STUDY THEM: THE GOD FACTOR. 01-04-04
“GOD CHOOSES AND EQUIPS.” 1 SAMUEL 16: 1-13.
PLEASE OPEN YOUR BIBLE TO 1 SAMUEL 16.
The occasion of today’s lesson is God’s selection of Saul and His choice of David. Many men and women begin with a flash of faith but fizzle at the finish. We find that faith that fails at the finish was usually faulty at the first. Saul was a person like that. He started strong but fizzled at the finish. His demise was matched by the rise of David.
In Isaiah 55:8 God said, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are my ways your ways.” Because of this, the workings of God often surprise us.
One of these surprises is seen in His choice of those who occupy places of leadership in His work. By God’s standards Saul of Tarsus would have been judged the least likely person to become the greatest of Christian leaders. Even Paul could never understand why God placed him in the Ministry. W.O. Carver once said, “God has no perfect individuals or institutions through which to work. He has to get along with us just the way we are the best He can.
But as J.B. Gambell once said, “God can hit a powerful lick with a crooked stick.”
Once Israel was settled in Canaan, the tribes drifted apart. When enemies invaded given areas, the affected tribes joined in defending their territory. As the last judge, Samuel provided some national stability and unity. He appointed his sons Joel and Abiah as judges, but they walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgment. At the same time, Israel’s neighboring enemies became more aggressive.
The verses in this lesson contain an incident that illustrates how God works in human circumstances to achieve His ultimate purposes. The Sovereign God chose Israel to be His people. He entered into covenant with them to be their God and rule them in love and grace. However, Israel wanted a king like the other nations had.
So the heads of the tribes came to Samuel requesting in 1 Sam. 8:5,20 “a king to judge us like all the nations…That we also may be like all the nations; and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles.” A nation set apart for God’s service turned from its mission to search for power, pomp, and glory. It is a sad day when the Lord’s people choose to stand in with the world rather than to stand out for God in the world.
Naturally Samuel sought to dissuade Israel from his course. He had both spiritual and personal reasons. Samuel saw this as repudiating him, so he prayed to God about it. Surprisingly God told him to give them a king. “For they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.” At the same time God told Samuel to warn them of their lot under a king. Still, they wanted one. They preferred an earthly king to their heavenly One.
At God’s direction Samuel anointed Saul, the son of Kish, as the first king of Israel. He is described as “a choice young man, and a goodly handsome…from the shoulders and upward he was higher than any of the people.” To the outward eye he was well qualified. Later developments proved he was headstrong and disobedient to God’s will. Thus God rejected him as king and told Samuel to anoint another. A man of Samuel’s character was hardly qualified to serve as Israel’s king.
We must learn to obey before we can command. Many potential leaders have fallen short, substituting expediency for right and following greed rather than righteousness.
From its’ beginning, Israel was a theocracy under the direct rule of God. God mediated His will through chosen men such as Moses, Joshua, and the judges. Under the monarchy the king was to be the mediator of God’s will. Saul’s conduct in office demonstrated his unwillingness to do God’s will, so Samuel was told to anoint another to the office, one whom God had chosen.
The purpose of this study is to help us understand God’s ability and intention to accomplish His purposes in the various circumstances of life. The study also encourages us to cooperate with God as He does His work. This four-session study focuses on incidents in David’s life that illustrate God’s ability to work in human circumstances to accomplish His goals.
God’s sovereignty is seen in this first session. “God chooses and quips.” God chose David and equipped him to be His king. This session today helps us to be ready for God to use us in whatever way He desires.
God is not a factor in the lives of many people, but people of faith live and move and have their being in God. The Lord was surely the key factor in David’s life. Four incidents from David’s life form the biblical basis for this four-lesson study in January.
TEACHER SHALL READ 1 SAMUEL 16: 1.
Other than the Lord, Samuel is the most important person in these Focal Passages. He was Israel’s last judge, first king-maker, a priest, and a prophet whose dates of service were around 1066-1010 BC. God let him to fulfill Israel’s request for a king, and he anointed Saul. Later Samuel had to tell Saul that God had rejected him. Then Samuel anointed David. Samuel is important because of his faithful service in fulfilling God’s plans.
Saul is mentioned only a couple of times. He was Israel’s first king, a tall and handsome man from the tribe of Benjamin. He reigned from around 1050 to 1010 BC from his capital in Gibeah, three miles north of Jerusalem. He was chosen by the people and permitted by God to serve. At the beginning of his reign, his heart was initially changed, but he committed two failures that showed that he could not be used by God. He illegally offered sacrifices and disobeyed God’s command to destroy Agag. Therefore God rejected Saul and the Holy Spirit left him.
This tragic king was not the first, nor the last to have an excuse for willful, blatant disobedience. What a terrible thing for a person chosen by God to find himself an outcast from the divine presence.
No one could have had more potential and opportunity than Saul when he became king of Israel. In the beginning he was a humble and courageous man but signs of impotence and disobedience became apparent.
God used Saul’s courage to rally Israel and to win victories over the Philistines. Unfortunately, Saul failed to live up to his potential. When he faced an overwhelming Philistine threat, men began to desert his army. Presumptuously, he disobeyed the word of the Lord through Samuel and took it on himself to offer sacrifices to seek the Lord’s help.
Samuel sternly rebuked him, saying that his rule over Israel would be limited and that the Lord had selected another leader of His people, “A man after His own heart.” Later, Saul flagrantly disobeyed God’s command to utterly destroy the Amalekites. Samuel then told Saul, “Because you rejected the word of the Lord, the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel.” Saul continued to reign, but he not longer had the presence and power of the Lord upon him.
