1) Saul - the king who grieved the Spirit

(ref: 1 Samuel ch8 – ch31) (click the arrow to listen)

As we saw in the introduction, Samuel the prophet was charged with choosing the first king of Israel. To begin with, Israel was a united kingdom of 12 tribes; but it became divided after the reign of Solomon into the Kingdom of Israel (comprising 10 tribes in the north), and the Kingdom of Judah (2 tribes in the South). Samuel was divinely led to the person the Lord considered had the correct qualities for kingship:

Now the day before Saul came, the Lord had revealed this to Samuel: ‘About this time tomorrow I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin. Anoint him ruler over my people Israel; he will deliver them from the hand of the Philistines. I have looked on my people, for their cry has reached me.’ (1 Samuel 9:15-16)

Samuel was the first prophet following the jurisdiction of the judges. He had a particular anointing which allowed the Spirit to move more widely among the people since the time of Moses.

relationship

As the Spirit figures significantly in the life of Saul, we should understand some principles here. The Spirit was understood then as a strong influence on people who were open to spiritual direction. Control might be a good description to use as there appears to be a degree of surrendering oneself to the Spirit’s work rather than there being a mutual cooperation with the Spirit. This understanding is very different from the work of the Spirit through Jesus. The Holy Spirit had been given to the church as the ‘paraclete’ promised by Jesus. The Spirit, given after Jesus had ascended to the Father, would indwell God’s people and work in them in a joint cooperative fashion (John 14:16-17).

This underlines the difference in the ministry of the Spirit in the Old Testament and in the New Testament. In the Old, the Spirit came upon individuals to achieve a particular end and then departed. In the New, the Spirit lives in us in relationship, and we are responsible for cultivating that relationship, acting on His leadings and not grieving His desires (Ephesians 4:30). The other important point is that in the New, He is described as the Holy Spirit. This is now the title of a person and so much more than an influence.

There is much to explore about the need for holiness in maintaining this relationship with the Holy Spirit which we cannot go into here. There is a reference to the holy Spirit in Psalm 51 but this is probably descriptive of the work of the Spirit as coming from God rather than a title. David’s prays that God will not take His Spirit away from him because of his sin and consequently suffer the same fate as his predecessor. In the same Psalm, David also writes of: a steadfast spirit, a willing spirit and a broken spirit. However, this is a prophetic indication of the future experience of the Spirit as a person. The Spirit came upon people in the Old Testament as a temporary gift irrespective of their character qualities. This explains people like Samson who had a divine gift but no quality of holy character. However, as explained in Hebrews 11, Samson did have the redeeming quality of faith.

anointed

When Samuel met Saul, the future king, he anointed him with oil to represent the Spirit whom the king should always seek to obey. He also gave to Saul powerful prophetic promises:

Then Samuel took a flask of olive oil and poured it on Saul’s head and kissed him, saying, ‘Has not the Lord anointed you ruler over his inheritance? (1 Samuel 10:1)
The Spirit of the Lord will come powerfully upon you, and you will prophesy with them; and you will be changed into a different person. Once these signs are fulfilled, do whatever your hand finds to do, for God is with you. (1 Samuel 10:6-7)

The connection between this blessing of the Spirit and Saul’s future behaviour is vital in learning lessons in leadership.

Saul gives the impression of being overawed by what is happening to him. He appears to be reticent about the task for which he has been anointed. Whether this is humility on his part or a manifestation of unbelief regarding the promises made, we are not sure. However, after being chosen in the presence of the people by drawing the lot, he was found hiding away:

They ran and brought him out, and as he stood among the people he was a head taller than any of the others. Samuel said to all the people, ‘Do you see the man the Lord has chosen? There is no one like him among all the people.’
Then the people shouted, ‘Long live the king!’ (1 Samuel 10:23-24)

Saul then had to demonstrate his anointed gift of leadership. This occurred at the incident where he rescued the men of Jabesh Gilead. His commands were obeyed and he was confirmed as the Lord’s anointed by the success of this fighting campaign. All seemed to be going well until he was tasked by Samuel to wait for him to offer ministry, before a campaign against the Philistines. In this crisis, his faith wavered and he resorted to presumptuous action:

