Listen Up
Preached by Benjamin Vrbicek
June 26, 2016
This morning we are continuing our sermon series through the book of 1 Samuel. Two weeks ago (in the passage), Saul was installed as king. Last week, Samuel gave his farewell speech. Now you’d expect Saul to begin his reign. This week, however, God first takes the promise of a dynasty from Saul. And then God takes Saul’s kingship from him. This creates quite a bit of whiplash for us as readers, but likely much, much more for Israel, including Saul and Samuel as leaders.Two things before I read the passage. First, a word on why we chose to skip a chapter. This morning, I’m preaching chapters 13 and 15, and next week Jason will go back and pick up 14. We’re doing this because of the symmetry of what happens in these two chapters. In both chapters, Saul’s failures are displayed in great detail. Some of this also is displayed in chapter 14, but the main point of 13, 14, and 15 is to show the contrast of Saul’s failures with the successes of his son, Jonathan (which happens in 14). So, we thought the best way to preach this was to take 13 and 15 together. That’s the first thing.Now, the second thing to mention. The first verse of our passage is notoriously difficult to translate and thus English translations vary a good bit. The reason for the difficulty is because it would seem that some of the wording, specifically the length of Saul’s reign as king, appears to have dropped out through the copying process.Now, I’m highlighting this so that you know that I know it’s in there. But I also don’t want to make much of this because I actually don’t think there’s that much to make of it. I say this for two reasons.First, Christians believe that God inspired the original authors to write truthful words, words without error. That’s what we believe. But we don’t believe that God oversaw the copying process in such a way that the copying process was done without error. Does that make sense? Clearly, something has happened in the copying process that makes the numbers hard for us to understand.The second thing to say is why this doesn’t bother me all that much and why I don’t want it to bother you. This doesn’t bother me because it has happened very infrequently in the Bible. Let me put it like this: If you’ve been here over the last few years then you know that each week we preach from the Bible, most of the time straight through whole books. And over the last few years, we’ve covered many books from many different parts of the Bible. And in the two and a half years that I have been here, only one other time was there another textual issue worth bringing up; it was when Jason was finishing the gospel of Mark series.So what am I trying to say? I’m saying, because of the abundance of copies that exist of the Bible (many of them being very early copies), most questions regarding what the original says are very easily figured out. There are just a few are not so easily figure out. And 1 Samuel 13:1 happens to be one of them. But when there are copying errors that are hard to figure out (which is very rare), just know that no major doctrine, and even any minor doctrine, hangs on any of these few verses.That’s all I’ll say about that here. But if this troubles you, please do not hesitate to talk to me about it. For anyone who has sincere questions, I’d be more than happy to talk with you more. I’d hate for this to be troubling you.Okay, with that being said, let’s get to the passage.
Scripture Reading
If you have a Bible, please follow along with me as I read 1 Samuel 13:1-15a, 15:1-35 (page 300ff).
