025 Samuel and Saul - A Bible Story for Children

1 Samuel 8-9; 15

For many years after the Israelites conquered Canaan, they had no kings. God had given the Israelites the Ten Commandments, and great men, who were called judges, led the people. But in time, the Israelites decided that they should have a king, like other nations. The people went to Samuel, who was then their judge. "Choose a king for us," they told him him.

Not knowing how to answer them, Samuel asked the Lord what to do. "Listen to the people," the Lord said. "Let them have a king if they want one, since they no longer trust me to lead them. But first tell them what will happen if they have a king."

So Samuel warned the Israelites. "If you have a king," he told them, "he will take your sons and make them drive his chariots and plow his fields. He will take your daughters and make them his cooks and bakers. Then he will take the best of your crops and your wine and your animals and use them to feed his household. Finally you will become his slaves. When that happens, you will call out to the Lord to help you, but he will not listen to you."

The Israelites would not believe Samuel. "We still want a king," they said. Now God had told Samuel to do whatever the people wanted, so he chose a man named Saul to be the first king of Israel.

Saul was a brave and handsome man who stood a full head taller than anyone else. God had picked him to save the Israelites from the Philistines, and fought many battles and won many victories. One day, Samuel came to Saul and said to him, "The Lord remembers how once the Amalekites attacked the Israelites when they came out of Egypt, and now he wants to punish them. He orders you to destroy everything in the city of Amalek--men, women, children, even camels, oxen, and sheep. No living thing is to be spared."

So Saul raised a powerful army and marched on Amalek. He destroyed it entirely, sparing only Agag, the king of the Amalekites. The soldiers slaughtered all the thin and sickly animals in the city but did not kill the plump lambs and healthy calves.

"I am sorry I made Saul king," the Lord told Samuel after the battle. "He has not followed my commands."

The next morning Samuel woke up early and went to Saul. "Blessed be the Lord," Saul told Samuel. "I have done what he commanded."

"Then why do I hear the bleating of sheep and lowing of oxen?" Samuel asked. "God commanded you to destroy every living thing in Amalek."

"We saved only the best animals from Amalek," Saul answered. "We wanted to make a sacrifice to the Lord."

"You were a young man, like other young men," Samuel said. "Then the Lord chose you to be king of Israel and to lead the people in battle. When he told you to punish the Amalekites, he told you to destroy them completely, to kill every living thing. Why did you disobey the Lord?"

"But I did not disobey him" Saul said. "I destroyed the city and everyone it it, thousands of people. I took only one prisoner--Agag, the king. As for the animals, the people wanted to make a sacrifice to the Lord. I let them do what they wanted because I was afraid of them."

"Do you think the Lord wants sacrifices more than he wants obedience?" asked Samuel. "It is better to obey the Lord than to make sacrifices to him."

"I was wrong," said Saul. "I beg you, please ask the Lord to forgive me." Without listening, Samuel turned to leave. As he turned, Saul grabbed at his robe to stop him, but the cloth tore off in his fingers.

"Just as you have torn my robe, so the Lord will someday tear your kingdom away from you and give it to someone else," said Samuel. "You have turned away from the Lord, and now the Lord is turning away from you."

So Saul went to his home, and Samuel went to his, and they never saw each other again. But Samuel wept for Saul, because the Lord no longer wanted him to be king.

Category: Children's Bible Stories