1 Samuel 15: King Saul’s Disobedience

Israel’s first king, Saul, directly disobeys what God asks him to do in 1 Samuel 15. See how King Saul’s disobedience is not really all that different than our own.

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1. Introduction to 1 Samuel 15

Illustration: Obeying in Name Only

When I was growing up, my sister and I stayed at my aunt’s house a lot and would play with our cousins.  We loved going there because they had a huge playroom with two huge closets full of toys and games.  There were transformers, Lego’s, board games, red paper bricks, and every other fun toy.  We were always in that room, playing, creating, building, having fun, and usually making quite a mess while doing it… But, we always dreaded it when my aunt or my mom would come and tell us we had to clean up the room by a certain deadline.  We knew we were just going to get the toys back out again anyway. So we didn’t really see the point in cleaning the room, but we knew we had to do it because they said so… 

One time, one of us decided the fastest way to clean the room would be to cram everything as fast as possible into these closets.  We would: pick up a toy, run to the closet, throw it in the closet, and repeat.  The playroom soon began to look clean, although the closets were now a disaster.  But, it was clean though, just how our mom wanted it to look…  Finally, the deadline would come, and our inspectors would inspect.  We would all hold our breath, anxiously hoping that they wouldn’t look in the closets… If only they wouldn’t look in the closets and see the mess we had really made… to the visible eye, we had done what was asked of us…

The Point about not truly obeying

We had obeyed our parents, because we had cleaned the playroom, and we had done it on time.  Our cleaning had the appearance of truly obeying because the result was a clean room.  But as kids, we hadn’t learned how to get the job done in a way that would be pleasing to our parents.

Purpose of this study on 1 Samuel 15 and Christian obedience

We’re going to look at our need to learn what true Christian obedience looks like.  We’ll see our need to have a heart after God’s own heart.  We’ll see how hiding things in the closets of our lives may appear to be obeying God, but if our hearts and minds are elsewhere, God doesn’t want it.  He doesn’t want partial obedience.

We need to learn true obedience by looking to the one who was able to perfectly obey God.  Only Jesus is able to walk perfectly in obedience to God. We need to understand the heart of our God, so that we can learn to follow him and obey him as he desires.

The main idea we’ll learn is:  The Christian is able, with a heart after God’s own, to learn to walk in the path of obedience.

Let’s turn to 1 Samuel 15:1-23, to look first at what the path of obedience does not look like.  Then we’ll look at what Christian obedience really is, and finally how we can learn to walk in it.

READ 1 Samuel 15:1-23.

We’re looking in this King Saul Bible study at what true Christian obedience is.  We’ll look first at what it is not, then what it is, finally how we too can learn true Christian obedience.

2.  Disobedience in the Bible

Let’s start with remembering what the book of 1 Samuel is about.  The author of this book is concerned to tell us how Israel came to get her king.  In 1 Samuel 8, the people of Israel come to Samuel, Israel’s last judge, demanding a king.  They wanted to be like the other nations with someone, a figurehead, to lead them out into battle.  Their desire for a king, however, was a rejection of Yahweh as their king. But Yahweh allowed them to have a king anyway. This is where Saul comes onto the scene.

2.1 Who Is Saul in the Bible?

Who is Saul in the Bible? Who was King Saul?

King Saul’s Physical Characteristics

God led Samuel to find Saul and to anoint him as Israel’s first king.  Although Saul was from the least family, Kish, of the smallest tribe of Israel, Benjamin, he was still chosen to lead Israel. 

How tall was Saul in the Bible (because height mattered and was a desireable characteristic)? We learn that he was “an impressive young man without equal among the Israelites—[he was] a head taller than any of the others” (1 Samuel 9:2).  Saul was chosen as king for his height and his military prowess.

King Saul’s Brashness

But King Saul in the Bible was not without his major faults.  Prior to this story, in 1 Samuel 13, Saul committed a great sin against the Lord and Samuel by offering a sacrifice before a battle (1 Samuel 13:12).  Only a priest was able to offer a sacrifice.  When Samuel finally arrived on the scene, he pronounced the Lord’s judgment on Saul, saying in 1 Samuel 13:13-14,

“You acted foolishly…You have not kept the command the LORD your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time.  But now your kingdom will not endure; the LORD has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him leader of his people, because you have not kept the LORD’s command.” 

Saul’s disobedience in the Bible led to his line being cut off, just like, in the last lesson we saw, that Eli the priest’s line was cut off for his sons’ disobedience and wickedness.  Saul did not keep the Lord’s command, and he did not have a heart after God’s own.