1 Samuel 13:1-15a, 15:1-35
13:1 Saul lived for one year and then became king, and when he had reigned for two years over Israel, 2 Saul chose three thousand men of Israel. Two thousand were with Saul in Michmash and the hill country of Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin. The rest of the people he sent home, every man to his tent. 3 Jonathan defeated the garrison of the Philistines that was at Geba, and the Philistines heard of it. And Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, “Let the Hebrews hear.” 4 And all Israel heard it said that Saul had defeated the garrison of the Philistines, and also that Israel had become a stench to the Philistines. And the people were called out to join Saul at Gilgal.5 And the Philistines mustered to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots and six thousand horsemen and troops like the sand on the seashore in multitude. They came up and encamped in Michmash, to the east of Beth-aven. 6 When the men of Israel saw that they were in trouble (for the people were hard pressed), the people hid themselves in caves and in holes and in rocks and in tombs and in cisterns, 7 and some Hebrews crossed the fords of the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. Saul was still at Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling.8 He waited seven days, the time appointed by Samuel. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the people were scattering from him. 9 So Saul said, “Bring the burnt offering here to me, and the peace offerings.” And he offered the burnt offering. 10 As soon as he had finished offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came. And Saul went out to meet him and greet him. 11 Samuel said, “What have you done?” And Saul said, “When I saw that the people were scattering from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines had mustered at Michmash, 12 I said, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the favor of the Lord.’ So I forced myself, and offered the burnt offering.” 13 And Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the command of the Lord your God, with which he commanded you. For then the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. 14 But now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought out a man after his own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.” 15 And Samuel arose and went up from Gilgal. The rest of the people went up after Saul to meet the army; they went up from Gilgal to Gibeah of Benjamin. [13:15b-23 not read]15:1 And 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. 2 Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘I have noted what Amalek did to Israel in opposing them on the way when they came up out of Egypt. 3 Now go and strike Amalek and devote to destruction all that they have. Do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’”4 So Saul summoned the people and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand men on foot, and ten thousand men of Judah. 5 And Saul came to the city of Amalek and lay in wait in the valley. 6 Then Saul said to the Kenites, “Go, depart; go down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them. For you showed kindness to all the people of Israel when they came up out of Egypt.” So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites. 7 And Saul defeated the Amalekites from Havilah as far as Shur, which is east of Egypt. 8 And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive and devoted to destruction all the people with the edge of the sword. 9 But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep and of the oxen and of the fattened calves and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them. All that was despised and worthless they devoted to destruction.10 The word of the Lord came to Samuel: 11 “I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following me and has not performed my commandments.” And Samuel was angry, and he cried to the Lord all night. 12 And Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning. And it was told Samuel, “Saul came to Carmel, and behold, he set up a monument for himself and turned and passed on and went down to Gilgal.” 13 And Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, “Blessed be you to the Lord. I have performed the commandment of the Lord.” 14 And Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears and the lowing of the oxen that I hear?” 15 Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites, for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen to sacrifice to the Lord your God, and the rest we have devoted to destruction.” 16 Then Samuel said to Saul, “Stop! I will tell you what the Lord said to me this night.” And he said to him, “Speak.”17 And Samuel said, “Though you are little in your own eyes, are you not the head of the tribes of Israel? The Lord anointed you king over Israel. 18 And the Lord sent you on a mission and said, ‘Go, devote to destruction the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.’ 19 Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord? Why did you pounce on the spoil and do what was evil in the sight of the Lord?” 20 And Saul said to Samuel, “I have obeyed the voice of the Lord. I have gone on the mission on which the Lord sent me. I have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and I have devoted the Amalekites to destruction. 21 But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the best of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal.” 22 And Samuel said,“Has 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 listen than the fat of rams.
23 For rebellion is as the sin of divination,
and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry.
Because you have rejected the word of the Lord,
he has also rejected you from being king.”
24 Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice. 25 Now therefore, please pardon my sin and return with me that I may bow before the Lord.” 26 And Samuel said to Saul, “I will not return with you. For you have rejected the word of theLord, and the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel.” 27 As Samuel turned to go away, Saul seized the skirt of his robe, and it tore. 28 And Samuel said to him, “The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you this day and has given it to a neighbor of yours, who is better than you. 29 And also the Glory of Israel will not lie or have regret, for he is not a man, that he should have regret.” 30 Then he said, “I have sinned; yet honor me now before the elders of my people and before Israel, and return with me, that I may bow before the Lord your God.” 31 So Samuel turned back after Saul, and Saul bowed before the Lord.32 Then Samuel said, “Bring here to me Agag the king of the Amalekites.” And Agag came to him cheerfully. Agag said, “Surely the bitterness of death is past.” 33 And Samuel said, “As your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women.” And Samuel hacked Agag to pieces before the Lord in Gilgal.34 Then Samuel went to Ramah, and Saul went up to his house in Gibeah of Saul. 35 And Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death, but Samuel grieved over Saul. And the Lord regretted that he had made Saul king over Israel.
Prayer
This is God’s Word. Thanks be to God. Pray with me that he would be our teacher. “Heavenly Father, as we just sang, we do want you to speak to us in your word. May you speak until your church is built and the earth is filled with your glory. In the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ, we pray.”
