Judgment for Saul's Transgressions
Book of 1 Samuel Chapter 31, Book of 2 Samuel Chapter 1, Book of 1 Chronicles Chapter 10
In the end we see that King Saul's life was a tragedy and his death as the closing scene of the life of a man who refused to be obedient to the Lord.
In this study of the First Book of Samuel we can see that there is nothing more certain in this life than the Word of God!
Whatever God has said is the truth and will take place!
Heaven and Earth will certainly pass away, but the Word of God will never pass away.
So it is with the "judgment of God"!
When God says judgment is coming, then judgment is certainly coming!
Because God is a holy God, He must judge all that is unholy, or He would no longer be holy Himself!
Judgment is a necessary expression of God's character; however God's judgment is always fair!
Rom 2:2 But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things.
Some of that judgment will come during this Church Age as there has been some of God's judgment in every age.
Rom 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;
Rom 1:19 Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.
However this is not the final judgment begins with the return of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
It is Our Lord Jesus who will render God's judgment, when He returns!
Joh 5:26 For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself;
Joh 5:27 And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man.
Joh 5:28 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,
Joh 5:29 And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.
Mat 16:27 For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.
Mat 16:28 Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.
Heb 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
Heb 9:28 So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
So let us look at the judgment of God against Saul.
*****1Sa 31:1 Now the Philistines fought against Israel: and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain in mount Gilboa.
1Sa 31:2 And the Philistines followed hard upon Saul and upon his sons; and the Philistines slew Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Malchishua, Saul's sons.
We should remember that Jonathan was David's best friend and Jonathan would have helped David to be the next king if he could have.
Much of Israel would have insisted that Jonathan or one of his brothers be the next king and there would have been division in the people of Israel.
We see the evidence of what happens, as today America is more divided than we have ever been because of sinful politics and wicked politicians and corruption.
Yes, the swamp does actually exist
The very people who are saying that conservative thinking people will destroy democracy are the ones who are using every effort to destroy democracy and make America a one-party system and remain in power for ever.
How could anyone believe that as individuals we have the freedom to kill innocent children in the womb.
We should never have the freedom to murder any innocent human being!
We should also be very clear that there is nothing more certain than the Word of God and God loves all of His children!
Saul's troops stood no chance against the massive army of the Philistines, but this would have been irrelevant had Saul been obedient to the Lord God Jehovah.
As Saul watched from safety, he saw his army being slaughtered by the Philistines.
Then he witnessed the slaughter of his own sons, there were three that died this day.
David and his men had been sent back to Ziklag and they were not present to witness these things, as David would have surely tried to help his dear friend Johnathan.
When God pronounces judgment, that judgment will certainly take place!
God will not allow His children to witness His judgment!
The Church will be saved from the coming wrath of God!
The Lord had warned Saul of his disobedience and his wicked life.
In fact, God has warned us all of His judgment against disobedience!
All those who oppose God and reject the Word of God, will also see a similar judgment as did Saul.
We can also see that our actions can cause harm to our own children, even if some of our children trust in God as did Jonathan.
Part of the judgment on King Saul was the fact that he had to witness the death of his sons before he met his own death.
God will take away many of the righteous before the evil that is to come, as I believe He is doing now with so many good Christians going on home to be with the Lord.
This means that those who are the strongest will witness more of the evilness that will come before the Rapture of the Church.
Isa 57:1 The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart: and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come.
King Saul knew his own end was very near, and he chose to take his own life rather than allow the Philistines to abuse him before his death.
This thing also teaches us just how wicked the Philistines were as are many of the Palestinians today.
It is hatred that drives them today, just as it did in the early days of Israel.
*****1Sa 31:3 And the battle went sore against Saul, and the archers hit him; and he was sore wounded of the archers.
1Sa 31:4 Then said Saul unto his armourbearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through therewith; lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and abuse me. But his armourbearer would not; for he was sore afraid. Therefore Saul took a sword, and fell upon it.
1Sa 31:5 And when his armourbearer saw that Saul was dead, he fell likewise upon his sword, and died with him.
1Sa 31:6 So Saul died, and his three sons, and his armourbearer, and all his men, that same day together.
As the Philistines turned their attention to King Saul, he was struck with an arrow which may have been enough to cause his death, but not a quick death.
Saul became afraid that he would still be alive when the Philistines caught up with him.
This also shows us that there is no amount of armor that will protect us from the judgment of God.
Saul's life had been a tragedy since he had forsaken the Lord and his death came just as Samuel had told him.
Saul's last enemy was the enemy that we should all fear the most, our own wicked selves.
Saul was his own worst enemy and it led to his suicide!
There is no punishment for suicide and it is said by many to be a coward's way out of this world.
Today suicide is considered to be a symptom of some form of insanity, but this is not very true.
It is more a sign of hopelessness!
This places a lot of blame on our government and its policies and a lack of truth and it's corruption.
