As we learned in the previous post, in 1st Samuel 15 God commanded Israel’s King Saul to totally destroy the Amalekites. Does King Saul decimate the Amalekites?
Yes…and no.
In verses 4-9, Saul and the army attack and destroy the Amalekites, but with a couple notable exceptions. They allow the Amalekite king, Agag, to live, and they keep the best of the Amalekites’ livestock. This is a massive slaughter, but it is not total obedience to God’s command. Will Saul get away with this disobedience?
In verses 10-11, we read this, “Then the word of the Lord came to Samuel: ‘I regret that I have made Saul king, because he has turned away from me and has not carried out my instructions.’ Samuel was angry, and he cried out to the Lord all that night.”
Saul will not get away with disobeying God. No one gets away with disobeying God. Some humans can get away with crime, or sin, and not get caught by other humans. But God sees. God knows. And he regrets that he made Saul king.
God regrets something? Does that strike you as odd? How God can regret something if he knew it would happen all along? Regret is only possible when we discover something disappointing that we didn’t already know. Could the presence of regret in God mean that he didn’t already know that Saul was going to turn out to be a disappointment? If so, that might lead us to question what God does and doesn’t know.
There are passages in Scripture that lead us to believe God’s knowledge of the future is exhaustive, and there are passages that lead us to believe that God only predicts the future, but he doesn’t know it before it happens. The debate about God’s knowledge rages on, and I will not be able to end the debate here. I’m simply pointing out that this is a passage that makes it seem like God didn’t know Saul would be such a poor king.
Personally, I find great comfort in that possibility because it means that God is in the story with us. If God is outside the story, he is, at least in my opinion, a cold unfeeling, unrelational God. I much prefer the God of the Bible that I read about here in 1st Samuel 15, a God who feels regret like we do.
God feels regret because Saul has turned away. Saul has not obeyed God. Saul has revealed that he does not have a heart after God’s own heart. Saul can be swayed by popular opinion. Saul can be caught up in the moment. Saul’s emotions control him, rather than the other way around. Saul is selfish and self-focused.
The prophet Samuel is angry when God reveals to him what Saul did. The word “anger” could be translated “Ill-humored.” In our day, we might say “fussy.” Samuel is fussy. Why? Might be fussy at the people for wanting a king years before. Might be fussy because when Samuel was leader of the people, things were better. Might be fussy at Saul for disobeying God. Samuel is fussy.
So the next morning Samuel goes out to confront Saul. We read in verse 12 that the people told Samuel, “Saul has gone to Carmel. There he has set up a monument in his own honor and has turned and gone on down to Gilgal.”
Yikes. Saul sets up a monument in his own honor? That does not bode well for Saul. The monument was probably a pillar, not tall like the Washington Monument, but maybe in a similar shape, perhaps to commemorate his victory over the Amalekites. When I was in India last year, I saw numerous such memorial pillar stones. It is a common practice in that NorthEast Indian culture to mark special occasions, like the 50th anniversary of a church, with a stone monument. The stones say things like “Glory to God.” But here in 1st Samuel 15, Saul is setting up a memorial stone in his own honor.
What is going on with Saul? He seems to be oblivious to how seriously off track he is going. We hear directly from Saul in the next post. Will he be able to explain himself?
Photo by Matthew Henry on Unsplash
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