The theme of our lesson today is obedience is better than sacrifice.
Look Back:
The Capture & Return of the Ark 1 Samuel 4:1-7:2
Saul is Made King of Israel 1 Samuel 9:1-12:12
Last Week:
Jonathan’s Fight & Saul’s Oath 1 Samuel 14:1-46
This Week:
Saul Is Rejected by God 1 Samuel 15:10-35
ATTENTION GRABBER!
“Samuel Says”
In this activity, you will play a variation of “Simon Says.” The theme of our lesson today is obedience is better than sacrifice. This activity will help to reinforce that theme.
Just state the theme to older children a couple of times.
Write the theme on the chalk or dry-erase board for younger children
Explain to the children that you will say a word. The children should all stand up if that word is in the theme
If that word is NOT in the theme, the children should remain sitting (or sit
down if standing).
For the younger children, you can allow them to look at the board as you have everyone stand up to practice.
Have several words written down before class, including each of
the words from the theme.
Here’s an example of how the game works: Say, “Samuel says better. Is “better” part of the theme for today? Yes!
Everyone should be standing because it’s part of the theme.”
Now say, “Samuel says truth, this is not part of the theme, everyone should sit down if the word does belong to the theme.”
After you have practiced, have younger kids turn their backs to the board and start the game.
Some words that you can use in addition to the words in the theme are love, joy, altar, greater, nicer, if, and maybe.
Play a few rounds of the game until you feel that
all of the children have a good understanding of the theme.
This is a good exercise for hearing and doing the Word of God as we learn
from today’s lesson.
LESSON TIME!
God had promised Joshua that the Amalekites would be destroyed because of their evil ways.
The Amalekites defied God by attacking the Israelites and refusing to allow them to cross their land when they came out of Egypt. God sent Saul and his army
against them.
Samuel gave Saul definite and clear orders from God not to take captives and to destroy everything. But Saul flat-out disobeyed God.
He not only took the king captive, but he kept everything of value. He also erected a monument to himself.
Rather than giving honor and glory to God, Saul set himself up
as a great king, a hero who had won the battle by conquering the
enemy.
God was grieved that He selected Saul as king because Saul had
refused to obey and follow Him.
Saul, however, was a part of God’s plan. Prior to Saul, God had been their king and ruled through His judges and prophets.
When the people demanded a physical king, He gave them exactly what they wanted and demanded.
Saul was a big, strong, and handsome man whom they could follow with pride,
“a king” just like the nations around them.
But Saul did not have the heart for the people or for God.
God does not look at our outer appearance; He looks at our hearts, and our motives.
Because Saul refused to obey and was taking the glory and honor that belongs only to God, Saul lost God’s blessing.
God rejected Saul as king and anointed another who would love and honor God
and take care of God’s people.
What is the theme for today’s lesson?
obedience is better than sacrifice.
MEMORY VERSE
1 SAMUEL 15:22
“Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice.”
Let’s Read
1 Samuel 15:10-35
10 Then the LORD said to Samuel, 11 “I am sorry that I ever made Saul king, for he has not been loyal to me and has refused to obey my command.”
Samuel was so deeply moved when he heard this that he cried out to the LORD all night.
Samuel was a prophet of God sent to lead God’s people. God had instructed Samuel to anoint Saul as king. When Saul turned from God in disobedience, Samuel was sent by God to reject Saul as His chosen king.
12 Early the next morning Samuel went to find Saul.
Someone told him, “Saul went to the town of Carmel to set up a monument to himself; then he went on to Gilgal.”
13 When Samuel finally found him, Saul greeted him cheerfully. “May the LORD bless you,” he said.
“I have carried out the LORD’s command!”
14 “Then what is all the bleating of sheep and goats and the lowing of cattle I hear?” Samuel demanded.
15 “It’s true that the army spared the best of the sheep, goats, and cattle,” Saul admitted. “But they are going to sacrifice them to the LORD your God. We have destroyed everything else.”
16 Then Samuel said to Saul, “Stop!
Listen to what the LORD told me last night!”
“What did he tell you?” Saul asked.
