The Era of the United Kingdom and the Kingdom of God (1) King Saul

“But Samuel replied: “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. 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 Sam 15:22-23)
 
Review: The Kingdom of God in the Old Testament
Last year, through the stories of the Old Testament, we explored what the Kingdom of God is and what kind of heart we should have as its citizens.
During Advent, we focused on the Incarnation of Jesus Christ, and as we entered the New Year, we examined what it means to be a "new creation.
Now, returning to our main topic, we will continue to look at how the story of God’s Kingdom unfolds in the Old Testament.
The Old Testament can be divided into ten distinct eras, and we have already covered the first five.
 
1. The Era of Creation (Genesis 1–11)
The first is the "Era of Creation," corresponding to Genesis chapters 1 through 11, which deals with the creation of the world and humanity, and their purpose.
God created mankind in His image and appointed them to rule over all He had created. That is the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God signifies God's reign, which unfolds in this world through "deputy kingship" via humans rather than a direct method.
The first humans acted as kings in this world, yet God was the true King. To constantly remind them of this fact and to allow them to follow Him of their own free will, God placed the tree of the knowledge of good and evil in the center of the garden.
However, they were ultimately deceived by Satan, the serpent, and ate the fruit with the desire to become like God; thus, sin and death came upon all people. This is the story of the Era of Creation.
 
2. The Era of the Patriarchs (Genesis 12–50)
The second era is the "Era of the Patriarchs," covering Genesis chapters 12 through 50, focusing on the four patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph.
Here, we focused on the covenant God made with Abraham. In this covenant, God promised a nation, land, and blessing. This was also the promise of the Kingdom of God, because the Kingdom of God refers to every place where God's people submit to His sovereignty within an intimate relationship with Him.
 
3. The Era of the Exodus (Exodus)
This promise was initially fulfilled about 430 years later. God heard the groans of the Israelites who were slaves in Egypt and delivered them. However, He did not lead them straight to Canaan. First, He guided them to Mount Sinai to establish a covenant, give them the Law, and instruct them to build the Tabernacle. These three—God’s Promise, God’s Word, and God’s Presence—are the essential preparations for living as citizens of His Kingdom.
 
4. The Era of the Conquest (Joshua)
However, the first generation of the Exodus failed to trust God’s promise and disobeyed His command to enter Canaan. As a result, they all died in the wilderness during forty years of wandering, except for Joshua and Caleb.
However, those forty years were a time of training for the second generation. In the barren wilderness, they experienced God as their true Provider, Guide, and Protector.
Eventually, under Joshua’s leadership, they crossed the Jordan River and conquered the land. We discussed the mindset we must have as people called to fight against spiritual evil.
 
5. The Era of the Judges
After the conquest, Joshua distributed the land among the tribes. While Joshua was alive, the people served God faithfully.
The crisis began after his death and the passing of the second generation. They failed to pass down their faith and God’s Word to their children.
Consequently, the Israelites abandoned God, turned to idolatry, and lived in sin. Yet, God remembered His covenant and did not forsake them. When they suffered under foreign oppression, He raised up "Judges" to save them. However, once peace returned, they would again abandon God and live "as they saw fit." Through this cycle, we learned how vital it is to follow God’s Word rather than our own thoughts.
God sent twelve judges in total, the last of whom was Samuel. Unlike the priest Eli and his sons, Hophni and Phinehas, Samuel loved God, heard His voice, and followed His Word. Through Samuel’s life, we saw the absolute importance of listening to and loving the Lord as citizens of His Kingdom.
Samuel was both a great judge and a prophet who turned the Israelites’ hearts back to the Lord. However, his sons did not follow in their father's footsteps; they accepted bribes and perverted justice.
When Samuel grew old, all the elders of Israel gathered together, went to him, and demanded that he appoint a king over them. Their desire for a king stemmed from envying the surrounding nations; they simply wanted to be like everyone else.
From God's perspective, this was an act of abandonment. The Israelites refused to acknowledge Him as their true King. God said to Samuel, “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king” (1 Sam 8:7).
This is one of the saddest passages in the Bible. God was the King who had delivered them from Egypt, guided them through the wilderness, and secured their victories in the Promised Land. Yet, despite His faithfulness, the Israelites rejected Him as their King by demanding a human ruler to take His place.
 
