In the 1 Samuel 15 account of Samuel, Saul, and the Amalekites, Saul made the executive decision against God’s command for the Amalekite conquest to keep the Amalekite king and the best of the flocks alive. His attempt to keep any plunder was foiled by Samuel, sent by God. Samuel called Saul out on the bleating of sheep that he heard and confronted him. Then the Lord rejected Saul as king and Samuel took to the gruesome task of hacking Agag to pieces before the Lord—a classic Old Testament object lesson. This is a grotesque account and an awful undertaking for Samuel; but this is the effect of God speaking, man disobeying, and God issuing judgment—a cycle that repeats throughout Scripture, a cycle intensified here by Israel’s sinful desire for a king.
