Since both Saul and Jeroboam bring to mind the dangers of worldly wisdom, we shall discuss them
together. At the time Saul became King, he is described as "a choice young man, and a goodly
[handsome]" (1 Samuel 9:2). He also seems to have been of a modest nature, for he "hid himself
among the stuff" when the time came for him to be presented to the people.

After he had been king about two years, however, he seems to have lost that modesty. He
presumes to disobey God because he thinks he knows what is best. In 1 Samuel 13 we read that
Saul offered a sacrifice before Samuel came to him. Evidently Samuel had told Saul to wait for
him to come. The reason Saul gave for his action was that the people were scattered from him and
he was afraid the Philistines would come upon him before he had made a proper sacrifice. As a
result of his disobedience God removed the kingdom from Saul’s descendants. The knowledge of
this loss drove Saul nearly mad in later years and was the motivation for his persecution of David.

Lack of faith caused Saul’s disobedience. The world would say that it was a military leader’s duty
to keep up the morale of his troops and to be ready to meet the enemy at any time. Saul saw the
people leaving him and the enemy preparing for an attack (1 Sam. 13:11) and so decided to act
on his own. But faith says, "God can take care of all these circumstances; my only duty is to obey
His command." Saul lost his kingdom by depending on worldly reasoning. What will we lose by
substituting such reasoning for faith?

Jeroboam’s case is a similar one. Before Solomon died, the Lord had promised to make Jeroboam
king over the ten tribes and to "build him a sure house" (1 Kings 11:38) if he would obey the
commandments of the Lord. One would think that when the prophet’s seemingly unlikely
prediction came true and Jeroboam was actually king, he would realize that God could overcome
all unfavorable circumstances and that his faith would be strengthened. But as soon as he became
king he began to use worldly wisdom and to forget God’s promise. God said that the kingdom
would be his if he obeyed God. Jeroboam decided he needed to establish a special religion in order
to keep his people loyal. The world would say that this was astute political thinking; after all, what
did Jeroboam have to offer in comparison with the glory and beauty of the temple and its
surroundings which the people would see if they went there to worship? But God is above all
secular reasoning and Jeroboam lost his kingdom also.

These two young men made similar mistakes for similar reasons with the same result. Let us not
follow in their footsteps. Remember, first, "Without faith it is impossible to please God."
Secondly, God can overcome all unfavorable circumstances no matter what the world may think.
Thirdly, if we disobey God, we lose. We may not have earthly kingdoms to lose, but we will lose
the blessings God has promised us if we substitute worldly wisdom for faith in Him. Listen to God
and ignore the world; the world has only bad advice, while God has only our blessing in mind.