Then Samuel said to Saul, "Be quiet! And I will tell you what the LORD said to me last night."
Saul said to him, "Speak on."
The next morning, Samuel went looking for Saul but was told that Saul had gone to Mount Carmel to set up a monument to himself.
The Bible tells us in the 10 commandments –
Saul was parading around and wanted everyone to give him praise
for the victory that God had given to the nation.
Samuel finds out that Saul had already left for Gilgal.
When Samuel reached Saul, Saul greeted him but lied about what
he had done.
Saul even said that he had “obeyed the command” of
the Lord.
Samuel replied by asking about the sounds of the sheep
and cattle that Saul had kept for himself in direct disobedience of
God’s command.
When Saul realized that Samuel knew, he tried to blame the soldiers for his sins and then claimed the reason they kept only a few of the sheep and cattle was to sacrifice them to God, which was not true.
(v.15) Samuel says something astonishing to me. He said, 15 “It’s true that the army spared the best of the sheep, goats, and cattle,” Saul admitted. “But they are going to sacrifice them to the LORD your God. We have destroyed everything else.”
Samuel told Saul to stop lying. God knows everything.
He told Saul to listen to what God had told him.
Sometimes we like to try to make excuses for our sins and
disobedience. We do not want to admit that we were wrong or that
we sinned.
We may even try to blame our sins on others,
Who Else did that? Remember Adam and Eve? Gen.3:
8 When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the LORD God walking about in the garden. So, they hid from the LORD God among the trees. 9 Then the LORD God called to the man, “Where are you?” 10 He replied, “I heard you walking in the garden, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked.” 11 “Who told you that you were naked?” the LORD God asked. “Have you eaten from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat?” 12 The man replied, “It was the woman you gave me who gave me the fruit, and I ate it.” 13 Then the LORD God asked the woman, “What have you done?” “The serpent deceived me,” she replied. “That’s why I ate it.”
We may even say we really meant to serve God, but God knows our hearts and thoughts.
We may also believe that we are being obedient, but not completely
obedient in what the Lord has asked us to do.
You have heard of a little white lie, right? It is a half-true lie.
We need to be careful to do exactly as the Lord commands us.
17 And Samuel told him, “Although you may think little of yourself, are you not the leader of the tribes of Israel?
The LORD has anointed you king of Israel. 18 And the LORD sent you on a mission and told you, ‘Go and completely destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, until they are all dead.’
19 Why haven’t you obeyed the LORD?
Why did you rush for the plunder and do what was evil in the LORD’s sight?”
20 “But I did obey the LORD,” Saul insisted. “I carried out the mission he gave me.
I brought back King Agag, but I destroyed everyone else. 21 Then my troops brought in the best of the sheep, goats, cattle, and plunder to sacrifice to the LORD your God in Gilgal.”
22 But Samuel replied, “What is more pleasing to the LORD: your burnt offerings and sacrifices
or your obedience to his voice?
Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice,
and submission is better than offering the fat of rams.
23 Rebellion is as sinful as witchcraft,
and stubbornness is as bad as worshiping idols.
So, because you have rejected the command of the LORD, He has rejected you as king.”
In the book of Micah, 6 it says this 6 What can we bring to the LORD?
What kind of offerings should we give him? Should we bow before God with offerings of yearling calves? 7 Should we offer him thousands of rams and ten thousand rivers of olive oil?
Should we sacrifice our firstborn children to pay for our sins? 8 No, O people, the LORD has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy,
and to walk humbly with your God.
Saul Pleads for Forgiveness
Samuel is saying, “When you had a proper view of yourself and were humble before the Lord, did you not become the head over all of Israel?
The Lord was the one who made you king.
God sent you on a mission. You were to go to war and destroy the
Amalakites and everything they owned because they were evil.
Why did you not obey?
Why did you keep everything of value, the things that did not belong to you, which God told you to destroy?”
Saul refused to repent and accept the responsibility for his sin.
He tried to rationalize and excuse himself.
He said he destroyed the Amalekites just like he was told to do.