King Saul Turns Away from the Lord in 1 Samuel 15

Now, we come to 1 Samuel 15. 

1 Samuel 15:11 commentary: We learn of the problem of this passage in 1 Samuel 15:11, that God was grieved that he made Saul king, because he turned away from the Lord and did not carry out his instructions. (Using the word “grief” when speaking about God, means that he was sad, just like he is over our sin, not that he made a mistake.  Biblical writers will often use human words that we understand to describe God. While at the same time, they affirm that he does not change—see 1 Samuel 15:29 here).

2.2 God’s Instructions to Saul in 1 Samuel 15

What was it that God had asked Saul to do?  What were God’s instructions?  

Punishment for the Amalekites in 1 Samuel 15

In 1 Samuel 15:2-3, we find God’s command.  He wanted to punish the Amalekites (1 Samuel 15:2) for not allowing the wandering Israelites to pass through their land on Israel’s way out of Egypt, recorded in Exodus 17:8-16.  For their defiance, God told Moses that one day he would “utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven” (Exodus 17:14). 

In the books of Numbers (14:20) and Deuteronomy, God reiterates his promise to totally destroy Amalek for attacking Israel from behind when they were faint and weary, and for not fearing the Lord (Deuteronomy 25:17-19).  God promised that once Israel was settled in their land (like they now are in the book of 1 Samuel), he would remember this promise and carry it out.  And this is exactly what the Lord has just asked Saul to carry out.  Saul was to be an instrument of God’s delayed and final judgment on the Amalekites.

Totally Destroying: Harem Warfare

I want to look a little more closely at God’s command in 1 Samuel 3. God says to “totally destroy everything,” or some translations say “utterly destroy,” “totally destroy,” or “devote to destruction” all the things listed. The Hebrew word which means “totally destroy everything” is harem.  This word and command meant something very specific. 

Deuteronomy 7:25-26 says that the things of conquered people, including the women and children, were detestable to the Lord and should be set apart for destruction. And Deuteronomy 20 (laying out the rules for this harem warfare) says that God didn’t want Israel to learn the ways of these conquered people, or to worship their gods [Deuteronomy 20:16-18], so they were offered up as a sacrifice to the Lord.  We can see how women and children even could perpetuate and teach the worship of other gods.  The word harem is always used in conjunction with holy warfare and sacrifice.  The Amalekites are to be sacrificed through harem warfare for turning their back on YHWH and on the people of Israel.

2.3 A Word about Holy War in the Bible

Let me interject here and say that Holy war in the Bible can be a hard subject for us as modern readers, especially women, to understand.  There has been more confusion since 9/11 and extremist Muslim jihad, which is also seen as a holy war.  The Old Testament concept of holy war was similar to this, so we have to understand what it meant at that time, but also understand it in light of Christ’s coming.  In holy war in the Old Testament, God initiated wars against flesh and blood enemies.  These wars were a form of worship and had appropriate sacrifices and rituals to go along with them.

Holy War Against Spiritual Powers

(I know I’ve only scratched the surface of this topic.  I highly recommend the book: Show them No Mercy: 4 views of God and Canaanite Genocide. This book discusses 4 different Christian views of what God meant by this holy war language.  The holy war definition I follow is Tremper Longman’s view that shows that in the New Testament, there is spiritual continuity from the Old Testament concept holy warfare (of literally sacrificing people). This means that now that Christ has come, this harem warfare is carried out (in the New Testament and beyond) against the spirits, powers and principalities, against Satan and his demonic forces [Ephesians 6:12, Revelation 12:7-9].  It is no longer a flesh and blood battle that the Lord calls Christians to engage in, but a spiritual one.)

Saul Does What He Thinks is Best in 1 Samuel 15

The next question to consider is: How did Saul respond to the Lord’s command?  What did he do?  1 Samuel 15:9 tells us that he spared Agag, the Amalekite king, and the best of the animals.  So Saul, decided that instead of fully carrying out the Lord’s command, he would save what he thought was best and then bring it to God as a pleasing sacrifice.  But, we’ve already seen that nothing from the Amalekites could at all ever be considered good enough to be a separate sacrifice to the Lord.  So, Saul was selectively obedient.  He did what he thought was best.  He did what he thought would be pleasing.  His act was like me and my cousins giving the appearance of following our parent’s command to clean the playroom, meanwhile the closets (also part of the room) were not at all clean.

2.4 Saul’s Response to Samuel’s Accusation in 1 Samuel 15

How does King Saul in the Bible respond when Samuel meets him and confronts him, starting in 1 Samuel 15:13?