The Era of the United Kingdom
The era of the United Kingdom started at this point. The Israelites abandoned God, their true King, and demanded a human ruler. Although God granted their request, He remained their ultimate King.
However, as the era transitioned into the monarchy, the manner of God’s rule also shifted. In the Era of Creation, God governed the world through humanity, created in His own image. In the Era of the Patriarchs, He ruled through His chosen servant Abraham and his descendants; in the Era of the Exodus, through Moses; in the Era of the Conquest, through Joshua; and in the Era of the Judges, through the twelve judges.
This method of God’s indirect rule through His people continued into the Era of the Kingdom. Now, God began to rule through kings who were anointed by His prophets. Therefore, unlike other nations, the greatest virtue of an Israelite king was not worldly power, but loving God, meditating on His Word day and night, and governing the people according to His will.
The era of the kingdom can be divided into two periods: the "United Kingdom" and the "Divided Kingdom." During the United Kingdom, there were three kings. The first was Saul, the second was David, and the third was David’s son, Solomon. However, due to Solomon’s idolatry, Israel was split into Northern kingdom of Israel and Southern kingdom of Judah after his death. This marked the beginning of the era of the Divided Kingdom.
 
The First King of Israel: Saul
Today, through the story of King Saul, the first king of the United Kingdom, we will explore what it means to live as citizens of the Kingdom of God.
 
The Humble Beginning of a King
1 Samuel 9:1-2 explains what kind of person he was: “There was a Benjamite, a man of standing, whose name was Kish… Kish had a son named Saul, as handsome a young man as could be found anywhere in Israel, and he was a head taller than anyone else.” (1 Sam 9:1-2)
Saul was a handsome young man who was the tallest among the Israelites. But God chose him as the first king of Israel not because of his appearance, but because of his humility.
God said to Samuel: “I will send you a man from the land of Benjamin. Anoint him ruler over my people Israel; he will deliver them from the hand of the Philistines. I have looked on my people, for their cry has reached me.” (1 Samuel 9:16)
So, Samuel took a flask of olive oil and poured it on Saul’s head. In doing so, Saul became the first king of Israel.
Saul was a very humble man before he was anointed. When Samuel told him, “To whom is all the desire of Israel turned, if not to you and your whole family line?” (1 Samuel 9:20), Saul answered: “But am I not a Benjamite, from the smallest tribe of Israel, and is not my clan the least of all the clans of the tribe of Benjamin? Why do you say such a thing to me?” (1 Samuel 9:21)
When Samuel tried to make Saul king, Saul emphasized that he was not worthy of the throne, mentioning that he was from the smallest family and the smallest clan.
Even when Samuel gathered all the Israelites at Mizpah to proclaim Saul as king, Saul was so overwhelmed that he hid himself among the baggage.
1 Samuel 10:20-24 says: “When Samuel had all Israel come forward by tribes, the tribe of Benjamin was taken by lot. Then he brought forward the tribe of Benjamin, clan by clan, and Matri’s clan was taken. Finally Saul son of Kish was taken. But when they looked for him, he was not to be found. So they inquired further of the Lord, ‘Has the man come here yet?’ And the Lord said, ‘Yes, he has hidden himself among the supplies.’ They ran and brought him out, and as he stood among the people he was a head taller than any of the others. Samuel said to all the people, ‘Do you see the man the Lord has chosen? There is no one like him among all the people.’ Then the people shouted, ‘Long live the king!’” (1 Samuel 10:20-24)
These scenes show how humble Saul was. Even when he was chosen as king, he hid because he was afraid and wanted to avoid it.
 
