Happy Father's Day! This Father's Day month were looking at some of the most notable men in the Old Testament. We've talked about Boaz, who demonstrated loving-kindness to Naomi and Ruth. We introduced Samuel, whose life was dedicated to God by his mother Hannah. Samuel was a transitional leader in Israel's history who listened to God and called a nation back into true worship.
Imagine you are Samuel. Your mother gives you to Eli the High Priest. But the priest is corrupt, turning a blind eye to the sin of his two sons who are turning the priesthood into a self-serving enterprise. The sons could get all the steak, money, and sex they wanted while going through the motions of ministry.
2 Samuel 2:22 says, “Now Eli was very old. He heard about everything his sons were doing to all Israel and how they were sleeping with the women who served at the entrance to the tent of meeting.” In 2 Samuel 2:35 God vows to cut Eli and his household forever, “‘Then I will raise up a faithful priest for myself. He will do whatever is in my heart and mind. I will establish a lasting dynasty for him, and he will walk before my anointed one for all time.”
The Book of Samuel is extremely relevant to men today. When there is corruption, things go from bad to worse. Under Eli Israel suffers a humiliating defeat to the Philistines. The Philistines make off with the Ark of the Covenant, God's glory departs Israel, and Eli's sons die. When the Philistines seize the ark, God brings all sorts of hardships and maladies upon them. Finally, one of the Philistines’ allies hook up two oxen and a cart and send it back to Amazon (Israel).
Back in Israel some folks are minding their fields when all of the sudden the Ark appears! They take it out of the cart, place is on a big rock, and celebrate. But in their celebration, they went too far. 1 Samuel 6:19-20 says, “God struck down the people of Beth-shemesh because they looked inside the ark of the Lord. He struck down seventy people. The people mourned because the Lord struck them with a great slaughter. The people of Beth-shemesh asked, “Who is able to stand in the presence of the Lord this holy God? To whom should the ark go from here?”
A great irony is that like Eli, Samuel's two sons also become corrupt. 1 Samuel 8:1-3 says, “When Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as judges over Israel. His firstborn son’s name was Joel and his second was Abijah. They were judges in Beer-sheba. However, his sons did not walk in his ways—they turned toward dishonest profit, took bribes, and perverted justice.”
The apple doesn't fall far from the tree… still that doesn't mean it isn't going to rot. Both the sons of Eli (a corrupt guy) and sons of Samuel (a faithful leader) succumb to temptation. Like men of every age, they sought great fame and glory, material wealth and power, and chased physical desire. Somebody once said that Samson had the strongest body of any man, David had the greatest heart, Solomon had the greatest mind. Yet all three succumbed to temptation. Upon Jesus' baptism in the Gospels, the devil goes hard after Jesus with the same triad of temptations. This triad wrecks man after man…husbands, leaders. The only King to ever rise above these is Christ Jesus our Lord.
Samuel's own sons aren't fit to be Kings, so the Elders of Israel demand he find someone. 1 Samuel 8:4-5 says, “So all the elders of Israel gathered together and went to Samuel at Ramah. They said to him, “Look, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Therefore, appoint a king to judge us the same as all the other nations have.” In 1 Samuel 9 a young man by the name of Saul emerges. He is the son of a Benjamite man named Kish. The Benjamites were the smallest, least important, and weakest of all the tribes of Israel. At the end of Judges, Israel almost loses Benjamin. The other tribes had to rally to Benjamin's aid.
1 Samuel 9:2 says, “He [Kish] had a son named Saul, an impressive young man. There was no one more impressive among the Israelites than he. He stood a head taller than anyone else.” God reveals to Samuel that Saul is to be anointed king over all Israel. 1 Samuel 10:1 says, “Samuel took the flask of oil, poured it out on Saul’s head, kissed him, and said, “Hasn’t the Lord anointed you ruler over his inheritance?”
Saul is as surprised as anyone. “Me? A King?” Samuel tells Saul in the coming days and weeks he will experience certain signs, that will confirm his call. But 1 Samuel 10:9-11 says, “When Saul turned to leave Samuel, God changed his heart, and all the signs came about that day. 10 When Saul and his servant arrived at Gibeah, a group of prophets met him. Then the Spirit of God came powerfully on him, and he prophesied along with them. 11 Everyone who knew him previously and saw him prophesy with the prophets asked each other, “What has happened to the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?”
