God instructed Saul to utterly destroy the Amaliekites, but he didn’t. When he greeted Samuel, he began with a nice, spiritual greeting followed by a blatant lie. (Here’s something worth remembering, it is never a good idea to lie to a prophet of God face to face.) Saul knew he hadn’t destroyed all the Amalekites in Israel, that he had saved the best of the livestock, and that he had spared King Agag, all in direct disobedience to God’s command. This was the second gracious test God had allowed Saul, giving him yet another chance at obedience. Samuel’s reply in verse 22 sums up the subject from God’s perspective: \u201cBehold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Old Testament sacrificial system was never intended to function in place of living an obedient life. God always desired heart obedience over any ritual sacrifice of animals. Saul’s problem wasn’t just that he neglected some ceremony, but that his heart had become rebellious against God. No amount of ceremonial ritual can make up for resistance to God. It doesn’t do any good to try and sway God by religious observances and ignore our own blindness to God’s demands on our life. Saul’s attitude was that obedience to God was optional.<\/p>\n
It is interesting that animals are often more motivated than humans in the area of obedience. I read about a man whose dog had been killed in a forest fire. Heartbroken, the man explained that because he worked outdoors, he often took his dog with him. On the morning of the fire, he left the animal in a clearing and gave him a command to stay and watch his lunch bucket while he went into the forest. His faithful friend understood, and did exactly that. The fire started in the woods, and the blaze soon spread to the spot where the dog had been left, but he didn\u2019t move. He stayed right where he was, in perfect obedience to his master\u2019s command. With tearful eyes, the dog\u2019s owner said, “I always had to be careful what I told him to do, because I knew he would do it.” May God give us that attitude of obedience to His Word.<\/p>\n
LORD, we want to obediently serve You this day, so please give us more grace we ask, in Jesus’ name.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n =============================================================<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1 Samuel 15 KJV<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1<\/sup>\u00a0Samuel also said unto Saul, The\u00a0LORD\u00a0sent me to anoint thee\u00a0to be\u00a0<\/em>king over his people, over Israel: now therefore hearken thou unto the voice of the words of the\u00a0LORD.\u00a02<\/sup>\u00a0Thus saith the\u00a0LORD\u00a0of hosts, I remember\u00a0that\u00a0<\/em>which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid\u00a0wait\u00a0<\/em>for him in the way, when he came up from Egypt.\u00a03<\/sup>\u00a0Now 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.\u00a04<\/sup>\u00a0And Saul gathered the people together, and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand footmen, and ten thousand men of Judah.\u00a05<\/sup>\u00a0And Saul came to a city of Amalek, and laid wait in the valley.\u00a06<\/sup>\u00a0And Saul said unto the Kenites, Go, depart, get you down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them: for ye shewed kindness to all the children of Israel, when they came up out of Egypt. So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites.\u00a07<\/sup>\u00a0And Saul smote the Amalekites from Havilah\u00a0until\u00a0<\/em>thou comest to Shur, that\u00a0is\u00a0<\/em>over against Egypt.\u00a08<\/sup>\u00a0And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.\u00a09<\/sup>\u00a0But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all\u00a0that was\u00a0<\/em>good, and would not utterly destroy them: but every thing\u00a0that was\u00a0<\/em>vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly.\u00a010<\/sup>\u00a0Then came the word of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0unto Samuel, saying,\u00a011<\/sup>\u00a0It repenteth me that I have set up Saul\u00a0to be\u00a0<\/em>king: for he is turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandments. And it grieved Samuel; and he cried unto the\u00a0LORDall night.\u00a012<\/sup>\u00a0And when Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning, it was told Samuel, saying, Saul came to Carmel, and, behold, he set him up a place, and is gone about, and passed on, and gone down to Gilgal.