Saul’s Disobedience
Then Samuel said to Saul, “The LORD sent me to anoint you king over His people Israel. Now therefore, listen to the words of the LORD. 1Sa 9:161Sa 12:141Ch 22:12-131Sa 13:13Psa 2:10-111Sa 10:11Sa 15:16-182Sa 23:2-3 This is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘I witnessed what the Amalekites did to the Israelites when they ambushed them on their way up from Egypt. Deu 25:17-19Num 24:20Exo 17:8-16Hos 7:2Amo 8:7Jer 31:34 Now go and attack the Amalekites and devote to destruction 1all that belongs to them. Do not spare them, but put to death men and women, children and infants, oxen and sheep, camels and donkeys.’” Deu 20:16-18Num 24:201Sa 22:19Isa 14:21-22Num 31:17Jos 6:17-21Lev 27:28-29Deu 13:15-16
So Saul summoned the troops and numbered them at Telaim—200,000 foot soldiers and 10,000 men of Judah. Jos 15:241Sa 11:81Sa 13:15 Saul came to the city of Amalek and lay in wait in the valley. And he warned the Kenites, “Since you showed kindness to all the Israelites when they came up out of Egypt, go on and get away from the Amalekites. Otherwise I will sweep you away with them.” Jdg 1:16Num 10:29-32Exo 18:19Jdg 4:11Num 24:21-221Sa 27:10Exo 18:9-10Jdg 5:24
So the Kenites moved away from the Amalekites.
Then Saul struck down the Amalekites all the way from Havilah to Shur, which is east of Egypt. 1Sa 14:48Gen 16:7Gen 25:181Sa 27:8Exo 15:22Gen 2:11Ecc 8:13Job 21:30 He captured Agag king of Amalek alive, but devoted all the others to destruction with the sword. 1Sa 30:1Est 3:1Num 24:71Ki 20:301Ki 20:34-421Sa 15:3Jos 10:39Jos 11:12
Saul and his troops spared Agag, along with the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves 2and lambs, and the best of everything else. They were unwilling to destroy them, but they devoted to destruction all that was despised and worthless. 1Sa 15:151Sa 15:191Sa 15:3Jos 7:212Sa 6:13
Samuel Denounces Saul
Then the word of the LORD came to Samuel, saying, “I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned away from following Me and has not carried out My instructions.” 1Sa 13:13Gen 6:62Sa 24:16Psa 119:1361Sa 15:31Sa 15:351Sa 15:9Jer 9:18
And Samuel was distressed and cried out to the LORD all that night.
Early in the morning Samuel got up to confront Saul, but he was told, “Saul has gone to Carmel, and behold, he has set up a monument for himself and has turned and gone down to Gilgal.” Jos 15:551Sa 25:22Sa 18:181Ki 18:421Sa 7:12Jos 4:8-9
When Samuel reached him, Saul said to him, “May the LORD bless you. I have carried out the LORD’s instructions.” Jdg 17:2Rut 3:101Sa 15:111Sa 15:9Gen 14:19Gen 3:12Luk 17:10Luk 18:11
But Samuel replied, “Then what is this bleating of sheep and lowing of cattle that I hear?” 1Co 4:5Jer 2:18-19Jer 2:22-23Jer 2:34-37Luk 19:22Mal 3:13-15Psa 36:2Psa 50:16-21
Saul answered, “The troops brought them from the Amalekites; they spared the best sheep and cattle to sacrifice to the LORD your God, but the rest we devoted to destruction.” 1Sa 15:211Sa 15:9Exo 32:22-23Gen 3:12-13Job 31:33Luk 10:29Mat 2:8Pro 28:13
“Stop!” exclaimed Samuel. “Let me tell you what the LORD said to me last night.” 1Ki 22:161Sa 12:71Sa 9:27
“Tell me,” Saul replied.
