1 Samuel 15 vs 1-17

1 Samuel Chapter 15 Verses 1 – 3

 We read something like this and it definitely hits harshly on our ears.

That God, who is Love (according to 1 John 4:8), and who is entirely

righteous/right and good (according to Mark 10:18) would have this

on His heart and give this command to utterly destroy (a Hebrew word

used seven times in this chapter) an entire people-set. Even infants,

nursing children and animals… Even the sheep…, I mean most would

think that isn’t good but baaaaaaaaad (oh my, that was terrible, HA!).

 That’s difficult to take in…, I get it, I do not deny it and I don’t seek

to justify it. The eventual and complete destruction of those that stand

in opposition to a perfect and holy God is an essential element of His

perfect nature. If God is perfect then He is exclusive of all that rejects

His standard of perfection, or He violates His own perfection. It comes

with the territory. I don’t necessarily like it and perhaps its not

humanity’s way in general, and I recognize that.

 God did declare this to Moses four hundred years prior in Exodus 17.

There in verses 14 to 16 we read, “Then the Lord said to Moses,

“Write this for a memorial in the book and recount it in the hearing of

Joshua, that I will utterly blot out (interestingly familiar language)

the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.” God repeats this in

Deuteronomy 25…

 The interestingly familiar language gives us a clue as to the integrity

of God. Amalek, and this command of Saul, is a picture of the coming

judgement upon the entire fallen world. Revelation 3:5, “He who

overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out

his name from the Book of Life.” Those that reject enmity with God

and accept the One Savior and Salvation from their sin against a holy

God…, their names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life (according

to Revelation 21:27)…, All others are blotted out…

 What if at the time of final judgement, God does not thoroughly

complete the task? What if He does not utterly destroy the enemy, the

false prophet, the anti-christ and all sin? The New Heaven and the

New Earth again will go through great tribulation… This event and

command of 1 Samuel 15 is an echo to that coming complete

judgment and the utter and complete annihilation of all that is evil…,

which is most definitely in the character of a pure and perfect and

holy God that is completely good and completely love…

 So, Samuel gives this very clear, black and white, no flex and no

grey, charge to Saul. Is anyone confused in the slightest at what

Samuel has said? Could even a five-year-old completely understand

the charge that has been given? Ok, assuming you said yes…, let’s see

what Saul did with it…

1 Samuel Chapter 15 Verses 4 – 7

 So far so good! He even spares the Kenites, who were the males of

that people, the females were known as Barbie-ites! HA!! Saul shows

wisdom and mercy and strength here by this action. So far so good!

He starts SO well….

1 Samuel Chapter 15 Verses 8 – 9

 You could write a doctoral dissertation, many of them, scores of

them, describing with absolute perfect rational thought why the

actions of Saul were entirely best. There’s no doubt…, keeps Agag as

a trophy of sorts, a symbol of the utter annihilation of the Amalekites,

keeps the best of the livestock to feed the poor of Israel…, ALL that

was good we used for good… And the world applauds… BUT. But

what? What’s the problem? All that good stuff that Saul did, all that

serving the poor and serving his people and doing what was the

greater good for everyone involved…, all that that makes complete

sense…, it’s against the clear, black and white, no flex and no grey

Word of God…

 This is the veil that lays on the heart of so many sincere Christians

today and keeps folks from the joy the Lord has for them and restrains

folks from truly truly being a fruit-bearing witness unto Jesus Christ

on this dark planet, or in their homes to their spouses, or in their places

of work, or in their places of worship, or effective examples to their

children… This veil not only blinds but it is heavy and blocks joy…

And this is a tough one…

 This is called partial obedience. What God has commanded of us,

there is too much left of us reigning on the throne of our hearts to

allow God to reign on the throne of our lives… All that is good, all

that is good for us in our lives…, we take and accept and apply one

part…, good to go…, but when faced with something worthless to our

own cause…, when not convenient to us personally, we falter in

obedience… As it says here of Saul, he was unwilling… (used his will

in the place of God’s will).

 That is what this chapter is about… It’s truly throughout scripture as

the single most damaging problem in the lives of the people of

God…, but in this chapter it is put on center stage. Partial obedience

is the decay of love. It is the degradation of power and in all ways but

one it is far worse than outright disobedience, a refusal wholesale, to

not yield to God. Jesus said of the church of Laodicea in the Book of

Revelation, Revelation 3:16, “So then, because you are lukewarm, and

neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.”

 I do believe partially obedient Christians are still Christians. Always

learning but never able to come to the knowledge of the truth as Paul

wrote in 2 Timothy 3… I err on the side of grace and even the worst of

Christians still go to heaven…, but as for their lives, heaviness,

blindness will be their lot, as the veil of partial obedience frustratingly

persists!

