1 Samuel 15:1-35

Family Foundations: Authority in the Home

Strong families have a number of characteristics including spiritual foundations. They are characterized as having a strong commitment to an intimate love relationship with God.

Another characteristic of a strong family is its respect and commitment to authority in and outside the home. Let’s talk about what is probably the biggest sin in America. We live in what has been described as a talk–back, fight–back, get–even, I’ll sue you society. What some of us saw and experienced in the early 60’s in the incipient seeds of defiance, resistance, rebellion and violence has come to full bloom at the turn of this century. We have reaped the consequences of a generation that has been taught to question and have disrespect for all authority. Like the people in Israel in the time of the Judges, "There was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in their own eyes" (Judges 21:25).

Policemen are no longed looked upon with respect and a badge of courage and authority. The classroom teacher is no longer respected and obeyed. The reprimand of the employer no longer brings needed behavioral change in employees. The elderly are no longer treated with dignity and honor. Saddest of all, I observe almost daily that parents are no longer esteemed in their own homes, and husbands and fathers are no longer considered the "head of the home." This did not happen over night.

Let's examine for a few moments in First Samuel chapter fifteen a king who defied God and the terrible consequences of his rebellion in his life and family.

The LORD God chose Saul to be the first king of Israel, after He had delivered them out of slavery in Egypt. As a theocracy God was King in Israel, and the human king on the throne was His representative. Yahweh is the sovereign King of Israel. He chose Saul and anointed him to lead His people.

The LORD sent the prophet Samuel with a message to king Saul. "Now go and strike Amalek and utterly destroy all that he has, and do not spare him; but put to death both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey" (v. 3).

Doesn't this seem extremely cruel for a loving God? Why would He do this to the Amalekites? Why did God give such a barbaric command to His chosen people? The Amalekites were the first heathen nation to attack Israel after she was delivered out of Egyptian slavery. God warned them through Moses and Joshua. However, they manifested the same aggressive hostility to the people of God in the days of Samuel as they had from the very beginning. They refused to cease their hostilities against Israel. Keep in mind, Israel was battling for their very existence in a pagan and hostile environment. These pagan neighbors of Israel were like a spiritual cancer eating away their very existence. The cancer had to be removed or their life as a nation would cease.

King Saul was a king under submission of the sovereign King of Kings. Who is the king of Israel? Yahweh is. Saul is only an instrument of the sovereignty of Yahweh. King Saul marshaled his troops and came up with over two hundred thousand warriors. He set an ambush and with God's help "defeated the Amalekites" (v. 7). He "captured Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword" (v. 8).

Like King Saul, we are people under authority. God has spoken to us through His Word. It is not a matter of debate. It is an attitude and act of obedience. How are we doing with our battle against the spiritual cancers, and pagan gods in our lives? The Lord calls upon us to make some radical changes in our attitudes and behaviors. Jesus said, "If any one wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me" (Matthew 16:24). Pop religion in our days promotes just the opposite, don’t deny yourself any pleasure or desire. Don’t let yourself, or anyone or anything stand in your way. Get all you can get for yourself.

But God insists that He be Lord and Master of our lives. When I take up my cross daily it is with an attitude that I submit to His sovereign rule in my life. Martin Luther said, "The old man dies hard." Our old sinful "flesh" nature was not annihilated when we became Christians. The flesh is to become increasingly subdued as we learn to walk in the Holy Spirit, but it is never eliminated until we stand before the Lord Jesus Christ in glory. Often, the word "flesh" represents all in our human nature that rebels against God and is in opposition to Him. We are called upon daily to kill some "Amalekites" in our lives. Our old fleshly nature wants to fight for our selfish rights and our selfish reputation. It is a constant reminder that I can do nothing in the flesh that pleases Him. Am I willing to daily put to death all that is in opposition to Christ in my life?

Verse nine unveils the naked truth about what happened. There was a cover-up as broad as Washington and Moscow. "But Saul . . . " the contrast is strong. "But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were not willing to destroy them utterly; but everything despised and worthless, that they utterly destroyed." "But Saul . . . spared Agag, and the best of the sheep . . . and were not willing to destroy them utterly . . ."