Here we really see what disobedience in the Bible looks like from 1 Samuel 15:

1. First, Saul doesn’t even see what he did as wrong.  In 1 Samuel 15:13, he says “I have carried out the Lord’s instructions…”   He has?
2. Second, in 1 Samuel 15:14, he blame-shifts and denies disobeying.  Samuel confronts him with the sounds of bleeting sheep and the lowing of cattle.  Samuel can hear the animals.  He knows they have survived.  If Saul had carried out the Lord’s command, there would be no animals left and certainly not Agag, their king.  In 1 Samuel 15:15, he shifts the blame onto the soldiers.  Then he reaffirms that he totally destroyed the rest.  How could he have “totally destroyed” some, but not all?  He’s admitting that he didn’t completely carry out the task, while at the same time saying he did carry it out.
3. Third, Saul again says he obeyed and refuses to repent.  After Samuel calls him out in 1 Samuel 15:17-19, in 1 Samuel 15:20, he says, “But I did obey the Lord.”  He still won’t admit that he’s done anything wrong.

Denying, Blaming, and Refusing to Repent

He says he completely destroyed them and brought back their king.  But, if one remains, how could he have been completely obedient?  And again, he blames the soldiers.  Saul is only selectively obedient as fits his needs and desires.  He is the king, the head of the tribes of Israel, God’s anointed, and the one chosen to carry out God’s judgment on a people who had long-ago wronged Israel and Yahweh. And here he is looking like me as a defiant child saying, “But I did clean the playroom, you didn’t say I had to clean the closets too.  I did what you asked me to do.” 

This is the picture of what disobedience to the Lord looks like: not seeing our wrongdoing, denying, blaming, and refusing to repent. Saul is a great example of disobedience in the Bible.

What God wanted from Saul in 1 Samuel 15

So what was it that God wanted from Saul?  He wanted Saul to fully obey him and to have the right heart for doing it.

1 Samuel 15:22 commentary: 1 Samuel 15:22 sums it up.  It says, “Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD? [The answer is an implied no.] To obey is better than sacrifice.”  God wanted pure motives in what Saul was doing.  He wanted to Saul to obey him, because he recognized that the Lord knew what was in his and Israel’s best interests.

Desiring God and a Pure Heart

The idea of God desiring obedience and a pure heart over sacrifices is a theme that runs throughout the Bible.  In Psalm 51, we learn that the sacrifices God truly desires are a “broken spirit and a contrite [meaning: repentant] heart” (vv. 16-17).  In the minor prophet, Micah 6:8, we learn that it’s justice and mercy and walking humbly with the Lord that God desires over sacrifice.  Even in the NT, Jesus says that more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices is to “love God and your neighbor” (Mark 12:33).  God’s saying that the sacrifices must be made with the proper heart and frame of mind truly seeking the things that God is interested in, like: justice, mercy, and love, offered in obedience.

Saul Rejected as King in 1 Samuel 15

1 Samuel 15:23 commentary: What happened when Saul disobeyed God? What were the consequences disobedience in the Bible for Saul? 1 Samuel 15:23, then, lays out the consequence for Saul’s disobedience.  “Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has rejected you as king.”  The Lord was looking for a man who was after God’s own heart, who would follow God truly and consistently.  Nothing Saul would do after this point would matter to God.  He already forfeited his kingship by his disobedience and unwillingness to repent when confronted.  The chapter ends with the Lord grieving that he had made Saul king.

As you read through the rest of the book of 1 Samuel, you’ll see that this book’s answer to what is true obedience is found in the person of David.  David will be chosen, not for his height, but for his heart (1 Samuel 16:7).  David will be obedient to the Lord.  When David fails and Samuel confronts him, he doesn’t deny, but he repents and changes his ways.  David is the obedient one in the immediate context, unlike Saul.  Nevertheless, David is still human, he still errs.  His obedience and his sacrifices can’t work for all of us, just for him.

3.  What is Christian Obedience in the Bible?

Let’s move now to our second main point, what is Christian obedience in the Bible then?  If King Saul represents disobedience in the Bible, partial truths, and a refusal to repent when confronted, what does true obedience in the Bible look like?

As we read on into the New Testament, we see the themes of obedience and sacrifice continuing, but we see that he now requires it of his son, Jesus Christ.

The Obedience and Sacrifice of Jesus

He became man, he humbled himself, and he became obedient to death—death on a cross, Philippians 2:8 tells us.  He came and obeyed for us, precisely because he knew we couldn’t do it on our own.  Jesus alone is the truly obedient one.

