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Obedience Is Better Than Sacrifice
Samuel said. Hath 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 hearken
than the fat of rams. 1 Sam. 15:22.
Because the Amalekites "had lifted up their hands against
God and His throne, and had taken oath by their gods"
"to plague" His people "until there should not be
one left," the Lord "had appointed Amaiek to utter
destruction (Spiritual Gifts, vol. 4, pp. 72, 73). It is always a
dangerous thing to trifle with God.
For four hundred years the Lord delayed His punishment of the
Amalekites, hoping they would turn from their evil ways, but they
continually harassed His people. At last their cup of iniquity
was full, and through His prophet, Samuel, God commanded Saul to
destroy them utterly. Surely no command could have been more
explicit.
In obedience to God's directive Saul gathered an army of 210,000
men and attacked Amalek. The Lord gave him an overwhelming
victory. But Saul did not follow through and fully obey God's
injunction. He brought back alive Agag, the Amalekite king, and
spared the best of the sheep and oxen. That night the Lord told
Samuel of the king's disobedience. The next day, when Samuel went
out to meet the victorious king and asked about his success, Saul
responded with these lying words:
"I have performed the commandment of the Lord" (1 Sam.
15:13). Samuel then asked, "What meaneth then this bleating
of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I
hear?" (verse 14).
Instead of humbly confessing his error, Saul tried to shift the
blame on the people, at the same time attributing a good motive
for their disobedience: "The people spared the best of the
sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto the Lord thy God"
(verse 15). Human judgment might reason that if the sheep and
oxen taken from the Amalekites were to be slaughtered they might
as well be offered as sacrifices. But God is particular. He had
commanded. "Utterly destroy" (verse 3).
God did not commend Saul for any good intentions he may have had,
or for his partial obedience to His commands. Rather, He rebuked
the disobedient king through Samuel with the words "Behold,
to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the tat of
rams."
When God commands He expects obedience. But He does not leave
things there. With His command He supplies the power to obey,
even as He gave Saul victory over the Amalekites when the king
obeyed. But let us never forget that no gift, no sacrifice, no
partial obedience, can take the place of full compliance with
God's requirements.
Reprinted from New Every Morning, p. 277.
Author: Donald Ernest Mansell. Publisher: Review and Herald
Publishing, 1981.
TSS
March
- April 2005 The Sabbath Sentinel
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