Now there are some profound truths packed into this verse to contemplate. First, “Who is it that can change a man’s heart?” Samuel was a prophet and judge, yet he couldn't change a man's heart. Saul couldn't change his own heart. Yet what does the Bible say? “God changed his heart!"
Every man (myself included) is painfully aware of the undercurrents of his own soul. When I was a younger man, I imagined I was able to change myself. But the longer I live, the more I realize how powerless I am to the triadic lure of self-glory, of material power and wealth, or even the cravings of my human nature. You can swim with all your strength but the riptide of these temptations swallows up even the strongest among us. Men… God must subdue the undercurrents, the unrelenting riptides, of your heart. Our continual prayer must be to ask God for what we cannot do for ourselves.
Second of all, we must ask, “How does God change a heart? The single greatest gift God gives a man for his transformation and change is his own Holy Spirit! What changed Saul is in 1 Samuel 10:10, “…Then the Spirit of God came powerfully on him and he prophesied…” A man's speech is always the first thing affected by his conversion. He confesses, speaks, prophesies! It’s the transformation of the Spirit of the Living God that causes the people to say, “What has happened to the son of Kish?” I’m sure Kish (Saul's dad) was probably a decent guy—the Bible says nothing ill of him! But when the Spirit of God gets hold of Saul, he becomes something of an order different than the father Kish. The Spirit can even break generational patterns and currents.
In my own family my grandpa was a terrifying, violent, dangerous alcoholic. He'd flip into a rage on a dime and go on a warpath. But my dad as a younger man found refuge in the Lord, and the Spirit of Christ came alive in my dad. Years later, my dad was nothing like his father. I often wondered; how could my dad have become so good if grandpa was so bad. The answer is that the Spirit of Christ is God's power to change a man, to break generational curses, and he does!
Just to amplify what I'm saying a bit more, look what God prophesies through his prophet Ezekiel. In Ezekiel 36:25-29 God says, “25 I will also sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your impurities and all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone[f] and give you a heart of flesh. 27 I will place my Spirit within you and cause you to follow my statutes and carefully observe my ordinances. 28 You will live in the land that I gave your ancestors; you will be my people, and I will be your God. 29 I will save you from all your uncleanness. . .”
God changes the heart. God changes the man, by his Holy Spirit. And God does it for his own fame and glory. He gets the credit. He does what you and I cannot do yourself. What Eli and Samuel couldn't do. What their corrupt sons… what Saul, David…what Absalom, Solomon—what no man can do for himself. The greatest advantage a man can ever gain in life is that a man might receive heart-changing Spirit of the Living God! Amen!
Throughout Saul's early life, the Holy Spirit comes upon him in powerful ways. When the Spirit of God leads Saul, he's a blessing to the people. He leads well, he commands their armies, he slays God's enemies, he's invincible. The people rejoice! But let's not forget Samuel's warning. As Saul rises to power, and Samuel is about to die, he summons God's people. In 1 Samuel 12:14-15 Samuel warns, “If you fear the Lord, worship and obey him, and if you don’t rebel against the Lord’s command, then both you and the king who reigns over you will follow the Lord your God. 15 However, if you disobey the Lord and rebel against his command, the Lord’s hand will be against you as it was against your ancestors” 1 Samuel 12:24-25, “Above all, fear the Lord and worship him faithfully with all your heart; consider the great things he has done for you. 25 However, if you continue to do what is evil, both you and your king will be swept away.”
The sad legacy of Saul is that though he's given every advantage, he disobeys God. The first crack in his character appears in 1 Samuel 13. Saul and his son Jonathan enlist 3,000 fighting men to confront the Philistines. In battle they are vastly outnumbered. They were commanded to wait on God's prophet Samuel to arrive and make a burnt offering on their behalf. But instead of waiting, Saul's army panics and flees in terror. His men hide in the rocks, in wells and cisterns. Then Saul panics, fearing devastation. In desperation Saul (who is not a Priest) goes ahead of God and Samuel and offers a burnt sacrifice hoping it would change the tide of battle. He blatantly disobeys God, worse, distrusts God, before all Israel!
