I Samuel 15:32-35

“The Long Road To Judgment” • 10.30.07 • Autonomy, Authority And The Man Of God, Session ^#8

Intro.

- Last week, we left off in a strange place. God has rejected Saul as King because of His rebellion against Him. Samuel is the one relaying the message and he is disgusted.

- Saul is not that concerned about God’s rejection of him, but he is concerned about appearances before the people, so he asks Samuel to join him in worship of the Lord, Samuel’s God.

- Saul is just trying to look like a man after God’s heart. All he cares about is the people’s opinion, and Samuel being with him would add to his religious image.

- Samuel knows this, but then, in a strange turn, Samuel returns with Saul to this false, pretentious worship service. In the middle of this, only one of them is going to actually worship.

• I Samuel 15:32-35 : “Then Samuel said, ‘Bring Agag king of the Amalekites here to me.’ So Agag came to him cautiously. And Agag said, ‘Surely the bitterness of death is past.’ But Samuel said, ‘As your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women.’ And Samuel hacked Agag in pieces before the Lord in Gilgal. Then Samuel went to Ramah, and Saul went up to his house at Gibeah of Saul. And Samuel went no more to see Saul until the day of his death. Nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul, and the Lord regretted that He had made Saul king over Israel.”

- Saul went up for his own fame. Samuel went up to finish what Saul had started.

- I wanted to stop the forward momentum of our study here because our God is a Just God.

- I sensed strongly in my spirit that we were supposed to reflect upon that fact together.

- In our society and thinking today, we are tempted to believe that God is the one on trial.

- Situations like the one before us give rise to such impudence.

- But it’s never God who is on trial. It is our hearts that are constantly drawn to a place where we must remind ourselves that we are under His authority and His authority is always good.

- Let’s examine this in the case of the Amalekites. It was God’s decree to Saul that He wipe out the Amalekites entirely.

• I Samuel 15:1-3 : “Samuel also said to Saul, ‘The Lord sent me to anoint you king over His people, over Israel. Now therefore, heed the voice of the words of the Lord. Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, how he ambushed him on the way when he came up from Egypt. ‘Now go and attack Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them. But kill both man and woman, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’”

- Saul is told that the Lord has annointed Him King, giving him authority over Israel as a visible representative of His own interests.

- Now, Saul is going to be used as a weapon in the hands of God to complete a war against the Amalekites that was begun some three to four hundred years prior to Saul’s life.

- It began in a place called Rephidim and the actual battle can be seen in Exodus 17.

- After Israel was victorious, the Lord pronounced judgment on Amalek.

- It seems sort of extreme, as there are really no details given in the Exodus account.

- What is not told us there is filled in for us in

• Deuteronomy 25:17-19 : “Remember what Amalek did to you on the way as you were coming out of Egypt, how he met you on the way and attacked your rear ranks, all the stragglers at your rear, when you were tired and weary; and he did not fear God. Therefore it shall be, when the Lord your God has given you rest from your enemies all around, in the land which the Lord your God is giving you to possess as an inheritance, that you will blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. You shall not forget.”

- The attack was unprovoked, vicious and pre-meditated.

- We need to understand that Amalek’s borders had not been trangressed.

- They were a band of Semitic marauders who roamed the Negev and were likely located quite far from Rephidim. This means that they came quite a long distance to attack Israel.

- We learn from Genesis 36:12 that these were descendants of Esau.

- They were aware of the promises made to the family of Jacob, their cousins.

- This is why they showed no fear of God. This was God’s people that they knowingly attacked and attempted to exterminate! And this was not their only attempt.

- As late as the time of the Judges, in chapter 3 and 5, we see the Amalekites again attempting to destroy God’s people. So what are we to make of this section?

- Let’s see these things in our initial passage today. Along the road to judgment, there is

I. The Measure Of Mercy (v.32)

II. The Measure Of Justice (v.33a)

III. The Measure Of Worship (v.33b-35)

Text

I. The Measure Of Mercy (v.32)

• I Samuel 15:32 : “Then Samuel said, ‘Bring Agag king of the Amalekites here to me.’ So Agag came to him cautiously. And Agag said, ‘Surely the bitterness of death is past.’” : The name Agag was a general name for an office that was held among the Amalakites.

- When Samuel called for Agag to be brought to him, Agag came out, the NKJV says, “cautiously.”

- This is a curious translation. The original language points to a thought that is much different.

- The original word’s meaning is one of bright confidence or arrogance.

- Most other major translations point to the word “cheerful.”

- The idea here is that Agag thought that time had erased God’s judgment and that he would now likely go free.

- Three to four hundred years and his survival at the hands of one of God’s servants, seemed to point in that direction.

- Agag, like many others since, have wrongly assumed that time is an indicator of God’s impotence or disinterest.

- Time passed between the offense and the judgment is not permission. Rather, it’s a measure of God’s mercy.

- The Apostle Peter dealt with this same attitude in the first century!

- The Lord’s first coming was one of mercy, but His second coming will be one of judgment.

- The early church was under the impression that this would happen sooner than later.

- Many of these believers died in the fires of persecution and wondered why God would allow so much time to transpire between the offense and His judgement. Peter explains:

• II Peter 3:8-10 : “But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.”

