spiritual battle, The Sin of Divination (1 Sam.10-15)

Saul began his kingship on a good note, being obedient to God;  and therefore God led the Israelites in victory against the Philistines in battle.  But then, while saying that he wanted to have God's favor, Saul chose to be disobedient. 

His pride got in the way and he had decided that he did not have to do things God's way.  Because of that, God would give his kingdom to another man - a man after God's own heart...

(1 Samuel 13:1-14)  Saul was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty two years over Israel.

2 Now Saul chose for himself 3,000 men of Israel, of which 2,000 were with Saul in Michmash and in the hill country of Bethel, while 1,000 were with Jonathan at Gibeah of Benjamin. But he sent away the rest of the people, each to his tent. 3 Jonathan smote the garrison of the Philistines that was in Geba, and the Philistines heard of it. Then Saul blew the trumpet throughout the land, saying, “Let the Hebrews hear.” 4 All Israel heard the news that Saul had smitten the garrison of the Philistines, and also that Israel had become odious to the Philistines. The people were then summoned to Saul at Gilgal.

5 Now the Philistines assembled to fight with Israel, 30,000 chariots and 6,000 horsemen, and people like the sand which is on the seashore in abundance; and they came up and camped in Michmash, east of Beth-aven. 6 When the men of Israel saw that they were in a strait (for the people were hard-pressed), then the people hid themselves in caves, in thickets, in cliffs, in cellars, and in pits. 7 Also some of the Hebrews crossed the Jordan into the land of Gad and Gilead. But as for Saul, he was still in Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling.

8 Now he waited seven days, according to the appointed time set by Samuel, but Samuel did not come to Gilgal; and the people were scattering from him. 9 So Saul said, “Bring to me the burnt offering and the peace offerings.” And he offered the burnt offering. 10 As soon as he finished offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him and to greet him. 11 But Samuel said, “What have you done?” And Saul said, “Because I saw that the people were scattering from me, and that you did not come within the appointed days, and that the Philistines were assembling at Michmash, 12 therefore I said, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not asked the favor of the Lord.’ So I forced myself and offered the burnt offering.” 13 Samuel said to Saul, “You have acted foolishly; you have not kept the commandment of the Lord your God, which He commanded you, for now the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. 14 But now your kingdom shall not endure. The Lord has sought out for Himself a man after His own heart, and the Lord has appointed him as ruler over His people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.”

If only Saul had truly, sincerely repented!  But God knew Saul's heart, and that Saul would just go ahead and continue to do things his own way;  so in the next battle, they had even less advantage...

(1 Samuel 13:15-23)  Then Samuel arose and went up from Gilgal to Gibeah of Benjamin. And Saul numbered the people who were present with him, about six hundred men. 16 Now Saul and his son Jonathan and the people who were present with them were staying in Geba of Benjamin while the Philistines camped at Michmash. 17 And the raiders came from the camp of the Philistines in three companies: one company turned toward Ophrah, to the land of Shual, 18 and another company turned toward Beth-horon, and another company turned toward the border which overlooks the valley of Zeboim toward the wilderness.

19 Now no blacksmith could be found in all the land of Israel, for the Philistines said, “Otherwise the Hebrews will make swords or spears.” 20 So all Israel went down to the Philistines, each to sharpen his plowshare, his mattock, his axe, and his hoe. 21 The charge was two-thirds of a shekel for the plowshares, the mattocks, the forks, and the axes, and to fix the hoes. 22 So it came about on the day of battle that neither sword nor spear was found in the hands of any of the people who were with Saul and Jonathan, but they were found with Saul and his son Jonathan. 23 And the garrison of the Philistines went out to the pass of Michmash.

Saul now began to pretend that he was following God's orders, but this of course is not good enough...

(1 Samuel 15:10-15)  Then the word of the Lord came to Samuel, saying, 11 “I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following Me and has not carried out My commands.” And Samuel was distressed and cried out to the Lord all night. 12 Samuel rose early in the morning to meet Saul; and it was told Samuel, saying, “Saul came to Carmel, and behold, he set up a monument for himself, then turned and proceeded on down to Gilgal.” 13 Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, “Blessed are you of the Lord! I have carried out the command of the Lord.” 14 But Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?” 15 Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites, for the people spared the best of the sheep and oxen, to sacrifice to the Lord your God; but the rest we have utterly destroyed.”

So, at first Saul tried to justify his actions saying that he just wanted to give a sacrifice to God, and then he tried to blame the people for his disobedience...

