#4 - K&K

K&K

Kings & Kingdoms

Reviewing and Rebuking

INTRO

“ EXCUSES =

Evangelist Billy Sunday defined an excuse as “the skin of a reason stuffed with a lie.”

Benjamin Franklin said, “I never knew a man who was good at making excuses who was good at anything else.”

Adam made the first excuse for sin and many have followed his bad example.

Excuses only make matters worse.

Saul and the People rejoiced greatly over the deliverance of Jabesh Gilead from the Ammonites, and Saul was careful to give the Glory to the Lord.

1 Samuel 11:13 NIV 13 But Saul said, “No one will be put to death today, for this day the Lord has rescued Israel.”

Samuel saw the victory as a great opportunity to renew the kingdom V14 and remind the people that Jehovah God was still their King. the fact it's also had lead the Army to a great Victory would tempt the Israelites to put their faith in their new king, and Samuel wanted them to know that their future success rested and trust in Jehovah alone.

The King was only God's servant for the people, and both King and people had to obey God's covenant. In his farewell message

Samuel defended his own MinistryV 1-5

Reviewed God's mercies to Israel V6-11

and a banished the people to fear the lord and obey the Covenant V12-25

Samuel mentions the Lord at least 30 times in this passage, because his heart's desire was to see the people return to the Lord and honor his Covenant.

Samuel 13

Sol's second crisis came after he started to build a standing army, and he failed in four ways in this crisis.

Failed to Act Decisively V1-4

1 Samuel 13:1-4 1 Saul was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned for forty-two years. 2 Saul selected 3,000 special troops from the army of Israel and sent the rest of the men home. He took 2,000 of the chosen men with him to Micmash and the hill country of Bethel. The other 1,000 went with Saul’s son Jonathan to Gibeah in the land of Benjamin. 3 Soon after this, Jonathan attacked and defeated the garrison of Philistines at Geba. The news spread quickly among the Philistines. So Saul blew the ram’s horn throughout the land, saying, “Hebrews, hear this! Rise up in revolt!” 4 All Israel heard the news that Saul had destroyed the Philistine garrison at Geba and that the Philistines now hated the Israelites more than ever. So the entire Israelite army was summoned to join Saul at Gilgal.

It was Jonathan, not Saul, who declared war by attacking one of the Philistines garrisons. Saul took the credit and blew the trumpet to rally the people.

Failed to Inspire the People V5-7

5The Philistines mustered a mighty army of 3,000 chariots, 6,000 charioteers, and as many warriors as the grains of sand on the seashore! They camped at Micmash east of Beth-aven. 6The men of Israel saw what a tight spot they were in; and because they were hard pressed by the enemy, they tried to hide in caves, thickets, rocks, holes, and cisterns. 7Some of them crossed the Jordan River and escaped into the land of Gad and Gilead.

Some ran away, some hid, and some left the country! People still Dodge military service in the same ways. Those who were faithful were fearful and the future looked bleak.

Samuel had commanded for Saul to wait for him.

1 Samuel 10:8 NKJV

8 You shall go down before me to Gilgal; and surely I will come down to you to offer burnt offerings and make sacrifices of peace offerings. Seven days you shall wait, till I come to you and show you what you should do.”

Why did Samuel waited, Terry?

Was he deliberately trying to make Saul fail, or was he just reminding the new king who was still in control? Samuel had nothing to gain if Saul failed on the battlefield, and Samuel knew that God was in control even in the appointment of the new king.

Without faith and patience, we can't receive what the Lord promises Hebrews 6:12,

Hebrews 6:12 NIV

12 We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.

Our faith should inspire people.

Failed To wait V8-9

V8-9 Meanwhile, Saul stayed at Gilgal, and his men were trembling with fear. 8Saul waited there seven days for Samuel, as Samuel had instructed him earlier, but Samuel still didn’t come. Saul realized that his troops were rapidly slipping away. 9So he demanded, “Bring me the burnt offering and the peace offerings!” And Saul sacrificed the burnt offering himself.

This was the first step in his rupture with Samuel and his Rebellion against the Lord. patience is a mark of character, and Saul's character was weak.

unbelief and impatience are marks of spiritual immaturity -

James 1:1–8 NIV

1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes scattered among the nations: Greetings. 2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. 6 But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.

Until we learn to trust God and wait on his timing, we can't learn the other lessons he wants to teach us, nor can we receive the blessings he's planned for us.

Saul may have been handsome, strong, and taller than the other men, but if he didn't have a heart that was right with God, he didn't have anything.

it's one thing to be victorious when you're leading an army of over 300,000 men (1 Sam 11:8), but quite another when you have only 600. but this is where faith comes in.

Failed To tell the truth V10-15

10 Just as Saul was finishing with the burnt offering, Samuel arrived. Saul went out to meet and welcome him, 11but Samuel said, “What is this you have done?” Saul replied, “I saw my men scattering from me, and you didn’t arrive when you said you would, and the Philistines are at Micmash ready for battle. 12 So I said, ‘The Philistines are ready to march against us at Gilgal, and I haven’t even asked for the Lord’s help!’ So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering myself before you came.” 13“How foolish!” Samuel exclaimed. “You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you. Had you kept it, the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. 14But now your kingdom must end, for the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart. The Lord has already appointed him to be the leader of his people, because you have not kept the Lord’s command.”15Samuel then left Gilgal and went on his way, but the rest of the troops went with Saul to meet the army. They went up from Gilgal to Gibeah in the land of Benjamin. When Saul counted the men who were still with him, he found only 600 were left!

When David sinned, he came with confessions; when Saul sinned, he had only excuses. He lied to his best friend, and it cost him his crown. And so would do it again (1 Samuel 15:15). From that point, his course was downhill.

Saul blamed Samuel and the soldiers and not himself. It was Samuel's fault for arriving late and the Army's fault for deserting their King. His words, “I saw” indicate that Saul was walking by sight and not by faith. He lied the third time when he said that he had to force himself to offer the sacrifice.

People who are good at making excuses a really good at nothing else, and those who are quick to blame others shouldn't complain if others blame them. when God confronted our first parents with their sin, Adam blamed Eve. Eve blamed the serpent, but neither Adam nor Eve said humbly, “I have sinned”

throughout his career, King Saul was adept at minimizing his own sin and emphasizing the Faults of others, but this isn't the way a man of God leads God's people.

It was foolish of Saul to think that he could disobey God and get away with it, and that his disobedience could bring God's blessing on himself and his army.

Romans 3:8 is the logic of hell, not the law of Heaven. he was foolish to conclude that the sacrifice of a king at the wrong time was as good as the sacrifice of a priest at the right time.

he was foolish to walk by sight and not by faith in God's promise

Romans 14:23 NIV

23 But whoever has doubts is condemned if they eat, because their eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin.

so had the same kind of superstitious face that Eli's son had When They carried out the arc on the battlefield.

Saul’s Pride, impatience, Disobedience, and deception we're all seen and judged by the Lord and Samuel announced the sentence, the crown would eventually be taken from Saul and given to another, in this case, David.

so would continue as king, but he would not establish a lasting Dynasty, and none of his sons would succeed him and rule over Israel.

Saul's sin at Gilgal, cost him the dynasty, and his sin involving the amalekites cost him the kingdom. he eventually lost his crown and his life. God wanted a king with a heart that was right towards God, a man with a Shepherd's Heart, and he found that kind of heart in David.