history, the most prevalent enemy
to the Jews in the land. The Philistines originally
started from the islands out in the Aegean Sea. They then took over
parts of Asia Minor-- modern-day Turkey. But then-- and that's
what speaks to this text-- they decided to leave and
migrate along the Mediterranean coast, beginning down in
Egypt and then going up north. And north from Egypt
is the land of Israel. And the Old Testament says
there were five cities-- five principal cities-- that
were Philistine cities-- Ashkelon, a coastal city,
Ashdod, Gath, Gaza, and Ekron. Those are the five stronghold
cities of the Philistines. Well, they invade the land. Israel has a hard time
fighting them off. And eventually the
Philistines capture probably the most sacred
relic the Jews had-- the Ark. The Ark of the Covenant
was stolen and apprehended by the Philistines and
kept under their watch. Now, when Eli the priest heard
about this, he's 85 years old. He falls over on the stool
he's setting, breaks his neck, and dies. The last thing he heard is
that the Ark has been captured. Falls over dead. Not only that, but
one of his son's wives is about ready to
deliver a baby. And she delivers the baby
in hearing the news-- she went into labor-- and called the
son Ichabod, which is a word that means
"the glory has departed." Because the glory of God,
as embodied in the Ark-- that sacred relic-- had been taken by
the Philistines. So she birthed a
son named Ichabod. Now at this point,
as things are getting worse with the Philistines,
the people of Israel want a change-- a change in leadership. And it's their desire
that marks this transition to a new era for Israel-- the monarchy-- the
United Monarchy. 120 years of Israel being
ruled by a single king. And you know the names
of those three kings-- not "We Three Kings
Of Orient Are." The three kings of
the Old Testament-- Saul, David, and Solomon-- formed a United Monarchy-- 120-year reign of
this family of kings. So follow the transition
so far in all of the Bible. When God established
the people of Israel, they were under a theocracy. God ruled. God gave His word. People obeyed, or
should have obeyed. They didn't obey. So it went from a
theocracy to an anarchy. Every man did what was
right in his own eyes. Now the anarchy
has gotten so bad and there's no real
central leader, so it will go from theocracy
to anarchy, now to monarchy for 120 years of rule. Chapter 8, verse 4. "Then all the elders of
Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah." The priest is dead. Everybody respects this guy. He hears from God. He sees the future. He's their last judge. "And they said to him, 'Look,
you are old.'" Polite group of people, aren't they? [LAUGHTER] "You're old, and your sons
do not walk in your ways. Now make us a king to judge
us like all the nations." There's a leadership vacuum,
and they're feeling it. And they want a king to be like
everybody else in the world. Verse 6. "But the thing displease
Samuel when they said, 'Give us a king to judge us.' So Samuel prayed to the Lord." I think Samuel took
this personally. He's God's representative. And he felt like, man,
that must hurt God. I mean, it sure hurts me. He just got so
bummed out at this and didn't know,
really, what to do. But what he did was
the right thing. He prayed. He felt so down and
so low when he heard and he saw the response
of the people of Israel in not wanting to be unique, but
wanting to be like the world, that he took it to prayer. So mark that. Next time somebody
says something to you that causes your heart to sink,
do the right thing with that. Don't tell your neighbor. Tell your Lord. Tell Him all about it. Pour out your heart to Him. He does that. Verse 7. "The Lord said to Samuel,
'Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you. For they have not
rejected you, but they have rejected me, that I
should not reign over them. According to all the works which
they have done since the day that I brought them up out
of Egypt, even to this day-- with which they have forsaken
me and served other gods-- so they are doing to you also.'" Give them what they want. Do exactly what
they're asking for. Now, why would
God tell him that? And it's a good question. In fact, it begs
another question. Was a king-- an earthly king-- was a king the plan of God? Now, it's a trick
question, because I'm going to answer that
by saying no and yes. No, in that ideally, God
wanted to reign over them directly-- theocratic kingdom. By the way, that
will happen one day. We call it the
Millennial Kingdom-- the 1,000-year reign
of Christ on Earth. That'll happen. That's God's original intent-- a theocracy. But God also knew
that isn't going to happen with sinful people. And so, yes, a king-- an earthly king--
