A Fool on the Throne

Intro:As long as there is sin in the world, earthly thrones will be inhabited by foolish people. I know that sounds hopeless but consider with me how Scripture defines foolishness:

Psalm 14:1 “1 The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they have committed abominable deeds; There is no one who does good.”

Proverbs 18:2 “2 A fool does not delight in understanding, But only in revealing his own mind.”

Proverbs 12:15 “15 The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, But a wise man is he who listens to counsel.”

Because local, national and world leaders are always having the news communicate their every move and every word, then their foolishness is very visible. Now we know that these leaders have great political and social power given to them and, left by itself, power corrupts the mind. Power goes to our heads because sin has so corrupted the heart, then that power leads us to self-worship.

Nebuchadnezzar most famously proclaimed,

Daniel 4:30 “30 “The king reflected and said, ‘Is this not Babylon the great, which I myself have built as a royal residence by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty?’”

The Lord had to humble this King of Babylon to show him that his power had corrupted him into thinking that his human accomplishments brought any achievement. The Lord stripped away his power and his mental faculties so that the King became like an animal, humbled to the lowest degree of any human in history, outside of Christ himself.

Now what makes a person foolish? A denial of the glory of God and a turning away from the truthful revelation that Lord has given. The truth here then is that outside of a supernatural intervention by the Lord, we are all fools trying to sit on some throne of our own making. Sin corrupts us all to think we are kings and that our domain is our place of rule. Only God can change such a heart, whether it be a common man or a king, to see His blessings on the world, to honor His Sovereignty and to move us to worship Him in humility and follow His wisdom.

He did this for a brief moment to Nebuchadnezzar so that the king proclaimed,

Daniel 4:34–35 “34 “But at the end of that period, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever; For His dominion is an everlasting dominion, And His kingdom endures from generation to generation. 35 “All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, But He does according to His will in the host of heaven And among the inhabitants of earth; And no one can ward off His hand Or say to Him, ‘What have You done?’”

Daniel 4:37 “37 “Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise, exalt and honor the King of heaven, for all His works are true and His ways just, and He is able to humble those who walk in pride.””

As we journey back into our study of 1 Samuel, we will see in these next few chapters the actions of another foolish king. As we walk through the next few chapters of 1 Samuel, we will begin to see how Saul abandons the wisdom of God given to him by the prophet Samuel and he goes about on his own, falling into the pits of foolish pride.

What we will learn here today is that wisdom is found in the One FOOL-LESS leader who has ever lived. Since the Lord Jesus has come, he has lived and demonstrated that He is the representation of wisdom and truth. His words are wise words that canlead us to faithfulness as God’s people. Therefore, if we are so changed by the Spirit of God to believe upon Him, then we are called to walk in wisdom by obedience to His words. Any rejection of His word is blantant foolishness and rejection of Him.

Matthew 7:24–27 “24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 “And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. 26 “Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 “The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall.””

Review:

We have studied through 12 chapter of this book and in it we have watched Israel walk foolishly, desiring to be like the world, desiring to gain some advantage from holy artifacts of God in order to defeat their enemies, and yet rejecting the very God to has chosen them and redeemed them as a people. As chapter 13 begins the reign of Saul, this foolish kings seems to reflect the foolishness of the people as a whole.

1 Samuel 12:14–15 “14 “If you will fear the Lord and serve Him, and listen to His voice and not rebel against the command of the Lord, then both you and also the king who reigns over you will follow the Lord your God. 15 “If you will not listen to the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the command of the Lord, then the hand of the Lord will be against you, as it was against your fathers.”

We will see that Saul does not listen to the wise words from the Lord and thus has the judgment earned is the promise for the Lord to find a better and more suitable Kin

1. The Opportunity for Bold Faith (1-7)

At the beginning of Saul’s reign, the king finds himself in a battle with one of his greatest enemies, the Philistines. These enemies have been a great nuisance for Israel throughout these chapters. It was early on, that the Philistines won a decisive battle and captured the ark of the Lord because of the foolish actions of Israel. But the Lord proved victorious and returned the ark of the Lord back into their possession. Then through the leadership of Samuel, led the people to defeat the Philistine in a great battle in chapter 7. But they were not destroyed for we find them once again at odds with God’s people.

