The Word of God - A Survey of the Bible - Part Seven - B May 13, 2018 by: John Herbert | Series: The Word of God - A Survey of the Bible Audio Study Notes PDF https://s3.amazonaws.com/cornerstonejax/sermonfiles/05-13-18_Part-7b.mp3 Refresh A Recap from the Sermon De 17:14 ¶ "When you come to the land which the LORD your God is giving you, and possess it and dwell in it, and say, 'I will set a king over me like all the nations that are around me,' We will begin today to look at Saul, the first king of Israel. The full text of this message can be found by clicking the PDF button Sunday May 6th 2018 The Word of God A Survey of the Bible – Part 7B ‘His Special People’ 1). De 4:30 "When you are in distress, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, when you turn to the LORD your God and obey His voice 31 '(for the LORD your God is a merciful God), He will not forsake you nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which He swore to them. We had seen last time that as Moses repeated the Law to the second generation of Israel to come out of Egypt prior to them entering the land, he began to speak of things concerning ‘the latter days’ – a phrase that takes us to Daniel’s 70th week, the time of Jacob’s trouble and the Millennial Kingdom that lies beyond it. a). And we had seen that the Lord moved Moses to do this because the second generation entering the land under Joshua formed a type of Israel yet future who will enter the land under Christ. b). But we had also noted that the second generation formed the type of that which is still to come, God’s purpose for rulership was not going to be fulfilled in them - Heb 4:6 Since therefore it remains that some must enter it, and those to whom it was first preached did not enter because of disobedience, 7 again He designates a certain day, saying in David, "Today," after such a long time, as it has been said: "Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts." 8 For if Joshua had given them rest, then He would not afterward have spoken of another day. 9 There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. And so, we will realize that the words which Moses spoke, recorded in Deuteronomy Chapter 4, although spoken to the second generation, were not actually for them, but for the generations of Jews who would come after them; even down to the present day. 2). And again, speaking prophetically about the nation’s future, Moses continued - De 17:14 ¶ "When you come to the land which the LORD your God is giving you, and possess it and dwell in it, and say, 'I will set a king over me like all the nations that are around me,' 15 "you shall surely set a king over you whom the LORD your God chooses; one from among your brethren you shall set as king over you; you may not set a foreigner over you, who is not your brother. 16 "But he shall not multiply horses for himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt to multiply horses, for the LORD has said to you, 'You shall not return that way again.' 17 "Neither shall he multiply wives for himself, lest his heart turn away; nor shall he greatly multiply silver and gold for himself. 18 "Also it shall be, when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write for himself a copy of this law in a book, from the one before the priests, the Levites. 19 "And it shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the LORD his God and be careful to observe all the words of this law and these statutes, 20 "that his heart may not be lifted above his brethren, that he may not turn aside from the commandment to the right hand or to the left, and that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his children in the midst of Israel. Power Point – Slides 1-2 The Lord had shown Moses that the day would come when the nation would say, ‘I will set a king over me like all the nations that are around me’. And we should note that in these words with respect to Israel’s near future, is a desire to be like the other nations; this desire is not driven by the Lord, but by that which seemed right in their own eyes – to be like everyone else. a). But when this time came, when they would ask for a king they were instructed to trust the Lord, ‘you shall surely set a king over you, whom the Lord your God chooses.’ b). Acknowledging the Lord’s authority in appointing their king is significant because of what had taken place at Sinai, after the Exodus from Egypt, at the completion of the Tabernacle - Ex 40:33 And he raised up the court all around the tabernacle and the altar, and hung up the screen of the court gate. So Moses finished the work. 34 ¶ Then the cloud covered the tabernacle of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. 35 And Moses was not able to enter the tabernacle of meeting, because the cloud rested above it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. 36 Whenever the cloud was taken up from above the tabernacle, the children of Israel would go onward in all their journeys. 37 But if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not journey till the day that it was taken up. 38 For the cloud of the LORD was above the tabernacle by day, and fire was over it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys. As the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle of meeting so the Theocracy began – God dwelling in the midst of His people, with Him ruling over them. They didn’t go anywhere except where the cloud directed them. God was their King, the King that He had given them. c). It was God, Israel’s King, who went before the second generation into the land; it was their King who raised up judges to deliver the people from their enemies who were sent to persecute them because of their disobedience following the death of Joshua - Jg 2:8 Now Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died when he was one hundred and ten years old. 9 And they buried him within the border of his inheritance at Timnath Heres, in the mountains of Ephraim, on the north side of Mount Gaash. 