62 – Saul’s Second Chance

FULL MEETING WITH MIDRASH HERE

NOTE: THE TRANSCRIPT IS NOT EXACTLY LIKE THE RECORDING.

Did you know YHVH is merciful to His people? Did you know He is in the business of trying to have a relationship with each of us, and that when we mess up, He comes looking for us, to give us another chance? He did that for Saul, too.

1 Samuel 15:1  Samuel said to Saul, “Yahweh sent me to anoint you to be king over his people, over Israel. Now therefore listen to the voice of Yahweh’s words. 

Samuel had been estranged, alienated from Saul until now. Scripture isn’t clear how long the time period was between the end of Saul’s failed anointing and this day. Samuel was only back because YHVH sent him to Saul.

The command to “listen to the voice of YHVH’s words” was Samuel telling Saul he was being given another chance, a chance to undo what he had done before. Maybe it was human frailty, fear of the people leaving him, that made Saul anoint himself. Maybe he just didn’t understand the ways of YHVH yet. YHVH doesn’t just toss people aside. Saul will be given an opportunity to put YHVH back in the “King seat” so Saul could take his place as the ‘nagid’, the prince, the vassal, the 2nd in command.

1 Samuel 15:2  Yahweh of Armies says, ‘I remember what Amalek did to Israel, how [Amalek] he set himself against him [Israel] on the way, when he came up out of Egypt. 

Saul had been doing one thing right. He had been engaging Amalek in battle (1 Samuel 14:48), and now a battle with Amalek – one that would forever destroy Amalek – would also redeem Saul as Israel’s ‘nagid’ if he obeyed.

Redemption and obedience are partners, not enemies. They are the evidence of a reciprocal relationship. The Redeemer asks us to express our relationship with Him through our obedience to the laws of His Kingdom. It’s a mutual arrangement that many reject. They want the benefit of redemption without any strings attached; with nothing being asked of them in return. That’s not how it works in YHVH’s Kingdom. It’s actually not how it works in any Kingdom, any earthly government. All governments require obedience from their subjects. This is true of YHVH, as well, because it is His Kingdom’s framework from which earthly governments are shaped. YHVH is a King with the right the ask His people to do as He says, and the place where He has told us what He wants us to do is found in the very place most reject – the Law of Moses.

This is not new. Israel rejected YHVH’s Law, AKA the Law of Moses, from the start. Saul was just one of millions who had learned this lesson but now he had the chance to start over, to show YHVH that he would willingly submit to YHVH’s Law, especially regarding Amalek. Let’s see what Saul did.

1 Samuel 15:3  Now go and strike Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and don’t spare them; but kill both man and woman, infant and nursing baby, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’” 

Amalek had been Israel’s archenemy from birth. He was Esau’s grandson and it was through Amalek that Esau’s “kiss” on the neck in Genesis 36 would try to fulfill the destruction of Jacob. That kiss had not been a loving kiss; it had been a bite. A little nip at the skin of Jacob’s neck. It had been a promise that one day, one of Esau’s kids would destroy Jacob and get the birthright and blessing back in Esau’s hands. Amalek was the one descendant of Esau with the most drive to get Esau’s birthright and blessing back. That war is still ongoing today. That war had a chance to end with Saul if he would obey what Torah said:

Deuteronomy25:17  Remember what Amalek did to you by the way as you came out of Egypt;
Deuteronomy25:18  how he met you by the way, and struck the rearmost of you, all who were feeble behind you, when you were faint and weary; and he didn’t fear God.
Deuteronomy25:19  Therefore it shall be, when Yahweh your God has given you rest from all your enemies all around, in the land which Yahweh your God gives you for an inheritance to possess it, that you shall blot out the memory of Amalek from under the sky. You shall not forget. 

YHVH rightfully destroys the enemies of His Kingdom and His people. Rather than showing Him to be an angry, bloodthirsty deity, YHVH is a protector of His people! Those who are not His people don’t understand it and they don’t like it! Too bad! Even YHVH’s archenemy, Heylel, is going down for the final time. He will be utterly destroyed in eternal flames. Don’t like it? Too bad! YHVH has the right to rid the earth of what doesn’t belong here – sin, and those who live in sin.

1 Samuel 15:4  Saul summoned the people, and counted them in Telaim, two hundred thousand footmen, and ten thousand men of Judah.
1 Samuel 15:5  Saul came to the city of Amalek, and set an ambush in the valley.
1 Samuel 15:6  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 children of Israel, when they came up out of Egypt.” So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites.
1 Samuel 15:7  Saul struck the Amalekites, from Havilah as you go to Shur, that is before Egypt.
1 Samuel 15:8  He took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.
1 Samuel 15:9  But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, of the cattle, and of the fat calves, and the lambs, and all that was good, and were not willing to utterly destroy them; but everything that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly. 

Sparing Agag also spared his wife. This act of defiance put Saul squarely in alliance with Agag from YHVH’s point of view. Another of the things that people don’t like is that YHVH’s ways are black and white. You are either with Him or you are against Him. Saul had put himself squarely in the enemy’s camp without even making a formal alliance with Agag.

