Advanced Level, Block 6, Week 55: The Loss of the Kingship Because of Disobedience

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Advanced Level, Block 6—Struggling with a Kingdom

Week 55
The Loss of the Kingship Because of Disobedience

Point to Emphasize: The outcome of not obeying is loss.

Reference Reading: 1 Samuel 13:2-14, footnote 91; 15:1-26, 35, footnotes 91, 151, 231

Memory Verse: Remind them to be subject to rulers, to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready unto every good work. (Titus 3:1)

Story Sample

With Saul, as the first anointed leader of the children of Israel, there is a lesson we all should learn. As a king, one of his responsibilities was to lead the people to battle according to God’s instructions. Saul first conquered the Ammonites, and then he conquered the Philistines, Israel’s most difficult enemy. Both of these conquests allowed Saul to become well-known among the Israelites. In the beginning, he behaved in a kind, humble manner, but later he behaved in a way that caused him to lose his kingship.

After he defeated the Ammonites and the Philistines, the Amalekites rose up against Israel, and Saul was charged by God to destroy them as well. God’s instructions to Saul were very specific, “Go now and strike the Amalekites; and utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them…” (1 Samuel 15:3). So, Saul went to battle against the Amalekites. In the battle, Saul defeated the Amalekites, but he “spared Agag (the king) and the best of the sheep and of the oxen and of the fatlings, and the lambs and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them; but everything that was despised and worthless, this they utterly destroyed” (vv. 8-9). So, he conquered the enemy, yet he captured the king and kept the best of the livestock.

When Samuel asked Saul why he had spared the life of the king and the best of the livestock, he lied. He told Samuel that he had done what God asked of him. When asked why he had brought the livestock, Saul said that he had spared the best of the sheep and the oxen to offer as a sacrifice to God.

[Have a discussion with the children with the following questions: Was Saul’s disobedience justified? Did he disobey God? Was it the right thing to save the livestock to offer to Jehovah as a sacrifice? Do you think that he really kept all the best of the livestock to offer to God or was he trying to get rich?]

Saul conquered the enemy, but he was disobedient to God. In fact, he actually raised up a monument for himself and had no intention of making an offering to God. Saul disobeyed and lied simply because he did not care for what God cared for. Saul had no excuse for what he did. Saul did not care for God’s people. He did not care for God’s kingdom. He wanted his own kingdom. Saul was appointed by God to be the leader of the children of Israel, so he should have cared for what God cared about. But on the contrary, Saul cared only for himself and for what he wanted. Saul’s disobedience resulted in his losing the kingship.

The point for us is this: to recognize Saul’s attitude in our own disobedience. For example, when I was your age, oftentimes my mom would babysit my younger cousins. Being the oldest among them, I was given specific instructions on what things I could do and what things I could not do while the younger cousins were with us. One day, when my cousins came, my parents told me I could not ride my bike. I really wanted to ride the bike, so I got it out anyway. When my mom noticed I was riding the bike, she was not happy. She asked me why I was riding the bike. I came up with an excuse and I lied. I said, “I didn’t want to ride the bike but my cousins wanted to see me riding the bike.” The truth is that at that moment I only cared for what I wanted to do and not for what my mom had told me to do. Because of my disobedience, I lost the use of my bike for a whole week. [Storyteller, insert your own example.]

Your parents ask you to do certain things for a reason. You know what your parents want, but you really don’t care. You only care for what you want to do. You then come up with excuses for your disobedience. This is just what Saul did. Whenever you realize that you have disobeyed and lied to cover it up, you need to remember the lesson we saw in Saul. We should all learn that the outcome of not obeying is always loss. Saul lost his kingship. We will lose many things by disobeying. I know that for years you have heard that you need to obey. Today, we’re letting you know that the outcome of disobedience is loss.

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