10 When all that generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation arose after them who did not know the LORD nor the work which He had done for Israel. 11 Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served the Baals; Jg 2:18 And when the LORD raised up judges for them, the LORD was with the judge and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge; for the LORD was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who oppressed them and harassed them. 19 And it came to pass, when the judge was dead, that they reverted and behaved more corruptly than their fathers, by following other gods, to serve them and bow down to them. They did not cease from their own doings nor from their stubborn way. And throughout the time of the judges there is one particular phrase which epitomizes Israel - Jg 17:6 In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes. Pr 12:15 ¶ The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, But he who heeds counsel is wise. Power Point – Slides 3-4 And it is particularly telling that we see at the beginning of Judges 17:6, ‘In those days there was no king in Israel’ – now it was true that there was no king in the way the other nations had kings, but the glory of God was still present, God was still in their midst and He remained their King. But, clearly the people did not accept Him as their King nor did they heed His commandments. d). So, this mindset along with continued disobedience worked together to bring Israel to the place prophesied by Moses in Deuteronomy Chapter 17, 'I will set a king over me like all the nations that are around me,' 1Sa 8:4 ¶ Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah, 5 and said to him, "Look, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations." 6 But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, "Give us a king to judge us." So Samuel prayed to the LORD. 7 And the LORD said to Samuel, "Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them. 8 "According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt, even to this day-with which they have forsaken Me and served other gods-so they are doing to you also. 9 "Now therefore, heed their voice. However, you shall solemnly forewarn them, and show them the behavior of the king who will reign over them." And here in v7, we come to the very crux of the matter, words that will fill you with sadness, ‘they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them.’ And the Lord continued in v8 by summarizing Israel’s disobedient and rebellious nature. e). Then just as happened with the first generation at Kadesh – Nu 14:28 "Say to them, 'As I live,' says the LORD, 'just as you have spoken in My hearing, so I will do to you: Those demanding a king, got exactly what they asked for - And the LORD said to Samuel, "Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you…….” Even though the people had rejected Him, the Lord in His mercy, forewarns them of the negative behavior of the king who would rule over them, but to no avail - 1Sa 8:17 "He will take a tenth of your sheep. And you will be his servants. 18 "And you will cry out in that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, and the LORD will not hear you in that day." 19 Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, "No, but we will have a king over us, 20 that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles." 21 And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he repeated them in the hearing of the LORD. 22 So the LORD said to Samuel, "Heed their voice, and make them a king." And Samuel said to the men of Israel, "Every man go to his city." f). So, Israel would get their king, but not the king chosen by the Lord, but a king given to them in response to the evil desires of their hearts – that which seemed right in their own eyes. 3). 1Sa 9:1 ¶ There was a man of Benjamin whose name was Kish the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Bechorath, the son of Aphiah, a Benjamite, a mighty man of power. 2 And he had a choice and handsome son whose name was Saul. There was not a more handsome person than he among the children of Israel. From his shoulders upward he was taller than any of the people…….. 17 And when Samuel saw Saul, the LORD said to him, "There he is, the man of whom I spoke to you. This one shall reign over My people." Saul then, became Israel’s first king. And despite the circumstances of Saul’s appointment, the opportunity for blessing from faithful obedience remained – 1Sa 12:12 "And when you saw that Nahash king of the Ammonites came against you, you said to me, 'No, but a king shall reign over us,' when the LORD your God was your king. 13 "Now therefore, here is the king whom you have chosen and whom you have desired. And take note, the LORD has set a king over you. 14 "If you fear the LORD and serve Him and obey His voice, and do not rebel against the commandment of the LORD, then both you and the king who reigns over you will continue following the LORD your God. 15 "However, if you do not obey the voice of the LORD, but rebel against the commandment of the LORD, then the hand of the LORD will be against you, as it was against your fathers…………….24 "Only fear the LORD, and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for consider what great things He has done for you. 25 "But if you still do wickedly, you shall be swept away, both you and your king." a). It sounds very simple doesn’t it, ‘do not rebel against the commandment of the Lord’ – just do what the Lord says, and He would keep them, protect them and prosper them, both the people and their king. And as Samuel laid this call to faithful obedience before the people he reminded them in the second half of v24 to, ‘consider what great things He has done for you.’ b). God’s faithfulness had been proven time and again. His