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The Sabbath-School

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International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Jun 25, 1885

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 11, No. 25.

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The Sabbath-School.

By Ellet Joseph Waggoner

LESSON FOR THE PACIFIC COAST—JULY 25.

Inheritance of the Saints.—Continued.

REJECTION OF SAUL AS KING OF ISRAEL.

1. Who was the first king of Israel?
"And afterward they desired a king; and God gave unto them Saul the son of Cis, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, by the space of forty years." Acts 13 : 21.
2. By whom was he chosen? Ib.
3. How long did he reign? Ib.
4. On one occasion what message came from the Lord to Saul through Samuel?
"Samuel also said unto Saul, The Lord sent me to anoint thee to be king over his people, over Israel; now therefore hearken thou unto the voice of the words of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way, when he came up from Egypt. 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 : 1-3.
5. How did Saul carry out his instructions?
"And Saul smote the Amalekites from Havilah until thou comest to Shur, that is over against Egypt. And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them; but everything that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly." 1 Sam. 15 : 7-9.
6. What excuse did Saul make for thus disobeying the command of the Lord?
"And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the Lord, and have gone the way which the Lord sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the Lord thy God in Gilgal." 1 Sam. 15 : 20, 21.
7. What did Samuel say the Lord values more than sacrifice?
"And Samuel said, 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." 1 Sam. 15 : 22.
8. To what was Saul's stubbornness equivalent?
"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." 1 Sam. 15 : 23.
9. What had he rejected?
He had rejected the word of the Lord.
10. Since rebellion is equal to idolatry, had not Saul, in rejecting the word of the Lord, rejected the Lord himself?
Certainly; the record shows that Saul was virtually an idolater, and thus as wicked as the Amalekites, whom he had been sent to destroy.
11. Because Saul had thus rejected the Lord, what had the Lord done?
"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." "And Samuel said unto Saul, I will not return with thee; for thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord hath rejected thee from being king over Israel." 1 Sam. 15 : 23, 26.
12. What had he rent from Saul?
"And Samuel said unto him, The Lord hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and hath given it to a neighbor of thine, that is better than thou." 1 Sam. 15 : 28.
13. To whom did Samuel say the kingdom was given? Ib.
14. What important lesson may we learn from the narrative in this chapter?
From the narrative recorded in 1 Samuel 15, we may learn how particular God is in his requirements, and how dangerous it is for us to presume to deviate from the plain letter of his commandments. Saul flattered himself that God would overlook his disobedience in preserving the best of the flocks of the Amalekites, because they were preserved for sacrifice. But God would not accept such service. Had he accepted Saul's excuse, it would have been equivalent to admitting that Saul knew what would honor the Lord better than the Lord himself knew, and that was not true. When God tells us to do a thing in a certain way, we are to understand that to do just as he says, will honor him more than anything else. We are not at liberty to presume that we can honor him more by a different course; that would be setting ourselves above God, and consequently we would be idolaters. From this narrative we can see an illustration of Prov. 28 : 9: "He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination."
E. J. W.