Articles
The Heart of the Kings: Saul's Heart of Disobedience--Transcript
Good evening.
I can tell you if y'all are as nervous as I am, we're everyone in trouble.
For those of you who don't know me, my name is Allen Jinn.
I'm from a little town southeast Kentucky called May King, Kentucky.
If you go too fast or you blink, you'll miss it.
I preach for a little congregation called the South End Church of Christ Neon.
We're about 25 members strong.
We're a growing congregation and we're a working congregation.
I'm thankful to be part of it and I just want to say to the brethren here how much of an honor it is that you have the confidence in me to ask me to come and to be part of this.
I've been so excited about it since about January when David called me and and told me about it and I've been working on it for quite some time but it's just so exciting to me to get to do this.
For those of you who don't know me, my desire is to do what Paul told Timothy to do in 2nd Timothy chapter 4.
He told him to preach the word, to be instant in season, out of season, reprove, rebuke, and exhort with all long-suffering.
And that is what I have decided to do with my life and I'm excited to do so.
And I want you to know if there's one who is sitting in this congregation tonight who has never obeyed the gospel of Christ, today is the day of salvation.
Do not leave this place not in a good relationship with the Lord.
Faith, repentance, confession, and baptism for the remission of your sins and you will be added to one of the greatest kingdoms in this world and that is the Lord's kingdom.
So as we get into our study this evening and I'm going to attempt to see this wall back here, I'm kind of thrown off guard, I usually use my laptop and as you can see I don't use an outline either.
But we're talking about the heart of the Kings and I think it's just a really interesting lesson.
When we look at the heart of the Kings, the first topic that we're going to discuss this evening is that of 1st Samuel chapter 15 verses 1 through 35.
If you have a Bible with you, would you take that out and go ahead and be turning that way? And actually what I'm going to do this evening may be just a little bit different than maybe what you're used to.
We talk about King Saul, I'm going to tell the story and then we're going to go back into the text and look at it again.
So when we think about King Saul, you look at 1st Samuel chapter 15, you'll see a king mentioned by the name of Saul.
Saul was a king in Israel and actually he was about 30 years old when he became king.
Now the interesting thing is if you're sitting here with a King James Bible and you're looking at 1st Samuel chapter 13, then you're not going to see how old Saul is.
If you look at other versions, some versions may say that he's 30 years old, some may say 40, and some may even say 50.
And so there's kind of a difference of opinion, but the thing about it is what we want to really get into here is we want to get to know who Saul is.
Now I was looking out in the, and I guess you call that the four-year out there, and there was actually something out there talking about Israel wanting a king.
Israel wanted a king and they actually, God gave them Saul.
And so they had Saul, he was about 30 years old when he became king, and he gathered an army to defend the Israelites against the Philistine raiders.
Any strong and brave men was added to Saul's fighters.
Samuel came to Saul with a message from God.
The Lord is to punish the Amalekites for attacking and killing the Israelites as Moses led them through the wilderness.
You are to attack them.
Now this is really interesting to look at, and we think about what the world thinks when they think of God.
They think, well, God is a God of love.
And absolutely, I would not dispute that one bit.
God is a God of love.
And they say, well, God is so gentle and he just accepts everything.
No, when we look at that, God is gentle and he is kind and he is meek and he is all the things that he expects for us to be.
But at the end of the day, God is a God of wrath when we are disobedient.
And so when we look at this, we see this story here that you are to attack and destroy them all.
You are to attack the Amalekites for killing the Israelites as Moses led them through the wilderness.
You are to attack and destroy them all.
You must also destroy the animals too.
No living thing is to be spared.
Wow.
Now that is a very powerful statement.
And so when we look, Saul summoned his fighting forces at Talim as over about 200,000 soldiers.
They moved south toward the Amalekite territory and on the way they warned the Kenites who lived nearby to stay away from the battle and they would be spared.
But the Kenites had shown kindness to the Israelites when they came up out of Egypt.
And so King Saul and his army set an ambush for the Amalekites in the valley.
And so as we consider this, we look forward the Israelites then attacked the Amalekites as God had ordered.
So pay attention.
They attacked the Amalekites as God had ordered them to do so.
And so as the Amalekites had retreated, Saul's army chased them all the way to the border with Egypt and no one was spared.
But now look at this.
They captured King Agag of the Amalekites but instead of following God's orders, King Saul spared his life and took him as a prisoner.
Now what was the command? What was he told to do? He was told to utterly destroy them.
