King Saul – As Long as It Glorifies God

Paul said, “For whatever things were written before were written for our learning,
that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.”
(Rom. 15:4 NKJV) The NIV translates the first part of that verse as follows, “For
everything that was written in the past was written to teach us.”

Paul had reference primarily to the writings found in the Old Testament when he
made that statement. As we read the Old Testament we need to be thinking what
is the lesson in this passage or account that is applicable to me today? What is in it
for my learning? We should never read the Old Testament just as history but rather
as history that is meant to teach and leave lessons for those of us living today.

Every Bible student who has been a student any length of time is aware of Samuel’s
encounter with King Saul as Saul returned from the slaughter of the Amalekites.
Saul had been commanded by God through Samuel to go and put to death every
living Amalekite and to destroy everything they had. (1 Sam. 15:3) He disobeyed
sparing the life of King Agag, king of the Amalekites, and the best of the livestock
bringing them back to Israel. (1 Sam. 15:9) Samuel in his meeting with Saul utters
the famous statement I here quote.

“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 heed than the fat
of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and
idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he also has rejected you
from being king.” (1 Sam. 15:22-23 NKJV)

The word “stubbornness” found in the NKJV here is an interesting word. In other
translations the Greek word behind this translation is translated “presumption” in
the ESV and NET, “insolence” in the LITV, “insubordination” in the NAS, and
“arrogance” in the NIV. The meaning seems to be that Saul was determined to do
his will rather than God’s. Would he dare do it? He did. But why? Surely he had
some fear of God.

Because he had the same idea many men have today who believe they are pleasing
God all the while clearly being disobedient to his word. They consider themselves
godly men and would defend themselves as Saul did before Samuel, at least as long
as he could. (1 Sam. 15:20-21) The idea is prevalent today that we can do
whatever we want to in our Christian work and worship just so we give glory to God,
or as some might say as long as God receives the glory.

That was exactly the case with King Saul. God said destroy all these animals but
Saul’s thinking is we will take the best back and sacrifice them to God back in Israel.
He will receive glory in our doing so, he will be pleased. Friend there is arrogance,
presumption, insolence, call it what you will in that kind of thinking. We will disobey
God in order to please him. Sounds ridiculous does it not but that is the way much
of Christendom thinks today, just like King Saul.

The Bible could not be any clearer than it is on the subject of homosexuality as all
know but we presume to know more than God about it and think he will be pleased
when we condone it and receive into fellowship the unrepentant individual
practicing it as long as we say “he is in a committed relationship.”

Paul’s teaching on women preachers and leaders of the church again is as clear as
crystal clear water. Read 1 Cor. 14:34-37. Paul closes that section by saying, “If
anyone thinks himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the
things which I write to you are the commandments of the Lord.” (1 Cor. 14:37 NKJV)
Read also 1 Tim. 2:12-13. But we are like Saul. We will do our own thing and
presume a little, be a little arrogant, be a little insolent. We will give God glory in
the way we see fit – through women preaching and being church leaders.

I never have figured out how a woman is going to be an elder, a bishop, a pastor, in
view of the fact that the qualification for such is that the individual must be “the
husband of one wife.” (1 Tim. 3:2 NKJV) But, when we are like Saul and make our
own rules anything goes and anything does go today in the religious world, even
among those mankind calls Christians whether they be that or not.

Whatever we want to do we can justify ourselves just as King Saul justified himself
before Samuel. We can justify ourselves and get by with it today for we have no
prophets around, no apostles, no inspired men to rebuke us but we will get by only
so long for “all things are naked and open to the eyes of him to whom we must give
account.” (Heb. 4:13 NKJV)

Samuel said this stubbornness, arrogance, presumption (depending on your

translation) was as iniquity and idolatry. Why would he say that? The Keil and
Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament in dealing with this verse makes an
excellent point. I quote, “All conscious disobedience is actually idolatry, because it
makes self-will, the human I, into a god. So that all manifest opposition to the word
and commandment of God is, like idolatry, a rejection of the true God.” Amen!

Saul’s sin was in actuality rebellion against God. There was a new god in Israel –
King Saul. That was his sin and it is our sin when we decide that for all practical
purposes we are going to make the Bible mean what we want it to mean despite
what it says. We will explain all of those old troublesome passages away to fit
modern society. We will make the Bible into a living document (a document we get
to change as suits us to go along with the changing culture) just like we have been
trying to do with our own Constitution and for the same reason, we are not satisfied
with it the way it is. Do words mean anything anymore? Yes, they mean what we
want them to mean. It depends on what the meaning of “is” is. Remember that
one? That is the way we are. We write our own dictionaries in that we make words
mean what we want them to mean. We are trying to do the same thing with the
Bible.

God today speaks to us through his inspired word. When we take it and play around
with it foot loose and fancy free we do not honor him. One cannot honor God nor
give him glory by doing the opposite of what he has said to do. Have we learned
the lesson from that which was written “aforetime” (Rom. 15:4 KJV) as it pertains to
the lesson we should have learned from King Saul’s experience? I fear we have not.