There was no excuse for his disobedience. It was open defiant rebellion against the sovereign God. Why did Saul spare the "best of the sheep"? Selfishness. Let's keep the best and destroy the "despised and worthless."

His attitude was no body is going to tell me what to do. I know what is best for my life. I know what is best for the nation. Don't pause for one moment and blame "the people." They couldn't do anything without permission of the king. Saul was defiant. He did not do what God clearly commanded him to do.

We live in a day of open defiance toward all authority in every sector of life. Like Saul I don't like dying to my old nature. I want to do things "my way." I don't like interference. I am man enough to take charge. I like my way of doing things. I like to have my self-esteem stroked; I glory in my ego-strength. I take pride in what I do. Why kill the Amalekites when everyone else is enjoying their presence? If everyone else is a sinner, too, then why don't we just join in and enjoy our sin nature? Why do I have to die to all good pleasures?

The great majority of people, if not living in flagrant iniquity, are more concerned that others will think that they fulfill the will of God in their lives. We want to make ourselves look good.

We live in a day of open defiance toward the authority of God. God gave us His laws out of love to protect our wellbeing.

"The word of the LORD came to Samuel, saying, 'I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following Me, and has not carried out My commands.' And Samuel was distressed and cried out to the LORD all night" (vv. 10-11).

Saul played mind games with the prophet Samuel. He rationalized away the sovereignty of God, and excused his rebellion.

Samuel went out looking for King Saul to deliver God's message to him. As he searched for the king the people told him, "Saul came to Carmel, and behold, he set up a monument for himself . . ." (v. 12). Saul was taking glory for a job well done! He deceived himself. He blinded his own eyes to his defiant attitude.

In his own self-deception Saul told Samuel a half-truth, or at least tried to give a false impression (v. 13). Just wanted to let you know I did what the Lord told me to do." He sounds so pious. "Blessed are you of the LORD! I have carried out the command of the LORD." He lied!

As we see in the context Saul became defensive and tried to blame it on the people. He was king. They didn’t do anything without his permission.

God saw through it all. Saul replied, "What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?" (vv. 14-15). I know the sound of sheep bleating. I know what the oxen sound like when they are lowing. Give me a break. Where did you get them?

Then Saul became super religious and changed it to we "spared the best of the sheep and oxen, to sacrifice to the LORD your God" (v. 15b). Now you understand that "the rest we have utterly destroyed." Come on and join us in worship as we celebrate what God has done! We are going to take all these animals and have a great super celebration in worship and praise to our great God for His great deliverance. Come see what God did! Let's celebrate!

"Wait, and let me tell you what the LORD said to me last night," replied Samuel (v. 16). God didn't buy into the deceit.

Saul, what you did was willful disobedience (vv. 18-19). Disobedience is evil in the sight of the LORD. "The LORD anointed you king over Israel . . . the Lord sent you on a mission . . . Why then did you not obey the voice of the LORD . . . and do what was evil in the sight of the LORD?" (vv. 17-19). There is nothing like a healthy dose of confrontation with our guilt.

Saul couldn’t offer these animals up to God as a sacrifice because it was already His. What was "banned" to the Lord could not be offered to Him as a burnt offering (Leviticus 27:29; Deuteronomy 13:16).

King Saul steadfastly kept up his rationalization and blame game. "I did obey the voice of the LORD, and went on the mission on which the LORD sent me . . ." Look man, here is the evidence that I did it. I "have brought back Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites" (v. 20). Is that what God told him to do? No. He was to spare no one, not even the king.

Ah, but the people did it. I don't really have any control over the people. You know I watch the polls, and they are a good indication of what the people are thinking. "But the people took some of the spoil . . ." that was already devoted to destruction "to sacrifice to the LORD your God at Gilgal" (v. 21).

At that point the old prophet's blood begins to boil over.

As with all willful rebellion and deceit there is a costly price to pay. For the individual who rejects God’s offer of grace "the wages of sin is death." But even in the believer’s life rebellion is serious business. How tragic when the Christian is rebellious and deceitful. He is not the only one who suffers.