great power through His mighty hand and outstretched arm had been there to destroy their enemies time and again. c). And if faithful obedience was forthcoming on Israel’s part then God would raise up this people and their king to be the kingdom of priests and the holy nation He had called them into existence to be. d). But as we see from v25 - "But if you still do wickedly, you shall be swept away, both you and your king." There is a choice to be made. And for a choice to be made there had to be a test - 1Sa 13:1 ¶ Saul reigned one year; and when he had reigned two years over Israel……….5 Then the Philistines gathered together to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots and six thousand horsemen, and people as the sand which is on the seashore in multitude. And they came up and encamped in Michmash, to the east of Beth Aven. 6 When the men of Israel saw that they were in danger (for the people were distressed), then the people hid in caves, in thickets, in rocks, in holes, and in pits. 7 And some of the Hebrews crossed over the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. As for Saul, he was still in Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling. 8 ¶ Then he waited seven days, according to the time set by Samuel. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal; and the people were scattered from him. 9 So Saul said, "Bring a burnt offering and peace offerings here to me." And he offered the burnt offering. Here in these verses we find a situation to parallel that which we saw at Kadesh Barnea where 10 of the 12 leaders of Israel looked with their natural eye rather than the eyes of faith at the situation that confronted them. And Saul did exactly the same. e). The Philistine army was overwhelming in their number, all the people had gone from Saul and Samuel hadn’t shown up to offer the burnt offering in the time he had said. f). What was Saul to do? – here was the test - Simple answer - trust the Lord. The numbers of the Philistines’ army were a distraction – Saul didn’t need the people, he only needed God on his side and for God to be on his side he needed to wait for Samuel as the Lord had commanded – be faithfully obedient. g). But instead, as we see in v9, Saul offered the burnt offering himself – he became wise in his own eyes. And there were consequences for his actions- 1Sa 13:10 Now it happened, as soon as he had finished presenting the burnt offering, that Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him, that he might greet him. 11 And Samuel said, "What have you done?" And Saul said, "When I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines gathered together at Michmash, 12 "then I said, 'The Philistines will now come down on me at Gilgal, and I have not made supplication to the LORD.' Therefore I felt compelled, and offered a burnt offering." 13 And Samuel said to Saul, "You have done foolishly. You have not kept the commandment of the LORD your God, which He commanded you. For now the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. 14 "But now your kingdom shall not continue. The LORD has sought for Himself a man after His own heart, and the LORD has commanded him to be commander over His people, because you have not kept what the LORD commanded you." There was then to be a terminal point for Saul as king. The man after the Lord’s ‘own heart’ is of course David and it is interesting to compare David’s response to Goliath, the Philistine champion and Saul’s response to the Philistines in the example we have just seen - 1Sa 17:45 Then David said to the Philistine, "You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 "This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you. And this day I will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. 47 "Then all this assembly shall know that the LORD does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the LORD'S, and He will give you into our hands." And it is David’s absolute trust in the Lord that makes him a man after the Lord’s own heart. h). And it is of course in Saul’s choice not to trust the Lord that his downfall is found - 1Sa 15:1 ¶ 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. 2 "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 from Egypt. 3 'Now go and attack Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them. But kill both man and woman, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.'" A simple command again to demonstrate faithful obedience, but we have already seen that Saul had a predisposition to look at the circumstances rather than listen to the Lord - 1Sa 15:7 And Saul attacked the Amalekites, from Havilah all the way to Shur, which is east of Egypt. 8 He also took Agag king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. 9 But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were unwilling to utterly destroy them. But everything despised and worthless, that they utterly destroyed. Again, looking with the eyes of flesh – they spared Agag, all that was best and all that was good, because they were unwilling to destroy them - Pr 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; But, leaning on their own understanding is exactly what they did do – and doing this is eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil isn’t it? Deciding in their own minds what is the right thing to do, rather than following what the Lord said was the only thing to do. 1Sa 15:12 So when Samuel rose early in the morning to meet Saul, it was told Samuel, saying, "Saul went to Carmel, and indeed, he set up a monument for himself; and he has gone on around, passed by, and gone down to Gilgal." 13 Then Samuel went to Saul, and Saul said to him, "Blessed are you of the LORD! I have performed the commandment of the LORD." 14 But Samuel said, "What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?" 