Samuel Rebukes Sauls Unlawful Sacrifice

1 Samuel 13:1-2 Saul reigned one year; and when he had reigned two years over Israel, Saul chose three thousand men from Israel; two thousand were with him at Mikmash and in the hill country of Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan at Gibeah in Benjamin. The rest of the men he sent back to their homes.

Israel has only had a militia that assembled in times of national threat. Now, for the first time, Israel has a real army.

This is the first mention of Saul’s son Jonathan. He will be a prominent person of character in the upcoming chapters. Jonathan will repeatedly demonstrate his ability as a remarkable military leader.

 1 Samuel 13:3-4 Jonathan attacked the Philistine outpost at Geba, and the Philistines heard about it. Then Saul had the trumpet blown throughout the land and said, “Let the Hebrews hear!” ⁴ So all Israel heard the news: “Saul has attacked the Philistine outpost, and now Israel has become obnoxious/abomination to the Philistines.” And the people were summoned to join Saul at Gilgal.

Israel enjoyed peace with the Philistines. But the peace was because Israel had subjected themselves to Philistines. (Blacksmiths) With this attack Jonathan is proclaiming, “We will no longer be subject to you Philistines.”

As long as the Israelites stayed in their weak, defeated place, subject to the Philistines, they would leave them alone. But as soon as the Israelites showed boldness and courage against the LORD’s enemies, the Philistines now considered the Israelites to be obnoxious/abomination.

This same principle is true in our spiritual lives. We don’t fight against flesh and blood; our enemies are principalities… powers…and wickedness in heavenly places. (Eph.6)

But our spiritual enemies have the same attitude as these Philistines. As long as we remain weak and subject to them, they don’t mind us at all.

But as soon as we begin to rise up, show some faith, boldness and courage against them, our spiritual enemies will also consider us obnoxious/abomination.                (1 Peter 5:8) (2 Timothy 3:12)

 1 Samuel 13:5-7 The Philistines assembled to fight Israel, with three thousand chariots, six thousand charioteers, and soldiers as numerous as the sand on the seashore. They went up and camped at Mikmash, east of Beth Aven. ⁶ When the Israelites saw that their situation was critical and that their army was hard pressed, they hid in caves and thickets, among the rocks, and in pits and cisterns. ⁷ Some Hebrews even crossed the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. Saul remained at Gilgal, and all the troops with him were quaking with fear.

Jonathan was bold enough to launch the initial attack against the Philistines, but the men of Israel were not bold enough to stand strong with him against their enemy. Quaking in fear, they hid anywhere they could (in caves, thickets, rocks, holes, and pits) or fled across the Jordan River. This was a low point for Israel.      (you may find yourself fighting alone) (armor in  Eph6)

 1 Samuel 13:8-9 He waited seven days, the time set by Samuel; but Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and Saul’s men began to scatter. ⁹ So he said, “Bring me the burnt offering and the fellowship offerings.” And Saul offered up the burnt offering.

Saul knows the Philistines were assembling a huge army against him, and that once they get organized, they would be much harder to beat. The troops were losing confidence and beginning to scatter. Saul feels like he has to do something. Saul’s focus is on the situation here and not on God.

Samuel had given precise instructions for Saul to wait for him at Gilgal (GOD).  Then Samuel would come and preside over the sacrifices, and Israel would be spiritually ready for battle.

Saul was unwilling to wait for Samuel (GOD), so he offered the burnt offering and fellowship offerings. (I get it.) Out of fear and panic, not knowing what else to do, Saul did something that was unacceptable in God’s eyes under the law.

First: Saul plainly disobeyed Samuel (God) by not waiting. Second: Saul was a king, not a priest, and only those from the tribe of Levi (the Levitical priesthood) were to offer sacrifices. Saul had no business doing what only a Levite could do.

Remember King Uzziah, who became king at 16. He was a good king, served God, and God gave him many victories. 2 Chronicles 26:16 But after Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall. He was unfaithful to the Lord his God, and entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense.

Uzziah tried to do the work of a Levite, and God struck him with leprosy.

(Under the New Covenant) Revelation 1:5b-6 To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, ⁶ and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

 1 Samuel 13:10-12 Just as he finished making the offering, Samuel arrived, and Saul went out to greet him. ¹¹ “What have you done?” asked Samuel. Saul replied, “When I saw that the men were scattering, and that you did not come at the set time, and that the Philistines were assembling at Mikmash, ¹² I thought, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the Lord’s favor.’ So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering.”

As soon as Saul finished offering the burnt offerings, Samuel showed up right on time. So, if Saul had trusted God and waited one more hour, how different things could have been! The last moments of waiting on the Lord are usually the most difficult and they tempt us to take matters into our own hands.

Notice: No confession and repentance.

Saul’s response is a classic example of how people make excuses in their failure to trust and wait on God. Line after line, Saul makes his sin worse with excuses.

#1 I saw that the men were scattering.

#2 Samuel, you didn’t come at the right time. You see, Samuel, it was really your fault. If you had come earlier, I wouldn’t have done this. Even if Samuel was totally in the wrong, it still didn’t justify Saul’s sin. We often try to blame our sin on someone else.

#3 The Philistines were assembling at Mikmash

#4 I thought the Philistines would come down against me at Gilgal

#5 I had not sought the Lord’s favor

#6 So I felt compelled

I felt compelled: “I had to. I couldn’t wait any longer.” (WHERES SAUL’S FOCUS?) Even though Saul felt compelled, Saul was not supposed to be ruled by his feelings. He didn’t have to sin just because he felt compelled to.

Saul knew exactly what he did and justified it with his excuses ahead of time.

 1 Samuel 13:13-14 “You have done a foolish thing,” Samuel said. “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. ¹⁴ But now your kingdom will not endure; the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him ruler of his people, because you have not kept the Lord’s command.”

You have done a foolish thing: Who does foolish things? The Bible speaks of the fool as someone morally and spiritually lacking. (Psalms 14:1)

Despite all the reasons and excuses, including blaming someone else, the bottom line was still the bottom line. Samuel puts it plainly: You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you; God commanded him to do something, and he didn’t do it, but did the opposite. (he couldn’t wait-sin compounded)

The whole point in being a king was to establish a dynasty, where Sauls sons would sit on the throne after him. But, God tells Saul that his descendants would not reign after him. Though he was the king, God would not establish the monarchy in Israel through Saul.

From these words, we might expect Saul to be “impeached” as king right then and there. But Saul would actually hold the title for many more years.

We might say wow what a small little sin. To disobey God in the smallest matter is still sin: there is no little sin, because there is no little God to sin against.

Even though God had rejected Saul, He did not reject Israel. God would raise a new king, a man after His own heart. (David isn’t ready yet)

It would be easy to say that the kingdom was taken from Saul because he sinned, but it was more than that. David also sinned (to a greater degree), yet God never took the kingdom from David and his descendants.

The issue was bigger than an incident of sin; the issue was being a man after God’s own heart. (Heart condition)

Samuel the prophet tells Saul of his sins: Saul makes excuses. No repentance.

Nathan the prophet tells David of his sins: David confesses that he has sinned, Lord

For King Saul: Saul was king. For King David: God was king.

If David had some of our sins (and even greater sins), then even when we sin, we can have David’s heart.