The Grands Letter (1 Sam/GLJ)
Dear Grands,
1 Samuel 15:1-11, Then Samuel said to Saul, “The LORD sent me to anoint you as king over His people, over Israel; now therefore, listen to the words of the LORD.
2 “Thus says the LORD of hosts, ‘I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, how he set himself against him on the way while he was coming up from Egypt.
3 ‘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.'”
4 Then Saul summoned the people and numbered them in Telaim, 200,000 foot soldiers and 10,000 men of Judah.
5 Saul came to the city of Amalek and set an ambush in the valley.
6 Saul said to the Kenites, “Go, depart, go down from among the Amalekites, so that I do not destroy you with them; for you showed kindness to all the sons of Israel when they came up from Egypt.” So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites.
7 So Saul defeated the Amalekites, from Havilah as you go to Shur, which is east of Egypt.
8 He captured Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.
9 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.
10 Then the word of the LORD came to Samuel, saying,
11 “I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following Me and has not carried out My commands.”
I was a long way from being exciting when I was in high school sports. Still, I listened to the coach and sought to implement his instructions. He was much older than I and was being paid to tell all of us what to do to win the game. He had positively told us to work the ball in toward the goal; however, we were not to shoot long shots! But as I brought the ball down the court, I saw an opening and took the shot! It split the net without ever touching the rim. Strangely enough, the coach never rebuked me for going against his directive.
It was different, however, with Saul. The war against the Philistines was severe all the days of Saul; and when Saul saw any mighty man or any valiant man, he attached him to his staff. Yet, when a severe situation arose, Saul called on Samuel who was the spiritual leader of Israel and lived closely to the LORD. It was Samuel who advised Saul to “strike Amalek and utterly destroy all that he has…” Saul did as he was told and destroyed the entirety of the Amalekites! There was just one problem: Saul and the people had spared Agag, the king of the Amalekites.
It was then that Samuel said, “For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He has also rejected you from being king.” Always pay attention to the LORD! He is more than a coach; He’s the Spiritual Commander-in-Chief!
Heartily in Christ
Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.
United States of America
“We will never know that Christ is all that we need, Until He becomes all that we have.” – Corrie ten Boom