But look at this.
They killed all the weak animals but they disobeyed God's instruction and they kept the best sheep and the best cattle.
They decided to keep some as plunder and others to be sacrificed to God.
The Lord spoke to Samuel, I regret that I have made Saul king because he has turned away from me and has not carried out my instructions.
Samuel was angry and he cried out to the Lord all that night.
And so as we consider this, early in the morning Samuel went to meet Saul and he was told that Saul had gone to Mount Carmel to set up a monument in his own honor and had gone out to Gilgal.
Now think about that.
He has done this.
He doesn't even realize what he's done wrong.
He doesn't even realize that he's made a mistake and he's went out to set up a monument for himself.
And when Samuel found Saul, the king said I have carried out the Lord's instructions.
Now notice that.
I've carried out the Lord's instructions and Samuel replied, what then is it the bleeding of sheep in my ears? What is this that I hear? You did not obey God.
I hear these I hear these sheep bleeding in my ears.
What is the loaning of cattle that I hear? And so as we continue further, Saul explained that the animals have been plundered from the Amalekites but the best were to be sacrificed to God.
Samuel replied, God sent you on a mission to totally destroy the wicked Amalekites.
Why did you disobey and plunder? Why did you not do what God asked you to do? And then look at what Saul says.
He said I did obey.
Saul protested.
I completely destroyed the Amalekites and I brought them back.
I brought back Agag the king.
The soldiers took the best sheep and the cattle but the very best of these are for sacrifice.
Samuel replied, does the Lord delight more in sacrifices than obeying him? To obey is better than to sacrifice.
For to go against what you are told is like the sin of witchcraft.
Not to obey is like the sin of worshipping false gods.
Now as we start to bring this back around, I want you to put yourself in this position and we're going to start to make application to this to ourselves.
And so as we consider that not to obey is just as bad as worshipping false gods.
You have turned away from the Word of the Lord so he has turned you away from being king.
I have sinned, Saul confessed.
I have sinned against the Lord.
Now where have we heard that before? What about David? But now David, when it was brought before him, David said I have sinned.
He repented of his sin.
Saul still hasn't recognized necessarily what he's done wrong until this point but I'm not even sure really for sure that he's repented of what he's done.
And so as you look at he says I have sinned, Saul confessed.
I was afraid of the people and listened to them.
Sometimes it is because we got caught rather than because we actually are repenting of what we're doing and that may even be the case with Saul.
But as Samuel turned to go, Saul took hold of the part of his clothing and it tore.
So Samuel said to him, today the Lord has torn the rule of Israel away from you and given it to someone who is better than you.
Samuel then executed Agag himself, the king of the Amalekites.
He killed him himself and Samuel returned to his home and never went to see Saul again.
And so as we look at this, I'd like for us to ponder on a few things this evening, some points to ponder from this lesson.
Hidden within the heart of King Saul, my friends, is something that can be found hidden within us all.
Now many of us may say well I don't think they'll have that in me and if you don't that's a wonderful thing but many of us do.
Many of us have found ourselves in the very situation that we're talking about and that is a heart of disobedience and disobeying God and not being what we ought to be for God.
Each and every day as a Christian we have a responsibility to see to it that we are doing what God would have us to do, that we're being pleasing and acceptable to God and pleasing in his sight.
And so the question that we have to ask ourselves is can what happened to King Saul happen to me? Can that happen to me? And my friends the answer to that is yes it can.
The Bible tells us that if we think we stand to take heed lest we fall.
You know you go back and you look at for instance the example of David.
David was the king of Israel, a man after God's own heart but he failed.
He was disobedient to God.
You look at Saul, he was a king that was appointed to Israel but yet he failed.
He made mistakes, a heart of disobedience.
And so as we consider this yes it can happen to me.
And so there's an old saying is never say never, never say never because it can happen to me.
Look at Hebrews chapter 3 verses 7 through 12.
Therefore as the Holy Spirit says today if you will hear his voice do not harden your hearts.
What does that tell us? That tells us that we can harden our hearts.
It's a choice.
It's a choice that we make.
The thing that Saul did, the disobedience that was in Saul's heart was a choice that Saul made.
As in the rebellion in the days the day of trial in the wilderness, were your fathers tested me, tried me and saw my works forty years.
Therefore I was angry with that generation and said they always go astray in their hearts and they have not known my ways so I swore my wrath they shall not enter my rest.
But now look here in verse 12.