He also said that he only brought back one hostage, the king, just like the other nations would do.
He blamed the people for taking the sheep, cattle, and everything.
He tried to excuse himself by claiming he was going to sacrifice these animals to the Lord.
What was the theme of the lesson? to obey is better than sacrifice.
Samuel replied that God has more pleasure in obedience to His Word than in the sacrifice of animals.
He is more interested in our listening to Him than the burning of the fat of sheep.
Rebellion against God is as bad as witchcraft.
Pride and stubbornness are as bad as worshipping idols.
Because he rejected the Word of God, Saul was rejected by God.
24 Then Saul admitted to Samuel,
“Yes, I have sinned.
I have disobeyed your instructions and the LORD’s command,
for I was afraid of the people and did what they demanded.
25 But now, please forgive my sin and come back with me so that I may worship the LORD.”
26 But Samuel replied, “I will not go back with you! Since you have rejected the LORD’s command, he has rejected you as king of Israel.”
27 As Samuel turned to go, Saul tried to hold him back and tore the hem of his robe.
28 And Samuel said to him, “The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to someone else—
one who is better than you.
29 And he who is the Glory of Israel will not lie, nor will he change his mind, for he is not human that he should change his mind!”
30 Then Saul pleaded again,
“I know I have sinned. But please, at least honor me before the elders of my people and before Israel by coming back with me so that I may worship the LORD your God.”
31 So Samuel finally agreed and went back with him, and Saul worshiped the LORD.
Finally, Saul admitted that he had disobeyed God’s commands and Samuel’s instructions.
He said that he feared the people and obeyed their voices.
That was not true; he was the one who gave the commands.
He was finally admitting that he sinned, but he was not taking responsibility.
Saul asked for Samuel’s forgiveness even though he had not truly repented or asked for God’s forgiveness.
He was still looking to man instead of looking to God.
Listen we cannot put a man in front of God.
God must always come first!
Saul should have realized; a person cannot fool God.
God is able to look at our hearts and know exactly what is going on.
Samuel stood firm. Saul had rejected God’s Word. He had been rejected as king.
As Samuel started to leave, Saul grabbed at him. He caught his clothing and it tore.
Samuel used this as a symbol to show Saul that he had lost his kingdom and God’s blessing.
Samuel also told him that his kingdom would be given to another who would honor and obey God’s Word.
God always stays true to His Word.
He never lies.
He is not a man that He changes His mind or His Word.
Saul finally admitted his sin; he asked Samuel to come back with him so that he would look good to the leaders of the people.
Could it be that Saul thought more highly of man’s opinion of Him than of God’s opinion?
Saul said two times The Lord your God to Samuel in verses 15 and 21
Samuel was close to the Lord and could see the pride in Saul’s life, even when Saul was blind to it.
Samuel reminded Saul that when he was humble, God had exalted him.
Now, Saul had become big in his own eyes and refused to obey God.
Let us be careful of pride. Pride is blinding.
Pride is thinking you are all that, thinking you are more than what you are.
We think we are doing okay when everyone else can spot pride in our lives. May we never become “big” in our own eyes; may we keep our eyes upon Jesus.
Samuel Executes King Agag
32 Then Samuel said, “Bring King Agag to me.”
Agag arrived full of hope, for he thought, “Surely the worst is over, and I have been spared!”
33 But Samuel said, “As your sword has killed the sons of many mothers, now your mother will be childless.” And Samuel cut Agag to pieces before the LORD at Gilgal.
So, King Agag was killed as God commanded. God always keeps His word…
34 Then Samuel went home to Ramah, and Saul returned to his house at Gibeah of Saul.
35 Samuel never went to meet with Saul again, but he mourned constantly for him.
And the LORD was sorry he had ever made Saul king of Israel.
I think Samuel mourned for Saul because it appears he was not saved.
Saul was prideful and disobedient, he wanted to build an ideal of himself he lied and blamed others, all the things we see in the 10 commandments as things we should not do.
Saul broke 1,2, and 8, Commandments!
MEMORY VERSE
1 SAMUEL 15:22
“Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice.”
PRAY
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