1 Samuel 15:24-35

Samuel and Saul Parted Permanently. 1 Samuel 15:24-35

24 And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord, and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice.
25 Now therefore, I pray thee, pardon my sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship the Lord.
26 And Samuel said unto Saul, I will not return with thee: for thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord hath rejected thee from being king over Israel.
27 And as Samuel turned about to go away, he laid hold upon the skirt of his mantle, and it rent.
28 And Samuel said unto him, The Lord hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and hath given it to a neighbor of thine, that is better than thou.

29 And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent: for he is not a man, that he should repent.

30 Then he said, I have sinned: yet honour me now, I pray thee, before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and turn again with me, that I may worship the Lord thy God.

31 So Samuel turned again after Saul; and Saul worshiped the Lord.
32 Then said Samuel, Bring ye hither to me Agag the king of the Amalekites. And Agag came unto him delicately. And Agag said, Surely the bitterness of death is past.
33 And Samuel said, As thy sword hath made women childless, so shall thy mother be childless among women. And Samuel hewed Agag in pieces before the Lord in Gilgal.
34 Then Samuel went to Ramah; and Saul went up to his house to Gibeah of Saul.
35 And Samuel came no more to see Saul until the day of his death: nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul: and the Lord repented that he had made Saul king over Israel.

16.

What was Saul's final confession? 1 Samuel 15:24

Saul finally came to the place where he said, I have sinned. Before, he had tried to pass all the blame onto the people. At last he admitted that he was a transgressor. He said that he had transgressed the commandment of the Lord. He apologized to Samuel for disobeying his commandments, saying that he had transgressed the words which Samuel had spoken to him. He still blamed the people partially and excused himself by saying, I fear the people and obey their voice. As far as the record is concerned, we have no evidence that the people caused Saul to spare Agag. Neither do we have any notice of their demanding that some of the best of the flocks of the herds be spared for sacrifice. This is a rationalization of a man's sin by the man himself.

17.

Why did Saul want Samuel to worship with him? 1 Samuel 15:25

Perhaps Saul wanted to offer a trespass offering or a sin offering. He was not eligible to offer the offering himself. He knew that Samuel was God's spiritual leader, and he wanted his presence with him. His repentance was too late. If he had been totally sincere about it, he could have gone to the Tabernacle and offered a sacrifice there under the leadership of the priests. His plea seems to be more of an outpouring of the spirit of the moment. It was not a long-lasting nor deep-seated repentance.

18.

Why did Saul tear Samuel's skirt? 1 Samuel 15:27

In his desperation Saul grabbed the skirt of Samuel's mantle and tore it. This is typical of the action of a man who is beside himself with emotion. Had he learned self-control in other matters, he might not have gone to this extreme in his demonstration of his grief. Joel found the Israelites making a great show of their repentance in his day and he told them to rend their hearts and not their garments (Joel 2:13). Samuel seized upon this drastic action of Saul's and used it as a sign of God's judgment. He said that God had torn the kingdom of Israel out of Saul's hands on that day and had given it to a neighbor of his. He describes the neighbor as being better than Saul, but he does not identify him by name.

19.

Who is the Strength of Israel? 1 Samuel 15:29

Samuel used the title, the Strength of Israel, to describe God himself. Many different names are given to God throughout the Old Testament. Abraham described him as the Judge of the whole earth (Genesis 18:25). God told Moses to tell the people of Israel that his title was I Am (Exodus 3:14). The everlasting God is the strength of His people.

20.

Why did Samuel finally yield to Saul's entreaty? 1 Samuel 15:31

Samuel did turn again with Saul, and Saul worshipped the Lord. Samuel did not do it for Saul's sake. When Saul asked him to honor him before the elders of his people and before all the people of Israel, Samuel acquiesced. Samuel yielded, but not for the personal entreaty of Saul himself.

21.

Why did Samuel slay Agag? 1 Samuel 15:32

Agag came into Samuel's presence delicately. Agag thought that he had been spared for good. He evidently thought that he was safe and the danger of dying was past. He walked with a spring in his step. His gate was mincing. He may have even been flippant, but Samuel brought upon Agag's head a punishment similar to that which he had brought upon others. He hewed him in pieces. Some critics of the Bible accuse Samuel of being sadistic and unnecessarily cruel. If Samuel took only one swing of the sword and decapitated Agag, the Amalekite's body was hewed into piecestwo pieces at least. Samuel at least showed alacrity and thoroughness in executing God's command, qualities which Saul did not demonstrate.

22.

What prompted God's repentance? 1 Samuel 15:34-35

The action of Samuel in slaying Agag did not stimulate this feeling on the part of God. Because of his extreme wickedness, Agag was slain by the prophet. Samuel thereafter looked upon Saul as one in whom God had found only that which was displeasing and visited him no more. We understand that it repented God that He had made Saul king when we look upon the act as man would look upon it. This is what we call an anthropomorphismputting things in the form that man can understand. Most certainly we do not look upon the occurrence as a mistake on God's part. God was grieved on account of Saul's failure. Inasmuch as grief is a part of our repentance, God's attitude resembles this part of repentance.