Saul lived for one year and then became king, and when he had reigned for two years over Israel, Saul chose three thousand men of Israel. Two thousand were with Saul in Michmash and the hill country of Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin. The rest of the people he sent home, every man to his tent. Jonathan defeated the garrison of the Philistines that was at Geba, and the Philistines heard of it. And Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, “Let the Hebrews hear.” And all Israel heard it said that Saul had defeated the garrison of the Philistines, and also that Israel had become a stench to the Philistines. And the people were called out to join Saul at Gilgal.
And the Philistines mustered to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots and six thousand horsemen and troops like the sand on the seashore in multitude. They came up and encamped in Michmash, to the east of Beth-aven. When the men of Israel saw that they were in trouble (for the people were hard pressed), the people hid themselves in caves and in holes and in rocks and in tombs and in cisterns, and some Hebrews crossed the fords of the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. Saul was still at Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling.
He waited seven days, the time appointed by Samuel. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the people were scattering from him. So Saul said, “Bring the burnt offering here to me, and the peace offerings.” And he offered the burnt offering. As soon as he had finished offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came. And Saul went out to meet him and greet him. Samuel said, “What have you done?” And Saul said, “When I saw that the people were scattering from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines had mustered at Michmash, I said, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the favor of the LORD.’ So I forced myself, and offered the burnt offering.” And Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the command of the LORD your God, with which he commanded you. For then the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. But now your kingdom shall not continue. The LORD has sought out a man after his own heart, and the LORD has commanded him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept what the LORD commanded you.” And Samuel arose and went up from Gilgal. The rest of the people went up after Saul to meet the army; they went up from Gilgal to Gibeah of Benjamin.
And Saul numbered the people who were present with him, about six hundred men. (1 Samuel 13:1–15 ESV)
The people of Israel had sought a king and so God provided one named Saul. Now there were two reasons the Israelites had sought for a king. For one, they noted that the prophet Samuel’s sons were not walking in the way of Samuel1. For two, they wanted to be like the other nations. The first desire, to have a more faithful leader, was a good desire. The second one, though, was in direct competition with the first desire. In other words, they sought to be like the world, to have a king LIKE the world, like the pagan nations around them! (1 Samuel 8:4-5)
It didn’t take long for this unfaithfulness to manifest in their leader, their new king. In fact, what he does at Gilgal was act like the people and leaders of the world—he acted like the kings of the nations around him. He took matters into his own hands and ignored the Lord’s instructions.
You see, when Samuel anointed Saul, he gave him specific detailed prophetic words and instructions. He told Saul everything that would happen up to a point and left him with specific instructions. In other words, Saul had been given every reason to believe and understand that God’s Word is true and trustworthy. He was told events beforehand and it happened as he had been told. Then he was given these instructions:
Then the Spirit of the LORD will rush upon you, and you will prophesy with them and be turned into another man. Now when these signs meet you, do what your hand finds to do, for God is with you. Then go down before me to Gilgal. And behold, I am coming down to you to offer burnt offerings and to sacrifice peace offerings. Seven days you shall wait, until I come to you and show you what you shall do.” (1 Samuel 10:6–8 ESV)
So, Saul was told to go to Gilgal following whatever actions he did after the Spirit came upon him. Saul heard that the town Jabesh-gilead was under siege. He rounded up an army and struck down many of the Ammonites who had come out against that town. He won a great victory. After this, Samuel called the people to go to Gilgal and make Saul their king. 1 Samuel 11 records this.
However, apparently more happened at Gilgal than 1 Samuel 11 notes. For 1 Samuel 13 provides a zoomed in view on that day and on details glossed over. Similar to how Genesis 2 provides a close-up of day six from Genesis 1, so chapter 13 of 1 Samuel reveals how Saul failed to keep and observe God’s Word. The Israelites were not being faithful in seeking a king like the world and their king himself, like them, fell into their error.
Notice how Saul starts out observing God’s Word. He waits seven days but then he gets antsy. Samuel hasn’t shown up. The seventh day is getting closer and closer to being over. The people are beginning to scatter. Rather than encouraging them or assuring them of God’s Word—a Word which he should have been certain about after all that God has shown and did for him—he decides the answer is to do Samuel’s job. He takes on responsibilities that are not his. He does not wait for the Lord.
He assumes that he must do something—that if he doesn’t do something, then it will be over. So, he calls for the sacrifice to be brought before him and he will take on the priestly duties—a responsibility that the Lord never gave him. Saul was charged only with being king. The Levite priests and Samuel were the only ones who were to offer sacrifices like this. Plus, Saul had a specific word of God. Samuel would come; God had spoken.
