1 Samuel Review continued

We are told of the great fear of the people of Isreal when God showed His displeasure at their demanding a king and also of Samuel giving them the assurance that God would not abandon His people because of their evil in asking for a king.  We need to realize that if we truly are followers of Christ that He will never abandon us.  After Saul reigned for two years, Jonathan his son attacked and defeated some Philistines, which led to the Philistines declaring war on Israel.  The people of Israel instead of standing firmly by  before God ran and hid.  When we face our enemies today, we can either stand firm in faith or run and hide.  Samuel had told Saul to wait seven days in Gilgal and he would come to him.  During the seventh day, Saul grew impatient and assumed the role of priest for himself and offered a burnt offering that the priest should have offered to God.  We then see Samuel telling Saul that he had acted foolishly and that instead of being established forever that the kingdom would be taken from him.  We will not lose our salvation if we act foolishly before God as Christians, but we may lose a lot of His blessings.  Then we have an account of Jonathan and his armor bearer sneaking into the camp of some Philistines and killing them under God's direction.  We need to never be afraid of the enemies of God today but must engage with them under God's direction.  We learn of Saul's foolish edict that no one could eat until the Philistines that they pursued were killed under a penalty of death, and of Jonathan defying that edict.  There may come times in our life when we have to choose between obeying the edicts of man and obeying the edicts of the world.   Saul calling on God's name said that Jonathan should certainly die after he confessed to what he had done, but the people prevented Saul from killing him. We need people who will stand with us if we come under attack today simply because we have been following God's guidance.  We have an account Saul's destroying the Amalekites, but not all of them and taking the spoils of war, which he wasn't told to do by Samuel.  Saul arose early the next morning and told Samuel to see what he had done following God's command, and Samuel asked him what the bleating of the sheep meant.  Saul confessed his sin to Samuel, and he often confessed his sins later on,but there was no real meaning behind his words.  If we are xerving God today simply for material gain,we need to sincerely confess our sins and ask for God's forgiveness.  After ths, Samuel never returned Saul.  If we reject God's call too many times, He may no longer come to us calling on us to repent and be forgiven by accepting Jesus as our personal Savior and Lord. Of course, once we do, He will never reject us, though we may at times lose His protection in the world if we do fall back into sin.