- Judgment is coming and time is given as a measure of mercy. Consider the Lord’s words to the Church of Thyatira. They had put up with an idolatrous woman in their midst.

• Revelation 2:21,22 : “And I gave her time to repent of her sexual immorality, and she did not repent. Indeed I will cast her into a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of their deeds.”

II. The Measure Of Justice (v.33a)

• I Samuel 15:33a : “But Samuel said, ‘As your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women.’” : Samuel shows that the action he is taking is not one of hatred or violence for violence sake.

- The charge is that Agag had been merciless.

- His armies had committed violent atrocities among all the nomadic peoples of the Negev.

- Their swords had killed women and children. God’s measue of justice was metted out in perfect proportion to the crime. We see this in the law of Moses.

- Men never give a perfect measure of justice. As the children of Israel came out of Egypt, there were fights where men took more than had been received. This is our carnal nature.

- As a result, God spelled out a law that would govern such situations.

• Exodus 21:22-25 : “If men fight, and hurt a woman with child, so that she gives birth prematurely, yet no harm follows, he shall surely be punished accordingly as the woman’s husband imposes on him; and he shall pay as the judges determine. But if any harm follows, then you shall give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.”

- God does not want to judge harshly. His preference is salvation!

- There are two other worthy stories that are good for our consumption here today.

- The first is the story of Sodom and Gomorrah.

- God told Abraham that He was going to destroy it very soon. Abraham began to bargain and ask what the lowest common denominator would be to avert disaster.

• Genesis 18:25,32 : “Far be it from You to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be as the wicked; far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?’ …Then he said, ‘Let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak but once more: Suppose ten should be found there?’ And He said, ‘I will not destroy it for the sake of ten.’”

- God would have spared Sodom and Gomorrah for 10 people! Of course we know that there were not even 10 people to be found!

- The second story was of the Ninevites, who God spared after they repented at the preaching of the reluctant prophet Jonah.

- To the sinner, this sense of perfect justice should bring both fear and trembling and a sense of hope. I don’t have to be judged! I can repent and live a life before the Lord God!

- To the saint, there should be a sense of comfort.

- God is not some loving oaf in heaven without an eye to injustice! God is a just judge that sees the injustice of the world, is offended and plans to act in judgment against the unrepentant sinners that would snub their nose to Him in defiance.

• Psalm 89:13,14 : “You have a mighty arm; Strong is Your hand, and high is Your right hand. Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne; Mercy and truth go before Your face.”

III. The Measure Of Worship (v.33b-35)

• I Samuel 15:33b-35 : “And Samuel hacked Agag in pieces before the Lord in Gilgal. Then Samuel went to Ramah, and Saul went up to his house at Gibeah of Saul. And Samuel went no more to see Saul until the day of his death. Nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul, and the Lord regretted that He had made Saul king over Israel.” : What we see here is a gruesome scene.

- Samuel finished what Saul did not have the heart to complete.

- But we are mistaken if we see just a grisly scene without the context of God’s Holiness and reputation. Samuel shows a passion for God’s honor and reputation.

- Saul had shown little concern for what his inaction spoke. His inaction showed a nation that God’s Word was not final or fully authoritative. Saul had shown that worship publicly could be had without reverance privately! This was likely the cause of much confusion among the people of God.

- But Samuel cleared that up and did something very difficult.

- He had likely never killed anyone before, and to do what he did must have taken a tremendous toll upon him, yet with God’s reputation and honor on the line, there was truly no other choice. God’s holy righteous anger demanded no less.

- Samuel did this before the Lord! God was his audience. Contrast this to Saul, whose outward worship was all about how it would look to the elders and people of Israel.

- Samuel hacked Agag to pieces and then he cut off his relationship to Saul.

- This was difficult. Samuel loved Saul, as can be seen from verses 34 and 35.

- Samuel and Saul went their separate ways and though Samuel had likely wanted to see Saul, he did not until the day of his death.

- Samuel probably wanted to, figuring that he might be able to “reach him.” But God had decreed that Saul was rejected.

- You might ask “what does worship have to do with judgment?” Worship is a continual reminder of God’s reality. The world is judged by the love and obedience shown around them.

- This is truly an awesome picture of worship. Hard obedience is the best test of our worship hearts.

- Are you willing to slay a sinful habit? Are you willing to hack off a lingering mental fascination?

- Are you willing to separate yourself from a relationship that God has clearly condemned?

- This is the measure of our worship before the Lord. Listen to the words of the Lord.

• Matthew 18:7-9 : “Woe to the world because of offenses! For offenses must come, but woe to that man by whom the offense comes! If your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life lame or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet, to be cast into the everlasting fire. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye, rather than having two eyes, to be cast into hell fire.”

Conclusion

- The world is ripe for the judgment of God. Time is the measure of His mercy, and perfect wrath is the measure of His justice.

- Along the road to judgment, you and I are to live worshipping this God, whose heart is pleased when we worship Him, by obediently following wherever He might lead, even to places that might be personally unpleasant.

- We might have to cut off habits and friends and lifestyle choices. But this is the worship that matters most to the heart of God.