Articles
A Heart of Rebellion
You may remember the story of King Saul and his failure to obey the Lord when he was sent to “go and attack Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them” (1 Sam. 15:3). Saul “attacked the Amalekites,” but he “took Agag king of the Amalekites alive” and “Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were unwilling to utterly destroy them” (1 Sam. 15:7-9).
When Samuel went to Saul by God’s direction, Saul had the gall to tell Samuel, “I have performed the commandment of the Lord” (1 Sam. 15:13), to which Samuel replied, “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?” (1 Sam. 15:14). Saul had not “performed the commandment of the Lord,” but had purposefully failed to keep His commandment. Saul then tried to shift the blame, telling Samuel, “They have brought them,” and pleaded, “the people spared the best of the sheep and the oxen” (1 Sam. 15:15), and, again, “I have obeyed the voice of the Lord…But the people took of the plunder, sheep and oxen, the best of the things which should have been utterly destroyed” (1 Sam. 15:20, 21). Excuses!
It is then that Samuel spoke King Saul’s fate: “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He also has rejected you from being king” (1 Sam. 15:22, 23). Let us stop and consider these words, and then let us consider the inevitable pattern of behavior of one who has a heart of rebellion, as seen in King Saul.
First, let us consider Samuel’s declaration that “rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry”; How serious is rebellion? How repulsive is stubbornness, to God? If we do not understand God’s view of these things, we likely won’t see just how serious it is, and might even consider it ‘harmless’ or even acceptable.
First, when Samuel and God equated rebellion to “the sin of witchcraft,” we need to first acknowledge that it is sin, and sin is never acceptable to God. Then, let us consider that God had prohibited any “who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead,” and stated plainly, “For all who do these things are an abomination to the Lord” (Deut. 18:10-12). The Hebrew word translated as “abomination” literally means “a disgusting thing” (Brown-Driver-Briggs), so this is not something God takes lightly, or will tolerate amongst His people. Friends and brethren, if rebellion is “disgusting” to God, is it not then something we should avoid, at all costs?
And stubbornness is no better! The Hebrew word translated as “stubbornness” speaks of “insolence” (Brown-Driver-Briggs), or a lack of respect. Surely, we do not have to explain why disrespect is unacceptable to God! We should not be surprised that when stubbornness is mentioned in the Bible, it is most often paired with rebellion; the two are closely related, and demonstrate a problem of the heart, and no one illustrated that any better [or is that worse?] than King Saul.
Arrogance. When King Saul was returning from the failed mission to “utterly destroy” the Amalekites, he took the time to go up to Carmel to “set up a monument for himself” (1 Sam. 15:12). Matthew Henry comments on this: “Saul had set up a triumphal arch, or some monument of his victory, at Carmel, a city in the mountains of Judah, seeking his own honour more than the honour of God, for he set up this place (or hand, as the word is) for himself (he had more need to have been repenting of his sin and making his peace with God than boasting of his victory).” As demonstrated by King Saul, arrogance is at the heart of rebellion, for it inflates one’s value of self, often at the expense of others — including God. Instead of honoring and respecting God by obeying Him, Saul arrogantly claimed he had obeyed when, in fact, he was “unwilling” to do what the Lord had commanded. The will of King Saul overruled the will of God, and that is the essence of rebellion: arrogance.
Self-Deception. Anyone who knows God at all knows where we stand in comparison to Him; we are nothing. But for the one with a rebellious heart — one who thinks too highly of self and not highly enough of God — there has to be a lot of self-deception going on to continue holding that perception. King Saul continued the self-deception by telling Samuel he had kept the command of the Lord when he had not (1 Sam. 15:13) — and Samuel knew he had not and God knew he had not.
But the rebellious heart will continue believing its own lies, even as evidence mounts against the lies. Consider that the religious leaders of the first century had seen some of the miracles of Jesus and could not deny them, but they persisted in the self-deception that He was speaking blasphemy (Matt. 26:65, 66). Their self-deception was strengthened by them coercing others to lie (Matt. 26:59) and continuing to lie when more evidence existed to the contrary (Matt. 28:11-15). Such are the deeds of the one who has a heart of rebellion.
Blame Shifting. As seen in the actions of Saul once his disobedience was revealed, the one who has a heart of rebellion will do anything to prop up his image, even if that means shifting the blame to others. While it is true King “Saul and the people…were unwilling” to obey the Lord’s command, just who was it who was leading the people in this effort? Did not King Saul have the authority to command the people? It is important to note that if Saul had been willing, the unwillingness of the people would have been meaningless. King Saul was not exempt from blame here!
And so it is with those who have a rebellious heart; many want to be perceived as compliant, obedient, and ‘good,’ even as they do whatever they want. If caught and/or exposed, then the excuses begin flying and anyone who might be within the radius of his life might be on the receiving end of his blame-shifting. Many today who have a heart of rebellion will blame none other than God Himself for their disobedience, citing His ‘obvious’ injustice, unfairness, and lack of real love for mankind as their ‘reason’ for their unbelief and disobedience. The truth is, they are about as likely to believe as those who stood at the cross of Jesus and declared, “If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him” (Matt. 27:42). No, they would not. They did not. Ever.
Begging Forgiveness When It Is Too Late. When Samuel revealed to King Saul that his kingdom would be taken from him and given to another (1 Sam. 15:23), only then did he admit his sin, and then the begging and pleading began, imploring Samuel to pardon him and return with him, indicating Samuel’s approval (1 Sam. 15:24-30). It was too late.
Sadly, there will be many individuals who stand before Jesus Christ in the final Judgment (2 Cor. 5:10) and only then acknowledge their sins and only then seek His forgiveness. It will then be too late for them. Such is the fate of the one who has a heart of rebellion — Steven Harper