\u00a013<\/sup>\u00a0And Samuel came to Saul: and Saul said unto him, Blessed\u00a0be\u00a0<\/em>thou of the\u00a0LORD: I have performed the commandment of the\u00a0LORD.\u00a014<\/sup>\u00a0And Samuel said, What\u00a0meaneth\u00a0<\/em>then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?\u00a015<\/sup>\u00a0And 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\u00a0LORD\u00a0thy God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.\u00a016<\/sup>\u00a0Then Samuel said unto Saul, Stay, and I will tell thee what the\u00a0LORD\u00a0hath said to me this night. And he said unto him, Say on.\u00a017<\/sup>\u00a0And Samuel said, When thou\u00a0wast\u00a0<\/em>little in thine own sight,\u00a0wast\u00a0<\/em>thou not\u00a0made\u00a0<\/em>the head of the tribes of Israel, and the\u00a0LORD\u00a0anointed thee king over Israel?\u00a018<\/sup>\u00a0And the\u00a0LORD\u00a0sent thee on a journey, and said, Go and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they be consumed.\u00a0\u00a019<\/sup>\u00a0Wherefore then didst thou not obey the voice of the\u00a0LORD, but didst fly upon the spoil, and didst evil in the sight of the\u00a0LORD?\u00a020<\/sup>\u00a0And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the\u00a0LORD, and have gone the way which the\u00a0LORD\u00a0sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.\u00a021<\/sup>\u00a0But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the\u00a0LORD\u00a0thy God in Gilgal.\u00a022<\/sup>\u00a0And Samuel said, Hath the\u00a0LORD\u00a0as great\u00a0<\/em>delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the\u00a0LORD? Behold, to obey\u00a0is\u00a0<\/em>better than sacrifice,\u00a0and\u00a0<\/em>to hearken than the fat of rams.\u00a023<\/sup>For rebellion\u00a0is as\u00a0<\/em>the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness\u00a0is as\u00a0<\/em>iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the\u00a0LORD, he hath also rejected thee from\u00a0being\u00a0<\/em>king.\u00a024<\/sup>\u00a0And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the\u00a0LORD, and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice.\u00a025<\/sup>\u00a0Now therefore, I pray thee, pardon my sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship the\u00a0LORD.\u00a026<\/sup>\u00a0And Samuel said unto Saul, I will not return with thee: for thou hast rejected the word of the\u00a0LORD, and the\u00a0LORD\u00a0hath rejected thee from being king over Israel.\u00a027<\/sup>\u00a0And as Samuel turned about to go away, he laid hold upon the skirt of his mantle, and it rent.\u00a028<\/sup>\u00a0And Samuel said unto him, The\u00a0LORD\u00a0hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and hath given it to a neighbour of thine,\u00a0that is\u00a0<\/em>better than thou.\u00a029<\/sup>\u00a0And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent: for he\u00a0is\u00a0<\/em>not a man, that he should repent.\u00a0\u00a030<\/sup>\u00a0Then he said, I have sinned:\u00a0yet\u00a0<\/em>honour me now, I pray thee, before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and turn again with me, that I may worship the\u00a0LORD\u00a0thy God.\u00a031<\/sup>\u00a0So Samuel turned again after Saul; and Saul worshipped the\u00a0LORD. 32<\/sup>\u00a0Then said Samuel, Bring ye hither to me Agag the king of the Amalekites. And Agag came unto him delicately. And Agag said, Surely the bitterness of death is past.\u00a033<\/sup>\u00a0And Samuel said, As thy sword hath made women childless, so shall thy mother be childless among women. And Samuel hewed Agag in pieces before the\u00a0LORD\u00a0in Gilgal. 34<\/sup>\u00a0Then Samuel went to Ramah; and Saul went up to his house to Gibeah of Saul.\u00a035<\/sup>\u00a0And Samuel came no more to see Saul until the day of his death: nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul: and the\u00a0LORD\u00a0repented that he had made Saul king over Israel.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" God instructed Saul to utterly destroy the Amaliekites, but he didn’t. When he greeted Samuel, he began with a nice, spiritual greeting followed by a blatant lie. (Here’s something worth remembering, it is never a good idea to lie to a prophet of God face to face.) 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