Now, kings of other nations were known to take upon themselves the priestly duties. That is what the other nations did. That was how their kings acted. But that was not how the earthly king of Israel was to act. And yet, Saul did not fear the Lord but took this work upon himself.
Samuel then came. Before the day was over, he showed up just as he had said—just as God had foretold. And what did he find? He found Saul had broken faith. He had forsaken God’s Word for his own word. Rather than acting in faith, he acted according to human and worldly wisdom.
And he acted arrogantly. Did you notice that he did not repent? He did not plead for forgiveness? Rather, he defended his actions saying essentially it had to be done! He had to “force” himself.
Plus, notice how he spoke of the sacrifice. How he had “‘not sought the favor of the LORD.’” In other words, since the Philistines were going to attack, he needed God’s favor; but rather than trusting God’s promises, he expresses the idea that he needed to obtain God’s favor by sacrifice. He was acting like the other nations that thought they could manipulate their gods—that conceived of God as a works righteous god.
Saul did not listen to God’s Word through Samuel before Gilgal nor does he take to heart Samuel’s words here at Gilgal. He rebukes Saul for not keeping God’s Word, for ignoring the Lord’s commandment. He prophesies God’s rejection of him and the end of his throne. Saul does not take these words to heart; he does not express repentance; he does not seek to do better and what is right. Instead, when Samuel charges him with another task, he modifies it as he sees fit. He claims to have kept the word of God “[b]ut the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the best of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the LORD your God in Gilgal” (1 Samuel 15:21 ESV). Rather than destroying these as commanded, they retained them to sacrifice to God at Gilgal.
Samuel answers Saul by saying:
“Has 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 listen than the fat of rams.
For rebellion is as the sin of divination,
and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry.” (1 Samuel 15:22–23a ESV)
Samuel teaches that the Lord wants us to hear and keep His Word more than he desires us to offer things to Him. God desires faithfulness above gifts. We should take to heart this lesson. God is not looking for us primarily to give Him things or money but to live in accordance with His Will. In other words, God is looking for us to be faithful stewards more than generous or ostentatious givers. Giving to the Lord is not a show; it is not about earning God’s favor; giving, even sacrificial giving, is about being true to God’s Word and will rather than using your actions to win God to your side or using your actions to glorify and boast in God.
After all, if you are following your word rather than God’s Word, you are not glorifying God—you are glorifying yourself! You are glorifying man! How easy it is to fall into this trap. Many churches do. Rather than asking, how can we be faithful, they ask, how can we gain glory for God?
This is a dangerous road! If I am seeking to be the one to obtain or gain glory for God, I have changed God’s glory into a human work—I have made my blood and sweat the thing that brings God glory rather than God’s Word. The problem isn’t that I am doing something that glorifies God; the problem is that I have moved the center from being on God to being on me. I have become the giver of glory, rather than the one who recognizes and praises God’s glory.
This is the trap of a church chasing “success.” Almost certainly, success is defined according to human wisdom. Success is numbers or wealth or influence or power or fame. Success is associated with the things man values and not the things God values. Success is about what you do.
Faithfulness is about receiving what God gives. It is about doing what God has appointed or set before you. Faithfulness is about clinging to that which God has said—it is about valuing His Word over your own life, wealth, fame, power, numbers, influence—over anything else you have been given. Faithfulness is about God because faithfulness depends on God.
We take our eyes off the glories of the world to be faithful because our eyes turn to the Lord’s Word. And His Word in this world does not look very glorious. It doesn’t seem very great. It is humble and simple, like eating bread and drinking wine under His command and Word at His Table. It is adhering to law when it seems like you could obtain what you want another way, a quicker and easier way. It is clinging to His promises when they seem far away, when the world is taking your possessions and threatening your life. It is following Jesus in the path of the cross, dying to yourself while trusting in His salvation.
God does not call us to some great works or sacrifices, to magnificent acts of worldly glory and fame. He calls us to be true to Him and to His Word, to trust in His salvation and to forsake the ways of the world.
Heavenly Father, You faithfully sent Your Son to die on the cross for us even when we were less than faithful. You kept Your Word. Forgive us when we have been faithless and fallen into the trap of Saul. Lead us to repent, to hear the words of Samuel, and to seek Your forgiveness, which You have promised on account of Jesus. Grant us renewed and faithful hearts that we might walk steadfast in Your Word the rest of our days, through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, Who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God now and forever. Amen.
1“They took brides and perverted justice” (1 Samuel 8:3b ESV).