King Saul becomes the first ruler of Israel after the time of the Judges. Saul went to Samuel to find out what happened to his father's missing donkeys that he was searching for. But, Samuel had been told by God to anoint him as the first king of Israel. Samuel tells him in I Samuel 10:6, "And the Spirit of the LORD will come upon thee, and thou shalt prophesy with them, and shalt be turned into another man."
Saul was from the smallest tribe in Israel. At this point in his life he was very humble. He was a person that God could use. God made him another man by giving him another heart. Not another physical heart or another physical body, but a spiritual enhancement of what was already somewhere under the surface.
I Samuel 10:9- And it was so, that when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, God gave him another heart: and all those signs came to pass that day.
He became the King that was needed to lead the Children of Israel against their enemies at that time, the Philistines. God would tell Saul what He expected of him, and then He waited to see if Saul would perform it.
There were 2 main circumstances that changed Saul from this new man with a a new heart into one of the greatest types of Antichrist in the Bible! The first happened just 2 years after he had been anointed.
Saul had gathered the armies of the Israelites together to go to battle with the Philistines. They were waiting on Samuel to come and offer the sacrifice, but after a week of Samuel not showing up, Saul took it upon himself to offer this sacrifice.
I Samuel 13:13-14- And Samuel said to Saul, Thou hast done foolishly: thou hast not kept the commandment of the LORD thy God, which he commanded thee: for now would the LORD have established thy kingdom upon Israel forever. But now thy kingdom shall not continue: the LORD hath sought him a man after his own heart, and the LORD hath commanded him to be captain over his people, because thou hast not kept that which the LORD had commanded thee.
His first mistake was thinking more highly of himself than he should have. Only the priests were to offer sacrifices to God, but Saul wanted to save face with the people and took it upon himself to do the job of Samuel.
His next mistake came when he disobeyed a direct command from God. God sent Samuel to tell Saul to go and destroy the Amalekites; not only to destroy them, but also all their animals. But, again, Saul did things the way he thought they should be done.
I Samuel 15:9- But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them: but everything that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly.
Saul saw that they had some pretty good cattle, and he and the people decided that it would be beneficial for them to keep those things alive. He also kept the king of the Amalekites alive. This is all that this chapter mentions, but later you find out that David is robbed by Amalekites, and all the way past the time of the Kings of Israel during the time of Esther, there are Agagites causing trouble. Saul spared quite a bit!
When Samuel showed up and asked him about it, he first blamed the people and then said it was because they wanted to use it for an offering to God. Wow! Pass the buck and then try to sound spiritual!
I Samuel 15:22-23- And Samuel said, Hath 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 hearken than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king.
God always brings us back to the point where we messed up hoping that we will see it and get it right. Saul messed up first by sacrificing when he wasn't suppose to. I don't read anywhere where he repented. Now, Samuel is pointing out that it is better to obey than sacrifice.
The humble young man that was anointed king was gone, and so was the man with another heart. In it's place was a hard-hearted man who was more interested in how he looked to the people than how he looked to God.
Saul became another man entirely! Not the one who loved God and was willing to do God's will despite what others around him would think. Not one who put aside his desires to carry out the orders from the Most High that would most benefit his people in the long run. He became a man that no matter what God threw at him would harden his heart and go after those who he thought would take what he had.
We each have a choice to make throughout our lives. In every situation we are faced with what we want and what Christ wants. When we chose what we want, God has to punish us and bring us through the same test over and over until we learn.
I Samuel 16:14- But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him.
The saddest part of Saul's life's story is that he never learned. The question I must ask now is "Will I?"