Furthermore, Saul was setting up his own tribe, Benjamin, along with Judah, Simeon and Levi for persecution in another 550 years. This is because Agag’s pregnant wife fled to another place where Amalek was hiding: Elam. How did she flee? Saul’s army let her slip away.

Elam would later be called Persia and it is there where one of Agag’s descendants would try to kill the all the Jews in another 550 years. His name was Haman. We can read about Haman the Agagite by name in Esther 3:1 and 10. Do you think Saul had any inkling that future generations would suffer because of his sin? Sinners never do! How often we hear someone say that what they do is only hurting them. Not so! Our sins, even those we keep in secret, defile and cause suffering for others. Sin has long arms!

1 Samuel 15:10  Then Yahweh’s word came to Samuel, saying,
1 Samuel 15:11  “It grieves me that I have set up Saul to be king; for he has turned back from following me, and has not performed my commandments.” Samuel was angry; and he cried to Yahweh all night.
1 Samuel 15:12  Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning; and Samuel was told, saying, “Saul came to Carmel, and behold, he set up a monument for himself, and turned, and passed on, and went down to Gilgal.” 

The monument is simply ‘yad’ (Strong’s H3027), meaning “hand”. This is sometimes rendered as a ‘monument’. The first use of ‘yad’ in scripture is:

Genesis 3:22 And the YHVH Elohim said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever:

Saul’s sign, his “hand”, was again as a usurper, not a willing and obedient servant. His own hand had saved Israel, according to Saul! Sparing Agag and his wife and taking the cattle which were under the ban by YHVH (meaning they were His because this was HIS victory, not Saul’s), was a direct affront and an “in your face” sign that Saul was not about to let YHVH be control of Israel. For Saul, YHVH Elohim has nothing to say about it! This kind of affrontery is deliberate. There was now no mistaking his intentions. Yet, see how he feigns obeisance.

1 Samuel 15:13  Samuel came to Saul; and Saul said to him, “You are blessed by Yahweh. I have performed the commandment of Yahweh.” 

Saul was the epitome of those who think the external performance is what YHVH wants.

1 Samuel 15:14  Samuel said, “Then what does this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the cattle which I hear mean?” 

1 Samuel 15:15  Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites; for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the cattle, to sacrifice to Yahweh your God. We have utterly destroyed the rest.” 

The last time he disobeyed, it was because “the people were leaving me, so I forced myself (1 Samuel 13:12)” and now it is “the PEOPLE, the PEOPLE,  the PEOPLE” who did it.

When YHVH asked Adam how he knew he was naked, Adam’s answer was “SHE made me do it!”. Adam was the victim, and now Saul is the victim. Those same people had fasted to their own detriment during a heavy day of battle with the Philistines to follow Saul’s orders, and now they had become suddenly uncontrollable by Saul? They would fight all day without food because Saul told them to but they wouldn’t listen to him if he said they could not take the animals or spare Amalek’s King and his wife?

Who was behind the situation in the garden? Satan! Who was behind Saul’s continued rebellion? Satan! Saul kept falling into Satan’s hands. He may have been just a rebellious egotist but the son of perdition, who Saul is a type and shadow of, will be a willing servant of Satan.

1 Samuel 15:16  Then Samuel said to Saul, “Stay, and I will tell you what Yahweh said to me last night.” He said to him, “Say on.”
1 Samuel 15:17  Samuel said, “Though you were little in your own sight, weren’t you made the head of the tribes of Israel? Yahweh anointed you king over Israel;
1 Samuel 15:18  and Yahweh sent you on a journey, and said, ‘Go, and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.’
1 Samuel 15:19  Why then didn’t you obey Yahweh’s voice, but took the plunder, and did that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight?” 

That same order had been given to the Israelites at the battle of Jericho. All that was within the walls was to be killed. All the animals and possessions of the people of Jericho belonged to YHVH. That is called being “banned”, “under the ban”, “devoted”. The Hebrew word is ‘cherem’ (Strong’s H2764). It means that nothing belongs to the people. It all belongs to YHVH. Achan and his entire family were judged, condemned and executed for violating the terms of ‘cherem’. He and his family took the plunder from Jericho (Joshua 7) that belongs to YHVH. Now, Saul has allowed Israel to take what belonged to YHVH claiming weakness against the people, a lie as I have pointed out. Saul was not weak. He was rebellious! But he claimed otherwise.

1 Samuel 15:20  Saul said to Samuel, “But I have obeyed Yahweh’s voice, and have gone the way which Yahweh sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.
1 Samuel 15:21  But the people took of the plunder, sheep and cattle, the chief of the devoted things, to sacrifice to Yahweh your God in Gilgal.” 

People use this passage and others like it to teach that YHVH doesn’t really want sacrifices. Not true! He wants our obedience first and our sacrifices second! He wants both but Saul thought that the excuse of sacrificing to YHVH with Amalek’s flock and herds would change YHVH’s mind about those animals being under the ban.

