Destination: 1 Samuel 1-15 | Skip Heitzig

[Music] behind me is one of the most impressive archaeological sites in the entire land of Israel it is known in the Old Testament as Beit Shean for our purposes Saul a man chosen to be the king of Israel but a man who made choices not after God's own heart was killed and his body hung directly behind me in this place let's take a look at it in the book of Samuel three characters are prominent in this book Samuel himself saw the first came and David Israel's greatest leader first samuel chapters 1 through 15 tonight we're gonna look at the role of a prophet and the rule of a politician the prophet of course is samuel the prophet the politician is the first king of Israel King Saul so we're gonna look at the role of Samuel the Prophet and the rule of Saul the politician we call this the Bible from 30,000 feet we soar rapidly over a whole bunch of Scripture in one setting speaking of 30,000 feet imagine being in an airplane at cruising altitude and suddenly when you're at cruising altitude over the internet over the intercom on the airplane you hear this now there's no cause for alarm but we felt that you should know that for the last three hours we have been flying without the benefit of radio compass radar or navigational beam due to the breakdown of key components that means that we are in the broad sense of the word lost and we're not quite sure in which direction we are heading I'm sure you'll be glad to know however on the brighter side of the picture that we are making excellent time how would you feel not very good you're going somewhere you don't know where but you're right on time that is the situation that the nation of Israel was facing at this period of time we've come through the period of judges and the nation is on a course to know where they're actually on a course to captivity in 586 BC they will be taken captive but they have gotten off course they're straying away from the Lord and now we come to a series of books that deal with leadership before we read in the book of Judges there was no king in Israel and everyone did what was right in his own eyes but now we're gonna look at Samuel 1st and 2nd kings first and 2nd and chronicles 1st and 2nd over the next several weeks and the theme of that book is leadership and we're gonna see many examples of both good and bad leadership somebody once said there's three kinds of people those who make things happen those who watch things happen and those who have no idea what's happening all three of them will be found in the pages of Samuel kings and chronicles a major mega theme of these books is influence influence and what we're gonna see in 1st Samuel are some notable characters Eli who's a priest Samuel who's a prophet Saul a politician and a good one and David who is a poet so we're gonna look at a priest a prophet a politician and a poet and so you could even divide the book of Samuel and outline it based upon those figures but as I said the mega theme is influenced look backward for just a moment in your mind's eye and think about people who've influenced you they made an impact on you could be a parent a grandparent at a coach a cartoon character I don't know whoever influenced you you know who they are maybe a teacher a mentor and then after looking back and and thinking of those people kind of look around you now where you're at in your life and ask what kind of footprints are you leaving for other people you are making an impact somewhere you are influencing people somehow what kind of footprints are you leaving for your family your friends your neighbors to follow people in your small group in your church well the story of leadership and the story of godliness isn't just a group of men that I mentioned the story opens with a notable woman yes Elkanah is the guy's name who's married to a woman named Hannah and a woman named pnina that's right he has two wives now that doesn't mean the Bible condones that the Bible is just honest and tells us what is going on here's a man married to two women one of them Hannah can't have children and she's very frustrated and so she does a very wise thing she brings it before God chapter 1 verse 2 he Elkanah had two wives the name of one was Hannah her name means Grace the name of the other was pnina which means Ruby pnina had children but hannah had no children it was always the burning desire of every Hebrew couple to have as many children as they possibly could because the idea is that you live and you keep living through your children and your grandchildren there's even a great Psalm Psalm 127 children are a heritage from the Lord and the fruit of the womb is his reward listen to the next part happy blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them now a quiver was a pouch where you put arrows so the analogy is having a quiver full of arrows ie children the more the merrier a quiver full and if you have a quiver full of children and you're saying boy it's sort of tough they're making me quiver the Bible calls you blessed and hopefully one day you'll see it all pay off well she can't have children so as I mentioned she prays and God answers