"And Samuel was distressed and cried out to the LORD all night . . . And Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death . . ." (vv. 10, 35). There is not a pastor who loves the Lord and his people who hasn't experienced what the prophet Samuel experienced. Don't think for one moment that God's servants don't grieve over the sin of God's people. Often, that grief becomes overwhelming and they can only go in and fall upon their faces before the Lord God and cry out to Him. When the sin of a fellow believer affects their family, a congregation or a community the burden is exceedingly heavy.

No man is an island unto himself. Your sin has negative effects upon those who love you. You don’t commit adultery and it not affect your family and loved ones. You don’t lie and it not have tragic results on your home. You don’t meddle with the occult, new age movements and cults without destroying you and your home spiritually. You don’t covet without paying a price. Those who love you the most feel it deeply.

The LORD said to Samuel, "I regret that I have made Saul king . . ." "Repent" when used of God is not a good translation. God is not declaring any changeableness in His divine nature, but the expression of sorrow in His heart at the rebellion of Saul. Cf. V. 29. Saul turned from obediently walking with God to go his own selfish, rebellious ways. In v. 12 "he set up a monument for himself." That is what we do when we turn from God.

Obedience is the sacrifice God requires from us in worship (v. 22). How easy it is to get side tracked in things we do for God and forget our intimate love relationship with Him. If we love Him we will obey Him. It we love Him that will take care of our obedience problem.

Saul was more concerned about his appearance before the people (v. 30).

For the believer it is a matter of returning to God and confessing our rebellious nature to Him and daily asking the Holy Spirit to take control of our lives. To the church at Ephesus Jesus said, "But I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first . . . " (Revelation 2:4-5). Moreover, God has given us a bar of spiritual soap, let us use it often. "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9). This is the first step to renewing our fellowship with Him.

His family suffered the lost of their heritage because of their father’s rebellion. His son Jonathan lost his life and his throne because of his father’s disobedience. "Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He has also rejected you from being king" (v. 23). "The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today, and has given it to your neighbor who is better than you" (v. 28). "When God looks upon a sin, directs His glance toward it, He must punish it according to His own holiness" (Keil and Delitzsch). From that moment on God worked behind the scene in Israel to remove Saul as king and anoint David in his place.

How easy it is for us to lose our testimony before our family and friends when we are unfaithful to the Lord. Too often, such a testimony is irreparable. So much is at stake in our daily walk with Christ.

What is the answer to rebellion?

You can heal the wound, but you cannot always remove the scar. Our Latin-American friends have a saying, "You can’t unscramble the eggs." Claim God’s forgiveness and learn from this experience.

Get your priorities with God straight. Matthew 6:33

Do you have a young rebel in your home? A rebellious nature is established in the home when parents relinquish control of their child. What are the attitudes of his parents toward authority? Is there a rebellious, defiant parent? What is our attitude toward authority? Do we question everybody on everything? If so, why? Is it because of a rebellious nature? What is your attitude toward a sovereign God? What about Jesus Christ as Lord and Master of all areas of your life? How do you treat the word of God? Do you fudge or bend the 10 commandments? Do you rationalize your attitudes and behaviors? Do you rationalize away or compromise the clear commands of God? We can become so self–deceived that we think everyone is buying into our rationalization to excuse our behavior. They just aren’t honest enough to tell us the truth. We are the only ones in the dark. The worst rationalizations I observe have to deal with marriages and excuses for getting out of them, home life, reasons for getting a divorce, discipline problems with children, etc.

A defiant, rebellious nature doesn’t just happen over night. Some parents and their children never learn this painful lesson on submissiveness until behind bars. Frankly, some Christians never learn to master their rebellious nature and spend their lives under the rod of God. Have you ever been down on your face before god and cried out, "Please, don't hit me anymore"?

Let me conclude with a true story that James Dobson tells about an obnoxious defiant child and how an elderly dentist dealt with him in his office.

Let’s pray that God will never have to call a bluff on you or me. Let’s keep our hearts tender toward Him and in sweet fellowship with Him. Draw your strength to overcome sin and remain faithful by drawing upon the indwelling presence of Christ.