Jesus is also the perfect sacrifice.  The book of Hebrews in the NT elaborates this theme of Christ both as the perfect sacrifice offered for sin, but also as the perfect high priest who actually gave the sacrifice for his people to God (in Hebrews 4, 5, 10).  He is the true unblemished lamb offered in real sacrifice out of a pure heart.  Only the person of Jesus could offer the sacrifice and be the unblemished lamb at the same time.  None of us can do or be this.  None of us can be truly obedient, and none of us can offer lasting sacrifices that truly please God, because without God, none of our hearts seek or are able to please God.

Out of God’s great love and mercy, he sent his son who could make the perfect sacrifice in total obedience with a true heart after God’s own.

So, to answer our question: what is obedience in the Bible? It is what only Christ could do.  It is Christ’s obedience.  Seeing Christ’s amazing sacrifice on the cross in perfect obedience for you and for me is what motivates true Christian obedience.

4.  How Can We Learn Christian Obedience in the Bible?

So if we find Christian obedience in Christ, how can we get it and learn it?  How can we learn obedience in the Bible? This is the third, and final point. 

I’m sure you’ve all heard plenty that as Christians that you are to be obedient to God.  I’m sure many of you have had that hammered into your head since you were a child.  Others know there are things you should be doing, but aren’t, or that you shouldn’t be doing, but are, and you’re left feeling guilty about them. 

The point of Learning Obedience

You might think Christian obedience means following a certain set of rules so that something bad doesn’t happen to you.  This is not the point.  The point of learning obedience is to develop and grow a heart after God’s own, seeking love, mercy, justice: the things he desires.  Having this heart in turn enables you to walk further into God’s will and path for your life.

I hear a lot of people saying: “do this because God commands it.” Or just “do it because he says so.”  Sure, he tells us the best way to live our lives, but to reduce it to a blanket command loses the context for knowing the loving God that wants our best. 

Our Motivation to Obey Matters

Our motivation is not supposed to be fear or Christian duty. They may work in the short-term, but they won’t produce true and lasting motivation.  Our motivation is to acknowledge with our lives and actions the grace that God has given us in calling us to him.  God wants us to understand his love for us, shown through his obedient son, so that we are motivated to follow him out of that same love.  Gaining a heart that is after God’s own is what produces obedience. 

And, remember that when we accepted Christ our hearts were already changed to be able to follow God (Ezekiel 11:19).  But, we still need to develop them and learn to love God as he wants us to. And we need to pray for God’s Holy Spirit to guide us. 

This means recognize where we have fallen short, admit when we are wrong, and seek repentance.  Don’t be content with cramming your mess in the playroom closet.  But, don’t beat yourself up over some past mistake.  Don’t allow yourself to wallow in guilt or shame when Christ has freely offered you life and forgiveness for your mistakes. But you also can’t live as if the way you act doesn’t matter.

Illustration: Moving Toward Christ

When I was in China, some seekers we met with wanted to know what they had to do in order to be a Christian.  They wanted to know what the rules of Christianity were and whether they fit with their lifestyle or not. 

Our leader gave a helpful example.  He said that often people look at God as sitting in the center of a big circle, where the circle represents Christianity and what you have to do.  People ask, “What do I have to do to stay in the circle and not fall out?”  But instead of looking at what’s the least I can do to follow God and still be called a Christian (how do I stay on the edge of the circle), we should be looking at how can we move inward, toward the center, toward God and Christ. 

We should want to be moving inward.  We do this by seeing Jesus on the cross, sacrificing himself in ultimate humility, obeying to the point of death, for us.  This should motivate you and me to want to learn to have God’s heart and to walk with Christ.

5. Conclusion

In conclusion, Christian obedience means moving toward Jesus in obedience with a heart after God’s own.  We need to remember to draw near to Jesus.  This is how we will learn to walk in the path of obedience.  Know that, you are able, as a Christian, with a heart after God’s own, to learn to walk in the path of true Christian obedience.

Questions for Discussion and Application

1. Explain how you think Christian obedience differs from other ways of life involving obedience?
2. Has the idea of Christian obedience hurt you?  Share a current example.
3. How does your obedience to God mimic Saul’s? How can we move to it looking more like a life walked with Jesus?

Next lesson on 1 Samuel 20: Jonathan and David’s Friendship

Resources Used

For your reference, I used the following resources in the development of this Bible Study:

• Dictionary of Biblical Imagery
• An Introduction to the Old Testament: Second Edition
• 1 & 2 Samuel (NIV Application Commentary)
• Show Them No Mercy: 4 Views on God and Canaanite Genocide
• Cross Talk: Where Life and Scripture Meet