And Samuel said, “Although you were once small in your own eyes, have you not become the head of the tribes of Israel? The LORD anointed you king over Israel 1Sa 10:221Sa 15:1-31Sa 9:211Sa 10:1Jdg 6:15Mat 18:4Hos 13:1 and sent you on a mission, saying, ‘Go and devote to destruction the sinful Amalekites. Fight against them until you have wiped them out.’ Gen 13:13Gen 15:16Job 31:3Num 16:38Pro 10:29Pro 13:21 So why did you not obey the LORD? Why did you rush upon the plunder and do evil in the sight of the LORD?” 1Sa 14:322Ch 33:22Ch 33:62Ch 36:12Hab 2:9-12Jer 7:11Pro 15:272Ti 4:10
“But I did obey the LORD,” Saul replied. “I went on the mission that the LORD gave me. I brought back Agag king of Amalek and devoted the Amalekites to destruction. 1Sa 15:13Mat 19:20Rom 10:31Sa 15:31Sa 15:8Job 33:9Job 34:5Job 35:2 The troops took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of the things devoted to destruction, in order to sacrifice them to the LORD your God at Gilgal.” 1Sa 15:15Exo 32:22-23Gen 3:13
But Samuel declared: Hos 6:6Psa 51:16-17Pro 21:3Amo 5:21-24Mrk 12:33Mat 9:13Mic 6:6-8Jer 7:22-23
“Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices
as much as in obedience to His voice?
Behold, obedience is better than sacrifice,
and attentiveness is better than the fat of rams.
For rebellion is like the sin of divination, Jer 28:161Sa 13:14Lev 20:6Gal 5:202Co 6:16Deu 18:10-11Jer 29:32Exo 22:18
and arrogance is like the wickedness of idolatry.
Because you have rejected the word of the LORD,
He has rejected you as king.”
Saul’s Confession
Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned; I have transgressed the LORD’s commandment and your instructions, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice. 2Sa 12:13Isa 51:12-13Gal 1:10Num 22:34Pro 29:251Sa 15:30Exo 23:2Exo 9:27 Now therefore, please forgive my sin and return with me so I can worship the LORD.” Exo 10:17
“I will not return with you,” Samuel replied. “For you have rejected the word of the LORD, and He has rejected you as king over Israel.” Hos 4:61Sa 13:141Sa 16:11Sa 15:232Jn 1:11Jer 6:191Sa 15:311Sa 2:30
As Samuel turned to go, Saul grabbed the hem of his robe, and it tore. 1Ki 11:30-31 So Samuel said to him, “The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to your neighbor who is better than you. 1Sa 28:17-18Act 13:221Ki 11:30-311Sa 13:141Sa 16:121Sa 2:7-8Dan 4:17Dan 4:32 Moreover, the Glory of Israel does not lie or change His mind, for He is not a man, that He should change His mind.” Num 23:19Ezk 24:14Tit 1:22Ti 2:13Heb 6:18Psa 95:11Jol 3:162Co 12:9
“I have sinned,” Saul replied. “Please honor me now before the elders of my people and before Israel. Come back with me, so that I may worship the LORD your God.” Jhn 12:43Jhn 5:44Isa 29:132Ti 3:5Hab 2:4Luk 18:9-14
So Samuel went back with Saul, and Saul worshiped the LORD.
Then Samuel said, “Bring me Agag king of the Amalekites.” 1Th 5:3Jer 48:44Rev 18:7
Agag came to him cheerfully, 3 for he thought, “Surely the bitterness of death is past.” 4
But Samuel declared: Jdg 1:7Gen 9:6Mat 7:2Jas 2:13Rev 16:6Rev 18:61Ki 18:40Exo 17:11
“As your sword has made women childless,
so your mother will be childless among women.”
And Samuel hacked Agag to pieces before the LORD at Gilgal.
Then Samuel went to Ramah, but Saul went up to his home in Gibeah of Saul. 1Sa 11:41Sa 7:17 And to the day of his death, Samuel never again visited Saul. Samuel mourned for Saul, and the LORD regretted that He had made Saul king over Israel. 1Sa 15:111Sa 19:241Sa 16:1Jer 9:1-2Gen 6:6Php 3:18Psa 119:136Psa 119:158