 Frustrating not only for them, and they don’t even know, aren’t even

able to diagnose themselves because even that takes a great work of

repentance…, having to conclude that THEY are their own problem

and the biggest problem in the lives of those they love! HOW HARD

IS THAT! But also frustrating for those that have a heart to just fully

trust God! Fully apply God’s Word! Not perfect in it for sure but hey,

black and white, it’s clear, and that’s what I am wanting to do no

matter if it is even against me! In fact, I expect it, I expect God’s will

to not always align with my will and see that as an opportunity to

learn, to grow, to mature, to strengthen, to change…, and over time I

covet it because I know it brings JOY and strength and power and

greater intimacy with God….

 But yea, got some Christians around me and even influential in my life

that are just fine with rationalizing why its ok to simply disregard the

Word of God because of the present circumstance or situation and that

is INCRFEDIBLY frustrating… Because you cannot break through

this veil and you know it, AND THEY DON’T KNOW IT. Watch this

principle put on CLEAR display in Saul…

1 Samuel Chapter 15 Verses 10 – 11

 We will deal with the idea of God greatly regretting Saul as we end

the chapter, because it comes up again. So, hold that thought for the

moment.

 This is one of the character traits of a true man or a woman of God.

What grieves the Lord, grieves Samuel. In Matthew 15:8-9, Jesus

made this comment about those that are not truly His. He said, “These

people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their

lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me.”

Change a few of those words to reveal what God is desiring.

 These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with

their lips, and their heart is near to Mine. In great truth and spirit they

worship Me. What is it that grieves the Lord? The fact that Saul’s heart

was far from Him… How is that described? “He has turned back from

following Me, and has not performed My commandments.”

 A heart near to the Lord’s does not follow God and perform His

commandments because he has some sort of religious obligation…, a

heart close to the Lord’s simply rejoices to do the will of God. It

comes naturally and it comes purely… Almost effortlessly… And in

anyway, anyway at all, that there is revelation that following the Lord

is not happening, a heart that loves the Lord will LOVE to

immediately correct their own heart.

 No defense, no denial, no deflection and absolutely no excuses.

Someone once said, “PLEASE, please do not get good at making

excuses because if you do, that will be all you are ever good at…”

Watch Saul, and see not a man that makes rational excuses (although

you may see that), but see a man that has a heart that he has kept very

far from God…

1 Samuel Chapter 15 Verses 12 – 15

 Saul has been busy honoring himself… And his first greeting to the

man that he knows is for the Lord is to speak his language, “Praise the

Lord, I did it!” And the sick, veilish (new word) part of it all, is that

Saul really believes this. He really believes that because he did “the

best he could do,” or because he twisted the black and white into grey,

he really believes he has done what the Lord commanded. Because

hey, this was best for both of us, both me and God… This is the

thinking of the one that has a veil on their heart to the Holy Spirit…

 As soon as Samuel asked this question there should have been

repentance and humility from Saul. But as big as he was outwardly,

Saul was VERY small on the inside… So, his immediate go-to is a

denial, defense and deflection… Look at the first word in his response

to Samuel in verse 15…, “They.”

 He immediately puts the cause, because he did all he could, right?, he

immediately puts the cause on someone else as to why the grey came

into the black and white equation… They brought the BEST of the

spoils to sacrifice to the Lord YOUR God…, hey, but the rest, the rest

we utterly destroyed….

 Sounds good. Sounds right. Sounds rational. Saul is putting up a solid

defense and I absolutely love the response of Samuel because this is

the response of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit filled man of God, and this is

the response that we aren’t allowed to give because God-FORBID a

person that is small on the inside get offended, because it is then they

immediately make YOU the monster for being filled with righteous

abhorrence at their sin… But this response of Samuel is the response

of God and the response WE ALL want to give in these situations…

1 Samuel Chapter 15 Verse 16

 Samuel essentially says, SHUT UP! That commandment is only

required when nothing right or good or helpful or true is going to

come out of an open mouth! And the funny part of it all…, Saul

disobeys. Samuel says shut your mouth and Saul says, “Speak on!”

HA! A donkey cannot help but hee-haw. A pig cannot help but snort.

And a self-focused person cannot help but be disrespectful, crass,

crude and defiant…, denying all the while they are being disrespectful,

crass, crude and defiant…

1 Samuel Chapter 15 Verse 17

 A little principle of life there… Little in your own eyes is simply to be

humble… And humility creates royalty in the eyes of God and

humility creates intense productivity and profit in this world.

Humility is the aroma of a person who has strength within.