Suicide comes to those who have lost all hope or are in desperation.
Suicide is actually the murder of your own self!
I am not sure that it is insanity at all, but is more of a picture of those who have no hope in the things of this world.
Suicides are one of the leading causes of death in the America we love.
In 2021, 48,183 Americans died by suicide.
Suicide is the 11th leading cause of death in the U.S.
Every day, approximately 132 Americans die by suicide.
There is one suicide death in the US every 10.9 minutes.
Suicide is the third leading cause of death for 15 to 24-year-old Americans.
The highest suicide rates (per 100,000) in the US are among white males (26.4), followed by American Indian/Alaska Native males (25), and Black males (14.1).
**There is one suicide death for every estimated twenty-five suicide attempts.
There are approximately 1,204,575 annual attempts in the U.S. (using 25:1 ratio) or one attempt every 26.2 seconds.
This event brought a sad ending to the first King of Israel.
We should not have pity on King Saul because these things were his own doing and because he was disobedient to Jehovah.
The judgment of God will come on all those who are disobedient to the Word of God and this is what God says not me.
This was the sad end to Saul's Kingdom.
Saul had not reigned very long before he began to separate himself from the people he was supposed to care for.
This is what the government is most guilty of, they separate themselves from the people they were elected to care for!
Government begins to tell us they know more about how to take care of us than we do ourselves, especially our children.
It is a fact that every unruly government has tried this tactic throughout the ages.
They start by brainwashing the children and just allowing the old folks to die off.
Saul was soon separated from Samuel who was God's representative.
He was soon separated from David who tried his best to help Saul and to do only God's will.
Saul executed God's priests.
We see that Church persecution is always higher when governments go against the Word of God!
We should ask, what are they afraid of? They are afraid of things they say they do not believe in!
Saul asked in vain for God's help, but that help did not come because he would not repent.
Without repentance there is no forgiveness!
The homosexual world should understand this!
The transsexual world should understand this.
All sinners should understand this and we are all sinners!
Saul called in vain for Samuel's help through witchcraft when it was impossible to talk to Samuel.
Saul died an early death because he had forsaken the Lord!
It appeared that Saul had taken the sword of his armor bearer or some sword other than his own and used it to kill himself, so it would not look like a suicide.
He was still trying to protect his legacy.
The armor bearer then thought if he escaped his own death, he would be accused of killing King Saul and therefore took his own life.
This is the "circle of deception" when we try to live in this manner!
Saul and most of his house died together because Saul was what the Bible calls a reprobate.
We are ruled in America today by a bunch of reprobates!
Saul was rejected because of his worthlessness to the plan of God.
The Lord expects us to take a look at ourselves to see if we are reprobates!
2Co 13:5 Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?
Saul was a man in a hurry to cause his own doom!
This is the trait of most all those who reject the Lord Jesus Christ.
They are all in a hurry to get to Hell when the Lord Jesus provides a perfect path to avoid Hell!
God has given these over to believe a lie and God will not force anyone to obey Him.
To forsake God is to be lost! God will forsake all those who forsake Him!
God offered Saul room to repent, but Saul had rejected all the Word of God and refused to repent.
Once we are rejected of God, there is no more opportunity to obtain salvation!
*****2Sa 1:23 Saul and Jonathan were lovely and pleasant in their lives, and in their death they were not divided: they were swifter than eagles, they were stronger than lions.
2Sa 1:24 Ye daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you in scarlet, with other delights, who put on ornaments of gold upon your apparel.
2Sa 1:25 How are the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle! O Jonathan, thou wast slain in thine high places.
2Sa 1:26 I am distressed for thee, my brother Jonathan: very pleasant hast thou been unto me: thy love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women.
2Sa 1:27 How are the mighty fallen, and the weapons of war perished!
David had just returned to Ziklag with all his family and all that was stolen by the Amalekites.
On his third day back to the place he was living, another Amalekite showed up with news of the battle between the Philistines and Israel.
Saul and Jonathan and much of Israel were now dead.
This man said he was from the camp of King Saul which was the first clue that the things he said were not true.
After Samuel had pointed out the sins of Saul in his battle with the Amalekites, it would be hard to believe that Saul had an Amalekite in his camp unless he was a prisoner and the Lord had said to not make them prisoners but to execute them for their atrocities against other humans.
David knew these things so he had asked how he knew Saul and Jonathan were dead.
He said that Saul had attempted to kill himself with a spear and faced a long slow death and King Saul had asked this Amalekite to finish the job for him and he did, and brought some of Saul's personal items and gave them to David.
We already know that Saul had fallen on the sword of his armor barer or some other sword and had succeeded in his death.
His armor barer seeing the death of his king then took his own life.
David then killed this Amalekite knowing his version of the story was filled with lies or he would have tried to save King Saul.
David and his men grieved over the news from the battlefield.
