1 Samuel 15 - To Obey Is Better Than Sacrifice

Previously in 1 Samuel, we saw Jonathan and his armorbearer launch an attack on the Philistines’ garrison, and how the Lord brought a marvelous victory for the children of Israel through them.  We also saw how Saul made an impulsive oath that no one could eat any food all day until he could take vengeance on his enemies.  This led to the men being so hungry from the battle that they began killing animals and eating the meat with the blood.  When Saul inquired of the Lord as to whether or not they should continue pursuing the Philistines, the Lord would not answer.  Saul assumed the sin was in the people for violating his oath, but it was more probable that it was due to his making the oath in haste.  Jonathan had eaten some honey during the battle, but he did not hear the oath.  When Saul found this out, he was ready to put his own son to death, but the people spared Jonathan from his hand.  Saul, through his own pride and refusal to repent, had already gone off the rails in a relatively short period of time.  In this chapter, we will see the Lord, through the prophet Samuel, put Saul to another test.

Samuel said to Saul, “The Lord sent me to anoint you king over His people, over Israel. Now therefore, heed the voice of the words of the Lord.  Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, how he ambushed him on the way when he came up from Egypt.  Now go and attack Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them. But kill both man and woman, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’”  the Amalekites had attacked the children of Israel when they came out of Egypt, and they did so when they were weary.  He did not attack them directly, but went after the stragglers in the rear ranks.  This displeased the Lord, and He told Moses “Write this for a memorial in the book and recount it in the hearing of Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.” (Exo 17:14) This may seem harsh for the Lord to prescribe such a punishment for the Amalekites, but they would be a perpetual enemy of Israel, even as far forward as Haman in the book of Esther.  It was some four hundred years later that the Lord told Saul to carry out this task.  He gave the Amalekites four hundred years to repent, but they did not.

So, Saul gathered an army of 210 thousand soldiers, and they came to a city of the Amalekites, laying in wait in the valley.  Saul really was a capable guy; he had gone from an army of 600 to over 200 thousand.  The Kenites dwelt with the Amalekites, and Saul told the Kenites to separate themselves from them, lest they be destroyed too.  The Kenites had shown kindness to the children of Israel when they came out of Egypt, so Saul was showing mercy to them.  They went to battle with the Amalekites, completely destroying them, yet he kept Agag their king and the best of the livestock and other goods alive as spoil.  Remember, everything was to have been destroyed.  Saul’s obedience was a partial obedience, but as my wife and I teach our children, partial or delayed obedience is still disobedience.

Then the Lord spoke to Samuel, “I greatly regret that I have set up Saul as king, for he has turned back from following Me, and has not performed My commandments.”  Saul’s disobedience did not take the Lord by surprise, but nonetheless, it still grieved Him.  This is one of the ways we know that God is a person rather than some cosmic force: He has a mind, will, and emotions.  When the Lord said “Let us make man in our image,” I believe this is what He is referring to.  It also grieved Samuel, for he cried out to the Lord all that night.  This demonstrates more of Samuel’s godly character: he was grieved because he loved Saul, and he knew it was not going to go well for him.  He cared for Saul so much that he interceded (prayed) for Saul all night long.  Throughout the Bible, godly leaders are always seen praying for those under their leadership who are in danger of God’s judgment.  There are a lot of people that I care for and have prayed for over the years, but I have never stayed up all night doing so.

The next morning, Samuel went to meet Saul, and some told him that Saul had made a monument for himself in Carmel and then had gone down to Gilgal.  Interesting that he made a monument for himself: rather than being ashamed for what he had done, he appears to have been pleased with himself, another indicator of his pride.  So, Samuel went to Gilgal, and Saul came out to meet him, saying, “Blessed are you of the Lord! I have performed the commandment of the Lord.”  He was either intentionally lying here or his own pride had deceived him into thinking he actually had obeyed the word of the Lord.  Samuel responded, “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?” Saul replied that they had brought the best of the sheep and oxen from the Amalekites to sacrifice unto the Lord, and everything else they destroyed.  Samuel said, “Be quiet! And I will tell you what the Lord said to me last night.  When you were little in your own eyes, were you not head of the tribes of Israel? And did not the Lord anoint you king over Israel?”  In other words, he was just an ordinary man (a herdsman) when the Lord called him and promoted him.  “Now the Lord sent you on a mission, and said, ‘Go, and utterly destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.’ Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord? Why did you swoop down on the spoil, and do evil in the sight of the Lord?”  Saul replied that he had obeyed the voice of the Lord; he had brought back Agag their king and destroyed the rest of the Amalekites.  It was the people who brought back the plunder to sacrifice to the Lord.  Notice how Saul is insisting on his own innocence, while at the same time he is blaming the people.  It is always amazing to me when a person behaves in a way that clearly violates the Scriptures, yet they insist on their own innocence.  The real issue was that the people wanted the plunder, and agreeing to sacrifice the best to the Lord was their justification for it.  Samuel responded, “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.”  It is not that the Lord does not delight in our offerings and sacrifices, but they are not a replacement for obedience.  Even if they were for sin, it is meaningless unless it is accompanied by repentance.  David would later write, “For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering.  The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart—These, O God, You will not despise. (PSA 51:16-17) As New Testament believers, we do not have animal sacrifices any longer, for Jesus has sacrificed Himself for our sins.  However, we still offer sacrifices and offerings of our worship, the giving of our time and money, etc.  Again, these things are meaningless if we are not submitted to the lordship of Jesus Christ through obedience to His word.