Beware brethren, lest there be any of you an evil heart of unbelief and departing from believing God.
But exhort one another daily while it is called today lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
Now as we consider that, as we look at that, let's make sure that we are not hardening our hearts.
The instruction for King Saul was clear.
Would we agree? I think the instructions were very clear.
What was he to do? He was to go in and kill everyone, everything, every animal, take no prisoners.
That was the instructions.
They were clear.
Saul was given clear instructions by God through Samuel.
In 1st Samuel chapter 15 looking at verses 1 through 3, Samuel also said to Saul, the Lord sent me to anoint you king over his people 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 when he came up through Egypt.
So now something's been revealed to us.
Now we know why God is carrying this out.
Now go and attack Amalek and utterly destroy all that they have and do not spare them but kill both man and woman, infant, nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.
Kill everything.
And that sounds harsh.
But if you think back to what Amalek did to the children of Israel when they were wandering in the wilderness, it seems like that's pretty fair, doesn't it? Now when we think about this, God has given instruction and Saul was to obey it.
When we are given instruction, when Saul was given those instructions, there was nothing that gave him liberty to say, okay well I'm going to do what I want to do.
And so the instruction was, Saul was given instruction and Saul was to obey it.
When God speaks, his word is final.
We have no liberty to do anything outside of that.
Saul was in a position of authority but that did not matter.
The fact that he was in a position of authority didn't matter whatsoever.
No matter the dispensation of time that we live in, no matter where we are, whether it was in the patriarchal age, whether it was in the mosaic age or today in the Christian dispensation, God's Word is living.
God's Word is alive today just the same as it was then.
And so many have the idea that God is a God of love, that God may have changed from the time of the Old Testament but he's the same God as he was then.
Now I'm not saying these things to try to scare us.
What I'm trying to do is to get us to think, to exercise our minds a little bit because sometimes even as brothers and sisters in Christ we can fall into the idea that the world has.
The idea is, is that God is the same.
It doesn't make any difference what dispensation of time that we live in, where we live at in history, God's Word is living.
It is powerful and God's Word is final.
And there is nothing else for that.
Hebrews chapter 4 and verse 12, for the Word of God is living and powerful.
It is sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of the soul, of soul and spirit and joints and marrow and it is a discerner of the thoughts and the intents of the heart.
There is power in the Word of God.
There is power in the gospel.
Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God and so there is power in the Word of God.
God's Word has always been.
When God spoke to Samuel to reveal this to Saul, he's the same God as we read about today in the New Testament and his Word is living.
Samuel carries the authority of God and even though Saul is king, he is not the ultimate authority.
God is.
And so he needs to listen to Samuel and what Samuel is telling him.
In verse 2, God through Samuel reminds us what Amalek did to Israel when they were coming out of Egypt and we see that when the people of Israel were making their way to the promised land from Egypt, the Analekites attacked the vulnerable Israel and that's in Exodus chapter 17 verses 8 through 16 and Deuteronomy chapter 25 verses 17 through 18 and so Amalek is worthy of judgment.
They have it coming.
What God has told them to do, the command is given in verse 3 to devote to destruction.
All that they have, nothing and no one is to be spared.
This is not a random command but a deserved judgment for the wickedness of a nation.
It is essential to consider that hundreds of years have passed since this event and God gave time for the people to change but judgment must now come.
It is time for the total destruction of the Amalekites.
Now I want you to think about it when we tell this story and I call it a story but it's not really a story.
This is a real person who existed in history.
This is real people and real things that happened.
These are not fairy tales.
It is a real thing that happened and when we consider this we think about what has happened with Saul and what has happened with the Amalekites.
He is to obey it and so God always gives time for us to repent.
Now you think about it you say well God is destroying these people.
He's utterly destroying them, killing their cattle, killing women, children, destroying everything that's there and I know that's scary to think about and kind of gruesome if you think about it but look through the Minor Prophets for instance.
Many times there was many instances in which God told the people what he was going to do.
If you do not repent I'm going to destroy you and he would send one nation in and destroy those people and if they didn't repent, if they didn't do what God told them to do, then God would carry out judgment.
He always done exactly what he said he was going to do.
Now think about this, anybody ever heard the story of Jonah? What was Jonah doing? He was going to Nineveh to preach to Nineveh to tell them to repent.
God is long-suffering but the fact is God is a God of judgment and so we need to consider that.
The command is clear and the reason is clear.
God has told him to utterly destroy them.
