BIG IDEA: To obey is better than sacrifice

PRINCIPLE: No matter how crazy it may seem, when God tells me to do something, I need to obey.

Obeying God requires doing some crazy stuff

Examples of some crazy stuff God asked people to do

Leave your homeland (Abram)

Kill everything  (Saul)

Kill your son (Abraham)

Die for others (Jesus)

Marry a pregnant woman (Joseph)

Marry a prostitute (Hosea)

Change the world (Disciples)

In this case, God is asking His people to obey Him even when it seems crazy. In this case, God told Saul to “completely destroy” the Amalekites.

“Samuel told Saul, “The Lord sent me to anoint you as king over His people Israel. Now, listen to the words of the Lord. This is what the Lord of Hosts says: ‘I witnessed what the Amalekites did to the Israelites when they opposed them along the way as they were coming out of Egypt. Now go and attack the Amalekites and completely destroy everything they have. Do not spare them. Kill men and women, children and infants, oxen and sheep, camels and donkeys.’ ”” (1 Samuel 15:1–3, HCSB)

The commandment to destroy the Amalekites and all their possessions was in keeping with a common Near Eastern custom called the herem. This practice was an outgrowth of the old holy wars in which all the spoils of battle were devoted to the national god. All living creatures were to be killed, all combustibles were to be burned, and all precious metals were to be placed in the god’s treasury. Since all profit motives were removed, only the most dedicated soldiers would go to battle.

God told King Saul to destroy everything related to the Amalekites. He didn’t ask to keep some of the plunder for a worship sacrifice. He told Saul to destroy it. This destruction would show Saul’s obedience to God’s commands.

While it may sound harsh that God told Saul to kill an entire clan of people, the point of the destruction was to eliminate any possibility for the people of Israel to fall away and be influenced by the Amalekites. The problem here is that God told Saul to do something, and instead he listened to other people. The genocide is not the main point here. Obedience is the theme of this passage. Notice that God told King Saul to do something for Him:

“This is what the Lord of Hosts says: ‘I witnessed what the Amalekites did to the Israelites when they opposed them along the way as they were coming out of Egypt. Now go and attack the Amalekites and completely destroy everything they have. Do not spare them. Kill men and women, children and infants, oxen and sheep, camels and donkeys.’ ”” (1 Samuel 15:2–3, HCSB)

PRINCIPLE: We need to be God-pleaser, not a people-pleaser.

However, King Saul is determined to listen to the opinions of others and not God.

“Saul and the troops spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, cattle, and choice animals, as well as the young rams and the best of everything else. They were not willing to destroy them, but they did destroy all the worthless and unwanted things.” (1 Samuel 15:9, HCSB)

Notice that “they were not willing to destroy them”. The army was not willing to follow God’s command. We know this because Saul confesses this later to Samuel:

“Saul answered, “The troops brought them from the Amalekites and spared the best sheep and cattle in order to offer a sacrifice to the Lord your God, but the rest we destroyed.”” (1 Samuel 15:15, HCSB)

PRINCIPLE: Obeying God is always right, but that doesn’t mean it will be easy to do.

God tells Samuel to confront Saul about this disobedience. It made Sam cry, because it hurt him so much.

“Then the word of the Lord came to Samuel, “I regret that I made Saul king, for he has turned away from following Me and has not carried out My instructions.” So Samuel became angry and cried out to the Lord all night.” (1 Samuel 15:10–11, HCSB)

Samuel was obedient to God, although he really didn’t like what he had to do. It meant that he would have to confront Saul. Confronting with someone about their sin is never easy.

But I like how Samuel handled it. Saul comes thinking that it’s a great day in the Lord, and Samuel mentions something obvious. It even seems humorous when you read it, but Sam is dead serious.

