1 Samuel 13 Rejected King

Here are the questions and notes from last night's LightHouse on 1 Samuel 13:

1. Read through the passage what surprises you, what amazes you, what don’t you understand?

2. What excuses might someone make for doing what we want rather than what God wants?

There are times when it is easier to live out your faith than others. When at a conference or camp, or when surrounded by other believers it’s easy to sing or make bold protestations about standing for God, giving our all, or wholehearted obedience. It’s much harder in a stressed out workplace or amongst an antagonistic family, or when facing a crisis.

Ch12 ends with Israel on a spiritual high, if you’d interviewed them as they left the assembly and asked if God was good and their deliverer they would have readily agreed. If you’d asked them if they and their king would serve God wholeheartedly they would have been fired up and quick to say yes. God was their good and gracious king, their deliverer and they were privileged to be his people living under his rule and the rule of his King. Ch12 and the promising beginning Saul has made is why Ch13 is such an unpleasant jolt to our expectations.

Even the initial skirmishes look promising, prince Jonathan leads the way and Saul looks set to deliver Israel under God, and the people respond to the summons to fight for God and King and rid the land of the Philistines, their oppressors.

But then(5-7) the test of that faith comes, is their faith real, is their concept of God big enough, is their heart wholly devoted and trusting God, do they really understand who he is and what he has promised them? Will they serve and trust him? As 3,000 chariots, 6,000 charioteers and numerous soldiers in Philistine colours appear armed tooth and nail, and Israel face them with their ploughshares, axes and sickles, can God really deliver?

Tragically Israel’s trust in God melts away into the caves and thickets just as they do, even those who have the guts to stand with Saul do so with their knees knocking. What will Israel’s king do? How will Saul lead the people? Will he be a king like the people or the king the people need?

1. The Real Battle is fought in our Hearts
You can picture the scene in (8)can’t you, you can feel the mounting pressure as Saul waits for 7 days, on the seventh day finally the waiting is over there is expectancy among the troops. Samuel will come make the offerings and give us God’s word as we go into battle. The troops are restless and afraid and as the hours tick on the men begin to scatter. **What does logic say to do? Logic says do something to make them stay, lead the people. Logic says (9)“Bring me the burnt offerings and the fellowship offerings.” And Saul offers the burnt offering up himself.

You can imagine as Saul turns round the smell of smoke on his clothes and sees Samuel coming into the camp. Remember the significance of ch12, Saul is God’s king ruling under God’s authority, Samuel is God’s prophet who brings God’s word to the king. You can imagine how Saul feels and he does exactly what we’d do in that situation he starts making excuses(13). The men were scattering, you didn’t come, the Philistines were amassing ready to attack and we hadn’t sought God’s favour, we hadn’t made the offerings. Notice who Saul blames; everyone else, other people, circumstances, enemies, anything but recognise and take responsibility for his actions. It’s a pattern established in Genesis 3 with Adam and Eve, and one which finds us out too. But all those excuses are shown up for what they are – Saul trying to earn God’s favour by disobeying God’s word.

It isn’t simply the mechanics of making an offering that are the issue here, it’s the heart behind the offering. Look back at 12:20, 24, it was all about the heart. The offerings weren’t a means of currying divine favour but a means of showing your wholehearted devotion to God. The burnt offering was made in recognition of the need to atone for sin, and the offerer identified with the offering being made in his place. The burnt offering was a means of atoning for God’s wrath against sin. The fellowship offering was either a thanksgiving offering, or the result of a vow or a freewill offering, either way it was a means of recognising dependence on God and was a sign of love and devotion to God.

It wasn’t the offering itself but the heart behind them that mattered, they were meant to be offered as an expression of love, devotion and covenant faithfulness. Saul is more concerned about performing the outward act than serving God with all his heart. That is made clear in (14)as the contrast is made with Saul and the king who will replace him who will be “a man after God’s own heart...”

God looks at the heart not the outward action. Saul starts so well but when the pressure is on his true heart is revealed. Pressure doesn’t make him someone he isn’t it just reveals who he really is. The excuses reveal what he loves and fears more than God.

God isn’t concerned about externals but about our hearts. Sometimes we can fool ourselves into thinking that if the externals are OK then we are OK, this warns us against that. We can be going to church, even be leading something and we kid ourselves into thinking if I’m doing that then my heart must be ok. God has not saved us for religious rigmarole but for a relationship of enjoying and loving living under his good rule.

It also, helpful, tells us that our excuses for failing to serve God reveal and diagnose our hearts. At root everyone one of Saul’s excuses diagnose a heart not serving and loving God, not trusting in God’s rescue and wanting to rule his kingdom in his way in his time not God’s. Our excuses will do the same.

What excuses have you made this week, or month or year, for doing what you want when you want rather than waiting for God or obeying his word? Each of those excuses reveal our hearts, what we fear and treasure more than God and what we at root think about God. Imagine the individual who decides they have waited long enough for God to provide a believing husband so she starts dating the non-Christian guy in the office. The excuse is ‘but I have waited so long and there is no one, all my friends are getting married and having children’. What does that say about them – ‘I am not whole in Christ I need a relationship.’ What does it say about God? ‘I can’t trust him because he hasn’t provided what I know I need’. What does it say about a relationship? ‘It will provide fulfilment.’

