1 Samuel 13:10, commentary and pictures

Saul had just finished offering the burnt offering at Gilgal when Samuel arrived at the close of the appointed seven days, and Saul went out to meet and greet him. He had been commanded to wait there for Samuel to come and offer the sacrifices and show him what to do, and the delay to the last hour was God's design to test him and reveal his heart in a time of danger. Though king, he was never given the priest's office, yet he forced himself into that sacred work instead of waiting for the one appointed to do it. He acted from impatience and unbelief, looking at the overwhelming Philistine force and his own scattering army instead of trusting God, praying humbly, and waiting a little longer. By following his own judgment instead of God's plain direction he failed the test of obedience and faith and forfeited his right to the kingdom.

Saul's Act at Gilgal

As soon as Saul had made an end of offering the burnt offering, Samuel came, and Saul went out to meet and salute him. The offering was finished within the appointed seven days, just as Samuel arrived. That meeting brought his disobedience into view.

Saul had been commanded to go to Gilgal and tarry seven days till Samuel came to offer burnt offerings and show him what to do. The delay was God's design to reveal Saul's heart in an emergency. It was also a deliberate delay to test the people and expose their dependence on their own strength.

Outward appearances were discouraging, for the Philistines gathered with overwhelming force. The Israelites hid in caves, thickets, rocks, high places and pits, fled over Jordan, and scattered trembling from Saul at Gilgal. All Israel stood in fear of the Philistine army.

The sacrifices to be offered were a solemn act of seeking God. They required repentance and searching of heart so the offering could be accepted and God's blessing attend Israel against its enemy. The sacred service pointed forward to the sinless sacrifice of God's Son.

Saul went out to greet Samuel confidently. He met him as though he expected approval and commendation rather than reproof.

Presumption and Unbelief

Saul broke God's express direction by presenting the burnt offering himself instead of waiting for Samuel, who had been appointed to present it. Though exalted as king, he had never been invested with the sacred office of priesthood, yet he forced himself into sacred work that belonged to those appointed for it. As king he reasoned that he was equal to any office, and in self-complacency he felt it made no difference who should approach God and in what way. In doing so he knowingly transgressed in the very last moments and mingled the sacred with the common. His unbidden sacrifice was presumption, sacrilege, irreverence, unbelief and disobedience by which he dishonored God.

He acted from impatience and discouragement before the appointed time had fully expired. Instead of looking to God, trusting Him, bowing in humble prayer and waiting a few more hours, he looked at outward appearances and became passionate, self-complacent and self-confident, trusting his own strength. He fretted about the delay, decided to move independently of Samuel, and rushed into the performance of a work God had not given him to do. He could have made supplication with his whole heart without sacrifice, for the Lord accepts even silent petitions of a burdened heart. His public show of conscientiousness did not make his worship genuine, for offering in defiance of God's command weakened him and put him beyond the help God was willing to give.

When reproved he defended himself, blamed the prophet, and stubbornly justified himself rather than confessing his error. Though he acknowledged Samuel to be a prophet sent from God, he should have accepted the reproof even though he could not himself see that he had sinned. Had he been willing to see and confess his error, this bitter experience would have proved a safeguard for the future. The verse teaches the danger of failing to constantly look to the Lord for instruction, and the need to wait on the Lord to learn and watch what He wants instead of fretting, moving independently, making duties for ourselves, and being full of our own schemes, plans and contrivances.

Loss and Warning

When first called to the throne he was humble and self-distrustful, but success made him self-confident. The pride of heart kindled by his very first victory in the deliverance of Jabesh-gilead became his greatest danger. As the people honored him he forgot that he was only the agent by whom God had wrought, and though at first he ascribed the glory to God, afterward he took honor to himself, lost sight of his dependence upon God, and in heart departed from the Lord, thus preparing the way for his sin at Gilgal. Though tall and well proportioned and designated king, he was unfitted in experience and character for the work until the Lord changed his heart by His Spirit, making him a converted man with a visible change of spirit and influence with the armies of Israel. He was set aright to cultivate humility and the fear of God, to trust in God and learn His will, not to exalt himself, but to receive the word of the Lord from old faithful standard-bearers and do God's will.

By disregarding God's plainly stated will and presuming to take responsibility that did not belong to his position, following his own judgment instead of learning God's will through Samuel, he failed the test of obedience and faith. He thereby set a harmful example for Israel, leaving an example for men of war to assume the priesthood in any emergency, and forfeited his right to the kingdom. His presumptuous offering cost him the honor of commanding Israel's armies in battle. Yet his error was not yet beyond remedy, for the Lord would give him another opportunity to learn unquestioning faith in God's word and obedience to His commands.

His failure warns that inexperienced men as unfitted as he was must not be set apart for the ministry without close seeking of the Lord to know His will. Men as inexperienced as Saul who enter the ministry must not fail in the same way by exalting self, but must receive the word of the Lord from old faithful standard-bearers and do the will of God. No one must exalt himself above his brother.