down in verse 20 it came to pass in the process of time that Hannah conceived and bore a son and called his name Shmuel samuel saying because i have asked him from the lord samuel what is his name mean well it could mean the name of the Lord it could mean his name is the Lord it could mean answered by the Lord or a could mean called on the Lord all of those meanings are wrapped up in the name Samuel now a word about the book of Samuel in the original Hebrew text first and second samuel were one book not two books the book of samuel and then it became divided later on and first in second samuel was called first and second kings and first and second Kings were called third and fourth Kings over for book of kings two that we call Samuel two that we call kings so if I thoroughly confused you things have changed we just call it first and second Samuel who wrote it Samuel we think it's a it's a Talmudic tradition that samuel wrote it we really don't know and obviously he didn't write at all because he dies in chapter 25 so probably a couple of other guys wrote after him like Nathan and GAD perhaps finished the story where he left off down in verse 27 she's speaking Hannah now for this child I prayed and the Lord has granted me my petition which I asked of him I want you to make note of something the book of Samuel opens with prayer the book of Samuel closes with prayer and 30 times in between the opening and the closing prayer is mentioned or seen it's really a book of Prayer it's what people do in distress in calling upon the Lord well there's a period of about 94 years between the birth of Samuel the Prophet and the death of King Saul that 94 year period is a shoulder period a transitional period where Israel gets a king and we're gonna see that tonight where they asked for it verse 28 she says therefore I have also lent him to the Lord interesting wording as long as he lives he shall be lent to the Lord so they worship the Lord there what does it mean to lend a child to the Lord it's not like well here Lord you can have it for a while but I'm taking it back later on that's not the idea in fact this really isn't a good translation for the word lent him to the Lord means an irrevocable permanent giving of something to God that's the idea here I've given my child to the Lord this is what I want you to pick up on the greatest desire of Elkanah and Hannah for their son Samuel wasn't that he be the richest smartest go to the best universities as much as serve the Lord we want this kid to love God we want this kid to serve the Lord that's what we want they just come through a period of bad leadership with judges we'd love it if our son was fully totally dedicated to the Lord nothing else matters I'm giving him to God somebody once said the only thing you take to heaven the only earthly possessions you take are your children so they lent him to the law what does that mean that means when he was just a little kid they brought him to the tabernacle and dropped him off and said to the high priest here you raised him to serve the Lord with you and that's what happened maybe between three and five years of age is when the child finished his weaning process and then as a young child he was dropped off at the tabernacle so let's go now to chapter 2 which is Hannah's response after God blesses her with his child she dedicates in prayer in chapter 1 now chapter 2 we're not going to go through any of these chapters in great depth because of lack of time but but one thing I want to point out to you is if you were to take first Samuel chapter 2 and the Gospel of Luke chapter 1 and compare you find some similarities Mary the mother of Jesus utter is a beautiful hymn of worship when it is told that she is going to birth the Messiah and she evidently was familiar with this song of Hanna because the wording is very similar in fact some direct quotes out of this chapter so she has been studying this beautiful prayer of Hannah and she utters it at least in part in Luke chapter 1 verse 11 it says then Elkanah went to his house at Rama but the child ministered to the Lord before Eli the priest how old was he when he started ministering to the Lord we don't know most people think he was a teenager Josephus Flavius Josephus the Jewish historian believes that he was 12 years of age when he started in the ministry now just think about that for a moment here's a twelve-year-old kid learning ministry you know God is in the business of youth movements he's always looking for anybody at any age to serve Him but it seems like God just loves it when he can get young people turned on to the things of God I think of Jeremiah God chose Jeremiah to be a spokesperson he wasn't seasoned Jeremiah even protested and said I'm just a kid and God said quit saying that I want to use you Timothy was a young man and Paul said let no man spies your youth or don't let anybody look down on you because you're young now that's not to say that God exclusively looks for young people Moses was 80 years old when he started being used by God Caleb 85 when it really took off for him the point is God's calling can come at any age however a young person is