“Then the word of Adonai came to Sh’mu’el: ‘I regret setting up Sha’ul as king, because he has turned back from following me and hasn’t obeyed my orders.” This made Sh’mu’el very sad, so that he cried to Adonai all night.'”-1 Samuel 15:10-11
So God has informed Samuel that he regrets setting up Saul as king because “Saul didn’t do what I said”.
Recall this means that Saul changed, not God.
Now, there’s a Hebrew word in this verse that might surprise you:
SHEMA.
That’s right.
It’s that famous passage every Jew knows as the SHEMA YISRAEL.
“Hear O Israel, the Lord Our God, The Lord Is One”.
As we’ve discussed many times before, “shema” doesn’t mean to just listen—it means to listen and do what you’re told.
It’s a strong word.
Saul heard God’s words, but he didn’t do what God said, so he didn’t “shema” God.
Let’s take a look at another Hebrew word that’s not so common.
In response to Saul not “shema-ing” God’s instructions, we’re told that Samuel “cried” all night to Adonai.
The Hebrew word here is CHARAH or חָרָה.
Now the translation that says Samuel cried all night to Adonai is kind of off.
We get this impression of Samuel balling his eyes out to God because he was so upset.
However, that’s not what’s going on here.
In this context, and any good concordance will tell you I’m right, CHARAH means “to be furious”, “burn with anger”, or “be kindled”.
In other words, Samuel was ticked off and outraged at Saul for his behavior.
He was expressing his disgust and frustration toward the Lord.
This shouldn’t surprise us.
After all, Samuel had publically vouched for Saul before the people.
He had made him the king in front of everyone.
Now he was about to lose face in front of all of Israel.
Would people wonder if it was Samuel’s fault that Saul messed up?
Did Samuel make a mistake by not understanding God or even not doing what God said when he picked Saul?
Samuel felt sad, mad, and worried about what people would think of him because of Saul’s sins.
The bottom line is that Saul’s mistakes made Samuel look bad.
Who could have slept after all that happened?
Samuel now faced the ugly responsibility of having to take Saul off the throne on behalf of God.
This would have been humiliating for both Saul and Samuel.
Imagine the embarrassment Samuel must have felt.
God assigned him to serve as the voice of God to the king of Israel.
But now, per God’s order, Israel would no longer have a king.
This meant that Samuel’s role, status, and duties were overnight rendered meaningless.
Not an easy situation to be in.
Alright, let’s transition to the takeaway.
It is this:
As obedient to God as you may be, you will always be negatively impacted by the sinful behaviors of those whom you closely associate with.
In Samuel’s case, that couldn’t be avoided, because he was ordered by God to install Saul as king…
And now, he was being ordered to depose Saul.
However, very few of us if any will be in Samuel’s situation.
We normally have the choice to decide who we will or will not be closely connected to.
As the saying goes, “He that walks with wise men shall be wise, but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.”
So if you are the company you keep, then isn’t it wise to cut off ungodly ties and only associate yourself with people who revere God?
Let him who has ears to hear SHEMA what I’m saying.
Rich,
Near the end of this lesson, you have the name Samuel where I think you want Saul.
Also, whereas I agree that we should separate ourselves from the unholy, there is the other thing we are supposed to do, which is be a light in the darkness,
So, nu? How can I be a light in the darkness if I am to not associate with the unholy?
The answer is that we are to work with the unholy to try to save them, but in our personal lives we are to separate ourselves from anything or anyone who is unholy.
There are our missionary relationships, and our personal relationships, and they are different.
Good point.
For example, Yeshua may have hung with the prostitutes, but I doubt he slept with them.
Will fix the name mix-up with Samuel and Saul.
Jesus ate with sinners. Those that are well have no need for a doctor.
I get your point.
There’s a difference between ministering to sinners and becoming one with them.