1 Samuel 3:20. “And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel had been ^[e]established as a prophet of the Lord.”

The place of being established is paramount in leadership, Because the degree to which you possess and wield authority and power, is the degree to which you have been established. Your pursuit in leadership shouldn’t be focused on mundane and secondary things that leadership has to offer but to seek and strive that your authority is secure and successive. And the only one who can secure your position of influence is God. As much as God has the responsibility to establish you, you also have the responsibility or role to play under God. The focus of this article is to share with us a principle the Holy Spirit has exposed me to and I believe this piece of truth will be relevant for all those who desire to lead or who are already in leadership. A lot of times I have tried to probe by asking questions; what exactly did king Saul do that God rejected Him and why was His throne not established? The answers are explained in what I am about to show you by the help of the Holy Spirit.

 

Perhaps you may be asking; what has this got to do with me? I am a leader and I am doing fine, I am at the top of my game, I am already doing ministry at a global level; as a matter of fact, this is the more reason why you need to read this. The reason is because it is not enough to be a king, a leader, a witness and a commander, it is not also enough to think you are anointed; what you are about to read will help secure your throne and put you in prosper perspective even as you serve the will and purposes of God on the earth. 1 Samuel 13:9. Begins to build a background to this truth we are about to discover. It says; So, Saul said, “Bring a burnt offering and peace offerings here to me.” And he offered the burnt offering. Now it happened, as soon as he had finished presenting the burnt offering, that Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him, that he might greet him.

 

This a very familiar story, this verse was highlighted for the sake of emphasis because, the Holy Spirit will use it to open us up into a particular leadership secret. It will also serve as a build up into what I am about to share.  I want us to note that word “And he offered the burnt offering” two leaders amongst so many others that really made their way into the heart of God, not only that; they also had their leadership and reign endure for a long time even for generations. Those leaders were David and Jesus Christ. These were leaders that led in different generations and dispensations yet they had something in common. What did they do? What was their secret? Where they leaders that were concerned with sacrifices and burnt offerings? See what they had to say about this; David said in Psalm 61:16-17, “For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering.17The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart—These, O God, You will not despise.”  And I want us to note that word; “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit and a contrite heart”, not sacrifice of bulls and goats. But a sacrifice of a broken spirit and of a contrite heart. This talks about leading by truth and in truth, meekness and connecting in the spirit. This makes it clearer to us when Jesus told the Samaritan woman that God desires and seek those who will worship Him in Spirit and in truth.

 

Please I would love you to read patiently as this body of truth is coming together bit by bit. David understood what God really desires, he didn’t make that statement out of ignorance, he saw the mind of God and His preferences. Jesus the Son of God who became flesh and dwelt among us, led His people in another generation also made the same statement in Hebrews 10:8, “Previously saying, “Sacrifice and offering, burnt offerings, and offerings for sin You did not desire, nor had pleasure in them” (which are offered according to the law), ⁹ then He said, “Behold, I have come to do Your will, ^[b]O God.” He takes away the first that He may establish the second.”

 

So, what is it about sacrifices and burnt offerings that God does not desire? What is that thing that God really expect from us? David saw it as brokenness, Jesus saw it as doing the will and submission to the Father. Look at the scenario that happened between Cain and Abel: Let me quickly point something out to us in Genesis 4:3-5, the Bible says; “In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. ⁴ And Abel also brought an offering—fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, ⁵ but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.” And you would wonder why God did not consider the sacrifice and offerings of Cain. See what Hebrews 11:4 says; By faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous, when God spoke well of his offerings.

 

“Abel brought a sacrifice by faith” How does faith come? It comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. Meaning that for faith to be produced there must be a hearing, an instruction via the word of God. So, it means they were both commanded by the word to bring an offering. If Abel brought an excellent sacrifice than Cain, then it means Abel was obedient and broken to the word. So, the word benefited him because it was mixed with faith in his heart. did we see that the issue of heart is coming here again? The problem is not with the sacrifice; the problem is the heart. This means that until God certifies your heart your leadership would not be established. To further show you the nature of the hardness of the heart of Cain, when He was asked by God He simply responded by saying “am I my brother’s keeper?” So, brokenness is very important in leadership. This is the reason why God detest and have no desire for burnt offerings as spoken by Jesus because it does not carry the capacity to make men yield completely to the will of God.  Gods earnest desire is to write laws on the heart. let me say this at this point; leaders who will be established or considered to be established by God do not lead from the outside in, they lead from the inside out.

