Saul Who Was The First King of Israel
Did you know that Saul was the first person to summon the spirit of a prophet through magic?
When Saul did not understand and thought of Israel being attacked by the Philistines, he asked God for help, but God did not help him. So he summoned Samuel‘s spirit through witchcraft. No one had ever done this before. He was the first person to become the first king of Israel and the first person to summon the spirit of a prophet through magic.
Introduction
Saul was a very brave man and it was because of his bravery that he was appointed the first king of Israel. The system of Israel was very bad and the nation wanted a ruler who would see all the affairs in an orderly manner. Therefore, on the demand of the people, Saul was made the first ruler of Israel. He won many victories and saved Israel. At that time, the Philistines attacked Israel and their fear was filled in Israel, but because of the bravery of Saul, they benefited greatly and their system began to run in an orderly manner. Saul was a person who initially Served Israel with great honesty and bravery but later he disobeyed God’s order and because of this disobedience he had to suffer a lot.
Verse
Kish had a son named Saul, a handsome young man who could be found anywhere in Israel, and he was head taller than anyone else. (1 Samuel 9:2)
Verse
Then Samuel took a flask of olive oil and poured it on Saul’s head and kissed him, saying, “Has not the Lord anointed you ruler over his inheritance? (1 Samuel 10:1)
Disobedience of Saul
Saul fought many battles. The purpose of these wars was to protect Israel because Israel had been attacked by many tribes before. Saul was also chosen so that he could protect Israel and save it from outside attacks. Saul fought many wars. He fought the first battle. This battle was against the Ammonites. He was victorious in this battle and he became the talk of the town in Israel. In fact, the Ammonites had attacked the sacred place of Israel, and Saul had responded to them with a punishment. This was a great victory for Saul. This victory boosted his popularity.
Later he fought with the Philistines, who were great enemies. Israel suffered losses in this war, but the Philistines were defeated by Saul. Once there was a war and he took his son Jonathan with him and Jonathan showed bravery and attacked the Philistines. Because of this attack, Saul and his army won. Another war was fought by Saul against the Amalekites, and God conducted this war as a test for him to see if he was really strong in his faith. Saul fought against the Amalekites and won. God had said that nothing should be left there, everything should be destroyed. But Saul did not kill the king there and let him go. He took the rest of the property and some animals too. God removed him from the kingdom because of this disobedience.
Verse
But Saul and the army spared Agag and the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves and lambs—everything that was good. These they were unwilling to destroy completely, but everything that was despised and weak they totally destroyed. (1 Samuel 15:9)
Verse
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.” (1 Samuel 15:23)
Jealousy of Saul
David was a very favorite and special servant of God. David was very brave. He defeated Goliath in a battle which made him very popular among the people. Saul did not like this at all because he was popular before and now the people were praising David. Saul did not like this at all, because of which jealousy arose in his heart for David. Once when he was winning the battle, the people raised slogans and said that Saul had killed a thousand people, but David is the person who killed millions of people. Therefore, Saul realized that more people are giving importance to David than me. God always gave success to David and won him in every battle, while this was not the case with Saul. Because of Saul’s mistake, God removed him from the kingship because God gave more importance to David. Saul became jealous of David. David became very popular with the people as well as among the armies of Israel. Saul began to think that now David will be seated in my place. When Samuel told that God wanted David to be brought to Saul’s place, then Saul’s heart had a lot of hatred for David and Jealousy arose.
Verse
As they danced, they sang: “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands.” (1 Samuel 18:7)
Verse
Saul told his son Jonathan and all the attendants to kill David. But Jonathan had taken a great liking to David. (1 Samuel 19:1)
Situation of Saul And Witch of Endor
Witchcraft is a great sin to God. And that’s why Saul also asked the magicians to go away. But there was an incident that forced him to seek help from a witch. When Samuel died, Saul was taking over his kingdom. At that time the Philistines threatened him and said that they are coming to attack Israel very soon. Saul was greatly alarmed by this and prayed to God to tell him something about this and to give him some advice, but God did not say anything to him. No revelation was given to him, and no message was conveyed to him in a dream, which made Saul very worried.
Samuel was a way, but he was dead. He did not understand anything. Then he remembered that those who are sorcerers can bring back the souls of the dead. For this reason, he took the help of a witch and went to her in disguise. He told the witch that he had to meet the spirit of Samuel. The spirit of Samuel said to Saul that you have done this very wrong thing, God has already removed you from the kingdom because of your mistake and now David will get the kingdom. The second thing is that the Philistines will attack Israel and this time Israel will lose and the Philistines will win. Samuel also said that Saul and his sons would be killed in this war, he was very scared after hearing these words. And he fell on his knees in panic. The witch took him in and gave him something to eat and drink, but Saul was no longer in his senses. Everything Samuel said turned out to be true. The Philistines attacked Israel and as a result of this attack Saul and his children died and the Philistines took possession of Israel.
Verse
Saul then said to his attendants, “Find me a woman who is a medium, so I may go and inquire of her.” (1 Samuel 28:7)
Verse
Because you did not obey the Lord or carry out his fierce wrath against the Amalekites, the Lord has done this to you today. (1 Samuel 28:18)
Verse
Saul said to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword and run me through, or these uncircumcised fellows will come and run me through and abuse me.”But his armor-bearer was terrified and would not do it; so Saul took his own sword and fell on it. (1 Samuel 31:4)
Verse
So Saul and his three sons and his armor-bearer and all his men died together that same day. (1 Samuel 31:6)
Frequently Asked Questions
Conclusion
Saul’s life teaches us a great lesson that we should never be proud of our victory and bravery and should always obey God. Saul felt that he was an excellent strategist, so he preferred his word over God’s word and disobeyed God, which resulted in God removing him from the kingdom. Instead of asking God for forgiveness and correcting himself, Saul tried to talk to God, but God did not talk to him because he was angry. Therefore, he asked a witch to know the strategy of the future. This shows us that if God is not in our life, we commit many sins like Saul did.
Verse
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.” (1 Samuel 15:23)
Verse
So Saul and his three sons and his armor-bearer and all his men died together that same day. (1 Samuel 31:6)