was God's will. Because in Genesis 49, as
Jacob's on his deathbed, he says this. The scepter shall
not depart from Judah until Shiloh, messiah, comes. So God anticipated a rulership-- a scepter. A scepter is what kings hold. It is their emblem of authority. God knew that. Not only that, but
in Deuteronomy 17, God says through Moses
to the people of Israel, and when you come into the
land which I am giving you and you ask for a
king to be over you, like all the other nations-- so God isn't in
Heaven, going, [GASPS] I can't believe they said that. [LAUGHTER] God was saying,
yeah, right on time. And when you ask for a
king to rule over you to be like other nations,
Deuteronomy 17, be sure, God said-- be sure to
appoint over you a king whom the Lord your God chooses. So yes, a king was God's plan. But everything was wrong
about this king at this time. What do I mean? Number one, it was
the wrong tribe. Saul becomes the king. He's from the tribe of Benjamin. The prophecy is the scepter
will not depart from Judah. It's the scepter of Judah,
the rulership of Judah. Number two, it was wrong timing. If they had just
waited 10 years, that's when David comes on the
scene and will become king. So it was the wrong tribe. It was the wrong timing. And it's the wrong terms. They want it for
the wrong reason-- the worst motive. We want to be like
everybody else. Not, we want to be the
unique people of God. We don't want to stand
out like a sore thumb. We want to blend in, like
all the other nations. So chapters 9 through
15, Saul is highlighted. Let's call this third, then,
the rule of a politician. That's the third section
of the Book of 1 Samuel. The rule of a politician. Saul becomes the first king. He's a horrible king. He's a lousy leader. He starts well. You know the story. How does he end? Well? Poorly. He starts right, in humility. Chapter 9, verse 21 tells us,
"And Saul answered and said," when he's getting
picked to be the king, "Am I not a Benjamite,
of the smallest of the tribes of Israel,
and my family the least of all the families of
the tribe of Benjamin? Why then do you speak
like this to me?" He's going, oh, man. I can't be the king. I'm like the worst pick. I'm from a little tribe. I'm not noteworthy. You might have
your wires crossed. Now, mark this. Mark well his beginning. He's humble. That will change. It does not last very long. Let me just sort of sum up what
I see in the next few chapters so we have time to
get through the book. He made several mistakes. Number one, he was arrogant. Saul was arrogant. The Philistines
invaded the land. They were to go to battle. And Samuel tells
Saul, before you do, let me come to where
you are and offer a sacrifice before the
Lord, then go into battle. Well, Samuel didn't come when
Saul thought he should come. So he just whips out the
animal, puts it on the altar. And he does the role
of a priest himself and offers the sacrifice. When Samuel comes, he says,
man, what are you doing? You're not a priest. You're a king. You transgress roles. But I want you to notice
a mark of his arrogance. In chapter 13, verse 3
it says, "And Jonathan," this is Saul's son, "attacked
the garrison of the Philistines that was in Geba, and
the Philistines heard it. Then Saul blew the trumpet
throughout the land, saying, 'Let the Hebrews hear!'" So I want you to see
what's happening. His son invades, but his
dad blows the trumpet. He's tooting his
own horn, literally. He's blowing his horn. He's saying, look what we did. He really didn't do
anything but watch so far. But now this is a
mark of this man. He can't stand to see anyone
around him upstage him. So he took credit for it. Pride always destroys
what God builds. If God is building something
in you and starting to use you, and you start to
go, wow, I'm amazed that God would even choose me. The foolish things of this
world that confound the wise. God wants to use me. Why am I honored? Wow. That's awesome. Keep that. Keep doing that. It's when you start
getting full of yourself and thinking that it's because
of you rather than in spite of you that God is using you,
that's when you're in trouble. See, the truth is, God picked
you because you're a good case study to show Himself off. It's like, yeah,
if I use you, then people are going to have
to say, that was God. [LAUGHTER] That's how God operates. Don't ever think that
God looked at you and stopped and pondered at
your awesomeness and said, one day, oh my stars, I can't
pass this guy or gal up. They're just too
anointed, too good. And God just said,
[CLICKS TONGUE] least likely-- perfect specimen for me
to showcase my glory. At first, he was