Today we are given instruction by God and clear instruction by God by the authority of Jesus Christ and his revealed word to us and so as we consider this look at Hebrews chapter 1 verses 1 through 2.
God who at various times and various ways spoken in the in times past to the fathers by the prophets has in these last days he's spoken to us by his Son whom he has appointed heirs over all things through whom also he made the world.
Look at John chapter 12 verses 48 through 50.
He who rejects me and does not receive my words has that which judges him but the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last days.
Now brethren as we as we consider this that's what's going to judge you and I.
Alan Gent is going to stand before the judgment seat of Christ and I'm going to give account for the things that's done in my body whether they be good or whether they be bad and this is what I'm going to be judged by.
Now when we go back and we think about Saul should it have been a surprise to him that God was not pleased with what he did.
Saul knew exactly what he was supposed to do and so on the judgment day would it be a surprise to us when we stand before God on the day of judgment it shouldn't this is what will be with that will judge us and so in verse 49 it says for I have not spoken of spoken on my own authority but by the authority who sent by the father but the father who sent me gave me a command what I should say and what I should speak and I know that his command is everlasting therefore whatever I speak just as the father has told me so I speak.
Matthew chapter 28 verses 18 through 20 and Jesus came and he spoke to them saying all authority is given to me and heaven and on earth go therefore and make the disciples of all nations baptizing them in name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you and lo I am with you always even to the end of the age.
Today I have studies with people and I still find myself in disagreement with people that that we are told by the gospel of Christ that it's that it's not just through faith it's not just through repentance it's not just through belief but it's baptism also.
God's words is clear.
God's word is clear his authority has been established and so today we are given clear instruction by God by the authority of Jesus and revealed to us in his word in other words for us today God's words God's authority has been spoken has been given and it has been established just as Saul was expected to be obedient to God's authority so are we you and I and so let's consider this King Saul chose disobedience that was his decision just as when we choose disobedience it is our decision as well.
Saul gathers 210,000 soldiers—or about 200 thousand, somewhere in that neighborhood—for the battle.
He goes to the city of Amalek.
In verse 6 we see that Saul is careful to attack only the Amalekites and no one else; you may remember he stopped and warned others on the way.
In verse 8 we are told that Saul captures the king alive.
What was God’s command?
Destroy them all.
Yet Saul keeps the king alive.
Not only this: Saul and the people spare the best sheep, oxen, calves, and lambs.
They spare everything that was good, but the things that were despised and worthless they devote to destruction.
What does that sound like to us?
It sounds like greed, doesn’t it?
They are happy to destroy everything they do not find valuable to themselves, but they preserve and take everything they think is valuable.
It is not hard to see the human logic being applied: “Why destroy the valuable? We should keep those things and bring them back with us.”
Well, I won’t get too far ahead of myself—sometimes I leave my slides, so y’all be patient with me.
Though it may not have seemed like a big deal to Saul—and many times it doesn’t seem like a big deal to us—this was a direct command of God.
That was exactly what God instructed him to do.
The same applies to us today: even if it doesn’t seem like a big deal, God has given us specific instructions to follow, and we are expected to obey.
Yet we often find ourselves in the same situation as Saul, inserting our own logic and ignoring the logic of our Father in heaven.
Have you ever heard this before—or done it yourself?
We say, “Well, I think that’s what’s best,” or, “I don’t think God would punish me for this,” or, “I don’t think I’d be lost over that.”
As I’ve mentioned—and I’m not trying to beat a dead horse—baptism is a big issue and a big study back home.
“I don’t think God would send me to hell for rejecting baptism,” people say.
We look back at the pattern throughout the Bible, from the patriarchal age—look at Cain and Abel.
Did God reject Cain?
Absolutely He did.
He will reject us as well if we are not obedient to Him.
Second John 9–10 says, “Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God; he who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son.
If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house nor greet him.”
Here is our warning—our instruction: do not receive him, nor greet him, for he who greets him shares in his evil deeds.
Luke 6:46 records Jesus saying, “Why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not the things which I say?”
There are so many people today who say, “Yes, I believe in Jesus; He is my Savior, my Lord,” but they are not doing what Jesus commanded.
That is a problem.
We are to have scriptural authority for everything we do.
If we do not have a “Thus saith the Lord” for our actions, then—like Saul—we step outside God’s command.
Jesus said, “Why do you call Me ‘Lord’ and not do what I say?”
There is a way that seems right to a man.
It may feel okay to us, and sometimes that comes along with sin as we try to justify ourselves—just like Saul did.