David the musician authored a poem (the word "elegy" means poem) for Saul and Jonathan which is part of our lesson today.
God expects us to have a personal relationship with Him and He also expects us to be friendly with those we love and those who are our enemies.
There are some people we get especially close to and are influenced by them.
This love and respect are different from the love of a spouse and a spouse should always have our heart second only to the Lord our Savior and then our children!
I can tell you from experience that many a soldier can get this close to those around him, and it is not some immoral thing but comrades in arms dependent upon one another for survival.
Saul and Jonathan may have disagreed on many things, especially about David, but Jonathan remained dedicated to Israel and to his father.
Jonathan remained close to Jehovah even though his father had forsaken Jehovah.
What Jonathan had not been was a friend to his father. He had become David's faithful friend and had remained that way.
This is the theme of these words of David.
David reveals his heart to us by showing his grief for Saul and Jonathan.
David had lived like a fugitive, but he still had respect for those who were anointed of God.
His wives and his family had to suffer through the same hardships as he did.
Saul had hunted David down for seven years and David had every reason to rejoice at the death of Saul, yet it brought sorrow and grief.
We do not read in any of the Scripture where David showed disrespect or dishonored God's anointed ruler in any way.
Our lesson is, when a leader commits corruption and wickedness, or makes the wrong decisions, he is to be corrected.
We are not to condone such a ruler!
We are still to honor that position of leadership!
God used Saul to keep the Philistines from causing harm to God's people and he had done a fair job and would have done a much better job had remained close to Jehovah.
When we read of the love of Johnathan for David, we should be reminded of the love of our Lord Jesus that He has for each of His children.
This is not some feeble love!
This is not some immoral love! The soul of our Lord Jesus is so closely knit in us that nothing can
separate us from the love of Jesus Christ!
The Lord Jesus shows an unselfish love for each believer!
Jonathan could not expect to gain some advantage from his friendship and neither does our Lord.
Johnathan said to David: 1Sa 20:4 Then said Jonathan unto David, Whatsoever thy soul desireth, I will even do it for thee.
Is this not what the Lord Jesus has said to each of us?
Our Lord says, you have not because you ask not because we ask for the wrong reasons. (not the exact words)
The Lord Jesus took off His royalty and took upon Himself the ways of a shepherd, just so He could save us even when we were His enemies at that time.
It is we who are enriched by the love of Christ!
We keep forgetting that love is an action word and not about lust.
The Lord Jesus proved His love for us by His actions on Mount Calvary!
It was not nails and rope that kept the Lord Jesus upon that cross, it was His great love for us!
Where are our actions for Him? Where is our great love for the Lord Jesus?
Why did King Saul die?
*****1Ch 10:13 So Saul died for his transgression which he committed against the LORD, even against the word of the LORD, which he kept not, and also for asking counsel of one that had a familiar spirit, to enquire of it;
1Ch 10:14 And enquired not of the LORD: therefore he slew him, and turned the kingdom unto David the son of Jesse.
Saul died because of his disobedience.
Saul died because he did not keep the Word of God.
Saul died because he went to someone described as having a familiar spirit and did not trust the Word of God for the answers he needed.
Samuel was dead and Saul could not call upon the old prophet for God's word. It was impossible!
Familiar spirits are sorcerers or necromancers who say they can call up the dead to answer questions. They can only call up an evil spirit who can impersonate a believer. They cannot call up God's children. There is a great unpassable gulf between Heaven and Hell and between Hell and Paradise at that time.
Deu 18:11 Or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits, or a wizard, or a necromancer.
Isa 8:19 And when they shall say unto you, Seek unto them that have familiar spirits, and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter: should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead?
Lev 20:6 And the soul that turneth after such as have familiar spirits, and after wizards, to go a whoring after them, I will even set my face against that soul, and will cut him off from among his people.
Lev 20:7 Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy: for I am the LORD your God.
Lev 20:8 And ye shall keep my statutes, and do them: I am the LORD which sanctify you.
We already know that all those that died in the Old Testament went to a place called Paradise or that place called Hell both of them in the same general location at this time and no one could pass from one side or the other.
Luk 16:26 And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence.
The Lord Jesus Christ took all the saints in Paradise on to Heaven when He returned to Heaven and Hell expanded itself.
Luk_23:43 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.
Eph 4:8 Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.
Eph 4:9 (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?
Eph 4:10 He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.)
Rev 1:18 I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.
Mat 27:51 And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;
Mat 27:52 And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose,
Mat 27:53 And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.
These are the ones the Lord took with Him on to Heaven.
Isa 5:14 Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it.
Now Hell is large enough to keep all those who have rejected the Lord Jesus Christ and Hell continues to grow because there is no end to sin in the Church Age.
The Lord will return to get all the saints that have died and those who are still alive at the end of the Church Age. This is called the Rapture of the Church not the progressive Church because there is no such thing.
1Th 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
1Th 4:17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
Amen.
