Weekly Sunday Sermon - God chose Saul as the First King

 Hello! Last week it was mostly a reflection and some games to revise, so I can't really make a blog.

The chapter base is 1 Sam 1-15. Samuel was the last judge, and in this period Israel sinned, and in the beginning of this book there was some troubles for the Israelites. This lesson does not cover the call of Samuel.  They lost 4,000 men in a battle against the Philistines, which was a lot at the time. They were worried, so they thought to themselves, "the Phillstines bring their own gods (statues) in battle." So rhey brought the Ark of the Covenant for the next fight, and this time the Phillistines were afraid bur the Israelites had sinned - they did not consult Samuel (who was a prophet, who linked the people and God) but rather just relied on their own strength. The Phillistines defeated them although they were afraid, and 30,000 Israelites died this time, a much larger amount, and also the Ark of the Covenant was taken with the Phillistines.

But the Ark of the Covenant caused diseases and infestations wherever ir went in the Phillistine land, destroying their idol Dagon nd inflictinf the Phillistines with skin ailments. So, it was brought back to the Israelite territory and it stayed in Kiriath Jearim for 20 years, until finally the Israelites repented and decided to confess their sins to God. While they were offering sacrifices, the Phillistines suddenly attacked rhen, but they pursued them and many of the enemies were slaughtered on the way.

In the next chapter, the Israelites asked for a king, because they wanted to be like rhe pagan nations around them. Having a king was not sinful, but how they examined kings was. Saul was chosen first, and there were ups and downs to him, he was physically attractive, tall, and young, but soon after he shown many weaknesses when it came to ruling. In the book of Deuteronomy, God has already known this would happen, and set up the expectations for a king. 

When Saul was meant to attack the Amalekites, God told him to utterly destroy Amalek, but Saul sinned, he kept some. This was only half obedience. In another instance, he was meant to wait for Samuel, but he didn't and offered the sacrifices too early bedore Samuel came, so after these transgressions, Samuel left Saul, so God's word left Saul, and he was rejected as king. We learn to always be wholehearted and wholly obedient to God, not half. 

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