small in his own eyes. But he gets big. Pride is always a problem. It was the first sin. The first sin. I'm not talking Adam and Eve. I'm talking Lucifer in Heaven. He lifted himself up above
God, and God put him down. I've always loved the
story about the woodpecker who was pecking away at a tree. And then lightning struck the
tree as soon as he flew away. And he looked back, and
he noticed the lightning had split the tree in half. And the woodpecker said to his
buddy, look what I just did. [LAUGHTER] Well, truth is, all he did is
narrowly escape his own death by flying away. But that lightning
split the tree. So he was arrogant, number one. Number two, Saul
was indifferent. On one battle, he reduces
the army to 600 men. And Saul is sitting under a
tree watching things happen. Jonathan, once again,
Jonathan, his son, isn't a guy to sit under trees. Jonathan says to his armor
bearer, hey, buddy, come here. Let's go down to the
garrison of the Philistines. And let's see if
perhaps the Lord will deliver the entire
army of the Philistines into the hands of
you and me alone. Just two against the army. What do you say? Now, what would you say? Uh, you might want to
get another armor bearer. [LAUGHTER] I'm thinking of
changing positions and working for another dude. But he says, man, if that's in
your heart, let's go for it. So I love that. Chapter 14, verse
6, "Jonathan said, 'Maybe the Lord
will work for us, for nothing restrains the
Lord from saving by many or by few.'" Now
in the meantime, as they're winning the
battle-- two against an army-- in the meantime, Saul the
king gives the stupidest order any general could ever
give to his troops. You can't eat a thing
until we win the battle. No food. No energy. No protein. Nothing. Win the battle first,
then we can eat. Anybody who eats,
I'm going to kill. How would you like to
have a general like that? How'd you like to work
for a leader like that? Well, Jonathan was gone. He didn't hear about it. What he did, Jonathan,
in this whole episode of winning the battle,
is take some honey that he sees, grabs
some, eats it, gets the energy that you would
get from that kind of rush of sugar. But his dad finds out. Chapter 14, verse 43,
"Saul said to Jonathan, 'Tell me what you have done.'"
OK, I'll do what I've done. I did what you didn't do. I won the battle. Me and my armor
bearer-- alone, hello. But listen to his dad. "'Tell me what you have done.' And Jonathan told
him and said, I only tasted a little honey with
the end of the rod that was in my hand." When Saul, his dad, hears this,
he goes, sorry, rule's a rule. Going to have to kill you. Seriously. He was about to kill him. Verse 45, "But the people said
to Saul, 'Shall Jonathan die, who has accomplished this
great deliverance in Israel? Certainly not! As the Lord lives, not one
hair of his head will fall to the ground, for he has
worked with God this day.' And so the people rescued
Jonathan, and he did not die." Can you see Saul revealing
his true colors here? And the colors here is that he
hates to see others around him, even his son, honored. He wants to have all the
glory, all the accolades. So he was arrogant. He was indifferent. Third, Saul was disobedient. By the time we
get to chapter 15, a war is on with the
Amalekites, another raiding band of people
that were creating problems for the Israelites. God gives an order that
all the Amalekites are to be obliterated,
all the animals are to be obliterated--
everything. Saul goes to battle,
does not obey the Lord. By the way, I just want to
mention that for a moment-- talk a little bit about that. What happens with the
Amalekites, Israel wiping them out, you're going to
read some of these things in the Old Testament. We've already noticed them. It seems and sounds to our
ears strange for a God of love. You've heard people say,
how could a God of love allow that or command that? What kind of a butcher is God? How unjust is that? Well, what happened in this
instance, and in others, is what we would
designate as a just war. A just war is something
that Augustine, one of the early church fathers,
gave several principles for. What is just for a nation
when considering warfare? What criteria do
they have to meet? And often, a list of
those was a biblical list. So some would say, well,
this is a harsh treatment of these Amalekites. Why would God allow that? Listen. This is like extreme surgery. You go to a doctor. And the doctor says,
we have discovered cancer in your right leg. And it's so advanced. And we have no way to stop it. The only thing we can
do to save your life is to cut your right leg off. Now, if you were to, at
that point, turn to him and say doctor, what
kind of a doctor are you? Who do you think you are? What right do you have? Where did you get
your medical degree? He would say, I'm a good doctor. I'm trying to save your life. If you don't want me
