Saul confesses his sin, imitating Aaron in the golden calf incident and citing fear of man (v. 24). But the king of Israel is to fear the LORD over man, for what can flesh do to him? The judgment upon Saul is that, rejected by the LORD, he will no longer be heard by God (1 Sam. 28). The problem of Agag’s presence remains, and Samuel must clean up Saul’s mess.

Perhaps more than anything, we need to be heard by God. That is, we need divine favor. We need God to look upon us sinners favorably. The problem is, we’re sinners, and the God whose eyes are too pure to look well upon evil must look away from our defiled selves (Hab. 1:13). One of the of the brightest lesser lights in the Old Testament of the Light of the World, Jesus Christ, is Samuel, whose name means “heard by God” (1 Sam. 1:20). To read the birth, calling, mission, roles, and actions of Samuel is to see the Savior without straining or squinting the eyes. Countless connections unite Samuel and the Son, but I want to highlight just one episode in Samuel’s life that climaxes this connection. This episode, unsurprisingly, takes place near the end of his life (1 Samuel 15).

In this vignette of the prophet’s life, the sad news of Saul’s rejection by the LORD is given on account of Saul’s faithless rejection of the LORD. As God laid out in his Word, every king over Israel was to devote himself to the law of God. The law of God should dwell richly in his heart all his days, so that he might know his God, lead God’s people in righteousness and wisdom, and not be proud of his God-appointed position (Deuteronomy 17:17-20). Lamentably, in the straw that broke the king’s back, Saul was given clear orders to “strike Amalek and devote to destruction all that they have” (1 Sam. 15:3a). Nothing was to be left in the wake of this devoted destruction. God granted Saul success in the defeat of Amalek, but Saul spared the Amalekite King Agag and his choice animals (vv. 7-9).

Read More