Now Saul had already expereinced military victory as the king of Israel. He already led the people to defat the Ammonites and now he faces this greater threat in the Philistines. In 1-7, the king seems to be wise in his military strategy as takes up position. We can applaud the king for doing what he was set out to do by leading the people to defeat God’s enemies. Remember what the people said to Samuel

1 Samuel 8:20 “20 that we also may be like all the nations, that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.””

Now it is important to note that in choosing this earthly king, they were rejecting the Lord’s leadership and going out to battle before them. With the help and leadership of his son, Jonathan, who is introduced here for the first time, Saul positions his forces in two main areas- one unit in Michmash and the second in Gilead, Saul’s hometown. What seems unfortunate is the phrase, “Saul sends the rest home.” This seems like perhaps an over confidence in the king’s mind about the strength of his armies and it will be revealed just how untimely and arrogant that decision was.

Jonathan, Saul’s son and general, attacks the Philistines garrison at Geba which was near Gibeah where Jonathan was positioned. Geba was in the territory of Benjamin and therefore an area that belonged to God’s allotment in the promised land. The Philistines had become a threat to that area and Israel was compelled to respond.

The attack was not the problem as much as Saul’s arrogance as a foolish military and national leader. In v 2, Saul is sending excess troops back home but after the attack, Saul is blowing the rams horn, trumpet, which summons the armies to assemble. Israel has poked the bear of the Philistine regime and the results were not hopeful.

1 Samuel 13:4–5 “4 All Israel heard the news that Saul had smitten the garrison of the Philistines, and also that Israel had become odious to the Philistines. The people were then summoned to Saul at Gilgal.

V 4 states that Israel was a foul stench to the Philistines because of that small victory in Geba and so they rally a massive army in response. Saul then has to summon the people to Gilgal to go to war the their enemies. The writer sets up the scenario with great hopelessness as the Philistine army’s size is overwelming to the size of Israel’s.

1 Samuel 13:5 “5 Now the Philistines assembled to fight with Israel, 30,000 chariots and 6,000 horsemen, and people like the sand which is on the seashore in abundance; and they came up and camped in Michmash, east of Beth-aven.”

Now this is where the people of Israel have an opportunity. These circumstances seem insurmountable and unavoidable and yet their opportunity is to trust the Lord. In the face of a great enemy, the people of God have been shown every reason to display a faith and not a fear. Even with armies that are described as “like sand on the seashore” the people of God serve a powerful God who cannot be thwarted by any insurmountable army.

God displays for his people that with them, there is no reason for fear, only faith and trust that He is the great deliverer.

Psalm 33:16–21 “16 The king is not saved by a mighty army; A warrior is not delivered by great strength. 17 A horse is a false hope for victory; Nor does it deliver anyone by its great strength. 18 Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, On those who hope for His lovingkindness, 19 To deliver their soul from death And to keep them alive in famine. 20 Our soul waits for the Lord; He is our help and our shield. 21 For our heart rejoices in Him, Because we trust in His holy name.”

But look with me at how Israel responds under the leadership of their foolish king. Israel responds to this pivotal moment in fear. What have they done? They have abandons the Lord’s leadership, trusted in a king and this king has instigated a war with a larger enemy and that enemy has gathered its armies and stands ready to detroy them. They retreated. They hid in the mountains. They hightailed it out of dodge when it came time for the face off at high noon.

Look at the wording to describe their situation in v 6

1 Samuel 13:6–7 “6 When the men of Israel saw that they were in a strait(for the people were hard-pressed)”

Do you ever feel this way in your life? You are being squeezed by the affairs of the world. Maybe its your children or your job or your past circumstances. You stand looking at the horizon which seems to be this insurmountable army that wants to destroy you, wants to enslave you and your family. What are you gonna do?

In this moment, the scene is being set up for Saul to fail Israel as their leader. Samuel is no where to be found it offer good wisdom from the Lord. He is absent and therefore the word of God is absent in this moment.

Let us learn a valuable lesson that in this moment of dire straits….we have every reason not to panic and not to fall into fear because we have the promises of God to ensure a faith in Him.