Saul remained at Gilgal, and all the troops with him were quaking with fear. He waited for seven days, the time set by Samuel; but Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and Saul’s men began to scatter. So he said, ‘Bring me the burnt offering and the fellowship offerings.’ And Saul offered up the burnt offering. Just as he finished making the offering, Samuel arrived (1 Samuel 13:7-10)

trial

Saul failed the test of trust. This kind of test will always happen in spiritual leadership. It is an especially trying time when God’s presence seems to have withdrawn from us (Song 5:6). God tests our love for Him and our faith in Him that He will keep his promises. It is wrong to assume that because one has been anointed as a leader that there is no more progress to be made. God will always test our faith in order to mature our character (James 1:2-8). If leaders do not continue to make growth in character, then their leadership will flounder:

You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time. But now your kingdom will not endure; the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him ruler of his people, because you have not kept the Lord’s command. (1 Samuel 13:13-14)

This could be one of the most difficult conclusions about leadership to make: God may be prepared to move elsewhere. God is jealous for His work and will entrust it to those he sees as more akin to the desires of His own heart. This is tough to accept. But even more difficult is that leadership will not necessarily disappear when a determined wrong turn has been made. The work may seem to go on: the administration continues; to the undiscerning everything may seem fine, but the Lord is no longer present in blessing.

This removal of God’s blessing will begin to become apparent in poor decision making. Decisions may be made out of desperation to give the impression that all is well and continuing as it always has. Saul now began to make serious leadership errors. As always, these errors affected those he was leading; these are completely unnecessary:

Now the Israelites were in distress that day, because Saul had bound the people under an oath, saying, ‘Cursed be anyone who eats food before evening comes, before I have avenged myself on my enemies!’ So none of the troops tasted food. (1 Samuel 14:24)

This was a manifestation of the misuse of spiritual authority. But already the people were beginning to notice that all was not well. This is such a difficult situation to be in. There is the natural wish by good-hearted, committed people to follow the lead they are given. They can justify mistakes made by leaders and even blame themselves when things go wrong. There can be a sense of commitment to the original anointing even though it is has departed. This can prove to be loyalty built on sand.

excuses

Saul continued with his role as king and was still expected to carry out the Lord’s purpose as directed by Samuel. He was instructed to attack the Amalekites and destroy them. There were historical reasons for this, but also future considerations too. Some people see this incident as a particularly egregious example of revenge and genocide and will not accept that it was an authentic command from the Lord. Let me comment on that.

First of all, the nature of the Amalekites seemed to be one of attacking and destroying whenever they found an opportunity. They were a plague. I liken them in our time to Boko Haram, an Islamist terrorist group operating in Africa which attacks settlements indiscriminately and has been responsible for the deaths and abduction of thousands of people. How is a group like this to be dealt with other than eliminated? Secondly, they were not totally exterminated although this can be the impression given in the account. Saul is directed to a particular group led by King Agag. Other Amalekites continued to practice insurgency in the reign of David, endangering his future kingship, and his royal line (1 Samuel 30). Thirdly, in the lawless times of the Old Testament, military force was the difference between a people who survived and those who were wiped out. [more on this in Living with Mystery 10]

Saul attacked as he was expected to do but allowed his own interests to dilute the direct command that he was given by Samuel. His disobedience was the result of a combination of personal greed, desire to please, and fear:

He took Agag king of the Amalekites alive, and all his people he totally destroyed with the sword. But Saul and the army spared Agag and the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves and lambs – everything that was good. (1 Samuel 15:8-9)

For this he was condemned by Samuel and it was confirmed that the Lord would remove him from being king.

repentance

On having his error revealed to him he appeared to repent of what he had done. This was not genuine repentance but self-serving. He wanted the blessing he had originally known but without the trials of obedience and the need to deny his own personal ambitions:

Then 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. Now I beg you, forgive my sin and come back with me, so that I may worship the Lord.’ (1 Samuel 15:24-25)