open more open than we older folks and they're starting to ask questions like what is the purpose of life why am I here when can I have the car keys no I don't want to not that one but what is the purpose of life how can I make my life count for something and most decisions for Christ come at a young age just up let's take a poll right now how many of you came to Christ after age 30 raise your hands after age 30 okay now look around hands down how many of you came to faith in Christ before age 30 raise your hands and that's statistically proven one organization said this at 25 years of age there's a 1 in 5,000 chance that a person will be converted at 35 it's a 1 in 25,000 chance at 45 a 1 in 60,000 chance at age 55 one in 125,000 and then they say at age 75 is just a pure miracle course God's a a God of miracles when Dwight Lyman Moody the Evangelist came home one night his wife did not attend the service that night and she said to her husband well at the altar call tonight how many how many were saved how many came forward Dwight L Moody was one of the first purveyors of the altar call and he said up two and a half people got saved tonight she said two and a half you mean two adults and one child he goes no no two children and one adult that adult wasted half his life already these kids have their whole life ahead of them so God calls this kid 12 years of age or a young teenager serving at the tabernacle verse 12 of chapter 2 now the sons of Eli were corrupt if you have an old King Jimmy it says they were sons of Belial that's like saying they're the devil's kids so the sons of Eli the priests were corrupt they did not know the Lord now get this these guys were P K's you know that is not a priest kid here they were priests kids they worked in the tabernacle and yet though they worked in the tabernacle and they were sons of a priest they weren't saved now you know some people think that just by going to church they're like automatically saved in fact some people almost take their cues from seeing the church building or driving into the church parking lot you know you can yell at his wife and say rotten things and he turns into the parking lot gets out and it's you know hi brother god bless you say whoa whoa whoa whoa where's the consistency here but my point is even though you're in a place like this where godly things happen doesn't make a person a godly person think of the Upper Room think of the Upper Room with Jesus and His disciples and you could say oh yeah wouldn't it be great to have been in that upper room it's probably the most dangerous place in Jerusalem that night that's where the devil was he was uninvited but it was in that upper room that Satan entered Judas sometimes churches can be the most dangerous places to be a lot of warfare spiritually can happen well here they were at the tabernacle and they were unsafe they were immoral chapter 3 contrasting them we're looking now at the life of Samuel here's a young leader who loved God and we have the calling now of this prophet then the boy Samuel ministered to the Lord before Eli and the word of the Lord was rare in those days there was no widespread revelation very very sad verse God wasn't speaking much back then you say why is that probably because people weren't listening much at that time you know God really has nothing to say to people who don't want to listen to him if people are in the habit of tuning God out become a time when God says I'm done now even God said in the book of Genesis my spirit will not always strive with man so here we read there was no widespread revelation the word was rare in those days the Knox translation puts it this way in those days a message from God was a rare treasure it's sad but I have to say that in many churches around the world this could also be said that the Word of God is rare that people often churches often leaders often feel like we got to get away from the Bible people don't want to hear the Bible they just want sugar-coated happy feeling sounding messages devoid from the Word of God Paul said to young Timothy this Timothy make sure you do this preach the word be ready in season and out of season there was a poll that was given to people some years ago in America who had been to church and left church they just stopped going to church they wanted to find out why in this one poll 49 almost half 49% said the church is not efficient in helping people find meaning in life wait wait wait that's why we exist is to help people find meaning in life let's probe a little bit deeper 56% said we feel the church is too concerned with organizational issues and not spiritual issues so here you have the world basically telling the church you're not preaching the gospel you see people come to church expecting the church to do church they don't have to hide it and be cool and be hipper than thou and we better not mention the blood of Christ that offends people better not read the Bible let's give them just a bunch of fluff people don't want that people want meaning in life people want spiritual truth and the church should oblige that need and preach the word well the Word of God was rare in those