As the church our faith rests in a risen Savior who came to earth not only live a perfect life but to lead us in battle with our greatest enemy sin, death and Satan. He won the battle as Colossians says, “putting our enemies to open shame by triumphing over them.” His death and resurrection is a promise to His people that we have no reason to fear our greatest of circumstances when our Lord has already defeated our greatest enemies.

As an illustration of such faith, consider the early church as they heard the news from Peter and John how the religious leaders threated these new Christians to keep quiet about spreading the news of the Risen Christ in Jerusalem. After being arrested and threatened, Peter, John and the early Christian church responded with this prayer to their sovereign Lord

Acts 4:24–31 “24 And when they heard this, they lifted their voices to God with one accord and said, “O Lord, it is You who made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and all that is in them, 25 who by the Holy Spirit, through the mouth of our father David Your servant, said, ‘Why did the Gentiles rage, And the peoples devise futile things? 26 ‘The kings of the earth took their stand, And the rulers were gathered together Against the Lord and against His Christ.’ 27 “For truly in this city there were gathered together against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, 28 to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose predestined to occur. 29 “And now, Lord, take note of their threats, and grant that Your bond-servants may speak Your word with all confidence, 30 while You extend Your hand to heal, and signs and wonders take place through the name of Your holy servant Jesus.” 31 And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with boldness.”

It is the Lord who infuses bold faith in us to stand against the insurmountable odds and declare that we will not be afraid because we serve a mighty God and a faithful deliver from our afflictions. He rules and reigns for all eternity and we are His people.

2. The Opportunity for Obedience (8-14)

The story so far builds to this moment starting in v 8

1 Samuel 13:8 “8 Now he waited seven days, according to the appointed time set by Samuel, but Samuel did not come to Gilgal; and the people were scattering from him.”

You can feel the tension here communicated to the reader that Saul finds himself in. The Israelites are:

hiding in v 6

trembling at the end of v 7

scattering in v 8.

Saul is losing his footing of leadership among the people and the rally cry back in v 4. Just as the Israelites declared that they were in dire straits as the Philistines pressed in on them, so Saul must feel the same way. His infant kingship is already at a breaking point.

Its at this moment in our lives, that we act out in foolishness. We look for the quick fix, for the easy road, for the temporary relief from the pain or the tragedy of the moment. Saul demonstrates for us the way of the fool who says in his heart, “there is no god.” He is not actually denying God with his words, but his foolish actions are declaring the same things.

How as Saul acting a fool?

1 Samuel 13:9–10 “9 So Saul said, “Bring to me the burnt offering and the peace offerings.” And he offered the burnt offering. 10 As soon as he finished offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him and to greet him.”

There is much debate about Saul’s offence here. The truth is that the Scripture does not explicitly state what Saul did inappropriately. Some argue that Saul should not have offered the burnt offering as a king but you can see later in the OT that both David and Solomon offered burnt offerings and were praised in those moments. I think it is best to relate his offense to what the Scripture does say, instead of what it does not. The emphasis lies on v 9-10 and the arrival of Samuel. The events occur as the following:

Saul waits on Samuel, Samuel does not arrive

Saul makes sacrifice, Samuel arrives at the conclusion

Samuel rebukes Saul immediately

The most helpful commentary here is the words of Samuel back in chapter 10:8

1 Samuel 10:8 “8 “And you shall go down before me to Gilgal; and behold, I will come down to you to offer burnt offerings and sacrifice peace offerings. You shall wait seven days until I come to you and show you what you should do.””

It is best to understand that the role and leadership of the king of Israel was not divorced from the role of the prophet that accompanied him. When the king listened to and acted from the leadership of the prophet of the Lord, those actions were extensions of the King submitting the affairs to the Lord himself.

So then, Saul’s offering the sacrifice seems like an act of disobedience because Samuel’s absence prohibited him from being present for the sacrifice and for instructing Saul from the Lord regarding the upcoming battle. Saul was very much taking spiritual matters into his own hands.

It is here that our lives are reflected in Saul’s choices. We all find ourselves in this situation where we don’t want to wait on the Lord to send his word to us about a certain matter. We are impatient because the circumstances press hard against us and we disobey the Lord by not “seeking his kingdom and his righteousness.” How can know how to seek the Lord in a certain way if we are not waiting on the Lord to speak to us through His word.

