“As Sh’mu’el was turning around to leave, he took hold of the hem of his cloak, and it tore. Sh’mu’el said to him, ‘Adonai has torn the kingdom of Israel away from you today and given it to a fellow countryman of yours who is better than you. Moreover, the Eternal One of Israel will not lie or change his mind, because he isn’t a mere human being subject to changing his mind.'”-1 Samuel 15:27-29
So God’s prophet has given Israel’s first king the boot.
In response, we’re told King Saul reached out to snatch the hem of Samuel’s garment.
The cloth ripped.
Taking advantage of the situation, Samuel said the torn hem symbolized how the Lord had torn his kingdom away from Saul.
Now, here’s something you may not know.
I betcha you’re thinking Saul was standing up in a fully upright position when he grabbed the hem of Samuel’s garment.
However, the hem of one’s garment was an article of clothing that hung down to one’s ankles.
My point is Saul was down on his knees when he reached for the hem of Samuel’s garment.
He was begging for Samuel to not take his kingdom away from him.
He never meant to rip the hem, that was an accident.
In those days the hem of a man’s garment represented his power and authority.
By bending down to grab Samuel’s hem, Saul was essentially saying “I submit to your authority”.
Saul wanted to show his recommitment.
But it was too late.
God’s decision was absolute and final.
Samuel told Saul that someone else had been chosen to be the new king of Israel.
And because God doesn’t change His mind like people do, there was no use arguing about it.
It was already settled.
Now, instead of a takeaway, I have a question for discussion I wanna bring to the table.
Do you think God was too harsh with King Saul?
It seems like he was sincere in his recommitment.
I mean the guy was on the ground begging Samuel for forgiveness.
Peter denied Yeshua three times before the cock crowed and he was forgiven.
Why not Saul?
I’d love to hear your thoughts on this.
God knew Saul’s heart
Good answer.
I agree with Kevin, God knew Saul’s heart. He took advantage of his position in power too and used it for evil not good.
Being forgiven does not mean that you are allowed to continue doing what you did before.
I don’t think this was about forgiveness, but about punishment.
Being forgiven doesn’t mean there won’t be punishment for wrongdoing. Forgiveness is not absolution, and being forgiven doesn’t mean you don’t have to suffer the consequences of your actions.
Saul disobeyed God, and this wasn’t really the first time- from the very beginning, Saul did not want to fulfill his anointing (remember how he hid from everyone when Samuel announced him as God’s anointed?)
Another thing about forgiveness is that God doesn’t really care about our lives on earth: he is eternal, and so God sees everything from an eternal viewpoint. When God forgives, he doesn’t mean just forgiveness on earth, but that one will not have to suffer the second death.
Saul did wrong, but that disobedience wasn’t just between Saul and God- it was a public display of God’s anointed refusing to do as God said to do.
Maybe if this was something that was a private sin, so to speak, God might have punished less harshly, but it wasn’t private, and it caused all the men who followed Saul’s example to sin, as well.
This was a pretty big sin, and deserved a pretty big punishment.
But God is still merciful, in that Saul wasn’t deposed immediately- in fact, he ruled for 40 years, so the punishment didn’t come for a long time.
Maybe God was giving Saul time to repent, even though his kingship was gone?
In any case, forgiveness and punishment are separate issues, and if we do wrong, we can depend on being punished for it, whether or not we have been forgiven.
Good distinction you made between being forgiven and being punished.