days but look down at verse 9 there was one kid who was listening his name was Samuel now before you get into verse 9 I'm gonna sort of catch up in one night God comes to Samuel three times I love it calls his name Samuel Samuel he's sleeping kid wakes up I heard somebody call my name and he thinks that Eli the priest is calling for him so you can imagine this little guy walking in to utilize room what do you want Eli what do you mean what do I want well you called me I didn't call you go back to bed so it goes back to bed Samuel Samuel God didn't say anything but that I think he's having a little fun with this he wakes up goes back into Eli's room what do you want this happens a few times so Eli says look Samuel it would appear as though God is speaking to you so next time you hear your name being called don't wake me up just say these words speak Lord your servant here's verse 9 therefore eli said to Samuel go lie down and it shall be if he calls you that you must say speak Lord for your servant here so Samuel went and lay down in this place do you think he went back to sleep I mean after a few times I wouldn't I'd be wide awake waiting to see if that boys comes back now the Lord came and stood and called as at other times Samuel Samuel so Samuel thought great I'll try it speak Lord your servant hears and God gave him at that point of Revelation speak Lord your servant hears in Hebrew abed Shama which means I'm ready to do whatever you want I'm gonna pay careful attention close attention I'm at the edge of my seat waiting for further instruction that's what it all means speak Lord your servant hears now it's interesting to me that three times God spoke to him but did not give him a full revelation until the boy said speak Lord I'm ready to do whatever you want your servant hears there's a principal they're my friends there's a lot of people say yeah I really want to do what God wants me to do I'm all about God's will I'm all about doing what he wants but I'd kind of like to know what he wants from me first so Lord speak tell me what you want first and then I'll decide if I really want to do what you want me to do I mean you might say like go to Africa or something on a mission I don't want to do that or marry that person don't want to do that here's a guy who said speak Lord your servant hears then God gave him a revelation and what did he reveal sadly he revealed that Eli's house his household with hophni and Phinehas his boys who were corrupt would come to an end that God was displeased with them that that ministry was over because this priest Eli indulged those two kids and never corrected them he tells that to young Samuel Samuels too afraid to tell but eventually he does verse 19 so Samuel grew and the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground everything he said came to pass and all of Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel had been established as a prophet of God now some people see since we're doing the Bible from 30,000 feet seeing how it all fits together some people see in Samuel a type of Christ Samuel a prophet speaking forth God's words clearly plainly growing up doing the will of God same with Jesus Christ also this is what you ought to know the very first appearance of the word Messiah Messiah is in this book back in chapter 2 verse 10 Hannah says that God will exalt the Horn of his see the word anointed in that verse its Messiah it's where we get our term Messiah or Christ so the prediction of Messiah comes first of all in 1st Samuel chapter 2 verse 21 then the Lord appeared again in Shiloh for the Lord revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the Lord now chapters 4 through 7 we're going to take an overview of let me tell you the background in this chapter there's a domestic crisis afoot the Philistines the biggest enemy of Israel at that time is pushing their way toward the interior of the land the people are frightened the people of Israel cry out for a leadership change we don't want the priesthood anymore we don't want Eli in his corrupt kids we want a king like other nations who were the Philistines the Philistines were a group of sea faring trades people from the Aegean islands they migrated southwards tried to go down to each were kicked out of Egypt landed down on the southern Mediterranean coast in Israel and for a long time they settled in five principal cities you read a lot about them Ashkelon Ashdod Gath Gaza and ekron those are the five Philistine cities and they are the enemies of Israel until finally David deals with them once and for all you've heard the term Palestine yes or Palestinian it comes from the word Philistine Palestine literally is from the words or Philistia or land of the Philistines now there are no more Philistines today but the term Palestine still persists why is that even in Christian literature a hundred years ago you say the word Palestine rather than Israel that's because and it's important you get this in AD 135 a Roman Emperor by the name of Hadrian resurrected the word or Philistia or Palestine because he wanted the people of Israel the Jews to lose their identity he took over he changed