I Samuel 15
The lesson in 1 Sam. 15 is a very important one for us as believers in Christ to learn, for we are constituted with the flesh, and whenever we speak and do things apart from the Lord, we are in the flesh.
By our natural birth, by being a human beings, we are in the flesh; by default, we live in the flesh, and the flesh can be good or ugly, having positive and negative aspects.
In Saul’s case, he seemed to be a good king until the Lord tested him with the destroying of the Amalekites; because God wanted to test him, He charged Saul to utterly destroy the Amalekites and all that is theirs.
Saul, however, did not destroy everything but rather, he spared the life of the king of the Amalekites, and he also spared the best of the sheep, oxen, and cattle, under the pretext of having them offered to God.
Humanly and outwardly speaking, Saul did obey God, but intrinsically speaking, Saul rebelled against God, for he did not absolutely obey God’s charge.
Amalek is a type of the flesh; the flesh frustrates us and attacks us, always seeking to hinder us from fulfilling God’s purpose. -agodman
By our natural birth, by being a human beings, we are in the flesh; by default, we live in the flesh, and the flesh can be good or ugly, having positive and negative aspects.
In Saul’s case, he seemed to be a good king until the Lord tested him with the destroying of the Amalekites; because God wanted to test him, He charged Saul to utterly destroy the Amalekites and all that is theirs.
Saul, however, did not destroy everything but rather, he spared the life of the king of the Amalekites, and he also spared the best of the sheep, oxen, and cattle, under the pretext of having them offered to God.
Humanly and outwardly speaking, Saul did obey God, but intrinsically speaking, Saul rebelled against God, for he did not absolutely obey God’s charge.
Amalek is a type of the flesh; the flesh frustrates us and attacks us, always seeking to hinder us from fulfilling God’s purpose. -agodman
I Samuel 15: 3:
"Now go and strike Amalek and utterly destroy all that he has, and do not spare him; but put to death both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey." |
The fact that God's judgment extends to children and infants must indicate that they are sinners. These passages should alert us to the fact that we have a very low, weak view of sin. We tend to think of sin as not being that big of a deal. But God considers sin to be so serious that even infants are deserving of judgment for their sinful natures.
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I Samuel 15:10-11:
Now the word of the Lord came to Samuel, saying, 11 “I greatly regret that I have set up Saul as king, for he has turned back from following Me, and has not performed My commandments.” And it grieved Samuel, and he cried out to the Lord all night. |
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