to save your life, it's going to take your life. The Amalekites were like
an aggressive cancer. And if you are wondering, why
would God want them wiped out, understand this. They weren't wiped out. Saul disobeyed. And now follow this story
forward to the Book of Esther. And it says that there was a
guy in the land of Persia called Haman who was an Agagite. You know what an Agagite is? A descendant of-- Agag. --Agag. [LAUGHTER] Agag was the King
of the Amalekites. And he was one of the
people that Saul spared. So now almost the entire
nation of the Jews would be wiped out by
an Agagite because Saul didn't want to
obey God's command and kill Agag, the Amalekite. Chapter 15, verse 13,
"Samuel went to Saul, and Saul said to him," so
now it's like a showdown. So you just picture, here's
King Saul and the army. Over here on that horizon
is Samuel the prophet. And they're just sort of
walking toward each other, walking toward each other. Now they meet. "And Samuel went to Saul,
and Saul said to him, 'Blessed are you of the
Lord!'" Ooh, that sounds good. I'd say hire this guy on my
staff, he's so spiritual. "I have performed the
commandment of the Lord." He had the right talk. "Samuel said to him, 'What then
is this bleating of the sheep in my years and the lowing of
the oxen which I hear?'" Yeah, don't I remember saying that God
said kill even all the animals? Don't take any spoils. And you are saying,
oh, praise God. Brother, I've done everything
God our Father wanted us to do. Really? Why do I hear sheep and cows
if you've obeyed God's voice? "And Saul said, 'They,'"
he's pointing now to them, this army. "They have brought them from
the Amalekites, for the people spared the best of
the sheep and the oxen to sacrifice to
the Lord your God. And the rest we have
utterly destroyed." Oh, wait till God smells
that sheep burning. It's the best mutton
he's ever smelled. "Then Samuel said to Saul,
'Be quiet!'" I love Samuel. He's a man's man. Not, well, that's how you feel. That's not how I see it. Be quiet! Zip it! Stop talking. "'And I will tell you what the
Lord said to me last night.' And he said to him,"
gulp, "'Speak on.'" Go down in verse 22. "So Samuel said, 'Has
the Lord great delight in burnt offerings
and sacrifices as in obeying the
voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is
better than sacrifice, and to heed than
the fat of rams. For rebellion is as
the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as
iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected
the word of the Lord, He,'" the Lord, "'has rejected
you from being king.'" Would you let this
serve as a warning? We are so quick, as soon
as anybody mentions God, to say, oh, they love the Lord. They follow God. They're believers. And we especially like to
do this with famous people-- our heroes, our sports
heroes, musical figures. They mentioned God,
"spirit in the sky" or something generic is that,
and go, must be believers. We just want them to believe. And so we let them
join the family of God by almost any kind of
admission that God exists. We have to be careful,
because this man, Saul, has all the right talk. He has no walk whatsoever. Verse 35, "Samuel went
no more to see Saul until the day of his death. Nevertheless, Samuel
mourned for Saul, and the Lord regretted that
he made him king over Israel." Now enter David, and we
get to the fourth section of this book-- the rise of a poet. If I were to sum it up thus
far, including this point, I would do this. Samuel is dejected. Saul is rejected. God has selected
the next in line. Samuel the prophet's
all dejected. He's bummed out. Oh, man. The first king,
Saul, is rejected. But God has selected David,
a man after his own heart. God is never without a plan. Chapter 16, verse 1. "Now the Lord said to
Samuel, 'How long will you mourn for Saul? Seeing that I have rejected
him from reigning over Israel, fill your horn with oil and go. I am sending you to
Jesse the Bethlehemite. For I have provided myself
a king among his sons.'" I love this. God is never without a plan. God is never out of control. God never sweats. He never panics. God rules the universe
with his feet up. That's how confident He is. Samuel-- not so much. He's going, what
are we going to do? God says, what are you doing
crying for this guy so long for? I've got somebody picked out. Don't sweat it. You remember the story
in Isaiah, chapter 6, King Uzziah had been on
the throne for 52 years. He was a good king, brought
many reforms to the land. He died. And when he died, people
were wondering, now what? Who's going to rule? Who's going to be in charge? The king is not on the throne. Uzziah is not on the throne. We need the right
