How was King Saul blinded?

Answer 1

King Saul was not blinded.

However, although Saul was not physically blinded , he was blinded spiritually.He was blinded spiritually because he deliberately didn't do as he was told and then did not repent. (And "repentance" is not just saying "Oops! Sorry about that!", but that's a different Question)

To explain, before Jericho was conquered, God told Moses to:

Deu 25:17-19 NET

(v.17) Remember what the Amalekites did to you on your way from Egypt,

(v.18) how they met you along the way and cut off all your stragglers in the rear of the march when you were exhausted and tired; they were unafraid of God.

(v.19) So when the LORD your God gives you relief [rendered "peace" in CEV] from all the enemies who surround you in the land he is giving you as an inheritance, you must wipe outthe memory of the Amalekites from under heaven - do not forget!

Another translation may make this clearer:-

Deu 25:19 GNB

(v.19) So then,when the LORD your God has given you the land and made you safe from all your enemies who live around you,be sure to kill all the Amalekites, so that no one will remember them any longer.Do not forget!

Since Jericho was not yet captured, and since it was at the entrance to Canaan, it meant the Israelites were not yet even in the Promised Land. [This would have been about 1451BC (dating according to Ussher). ]

About 370 years later in 1079BC (Ussher) the prophet Samuel reminded Saul what God had said to Moses those many years previously, and specifically told him to wipe the whole lot out even including all their animals:-

1Sa 15:1-3 KJV

(v.1) Samuel also said unto Saul, The LORD sent me to anoint thee to be king over his people, over Israel: now therefore hearken thou unto the voice of the words of the LORD.

(v.2) Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way, when he came up from Egypt.

(v.3) Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.

Easton says 'This command was "the test of his moral qualification for being king." ' [Easton's Bible Dictionary).

1Sa 15:7-9 KJV

(v.7) And Saul smote the Amalekites ...

(v.8) And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.

(v.9) ButSaul and the people spared Agag,and the best of the sheep,and ofthe oxen,and ofthe fatlings,and the lambs,and all that wastgood, and would not utterly destroy them:...

Saul didn't pass the test:-

1Sa 15:10-11, 13-14 KJV

(v.10) Then came the word of the LORD unto Samuel, saying,

(v.11) "..[Saul] is turned back from following me, andhath not performed my commandments...."

(v.13) ...and Saul said unto [Samuel], "... I have performed the commandment of the LORD."

(v.14) And Samuel said, "What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?"

Saul sinned, but he didn't repent of his sin and accept the blame himself: he blamed the people instead:-

1Sa 15:15, 20-21KJV

(v.15) And Saul said," They have brought them from the Amalekites: for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed."

(v.20) And Saul said unto Samuel, "Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the LORD, and have gone the way which the LORD sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.

(v.21) But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God in Gilgal."

Samuel reminded Saul what God had said:-

1Sa 15:16, 18-19, 22-23 KJV

(v.16) Then Samuel said unto Saul,...

(v.18) "... the LORD ... said, "Go and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they be consumed."

(v.19) Wherefore then didst thou not obey the voice of the LORD, but didst fly upon the spoil, and didst evil in the sight of the LORD?"

(v.22) And Samuel said, .".. Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.

(v.23) 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."

Sin is disobedience.

Saul finally admitted his guilt, but it was too late:-

1Sa 15:24, 26, 32-33 KJV

(v.24) And Saul said unto Samuel," I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD, and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice."

(v.26) And Samuel said unto Saul, "...thou hast rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD hath rejected thee from being king over Israel."

(v.32) Then said Samuel, "Bring ye hither to me Agag the king of the Amalekites. And Agag came unto him delicately [or "trembling with fear" (BBE)]. ...

(v.33) ... And Samuel hewed Agag in pieces...

As a consequence, God removed His Spirit from Saul, and permitted an evil spirit from Satan to enter Saul:-

1Sa 16:14-16, 23 KJV

(v.14) But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit ... troubled him.

(v.15) And Saul's servants said unto him, Behold now, an evil spirit ... troubleth thee.

(v.16) Let our lord now command thy servants,which are before thee, to seek out a man, who is a cunning player on an harp: and it shall come to pass, when the evil spirit ... is upon thee, that he shall play ..., and thou shalt be well.

(v.23) And it came to pass, when theevil spirit... was upon Saul, that David took an harp, and played with his hand: so Saul was refreshed, and was well, and theevil spirit departed from him.

Everyone has sinned, but not everyone is blinded. For example, after David sinned by committing adultery with Bathsheba and then having her husband killed, he repented and pleaded that God not reject him like Saul and remove His Holy Spirit from him: he didn't want to end up like Saul. David did not want to be spiritually blinded.

Psalm 51 [NET]

(v.10) Create for me a pure heart, O God!

Renew a resolute spirit within me!

(v.11 Do not reject me!

Do not take your Holy Spirit away from me!

(v.16) Certainly you do not want a sacrifice, or else I would offer it;

you do not desire a burnt sacrifice.

(v.17) The sacrifices God desires are a humble spirit -

O God, a humble and repentant heart you will not reject.

In contrast with Saul, although Samson was blinded physically, he repented and his eyes were opened spiritually.

In short, Saul was blinded spiritually because sin is disobedience and he did not repent of his sin.