1 Samuel 15

[MEST] 1 Samuel
1 Samuel 15
This chapter is pivotal to the story of Saul. God gives him another opportunity to prove himself... but he failed again!
Saul had a habit of substituting saying for doing, and of making excuses instead of confessing sins. Can you think of other examples of this from the bible or from your own experiences?

Saul was more concerned with looking good in front of people than being good in front of God. Let’s look at his story...
Disobeying God [Read 15:1-11]
Up until this point, Israel was dealing with the Philistines. But now we see that it’s the Amalekites. Who were the Amalekites? [Read Gen. 36:12,15-16 / Ex. 17:8-16 / Num. 24:20 / Heb. 12:14-17 / Deut. 25:17-19]

Saul and Samuel’s conversation. How would Saul feel? How would Samuel feel?

What do we think about God’s command to wipe out an entire nation?

Saul’s wish to protect the Kenites was admirable... But what did Saul fail to do?

Even though God told Saul to destroy everyone and everything, what do we see actually happened?

Read Isaiah 5:20. How can we link this to our story?

How does Samuel find out about what Saul has been up to?

Verse 8 tells us that Saul spared the life of Agag, the Amalekite king. Why?

Saul was supposed to serve God... What does that look like? How did Saul fail to do this?
In verse 11 we see that it says that God “regret” the fact that He’d made Saul king... but taken literally from the Hebrew, that word isn’t “regret”... it’s “repent.” What do we think about this?

Saul lies to Samuel [Read 15:12-15]
What monuments have you set up in your own honour?

Why was Saul staying away from Samuel?

Saul then blatantly lied, to 3 people. How?

Verse 15 gives us some insight into what’s going on inside Saul’s head. What is it?

Saul argues with Samuel [Read 15:16-23]
Again, we see lies, blaming & excuses from Saul. How?

“To obey is better than sacrifice.” Explain what this means in the story and in our context too.

Was Samuel making a statement about the Jewish sacrificial system?

Saul is rejected by God [Read 15:24-29]
Next we see Saul changing his approach. This “I have sinned” could look like a confession & repentance... but it’s not. Why?

Why does Saul grab at Samuel’s robe?

Saul is rejected by Samuel [Read 15: 30-35]
Again, verse 30 lets us in on what motivates king Saul. What is it?

Even though we see that Samuel has severed ties with Saul, next he goes to worship with him. Why?

After this mysterious final worship gathering, Samuel made it quite clear how he felt. What are his actions and how do they tell us this?