Lesson 7: Obedience 83
15:32–35. After worshiping the Lord with Saul, Samuel completed the
punishment against the Amalekites by putting their king, Agag, to death
(15:32–33). The prophet then left Saul never to see him again, demon-
strating that God was no longer working through Saul. The final two
verses echo the sentiments expressed by God and Samuel after Saul ini-
tially disobeyed God’s instructions (15:11). Samuel mourned the tragedy
brought about by Saul’s refusal to obey, and God was grieved by this
same disobedience.
Focusing on the Meaning
The key problem for Saul was his failure to follow God’s instructions.
Saul thoroughly rationalized his actions to the point that he believed
that both Samuel and God would be pleased. Despite his attempts at self-
justification, Saul transformed a battle meant for punishment of sin into
a slaughter for personal gain. When confronted about his disobedience,
Saul was prepared with excuses and blame for others. Yet God always
knows our true intentions, no matter how much we have rationalized
our misdeeds. We, like Saul, tend to put ourselves in God’s place (15:23),
believing that we know better than God and are justified in doing what-
ever works best for us in a given situation.
Disobedience, no matter how we rationalize it, often has irrevocable
consequences. In this case, Saul’s rejection of God led to God’s rejection
of Saul’s leadership of the people of Israel. Not only had Saul’s power as
king come to an end, but his descendants would also be unable to reign
after him. His continual disobedience had resulted in the discontinua-
tion of his dynasty.
Forgiveness was still available for Saul (15:30–31), but the conse-
quences remained. Similarly, God offers us forgiveness for our sins, but
our disobedience often causes permanent damage to us personally and
to those around us. We would do much better to learn from the tragedy
caused by Saul’s poor decisions and practice the habit of obedience as we
strive to follow God’s instructions for our lives.