Jerusalem to an idol worshiping capital he didn't want the term Judea or Israel so he resurrected the term Palestinian or Palestine after the Philistines but there really are no Philistines there really is no Palestine anymore than for us to say the Soviet Union there is no Soviet Union there's a bunch of different countries and they're all individualized or if you were to say I'm going to take a trip to Canaan well Canaan doesn't exist the Canaanites don't exist or let's go to East Berlin it's not East in West Berlin anymore all that stuff is past history but this Roman Emperor tried to keep that term to slur the people of Judah well chapter 4 through 7 speaks about these Philistines and get this they capture the Ark of the Covenant of God they take it to one of their temples in Ashdod the temple of Dagon and they kill the two sons of Eli hophni and Phineas they kill them now Eli the priest in this chapters eighty-five years old and he's blind he's an old guy he's taken on a lot of weight he's sitting down and he's blind and somebody tells him both of your sons have been murdered by the Philistines and the Ark of the Covenant of God has been captured when he hears that he is so brokenhearted he went just hearing the news that he fell over backwards broke his neck and died horrible way to end your life also same day same time the wife of Phineas who has been pregnant with the son she hears that and she goes into sudden labor because her husband's died and she gives birth chapter 4 verse 21 she named the child Ichabod you don't want to name your son that if you're looking for a biblical name skip over Ichabod because this is what it means saying the glory has departed from Israel because the Ark of God has been captured and because of her father-in-law and her husband and she said the glory has departed from Israel for the Ark of God has been captured Ichabod means where is the glory or no glory the glory is departed what does that mean the word departed means gone into captivity understand this to the Jews at that time to capture the Ark of the Covenant was like God going into captivity now I hope you're saying why in your minds and here's why the Ark of the Covenant wasn't just a box wasn't just a symbol wasn't just an icon the Ark of the Covenant was the only place where atonement for sin could be taken care of right once a year on Yom Kippur the high priest would sprinkle blood on the top of the mercy seat the only way to approach God the only place sins could be forgiven at that time was the Ark of the Covenant how are you gonna approach God now how are your sins gonna be forgiven now so for the art to go away God has left he's gone into captivity the glory has departed well in chapters 5 & 6 God judges the Philistines great I wish we had the time to go through the story but they take the ark they put it in that temple of Dagon who's a fish God and they go in there the next morning and the statue has fallen forward as if worshiping the God of Israel via the Ark of the Covenant the false priests Eagle oh noes somebody must have pushed it over and they they put it back up and they guard it the next day they come in and the statues fallen forward again but this time it's broken into pieces all sorts of bad things happen to them finally they go let's get rid of the ark and they send it back to Israel to a place called beth shemish and then from beth shemesh agos to carry off doreen by the way these are all places today you can visit in Israel they're still there and it goes back home chapter 8 marks a transition in Israel's history this is now where we get the first king here we come now to the United Kingdom and I'm not speaking about England here I'm talking about the monarchy of Israel King Saul King David King Solomon this is where it begins the United Monarchy it lasts a hundred and twenty years and it begins here in chapter eight with a guy named Saul now if you're taking notes take this down just right in the margin of your Bible or in your notes Hosea chapter 13 verse 11 you could write that verse over the rest of the book Hosea 13 verse 11 which says God is speaking I gave you a king in my anger and I took him away in my wrath that is the theme of the rest of the book of 1st Samuel I gave you a king in my anger I took him away in my wrath King Saul in the Old Testament is like the Old Testament equivalent of a carnal Christian in the New Testament he's on a rollercoaster his whole life you see promises of his walk with God in his early years he starts out great but he ends very very poorly because he makes some bad choices so in chapter 8 verse 4 all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Rama and he said to them they said to him look you are old it's not what you want to hear when you're old look you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways now make us a king to judge us like all the nations but the thing displeased Samuel when they said give us a king to judge us so Samuel prayed to the Lord you see Samuel took this very personally he feels like they're rejecting him he's God's prophet he's the guy who hears from God and speaks for God he's the representative