Choices and Consequences | 1 Samuel 15

INTRODUCTION

Life is a series of choices. Some choices seem small and insignificant, while others can alter the course of our lives forever. But in the eyes of God, every choice we make carries weight and significance. The story of King Saul in 1 Samuel 15 is a powerful example of how our choices, particularly in matters of obedience to God, lead to consequences—sometimes irreversible ones.

Today, we will explore the story of Saul and the profound truth that our choices have consequences. Saul’s failure shows us the danger of rebellion, the cost of compromise, and the importance of radical obedience to God.

• 1 Samuel 13 – Saul forfeited his dynasty.
• 1 Samuel 15 – Saul forfeits his throne. God announces that Samuel will be moved as king.

Disobedience (choice to disobey God) Can Deprive One of the Privileges Granted by God.

1 Samuel 15:1

Samuel said to Saul, “I am the one the Lord sent to anoint you king over his people Israel; so listen now to the message from the Lord.

The Lord has authority over the king. So Saul needs to remember that it was the Lord who chose him and anointed him as king. The king is subject to the Lord’s authority. Saul has to listen and obey the Lord’s message.

1 Samuel 15:2-3

²This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘I will punish the Amalekites for what they did to Israel when they waylaid them as they came up from Egypt. ³Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy all that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.’”

This is a very clear instruction: Attack and totally destroy the Amalekites. The Lord has observed what the Amalekites did to Israelites when they came out of Egypt, Exodus 17.

Who are these Amalekites?

Well, they were descended of Esau (Gen. 6:12), but they didn’t really live with the Edomites. They were kind of separate from them. They practiced a very wicked form of idolatry, which included taking their infants and sacrificing them alive to their gods.

What did the Amalekites do to justify this kind of punishment?

Deuteronomy 25:17-19

¹⁷Remember what the Amalekites did to you along the way when you came out of Egypt. ¹⁸When you were weary and worn out, they met you on your journey and attacked all who were lagging behind; they had no fear of God. ¹⁹When the Lord your God gives you rest from all the enemies around you in the land he is giving you to possess as an inheritance, you shall blot out the name of Amalek from under heaven. Do not forget!

The Amalekites attacked all who were lagging behind. So, who’s at the back? Well, the sickly, the old, the mothers with babies, those who had to travel slower. So, they were a very cowardly sort of group of people. The Lord gave the Israelites the victory that day but the Lord also said that he wanted the Amalekites destroyed for what they had done.

1 Samuel 15:3

Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy all that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.’”

This is genocide. Some people say: Does the God of the Bible, the God of love command to do this? The Lord told the Israelites to do the same thing to the Canaanites. At an emotional level we cannot feel comfortable with that. We cannot go on emotional, we have got to look at things as God looks at them. It is always be wrong for us to commit genocide. God is at a different category than we are. God is not another human being. God is God. God is the creator. He is the one who creates life. All life comes from him. As the source of all life, he has authority over everyone. God has a creator can decide to take way life that he gave. We do not have that authority because we don’t give life. God can decide that you are going to forfeit your life for reasons known to God. God can decide to take away our loved ones, our children. All children or loved ones are a gift from God and God can choose to take away life of our loved ones if he so desires. Life cut short does not always mean that it is a punishment from God.

God did this with Israel. When they disobeyed God in the wilderness and had no faith in conquering the land, he said that this generation above 20 years will perish in the wilderness (Num. 14:29-30). In the book of Hosea (9:12-14) Israel turned to worship Baal and other fertility God, and God said that he would send calamity on them by loss of their children.

And yet, God waited over 500 years to give the Amalekites an opportunity to repent and to walk in agreement with God’s ways.

Life and Death are in the Hands of God.

Job. 1:21; Deut. 32:39; 1 Sam. 2:6

God is Very Long-Suffering.

Our God is very-long suffering.

Even after 300 years in 1 Samuel 15:18 – the Amalekites are still wicked. They did not repent.

1 Samuel 15:4-6

⁴So Saul summoned the men and mustered them at Telaim—two hundred thousand foot soldiers and ten thousand from Judah. ⁵Saul went to the city of Amalek and set an ambush in the ravine. ⁶Then he said to the Kenites, “Go away, leave the Amalekites so that I do not destroy you along with them; for you showed kindness to all the Israelites when they came up out of Egypt.” So the Kenites moved away from the Amalekites.

1 Samuel 15:7

Then Saul attacked the Amalekites all the way from Havilah to Shur, near the eastern border of Egypt.

Up until now, this could have been called a venture of faith. Samuel said, “I want you to do this,” and Saul did this. Sounds like a venture of faith to me. But now, we begin to see that Saul turned a venture of faith into a venture of Saul. He is taking things to his own hands.

1 Samuel 15:8-9

⁸He took Agag king of the Amalekites alive (that is a problem right there.), and all his people he totally destroyed with the sword. ⁹But Saul and the army spared Agag and the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves and lambs—everything that was good. These they were unwilling to destroy completely, but everything that was despised and weak they totally destroyed.