Humility is the personal weakness in decay. And everyone knows it

but it is a sense, an essence, a vibe, it is unspoken and undescribed in

the moment but experienced and understood by all involved… That

when humility comes forth from someone, all within that experience

birth favor in their heart of hearts for that person…

 So, few care to learn this most basic principle of life. And I understand

why. Most, maybe even all people, have some history of someone

taking advantage of their weakness. Typically, physical weakness… as

a child, or someone being overpowered, or forced to do something or

be someone that hurt them… And personal weakness became very

very very dangerous and painful… And folks don’t recover…

 So, humility, its just not possible. It’s a darkened spot in their DNA.

Locked away with thick lead doors and combination locks so that what

happened to them doesn’t happen again. It’s a sick and effective

strategy of the enemy as he attacks the young and the most vulnerable

parts of our lives… And the entire ploy is to stop humility. Because

humility is the primary character trait of the true King… And Satan

hates Him…

1 Samuel Chapter 15 Verses 18 – 20

 What do you do with someone who lies to himself and with great

sincerity of personal truth, lies to others? This is the field on which the

Lord puts his right hand on the sheep and His left hand on the goats.

There is no account in the Bible of goats becoming sheep and that is

devastating. There is no condemnation unto eternal destruction for

those that have given their lives to Jesus, Romans 8 is clear, but

Romans 16 is also clear that there is earthly condemnation to making

sure you steer clear of this type of “godly” man or woman…

 Paul wrote in Romans 16:17, “Now I urge you, brethren, note those

who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you

learned, and avoid them.” Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 5:5, “Deliver

such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may

be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.” 2 Timothy 3:2-5, “For men

will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud,

blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving,

unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good,

traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of

God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such

people turn away!”

 I’m sorry to tell you of something in the Bible that is not popular in

our culture of correction and godliness being unacceptable and

feelings being exalted over all…, but there is a godly command to

condemn in an earthly sense those that walk in darkness and lie to

themselves because human rejection is the only thing that gives a shot

to spiritual repentance why…, because this type of person, denier,

deflector, defender, self-deceiver, this type of person is numb to Godly

rejection… Tough truth. True nonetheless…

1 Samuel Chapter 15 Verses 22 – 23

 A rebellious heart can be easily found in the most popular of

preachers. The most active church members. The most energetic

worshippers. Because rebellion is not forsaking the sacrifice or burnt

offerings, forsaking the ministry…, rebellion is being a person that

half-obeys convincing themselves that they are obeying. Again, a

person who loves the Lord, has a heart close to the Lord, obeying

never even crosses their minds…, it just comes forth, because it is

what they delight to be… A man or a woman after God’s OWN heart.

1 Samuel Chapter 15 Verses 24 – 29

 I love how God is named, “The Strength of Israel,” here. And

remember, God never changes… His name is the same today…

 Notice here Samuel says that God doesn’t relent… Does that

contradict verse 11? No, it doesn’t, it explains it. Verse 11 does not

mean that God regrets a mistake He made. God is good, all the time.

Verse 11, God expresses regret and that regret is an expression of

grief. We can regret even good things… Good things we have done

that have hurt our situation, but they were the right things to do in that

day in the eyes of the Lord… but they caused the end of that

relationship or the end of that worldly comfort…

 And we can look back on that day with regret. Not that we wouldn’t

do it again, it was right… But regretful towards the grief and the

loss… Regret is not always indicative of a mistake… God grieves

Saul. His will is that none should perish, none should destroy

themselves…

 But Saul does. Saul ends up trying to kill himself after a battle. That is

how his life ends… But he isn’t successful…, and it ends up being an

Amalekite that kills him on the battlefield. He destroys himself with

his self-deceived half-obedience… And not only that…, fast forward a

couple hundred years and the entire nation of all people of Israel come

under a death sentence at the decree of one man, an Agagite,

Haman…, during the time of Queen Esther…

1 Samuel Chapter 15 Verses 30 – 35

 Samuel, the man of God, executes the command of God even to the

disdain of many men. No doubt many men condemned Samuel for this

as many of us do just now in reading this… But for Samuel, no matter

what this world looks like, his heart is knitted to the heart of God so

this is nothing to him…

 And there must have been more… There must have been some sort of

secret hidden sin of Saul that is not written in these pages because if

all Amalekites were utterly destroyed and now Agag is dead, where

does Haman come from? Where does the man that killed Saul come

from…?

 So, we see one more truth… where there is smoke, there is fire…

Where there is someone who lacks humility and presents self-

deception (which the world now calls “personal truth”) it is always a

signal of hidden, secret sin, hidden, tucked away worship of self or

worship of some other idol…, image, lust, power, pride, money…,

something more…, shrouded from the eyes of others and in a self-

deceived manner, shrouded from the eyes of God in their lives… Who

in one moment of humility and strength of character would be able to

heal them and move them on…, because that’s not only what God can

do and does all the time, its what He wants to do in every life!