I Samuel Chapter 15
Please read: I Samuel 15 –
We learned in the previous chapter that after the attack on the Philistines that Saul continued fighting battles and he added men to his army continually. This time he would go to war with an army of two hundred thousand and there were also ten thousand of Judah. Possibly the men of Judah were kept back as a reserve unit. In total, this was a much larger army!
This was going to be a test for Saul to see if he could obey the Lord in annihilating the Amalekites. God had promised that the Amalekites would pay for what they had done to the Israelites when they came up out of Egypt. The interesting thing about this judgement of God was the amount of time He waited before He called Saul to be the one to carry out His judgement. Saul was not even born yet when the Amalekites had done this. God hated how the Amalekites had attacked when Israel was at a very weak and vulnerable state, and He promised that He would blot them out.
God could have taken out the Amalekites Himself with no assistance from men, but God is writing the story, and He used Israel to revenge the wrong that was done to them some 400 years prior. And so, God’s directive to Saul was very specific. He wanted the entire race of Amalek wiped out and no spoils of war were to be taken.
Exodus 17:14 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Write this as a memorial in a book and recite it in the ears of Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.
Let's Reflect
1. Saul had a direct order from God relayed to him by Samuel to destroy all Amalekites, completely. What other specific directive did God give regarding the destruction?
2. What people group did Saul say that they should get out of the danger zone of his attack?
3. Verses 7-8 describe a great victory for Saul and his army, but who was kept alive?
4. They also kept spoils of war, exactly what God had said not to do. Notice in verse 9 who it says is to blame for this disobedience?
5. Who did Saul say was to blame when recounting the story to Samuel?
6. There is a peculiar phrase in verse 10 that says that God regretted that He made Saul king. This does not mean that God did not know what Saul would do. We must remember that God can see all things from eternity past and into eternity future. But this regret carries a sadness. It saddens the heart of God when His people disobey Him. How did Samuel feel about the situation?
7. Samuel prayed on behalf of Saul and begged God for His forgiveness. Remember that Samuel was the type of man that wanted to see God’s people seek the heart of God. What announcement did Samuel make to Saul?
8. Saul had been very pleased with himself for his successful attack on the Amalekites until he heard the words of Samuel. What lies did Saul tell Samuel?
9. Despite being reminded how Saul had deliberately disobeyed God, he tried to justify the keeping of the spoils of war by saying he would do what with them?
10. Notice even in his “confession” of sin, Saul did not take full responsibility. Who did he blame?
11. Agag was a horrible ruthless man and the vengeance that Samuel took upon him was just. What is one of the things that they knew of the viciousness of Agag?
12. Samuel would not see Saul anymore. But what does the Bible say that Samuel continued to do on Saul’s behalf?