Samuel comes to the scene:

1 Samuel 15:10-12

¹⁰Then the word of the Lord came to Samuel: ¹¹“I regret that I have made Saul king, because he has turned away from me and has not carried out my instructions.” Samuel was angry, and he cried out to the Lord all that night. (Saul’s sin brought regret on God and anger on Samuel.)

¹²Early in the morning Samuel got up and went to meet Saul, but he was told, “Saul has gone to Carmel. There he has set up a monument (building or statue) in his own honor and has turned and gone on down to Gilgal.”

Saul took a venture of faith and turned it into a venture of Saul. He built a monument to honour himself. It is all about Saul now. Look at me what a great victory I have won.

And we have another lesson for leading here:

Leaders that go on ventures of faith don’t build monuments to themselves.

Faithful Leaders Build God’s Kingdom, Not Their Own Monuments

And there’s something that we can learn in this because, you know what. Every single one of us—the Bible tells us that God has prepared good works in advance for you to do. So, God has ventures of faith. He has instructions for each one of us as well. It’s God’s plan; it’s God’s work. We are merely partners with Him. There’s no need for us to build a monument and make it about us. We’re merely stepping into the stream of what God is doing and partnering with Him.

Luke 17:10

So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’”

And so, that reminds us about our attitude—to remember it is the Lord’s work. We’re just doing what God has given us to do.

1 Samuel 15:13-15

¹³When Samuel reached him, Saul said, “The Lord bless you! I have carried out the Lord’s instructions.” (Saul thinks that he has been obedient, we wiped them all out.)

¹⁴But Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of sheep in my ears? What is this lowing of cattle that I hear?”

¹⁵Saul answered, “The soldiers brought them from the Amalekites; they spared the best of the sheep and cattle to sacrifice to the Lord your God, but we totally destroyed the rest.”

Saul is focused on religious ritual.

Saul blames the soldiers for what was bad and accept credit for what was good.. Nothing is my fault. If anything is bad, they did it. But I’ll take credit for the good.

1 Samuel 15:16-19

¹⁶“Enough!” Samuel said to Saul. “Let me tell you what the Lord said to me last night.”

“Tell me,” Saul replied.

¹⁷Samuel said, “Although you were once small in your own eyes, did you not become the head of the tribes of Israel? The Lord anointed you king over Israel. ¹⁸And he sent you on a mission, saying, ‘Go and completely destroy those wicked people, the Amalekites; wage war against them until you have wiped them out.’ ¹⁹Why did you not obey the Lord? Why did you pounce on the plunder and do evil in the eyes of the Lord?”

Lord Expects Radical Obedience Right Down To Every Detail.

Saul had so revised God’s instructions, he can’t even see what he did wrong. You don’t improve on the Lord’s command.

1 Samuel 15:20-23

²⁰“But I did obey the Lord,” Saul said. “I went on the mission the Lord assigned me. I completely destroyed the Amalekites and brought back Agag their king. ²¹The soldiers took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of what was devoted to God, in order to sacrifice them to the Lord your God at Gilgal.”

²²But Samuel replied:

“Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices

as much as in obeying the Lord?

(This is a very important principle that we see in the prophets. Isaiah 1:11;19; the Israelites are bringing sacrifices to the Lord and the Lord says, I am fed up with them. I need obedience.)

To obey is better than sacrifice,

and to heed is better than the fat of rams.

²³For rebellion is like the sin of divination,

and arrogance like the evil of idolatry.

Because you have rejected the word of the Lord,

he has rejected you as king.”

So, Samuel is saying, “Saul, this is your choice. You made this choice. Saul chose rebellion and stubbornness, and now these are the consequences.”

God cares about us listening. God cares about us obeying.

What stops us from listening and obeying God?

Well, the words here are “rebellion” and “stubbornness.”

Saul has taken God’s command, God’s instructions, and revised it into something that suited him better. This wasn’t complete disobedience; this was partial disobedience. This was revision—”Let’s make it more palatable for me.”

And you know what? I’ve revised God’s instructions to make it suit me better. We’re pretty good at it. And this is what rebellion does in us. This is what stubbornness can do in us.

We need to have the simple faith of listening and obeying. When we review and twist God’s instructions to suit us it is rebellion and stubbornness. That is why it is always good to have a friend who loves us enough to point it out, that can be helpful.

1 Samuel 15:24-26

²⁴Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned. I violated the Lord’s command and your instructions. I was afraid of the men and so I gave in to them. ²⁵Now I beg you, forgive my sin and come back with me, so that I may worship the Lord.” (He is negotiating with Samuel)

²⁶But Samuel said to him, “I will not go back with you. You have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you as king over Israel!” (Samuel states, “Saul, this is your choice.)

1 Samuel 15:27-28

²⁷As Samuel turned to leave, Saul caught hold of the hem of his robe, and it tore. ²⁸Samuel said to him, “The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to one of your neighbors—to one better than you. (We still do not know who this person is.)

Isn’t it fascinating that we see God’s long-suffering with two different situations?

