The Downfall of a King

Samuel was the last prophet of Israel. It appears in 1 Samuel 7: 8 that for some reason the Israelites became afraid of the Philistines. Even so, God used Samuel to lead the people to a victory over their enemy. The curious thing is that even though they conquered the enemy and Samuel was still their spiritual leader, suddenly in chapter 8 the people demanded to have a king like all the other nations round about.

God protested against the demand and Samuel warned them what it would be like to have a king. He said the king would draft the men and women to work for him in the vineyards and farms that he confiscated. Then he said the king would take a tenth of their produce. Even though they were warned of what it would be like to have a king they still insisted.

When it came to anoint Saul as the king, no one could find him because 10:22 said that he hid himself in the stuff. I looked up the Hebrew word in that phrase and it only says the word stuff. It was nondescript. This is the beginning of the end even as Saul was to be king because he hid himself from the opportunity that God gave him. In verse sixteen he kept it a secret that he was to become king. In verse twenty-seven some of the men were already beginning to have doubts about Saul’s leadership.

In 11:6 Saul demonstrated his anger for the first of many times. And 13: 4 Saul’s influence over the Israelites led them to commit an abomination. In verse nine Saul assumed the position of prophet and illegitimately made an offering to God. In the following verses Saul blamed other people for his misconduct saying he is forced to because of the people. In verse twenty-four Saul demanded that his people abstain from eating until they got military victory. Unbeknownst to him, his son Jonathan led the battalion of loyalist to defeat the Philistines while knowing nothing of Saul’s order not to eat. This put Saul and Jonathan in a difficult position until the people demanded that Saul spare his son’s life.

In verse twenty-nine Jonathan admitted that his own father was the cause of trouble in the land. God told Samuel in 15:11 that he regretted setting up Saul because he turned his back on God and did not perform the commandments. In several verses of this chapter Saul blamed other people for his misdeeds. Finally in verse twenty-three, God rejected Saul from being king. And in 16: 14 the spirit of the Lord departed from Saul and an evil spirit began to trouble him. In chapter 18 the slide became very slippery for  Saul. He became jealous of David and tried to kill him. Saul decided to give his daughter Michal to David as a wife hoping that she would be a snare to him. Saul was perplexed by fear, jealousy, anger, and intended multiple times to kill David who was going to be the king in his place.

Saul’s downturn continued to the next several chapters even so that he became angry with his own son Jonathan. In 22: 8 he became paranoid accusing his men of  conspiring against him including a complaint that no one’s felt sorry for him. Ultimately, Saul ordered the murder of the priests of God accusing them of being on David side. In desperation  Saul disguised himself and consulted a witch taking two other men with him in his sin. Eventually in chapter 31 Saul and Jonathan died in battle against the Philistines along with his three sons, his armor bearer, and all his men.

Observations: Saul was never dedicated to the task of being a king. Saul blamed other people for his failures. Saul did evil and no good. It is sad to say that many leaders in our modern time have followed such a path claiming to be faithful to God but showing their colors later.