Well, yes. He wants us to feel sorry for him, so that we begin to see ourselves in him and learn our lesson through him. He thinks he knows better than everyone else, including God.
For example, in 1 Samuel 13, he was told to wait for Samuel before offering sacrifices to God and initiating a battle with the Philistines. His self-ignorance is even greater in 1 Samuel 15, where God commands Saul to go and fight against the Amalekites this nation tried to wipe out the Israelites long ago when they had just escaped Egypt, see Exodus He was given clear instructions to thoroughly defeat the Amalekites.
However, Saul stopped short and allowed the soldiers to plunder the spoil, even though he was explicitly told to not let this happen. Samuel then calls Saul to account:. And why did you rush upon the spoil and do evil in the sight of the Lord? For I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord, and your words, because I feared the people, and listened to their voice. In just a few moments, he reveals one of his motivations for the show of remorse:.
Then Saul said, "I have sinned, but please honor me before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and turn back with me, that I may worship the Lord your God. He feared people when he should have feared God.
Moreover, he continued to worry about one thing in light of correction—his own reputation and honor. Saul is perpetually downplaying his role in the bad decisions he makes. He keeps bringing in other people as if they are responsible for his mistakes. When convicted of this sin, his response is less than admirable.
He never actually changes, and he perpetuates these behaviors until the end as he continues down a self-centered and prideful path.
Contrast this with David, who is characterized in these same chapters as radically obedient and trusting of Yahweh, which eventually leads to his rise as king and solidifies his lineage. These two characters provide us an opportunity for self-reflection so that we might find the blind-spots where our pride may be getting the best of us.
With only six hundred men, he had great need for divine help. Samuel had told him that he would come to make the required offerings before the battle. But as the Philistine horror built, Saul saw his people leaving. He took it upon himself to offer the required sacrifices as a means to hold people to him. When Samuel arrived, he condemned Saul. In a moment of zeal, Saul proclaimed a day of fasting.
He meant to secure the help of the Lord in winning a victory. But impetuously, he ruled that anyone who broke the fast should die. In the course of the battle that developed, Jonathan scooped some honey from a honeycomb and ate it. Immediately, the soldiers took this as justification for breaking the fast, killing the animals they captured, even eating the meat with the blood, contrary to the law of Moses. When King Saul heard this, he quickly called for all to come to a central place so the meat could be rightly slaughtered and cooked, and the proper offerings made.
After the victory feasting was over, Saul again sought guidance from the Lord, but God did not answer. Saul blamed his separation from the Lord on the broken fast instead of on his own disobedience. He cried out that the man who caused this should die. Saul then changed his mind, granting his son amnesty. The Lord commanded Saul to destroy the Amalekites—every man, woman, and child; every ox, sheep, and camel; everything that belonged to the Amalekites.
So Saul chased the enemy from Havilah to Shur, but he allowed his people to bring home the best sheep and oxen.
Saul himself captured the Amalekite king, Agag, and proudly brought him back alive. Confronted by Samuel, Saul made many excuses. This is a high, climactic moment in the drama—the old prophet, loving Saul as a father loves an erring son, yet determined to deliver his fateful message from God, and Saul, desolate, convicted, lamely trying to justify himself but unable to do so.
Samuel reminded Saul that the Lord had taken him when he was nothing and made him king over Israel, but now, when the Lord commanded him, he did not obey. Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice. Saul broke. It tore. This was the tragic moment of truth for Saul. And when the sacrifices were over, Samuel left, never to see Saul again in this life. In fiction, tragic heroes struggle valiantly against their reversed fortune. Saul was no quitter. He was no coward. But he was proud and would not repent.
Realizing that his blessings and kingdom had indeed been given to another, he looked about to see who this might be. Before long, he decided that it was his foster son David, youthful hero of the combat with Goliath. Despite his sin, David never followed in the same tragic footsteps as King Saul. Our website uses cookies to store user preferences. By proceeding, you consent to our cookie usage. Please see our Privacy Policy for cookie usage details. We may request cookies to be set on your device.
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Very little; in fact, none at all. So when he says that Saul asked who he was, he was lying for two reasons. He was far away from the scene where Saul was killed. How would he have ever had any contact with Saul? He would have had to be in the battle for Saul to talk with him. Saul, apparently, told the Amalekite twice to kill him.
But why would he have been talking to the Amalekite? What time would he have had as a wounded man to even address the Amalekite? If the armorbearer died after Saul, and Saul died before him, then how would any of this imaginary conversation with the Amalekite have happened? In the sequence of events, when could it have happened? Was he omniscient? Was he a medical doctor? How then, could he kill Saul on his own personal estimation?
He was hoping that claim credit would promote him in the eyes of David. The Amalekite took advantage of a vulnerable situation because there were no witnesses the armorbearer and King Saul had died , so no one could vouch for the conversation or contradict it. And yet, what happened to the Amalekite was unlike anything the Amalekite believed in his mind:.
David and his men mourned for Saul and Jonathan, as well as the nation, because of what had happened. This tells us that David had no way of knowing.
The name of one was Baanah and the name of the other Rechab, the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, of the children of Benjamin. For Beeroth also was part of Benjamin, 3 because the Beerothites fled to Gittaim and have been sojourners there until this day.
He was five years old when the news about Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel; and his nurse took him up and fled. And it happened, as she made haste to flee, that he fell and became lame.
His name was Mephibosheth. Then Rechab and Baanah his brother escaped. Therefore, shall I not now require his blood at your hand and remove you from the earth? But they took the head of Ishbosheth and buried it in the tomb of Abner in Hebron. Keep in mind that Saul and his son Jonathan, among other sons of his, all died in the battle against the Philistines.
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