“When Samuel came to him, Saul said, “May the Lord bless you. I have carried out the Lord’s instructions.” Samuel replied, “Then what is this sound of sheep and cattle I hear?”” (1 Samuel 15:13–14, HCSB)

The best line in the Old Testament. Saul thinks everything is going ok. He doesn’t think he has done anything wrong. Here comes Sam and what he said must have knocked the wind out of Saul’s sails. “Why is not quiet here?” “Why do I still see sheep and cattle?”

PRINCIPLE: Our obedience to God is more important than our image in front of others.

“Saul answered Samuel, “I have sinned. I have transgressed the Lord’s command and your words. Because I was afraid of the people, I obeyed them.”

(1 Samuel 15:24, HCSB)

Saul feared the judgment of the people. In essence, he was a politician, not a true servant of God and entrusted leader. Consequences came as a result.

Warren Wiersbe notes that verse 30 reveals that Saul was more concerned about what the people thought than what God thought; he wanted a good reputation, but he did not want true character.

“Saul said, “I have sinned. Please honor me now before the elders of my people and before Israel. Come back with me so I can bow in worship to the Lord your God.”” (1 Samuel 15:30, HCSB)

SIDENOTE: Saul and his descent into sin

In the end, Saul died a cruel death. His mental health deteriorated. He ended up consulting a witch, an ironic twist.

“You did not obey the Lord and did not carry out His burning anger against Amalek; therefore the Lord has done this to you today. The Lord will also hand Israel over to the Philistines along with you. Tomorrow you and your sons will be with me, and the Lord will hand Israel’s army over to the Philistines.”” (1 Samuel 28:18–19, HCSB)

The encounter with the Witch of Endor is unusual and no matter if it was Samuel who comes from the grave, or a demon, the truth is still known. This spirit clearly tells Saul that the reason he will die today has its origin in that one act of disobedience.

PRINCIPLE: Disobedience has short-term and long-term consequences.

Disobedience has its consequences, both short-term and long-term.

For Saul, he lost his kingship, and eventually his life.

For Samuel, he lost a friend.

“Even to the day of his death, Samuel never again visited Saul. Samuel mourned for Saul, and the Lord regretted He had made Saul king over Israel.” (1 Samuel 15:35, HCSB)

For God, it broke His heart.

“Even to the day of his death, Samuel never again visited Saul. Samuel mourned for Saul, and the Lord regretted He had made Saul king over Israel.” (1 Samuel 15:35, HCSB)

The word here for “regret” means “to cause grief.” The meaning here is that God is really heartbroken over Saul. God doesn’t just get upset at us when we disobey Him. He is also heartbroken. It aches in the heart of God that His children would so deliberately choose to rebel against His command – for whatever reason.

Just like a father will get upset a grown child is disobedient, God is upset at us when we disobey Him.

“The Amalekites make an apt illustration of the sin that remains in the believer’s life. That sin—already utterly defeated—must be dealt with ruthlessly and hacked to pieces, or it will revive and continue to plunder and pillage our hearts and sap our spiritual strength. We cannot be merciful to Agag, or he will turn and try to devour us. In fact, the remaining sin in us often becomes more fiercely determined after it has been overthrown by the gospel. …

“We cannot obey partially or halfheartedly as we seek to eliminate sin from our lives. We cannot stop while the task remains incomplete. Sins, like Amalekites, have a way of escaping the slaughter, breeding, reviving, regrouping, and launching new and unexpected assaults on our most vulnerable areas.” —John MacArthur

The central truth is shown in the conversation between Saul and Samuel:

“Then Samuel said: Does the Lord take pleasure in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord? Look: to obey is better than sacrifice, to pay attention is better than the fat of rams.” (1 Samuel 15:22, HCSB)

It is more important to obey than to give God a sacrifice. The flip side of this truth is just as relevant. When one is not obedient, even if it is because of fear of what other people will think, then one is in rebellion. Rebellion against God is the same as worshipping another god.

“For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and defiance is like wickedness and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He has rejected you as king.”

(1 Samuel 15:23, HCSB)

I want to end by playing a song by Keith Greene. It is entitled “To Obey Is Better Than Sacrifice.”

Photo by Ben White on Unsplash