In desperation, leaders may appear to change their ways when it becomes apparent that all is not well, so they cling on to their leadership. They may make great demonstrations of emotion, but God is looking at the true state of the heart. Displays of emotion and tears do not automatically indicate repentance from the heart but can be simply self-serving and self-preserving (Hebrews 12:14-17)

The reign of Saul now degenerated as he lost the blessing of the promises made to him. His situation was expressed in this way:

Now the Spirit of the Lord had departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord tormented him. (1 Samuel 16:14)

We should probably understand this as something which God allowed to happen. We are all generally unaware of the wall of protection which surrounds us. Even when times of persecution arise God is allowing this to happen rather than directing it. Saul’s torment was particularly strong because he was someone open to the working of spirits in his life.

gifts

In a mysterious incident, Saul was again moved upon by the Spirit of God:

So Saul went to Naioth at Ramah. But the Spirit of God came even on him, and he walked along prophesying until he came to Naioth. He stripped off his garments, and he too prophesied in Samuel’s presence. He lay naked all that day and all that night. This is why people say, ‘Is Saul also among the prophets?’ (1 Samuel 19:23-24)

This does appear to be a mystery since we were told that the Lord had departed from him. I see it as a sign of his spiritual openness. Even those who are not right with God can still be influenced through spiritual openness. This does not mean that the person has been restored; it is simply a manifestation of a gift of openness.

Leaders may still respond to the Spirit because of their gifts even though they have lost their way. This is a hard thing to work through. Jesus himself commented on that situation:

Many will say to me on that day, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?” Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!” (Matthew 7:22-23)

We must learn to make judgments based on obedience to biblical teaching and the fruit of the Spirit and not just be swayed by the manifestations of spiritual gifts. It is not an easy situation to make decisions about, especially when one is closely committed to leaders who err.

rival

Saul began to manifest many signs that he was being controlled by a spirit which planned evil. It became obvious to everyone that David, the son of Jesse, was to be his anointed replacement as king. Saul jealously guarded his leadership position and because of this selfish motive he made various attempts to kill David. After one such excursion against David, during which David outwitted and could have killed him, Saul appeared to regret his actions:

When David finished saying this, Saul asked, ‘Is that your voice, David my son?’ And he wept aloud. ‘You are more righteous than I,’ he said. ‘You have treated me well, but I have treated you badly. (1 Samuel 24:16-17)

As before, his manifestations of contrite emotions were only skin deep. His heart had not changed. Subsequently, he continued his plans to kill David.

tragedy

His inevitable fall finally came when, because of fear, because of desperation, perhaps because he saw the end was near, he resorted to a gross act of hypocrisy. Saul had made a proclamation in better days which had banished all spiritual mediums who practised calling up the spirits of the dead. Despite that he ordered his men to find one that he could consult. This is another example of how fallen leaders damage those who follow them:

When Saul saw the Philistine army, he was afraid; terror filled his heart. He enquired of the Lord, but the Lord did not answer him by dreams or Urim or prophets. Saul then said to his attendants, ‘Find me a woman who is a medium, so that I may go and enquire of her.’ (1 Samuel 28:5-7)

No one can really explain what happened at this séance and whether or not it really was Samuel. I won’t make any speculations except to point out that it fits in with the general mystery surrounding spiritual manifestations with which Saul’s story abounds.

In the final scene of his life, Saul commits suicide. It was a tragic end to a narrative which began so well and with such hope. Saul began with the Spirit and ended with spirits. He abandoned the Spirit of the Lord for evil spiritual manifestations because he had strayed. He led his people into defeat. Perhaps a more honourable man would have acknowledged his fall and stepped aside earlier for the new Lord’s anointed. Leaders can be so fixed on their self-importance that they jealously guard their fiefdom. And like Saul, they may try to carry on as before then end up blundering.

As this series will be highlighting failures it will be easy to think them inevitable: this does not have to be. Rebukes are given to sharpen up our spiritual senses and drive us to know Jesus, and the true filling of the Holy Spirit. The Lord wishes to anoint the humble. The Lord will bless those who, in leadership, grow in trust and reliance on Him:

These are the ones I look on with favour: those who are humble and contrite in spirit, and who tremble at my word. (Isaiah 66:2)