{"id":6597,"date":"2015-06-09T00:50:48","date_gmt":"2015-06-09T07:50:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nettelhorst.com\/blog1\/?p=6597"},"modified":"2015-06-09T00:50:48","modified_gmt":"2015-06-09T07:50:48","slug":"an-unhappy-god","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nettelhorst.com\/blog1\/2015\/06\/09\/an-unhappy-god\/","title":{"rendered":"An Unhappy God"},"content":{"rendered":"

The LORD told Samuel, \u201cSaul has stopped obeying me, and I\u2019m sorry that I made him king.\u201d <\/p>\n

Samuel was angry, and he cried out in prayer to the LORD all night. Early the next morning he went to talk with Saul. Someone told him, \u201cSaul went to Carmel, where he had a monument built so everyone would remember his victory. Then he left for Gilgal.\u201d <\/p>\n

Samuel finally caught up with Saul, and Saul told him, \u201cI hope the LORD will bless you! I have done what the LORD told me.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cThen why,\u201d Samuel asked, \u201cdo I hear sheep and cattle?\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cThe army took them from the Amalekites,\u201d Saul explained. \u201cThey kept the best sheep and cattle, so they could sacrifice them to the LORD your God. But we destroyed everything else.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cStop!\u201d Samuel said. \u201cLet me tell you what the LORD told me last night.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cAll right,\u201d Saul answered. <\/p>\n

Samuel continued, \u201cYou may not think you\u2019re very important, but the LORD chose you to be king, and you are in charge of the tribes of Israel. When the LORD sent you on this mission, he told you to wipe out those worthless Amalekites. Why didn\u2019t you listen to the LORD? Why did you keep the animals and make him angry?\u201d (1 Samuel 15:10-19)<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Just as God became sorry in the time of Noah that he had made the human race, so the day came when he became sorry he had made Saul Israel\u2019s first king. God told Samuel about his disappointment and sent Samuel to confront Saul. <\/p>\n

Rather than acknowledging that he had disobeyed the commandment of God, Saul offered excuses and justifications. In essence, Saul told God, \u201cyou just don\u2019t understand my special circumstances.\u201d Neither Samuel nor God would have any of it. <\/p>\n

God had needed Saul to wipe out the Amalekites. He hadn\u2019t asked for a sacrifice of some of the animals, he hadn\u2019t asked that certain individuals among the Amalekites be spared. Besides, it wasn\u2019t about sacrifice in the first place. It was, instead, all about lining Saul\u2019s pockets and the pockets of his favorites. He had succumbed to political expediency and greed. Saul\u2019s behavior exemplified the whole reason God hadn\u2019t wanted the Israelites to have a king in the first place.<\/p>\n

If you love God; if it\u2019s really not all just about you; then just do what God has asked. Don\u2019t try to find ways out of it to satisfy what you think is best for you, as if God doesn\u2019t really have your best interests in mind. You either love him or you don\u2019t. Saul didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

Send to Kindle<\/span><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The LORD told Samuel, \u201cSaul has stopped obeying me, and I\u2019m sorry that I made him king.\u201d Samuel was angry, and he cried out in prayer to the LORD all night. Early the next morning he went to talk with … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_s2mail":"yes"},"categories":[18,17,16],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nettelhorst.com\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6597"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nettelhorst.com\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nettelhorst.com\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nettelhorst.com\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nettelhorst.com\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6597"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/nettelhorst.com\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6597\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6599,"href":"https:\/\/nettelhorst.com\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6597\/revisions\/6599"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nettelhorst.com\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6597"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nettelhorst.com\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6597"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nettelhorst.com\/blog1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6597"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}