For every choice we make our excuses reveal our hearts.

We mustn’t kid ourselves, the real battle is not fought with externals it is fought in our hearts.

2. It is dangerous to dismiss God’s word
Turn to the person you are sat with, what did you learn from this morning’s Bible talk and what difference will it make to you this week?  What did you learn from last week’s Bible talk and what difference has it made to you in the week since?

We will come back to that in just a few minutes. The issue in this chapter is Saul’s heart and his desire to serve God, but you can’t serve God if you won’t listen to his word, and that’s the issue which Samuel picks out in his responses to Saul. Just look at (13-14)**What does Samuel highlight twice? “You have not kept the command the LORD your God gave you...because you have not kept the LORD’s command.”

Loving God is a heart issue but it’s out working is seen in valuing, listening to and keeping his word.

Now the question here is which command has Saul failed to keep. Some say(8) and failing to wait 7 days at Gilgal links to 10:8 when Samuel initially calls Saul and tells him to wait 7 days at Gilgal before Samuel comes to him and Saul here is failing to obey that command. That is possible. but I think unlikely, because that command is given before he is made king and is connected with his anointing, in ch10 Saul is described as a young man, whereas here he has a grown son, old enough to command a portion of the troops. I think it’s better to see 10:8 fulfilled in 11:14 where Israel assemble with Saul at Gilgal to renew the kingship.

So what is the command Saul here has not obeyed? The command is ch12’s call for both people and king to serve God(20-25) as Samuel teaches them the way that is good and right and they respond by fearing God and serving him faithfully. So when Samuel instructs Saul again to wait for him at Gilgal(4) Saul initially obeys God’s command through Samuel to gather at Gilgal and he waits so long, but he does not keep God’s word. Samuel was a prophet he taught Israel God’s word, when he is coming to Gilgal he comes as the prophet, not just to make the offerings but to bring God’s word.

Saul’s actions show contempt for God’s word, he will not wait as instructed. In the face of an emergency God’s word is dispensable and disposable. It’s all the more lamentable given the history Samuel rehearsed in ch12 of God saving through deliverers who listened to and acted upon his words in order to bring about God’s deliverance.

And the consequences are devastating. The kingdom will now not pass on down Saul’s family line. You can’t lead God’s people unless you listen to the word of the real king. And the chapter ends with Israel in a hopeless situation; no swords bar 2, no blacksmith to make more, facing a well armed hoard. The people are scattering and hiding terrified, the Philistines are raiding at will, and most tragically Samuel leaves – there is no hope of hearing God’s word. Saul has shown he views it as dispensable and so Samuel leaves Israel and their king without the word of God.

Serving God with all your heart isn’t about religious rigmarole but about treasuring God’s word, trusting waiting, loving obedience because you know God is in control and you need his guidance. It’s about relationship, in relationships we treasure the words of others, they matter to us, we seek to understand them and through those words to know the other person and we act on what they reveal.

God’s word is an instrument to shape and mould our minds and character to be like Jesus, it’s not a series of instant fixes arranged by alphabetical topical index. As it unfolds to us the character of God and we are swept up into his plan of salvation and see how much we are loved and are given we come to love and enjoy God and entrust ourselves to him because we know he will never do us wrong. We come to wait listening expectantly because we know he is working for a greater purpose than our comfort, we come to rejoice in him because of a growing confidence in his power and love.

How is your listening? How do you approach listening to the sermon or bible talk? What do you do to maximise the talk? How have you trained yourself to make the most out of it? Have you trained yourself to listen well? Is your listening active or passive? Have you recognised what stops you listening and how you can counter that?

What would it be like if people preached in the same style in which we often people listen, rather than being active and passionate, imploring and explaining, the preacher would be passive and inattentive. Except, we wouldn't put up with it because preaching is a serious thing, presenting the word or God, imploring God's people to hear and respond is a joyful task. So why if we wouldn't accept that from a preacher do we accept it in our listening?

The Bible doesn't just say that those who preach will be held accountable but also those who listen, that’s striking. So how could you train yourself to listen better, here are a few ways:

- Read the passage before you come, note down questions and see if they get answered.
- Pray before you come asking God to make you expectant and open your eyes, ears and heart.
- Have your Bible open and keep checking out what’s being said.
- Follow cross references and look them up.
- Take notes - we do it for anything else we want to retain or reference again, why not for God's word which is the very word of eternal life!
- Agree with some friends or family that you will discuss the questions or talk over lunch afterwards.
- Create the expectation that you will revisit the talk with others at some point in the week.
- Be self controlled - stop yourself when distracted by the fly or the background or your week ahead.
- Pray afterwards asking God to help you weigh up what you have heard and respond to it.

Responding to God's word is what living enjoying our relationship with him looks like.

1. How do those excuses reveal what we think about other? What we think about God? What we think about ourselves? And what we think will really bring us fulfilment?

2. What stops you listening to God’s word and acting on it? How can we improve our listening and make God’s word active?