The only part of YHVH’s command obeyed by Saul was going to war with Amalek. All the rest – sparing Agag and keeping the plunder – was rebellion. The serpent in the garden had whispered to Eve asking if God had REALLY spoken about not eating of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. YHVH had but the cunning voice of Satan put doubt in her mind. Satan had whispered to Saul, “Wouldn’t God be pleased that you have spared Agag to shame him and have used his herds and flocks as offerings to Him”? Saul believed his own will could be superimposed over YHVH’s. He would be pleased with such a multitude of sacrifices.

This is what people think. They think that YHVH is a God of blood. The voracious spilling of innocent blood is not what the sacrifices are for. It is not the spilling of blood which YHVH wants; He wants our obedience.

What is the purpose of the sacrifices beyond those commanded for sin? What is the purpose of the peace and thanksgiving offerings? He wants us to come to His table offering to Him His food in which we share. It’s a dinner! With YHVH! We sit at His table and commune with Him in a setting that is as much face-to-face as we can get. It is communion. It is meat for His table just as we eat meat at our own tables. YHVH said of His priests: 

Leviticus 21:6  They shall be holy to their God, and not profane the name of their God; for they offer the offerings of Yahweh made by fire, the bread of their God; therefore they shall be holy. 

Leviticus 21:8  You shall sanctify him therefore; for he offers the bread of your God. He shall be holy to you; for I Yahweh, who sanctify you, am holy. 

Ezekiel 41:22  The altar was of wood, three cubits high, and its length two cubits. Its corners, its length, and its walls were of wood. He said to me, “This is the table that is before Yahweh.” 

Just as our own tables upon which we place our meat is not indicative of bloodthirst, neither does putting our offerings on YHVH’s table to share a meal in communion with Him constitute His bloodthirst.

It is when we sin that innocent blood must atone. This should be impetus enough for us to not sin. However, for Saul there will now be no forgiveness. No second chances. No need to spill the blood of a sin sacrifice because it won’t be accepted.

1 Samuel 15:22  Samuel said, “Has Yahweh as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying Yahweh’s voice? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.
1 Samuel 15:23  For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as idolatry and teraphim. Because you have rejected Yahweh’s word, he has also rejected you from being king.” 

Saul had not listened to instruction during his coronation week; he had failed to listen this time, as well. And his rebellion is equated to witchcraft; his stubbornness to idolatry and teraphim.

Witchcraft and idolatry go hand in hand. A teraphim was an image of one’s ancestor(s). Having this image led to consulting with or praying to the ancestor(s). Yeshua said we must leave our families in order to follow him. This means not having their images and not consulting with or praying to them.

1 Samuel 15:24  Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned; for I have transgressed the commandment of Yahweh, and your words, because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice. 

The lesson is not fear anyone’s voice but YHVH’s. However, Saul’s simpering, weak apology was too little, too late, a warning for the rest of us.

1 Samuel 15:25  Now therefore, please pardon my sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship Yahweh.”
1 Samuel 15:26  Samuel said to Saul, “I will not return with you; for you have rejected Yahweh’s word, and Yahweh has rejected you from being king over Israel.”
1 Samuel 15:27  As Samuel turned around to go away, Saul grabbed the skirt of his robe, and it tore.
1 Samuel 15:28  Samuel said to him, “Yahweh has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today, and has given it to a neighbor of yours who is better than you. 

Saul has completely failed the test which may have given him some reprieve and now the Kingdom would go Benjamin’s neighbor, Judah. Samuel had told Saul the first time he sinned against YHVH:

1 Samuel 13:14  But now your kingdom will not continue. Yahweh has sought for himself a man after his own heart, and Yahweh has appointed him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept that which Yahweh commanded you.” 

The man after God’s own heart would turn out to be David as is testified to in Acts 13:12.

1 Samuel 15:29  Also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent; for he is not a man, that he should repent.” 

In other words, “Saul, you’re done!”

1 Samuel 15:30  Then he said, “I have sinned; yet please honor me now before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and come back with me, that I may worship Yahweh your God.” 

Saul now admits to sinning but does not offer repentance. He is only concerned with appearances. He wants only that the people will still honor him as King.

1 Samuel 15:31  So Samuel went back with Saul; and Saul worshiped Yahweh. 

No sin offering was given. This was probably a thanksgiving or peace offering done in the sight of the people to pacify their guilt without getting them forgiveness.

1 Samuel 15:32  Then Samuel said, “Bring Agag the king of the Amalekites here to me!” Agag came to him cheerfully. Agag said, “Surely the bitterness of death is past.”
1 Samuel 15:33  Samuel said, “As your sword has made women childless, so your mother will be childless among women!” Then Samuel cut Agag in pieces before Yahweh in Gilgal.
1 Samuel 15:34  Then Samuel went to Ramah; and Saul went up to his house to Gibeah of Saul.
1 Samuel 15:35  Samuel came no more to see Saul until the day of his death; for Samuel mourned for Saul: and Yahweh grieved that he had made Saul king over Israel. 

Saul had passed his point of no return and this time, Samuel and YHVH will remain alienated and estranged from Saul forever. But Israel… Israel will now get a merciful second chance to have a righteous King through Saul’s replacement, David. But there will be a struggle to get to that glorious Kingdom. God willing, we will study that struggle next.