15 And Saul said, "They have brought them from the Amalekites; for the people spared the best of the sheep and the oxen, to sacrifice to the LORD your God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed." 16 Then Samuel said to Saul, "Be quiet! And I will tell you what the LORD said to me last night." And he said to him, "Speak on." 17 So Samuel said, "When you were little in your own eyes, were you not head of the tribes of Israel? And did not the LORD anoint you king over Israel? 18 "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.' 19 "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?" 20 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. 21 "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." 22 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. 23 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." 24 ¶ Then Saul said to Samuel, "I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice. 25 "Now therefore, please pardon my sin, and return with me, that I may worship the LORD." 26 But Samuel said to Saul, "I will not return with you, for you have rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD has rejected you from being king over Israel." 27 And as Samuel turned around to go away, Saul seized the edge of his robe, and it tore. 28 So Samuel said to him, "The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today, and has given it to a neighbor of yours, who is better than you. 29 "And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor relent. For He is not a man, that He should relent." 30 Then he said, "I have sinned; yet honor me now, please, before the elders of my people and before Israel, and return with me, that I may worship the LORD your God." 31 So Samuel turned back after Saul, and Saul worshiped the LORD. 32 ¶ Then Samuel said, "Bring Agag king of the Amalekites here to me." So Agag came to him cautiously. And Agag said, "Surely the bitterness of death is past." 33 But Samuel said, "As your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women." And Samuel hacked Agag in pieces before the LORD in Gilgal. 34 Then Samuel went to Ramah, and Saul went up to his house at Gibeah of Saul. 35 And Samuel went no more to see Saul until the day of his death. Nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul, and the LORD regretted that He had made Saul king over Israel. Saul may have been honored before the elders of his people and before Israel, but this honor was not from God, it was honor only from men – This was his reward and there will be no other when it comes to the Millennial Kingdom. i). And in Saul we might find an example to learn from - Col 2:18 Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, 19 and not holding fast to the Head, from whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the increase that is from God. Php 2:3 Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. 4 Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. We will have to continue next time though – if the Lord is willing. The Word of God - A Survey of the Bible - Part Seven - B May 13, 2018 Speaker: John Herbert Series: The Word of God - A Survey of the Bible Category: Sunday Morning https://s3.amazonaws.com/cornerstonejax/sermonfiles/05-13-18_Part-7b.mp3 Download Audio x
Refresh A Recap from the Sermon De 17:14 ¶ "When you come to the land which the LORD your God is giving you, and possess it and dwell in it, and say, 'I will set a king over me like all the nations that are around me,' We will begin today to look at Saul, the first king of Israel. The full text of this message can be found by clicking the PDF button Sunday May 6th 2018 The Word of God A Survey of the Bible – Part 7B ‘His Special People’ 1). De 4:30 "When you are in distress, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, when you turn to the LORD your God and obey His voice 31 '(for the LORD your God is a merciful God), He will not forsake you nor destroy you, nor forget the covenant of your fathers which He swore to them. We had seen last time that as Moses repeated the Law to the second generation of Israel to come out of Egypt prior to them entering the land, he began to speak of things concerning ‘the latter days’ – a phrase that takes us to Daniel’s 70th week, the time of Jacob’s trouble and the Millennial Kingdom that lies beyond it. a). And we had seen that the Lord moved Moses to do this because the second generation entering the land under Joshua formed a type of Israel yet future who will enter the land under Christ. b). But we had also noted that the second generation formed the type of that which is still to come, God’s purpose for rulership was not going to be fulfilled in them - Heb 4:6 Since therefore it remains that some must enter it, and those to whom it was first preached did not enter because of disobedience, 7 again He designates a certain day, saying in David, "Today," after such a long time, as it has been said: "Today, if you will hear His voice, Do not harden your hearts." 8 For if Joshua had given them rest, then He would not afterward have spoken of another day. 9 There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. And so, we will realize that the words which Moses spoke, recorded in Deuteronomy Chapter 4, although spoken to the second generation, were not actually for them, but for the generations of Jews who would come after them; even down to the present day. 2). And again, speaking prophetically about the nation’s future, Moses continued - De 17:14 ¶ "When you come to the land which the LORD your God is giving you, and possess it and dwell in it, and say, 'I will set a king over me like all the nations that are around me,' 15 "you shall surely set a king over you whom the LORD your God chooses; one from among your brethren you shall set as king over you; you may not set a foreigner over you, who is not your brother. 16 "But he shall not multiply horses for himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt to multiply horses, for the LORD has said to you, 'You shall not return that way again.' 