What exactly was Saul's sin that caused God to reject him and punish him?

Question

I see similar questions have already been asked about this passage but there was a lack of definite answer, some see it as a series of mistakes.

I have been trying to understand the exact nature of Saul's sin surrounding the offering he sacrificed and his subsequent rejection. It seemed he was predestined to fail for David to be chosen.

-Was the sin the fact that he wasn't a priest, type of sacrifice, or that he didn't wait for Samuel to arrive (panicking because he was late), or was it the disobedience that caused God's anger? Or just that he had a lack of awareness of the presence of God and wasn't "after God's own heart"?

What was the commandment that Saul broke?

To be chosen and then rejected by the Most High God must have been the depths of misery, I cannot think of anything worse. I want to understand exactly what he did wrong.

And Samuel said, “What have you done?” Saul said, “When I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines gathered together at Michmash, then I said, ‘The Philistines will now come down on me at Gilgal, and I have not made supplication to the Lord.’ Therefore I felt compelled, and offered a burnt offering.”

And Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the commandment of the Lord your God, which He commanded you. For now the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever.

But now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought for Himself a man after His own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be commander over His people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.”

I Samuel 13:11-14 NKJV https://bible.com/bible/114/1sa.13.11.NKJV

Answer 1

The events of 1 Samuel ch13 should be compared with Samuel's instructions in a a previous chapter.

"And you shall go down before me to Gilgal and behold I am coming to you to offer burnt offerings and to sacrifice peace offerings. Seven days you shall wait, until I shall come to you and show you what you shall do" (1 Samuel ch10 v8, RSV).

Despite the time interval, ch13 is the occasion when he is supposed to be following those instructions. The Philistines invade, and Saul fulfils the first line by summoning the host of Israel to Gilgal (v4). "He waited seven days" (v8). Unfortunately his estimate of "seven days" is a little short, perhaps by at least an hour. So Saul gets impatient, and makes the burnt offerings and peace offerings which he was supposed to leave to Samuel. Samuel arrives, just as he promised, finding that the offerings have only just been completed (v10).

The wording of Samuel's verdict is "You have not kept the commandment of the Lord your God" (v13).That is, Saul has not conformed with the instruction of ch10.

There is no suggestion that the act of sacrifice was wrong in itself. It was wrong for Saul on this occasion because it conflicted with his instructions. If we look ahead to ch14 we find another battle in which the people are in danger of offending God. They begin to slaughter and eat the captured animals, and the grievous fault is that they are doing this without offering sacrifice. They are not separating out the blood. Saul's remedy for this danger is to set up an altar, so that every man can kill his own animal with appropriate ritual (ch14 vv31-35). It would appear that this was still regarded as the norm, which explains why he felt comfortable about doing it in ch13.

Two other incidents throw light on God's rejection of Saul. In ch14 vv38-45, Saul has adjudged Jonathan as worthy of death, because he has, however accidentally, broken an oath which Saul swore in the people's name (v24). Jonathan is released because the crowd objects to his death. In ch15, the Lord commands the total destruction of Amalek, including all their animals. But in v15 of the same chapter the people are planning to use the best of the animals to "sacrifice to the Lord at Gilgal"; that is, to hold a massive celebratory feast from which the Lord will get his usual portions. That is not the commanded "destruction", as Samuel is quick to point out. And the key factor in ch13, let us remember, is that Saul was giving way to the impatience of the people.

In other words, the common element in those three incidents is that Saul is listening to the crowd and being swayed by them instead of listening to God. God deputes leaders to lead his people, not to follow them.

Finally, Saul's disobedience in ch13 was a symptom of insufficient faith. He was waiting for God to do something and got tired of waiting. There is good reason why Revelation (e.g. Revelation ch13 v10) demands patience (or endurance) from the saints. "Those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength" (Isaiah ch40 v31). "Faith" may be the real point of difference between David and Saul.

Answer 2

There is a toxic element to sin that is not repented of, if there is no turning back to God and away from disobedience to God's commands. Now, in the text in question, there is no mention of Saul expressing repentance, though he probably regretted his action, especially as it would result in God giving the kingdom to another.

It is not until chapter 15 that we learn of Saul later trying to excuse himself to Samuel for presumptuously and rashly acting disobediently once more, this time in dealing with the Amalekites. But Samuel will have none of it. He rebukes Saul again:

"Hath 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 hearken than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, he hath also rejected thee from being king." 1 Samuel 15:22-23 A.V.

Only then does Saul express regret and admit that he has sinned, fearing the people more than he feared the Lord (vss. 24 & 30). Yet his motive is to save face before the people. This shows how Saul's sin is becoming toxic.

After other sins, it culminates in the sin of witchcraft (chapter 28).

While David also committed sins during his kingship, the difference between him and Saul was that David repented. David still had to suffer the consequences of his sins, but his genuine repentance stopped his sins becoming toxic.

The question is, "What exactly was Saul's sin that caused God to reject him and punish him - what was the commandment that Saul broke?" The answer is given in the passage quoted above, 1 Samuel 15:22-23: his stubborn rebellion (shown in disobedience) and rejecting the word of God, particularly in resorting to witchcraft.

But you have to get the whole picture about Saul demonstrating such sins, and not just look at that one particular event. God reads the hearts and knew the course Saul would end up taking, because Saul never truly repented of his various sins.

Answer 3

Just to add on to Stephen Disraeli's answer, Saul in his impatience did the duty of a priest of God, even though he was not ordained to be a priest. In doing so he broke the commandment of God. The commandment in this case is the prophetic word spoken by Samuel. I learned this from an exegetic Prophetic teaching by Dr. Lovy Elias.