guy on the throne. It's what we do every
four years with elections. [LAUGHTER] We panic if the person we
voted for didn't get voted in. So it says, Chapter 6
of Isaiah, in the year that King Uzziah died, I saw
the Lord seated on the throne. Uzziah may be off the throne. God is not. He's on his throne in Heaven. And the train of his robe,
Isaiah said, filled the temple. He saw a vision of
the glory of God. I think sometimes we see a
vacancy in office or a leader falling or a church folding
or a movement fading, and we begin to panic. God's not panicked. God's got it all
perfectly under control. Now, here's what's cool. God selects a shepherd boy in
the house of Jesse named David. He's out watching sheep. He's not even included
in the lineup when Samuel goes to pick out a king. How is God going to take
a shepherd with absolutely no experience at all, except for
hunting down wolves with stones and caring for a few
sheep and looking up and writing cool poems
and songs and stuff? How is he going to get him
ready to roll a nation? Fun plan God has in mind. God has to somehow get
him into the palace so he can be an intern, which
is effectively what God does. God uses Saul and
his paranoia to get David, who's a skilled
musician and songwriter, into the palace. Verse 22, "Then Saul
sent to Jesse saying, 'Please let David
stand before me, for he has found favor
in my sight.'" Saul is temperamental-- mostly temper,
very little mental. [LAUGHTER] And he's volatile in his moods. He has incredible mood swings. And he has discovered
that if he can tune in to the right station
or have the right podcast on, the right music will sooth him. He hears that David is
this skilled musician. So he thought, I'll bring
David into the palace, bing. Let him hang around me, bing. And eventually, David will
become Saul's armor bearer. So he'll be able to
king it pretty soon. Verse 23, "So it was,
whenever the spirit from God was upon Saul,"
that's the spirit that God sent him
to torment him, "that David would take a harp
and play it with his hand. Then Saul would become
refreshed and well, and the distressing spirit
would depart from him." Now, keep in mind, by this
time, David's in the palace. He has already heard the words
of Jesse the seer tell him, you're anointed
as the next king. Knowing he's the
next king, David is in the presence of the king
and never tries to upstage him. Never tries to self-promote. Never says, oh, by
the way, did you know that Samuel
was checking me out, and that I'm like the next king,
because you're like a failure? Never, ever brought it up. [LAUGHTER] In fact, he wouldn't
even touch God's anointed throughout the
rest of the story. He's a skilled musician
who comes to play for Saul. He becomes a palace intern. He becomes the armor
bearer of the king and then, eventually, the king. Now, you're going to discover
something else about Saul again. You're going to see
something you've already noticed, but again. Insecure people cannot stand
efficient people around them or under them. They try to punish them. They don't want to promote them. So what happens in Chapter
17 is the whole incident with Goliath. Goliath is a mammoth
dude, fighting the children of
Israel, the Philistines against the Israelites. David comes on the scene. I don't have to
tell you the story. You could say it tonight in
your sleep you know it so well. So David defeats Goliath. The people write a song. And the people sing
it out in the streets. Chapter 18, verse 6. "So it happened as
they were coming home," that is the king and his
entourage from the battle. "And when David was
returning from the slaughter of the Philistine,
that the women had come out of all the cities
of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul
with his tambourines, with joy, and with
musical instruments. So the women sang as
they dance and said," here's the lyrics
of the song, "Saul has slain his thousands,
and David his 10 thousands." I don't know how the song went. (SINGING) David has slain, or
Saul has slain his thousands. David his tens of thousands. I don't know. [LAUGHTER] I'm just kind of trying
to make up a tune here. But it was a tune-- probably a catchy tune. But Saul heard the lyrics,
and his heart dropped, and he becomes
very, very jealous. So you've heard about pin
the tail on the donkey. This is pin the spear
on the musician. He's trying to kill
the worship leader now. So later on, David is
playing-- verse 11, "And Saul cast the spear,"
threw it at David, "for he said, 'I will pin David to the wall!' But David escaped
his presence twice. Now, chapter 18 through the end
of the book is Saul's hatred-- attack after attack after
attack on young David. And you'll see the contrast
between King Saul as a leader and the next king,
