Throughout I Samuel, we read about the lusting after a king by the Children of Israel and the subsequent answer to their prayer. Samuel was distressed that the Israelites would want a human to be their king instead of God, who was their king and he cried out to the Lord – and the Lord told him to give the people what they wanted.
The Israelites wanted a physical man to lead them in their battles, to tell them what to do, to guide them through life; someone they could see and interact with instead of the invisible, omnipotent God who led and guided them.
Samuel told the people the consequences of having a king. Yes, they would get their king, but the cost would be great. This king would take their sons for his armies and their daughters for his household staff. This king would take the best tenth of their fields, vineyards, and oliveyards not for himself, but for his servants. This king would take their servants and the tenth of their sheep. Finally, the Israelites would be the king’s servants.
You would think the Israelites would be deterred in their demand for a king… not a bit! After that terrible list of consequences, the people still rebelled and shouted that they would have a king so they could be like everyone else. And God heard their request and told Samuel to anoint Saul as their king.
Saul was a wonderful king, filled with the spirit of God and anointed to be king over the God’s people of Israel. He led them victoriously in battle and reigned with wisdom. This lasted for all of two years. Saul began to take himself more seriously than he ought and one day, because Samuel hadn’t shown up yet to offer the burnt offering, Saul stepped into that place and offered the burnt offerings himself – an act which was completely in violation of sacrifice protocol.
No sooner had he finished then Samuel appeared. “Thou hast done foolishly,” Samuel told Saul. He hadn’t kept the commandment of the Lord and therefore lost the promise of his kingdom forever in Israel; his lineage were no longer promised the kingdom. And this right at the point in his career when God was about to establish the kingdom on Saul and his descendants forever. Because of his disobedience here, he lost that right.
Some time after this, Saul again disobeyed the Lord in a profound way. Samuel brought the word of the Lord to Saul telling him he was to destroy Amalek completely – every man, woman, and infant; every ox, sheep, camel, and donkey… everything.
The first thing Saul did was to tell the Kenites who lived in Amalek that the should clear out because they had been good to the Israelites… then he started the battle. However, he kept the king alive and he and the people spared the best of all the animals and didn’t completely destroy everything.
When Samuel confronted Saul on this issue, Saul blamed the people and said he had followed the Lord, but the people took the animals to sacrifice with. At that point, God told Samuel that the kingdom had been taken from Saul himself. “To obey is better than sacrifice,” Samuel told Saul. “and to hearken than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.”
Because of his disobedience, Saul not only lost the promise of the kingdom for his descendents, but he lost his own kingdom a few short years after being anointed. The Lord took His anointing and Spirit from Saul and selected another who would love, serve, and obey Him. Not only that, but evil spirits beset Saul and he was mentally disturbed for the rest of his life.
Saul had lost everything as a direct result of disobedience.
