Learning from 1 Samuel 15 - Saul’s Rebellion

1 Samuel 15:23 - “For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has rejected you as king…”

Saul sinned and lost everything God had given him. The prophet Samuel even called Saul’s sin “idolatry,” even though Saul had not worshipped any statue or graven image. How was Saul guilty of idolatry? Why was his sin so serious that God permanently rejected him? This study examines these two questions.

Saul’s sin was a common one for religious people. He simply followed his own opinions and will. He departed a little from what the Lord revealed. He offered sacrifices to God, and he thought God should be satisfied. Yet he sacrificed something the Lord had said He did not want. Human religion does not care what God really wants; religion gives God what it wants to give, and expects God to accept anything. When it came to obedience, Saul would obey parts of what the Lord revealed, and he thought God should be satisfied with that. He did not understand that neglecting the other parts of God’s will constituted simple “disobedience.” God sent Saul into a battle with a specific enemy, and told him to take no plunder and no captives. Yet Saul took a little plunder to offer as a sacrifice to God, and a few captives who were royalty, who seemed special. Saul disobeyed, deviated from God’s plan. The prophet Samuel calls this idolatry.

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