The First Sin: Unauthorized Sacrifice
However, he started to change little by little and did things that he wasn’t supposed to do. At one point, the Israelites were gathered in Gilgal to fight the Philistines. There were many Philistine soldiers, so the Israelites hid in caves and among rocks, trembling with fear. Saul waited for Samuel to arrive for 7 days, but Samuel didn’t come when he said he would, and the Israelites began to leave the battleground.
In this urgent situation, Saul did something he wasn’t supposed to do.
1 Samuel 13:9 says: “So he said, ‘Bring me the burnt offering and the fellowship offerings.’ And Saul offered up the burnt offering.” (1 Sam 13:9)
This was a great sin Saul committed before God. Someone might ask, "What is wrong with worshiping God?" But the problem was not the worship or the sacrifice itself. The problem was that it was a worship and a sacrifice that God had not commanded.
Although Saul was the king appointed by God, he didn’t have the authority to offer sacrifices. God gave that authority only to the descendants of Aaron, whom He appointed as priests. That is why Saul had to wait a full week for Samuel to arrive.
The reason Saul offered the unauthorized sacrifice was that it helped boost the morale of the soldiers during the war and prevent them from deserting. In other words, for Saul, the purpose of the sacrifice was not to worship God, but to win the war.
Only God should be the purpose and the master of worship, but Saul changed that purpose. Worship, which should be the end in itself, became a mere means. It was not a worship directed entirely toward God where God was the Master, and the means was not righteous either. This was what was wrong with Saul’s sacrifice.
Right after this, Samuel arrived. Seeing what Saul had done, Samuel said to him: “You have done a foolish thing. You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time. But now your kingdom will not endure; the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him ruler of his people, because you have not kept the Lord’s command.” (1 Samuel 13:13-14)
The reason Samuel told Saul that his kingdom would not last was not because Saul lacked leadership or ability as a king. Saul lacked the most important virtue as a king of Israel: obedience to the word of God. He distorted and interpreted God's word according to what seemed good in his own eyes, and as a result, he became disobedient. In other words, Saul didn’t serve God as his true King. This was why God said Saul did not fit His own heart.
 
The Second Sin: Partial Obedience at Amalek
But this was not the end. There was one more event. When the Israelites fought against the Amalekites in 1 Samuel 15, Samuel said to Saul: “This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘I will punish the Amalekites for what they did to Israel when they waylaid them as they came up from Egypt. Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy all that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.” (1 Samuel 15:2-3)
God commanded Saul to kill all the people and their animals because of what they had done in the wilderness. After crossing the Red Sea and before they arrived at Mount Sinai, the Amalekites attacked the Israelites. God remembered what they had done to His people and ordered Saul to destroy them and everything belonging to them.
Following this command, Saul attacked Amalek and won the war. However, he failed to follow God’s order completely a second time.
1 Samuel 15:8-9 says: “He took Agag king of the Amalekites alive, and all his people he totally destroyed with the sword. 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 Sam 15:8-9)
Saul killed the Amalekites but spared Agag, the king of Amalek. Moreover, he didn’t kill the animals that looked good. God told him to destroy all that belonged to the Amalekites, but he did not obey God's command.
Looking at this, God said to Samuel: “I regret that I have made Saul king, because he has turned away from me and has not carried out my instructions.” (1 Samuel 15:11)
So, Samuel went to Saul and asked why he didn’t follow God’s order. Saul made an excuse, saying: “The soldiers brought them from the Amalekites; they spared the best of the sheep and cattle to sacrifice to the Lord your God, but we totally destroyed the rest.” (1 Samuel 15:15)
Here, Saul answered that the reason he spared the high-quality animals was to offer a sacrifice to God. Again, he used worship to justify what he had done. However, this could not be a valid excuse because it was based on 'disobedience.' How can one say they are worshiping God while simultaneously disobeying His word?
He also shifted his responsibility to others, claiming it was the soldiers who brought and spared them, not him.
For these reasons, Saul's actions appeared right on the outside, but they were evil in the eyes of God. They seemed to be for God, but in reality, there was no room for God in Saul's heart. If Saul had truly loved God, he would have tried above all else to fully keep the commands God gave him. Saul chose what was 'good and right in his own eyes' rather than what was 'good and right in God's eyes.' This was why God said Saul's heart did not match His, and why God rejected him as king. It was because Saul had rejected God as King first.
After hearing Saul's answer, Samuel replied: “Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. 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 15:22-23)
The key phrase in these verses is “to obey is better than sacrifice.” For God, obeying His word is far more important than just giving Him offerings. God doesn’t delight in our worship if we just come here because it’s Sunday without putting our hearts into it. God is not pleased with our worship if we don’t love Him most of all.
What God wants is neither formal worship nor victory in war. Acting according to God’s heart, loving His word completely, and heeding it is what God truly desires. Obedience is better than sacrifice. God is not pleased with a formal sacrifice without obedience.
In Hosea 6:6, God says: “For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.” (Hosea 6:6)
We can’t truly worship God if we don’t try to follow His words. God wants our sincere hearts, not our meaningless sacrifices.
This was the last time Saul saw Samuel personally. God left Saul, and Saul began to lose his mind. He later died in a battle with the Philistines. That was Saul’s life. He was a good, humble king at first, but he became arrogant and disobeyed what God said to him. He didn’t follow God’s word but did what seemed good to him. As a king of Israel, he should have acknowledged God as the true King, but he rejected God as his King and turned away from Him. Even though he worshiped God and gave offerings to Him, God wasn’t pleased with his worship.
 
