Are We Like King Saul ???

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Suzana
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Are We Like King Saul ???

Post by Suzana » Sun Oct 26, 2008 1:22 am

I’m just re-reading through 1 Samuel, and am bemused by King Saul’s behaviour.

1 Sam 15
28 So Samuel said to him, “The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to your neighbour, who is better than you.
29 Also The Glory of Israel will not lie or change His mind; for He is not a man that He should change His mind.”

18:12 Now Saul was afraid of David, for the Lord was with him but had departed from Saul.

20:31 (to his son Jonathan) “For as long as the son of Jesse lives on the earth, neither you nor your kingdom will be established. Therefore now, send and bring him to me, for he must surely die.”

23:7 When it was told Saul that David had come to Keilah, Saul said, “God has delivered him into my hand, for he shut himself in by entering a city with double gates and bars.”


Did Saul just not believe the prophet Samuel was telling the truth?
Did he know he was, but was living in denial?
Was he perhaps hoping against hope that God would change His mind?
Was he just suffering from sporadic insanity, brought about by an evil spirit from the Lord as a consequence of his disobedience?
Surely he wasn’t deliberately pitting his own strength against the Lord, when he tried to kill David? (in v 31,he seemed to think it was God who was delivering David up to him).

In 24:20 (Saul to David) “Now, behold, I know that you will surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel will be established in your hand…”
but again, later, tried to kill him.

I’ve been trying to fathom Saul’s thought processes, and wonder how often we as Christians unknowingly exhibit a similar attitude by our behaviour.

It seems like Christians can often live a life of direct disobedience to God’s revealed commands in scripture, unrepentantly, and not really believe that there will be real consequences - still in fact expect God to bless them.
We give in to the flesh; we feed our bodies and souls, but hope the spirit will grow anyway, even without food…
we choose not to forgive someone, but still hope God will forgive us...surely, God doesn't really mean He won't!
etc. etc. etc...
It’s like we are on a road headed towards a particular (undesired) destination, but hope we’ll end up somewhere else - without changing direction.

Just some thoughts – I often marvel at Israel’s repeated idolatry when I read the old testament, but often come away with the discomforting thought that we can often behave in a similar manner, even if not to the same extent.
Suzana
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If a man cannot be a Christian in the place he is, he cannot be a Christian anywhere. - Henry Ward Beecher

Theophilus
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Re: Are We Like King Saul ???

Post by Theophilus » Tue Oct 28, 2008 10:37 pm

I have wondered about Saul's behavior too and have similar questions. It's possible that Saul did not know that the LORD had chosen David as the next king of Israel. We know for sure Saul was extremely jealous of David and that David posed a threat to the throne as the leader of a small army. It's not clear when Saul knew for certain, if at all, that David was the one whom Samuel had prophesied about.

As we know from 1 Sam 15, Saul wanted to please (or obey) the people more than please (or obey) God. I have also wondered how God could give the Kingdom to Saul and then remove it from him. There could be parallels here to the need to remain in and obey Christ to remain in the Kingdom.

I don't get the impression that Saul was consciously challenging the LORD for the kingdom.

It's also incredible that although David was anointed king, he was not the visible king of Israel for a long time. There could be a parallel here to Christ.

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TK
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Re: Are We Like King Saul ???

Post by TK » Wed Oct 29, 2008 6:59 am

maybe Saul was a nut.

TK

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