Samuel continued, “For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.”  God here compares rebellion to the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness to iniquity and idolatry.  Witchcraft, because Satan was the ultimate rebel, who rebelled against God, and went his own way.  Iniquity and idolatry, because when a person is stubborn, they are saying they know better than God, and are worshiping their own sinful passions, whether they have an actual image or not.  Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He also has rejected you from being king.”  This was the second time Saul heard this word of the Lord from Samuel regarding the loss of his kingdom, and upon hearing it, he finally admitted he had sinned.  However, it appears he was sorrier for what he was losing rather than that he had sinned against God.  He told Samuel, “I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice.  Now therefore, please pardon my sin, and return with me, that I may worship the Lord.”  Now we are getting somewhere.  Saul heeded the voice of the people because he feared he would lose their approval.  He had been in Gilgal once before when he was waiting for Samuel to arrive to make a sacrifice, and he lost four fifths of his army.  This time, he let them keep some of the spoil as long as they sacrificed some to the Lord.  I have written before about fearing man rather than God, and how it often leads to disobedience.  However, there is another inherent problem in seeking man’s approval: if our goal in life is to please people and seek their approval, it will never be enough.  No matter how many people like us and tell us how great we are, it will always leave us in a deficit, because man’s approval is not what really matters.  Our identity must be in Jesus Christ.  We get our sense of worth from what He did for us on the cross and from what He says about us in His word.  Man’s approval was really important to Saul, and this placed him at odds with the Lord.

Samuel replied, “I will not return with you, for you have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel.”  As Samuel turned to go, Saul grabbed his robe to stop him, and it tore.  Samuel said, “The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today, and has given it to a neighbor of yours, who is better than you.”  These words must have stung Saul: the Lord was taking the kingdom away from him, and giving it to a neighbor of his, who was better than him.  Saul needed to feel the sting of those words.  Samuel then says something huge here: “And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor relent. For He is not a man, that He should relent.”  Saul thought he as the king was the strength of Israel, but he had forgotten that God was Israel’s strength.  God is not like man who lies and changes his mind.  God says what He means and means what He says.  What was sinful two thousand years ago, is still sinful today, and what is sinful today will still be sinful two thousand years from now (if the Lord was to tarry).  It does not matter what is popular or what society deems acceptable or unacceptable, God’s word always remains true.  Saul then pleaded with Samuel to honor him before the people in returning to worship the Lord (notice how he was still concerned with how he would appear to the people), so Samuel returned and worshiped with him.

Next, Samuel said to bring Agag king of the Amalekites to him, and Agag came to him cautiously.  Agag, hoping to find some mercy, said, “Surely the bitterness of death is past.”  Samuel responded, “As your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women.”  Samuel then hacked Agag in pieces before the Lord in Gilgal.  Samuel, this mighty man of God (who was an old man at this point), who strikes us as being meek and having a gentle disposition, hacks a guy in pieces.  As I have heard it put before: Meekness is not weakness, but great strength under great control.  The Scriptures state that we are to, as much as is possible, to live peaceably with all men, but with some men this is impossible because they insist on war.  Agag was one of these men.  In cases like this, physical violence is necessary to stop the threat and keep the rest of society safe.  You get the job done as quickly and thoroughly as possible to preserve the most life.  Samuel did what he did in obedience to God, something Saul should have done to begin with.

After this, Samuel went back to Ramah, and Saul went back to his house at Gibeah.  Samuel would not see Saul anymore until his death, but he still mourned for him.  Saul had so much potential, but potential not yielded to the Lord is a liability rather than an asset.  As we pick up in the following chapter, Samuel will still be morning for Saul when the Lord will tell him to go anoint another king.

From this passage we can see that the Lord takes willful disobedience pretty seriously, especially for His leaders.  It really is amazing what we can convince ourselves of when we want something bad enough.  We can even try to twist the Scriptures into saying what we want them to say (although the Scriptures really cannot be twisted), so that we can be as Saul who said, “But I did obey the Lord.”  The God that is the Strength of Israel is our Strength as well, and He is not a man that He should lie or relent.  He is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and His word will never pass away.  If this is you today, reader, take your obedience to the Lord seriously, and remember, partial or delayed obedience is still disobedience.  To obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen is better than the best of offerings.  Just like repentance, obedience is the reality of the Christian life; the two go hand in hand.  Repentance from sin and obeying the word of God are the keys to blessing and victory in our Christian walks.  This is not by our own shear will power, but a decision made in faith to obey the Lord.  The Lord’s commandments are His enablement’s, and when we decide to obey Him, He gives us the power to do it.  When we fall short (and we will), let us use the Christian’s bar of soap: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9) This was something Saul refused to do, but it does not have to be the same for you and me.  In the next chapter we will be introduced to another character who will have his share of faults, but his response to those faults and how he approached God will be entirely different.  He is said of the Lord to be “a man after My own heart,” and as a result, we can stand to learn a lot from him.