Five hundred years, God bore with the Amalekites until He said, “That’s the end.” And the person who was supposed to bring that judgment and partner with God was also in judgment, because God was bearing with Saul and giving him chance after chance after chance. And then, just in that moment, we see the visual of the tearing of the robe. God says, “Okay, that was your last chance. I will now allow you to be confirmed in your choices.”

1 Samuel 15:29

He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind; for he is not a human being, that he should change his mind.”

God does not change. Human beings will change. Typically God will change his mind when people repent. Like in the case of Nineveh. He is a forgiving God. He is merciful. When people repent, he will relent from sending the judgement upon them that he warned them about. Prophecy is often designed to move people to repent, so that God will be able to relent. But there are times when people cross the line and then God decrees that judgement is coming. I will relent, but sometimes I decide no, it is too late for that. I am not changing my mind, you are not going to be king anymore.

1 Samuel 15:30-33

³⁰ Saul replied, “I have sinned. But please honor me before the elders of my people and before Israel; come back with me, so that I may worship the Lord your God.” ³¹So Samuel went back with Saul, and Saul worshiped the Lord. (Obsessed with worship. Saul does not say, I will kill Agag, I sinned.)

³²Then Samuel said, “Bring me Agag king of the Amalekites.”

Agag came to him in chains. And he thought, “Surely the bitterness of death is past.”

³³But Samuel said,

“As your sword has made women childless,

so will your mother be childless among women.”

And Samuel put Agag to death before the Lord at Gilgal.

³⁴Then Samuel left for Ramah, but Saul went up to his home in Gibeah of Saul. ³⁵Until the day Samuel died, he did not go to see Saul again, though Samuel mourned for him. And the Lord regretted that he had made Saul king over Israel.

Saul’s sin has brought great grief to Samuel and regret to the Lord.

And the word “regret” here ascribes to God a human emotion of being sorry. Sorry that things turned out the way they did. Sorry that Saul turned out the way he did. I think God was equally sorry that Agag turned out the way that he did.

God wants none to perish, but all to come to repentance. And we see that He has this sorrow when people don’t make that choice. The Lord did mention that he has a replacement in mind for Saul, a neighbour, one who is better than Saul. We will meet him in 1 Samuel 16.

CONCLUSION

In 1 Samuel 14 and 15, we see two people, a father and son; Saul and Jonathan. In 1 Samuel 14 Jonathan portrays for us a simple faith. All Jonathan needed to do was step into the stream of what God was doing, take a venture of faith, and God would do the work. He would save, whether by many or by few.

And by contrast, we watch how Saul got a complicated relationship with the Lord due to his rebellion, due to his stubbornness. He took God’s instructions and revised them to make them more palatable.

The Lord Places Greater Priority on Obedience Than Religious Formalism.

Example: A man or woman unfaithful to her wife/husband. The person maybe very good at prayer and fasting, doing devotionals every day. God puts priority on obedience, not religious formalism.

LIFE APPLICATION POINTS

Lord Expects Radical Obedience Right Down To Every Detail.

We too must obey God fully, without altering His instructions to fit our desires or preferences. Partial obedience is still disobedience. Reflect on whether you are following God’s commands completely or making compromises along the way.

Avoid Self-Glorification

Saul’s pride led him to build a monument for himself. As leaders and followers of Christ, we must remember that we are merely partners in God’s plan. Our achievements should point to God’s glory, not our own. When you succeed, ask yourself: Is this moment about glorifying God or elevating yourself?

Choices Have Consequences

Every decision that we make carries weight. Like Saul, our choices today can affect our future. We must be mindful that our daily decisions either align us with God’s will or lead us away from it. God Allows People to be Confirmed in Their Choices. God is a gentleman, he does not force himself on anyone Choose wisely, for the consequences—positive or negative—are inevitable.

Faithfulness in Small Things Leads to Greater Responsibilities

Saul’s story shows that disobedience in seemingly minor areas can lead to major losses. God entrusts us with tasks, both small and great, and our faithfulness in those tasks determines whether we are fit for greater responsibilities in His kingdom. Are you being faithful in the small things God has given you?

In Jesus Christ, we see the perfect example of radical obedience, as He followed the Father’s will down to every detail, even to the point of death on the cross (Philippians 2:8). He avoided self-glorification, always pointing to the Father’s glory (John 17:4). His choice to fully obey God led to His exaltation and glorification (Philippians 2:9). Faithful in every task the Father entrusted to Him, Jesus was exalted above all, demonstrating that faithfulness in small and great things leads to greater responsibility and eternal reward.

Fortunately we have forgiveness through Jesus Christ. God is willing to relent when we repent.

So, I just want to end with four questions:

Do I revise God’s commands for me to benefit myself?

Am I rebellious?

Am I stubborn?

Do I more closely resemble the heart of Jonathan or do I more closely resemble the heart of Saul?

Father, thank you for speaking to us through the life and mistakes of Saul. We are guilty at times of rebellion, stubbornness or a complicated relationship with You in our hearts.  Lord, change us. Holy Spirit, change us to be the people who will love You and obey You. Help us to do things in your name and give you all the glory. Forgives us from our sins and disobedience. Want to see Your kingdom advance. Help us in all that we do. We ask this in the name of your son, Jesus. Amen.