Did you notice him trying to justify himself?
We justify what we feel or think, but if it contradicts the doctrine of Christ it will lead to death—perhaps not physical death, but separation from God.
“There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death and destruction.”
Look back at Adam and Eve: what led to their death, their destruction?
Disobedience to God.
God is love, and being part of Christ’s kingdom is wonderful.
It is beautiful to be here with you in fellowship.
But we can have fellowship only in truth—in God’s word.
There is a way that seems right to man, but in the end it leads to destruction.
Saul chose disobedience.
God’s authority is established, and choosing disobedience brings consequences we are not willing to face.
As a preacher, I think of what Paul told Timothy in 2 Timothy 4: “Preach the word; be instant in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering.”
Paul followed up: “The time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but will heap up teachers having itching ears.”
My friends, people in this world will tell you anything you want to hear and lead you straight to destruction.
If they do not have a “Thus saith the Lord” for what they teach, then it is sin and it will lead you astray.
Let us have fellowship and unity in truth, in God’s word, and be what God would have us be, because the consequences are far beyond what we are willing to face.
A heart of disobedience brought consequences for Saul, and it will bring consequences for us as well.
God says in verse 3, “I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following Me and has not performed My commandments.”
That is the complete message.
When God “repents” of something, it is always bad news—man has gone too far.
What happens to Saul now?
He will no longer be king.
We can read the text and know Saul is going to lose his throne.
Saul has turned away from following God; he has not done what God told him.
Samuel is angry and cries to the Lord all night, recognizing the seriousness of Saul’s disobedience.
Early in the morning Samuel goes to meet Saul.
In verse 12 we learn Saul went to Carmel to set up a monument for himself, then on to Gilgal.
Saul is concerned about his own honor and glory; nothing shows that like erecting a monument to yourself.
Samuel catches up and listens to Saul’s greeting: “The Lord bless you; I have carried out the Lord’s instructions!”
Saul thinks he has done what God said.
He is mistaken.
Samuel responds, “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears? Why do I hear cattle?”
Saul answers, “They have brought them from the Amalekites.
The people spared the best sheep and oxen to sacrifice to the Lord your God, and the rest we devoted to destruction.”
Notice the blame-shifting: it was “the people,” not Saul, even though he is the king.
From the beginning of humanity we have shifted blame—Adam blamed Eve (and God), Eve blamed the serpent.
So Saul takes no responsibility, shifting blame to the people.
He also cloaks the disobedience in religious reasoning: “We kept the best animals to sacrifice to your God.”
Samuel finally says, “Enough!” and reminds Saul that the Lord sent him on a mission with clear instructions (15:18).
“Why did you not obey? Why did you pounce on the spoil and do what was evil?” (15:19).
Saul still thinks he has obeyed.
Samuel tries once more: “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying His voice?
To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams.
Rebellion is as the sin of divination, and presumption is as idolatry.
Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He has rejected you from being king” (15:22-23).
Hearing that God rejected him, Saul appears to repent: “I have sinned, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice.
Please pardon my sin and return with me that I may bow before the Lord” (15:24-25).
Saul’s confession includes an excuse: fear of the people.
He was the king; the responsibility was his.
Social pressure is no excuse for disobedience.
Everyone else doing something does not make it acceptable.
We know what is right in God’s sight.
My dad used to say, “If everybody else walked off a cliff, would you do it too?”
Just because everyone does it doesn’t mean we should.
Joshua said, “Choose this day whom you will serve… but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
Samuel refuses Saul’s request to return with him, because God has rejected Saul as king.
As Samuel turns to leave, Saul grabs his robe and tears it.
Samuel uses the torn robe as a prophetic sign: “The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you and given it to someone better than you.”
The Lord will not change His mind; His judgment on Saul is final.
The same applies to us today: if we choose disobedience, the consequences will be dire.
Jesus warns in Matthew 7:21-23 that not everyone who says “Lord, Lord” will enter the kingdom, but only those who do the Father’s will.
Many will say, “Lord, we prophesied, cast out demons, and did many works,” but He will reply, “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.”
Disobedience brings those consequences.
The instructions were clear for Saul, and they are clear for us.
When disobedience is chosen, consequences follow.
A heart of disobedience—sin—will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay, and cost you more than you want to pay.
Let us never choose a heart of disobedience.
Resolve to serve the Lord in humble obedience, keeping His word and His commandments.
The lesson is yours—thank you for your time and attention.
