After Saul became king of Israel, he fought all his enemies everywhere… Wherever he fought he was victorious. …As long as he lived, Saul had to fight fiercely against the Philistines. So whenever he found a man who was strong or brave, he would enlist him in his army.
A bit like Saul before his conversion (Acts 8:3): zeal without knowledge (Romans 10:2). One could say the same of Jeroboam II, who conquered but displeased the Lord (2 Kings 14:23-25). All that effort and sacrifice – but to what end? Lord, help me not to “waste my punches” (1 Corinthiens 9:26-27).
Saul’s… army commander was his cousin Abner, the son of his uncle Ner.
People from the western cultures generally don’t appreciate the extent to which the rest of the world operates as a family affair.
“…the Lord Almighty… is going to punish the people of Amalek because their ancestors opposed the Israelites when they were coming from Egypt. Go and attack… completely destroy everything… kill all…”
Sometimes the consequences of our actions take time to come to pass (Genesis 15:16) but they come (Habacuc 2:3). I genuinely fear for this country…
Saul called his forces together and inspected them at Telem: there were 200,000 soldiers from Israel and 10,000 from Judah.
“A chance for Faramir, Captain of Gondor, to show his quality!” (Lord of the Rings). 😊 A chance for Saul to be redeemed after his failure in 1 Samuel 13:13-14!
“Go away and leave the Amalekites, so that I won’t kill you along with them.”
Once again Saul demonstrates generosity once he feels secure (here where God is sending him) just as when he was basking in success (1 Samuel 11:13). Once threatened, however, the fault line in his character which was always there (1 Samuel 15:24) would soon be exposed for all to see (1 Samuel 22:14-19). The contrast with David when he was down and out couldn’t be greater (1 Samuel 30:6).
Saul defeated the Amalekites… killed all the people. But Saul and his men spared… the best… and… anything… that was good; they destroyed only what was useless or worthless.
Partial obedience is no obedience at all – particularly when it comes to playing to appearances (Genesis 38:6-10; Acts 5:1-11).