BRAGADAYJAH 862

BRAGADAYJAH 862

An Evil spirit from the Lord

In the previous blog, (BRAGADAYJAH 861) we see the phrase, “An evil spirit from the Lord troubled Saul.” What does that mean?  Did the Lord God, Most Holy, have at his behest, or in his armory an evil spirit or anything else evil? Of course not; for it is written God cannot be tempted with evil.  As we have seen when Saul was anointed for his role as king of Israel, the Spirit of the Lord came upon him, strengthening him, giving him understanding, bravery, calmness and a sound mind, among other attributes.  When, therefore, God’s Holy Spirit is taken away, his strength, his courage, his wisdom, his fortitude and all his other given attributes were stripped from him.  Once the Spirit of God is not in us, surrounding and protecting us, the spirit of Satan moves in and drives us to an ungodly, wicked and unstable state of being. So we will hear King David in his hour of prayer for forgiveness say, “Lord take not the Holy Spirit from me.” He had seen what happened to King Saul once God’s spirit left him. One dimension of every human being is the spirit dimension.  Man’s spirit is like a balloon filled with say, helium; if the helium leaks out, air immediately takes its place. The amount of air would of course depend in whose hands the balloon then is. But there would always be always some air to take the place of the discharged helium. In short, when God’s Holy Spirit is absent due to sin, Satan’s evil spirit immediately takes its place. So why does the text not say, “an evil spirit from Satan?  The answer is firstly, that even in Saul’s fallen state, Satan could not touch him unless God permitted it, (God’s permissive will); and so secondly the emphasis is not so much on Satan’s intervention, but on God’s abandonment of Saul by removing from him, His Holy Spirit.

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BRAGADAYJAH 861

BRAGADAYJAH 861

David Anointed king.

At Samuel’s behest, Jesse had his youngest son David brought in from the fields.  He was ruddy, and had a beautiful countenance and fair to look at; and the Lord told Samuel that David was the one to be anointed king. Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brethren; and the Spirit of the Lord came upon him from that day forward; so having anointed him, Samuel departed for Ramah. In the meantime, the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him. And Saul’s servants told him that they could see that an evil spirit from the Lord is troubling him. And his servants told him that what he should do to get rid of the evil spirit was to find a man who is a skillful player on the harp; and it would come to pass, that when the evil spirit came upon him, the player of music would play, and the spirit would depart from him, and he would be well. And Saul said, “Find me now such a man and bring him to me.”

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BRAGADAYJAH 860

BRAGADAYJAH 860

Samuel tried to choose a successor to Saul.

So now Samuel knew what the Lord was going to do, but not the how or who was going to be chosen save that it was a son of Jesse.  So Samuel thought he could give God a helping hand. Accordingly, Samuel looked at Eliab and thought to himself, surely he is the one that the Lord would anoint. Eliab was tall and handsome, regal looking even; but the Lord said to Samuel, “Look not on his appearance, or his height; because he is not the one I have chosen.  For the Lord sees not as man sees; for man look at the outward appearance; but the Lord looks upon the heart.” Then Jesse called another son, Abinadab and made him pass before Samuel; but he said, the Lord has not chosen him either. After that Shammah was presented; but he was not the one either. And after that four more sons were presented making seven in all; but the Lord had not chosen any of them. Then Samuel asked Jesse if these were all is children and Jesse said there is but one more; he is my youngest son, and he is out looking after the sheep. And Samuel ordered that he be brought before him refusing to rest until he had seen him.

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BRAGADAYJAH 859

BRAGADAYJAH 859

The Lord Rebukes Samuel

As this next episode in the saga between Samuel and Saul shows, e as humans, can sometimes overdo the mourning, especially with regard to whom we are mourning for. “For the Lord said to Samuel, “How long are you going to continue mourning for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and go; I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided me a king from among his sons.” And Samuel said, how can I go? If Saul hears of it he will surely kill me. And the Lord told Samuel to take a heifer with him and say, I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. Call Jesse to the sacrifice and I will show you what you shall do. And you shall anoint unto me he that I will show you.” And Samuel as the Lord had commanded him, went to Bethlehem; and the elders trembled at his coming, and asked whether he came in peace; and he assured them that he had come to sacrifice unto the Lord.  Therefore he bade them to sanctify themselves and join him in the sacrifice; and he sanctified Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.  Samuel was mourning for Saul, not that Saul was dead; but that the kingship had been taken away from him.  The Lord in fact told Samuel that he should not be wasting time mourning over Saul.  It was the Lord who had taken the kingdom from him as punishment for his misfeasance. “So why,” asked the Lord,  “are you grieving for him?”

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BRAGADAYJAH 858

BRAGADAYJAH 858

Saul appeals to Samuel a second time.

Samuel tells Saul that, not only is the kingdom taken away from him, but that it is already given to another.  So at this stage, Saul confessed he had sinned, and asked Samuel to honor him in the presence of the elders and of the people of Israel, and turn aside with him that he may worship the Lord God. And so Samuel turned aside with Saul and he worshipped the Lord. Then Samuel ordered Saul to bring forth Agag the king of the Amalekites and when Agag was brought to Samuel, he asked Samuel whether by that time the bitterness of was and death would have already passed.  But Samuel told him that as his sword had made many women childless, so shall his mother be childless among women; and Samuel cut Agag in pieces before the Lord in Gilgal. And thereafter, Samuel departed to Ramah and Saul went to his house at Gibeah. And Samuel came no more to see Saul up to the date of his death. Nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul many days.  

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BRAGADAYJAH 857

BRAGADAYJAH 857

Too Late, Saul admits his sin.

The chips are down.  Saul has no more wriggling room; so he asks Samuel to forgive him and accompany him in the presence of the Lord, so he could seek forgiveness. But Samuel refused and explained to him that he could not accompany him because he had rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord had rejected him from being king over Israel. And as Samuel turned away from Saul, he laid hold on the skirt of the mantle of Samuel’s garment and it tore. And Samuel said to Saul, “See? The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel away from you this day, and has given it to your neighbor that is better than you. And also the Strength of Israel will not lie or repent; for He is not a man that He should repent.”   

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BRAGADAYJAH 856

BRAGADAYJAH 856

Rebellion is as bad as witchcraft

Not only does God not delight in the offerings of His disobedient children, as Samuel now tells Saul, “Rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, (which God abhors), and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.” So then, “because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He has also rejected you from being king.” Now Saul said, “I have sinned; for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord, and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice. Therefore, said Saul, I beseech you to pardon my sin and turn again with me that I may worship the Lord.” One cannot help wondering what the outcome would have been had Saul immediately confessed his faults, rather than blaming the people. Did he forget, was he not mindful of the fact, that God is the searcher of hearts?  And that God knew his words were not true? Characterizing rebellion as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness as idolatry and iniquity, God already knew Saul’s heart and He also heard all the lies he uttered in order to cover up his wrongdoing.  Even at the last Saul still made the lame excuse that he feared the people and obeyed their voice. But vox populi non est vox dei, (the voice of the people is not the voice of God) at least not in the theological realm.  

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