To Obey is Better than Sacrifice
Sermon • Submitted • Presented
0 ratings
· 3 viewsNotes
Transcript
Intro:
Intro:
Good morning!
“What is this bleating of the sheep I hear?”
Do you recognize that question from the Bible?
It’s pretty funny in context, and we’re going to look at that context this morning!
Turn with me to 1 Samuel chapter 15.
Our sermon this morning is titled, “To Obey is Better than Sacrifice.”
Text:
Text:
Let’s set up our chapter here at the beginning.
In the first few verses, we are going to see that Samuel is informing King Saul that he needs to go smite the Amalekites.
But there will be conditions to this plan — namely, he is to utterly smite them, not leaving alive anyone or anything.
Samuel also 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.’ ”
I think it is an important side note that we should probably mentione here …
Sometimes people will levy charges against the God of the Bible here, because He told the Israelites to go in and utterly destroy everything, including the women and children.
There’s a lot to answering that argument, but we will just say briefly — You have to understand the utter paganism that the Israelites were eliminating from Canaan.
The nations surrounding Israel were rampantly ungodly — There was all manner of debauchery, idolatry, child sacrifice, etc.
This influence had to be utterly removed, or else Israel would find themselves joining in — And sometimes they DID in their history.
So that’s the short answer to this question.
(I have a book in my office titled, “Is God a Moral Monster?” Of course the answer to that question is No! But this books goes into this and other questions about God’s policies such as this, and I think it’s worth mentioning as a side note as we set up this text).
4. So again, Saul’s instructions are clear — Utterly wipe out the Amalekites!
5. 1 Sam. 15:4-6
So Saul gathered the people together and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand foot soldiers and ten thousand men of Judah. And Saul came to a city of Amalek, and lay in wait in the valley.
Then Saul said to the Kenites, “Go, depart, get down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them. For you showed kindness to all the children of Israel when they came up out of Egypt.” So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites.
6. 1 Sam. 15:7-8
And Saul attacked the Amalekites, from Havilah all the way to Shur, which is east of Egypt. He also took Agag king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.
a. So here we see Saul’s first mistake.
b. And really, “mistake” is not strong enough of a word!
c. Saul messed up! Big time!
d. He also took Agag king of the Amalekites alive and utterly destroyed all the people (think, the common people) with the edge of the sword!
e. God through Samuel DID NOT SAY, “Destroy all of the people except the king!”
f. He said, “destroy ALL of them!”
7. 1 Sam. 15:9
But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were unwilling to utterly destroy them. But everything despised and worthless, that they utterly destroyed.
a. Here, we find some clues to the apparent motivation of Saul and the rest of his men.
b. They kept the things that were GOOD, while everything DESPISED and WORTHLESS, they utterly destroyed.
c. What does that sound like?
d. To me it sounds like Saul and the others were more interested in the SPOILS OF WAR than in actually obeying God!
e. The sin of covetousness if you think about it!
f. Incidentally, is this not a repeat similar to the sin of Aachan back in the book of Joshua? (Took some of the spoils of war and hid it under his tent).
8. 1 Samuel 15:10–11
Now the word of the Lord came to Samuel, saying, “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.” And it grieved Samuel, and he cried out to the Lord all night.
9. 1 Sam. 15:12
So when Samuel rose early in the morning to meet Saul, it was told Samuel, saying, “Saul went to Carmel, and indeed, he set up a monument for himself; and he has gone on around, passed by, and gone down to Gilgal.”
a. “He set up a monument for himself!”
b. Now, this is pretty typical behavior for kings that would win military battles in ancient times, but still …
c. Do you think there is a bit of a pride problem here on the part of Saul? (I think so)
d. And if that isn’t presumptuous ENOUGH of Saul, take a look at what happens next!
10. 1 Sam. 15:13
Then Samuel went to Saul, and Saul said to him, “Blessed are you of the Lord! I have performed the commandment of the Lord.”
a. Lies, lies, lies!
b. Had Saul performed SOME of the commandment of the Lord?!
c. Sure.
d. But he didn’t do EVERYTHING God told him to do — not by a long shot!
e. Now for the funny part! (But also very serious — It’s funny in one sense, what Samuel says here, but a very serious sin on Saul’s part).
