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Samuel - Teacher, Prophet and Prophet Teacher (4 of 5)

Focus Text: 1 Samuel 15.18-23

Samuel confronted Saul saying, “Now the LORD sent you on a mission, and said, ‘Go, and utterly destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.’ Why then did you not obey the voice of the LORD? Why did you swoop down on the spoil, and do evil in the sight of the LORD?’ And Saul said to Samuel, ‘But I have obeyed the voice of the LORD, and gone on the mission on which the LORD sent me, and brought back Agag king of Amalek; I have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. But the people took of the plunder, sheep and oxen, the best of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice to the LORD your God in Gilgal.’ Then Samuel said: ‘Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, As in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to 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 also has rejected you from being king.’” (1 Samuel 15.18-23).

Samuel was a prophet who realized the necessity of obedience from the heart. He declared by his response to Saul that there are no “degrees of sin” especially when it is committed in willful disobedience to God. After all, if one is of a disposition to disobey, what difference does the commandment make; one had as well disobey one as another! It was this principle that led Samuel to proclaim that rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, a sin punishable by death in Israel. Likewise, he affirmed that stubbornness was like idolatry, another capital offense among the Hebrews. This practical truth levels the playing field and makes all sin equal in effect; namely, sin separates the sinner from God regardless of how insignificant the sinner might think the sin to be.

After putting Agag to death, a job that Saul was supposed to do, “…Samuel went to Ramah, and Saul went up to his house at Gibeah of Saul. And Samuel went no more to see Saul until the day of his death. Nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul…” (1 Samuel 15.34-35). With all the action packed into this story, it is easy to overlook one phrase, a phrase which speaks volumes about Samuel’s character, and that is the statement, “Nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul…” Regardless of the evil character of Saul, the righteous character of Samuel could not help but bemoan the condition of the capable but misguided leader of Israel. Certainly there was no gloating on the part of Samuel and no tendency to say, “I told you so!” Rather, there was sadness over the condition of a man who could have been a tremendous influence for good had he but heeded the message of God and walked in the path of right.

God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked and neither do His followers (see Ezekiel 33.11). There is no victory won when the fate of an evil person is sealed by death, in fact, it is just the opposite; the war is lost! The war is won only when those who die meet death in a spiritually prepared condition (Psalm 116.15). Samuel was a prophet, a teacher, and a prophet teacher whose heart despised the effects of evil among all peoples; that’s God’s heart also!

Questions:

1. What was the obvious difference in the way Saul defined “obedience” and the way Samuel defined it?

2. How can stubbornness be compared to idolatry? What type of stubbornness is under consideration here

3. About what could Samuel have legitimately said, “I told you so”?

4. In what way can God see the death of his saints as precious (see Psalm 116.15)?

"Voice of Inspiration" from Andy Castro

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