The Book of SamuelSample

The Rejection of Saul as King: 1 Samuel 13:1-15:35

Samuel’s ominous warning at the end of the establishment of Saul as king, sets the stage for what follows. In 13:1-15:35, we read of God’s rejection of Saul as king.

Throughout these chapters, the author of Samuel repeatedly noted how Saul violated God’s regulations for worship and His commands for Israel’s kings. And, as a result, God poured out the curses of His covenant and rejected Saul and his descendants from the throne of Israel. 

Our author’s record of Saul’s rejection consists of a number of episodes that fall into two main groups: Saul’s earlier rejection, in 1 Samuel 13:1-14:52 and Saul’s final rejection in 15:1-35.

In Saul’s earlier rejection we see a series of battles between Saul and the Philistines. These battles begin with Israel’s initial attack against the Philistines in 13:1-4. We immediately have a glimpse into Saul’s heart and his mistreatment of God’s people because he sent them into battle while he himself remained at a safe distance. And more than this, when Saul’s son Jonathan led a victory over the Philistines, Saul claimed the victory for himself.

After Israel’s initial attack, the account turns to Israel’s preparations for a Philistine counter-attack in 13:5-15. Saul called the people to stand ready for battle, but the people were filled with fear and hid in caves and among the rocks. When the army began to scatter, Saul panicked and presented burnt and peace offerings to God in direct defiance of Samuel’s directives. Samuel had ordered Saul to wait for his arrival to offer sacrifices before battle. But Saul chose to make the sacrifices himself, rather than leading his army to fear God and rely on God for protection. When Samuel finally arrived, he announced God’s words of judgment because Saul had violated the worship of God. 

In 13:14, Samuel said this to Saul:

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.

Our author’s account of Saul’s earlier rejection continues with Israel’s ensuing battle with the Philistines in 13:16-14:46. To begin with, we learn yet another way that Saul abused his royal authority. Recklessly, he neglected to provide his army with iron swords and spears. Rather, he only provided them for himself and his son Jonathan.

Our author also pointed out that Saul stayed away from the battle at first. It was only after Jonathan sprang into action with great faith in God, and the Philistines went into a panic, that Saul engaged the battle. But even then, Saul violated the worship of God. Saul called for Ahijah the priest to bring the ark of God to him so that they could prepare for battle. But when the Philistines’ attack seemed imminent, Saul stopped the priest and rushed into battle without proper preparation. 

Saul went on to abuse his army even more. Saul was so eager to pursue the Philistines that he declared a curse on any soldier who stopped to eat. Ironically, Jonathan — not knowing about this threat — ate a bit of honey. And when Saul’s soldiers rebuked him, Jonathan noted how foolish his father had been. In 14:29-30, Jonathan said, “My father has troubled the land… How much better if the people had eaten freely today … For now the defeat among the Philistines has not been great.”

After the battle, Saul’s insistence that his soldiers not eat led to another serious violation of worship. Saul’s men were so hungry that they hastily slaughtered and devoured the animals from the spoil, including the blood — a practice strictly forbidden in Leviticus 17:10. It was only after Saul was reminded that this practice violated God’s law that he built an altar for his men to slaughter their animals as God had commanded. And our author minimized Saul’s efforts further by commenting in 14:35, “It was the first altar that he built to the Lord.”

At that point, Saul finally inquired of God for guidance, but according to 14:37, “God did not answer him that day.” Now, with the help of the priests, Saul learned that God did not answer him because Jonathan had violated the foolish oath Saul had required of his army. And once again Saul revealed his oppressive rule by ordering that Jonathan — who had led the battle — must die. It was only because the soldiers paid a ransom for Jonathan that Saul did not execute him.

Finally, in 14:47-52, the author of Samuel closed his record of Saul’s earlier rejection with a summary of the battles during Saul’s reign and the officers who led his army. But he added this ominous note in verse 52: “There was hard fighting against the Philistines all the days of Saul.” In contrast with the victories God had given Samuel, God had so rejected Saul that he never decisively defeated the Philistines. And more than this, we also read in verse 52, “And when Saul saw any strong man, or any valiant man, he attached him to himself.” Just as Samuel had warned, Saul continued to oppress God’s people by conscripting as many as he could into his endless wars.

After reporting God’s earlier rejection of Saul, our author turned to Saul’s final rejection, in 15:1-35, where he reported on Saul’s battle with the Amalekites.

According to Exodus 17:14-16 and Numbers 24:20, God had commanded the total annihilation of the Amalekites because they had troubled Israel so much in the days of Moses. And before sending Saul into battle, Samuel explicitly reminded him of this divine decree, codified in the law of Moses.

But after winning a great victory over the Amalekites, Saul didn’t follow God’s command. According to 15:9, Saul and his men weren’t willing to destroy the best of the spoil. Instead, “All that was despised and worthless they devoted to destruction.” As we explain in other series, the phrase “devoted to destruction” translates the Hebrew verb charam. This terminology indicated that whatever God required for destruction in Israel’s wars was a worshipful sacrifice of praise to God. But Saul had turned so far from the worship of God at this point in his life that, not only did he withhold the best of the spoil from God, but in verse 12 we learn that he set up a monument to himself. And, when Samuel confronted Saul, Saul falsely blamed his army. 

So, in 15:28, just as the Lord had instructed, Samuel delivered these fateful words to Saul: 

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.

And Samuel added in verse 29 that God’s judgment was irreversible: 

The Glory of Israel will not lie or have regret, for he is not a man, that he should have regret.

Although Saul feigned repentance and sought forgiveness, God’s rejection of him was final. After Samuel put the king of the Amalekites to the sword, he left Saul and never saw him again. God had shown Saul benevolence for many years, but Saul had been so disloyal to God that he would no longer be king.