These were Saul’s two representative sins: offering a sacrifice, and failing to obey the command to 'completely destroy Amalek' by keeping things that looked good in his own eyes.
And Samuel points to "his rejection of God's word" as the root of these two sins. Saul rejected, despised, and failed to keep God's word. He did not serve the God who established him as king. He wanted to exalt himself rather than God. This is also revealed in how he set up a monument for himself after winning the war against the Amalekites.
1 Samuel 15:12 says: “Early in the morning Samuel got up and went to meet Saul, but he was told, ‘Saul has gone to Carmel. There he has set up a monument in his own honor and has turned and gone on down to Gilgal.’”
Furthermore, even after being rebuked by Samuel, Saul did not approach God with true repentance. He said to Samuel: “I have sinned. I violated the Lord’s command and your instructions. I was afraid of the men and so I gave in to them. Now I beg you, forgive my sin and come back with me, so that I may worship the Lord… please honor me before the elders of my people and before Israel; come back with me, so that I may worship the Lord your God.” (1 Samuel 15:24-25, 30)
Even after realizing his sin, Saul was more concerned with covering up his mistake before others than approaching God with a sincere heart of repentance. It was still more important for him to look right in the eyes of others than how he appeared before God. To the end, he used worship not as a means of approaching and exalting God, but as a tool to justify his mistakes and exalt himself before others.
Saul’s attitude toward sin stands in sharp contrast to David’s repentance, which we will look at later. It was another proof that God was not the King in Saul's heart.
 
This was Saul's life. Although he was the first king of Israel anointed by God through Samuel, he ultimately failed in the task of establishing and ruling Israel as God's kingdom according to God's will.
He prioritized his own thoughts over God's word and chose what God called evil simply because it looked good in his own eyes. He used worship, which only God should receive, as a tool for victory in war or to exalt himself before others. Even after hearing Samuel rebuke his sin, he made excuses or shifted the blame to others rather than immediately repenting to God. All of this says that the true king in Saul's life was not God, but himself.
So, what lessons can we learn from this story? The first lesson is that the people of God's kingdom are those who love God's word above all else and make obedience to that word the top priority of their lives. The second lesson is that the people of God's kingdom are not those who try to exalt themselves before others, but those who humbly lower themselves before God. The final lesson is that the people of God's kingdom are not people who never sin, but people who immediately move toward God with sincere repentance when they realize they have sinned.
These are the common characteristics of people who truly serve God as the King of their lives. God seeks those who seek Him in this way, works through them, and establishes His kingdom on this earth.
I hope that all of us gathered here today will become such true citizens of God's kingdom. I pray that through your lives, the will of God and His kingdom will be established wherever you go. Let us pray.
 
[Prayer]
Heavenly Father, we come before You today with humbled hearts, reflecting on the life of King Saul. We thank You for the reminder that You do not look at our outward appearance or our worldly stature, but You look at the heart.
Lord, we confess that like Saul, we often struggle with the temptation to do what is "right in our own eyes" rather than what is right in Yours.
We pray that You would cultivate in us a spirit of true obedience. Teach us that to obey is better than sacrifice. May we not be satisfied with formal rituals or partial obedience, but help us to love Your Word and follow Your commands with all our hearts, even when it is difficult or when we are afraid.
Remove any pride or arrogance from our lives. If we have built monuments to our own honor, help us to tear them down and exalt Your name alone. When we stumble and fall, give us the grace and the courage to repent sincerely, shifting no blame and making no excuses, but running straight into Your arms of mercy.
May we live as true citizens of Your Kingdom—people who prioritize Your Word, people who lower themselves so that You may be lifted up, and people who acknowledge You as the only Master of our lives. Establish Your Kingdom in our hearts and through our lives, so that Your will may be done in every place we go.
We commit our week and our lives into Your hands. In the name of Jesus Christ, our true and eternal King, we pray. Amen.
 
[Reflection Questions]
1. What do you believe are the most important qualities a citizen of God’s Kingdom must possess, as seen through the contrast of Saul’s life?
 
2. In your current work, studies, or life, are there areas where you are tempted to take shortcuts or compromise on God’s principles just to achieve a desired result? How can you practice trusting God’s timing even when the situation feels urgent?
 
3. Is there a specific area in your life where you are practicing "partial obedience"—obeying God only in ways that are convenient or comfortable for you? What is one good-looking thing in your life that God has asked you to let go of or surrender completely?