“And Samuel said to Saul, Thou hast done foolishly: thou hast not kept the commandment of the Lord thy God, which he commanded thee: for now would the Lord have established thy kingdom upon Israel for ever.   But now thy kingdom shall not continue: the Lord hath sought him a man after his own heart, and the Lord hath commanded him to be captain over his people, because thou hast not kept that which the Lord commanded thee” (1 Sam 13:13-14).

The story of Saul is one of the most fascinating, instructive, and saddest stories in the bible.  It’s interesting not only as part of the history of Israel, but as a character study.  Saul’s life has so many lessons for us – from it we can learn a lot about what to do and what not to do as Christians.   Furthermore, the story of Saul has all the elements of a Shakespearean tragedy:

• Murder
• Sin
• Deception
• Guilt
• Fear
• Madness and tormented emotions
• Witches
• Ghosts
• Suicide
• And everybody dies in the end

Unless we read the bible’s account of Saul for ourselves, we miss out on a great deal of what will be helpful for us.  Paul says that everything in the Old Testament was written for US so that we might have encouragement and hope (Rom 15:4).  Saul’s life, in particular, is teaching by illustration and example.  We learn from his mistakes.  We observe his life and are warned as we see his folly and the tragedy that resulted from it.  In short, as we look at Saul, we see what led to the fall of a good man.

Who was Saul? 

What sort of a person was Saul?  His story is told in the First Book of Samuel chapters 9-31; that’s more than half of that book!  And from that book we learn some of his characteristics; qualities that we, as Christians, ought to be striving for – some of them, at least. 

• Saul epitomizes ‘tall, dark and handsome’ (1 Sam 9:2)
• obedient to parents – 9:3
• considerate of parents – 9:5
• religious – 9:7
• humble – 9:21
• guided by God – 10:9
• Spirit-filled – 10:10
• patriotic – 11:1-7
• successful and brave – defeated the Amalekites in a pitched battle (1 Sam 15:7-8).  This was no mean feat because Amalek was “the first of the nations” in power (Num 24:7, 20).
• merciful – didn’t kill those who earlier opposed him – 10:27; 11:12-13
• great military leader – defeated all Israel’s enemies – 14:47-48
• leader of the people of God – 15:1-5

If Saul was a leader in today’s Church he would be thought of very highly, and would likely have a huge congregation and/or television audience.  He would be the Christian’s pin-up boy.

But Saul’s problem was that although he started off well, he didn’t finish so well.  He started off as a blazing light but went out with a fizz.

The Sin that Brought Saul Down

What happened that things changed so badly?  Well, he was told very specifically by God’s prophet what God wanted him to do.  He didn’t have to look at the bible, compare scripture with scripture, and try to sort out which way he should go – he was given a specific, detailed instruction directly from God.  “Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have; and spare them not, but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass” (1 Sam 15:3).

Ex-Christians and skeptics today love passages like this because they think they’re able to expose God for the tyrant they think he is.  But God has them in derision and laughs at such people (Ps 2:4-5).  And neither did Saul have to worry about the morality of such a command – indeed, he wasn’t worried about it – because that was in God’s hands.  All he had to do was exactly as he was told.  He was even allowed to choose his own time and method. 

God wanted the Amalekites exterminated – the people, the animals, the goods, everything – even their memory was to be blotted out.  It was to be absolute, complete, utter destruction, obliteration, and oblivion.  But why would a God of love and mercy issue a command of genocide?  Because the Amalekites had tried to destroy God’s people Israel (1 Sam 15:2).  When the people of Israel were escaping from Egypt, Pharaoh’s army pursued them to destroy them; but God turned the tables on Pharaoh and destroyed him with his army in the Red Sea (Exod 14:31).  God then led Israel into the wilderness of Sin (wherein is Mt Sinai).  It was during this time that they were attacked without provocation by Amalek (Exod 17:8-16). 

Consequently, God instructed Moses to “Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.   And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovah nissi:  For he said, Because the Lord hath sworn that the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation” (Exod 17:14-16).  God destroyed two nations for the sake of his own people, whom he regarded as his first-born son (Exod 4:22).  

So, Saul dutifully went out to battle with 210,000 troops and God gave him total victory.  They killed every living thing……except….well…..the best sheep, the best cattle, the best donkeys, the best camels……and the Amalekite king…but what is that between friends?  In other words, they only destroyed what they thought was worthless.  And in so doing, Saul disobeyed God.  It changed everything.

As a result, God rejected Saul as king.  Despite his earlier good deeds and qualities, Saul was rejected.  He had disobeyed God and his rejection was irrevocable: “…the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent: for he is not a man, that he should repent” (1 Sam 15:29).  This demonstrates the principle outlined in the prophet Ezekiel chapter 18:1-32.  And it is not to be taken lightly.  Saul thought he could justify keeping the best back from destruction; after all, wasn’t he going to offer the best of the best to God as a sacrifice?  How could God say “No” to that?   