of the Lord it's like you know this is my job I'm out of a job now he feels personally rejected so verse 7 the Lord said to Samuel heed the voice of the people and 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 out of Egypt even to this day which they have forsaken me and served other gods so they're doing to you also here's the big question was a king the will of God I'm getting all sorts of different responses right now some going like this I'm going someone going was a king the will of God well I'm glad you asked because it was always God's plan we understand even from Genesis that someday God would reign through a king back in Genesis 49 there's a prediction the scepter shall not depart from Judah until Shiloh comes the scepter is a ornamental staff it's the symbol of authority of a king that was predicted in Genesis 49 also in Deuteronomy 17 God says when you get into the land and you get yourself a king the Lord said this be sure to appoint over you a king whom the Lord your God chooses so was a king God's will yes was this king God's will you know he wasn't a man after God's own heart so though God said he would eventually put a king in this place and it was his plan everything was wrong in the choice for a king now first of all it was the wrong timing there about 10 years too soon David is the guy called a man after God's own heart not Saul number two is the wrong tribe Saul is from the tribe of Benjamin David would be of the tribe of Judah that's the prophecy in Genesis 49 the scepter will not depart from Judah God selected Judah as the kingly tribe in the house of David not the house of Saul and also this guy has the wrong temperament he's all about looks he's not about a spiritual walk he doesn't have his priorities right so one of the key verses and you can look at it now or write it down as in chapter 13 first Samuel 13 verse 14 where the Prophet says to Saul your kingdom shall not continue but the Lord has sought for himself a man after his own heart so they asked for a king God says give them what they want I gave them a king my anger I took him away in my wrath now chapters 9 through 15 is the sad leadership of King Saul he started well he could have ended well but he didn't he didn't you know what he said at the end of his life maybe in a moment of weakness maybe just in a moment of being vulnerable and and uttering something chapter 26 verse 21 is what he said indeed I have played the fool and erred exceedingly nine words that form his autobiography indeed I have played the fool and erred exceedingly and he did indeed a tragic admission a banner that you could place over his life he played the fool and erred exceeding the in fact that's a banner statement that you could put over lots of lives they start well there's so much potential so much giftedness but for some reason the person squanders what God has entrusted what God has given what God wanted to do through that person but through whatever reason they would have to say I've played the fool and I have erred exceedingly unfortunately I've known too many like that verse 1 there was a man of Benjamin whose name was Kish the son of a BL the son of Tsar or the son of becquer OTT the son of aphaia a Benjamite a mighty man of power now kicha Saul's dad so we understand that Saul has a good heritage he comes from the tribe of Benjamin who is Benjamin the favored son of Jacob by his favorite wife Rachel Kish was a mighty man it says of power or an important guy verse 2 he had a choice and handsome son whose name was Saul there was not a more handsome person than he among all the children of Israel that's quite a statement from his shoulders upward he was taller than any of the people this guy had good looks he was handsome he was tall and in the ancient Middle East stature height was admired they'd look at the angle now that guy looks like a king we want him if we understand who the principal enemy is at that time we can sort of understand their their affinity toward height remember the Philistines were their big enemy and we know the Philistines had a few tall people on their side right like Goliath so they see Saul and they go here's a tall one who he's good-looking too of course he turns out to be a chicken but he looks good he's a good looking chicken he had a good heritage he had good looks now he starts out very humble and I don't know I can't prove it but but maybe because he heard it so often man you're so tall man you're so good-looking you're like the best-looking dude in the country he listened to his own press and he got that crown and maybe just maybe he put it on one too many times as he stood in front of the mirror it's like guys in the gym there's always mirrors and gyms and I watched his people workout when I used to go to gyms the people like looking at themselves when they're lifting the weights I think Saul probably liked looking at himself with that crown on well the prophet Samuel finds him and anoints him is the next king down to verse 21 Saul answered and said listen to this am I not a Benjamite of the smallest tribe of Israel and my family the least of the families of the tribe of Benjamin