1 Samuel 13:13-14, “Samuel said to Saul, “You have been foolish. You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you. It was at this time that the Lord would have permanently established your reign over Israel, but now your reign will not endure. The Lord has found a man after his own heart, and the Lord has appointed him as ruler over his people, because you have not done what the Lord commanded.”
Saul’s second big error comes as God commands him to utterly destroy the Amalekites. Instead of obeying God, Saul's army plunders the Amalekites and keeps good things for themselves. Samuel again confronts Saul in 1 Samuel 15:17-19, “Samuel continued, “Although you once considered yourself unimportant, haven’t you become the leader of the tribes of Israel? The Lord anointed you king over Israel 18 and then sent you on a mission and said, ‘Go and completely destroy the sinful Amalekites. Fight against them until you have annihilated them.’ 19 So why didn’t you obey the Lord? Why did you rush on the plunder and do what was evil in the Lord’s sight?”
Saul is even repentant, but it’s evident the leader is held to a higher standard in God's eyes. God doesn't let Saul shrug these errors off. 1 Samuel 15:24-25, “Saul answered Samuel, “I have sinned. I have transgressed the Lord’s command and your words. Because I was afraid of the people, I obeyed them. 25 Now therefore, please forgive my sin and return with me so I can worship the Lord.”
In 1 Samuel 15:26-29, Samuel replies to Saul, “I will not return with you. Because you rejected the word of the Lord, the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel.” 27 When Samuel turned to go, Saul grabbed the corner of his robe, and it tore. 28 Samuel said to him, “The Lord has torn the kingship of Israel away from you today and has given it to your neighbor who is better than you. 29 Furthermore, the Eternal One of Israel does not lie or change his mind, for he is not man who changes his mind.”
Something far more terrifying happens to Saul than losing his kingship. 1 Samuel 16:14 says, “14 Now the Spirit of the Lord had left Saul, and an evil spirit sent from the Lord began to torment him.” If there is ever an advantage a man should ever fear losing—it’s the Spirit of God! Saul had experienced the great change, and the great personal power, that can come into a man's heart. But for whatever reason Saul begins to resist God's Spirit. When the Holy Spirit withdraws from a man's soul, only God know what horrible spirits come in to fill the vacuum.
There is a warning about this in the New Testament—that appears to describe what's happened to Saul. Men listen to this warning. Hebrews 6:4-8, “For it is impossible to renew to repentance those who were once enlightened, who tasted the heavenly gift, who shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 who tasted God’s good word and the powers of the coming age, 6 and who have fallen away. This is because, to their own harm, they are recrucifying the Son of God and holding him up to contempt. 7 For the ground that drinks the rain that often falls on it and that produces vegetation useful to those for whom it is cultivated receives a blessing from God. 8 But if it produces thorns and thistles, it is worthless and about to be cursed, and at the end will be burned.” God rained grace on Saul throughout his life, but the soil of Saul's life only produced thorns and thistles. He lived out the rest of his life tormented by an evil spirit, so filled with jealous and murderous rage that David would become King. He lives out the rest of his life chasing his own fame and self-glory, his own wealth and power, and his own carnal nature. The only relief Saul would experience is that occasionally David would come and play his harp and sing spirit-filled music to Saul. As David sang (worshipped), Saul would feel a reprieve from his torment.
The greatest advantage a man can gain is the Spirit of God. The greatest thing a man can lose is the same. What terrible things fill the vacuum left within a man, who possesses not the Spirit of God. Later in life when King David sinned, he would remember what came of Saul's life after Spirit of God left Saul. David would plead in Psalm 51:10-12, “God, create a clean heart for me and renew a steadfast spirit within me. 11 Do not banish me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore the joy of your salvation to me, and sustain me by giving me a willing spirit.”
In Ephesians 5:17-20 Paul positively encourages us: “So don’t be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. 18 And don’t get drunk with wine, which leads to reckless living, but be filled by the Spirit: 19 speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making music with your heart to the Lord, 20 giving thanks always for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 submitting to one another in the fear of Christ.”