 

It is possible to offer sacrifices yet there is an issue with the heart, it is possible to offer sacrifices yet not being obedient, or ignorant of the will of the Father. It was from this understanding that Jesus made a statement in Matthew 23:25, “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.” If you are more concerned about offerings and sacrifices rather than allowing God to work on your heart you may encounter serious problems just as Saul did. When Samuel came he made a statement that would be the focus of this article; He said in verse 13 and 14, 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. This is the reason why the Holy Spirit has inspired me to write this article; how can the throne of a leader be established? This shows that it is not enough to emerge as a leader, it is more important that attention be given to you being established as a leader. Verse 14 says; 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.”

 

Look at this statement closely, verse 13 says you have not kept the commandment of the Lord your God, then verse 14 said the Lord has sought for Himself a man after His own heart; it didn’t stop there, the reason why this man is after Gods own heart is because; see what it says; “the Lord has commanded him to be a commander.” Let’s pause there a little; we are seeing a leadership principle here; that you are successful in leadership to the degree of how much command you receive from God to command the people. Command here doesn’t talk about Lording it over the people, it talks about instructions. A leader after Gods heart is a leader that leads according to the word of the Lord. There is a powerful lesson for us to learn from this place; Samuel said you acted foolishly, why did he say that? It means that it would be foolish for any leader to lead outside of the instructions of God. See here in verse 14 that the prophet repeated what he said in verse 13, he said you have not kept what the Lord commanded you. And I want us to put this word at the back of our minds as we move on because I will make reference to it later on.

 

1 Samuel 15 from verse 22 to verse 23. This was another occasion where Prophet Samuel was expressing his displeasure over the fact that king Saul is more concerned about burnt offerings rather than doing the will of God or following His command. So, Samuel said: “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. ²³ For rebellion is as the sin of ^[d]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.”

 

This was where the judgement came, the prophet passed this decree because king Saul rejected the word of the Lord. Much more than anything else the secret to success in leadership is to harken to the voice of God, and to harken to the voice of God means that we harken to the word of the Lord. And this is so instructive for us. This was where I promised earlier that I would make reference to. So, whenever you reject the word of the Lord you have also rejected God. And this is why leaders must be very careful, wherever the word of the Lord is rejected God is also rejected, and this is what creates room for witchcraft, rebellion, stubbornness and idolatry. The reason why God is not so much interested in sacrifices and burnt offerings is because there are high tendencies that in the practice of it religion, witchcraft, and all kinds evil practices could easily creep into it. And by so doing you have rejected God. If God is rejected, then the establishment of your leadership will only be a mirage.

 

But when your heart is broken before God and you are lost in His will, always trembling at His word then your throne will be established. Accepting the counsel of God, the commands of God, the word of God, is the same as embracing the wisdom of God. Proverbs 8:15 and 16 makes it clearer. It says; By me kings reign, and princes decree justice. ¹⁶ By me princes rule, and nobles, even all the judges of the earth. The presence of the word of God is the presence God. Wisdom here talks about the word of God. It is difficult to reign without wisdom; you cannot decree justice. When you embrace the word, you have embraced the wisdom of God, and when you embrace wisdom then this promise God made to David in 2 Samuel 7:12 will follow you and become your reality. It says; “When thy days are fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, that shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. Your leadership is sustained to the to which none of your words fall to the ground, but the words are not yours, they Gods word. If wisdom didn’t fail God while He created the earth, it won’t fail you. Embrace it, let the word be what you speak and live by.

Thanks for the gift of your time, I am Apeh Francis Abah!

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