God’s rejection of Saul as king grieved Samuel. Under God’s guidance, he had anointed Saul and had tried to be his spiritual mentor. Seeing the king squander one opportunity after another by foolishness and sin had broken Samuel’s heart. Upon God’s announcement of Saul no longer being king, Samuel began to mourn for him as one would over a death.
Evidently quite some time had elapsed since God told Samuel he had rejected Saul as king. Throughout history God has often changed his people, but never his purpose. Samuel continued to grieve over Saul. Why did Samuel grieve over the situation? For one thing, he feared Saul and his reaction to news of his rejection. Apparently Saul’s volatile nature was already evident to Samuel. Also, there is evidence that Samuel really loved Saul.
Samuel’s response to the rejection of Saul was to mourn. Evidently, Samuel really mourned because God asked him, How long he would grieve over Saul. He reaffirmed the fact that He had rejected Saul as king over Israel. God was not going to change His mind. A person proposes; God disposes.
So often we look to the past, rather than to accept the present and look to the future. It may to grieve over past failures. It may be to look at “the good old days”—which were never so good, but about which time has placed an aura of glory. Many Christians, churches, and denominations ignore the failures of the present while looking over their shoulders to glory in the successes of the past. At Immanuel Baptist Church the past was great, the present is challenging, the future can be glorious---if we continue to pursue God’s redemptive purpose for our church.
However, God was not through with Samuel. God instructed him to fill his horn with oil and then travel to the small town of Bethlehem in the Judean hill country about five miles southwest of Jerusalem. He was to meet a specific family whose head was Jesse. Jesse was of the tribe of Judah and he was the grandson of Ruth and Boaz.
God would lead Samuel o the chosen new king. Samuel was to go prepared to make a sacrifice, so the rejected king would not suspect the true nature of his mission.
The horn was probably an animal horn into which Samuel poured a specially mixture of olive oil and perfume that was used for anointing important people such as kings. God said, I have selected a king for myself. That king would be one of Jesse’s sons who lived in Bethlehem of Judah. God spoke of Saul as king over Israel but of David as a king for Myself. Saul, God rejected: David, God selected. This seems to imply that Saul was always Israel’s choice primarily, but David would be God’s sovereign choice.
PLEASE READ 1 SAMUEL 16: 2-3.
Saul’s unbalanced emotional state was already know in Israel. It is ironic that Samuel’s initial reaction to the word of the Lord was fear of Saul instead of rejoicing at God’s provision to Israel and ultimately to all nations.
Samuel the prophet and Saul the king were estranged from one another. Bethlehem was not one of Samuel’s usual places to visit on the circuit of cities he served as a judge. The route from Ramah, the home of Samuel, to Bethlehem would take Samuel through Gibeah, the home of Saul. Since Samuel was so well known, he feared that Saul would hear of his unusual visit to Bethlehem and seek to kill him.
Anointing a king while Saul was still on the throne would be an act of treason. Samuel would travel through Gibeah on his way to Bethlehem; so Saul would be aware of his movements. If he anointed someone as king, Saul would surely hear about it and put Samuel to death. With these problems whirling in his head, Samuel asked the Lord, “How can I go?”
The Lord’s answer involved a legitimate excuse for going to Bethlehem and also provided a cover for the real reason for going there. God told His prophet to take a heifer and go to Bethlehem to make a sacrifice to the Lord. Such an action was in keeping with what prophets would do and would not automatically raise Saul’s curiosity should he hear about it.
His taking a sacrificial animal would not seem unusual or suspicious. It would be in line with his function as a spiritual leader in Israel.
It would also allow Samuel to offer a sacrifice before the Lord when he anointed David as king. Samuel had offered sacrifices when he anointed Saul as king. This plan would allow Samuel to tell anyone who asked him what he was doing that he was going to offer a sacrifice to the Lord.
God also told Samuel that when he arrived in Bethlehem, he was to invite Jesse to the sacrifice. The Lord said that during that visit He would let Samuel know what he should do. Samuel knew that he was to anoint someone as God’s king. He knew the anointing was to be done in Bethlehem and probably on someone from Jesse’s family. The Lord instructed His prophet that he was to anoint for Me whomever the Lord told him to anoint.
God’s sovereign rule over he affairs of Israel is seen throughout these three verses. He rejected Saul by His own authority. He chose one of Jesse’s sons as His next king. He protected Samuel from Saul. He guided Samuel step by step, not revealing all the details at the beginning. He informed Samuel of His rejection of Saul, and of the plans to anoint another king. He assured Samuel that He would be protected and successful in carrying out His mission. People who do God’s will in God’s way have the promised blessings of God upon their ministry.
From these vs. 1-3 we have learned that:
God rejects leaders, and raises up leaders according to His sovereign purposes.
God uses servants who will obey Him and fit into His plans.
People who serve God can have the assurance that God will provide everything needed to accomplish His plans.
PLEASE READ 1 SAMUEL 16: 4-5
Samuel obeyed the Lord. He did as God directed and went to Bethlehem. Samuel’s arrival in Bethlehem was greeted with mixed emotions. The Elders of the town trembled at his coming, and said, “Comest thou peaceably?” Since Samuel was not a warrior, they could hardly have been referring to battle. Three things probably prompted their question: (1) Awe that so prominent a person would visit their village. Samuel was an important man of God. Did the Elders fear he had come bring them some bad news from God? Probably. The Bethlehem elders had heard aobvut how Samuel kill Agag, king of the Amalekites, whom Saul spared in h is battle with them. God had told Saul to destroy all the Amalekites and everything they had because they hindered Israel when at the time of the exodus from Egypt. Instead, Saul spaed Agagf, along with the bvest of the sheep, the cattle, the fat calves, the lambvs, and other things. This was one of Saul’s acts of disobedience that caused God to reject him as king.