Perhaps Saul, still in the first flush of his great victory, thought he was indispensable to God now; perhaps that God would be pleased to have all these nice fat animals sacrificed to him.  Whatever he thought and however he tried to cover his disobedience with a pious gloss, and then shift the blame to the people, God wasn’t impressed, and he made this clear to Samuel.  He said “It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king: for he is turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandments. And it grieved Samuel; and he cried unto the Lord all night” (1 Sam 15:11).

And so, when Samuel confronted Saul, he said, “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 hearken than the fat of rams.   For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.  Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has also rejected you from being king” (1 Sam 15:22-23).

Thus began Saul’s slide into sin, sorrow, fear, and infamy, and a brutal and ignominious death.

The Massive Consequences of Saul’s One Sin

One of the great tragedies of sin is that it is very far-reaching and many other people, often innocent, suffer the consequences of another’s sin.  The most obvious and greatest example is that of Adam and Eve.  Because they chose to disobey God, their one act of rebellion brought death, chaos, selfishness and bondage to sin to all humanity, and ripped the whole of creation away from God (Rom 5:12; 8:20-23).

Saul brought tragedy and suffering not only upon himself but on his family, and on the nation.  In his obedience to God, he delivered Israel from all its enemies (1 Sam 14:47-48); in his disobedience he brought the nation into bondage to its enemies.

1. God took Saul’s kingship away from him (1 Sam 13:13-14; 16:1)
2. 1 Sam 16:14 – God’s Spirit departed from Saul and an evil spirit from God terrified him
3. He fell into further sin by repeatedly trying to murder David

4. The whole town of Nob, with all its inhabitants (who were priests), their wives, their children and their livestock, were slaughtered by Saul because the priest Ahimelech unwittingly helped David escape from him (21:1-9; 22:9-23)
5. He consulted a medium to communicate with the dead prophet Samuel to seek guidance from him – 28:7-20
6. Thus, the Lord became Saul’s enemy – 28:16
7. Saul died a brutal and humiliating death (31:3-5); his head was severed from his body and fastened in the temple of Dagon (31:8-9; 1 Chron 10:10); and his body nailed to the wall of Beth-Shan, along with the bodies of his sons – 31:10
8. Saul’s sons were killed in battle – 28:19. Their deaths were a direct result of Saul’s disobedience.  Jonathan was a good man, and not complicit in his father’s sin, but he was still killed
9. Saul’s army was destroyed and a vast number killed – 31:6
10. Israel was conquered and occupied by an enemy that hated them – 31:7

Saul would have had no idea what he was about to unleash on his family and the nation when he held back the best of the animals captured from the Amalekites.  It was only a little thing, it seemed to him, and God wouldn’t mind.  But God did mind; God was justifiably angry at Saul for his rebellion which, to God, is as the sin of witchcraft.  And all this from one act of disobedience. 

Sin always has consequences (Jas 1:14-15).  Even though God may have forgiven us, the consequences of our sin can still follow.  For example, when King David committed adultery with Bathsheba, lied and murdered to cover up his sin, and later repented, he was truly forgiven by God; but the consequences still followed and they were disastrous, both to David and Bathsheba in the death of the child that was born to them; to David’s son Absalom; to those concubines of David whom Absalom publicly raped; and to the nation which was plunged into civil war.  Yes, David was forgiven for his sin, but the consequences of it were enormous.

The Personal Cost to Saul

Saul was a humble and unknown man when God chose him to be king of Israel (1 Sam 9:16; 10:1).  To equip him for this great responsibility, God anointed him with his Spirit (1 Sam 10:5-13).  However, because of Saul’s sin, God took the kingdom away from him and gave it to another (1 Sam 13: 13-14; 16:1).  “…the Spirit from the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him” (1 Sam 16:14).  Saul pleads for pardon and is rejected!  (1 Sam 15:24-26).  Samuel told him, “…the LORD is departed from thee, and is become thine enemy” (1 Sam 28:16).  What sobering and terrifying words are these!  Can there be any worse judgment?!!

Saul is an example and a warning to Christians today.  Although our sins are covered by the shed blood of Jesus, sin is still sin.  Although we might not lose our salvation when we do willfully sin, tempting God, which is highly dangerous, is not something to be taken lightly. 

So, when tempted to sin, even if you think you won’t lose your salvation, the earthly comforts which God has graciously given you can be taken away by him.  We can’t sin with impunity; we can’t take God for granted – that is treating God lightly; and God doesn’t take that lightly.  It is mocking him and cheapens the death of Christ.

The sin may seem so small that it wouldn’t matter, that it wouldn’t affect us, that God will overlook it.  But God sees into our hearts clearly and, as he did in Saul’s case, may discipline us for it. 

Unless otherwise stated, all scriptures in this article are taken from the Authorised King James Version of the Bible.