11. 1 Samuel 15:14
But Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?”
12. 1 Sam. 15:15-16
And Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites; for the people spared the best of the sheep and the oxen, to sacrifice to the Lord your God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.”
Then Samuel said to Saul, “Be quiet! And I will tell you what the Lord said to me last night.”
And he said to him, “Speak on.”
a. Don’t miss, by the way, that Saul tries to shift the blame from himself to: “THEY have brought them from the Amalekites!”
b. Again, the presumption on the part of Saul in all of this is pretty bad!
13. 1 Sam. 15:17-19
So Samuel said, “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? 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?”
a. Now instead of just going ahead and owning up to his sins …
b. Saul is about to double down and continue to rationalize what he had done!
14. 1 Sam. 15:20-21
And Saul said to Samuel, “But I have obeyed the voice of the Lord, and gone on the mission on which the Lord sent me, and brought back Agag king of Amalek; I have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. But the people took of the plunder, sheep and oxen, the best of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal.”
a. Again, Saul doubles down and insists he HAS obeyed God …
b. But God was very specific in His instructions — utterly smite ALL of the Amalekites — including the king!
c. And again, in verse 21, notice Saul’s shifting of the blame!
d. Is this not a great case study in how people often react when it is shown that they have done wrong?!
e. Rom. 15:4 — These Old Testament stories were written FOR OUR LEARNING!
15. 1 Sam. 15:22-23
1 Samuel 15:22–23 (NKJV)
So Samuel said:
“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.
For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft,
And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.
Because you have rejected the word of the Lord,
He also has rejected you from being king.”
a. This is the crux of the whole chapter!
b. God’s Word is very clear!
c. Is God interested in sacrifice?
Of course!
He REQUIRED sacrifices in the O.T.!
The sacrifice of Jesus Christ was required!
But God is more interested in OBEDIENCE in general!
God is concerned with the right heart BEHIND the sacrifice!
He wants us to do as He says because we WANT to obey Him!
This is critical for us to undersand — Such an important concept from God’s word — We HAVE to get our hearts right!
d. Notice, REBELLION (flat out WILFULLY disobeying God) is just as bad as the sin of WITCHRAFT!
i. Now, witchcraft is one of those “big sins,” quote/unquote that Saul would have readily recognized as, “Oh, that’s a big deal!”
ii. Side note — We need to get out of the habit of labeling sins “big sins” and “little sins!”
iii. “Little white lies” are just as bad murderd, and stealing, etc. (Different physical consequences? Sure, but equally sinful).
iv. Samuel tells Saul, your sin of rebelling against God’s clear commandment is just as bad as … WITCHCRAFT!
e. By the way, I was reading a parenting book the other day, and the author pointed out that there is a difference between obedience and submission:
i. Obedience is doing what is required of us, and that’s great and necessary.
ii. Submission is a step further!
iii. A child can obey his parent, but do so begrugedly with a scowl on his face and rebellion in his heart!
iv. We have to teach our kids to SUBMIT to their parents’ will, realizing we have their best interest at heart!
f. Now, to Saul’s credit, he finally is about to own up to everything …
16. 1 Samuel 15:24–25
Then Saul said to 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.”
17. Notice now the consequences for Saul’s sin:
But Samuel said to Saul, “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.”
And as Samuel turned around to go away, Saul seized the edge of his robe, and it tore. So Samuel said to him, “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. And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor relent. For He is not a man, that He should relent.”
18. Well, I’ll let you read the rest of this chapter yourself, but the point should be well made this morning.
19. So what is our …
Application:
Application:
Well, again, it bears repeating …
God is interested in sacrifice.
God is interested in worship.
God is interested in our study.
God is interested in our good works.
Etc. Etc. Etc.
He’s interested in ALL of these things.
But above all, He’s interested in the WHY behind all of it!
And that is that we have hearts that LOVE the Lord and we OBEY the Lord because of our love for Him!
We deny OURSELVES, and we submit to HIS will for our lives, living for HIM!
Conclusion:
Conclusion:
“Behold, to OBEY is better than sacrifice, and to HEED than the fat of lambs!”
Do you have a heart of obedience this morning?
Or do you, like Saul, have a heart of presumption, of rebellion, and of disobedience?