Introduction
I don’t remember why I was selected for this, but when I was in 9th grade, I was picked with a handful of other students to participate in a school-wide assembly. It was the homecoming assembly. At our high school, freshmen were at a different building than the rest of the high school, and we had to be bused over to the main building. This meant that the normal disdain that upperclassmen have for freshmen was only bestowed on them occasionally, which meant it was saved up. Hence, I remember very clearly what happened during our little relay race in the assembly.There were over 2,000 people in the gymnasium. And when it was our turn—the 9th grader’s turn—there were 1,500 voices (500 seniors, 500 juniors, 500 sophomores) booing me so loud that it was the only thing I could hear. Seriously, it was ridiculously loud—that’s what I remember. But this didn’t bother me because as I looked up to the balcony on the left, I could see 500 other freshmen cheering us on, though I couldn’t hear one of their voices.It was very strange to see people smiling and clapping and enjoying themselves but the only voice I could hear was the haters (which was appropriate because we were, after all, freshmen.)This passage in 1 Samuel is about voices and who we chose listen to. Not necessarily who is actually the loudest, but who’s voice will be heard as the loudest in our hearts, which is a way to say, who’s voice will have the most influence in your life.Sadly, for Saul, it’s not God’s voice. And too often, Saul is not the “bad guy” who is different than me and you. Rather, we, like Saul, have problems listening to the voice of God.The roadmap for the sermon this morning is simple. Only two stops along the way. At the first stop, we’ll listen to Saul’s side of the story. At the second stop, we’ll listen to God’s side of the story.
1. Saul’s side of the story
There is some sad irony in the passage. In 13:5, it describes the Philistine warriors as being like the “sand on the seashore.” This is sad because the promise to Abraham was that his descendants would be like the “sand of the seashore” (Genesis 15:5; 22:17; 26:4)—the faithful were to be filling earth; they had a mission (cf. 15:18, 20; Matthew 28:19-20). Instead, Israel “hid themselves in caves and in holes and in rocks and in tombs and in cisterns” and some even fled across a river (vv. 6-7).I mention this so we can understand something of the pressure Saul is under. He’s the new leader, and this problem is his problem. But what we’ll see is that he fails listen to God. And the consequences are steep: as I said, first God takes away his promise of a dynasty (ch. 13) and then later, not just future kings, but his own kingship is taken away (ch. 15).That may feel severe, but let me very quickly point out five places where Saul fails and I hope it starts to seem more fitting.
1. Selfish “spin” and propaganda.
Look at v. 3 and then compare it with v. 4.
3 Jonathan defeated the garrison of the Philistines ... and Philistines heard of it. And Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, “Let the Hebrews hear.” 4 And all Israel heard it said that Saul had defeated the garrison of the Philistines . . .
It would seem that Jonathan won, but who got the credit? Saul did. Why? Because as one pastor said, Saul controlled the media.1 “And Saul blew the trumpet through all the land...” (v. 3). This is selfish spin and propaganda.
2. Saul blames Samuel for not coming soon enough.
Saul was told to wait seven days for Samuel to come before offering the sacrifice.2 Samuel, however, seemed to take too long. Look at vv. 11-12,
11 . . . And Saul said, “When I saw that the people were scattering from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines had mustered at Michmash, 12 I said, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the favor of the Lord.’ So I forced myself, and offered the burnt offering.”
It was really Samuel’s fault; he’s too slow. Saul blames him. The same thing happens in chapter 15.3
3. A monument to himself.
Skipping ahead to chapter 15. After the battle and spending all night in prayer, Samuel comes to check on things. This is what we read in v. 12,
12 And Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning. And it was told Samuel, “Saul came to Carmel, and behold, he set up a monument for himself . . .”
Note, Samuel was told this by a whistleblower. I get the impression that it is like when a grade school student tells a teacher, “Hey, Mr. Samuel, did you know that Saul brought fireworks to school.” The soldiers, at least one of them, seem to know that this isn’t going well and Samuel would want to know about it.