David, as a leader. This is the time of the
year, Christmas time, when we bring out the Dr. Seuss
book, A Grinch Stole Christmas. And you remember that one of
the attributes of the Grinch-- the personality
attributes-- is he hated to see other people having fun. He hated people
enjoying themselves. He hated it so much that when he
saw people enjoying themselves, he'd bite himself. That's Saul. He's the Grinch. And he just he's destroying
himself seeing things happen around him
that he hasn't caused. So for the next 14
years, David flees. He's a fugitive. He is going from place to place. Here's what I want you to
know about those years. 14 years-- being chased from
place to place, no place to call his home. During the next 14 years, David
writes some of the best stuff ever-- the stuff that you
and I love to read, the stuff that
comforts our soul. So many of the psalms were
written during the next 14 years. Here's a running list-- Psalm 18, Psalm 34, Psalm 52,
Psalm 54, Psalm 56, Psalm 57, Psalm 63, Psalm 124,
Psalm 138, Psalm 142. All those psalms have
background in this era. Did you know that some
of the world's best music came from some of the world's
worst times and people's worst times? Charles Haddon Spurgeon said,
"The music of the sanctuary is in no small degree indebted
to the trials of the saints. Affliction is the tuner of the
harps of sanctified songsters." So thank you, Lord, that
David went through 14 years of trials, right. Because he, by those
trials, wrote those psalms that have comforted
countless of God's people throughout history. Chapter 21, David flees
to a town called Nob-- N-O-B-- and to a
town called Gath, one of the Philistines
strongholds, in disguise there, incognito. Chapter 22, he flees to a cave
called the Cave of Adullam. Chapter 23, a little
town called Keilah. And chapter 24, En Gedi,
down by the Dead Sea. Many of these places we show
you when we go to Israel. Chapter 26, verse 21, "Then
Saul said," "Then Saul said," "Then Saul said." I'm just emphasizing
this because I want you to see what Saul said. "Then Saul said, 'I
have sinned.'" Phew. Finally, the guy can admit it. He says to David,
"Return, my son, David, for I will harm you no
more, because my life was precious in your eyes this day. Indeed, I have played the
fool and erred exceedingly." Sounds good. Great confession. No follow-through
on this, though. Perfect words to say. Yes, he's right. He has sinned. But he never backs it up. What is 2 Corinthians 7 tell us? Godly sorrow
produces repentance. Godly sorrow. I know a lot of people when they
get busted, they go to jail, they get found out
about a certain sin, oh, they weep, they cry. [FEIGNING CRYING] I have sinned. But there is no life change. Godly sorrow
produces repentance. G. Campbell Morgan said this. "'I have played the fool
and erred exceedingly.' These words form the
whole story of man." That's the history of humanity. "I have played the fool
and erred exceedingly," nine words that form the
autobiography of King Saul. A tragic admission, a warning
statement to all of us. You don't want to end up at
the end of your life saying, I could have been a powerful
instrument in God's hands. I could have been used by God. You don't want to end
with that kind of regret. Chapter 28 to 31 is
the final showdown. Let's breeze through it quickly. The Philistines
again attack Israel. Saul is desperate by this time. God is isn't speaking to him. He has nothing more to say
to him because Saul is not receiving it. So Saul's final step downward--
final step of rebellion-- was demonic. Since he hadn't heard from God,
he goes to inquire of a medium. Verse 6, "And when Saul
inquired of the Lord, the Lord did on answer
him, either by dreams," like he had with
Joseph, or "by Urim," like he had to the
high priest before him, "or by the prophets. Then Saul said to his servants,
'Find me a woman who is a medium.'" Ah, a medium. Mediums weren't
allowed in Israel. God said, make sure there
are no mediums in the land. Evidently, Saul didn't really
care about that fine print. Knowing there was
a medium, he said, "'Find a woman who is a
medium, that I may go to her and inquire of her.' And his servant said
to him, 'In fact, there is a woman who is
a medium,'" a spiritist, "'at En Dor.'" Now, I don't want to
keep plugging Israel. But next time
you're there with us and we're standing on Mount
Precipice outside of Nazareth and we look over the Valley of
Armageddon, Valley of Jezreel, you can look at the very edge
of a hill right to your left, and you can see the village of
En Dor to this day, occupied. That's where he ended up. Chapter 31 is the end. They go a little distance
from there to mount Gilboa. And it's the final battle
