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| 1 Samuel also said unto Saul, The LORD sent me to anoint thee to be king over his people, over Israel: now therefore hearken thou unto the voice of the words of the LORD. |
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| 2 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way, when he came up from Egypt. |
Amalek – A branch of Esau's family related to the Israelites and the Arabs of today. R4207. 2
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| 3 Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass. |
Go and smite Amalek – Typical of wilful sinners of the next age. F174
The people of the land of Canaan had allowed their cup of iniquity to come to the full. R5663:5
These Amalekites, Sodomites and others were set forth as examples of God's just indignation and his ultimate destruction of evil-doers. OV227:5; A112
The Lord used Israel as his sword to enforce his judgment. R4207:3
No injustice, as the Amalekites were already under the death sentence. F174
And utterly destroy – Did not mean they went to eternal torture. R3224:6
Under divine arrangement, when iniquities have reached their full, punishment is to be expected. R5647:6, R3225:1
As examples of God's just indignation and determination to destroy evil-doers; examples which will be of service not only to others, but also to themselves when their day of judgment or trial comes. HG345:6
And spare them not – The death by the sword was with much less pain than if it had been by pestilence. R3224:6
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| 4 And Saul gathered the people together, and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand footmen, and ten thousand men of Judah. |
200,000 footmen – Little more than one-third of the number that left Egypt. (Num. 1:45, 46) HG362:3
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| 5 And Saul came to a city of Amalek, and laid wait in the valley. |
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| 6 And Saul said unto the Kenites, Go, depart, get you down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them: for ye showed kindness to all the children of Israel, when they came up out of Egypt. So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites. |
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| 7 And Saul smote the Amalekites from Havilah until thou comest to Shur, that is over against Egypt. |
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| 8 And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. |
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| 9 But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them: but every thing that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly. |
People spared Agag – Many are disposed to destroy the foolish things connected with sin, but to save alive the king sin. R3225:3
Not utterly destroy – Showing too slack an appreciation of the Lord's word. R4208:1
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| 10 Then came the word of the LORD unto Samuel, saying, |
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| 11 It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king: for he is turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandments. And it grieved Samuel; and he cried unto the LORD all night. |
Is turned back – Saul had not misunderstood, but had with considerable deliberation violated instructions. R3225:1, R5431:2, R5647:6
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| 12 And when Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning, it was told Samuel, saying, Saul came to Carmel, and, behold, he set him up a place, and is gone about, and passed on, and gone down to Gilgal. |
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| 13 And Samuel came to Saul: and Saul said unto him, Blessed be thou of the LORD: I have performed the commandment of the LORD. |
I have performed – To a considerable extent hypocritical. R3225:1, R5431:2, R5648:1
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| 14 And Samuel said, What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear? |
Bleating of the sheep – Israel was not to destroy their enemies for their own advantage and enrichment but to act as the agent of the Lord in executing his decree. R3225:2, R5648:1
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| 15 And Saul said, They have brought them from the Amalekites: for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed. |
To sacrifice – Fallen human nature ever seeks to justify itself in its disobedience to God. R5431:3
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| 16 Then Samuel said unto Saul, Stay, and I will tell thee what the LORD hath said to me this night. And he said unto him, Say on. |
This night – The night preceding, because in Jewish reckoning their day began in the evening. R5648:1
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| 17 And Samuel said, When thou wast little in thine own sight, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel, and the LORD anointed thee king over Israel? |
When thou wast little – It is only the humble that God can exalt and use. R1888:4, R4197:4
Christians must likewise be taller than their fellows in respect to character, but still humble. R4197:4
Anointed thee king – The exaltation of Saul proved too great a temptation. R1888:4
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| 18 And the LORD sent thee on a journey, and said, Go and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they be consumed. |
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| 19 Wherefore then didst thou not obey the voice of the LORD, but didst fly upon the spoil, and didst evil in the sight of the LORD? |
Fly upon the spoil – A selfish desire for things which the Lord has condemned. R4208:1
Imitating the robber nations about them. R3225:2
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| 20 And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the LORD, and have gone the way which the LORD sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. |
I have obeyed – Saul had grown more self confident and less reliant upon the Lord, less attentive to the Lord's commands. R5648:2
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| 21 But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God in Gilgal. |
But the people – A man-fearing spirit, fearing the reproaches of the people. R4208:1
To sacrifice – See comments on 1 Sam. 15:15 from R5431:3.
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| 22 And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. |
To obey – Obedience to God demands that we strive to be just in deed and word and thought. R5430:6
A man must be just before he is generous. R5430:6
To obey God is a duty of the very highest type. R5431:3
Better than sacrifice – No sacrifice will be acceptable unless we first obey his word. R5431:2, R5647:3
Israel often mistakenly felt that their injustices could be righted by sacrifice. R5430:2
Before we can make much development in the cultivation of sacrificial love we must learn to have a love of justice. R5430:5
How careful it should make us to inquire what the will of the Lord is. SM438:3
How many of those who have heard the call to "Come out of" Babylon need to heed the instructions of this lesson. R3224:3, R5431:1, R5647:3
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| 23 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, he hath also rejected thee from being king. |
Sin of witchcraft – Human wilfulness trusts to erring human judgment in preference to the infallible divine judgment. R1888:1
Idolatry – Human wilfulness adores and seeks to please self rather than God. R1888:1
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| 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. |
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| 25 Now therefore, I pray thee, pardon my sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship the LORD.
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| 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. |
I will not return – Hence absurd to suppose that Samuel would hold any conference with Saul arranged by the witch of Endor. HG726:5
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| 27 And as Samuel turned about to go away, he laid hold upon the skirt of his mantle, and it rent. |
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| 28 And Samuel said unto him, The LORD hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and hath given it to a neighbour of thine, that is better than thou. |
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| 29 And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent: for he is not a man, that he should repent. |
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| 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. |
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| 31 So Samuel turned again after Saul; and Saul worshipped the LORD. |
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| 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. |
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| 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. |
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| 34 Then Samuel went to Ramah; and Saul went up to his house to Gibeah of Saul. |
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| 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. |
No more to see Saul – Had no further dealings with him in any way, showing that the manifestations to the witch of Endor were the work of the fallen angels. R2172:3
It was no longer Samuel's province to go to Saul respecting the interests of the kingdom. R4209:1
Samuel mourned – As a father over a wayward son. R1888:2
Having a feeling of compassion for those who were out of the way. R5648:5
So we feel a deep interest in matters and persons of our intimate association. R4209:1
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