The Mississippi enterprise. (Jackson, Miss.) 1938-current, 1959-04-18

Greenwood, Miss.
SAUL'S TRAGIC FAILURE
temperance
l Samuel 1881; Print - l
Samuel 15:17-26.
MEMORY SELECTION -
Behold, to obey is better than
sacrifice. - q Samuel 1929.
If person has already sinned
it is expedient that he seek
restitution and pardon for
that sin, but it is much better
to obey and not sin, thus max
ing the sin offering unneces-
sary. 1t is far better to be
obedient unto the law of right
eousneSs and avoid SHINING
than to offer sacrifice for wick
edness after it has been COM
mitted.
S A MI Ell REPROVES
SAUL:
"And Samuel said, When
thou vast little in thine own
sight, vast thou not made the
head of the tribes of Israel,
and the Lord anointed thee
king over Israeli - There
must have been some good
qualities in Saul, or else why
make him king? For a while
he apparently did his best to
measure up to his responsible
ties, but changed eventually
and was rejected. "And the
Lord sent thee on a journey,
and said, Go and utterly de-
stroy the sinners the Amale-
kites, and fight against them
until they be consumed" - A
Christian has difficulty trying
to justify the act of whole
sale slaughter of men, women,
and children, by an invading
army, yet that is the mission
Saul was given to fulfill. His
failure to carry it out resulted
in a break between him and
Samuel and his rejection as
the king of Israel. Wherefore
then didst thou not obey the
voice of the Lord, but didst
fly upon the spoil, and didst
evil in the sight of the Lord
Samuel did not chide
Saul because he had made a
distinction between human life
and animal life, but because
he did not completely destroy
everything in the land, both
man and beast. This was con-
sidered to be rebellion against
the Lord, especially SO because
the spoil had been taken from
a pagan land and had been
brought back to the land of
Israel.
SAUL'S EXCUSE:
"And Saul said unto Samuel,
Yea, l have obeyed the voice
of hte Lord, and have gone the
way which the Lord sent me,
and have brought Agag- the
king of Amalek, and have ut
terly destroyed the Amale-
kites" Samuel had al
ready questioned Saul about
the noise the sheep and oxen
were making, for Saul had in
sisted he and his army had
completely destroyed every
thing in the land. When press.
ed by Samuel, Saul admitted
that the best of the animals
had not been killed but had
been brought back to Israel
And SuaPs contention that he
had utterly destroyed all the
Amalekites was not true, fol-
they invaded Ziklag after that
burned the city with fire, and
carried off the inhabitants
"But the people took of the
spoil, sheep and oxen, the
chief of the things which
should have been utterly de
stroyed, to sacrifice to the Lore
thy God in Gilgal' Sau
admits that the chief of the
spoil should have been destroy
ed, but he charges the PEG
pie that accompanied hin
with taking the spoil. Thi
showed a weakness in leader
ship. If Saul had strict order
from the Lord to do something
he had the responsibility 0
chewing Cod rather than men
If Saul could not manage tn
people on such a mission
might have been questionabl
if he could long maintain cor
troll over them as king In an
situation.
EDIE N G E SUPEF
TOR TO SACRIFICE:
"And Samuel said, Hath tn