Beginning of the End - Ellen G. White

complying with the conditions of coming into the divine favor, or
they may, by their own actions, place themselves outside of the
favoring condition. Saul's disobedience changed his relationship
with God, but the conditions of acceptance with God had not
changed. With Him there "is no variation or shadow of turning."
(James 1:17).
With an aching heart the prophet set out the next morning to
meet the disobedient king. Samuel cherished a hope that Saul might
repent and be restored to the divine favor. But Saul, corrupted by his
disobedience, came to meet Samuel with a lie on his lips: "Blessed
are you of the Lord! I have performed the commandment of the
Lord."
When the prophet asked the pointed question, "What then is
this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen
which I hear?" Saul answered, "They have brought them from the
Amalekites; for the people spared the best of the sheep and the oxen,
to sacrifice to the Lord your God; and the rest we have utterly
destroyed." In order to shield himself, he was willing to blame the
people for his sin of disobedience.
The message of Saul's rejection had to be delivered in the
hearing of Israel's army when they were filled with pride over a
victory accredited to the heroics and generalship of their king, for
Saul had not associated God with the success of Israel in this
conflict. When the prophet saw the evidence of Saul's rebellion, he
was stirred with indignation that he had led Israel into sin. With
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