why then do you speak like this to me now mark well his beginning he's a humble man it won't last but he's a humble man let's skip down to his coronation day in chapter 10 verse 20 the day that he gets the crown when Samuel had caused all the tribes of Israel to come near the tribe of Benjamin was chosen and he caused the tribe of Benjamin to come near by their families the family of MA tree was chose and saw the son of Kish was chosen but when they sought him he could not be found okay where's the king where's the guy we're gonna put this crown on we can't find him therefore they inquired of the Lord further has the man come here yet and the Lord answered there he is hidden behind the equipment this guy had an incredible sense of inadequacy he was not secured at all he was embarrassed he thought he shouldn't be the king now it's amazing that you have a guy start out like this very humble I can't do this job I can't be king and turn out like you turned out he started well it's not a bad thing to say look I'm not worthy of the honor of leading God's people right Paul the Apostles that I'm I'm less than least of all the saints when Gideon was chosen as a judge he said Who am I to leave God's people I come from a small tribe and my family is the least in my tribe many people started this way and so did this King but what's wrong what happened how did he play the fool how did he end up like he ended up and play the fool and err exceedingly well chapter 13 14 and 15 which we will briefly look at before we pray give us the answer he played the fool by arrogance number one by indifference number two and by disobedience number three chapter 13 Saul reigned one year and when he had reigned two years over Israel Saul chose for himself 3,000 men of Israel 2,000 were with Saul in meek mosh and in the mountains of Bethel a thousand were with Jonathan and Gibeah Benjamin the rest of the people he sent away every man to his tent Jonathan attacked the Garrison's of the Philistines that were in gaiba and the Philistines heard of it now watch this then saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land saying let the Hebrews hear did you get verse three Jonathan attacked Saul blew the trumpet I call this military plagiarism he took the credit for what Jonathan had done why arrogance pride I'm gonna blow my trumpet I'm the king yeah but you didn't do anything you know at least give attribution give credit and say my son did this he didn't do that he's a very prideful person and pride destroys whatever God builds pride destroys families pride destroys friendships pride destroys ministries I had lunch with Jim Baker as soon as he got out of prison few years back he was such a broken man such a humble man and he looked me right in the eye and he said you know caused the downfall of my ministry with Tammy Faye and myself my own pride chapter 14 he plays the fool by indifference let me tell you what's happening here the army of Israel is reduced and number two only six hundred men King Saul is sitting under a tree waiting for things to happen his son Jonathan is not a sitter he's a fighter so he gets up and Jonathan says to his armor-bearer hey it may be that the Lord will work for us let's go to the garrisons of the Philistines just you and me just two of us maybe the Lord will deliver the entire army of the Philistines into just our hands it could be that the Lord will be with us for he said what restrains the Lord in saving with many or with few so our River goes cool I'm game let's go for it this sounds like a cool adventure so the Lord gives the entire army of the Philistines into the hands of these two men they're all defeated well in the meantime King Saul has given an order to his army a stupid order nobody can eat anything at all until I'm avenged of my enemies no you can't have a single meal today which means everybody's like so tired and famished no energy and they got to fight all day and he says whoever eats anything the death penalty well when he gave that order Jonathan his son and his armor-bearer buddy weren't there so they're off fighting a battle and they see honey in the road and they eat it they get energized like a Snickers bar watch what happens chapter 14 verse 43 Saul said to Jonathan tell me what you have done so stupid I'll tell you what I've done I won the battle for you dad and Jonathan told him I said I only tasted a little honey with the end of the rod that was in my hand so now I must die Saul answered God do so and more also for you shall surely die Jonathan 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 so the people rescued Jonathan and he did not die King Saul would have killed his own son out of jealousy he hated to see others honored played the fool by arrogance played the fool by indifference chapter 15 and will close tonight he played the fool by disobedience now chapter 15 folks is the key chapter it's the key chapter here verse 1 samuel also said to Saul the Lord sent me to anoint you king over his people and over Israel now therefore heed the voice of the words of the Lord thus says the Lord of Hosts I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel how he ambushed him on the way that he came up from Egypt verses go out and kill the Amalekites now people read this and go man God is really like bummed out that day he's really harsh why is he punishing the Amalekites for this reason when Moses led the children of Israel through the desert into the Promised Land the Amalekites came in the rear and got the old people the weak and sick people and killed them ambush them and because they were known for their brutality and they were still living in the land the way you deal with an aggressive cancer in a body is aggressively sometimes the doctor will say I'm sorry but I'm gonna have to amputate your leg you're a mean doctor no actually if I cut your leg off you'll live if I don't you'll die I got to cut this leg off I know it's painful I know it's aggressive but aggressive cancer needs aggressive surgery so Saul go kill the Amalekites it was a just war if you don't believe me wait till you get to the book of Esther and we read about what happens when God's people disobey Him there's a guy in that book named Haman who almost kills all the Jews all of them he was an Amalekite he was an Amalekite God knew exactly what he was doing when he said get rid of him verse 9 but saul and the people spared a gag that's the king and the best of the sheep the ox and the fatlings the lambs and all that was good they were unwilling to utterly destroy them everything despised and worthless they utterly destroyed now God Himself speaks to Samuel verse 11 I greatly regret that I have set up Saul as king he has turned his back from following me and not perform my commandments and it grieved Samuel and he cried out to the Lord all night what a godly man when samuel rose early in the morning to meet saul it was told samuel saying saul went to carmel and indeed he set up a monument for himself and he has gone on around passed by and gone down to Gilgal and Samuel went to Saul and Saul said to him now watch this blessed are you of the Lord I have performed the commandment of the Lord here's the guy has the right talk right speech god bless you prophet man I've done everything God told me to do the Lord hallelujah yet all the talk down but it was covering up his disobedience Samuel said what then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears and the lowing of oxen which I hear oh you've obeyed everything that God told you to do how come I stir still here animals how come they're not all killed and Saul said 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 see again he sounds very spiritual we want to sacrifice to God listen it's not spiritual when you disobey and Samuel said to Saul be quiet I like this guy zip it and I will tell you what the Lord said to me last night and he said to him speak on so Samuel said when you were little in your own eyes were you not the head of the tribes of Israel and did not the Lord anoint you as king over Israel he gives more excuses down to verse 21 but the people took of the plunder the sheep the oxen and the best of the things which should have been utterly destroyed to sacrifice to the Lord your God and Gilgal still making excuses so Samuel said verse 22 has the Lord is 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 has also rejected you from being king here's a warning to people who say well you know I love the Lord God is like my best friend and that's a wonderful thing to say but Jesus said you are my friends if you do whatever I command you you can't be disobeying God and a lifestyle of disobedience claiming God as your best buddy boy your best friend and you really love him if you love me you will keep my Commandments he played the fool by arrogance by indifference in here by disobedience God never separates the worship from the worshiper Cain brought a worship sacrifice to the Lord an offering and God looked at both the offering and the one who offered it and said to him if you do right you'll be accepted if you live right I'll accept it but I don't separate what you give and who you are verse 35 and we'll close and 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 Saul the king over Israel now you'll watch Saul will still be in power as the king but God will not be with him and God will replace him I understand this as we close it didn't have to go that way it didn't have to end that way it could have ended and they lived happily ever after it didn't but it was because of disobedience FB Meyer gives us these words and I'll quote and close this is the bitterest of all to know that suffering need not have been that it has resulted from indiscretion and inconsistency that it is the harvest of one's own sowing that the vulture which feeds on the vitals is a nestling of one's own rearing me this is pain no wonder samuel mourned for Saul the rest of his life

Channel: Skip Heitzig

Views: 4,260

Rating: 4.9375 out of 5

Keywords: How to study the Bible, How to read the Bible, Jesus, Skip, Skip Heitzig, How to know God, 1 Samuel, Samuel, King, physical size, success, tragic, disobeyed, God's commands, Saul, His own heart, King David

Id: wEj7FAGfA_U

Length: 54min 24sec (3264 seconds)

Published: Mon May 13 2019