A you read I want you to think of what Saul does. He is like the kid who does wrong, tries to justify it, blame shifts, and when really caught says "I'm sorry", as if this makes it all better.
So, why Saul? Often we know OF the stories in the Bible, but DO NOT KNOW the stories in the Bible. Let me make sense of this. It is just like our salvation - many many people (even Muslims & JW's) know OF JESUS, BUT, they DO NOT KNOW JESUS as their saviour. This is what I am referring to about Saul.
Samuel, the prophet, (whose boys strayed) was aware that the people of Israel were not following God as they should. Again, when coming out of the wilderness the Israelites complained to the point Moses appointed judges to handle the situations that would arise. This was not God's plan, but the sin from the people caused it to be.
For over 200 years judges made decisions for the Israelites and "they had no leadership" because they took God out of their equation. Now, highly influenced by the peoples around them they felt they should have a "king" like everyone else. Yes, forgetting that their one true KING is YAHWEH! At first this distressed Samuel, but in a conversation with God, he was told that the people were rejecting Him, God, Yahweh-- not Samuel.
In 1 Samuel 8:4-5 the elders came to Samuel and said, "You are old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations."
WHAT?? Yes, we are of this world, but we are not to walk of this world. Why have they forgotten Yahweh? 1 Samuel 8:7-9 is where God tells Samuel the people have rejected Him, God, Yahweh.
Let's go on to Samuel's warning. 1 Samuel 8:11-22 Samuel warns the people of what will happen when he appoints a king over them. Please take time to read this and you will get an idea of what type of king is coming.
So often we study that Saul was a good king, a king chosen by God. If chosen by God he obviously had to be good, right? Not at all. Check back with the warnings that Samuel gave in his verses.
Saul was not a good king or even a good man. He was filled with lots of pride and stubbornness. If you will read on in Samuel you will find times you are "yea" for Saul and other times you are "what was he thinking". Yes, as you read Saul you may make connections between you and Saul. Feel sorry for him at times and criticize him at times. He made good decisions and poor decisions - just like you and I do. Hmmm! Maybe he was not that different than us today, except he was king.
If you read in 1 Samuel chapters 13-15 you will view various situations he was in; some small, some big, and we can see his mistakes. This also can be seen as a warning to you and me. Saul was filled with self-deception and self-exaltation. He thinks he knows better than anyone else, even God. The sadness in this is that Saul does not see his faults, NO, not one fault does he see as he knows best. Arrogance abounds!!!
Let us stop here as your eyes may be tired, OR, you have already deleted this study. LOL. If you came this far, thank you for reading with me today. Love you all.
In Christ's Love and Grace
Johnny
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