17 "Neither shall he multiply wives for himself, lest his heart turn away; nor shall he greatly multiply silver and gold for himself. 18 "Also it shall be, when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write for himself a copy of this law in a book, from the one before the priests, the Levites. 19 "And it shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the LORD his God and be careful to observe all the words of this law and these statutes, 20 "that his heart may not be lifted above his brethren, that he may not turn aside from the commandment to the right hand or to the left, and that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his children in the midst of Israel. Power Point – Slides 1-2 The Lord had shown Moses that the day would come when the nation would say, ‘I will set a king over me like all the nations that are around me’. And we should note that in these words with respect to Israel’s near future, is a desire to be like the other nations; this desire is not driven by the Lord, but by that which seemed right in their own eyes – to be like everyone else. a). But when this time came, when they would ask for a king they were instructed to trust the Lord, ‘you shall surely set a king over you, whom the Lord your God chooses.’ b). Acknowledging the Lord’s authority in appointing their king is significant because of what had taken place at Sinai, after the Exodus from Egypt, at the completion of the Tabernacle - Ex 40:33 And he raised up the court all around the tabernacle and the altar, and hung up the screen of the court gate. So Moses finished the work. 34 ¶ Then the cloud covered the tabernacle of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. 35 And Moses was not able to enter the tabernacle of meeting, because the cloud rested above it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. 36 Whenever the cloud was taken up from above the tabernacle, the children of Israel would go onward in all their journeys. 37 But if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not journey till the day that it was taken up. 38 For the cloud of the LORD was above the tabernacle by day, and fire was over it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys. As the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle of meeting so the Theocracy began – God dwelling in the midst of His people, with Him ruling over them. They didn’t go anywhere except where the cloud directed them. God was their King, the King that He had given them. c). It was God, Israel’s King, who went before the second generation into the land; it was their King who raised up judges to deliver the people from their enemies who were sent to persecute them because of their disobedience following the death of Joshua - Jg 2:8 Now Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died when he was one hundred and ten years old. 9 And they buried him within the border of his inheritance at Timnath Heres, in the mountains of Ephraim, on the north side of Mount Gaash. 10 When all that generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation arose after them who did not know the LORD nor the work which He had done for Israel. 11 Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served the Baals; Jg 2:18 And when the LORD raised up judges for them, the LORD was with the judge and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge; for the LORD was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who oppressed them and harassed them. 19 And it came to pass, when the judge was dead, that they reverted and behaved more corruptly than their fathers, by following other gods, to serve them and bow down to them. They did not cease from their own doings nor from their stubborn way. And throughout the time of the judges there is one particular phrase which epitomizes Israel - Jg 17:6 In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes. Pr 12:15 ¶ The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, But he who heeds counsel is wise. Power Point – Slides 3-4 And it is particularly telling that we see at the beginning of Judges 17:6, ‘In those days there was no king in Israel’ – now it was true that there was no king in the way the other nations had kings, but the glory of God was still present, God was still in their midst and He remained their King. But, clearly the people did not accept Him as their King nor did they heed His commandments. d). So, this mindset along with continued disobedience worked together to bring Israel to the place prophesied by Moses in Deuteronomy Chapter 17, 'I will set a king over me like all the nations that are around me,' 1Sa 8:4 ¶ Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah, 5 and said to him, "Look, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations." 6 But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, "Give us a king to judge us." So Samuel prayed to the LORD. 7 And the LORD said to Samuel, "Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them. 8 "According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt, even to this day-with which they have forsaken Me and served other gods-so they are doing to you also. 9 "Now therefore, heed their voice. However, you shall solemnly forewarn them, and show them the behavior of the king who will reign over them." And here in v7, we come to the very crux of the matter, words that will fill you with sadness, ‘they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them.’ And the Lord continued in v8 by summarizing Israel’s disobedient and rebellious nature. e). Then just as happened with the first generation at Kadesh – Nu 14:28 "Say to them, 'As I live,' says the LORD, 'just as you have spoken in My hearing, so I will do to you: Those demanding a king, got exactly what they asked for - And the LORD said to Samuel, "Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you…….” Even though the people had rejected Him, the Lord in His mercy, forewarns them of the negative behavior of the king who would rule over them, but to no avail - 1Sa 8:17 "He will take a tenth of your sheep. And you will be his servants. 