This is where we believe the word is sufficient as we just studied in 2 Peter. If we believe that all of life and godliness is discovered in the word of God, then we go to the word, we pray that the Lord was guide us in his instruction, we read and read and read. We meditate on what we have read and then we act. If we still cannot seem to come to a understanding of what to do in a certain situation, there are Spirit indwelt believers who we can go to ask for help in seeking the Lord’s direction.

Look with me at Samuel response:

1 Samuel 13:11–14 “11 But Samuel said, “What have you done?” And Saul said, “Because I saw that the people were scattering from me, and that you did not come within the appointed days, and that the Philistines were assembling at Michmash, 12 therefore I said, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not asked the favor of the Lord.’ So I forced myself and offered the burnt offering.”

Now it is not hard to miss the familiarity in Saul’s response to Samuel’s rebuke. Ask yourself if Saul’s blame shifting sounds anything familiar to “Lord the woman you gave me gave me the fruit and I ate” and “the serpent deceived me.” It is not Samuel’s fault that Saul grew impatient on waiting for Samuel, and scared he might lose the battle to the Philistines, and the people might not follow his leadership. The responsibility falls on Saul and he must bear the weight of the judgment.

We always are going to be tempted to through the blame on someone else. He made me, they tempted me, I didn’t mean to see those things. But it is clear that the sinful heart is always the thing that is accountable to God.

Ezekiel 18:4 “4 “Behold, all souls are Mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is Mine. The soul who sins will die.

Deuteronomy 24:16 “16 “Fathers shall not be put to death for their sons, nor shall sons be put to death for their fathers; everyone shall be put to death for his own sin.”

Samuel lays forth the judgment for Saul’s disobedience:

1 Samuel 13:12–14 “13 Samuel said to Saul, “You have acted foolishly; you have not kept the commandment of the Lord your God, which He commanded you, for now the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. 14 “But now your kingdom shall not endure. The Lord has sought out for Himself a man after His own heart, and the Lord has appointed him as ruler over His people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.””

God’s judgment against sin is severe removal of that which is most precious to us. When we are not willing to sacrifice the thing that causes us to sin, the Lord will remove that thing which we love. For Adam and Eve, the removal of God’s fellowship in a perfect place was their judgment. For Saul it was his dynasty as a king. He and his sons would not be on the throne of Israel, not because of one foolish act, but because the heart of Saul was not seeking the Lord and not willing to be faithful to His word.

Samuel corrects by saying the Lord will establish someone on the throne that “is a man after God’s own heart.” The Lord wants people who loves what he loves and seeks after that which the Lord seeks. Of course we know that is the glory of God in the world. The Lord is for His own glory among the nations. He wants to be extolled as the God above all gods and Lord of all Lords. He wants to be worshiped as Creator and Redeemer of his people. God has appointed his Son to receive such worship.

David was not a perfect king, but he desired to be a fiathful king who was led by the word of God. This is why the promise was given to David,

2 Samuel 7:8–16 “8 “Now therefore, thus you shall say to My servant David, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, “I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, to be ruler over My people Israel. 9 “I have been with you wherever you have gone and have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make you a great name, like the names of the great men who are on the earth. 10 “I will also appoint a place for My people Israel and will plant them, that they may live in their own place and not be disturbed again, nor will the wicked afflict them any more as formerly, 11 even from the day that I commanded judges to be over My people Israel; and I will give you rest from all your enemies. The Lord also declares to you that the Lord will make a house for you. 12 “When your days are complete and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come forth from you, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 “He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 “I will be a father to him and he will be a son to Me; when he commits iniquity, I will correct him with the rod of men and the strokes of the sons of men, 15 but My lovingkindness shall not depart from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. 16 “Your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever.” ’ ””

This promise to King David sees its immediate fulfillment in his son Solomon but its final fulfillment in God’s only Son, the Lord Jesus.

Jesus is THE King, who is not a man after God’s own heart, but a man who is God and who accomplishes the heart of God by establishing the kingdom of God on this earth by his death and resurrection and thus bringing God glory for all eternity.

It is this Jesus today who we as the church are called to worship by faith and with our obedience. If we love Him (faith), we will obey his commandments. This is our spiritual act of worship. Today we remember his sacrifice so that we might be a redeemed people.

Lords’ Supper (Rev 4)

Member Meeting (Budget and Vote on deacons)