between the Philistines and Israel. Verse 2, "Then the
Philistines followed hard after Saul and his sons. And the Philistines
killed Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua, Saul's sons. The battle became
fierce against Saul. The archers hit him. He was secretly
wounded by the archers. And then Saul said
to his armor bearer, 'Draw your sword and
thrust me through what it, lest these uncircumcised men
come and thrust me through and abuse me.' But his armor bearer would
not, for he was greatly afraid. Therefore, Saul took a
sword and fell on it." He committed suicide. Verse 6, "So Saul, his three
sons, his armor bearer, and all his men died
together that same day." When the Philistines
find him the next day, they take Saul and his
sons-- decapitate them, take his armor,
string the bodies up on the walls of the Old
Testament town called Beth Shean so that it
would be a tribute not only to their ingenuity,
but also to their own god. But this story goes
on to say that the men from across the Jordan River of
Jabesh-Gilead found the bodies, gave them a decent burial. Let's end there. We've come to the
end of the book. As we close, I want
you to consider what Saul could have changed
to not end up like this. What could he have done? Number one, he could have
taken sin more seriously. Don't you think? He made a lot of
excuses for his sin. He kept blaming others for it. He never dwelt with it. Twice when he is rebuked-- we only saw once where he
admitted it-- but twice in the book he admits, I sinned. It's a good admission. Now what? What are you going
to do with that? So he could have taken
sin more seriously. Number two, he could have placed
character over reputation-- two different issues. Reputation is what
people think you are. Character is who you really are. Or put it this way,
reputation is what people see. Character is who you
are when nobody sees. Is there integrity or not? He placed reputation
over character. Even when he's dying, he
doesn't want to look bad. Come on, kill me now. Just let me lie just like this. Go ahead. He's so concerned about image
even at the point of death. Number three, he could have
taken advantage of friendships. Think of the people
around his life. There was Samuel, who heard from
God from a young age, who had like a direct line to Heaven. God called his name. Get to know that guy. Be friends with that person. Let what he's got
rub off onto you. He could have taken
advantage of David, a man after God's own heart. I mean, if you're the king,
shouldn't you think, well, what did God see in you? Who are you? Let me get to know you better. Especially since David was
so loyal to him every time he was chased. He could have taken advantage of
his son's friendship, Jonathan. He loved his father. But Saul would have none of it. Proverbs 18 says,
"A man who isolates himself seeks his own desire. He rages against
all wise judgment." If you have a tendency to
alienate and isolate and not really show who you are to
people, I worry about you. I'm afraid for you. A man who isolates himself,
seeks his own desire, you're only doing
that because you don't want to be accountable and
have to change your behavior. And you will rage against
all wise judgment. One of the best
things for you is to get to be friends with people
who will be honest with you so that you can grow. Father, we've covered 31
chapters from this altitude. We've been able to notice
four people very distinctly in this flyover. We have seen a burgeoning
prophet by the name of Samuel, the answer to a barren woman's
prayer, a miraculous birth. We've Then considered a priest
called by you, anointed by you, but weak in character
and not able to curtail the behavior of his
children to any degree who were serving in a holy place. We've been able to
consider a politician, one who acted like a
quintessential politician-- so full of himself, wanting
to take all the glory. [MUSIC PLAYING] But then, Lord, a poet-- a young boy named
David, an unlikely one. Saul knew he was unlikely. But David was just
a shepherd boy, and he knew his weaknesses. He knew his shortcomings. But because he loved
you and sought you, he is called by you a
man after my own heart. Lord, I pray that we will
leave from here tonight with the desire to be men
and women after your heart, wanting to know what you
love, doing it to please you-- wanting to know what you hate so
that we can avoid those things. Lord, I pray that we
will be an encouragement to people around us by
what we say and what we do. In Jesus' name, amen. [MUSIC PLAYING] We hope you enjoyed this message
from Skip Heitzig of Calvary Church. For more resources,
visit calvarynm.church. Thank you for joining us for
this teaching from The Bible From 30,000 Feet.
