The scene above is much later in life after the Lord has rejected Saul as King and he asks a witch to speak with the dead Prophet Samuel. 1 Samuel 28
It’s too late. The die is cast. What happened? How did Saul lose favor with the Lord?
Earlier (before it was too late)…
1 Samuel 15:1 One day Samuel said to Saul, “It was the Lord who told me to anoint you as king of his people, Israel…
The Lord Rejects Saul
10 Then the Lord said to Samuel, 11 “I am sorry that I ever made Saul king, for he has not been loyal to me and has refused to obey my command.”
Consider that you may be anointed by the Lord, yet later rejected.
In just ten verses of 1 Samuel 15 we witness both the anointing and the rejection of King Saul. The Lord had chosen Saul to lead his chosen people. All seemed to be going Saul’s way as the anointed King of Israel; but then the Lord rejected him.
Why would the Lord anoint a King and later reject him? Why not Saul?
The indictment of the Lord against Saul is much more serious than we would imagine. It seems that in victory, what Saul explains away as a simple misunderstanding is inexcusable in the eyes of the Lord.
From the time the Lord had led the Hebrew people out of Egypt they had demonstrated their stiff-necked resistance to doing what was right in the eyes of the Lord; so why such a harsh penalty for Saul for just one act of partial obedience by His newly anointed King?
Hear well Samuel’s reprimand of Saul from the Lord:
Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission is better than offering the fat of rams. 23 Rebellion is as sinful as witchcraft, and stubbornness as bad as worshiping idols. So because you have rejected the command of the Lord, he has rejected you as king.”
OBEDIENCE. Now there’s a word we resist. Submission: BOW down to the will of GOD and NOT the will of your SELF.
Some christians will proclaim grace again and again, before remembering repentance and obedience. Yet sometimes God will reach the limit of his patience with us.
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Saul Pleads for Forgiveness
24 Then Saul admitted to Samuel, “Yes, I have sinned. I have disobeyed your instructions and the Lord’s command, for I was afraid of the people and did what they demanded. 25 But now, please forgive my sin and come back with me so that I may worship the Lord.” 26 But Samuel replied, “I will not go back with you! Since you have rejected the Lord’s command, he has rejected you as king of Israel.”
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Perhaps you would argue that this is the God of the Old Testament — God B.C. — God before the grace of the cross.
Recall then, the disobedience of Ananias and Sapphira. God is the same today, yesterday and tomorrow. (You recall it from Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.) Recall also that Christ Jesus said: “Before Abraham was even born, I AM” John 5:58
GOD judged Saul — as God judged Ananias and Sapphira — as God will judge you and me — and as God will judge every claimant of Christ and every disobedient soul.
So let us examine with more diligence the sin of Saul by which he lost his anointing by God. Listen! Obedience… (I’m sure we get the idea.)
Submission: that is, bow down to God’s will in place of your will of SELF. Hear the warning of 1 Samuel 15:23
23 Rebellion is as sinful as witchcraft, and stubbornness as bad as worshiping idols.
What does it mean for you to say: Jesus Christ is LORD?
Are you a stiff-necked rebel? Judas was a rebel.
Do you worship something other than the Word of God? Like Saul, do you build monuments to your SELF?
Money? Power? Position? Status?
Are you stubborn for your freedom to do whatever YOU wish?
IF so, you worship idols.
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In these last days and in this season of much false worship, let us not overlook the comparison of the Lord that rebellion is as sinful as witchcraft.
Let’s not overlook the dark nature and 21st century reality of witchcraft (so easily dismissed as fanciful myth by those too stubborn to worship God).
Later Saul would consult a witch to speak to Samuel from the grave, as in the scene depicted above in the 19th c. painting by Edward Henry Corbould.
What is witchcraft?
From the Hebrew in 1 Samuel 15:23 & other verses: qecem – divination, witchcraft;
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of false prophets
The root word of the New Testament word for witch is: pharmakeus.
False contact with the dead OR false prophesy OR false cures – drugs, vitamins, natural treatments of the earth for remedy to God — ALL prevalent in these last days.
And the consequence of the sins of idolatry and witchcraft are well documented in the Revelation of Jesus Christ to John:
Revelation 21:8 “But cowards, unbelievers, the corrupt, murderers, the immoral, those who practice witchcraft, idol worshipers, and all liars—their fate is in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.”
SO BECAUSE YOU HAVE REJECTED THE COMMAND OF CHRIST… (fill in the blank…)
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You with ears to hear: Do NOT say, “Thus says the Lord,” when the Lord has not said.”
Do NOT say, “I follow Jesus,” when you worship your SELF.
Do NOT say, “I have given myself to Christ,” when you have held back your heart from the LORD.
Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission is better than offering the fat of rams.
23 Rebellion is as sinful as witchcraft, and stubbornness as bad as worshiping idols.
So because you have rejected the command of the Lord…
I pray that it is not too late for your obedience, submission and return to the cross of Christ Jesus, our Lord and savior.
God’s judgment compares rebellion to witchcraft. (Children know instinctively that the witch in Hansel and Gretel is evil.)