… Then Samuel took a vial of oil, and poured it upon his head, and kissed him, and said, Is it not because the LORD hath anointed thee to be captain over his inheritance? …
Part I Anointing of Saul
1 Now there was a man of Benjamin,
whose name was Kish, the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Bechorath,
the son of Aphiah, a Benjamite, a mighty man of power. 2 And he had a son, whose name was
Saul, a choice young man, and a goodly: and there was not among the children of
Israel a goodlier person than he: from his shoulders and upward he was higher
than any of the people.
(1 Sam 9:1-2)
Power can so modify the character and disposition of its owner as to render
them unrecognizable from the person that they were before owning it. Such was
the case of Saul. Recalling the words of the great English commentator, Lord
John Dalberg-Acton: "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power
corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men." But even
Lord Acton made exception in the person of General Robert E. Lee. I believe Acton
considered Robert E. Lee in an altogether separate category of great men who
were also great in magnanimity of character: "I deemed that you were
fighting the battles of our liberty, our progress, and our civilization,"
Lord Acton wrote to Lee on 4 November 1866, "and I mourn for the stake
which was lost at Richmond more deeply than I rejoice over that which was saved
at Waterloo. Lee was great because he did not view himself as great but, rather
as an instrument in the hand of God."
Israel’s Ungodly Request
At the time of his blessing and coronation as first King in Israel, (in
reality, the Lord was first King in Israel) Saul was a good and humble man; but
what tyrant do we see in later years! You will recall that, in the preceding
account given in Judges, In those days there was no king in Israel: every
man did that which was right in his own eyes. (Judges
21:25) Even the
sons of Samuel had been corrupted by a pretended divine authority to gain lucre
from the people. Until the latter period of the Judges, Israel had owned God -
the same who brought them with a strong out-stretched arm from Egypt - as their
King. But the people, not satisfied to have God as their King, murmured
for a king like those of the other nations round about: 4 Then all the elders of
Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah, 5 And said unto him, Behold, thou
art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like
all the nations.
(1 Sam
8:4-5) I hope this
attitude does not amaze and shock you for the same has happened in our own dear
America! It would be well to recall the counsel of another King (David) who
said: Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he
hath chosen for his own inheritance. (Psalms
33:12)
Of course, God was not well pleased with either the ingratitude or lack of
loyalty to One who had been their Salvation and Comfort from olden days. Be
careful for those petitions we make in prayer: 7 And the LORD said unto
Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee:
for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not
reign over them.
(1 Sam 8:7)
Human rule is always oppressive and tyrannical. Only a nation whose God is the
Lord can enjoy true liberty and freedom.
God warns Israel
God warned Israel, through Samuel, of the outcome of their opting for a king
instead of the Lord to rule over them:
11 And he said, This will be the
manner of the king that shall reign over you: He will take your sons, and
appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and some
shall run before his chariots. 12 And he will appoint him captains
over thousands, and captains over fifties; and will set them to ear his
ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of
war, and instruments of his chariots. 13 And he will take your
daughters to be confectionaries, and to be cooks, and to be bakers. 14 And he will take your fields,
and your vineyards, and your oliveyards, even the best of them, and
give them to his servants. 15 And he will take the tenth of
your seed, and of your vineyards, and give to his officers, and to his servants. (even the tenth part is less
than the Mammon of our day lays claim to) 16 And he will take your
menservants, and your maidservants, and your goodliest young men, and your
asses, and put them to his work. 17 He will take the tenth of your
sheep: and ye shall be his servants. 18 And ye shall cry out in that day
because of your king which ye shall have chosen you; and the LORD will not
hear you in that day.
(1 Sam 8:11-18) A casual perusal of the points of this text will reveal a
familiar picture of government gone amiss in the America of our own day.
So, even the goodliest young man of all of Israel, would turn to be precisely
what the Lord foretells. The reason is clearly revealed in the quote of Lord
Acton above. Unrestrained power always leads to oppression! Of course, there
may be exceptional and stellar characters in history such as George Washington
who may refuse the scepter of power to the profit of freedom and liberty.
Even when we ask for things unprofitable, if we persist, the Lord may grant our
prayers for our learning. This did God with Israel.
Saul Anointed King:
Saul is anointed king at the insistence of the people. 1 Then Samuel took a vial of
oil, and poured it upon his head, and kissed him, and said, Is it not because
the LORD hath anointed thee to be captain over his inheritance? (1 Sam
10:1) It is true the
Lord often gives us precisely what we desire. In turning from God, these people
did not merit warm care of the Lord in their government. They would learn that
misery in life often follows the elation of a moment of seeming victory.
God’s Admonition to Israel:
Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, I brought up Israel out of Egypt, and
delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all
kingdoms, and of them that oppressed you: And ye have this day rejected your
God, who himself saved you out of all your adversities and your tribulations;
and ye have said unto him, Nay, but set a king over us. (1
Sam 10:18-19) In
moments of our national solace, God reminds us of His Providence at our ancient
founding as a nation. He was with us in many miraculous demonstrations of
power, and moved in the hearts of our Founding Fathers to establish a
government that appealed to the powers of Heaven for its authority and guidance
– “One Nation, Under God.” We have allowed venal judges to turn the
Constitution of the United States on its head – deliberately interpreting the
Constitution to mean the exact opposite of its clearly stated intentions. We
were warned by the ancient philosopher and Roman advocate of a republican form
of government in which all laws applied equally to every citizen – even those
in public office. Power and law are not synonymous. In truth, they are
frequently in opposition and irreconcilable. There is God's Law from which all
Equitable laws of man emerge and by which men must live if they are not to die
in oppression, chaos and despair. Divorced from God's eternal and immutable
Law, established before the founding of the suns, man's power is evil no matter
the noble words with which it is employed or the motives urged when enforcing
it. Men of good will, mindful therefore of the Law laid down by God, will
oppose governments whose rule is by men, and if they wish to survive as a
nation they will destroy the government which attempts to adjudicate by the
whim of venal judges. Marcus
Tullius Cicero, 106-43 BC
Presumptions of Saul
He usurped the priestly and prophetic office of Israel by sacrificing at
Gilgal. (1 Sam 13:8-10) Presumptions in false worship
will not be brooded by the Lord. And Samuel said to Saul, Thou hast done
foolishly: thou hast not kept the commandment of the LORD thy God, which he
commanded thee: for now would the LORD have established thy kingdom upon Israel
for ever. But now thy kingdom shall not continue: the LORD hath sought him a
man after his own heart, and the LORD hath commanded him to be captain over his
people, because thou hast not kept that which the LORD commanded thee. (1
Sam 13:13-14)
Presumptions Lead to Open
Rebellion
Saul defies the commandment of God in taking spoils which the Lord had
forbidden. This is not an isolated case, but a general characteristic of a man
who began well and ends in disaster of character and person. Then came the
word of the LORD unto Samuel, saying, It repenteth me that I have set up
Saul to be king: for he is turned back from following me, and hath not
performed my commandments. (1 Sam 15:10-11) There comes a tipping point in
our disobedience and defiance of God at which there will be no recourse to
judgment. Though the door of repentance is always available, the terms of
judgment still looms in our face. God often holds His hand of Judgment until
the iniquity of a people is full, and so is that of our own dear land surely
approaching the same point.
The moral character of Saul was undermined by his infatuation of power, or
perhaps that infatuation simply revealed what dark features had always existed
under a handsome and appealing countenance as a young man. We will next explore
the depth of despair and ruin to which Saul finally sinks before his horrific
demise.
