Intermediate Level, Block 6—Establishing Kingdom
Week 53
Saul—Being Disobedient to God
Point to Emphasize: We need to be obedient at all times.
Reference Reading: 1 Samuel 8—15
Memory Verse: Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing in the Lord. (Colossians 3:20)
Story Sample
The children of Israel now had a king just like they wanted. His name was Saul. When he was presented to the people, they cheered with joy. Now they were no different from the other nations.
Do you think Saul was a good king? Well, let’s see what he was like as king. While he reigned as king, Saul was a mighty warrior. He and his son Jonathan fought well in battle for the children of Israel. BUT during this time he did not keep God’s commandments. In one battle against the Amalekites, Jehovah told Saul to utterly destroy them and all that they had. Saul was not to save any living thing. God wanted this enemy to be thoroughly destroyed. So Saul with 210,000 men struck the Amalekites. But instead of destroying everything, Saul disobeyed God and captured their king, Agag, and kept all the best sheep and cattle for himself. He won the battle and defeated the children of Israel’s enemy BUT he disobeyed Jehovah, his God. When Samuel heard about this and asked Saul why he had disobeyed Jehovah, Saul denied it. He said that those sheep and oxen were only kept as sacrifices to Jehovah. Saul had disobeyed and then he lied about it. He had saved all the best cattle for himself. Then Samuel told him that with Jehovah it is better to obey than to sacrifice. He also told him he had rejected the Word of Jehovah and so Jehovah had rejected him.
I will ask you something, but I don’t want you to answer out loud. Have you ever disobeyed your parents and then lied about it? One day I was with my dad in the candy store. I was wearing overalls. Those pants had a lot of pockets. When my dad was not looking I put candies in my pockets. That was NOT RIGHT. My dad looked at me and asked me, “Why are your pockets so big?” I said, “Hmm… I have my hands in my pockets.” My dad, who was very playful, started doing his favorite thing. He grabbed me, held me up in the air and started spinning me around. Oh, Oh!! You guessed it right! The candies that once filled my pockets were flying out everywhere. I was so embarrassed. I will never forget the sadness on my dad’s face. I felt terrible. In our family, with each act of disobedience, there was always a consequence. So my dad asked me to go around the store, pick up every candy that had fallen from my pockets, and give them back to the store manager along with a heartfelt apology. [Give an example of when you disobeyed your parents and then lied about it. How did you feel when they caught you in the lie?]
So even though Saul was a mighty warrior and fought for Israel, he did not keep God’s Word. He disobeyed God and then lied about disobeying. God was not pleased with this. Then Samuel came to him he did not confess and repent that he had disobeyed God’s Word. Saul lied, trying to cover up what he did. Saul was caught, but he still did not confess and repent for not doing as God had commanded. What was the consequence for Saul’s disobeying God? God rejected Saul and took the kingship away from him.
I’m sure that by now you have found that obeying can sometimes be hard. You might have been in the same situation like Saul, and after you disobeyed, you tried to cover it up with a lie. Saul disobedience and lying should serve as a warning to us. I really want to encourage you to obey the authority figures around you and to ultimately obey God. Let’s obey God and the older ones around us! And remember our verse today, it says that the Lord is pleased when we obey our parents. That is such a happy thought. I hope this week that verse will come back to you. And while it may not be so easy to always obey, you can know that it really makes the Lord happy when you do.