(1 Samuel 15:17-21)  Samuel said, “Is it not true, though you were little in your own eyes, you were made the head of the tribes of Israel? And the Lord anointed you king over Israel, 18 and the Lord sent you on a mission, and said, ‘Go and utterly destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are exterminated.’ 19 Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord, but rushed upon the spoil and did what was evil in the sight of the Lord?”

20 Then Saul said to Samuel, “I did obey the voice of the Lord, and went on the mission on which the Lord sent me, and have brought back Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. 21 But the people took some of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the choicest of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the Lord your God at Gilgal.”

Notice right there at the end, Saul just said, "the Lord YOUR God" - and not "the Lord MY God" or at the very least "the Lord God". 

Even though Saul had built a sacrifice "to God", Samuel told Saul that God looks at the heart.  Everything that Saul was concerned about was external.  Even after being told that he was guilty of the sin of divination (practicing witchcraft), Saul wanted Samuel to accompany him to worship one more time together - so it would appear to the people that he still had Samuel's support. 

God had already stated that Saul was going to lose the kingdom, but perhaps Saul thought he could still change God's mind.  Saul pretended to repent, but he only confessed to Samuel and not to God.  Saul also finally killed Agag, king of the Amalekites, whom he was supposed to have killed in battle.  But again - Saul's actions were all about the external...

(1 Samuel 15:22-35)  Samuel said,  

“Has the Lord as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams.
23 “For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He has also rejected you from being king.”

24 Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned; I have indeed transgressed the command of the Lord and your words, because I feared the people and listened to their voice. 25 Now therefore, please pardon my sin and return with me, that I may worship the Lord.” 26 But Samuel said to Saul, “I will not return with you; for you have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel.” 27 As Samuel turned to go, Saul seized the edge of his robe, and it tore. 28 So Samuel said to him, “The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to your neighbor, who is better than you. 29 Also the Glory of Israel will not lie or change His mind; for He is not a man that He should change His mind.” 30 Then he said, “I have sinned; but please honor me now before the elders of my people and before Israel, and go back with me, that I may worship the Lord your God.” 31 So Samuel went back following Saul, and Saul worshiped the Lord.

32 Then Samuel said, “Bring me Agag, the king of the Amalekites.” And Agag came to him cheerfully. And Agag said, “Surely the bitterness of death is past.” 33 But Samuel said, “As your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women.” And Samuel hewed Agag to pieces before the Lord at Gilgal.

34 Then Samuel went to Ramah, but Saul went up to his house at Gibeah of Saul. 35 Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death; for Samuel grieved over Saul. And the Lord regretted that He had made Saul king over Israel.

From this we see:
- what is in a person's heart determines who they are worshiping and what they are guilty of
- if you are not for God, you are against God

Personal experience:  back in grade 9, when I was going through my rebellious phase, I would tell my parents that I was going to youth group, but then I would actually go to hang out with my friends.  But on Sunday mornings, since there was no way to avoid it, I went to Sunday school and the church service.  I was there physically, but emotionally and spiritually - I was NOT there.  Everything during that time period was just for show.

At the end of that year, I realized that my heart was emotionally and spiritually aching.  I had to stop running away from it, and stop to examine my heart!  It was then that I turned my life around and confessed my rebellious actions to God, and apologized to my parents, as well.  THEN when I went to church - I was sitting in the front row and taking notes!  I WANTED to go to church.  I couldn't wait to go church.

Today's takeaway:  it is definitely all about the condition of our heart!!!  And even though we think we can run away and avoid dealing with our aching heart, we are only fooling ourselves.  There is no place we can run, because God is all-knowing and already knows what is in our heart...

(Jeremiah 17:9-11)  “The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it? 10 “I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give to each man according to his ways, according to the results of his deeds. 11 “As a partridge that hatches eggs which it has not laid, so is he who makes a fortune, but unjustly; in the midst of his days it will forsake him, and in the end he will be a fool.”

(James 4:8-10)  Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.

(Psalm 51:5-10)  Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me.
6 Behold, You desire truth in the innermost being, and in the hidden part You will make me know wisdom.
7 Purify me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8 Make me to hear joy and gladness, let the bones which You have broken rejoice.
9 Hide Your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquities.

10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

(Psalm 34:17-18)  The righteous cry, and the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. 18 The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

(Ezekiel 36:26-27)  Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.

(Matthew 5:8) “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God."