Saul

We can learn a lot of valuable lessons by going to the Old Testament.  Saul is a good example of this point, although not a good example of how to do God's will completely.  In this post, we will examine two passages that show that God is a particular God. 

First, let's notice who Saul is.  He was chosen by God to be the first, the very first, king of the nation of Israel.  Actually, there was a king in Israel before: God Himself.  And God allowed the people to have a king, but He was not in favor of it.  So God picked Saul, a tall and beautiful man to be the king. 
Saul made a great and powerful start as king; we read of this in 1 Samuel 11 and 12.  But as we get to chapter 13, we see that Saul disobeys God.  He gets impatient and decides to offer a burnt offering to God that he knows is wrong.  he knew this was the job of a prophet and priest , but he didn't wait for Samuel to come and make the offering.  God through Samuel pronounced judgment on Saul. 

In chapter 15 of 1 Samuel, Saul is clearly charged with utterly destroying the Amalekites.  The Amalekites had been a problem for Israel in the time of the Exodus from Egypt.  God wanted them punished.  but Saul made the decision to save back the king and the best of the spoil for purposes of sacrifice later to God.  But Samuel the prophet comes down hard on Saul saying, "Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams."  The point is being made to Saul that, yes, he made a sacrifice to God; but he didn't do exactly what God had asked.  Consequently, God rejected Saul as king and would proceed to replace him with David.

The main lesson in all of this is that God wants obedience.  He wants us to do what He says regardless of what we might think is best.  This message is taught all through the Bible.   Thanks for reading.  I hope your week is a great one!