Rēad to Read …Again
Daily Reading: I Samuel 13-14
I Samuel 13:9
And Saul said, Bring hither a burnt offering to me, and peace offerings. And he offered the burnt offering.
“When the Bible makes perfect sense, seek no other sense.” It is unknown who said this first, but it is good advice for any and all. Today’s verse makes perfect sense. One just has to know their Bible.
It all started back in I Samuel 1o when Samuel anointed Saul king over Israel. During this anointing Samuel prophesied the Word of God to Saul. The prophecy included the finding of the donkeys, the gifts of the three men, the company of prophets whom Saul would join and prophesy with them. Then in verse 8 of that chapter (I Samuel 10) the Seer of God spoke God’s Word to the new king And thou shalt go down before me to Gilgal; and, behold, I will come down unto thee, to offer burnt offerings, and to sacrifice sacrifices of peace offerings: seven days shalt thou tarry, till I come to thee, and shew thee what thou shalt do. Now, here in I Samuel 13:9 Saul is in Gilgal, the trembling people with him, and he, just as Samuel said he would do, he tarried seven days for the prophet (vs. 8). During this time, the people with him were fearful and they began to scatter from him.
The Bible doesn’t say why, but Saul determined to offer the burnt offering as a sacrifice to the Lord. But it does say that as soon as he made an end of the offering Samuel showed up. Seems to make sense that on the seventh day Samuel was not there, so Saul took things into his own hands to maintain leadership of the people and offered a burnt sacrifice to God, then at that moment of the end of the sacrifice, Samuel showed up. Perhaps it was the end of the seventh day, but it really doesn’t matter because God’s Word was to wait for Samuel and he, the man of God, would offer the sacrifice. Saul disobeyed God. It was for that disobedience that Saul lost the kingdom. Not on that day, years later, but that is where it was lost. It was lost due to disobedience.
This is like Moses smiting the Rock instead of speaking to it. It is like the story of king Joash smiting the arrows on the ground three times at the word of Elisha when he should have smitten them until the man of God stayed his hands. Because of this he, Joash, would not utterly defeat Syria (II Kings 13). It is like Adam and Eve eating the fruit of the forbidden tree. On the surface that doesn’t sound so bad; but it was bad, it was very bad, because it was a clear violation of God’s command. Saul’s sin was disobedience to God’s Word, and he suffered severe consequences of his willful insubordination. He ultimately lost his kingdom.
In the very next chapter of I Samuel, the king disobeyed God’s Word again resulting in one of the most astounding statements in all of Scripture. In I Samuel 15:22-23, the Bible records that Samuel said to Saul: …Hath 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 witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, he hath also rejected thee from being king.
This statement has never been repealed. Disobedience to God’s Word always has consequences. Just ask Ananias and Sapphira.
Dr. William T. Howe
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