18 "And you will cry out in that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, and the LORD will not hear you in that day." 19 Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, "No, but we will have a king over us, 20 that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles." 21 And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he repeated them in the hearing of the LORD. 22 So the LORD said to Samuel, "Heed their voice, and make them a king." And Samuel said to the men of Israel, "Every man go to his city." f). So, Israel would get their king, but not the king chosen by the Lord, but a king given to them in response to the evil desires of their hearts – that which seemed right in their own eyes. 3). 1Sa 9:1 ¶ There was a man of Benjamin whose name was Kish the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Bechorath, the son of Aphiah, a Benjamite, a mighty man of power. 2 And he had a choice and handsome son whose name was Saul. There was not a more handsome person than he among the children of Israel. From his shoulders upward he was taller than any of the people…….. 17 And when Samuel saw Saul, the LORD said to him, "There he is, the man of whom I spoke to you. This one shall reign over My people." Saul then, became Israel’s first king. And despite the circumstances of Saul’s appointment, the opportunity for blessing from faithful obedience remained – 1Sa 12:12 "And when you saw that Nahash king of the Ammonites came against you, you said to me, 'No, but a king shall reign over us,' when the LORD your God was your king. 13 "Now therefore, here is the king whom you have chosen and whom you have desired. And take note, the LORD has set a king over you. 14 "If you fear the LORD and serve Him and obey His voice, and do not rebel against the commandment of the LORD, then both you and the king who reigns over you will continue following the LORD your God. 15 "However, if you do not obey the voice of the LORD, but rebel against the commandment of the LORD, then the hand of the LORD will be against you, as it was against your fathers…………….24 "Only fear the LORD, and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for consider what great things He has done for you. 25 "But if you still do wickedly, you shall be swept away, both you and your king." a). It sounds very simple doesn’t it, ‘do not rebel against the commandment of the Lord’ – just do what the Lord says, and He would keep them, protect them and prosper them, both the people and their king. And as Samuel laid this call to faithful obedience before the people he reminded them in the second half of v24 to, ‘consider what great things He has done for you.’ b). God’s faithfulness had been proven time and again. His great power through His mighty hand and outstretched arm had been there to destroy their enemies time and again. c). And if faithful obedience was forthcoming on Israel’s part then God would raise up this people and their king to be the kingdom of priests and the holy nation He had called them into existence to be. d). But as we see from v25 - "But if you still do wickedly, you shall be swept away, both you and your king." There is a choice to be made. And for a choice to be made there had to be a test - 1Sa 13:1 ¶ Saul reigned one year; and when he had reigned two years over Israel……….5 Then the Philistines gathered together to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots and six thousand horsemen, and people as the sand which is on the seashore in multitude. And they came up and encamped in Michmash, to the east of Beth Aven. 6 When the men of Israel saw that they were in danger (for the people were distressed), then the people hid in caves, in thickets, in rocks, in holes, and in pits. 7 And some of the Hebrews crossed over the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. As for Saul, he was still in Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling. 8 ¶ Then he waited seven days, according to the time set by Samuel. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal; and the people were scattered from him. 9 So Saul said, "Bring a burnt offering and peace offerings here to me." And he offered the burnt offering. Here in these verses we find a situation to parallel that which we saw at Kadesh Barnea where 10 of the 12 leaders of Israel looked with their natural eye rather than the eyes of faith at the situation that confronted them. And Saul did exactly the same. e). The Philistine army was overwhelming in their number, all the people had gone from Saul and Samuel hadn’t shown up to offer the burnt offering in the time he had said. f). What was Saul to do? – here was the test - Simple answer - trust the Lord. The numbers of the Philistines’ army were a distraction – Saul didn’t need the people, he only needed God on his side and for God to be on his side he needed to wait for Samuel as the Lord had commanded – be faithfully obedient. g). But instead, as we see in v9, Saul offered the burnt offering himself – he became wise in his own eyes. And there were consequences for his actions- 1Sa 13:10 Now it happened, as soon as he had finished presenting the burnt offering, that Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him, that he might greet him. 11 And Samuel said, "What have you done?" And Saul said, "When I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines gathered together at Michmash, 12 "then I said, 'The Philistines will now come down on me at Gilgal, and I have not made supplication to the LORD.' Therefore I felt compelled, and offered a burnt offering." 13 And Samuel said to Saul, "You have done foolishly. You have not kept the commandment of the LORD your God, which He commanded you. For now the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. 