4. Partial obedience and partial repentance
Here there is a bunch of things we could say. I’ll try to limit myself. Saul only gave God partial obedience. God said do something completely, and he only did it part way.4 Look at vv. 13-14,
13 And Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, “Blessed be you to the Lord. I have performed the commandment of the Lord.” 14 And Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears and the lowing of the oxen that I hear?”
It’s interesting that in a passage so focused on hearing, this is what Samuel mentions. “Hey, if you killed all of the sheep, then why do I hear them?” Saul has a lame excuse for this (15:15) but the point we need to see is that partially obeys.And not only partially obeys, but he also only partial repents. Look at v. 30 (cf. v. 24),
30 Then he said, “I have sinned; yet honor me now before the elders of my people and before Israel, and return with me, that I may bow before the Lord your God.”
He knows he’s sinned, but the thing he really wants is for Samuel to come with him so the he can keep up his appearance of having it all together. His self-righteous pride is proving incompatible with the humility needed to hear God’s voice.
5. A light view of sin
Finally, if we listen close to Saul’s story, it would seem that through it all, he has a light view of sin. As Samuel rebukes Saul, Samuel keeps going back to the gravity of sin. “Saul,” he says, “sin is a BIG deal.” And each time it seems like Saul says, “Oh, Sam, it’s no big deal.”Yet, Samuel continues to plead with him to get the point across. It’s almost like Samuel is saying this:
No, Saul, you just drove home drunk. You were under the influence, twice the legal limit—again. And, Saul, it’s not like you made it home okay and we can just move on (“Hey, no harm, no foul” which isn’t even true, but even if it was, that’s not what happened). No, Saul, you ran a red light, wrapped your car around a telephone pole, and you caused six other cars to crash: many were injured, some were killed. There were fatalities, Saul. We can’t just make this go away. There’s no return to “normal” after this. Things won’t be the same, Saul. Are you listening now? God is grieved over this. But are you?5
When we listen closely to Saul, we don’t just hear Saul. We hear Adam, the first man. God told him not to eat from a certain tree. And when he did, what do we read?
11 He [God] said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” 12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” (Genesis 3:11-12)
Who is at fault? “Oh, Samuel, this is your fault.” Or, “Oh, it’s the people’s fault.” Or, “Oh, it’s your fault, God; you gave me the woman.” To which God says to Adam,
“Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you . . . cursed is the ground because of you . . .” (3:17)
And with that—a failure to listen to the right voice—Adam and Eve lost paradise, just as Saul lost his kingship.And if Saul is really another Adam, than what we hear in Saul’s side of the story is also what we hear in ourselves if we are willing to listen to our own self-justifications.Well, let’s transition to the last point. Let’s hear God’s side of the story. On this point, I’ll be brief. (As we move to this point, I had some things I wanted to say about Samuel’s prayer, which is why there is a thing about that in the bulletin, but there just isn’t time. I’ll save them for another day.)
2. God’s side of the story
For all the flip-flopping of Saul about why this or that happened, we see zero equivocation in God’s side of the story. God cuts to the heart of the matter, and it’s this: “Saul, you didn’t listen to my voice. You listened to other voices.” This idea is repeated over and over again through the chapters.6 Consider just a few of the verses (19, 22-23),
19 Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord?
22 And Samuel said, “Has 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 listen than the fat of rams . . . Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has also rejected you from being king.”
Do you see the issue? It’s about obeying the voice of the Lord.Again, I’ll point out that this is likely still the early parts of Saul’s reign. Do you know what was the very first thing a king was supposed to do when he took the throne? Consider Deuteronomy 17:18-19, which chronologically comes much earlier in the biblical story. It says,
18 “And when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself in a book a copy of this law, approved by the Levitical priests. 19 And it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes . . .
Okay, you’re a king. Now what? Step one: get pen and paper and make your own personal Bible, and then get it approved by your pastors. Then, Mr. New King, have royal “quiet times” all the days of your life. What happens to Saul is sad. It grieves God.