14 "But now your kingdom shall not continue. The LORD has sought for Himself a man after His own heart, and the LORD has commanded him to be commander over His people, because you have not kept what the LORD commanded you." There was then to be a terminal point for Saul as king. The man after the Lord’s ‘own heart’ is of course David and it is interesting to compare David’s response to Goliath, the Philistine champion and Saul’s response to the Philistines in the example we have just seen - 1Sa 17:45 Then David said to the Philistine, "You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 "This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you. And this day I will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. 47 "Then all this assembly shall know that the LORD does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the LORD'S, and He will give you into our hands." And it is David’s absolute trust in the Lord that makes him a man after the Lord’s own heart. h). And it is of course in Saul’s choice not to trust the Lord that his downfall is found - 1Sa 15:1 ¶ 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. 2 "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 from Egypt. 3 'Now go and attack Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them. But kill both man and woman, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.'" A simple command again to demonstrate faithful obedience, but we have already seen that Saul had a predisposition to look at the circumstances rather than listen to the Lord - 1Sa 15:7 And Saul attacked the Amalekites, from Havilah all the way to Shur, which is east of Egypt. 8 He also took Agag king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. 9 But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were unwilling to utterly destroy them. But everything despised and worthless, that they utterly destroyed. Again, looking with the eyes of flesh – they spared Agag, all that was best and all that was good, because they were unwilling to destroy them - Pr 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; But, leaning on their own understanding is exactly what they did do – and doing this is eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil isn’t it? Deciding in their own minds what is the right thing to do, rather than following what the Lord said was the only thing to do. 1Sa 15:12 So when Samuel rose early in the morning to meet Saul, it was told Samuel, saying, "Saul went to Carmel, and indeed, he set up a monument for himself; and he has gone on around, passed by, and gone down to Gilgal." 13 Then Samuel went to Saul, and Saul said to him, "Blessed are you of the LORD! I have performed the commandment of the LORD." 14 But Samuel said, "What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?" 15 And Saul said, "They have brought them from the Amalekites; for the people spared the best of the sheep and the oxen, to sacrifice to the LORD your God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed." 16 Then Samuel said to Saul, "Be quiet! And I will tell you what the LORD said to me last night." And he said to him, "Speak on." 17 So Samuel said, "When you were little in your own eyes, were you not head of the tribes of Israel? And did not the LORD anoint you king over Israel? 18 "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.' 19 "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?" 20 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. 21 "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." 22 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. 23 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." 24 ¶ Then Saul said to Samuel, "I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice. 25 "Now therefore, please pardon my sin, and return with me, that I may worship the LORD." 26 But Samuel said to Saul, "I will not return with you, for you have rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD has rejected you from being king over Israel." 27 And as Samuel turned around to go away, Saul seized the edge of his robe, and it tore. 28 So Samuel said to him, "The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today, and has given it to a neighbor of yours, who is better than you. 29 "And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor relent. For He is not a man, that He should relent." 30 Then he said, "I have sinned; yet honor me now, please, before the elders of my people and before Israel, and return with me, that I may worship the LORD your God." 31 So Samuel turned back after Saul, and Saul worshiped the LORD. 32 ¶ Then Samuel said, "Bring Agag king of the Amalekites here to me." So Agag came to him cautiously. And Agag said, "Surely the bitterness of death is past." 33 But Samuel said, "As your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women." And Samuel hacked Agag in pieces before the LORD in Gilgal. 34 Then Samuel went to Ramah, and Saul went up to his house at Gibeah of Saul. 35 And Samuel went no more to see Saul until the day of his death. Nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul, and the LORD regretted that He had made Saul king over Israel. Saul may have been honored before the elders of his people and before Israel, but this honor was not from God, it was honor only from men – This was his reward and there will be no other when it comes to the Millennial Kingdom. i). And in Saul we might find an example to learn from - Col 2:18 Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, 19 and not holding fast to the Head, from whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the increase that is from God. Php 2:3 Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. 4 Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. We will have to continue next time though – if the Lord is willing.