Conclusion
Let’s bring it to a close with a few comments about hope and humility. Is there any hope for Saul—and for that matter, for us? I want to give a resounding yes to this question. But to be sure, for Saul to embrace true hope, would have required humility.Think about it. He lost the promise of a dynasty in chapter 13. And then in chapter 15 he lost his kingship. But what does this mean for Saul personally—was he lost? What did it mean for Saul’s soul? Yes, Saul lost the kingship. That was fixed. He wasn’t getting it back. But that doesn’t mean he couldn’t have truly repented and still followed God.But to follow God—after all that history—boy, that would have taken some great humility. To be sure, Saul could have said,
Okay God. I trust you. I have messed up. You say that a new king after your own heart is coming, we’ll if that’s true, then I’m in. It won’t be easy, but I’ll turn over my crown and give it to the true king. I give up. I know I’ve been a rebel, but just let me walk with you and know you and listen to you, for to know you is life. Lord, forgive my sins.
What we’ll see in the rest of the book, however, is that Saul holds onto his pride.Yet though this story in 1 Samuel, God is saying to all of us, “Don’t walk away from me if you don’t get your way; my way and my Word is better.” Like Saul ought to have said, we have the chance to say, “I have messed up. God, you tell me to give up my crown and give it to the true king. Okay, just let me walk with you and know you and listen to you. Lord, forgive my sins.”We need to forgiveness this because there isn’t one of us who can stand before God and say, “Here, God, look at my humility. See how well I’ve listened to your voice. Now, let me into your kingdom.” None of us can do this.Well, there is one, I suppose, who can do this. His name was Jesus. We read this in Philippians 2,
7 [Jesus] emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Jesus was humble. Jesus was humiliated on the cross. And when that happened, he took our sins. And when we trust in him, God looks at us, looks at people like Saul, people like Adam, with love because the humility of Christ is given to us. That’s the gospel.If you’re not a Christian, no matter how much it might cost you to let go of your pride, your crown, it will be worth it. And if you’re a Christian, be thankful for the gospel, and keep walking in light of it—listening to your savior’s voice.
1 Brad Wheeler of Capitol Hill Baptist Church.
2 This command to wait might be one of three things: the command in 10:8; the general command that only priests should offer sacrifices; or another, unrecorded command. Those who think an unrecorded command (and I’m inclined this direction) do so for two reasons. First, because sometimes (though rarely) those other than priests offer sacrifices and do so without blame. Second, because of the presumed time gap; in chapters 9-10, Saul is called a “young” man, but by ch. 13 he has a son who is old enough to lead military advances.
3 Cf., 15:15, “. . . spared the best for the Lord your God.” It’s as though Saul is trying to imply that Saul (and his people) actually want better things for God that Samuel does. It’s as if they are saying, “Look, we did all this for your God; don’t you think your God wants nice things done for him? We think so, Sam.” This is also emphasized in 15:21. Additionally in that verse, as if Saul wasn’t content to blame just Samuel, he also blames the people.
4 God’s command to completely destroy the Amalekites is troubling to our ears. Lots could be said (including listing the biblical passages that who underhanded practices of these people), but I’ll just mention two things for us to consider. First, consider what it would be like if the Nazi Germany of the 1930s and ’40s had continued in the same direction unchecked for 300 years? It wouldn’t have been pretty. And indeed it wasn’t pretty (Samuel calls them “sinners” in v. 18 and when he kills Agag he does so because he has been a very violent king himself). Second, note that God gave them some 300 years to repent. That seems like a long time (on this point, see Davis, 1 Samuel).
5 Here, I’m drawing some from Dale Ralph Davis, 1 Samuel, 163. And when I say “God is grieved,” I’m trying to fill out the meaning of “God regretted that he made Saul King” (vv. 11, 35; cf. Gen. 6:6), which in this context doesn’t mean that God doesn’t know the future or that he’s done some something wrong that he must repent of. Not at all. See v. 29 which makes this point explicitly.
6 The word shama (to hear) occurs eight times in chapter 15 (vv. 1, 4, 14, 19, 20, 22 (x2), 24). Additionally, in chapter 13 note the irony in v. 4 of Saul yelling, “Let the Hebrew’s hear.” Saul wants others to hear but doesn’t hear himself. The whole of chapters 13 and 15 picture him as a deaf man scolding others for not listening.
