Saul’s Mission Against Amalek

Death of King Agag

Now go and strike Amalek and utterly destroy all that he has, and do not spare him; but put to death both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey” (1 Samuel 15:3).

The Lord gave Saul, king of Israel, a mission. While it may not have been an easy task, it was a simple one. It was not one that Saul could misunderstand. The Lord wanted the nation of Amalek to be punished and He sent Saul on a mission to do it. Again, this was a simple task: Destroy everything. Yet Saul’s actions in carrying out that task caused him to be rejected from being king (1 Samuel 15:26) and caused the Lord to regret even making him king (1 Samuel 15:35). Let us look at some lessons we can learn from Saul that relate to our obedience to God.

Pride Goes Hand in Hand with Disobedience

Despite the command to destroy everything of the nation of Amalek, Saul “captured Agag the king of the Amalekites alive” and “spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were not willing to destroy them utterly” (1 Samuel 15:8-9). Saul failed to obey the Lord’s command. Why would he do this? One problem that Saul had was pride. After failing to carry out God’s order regarding Amalek, “Saul came to Carmel, and behold, he set up a monument for himself, then turned and proceeded on down to Gilgal” (1 Samuel 15:12). Pride causes one to think of himself as more important than he really is. He begins to think he is above the law – in this case, the law of God. So he goes into sin. The proverb writer warned, “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before stumbling” (Proverbs 16:18). Saul, in erecting a monument “in his own honor” (1 Samuel 15:12, NIV), demonstrated his pride. That pride helped lead him into disobedience. We need to examine ourselves and heed Paul’s admonition to the saints in Rome: “For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think” (Romans 12:3).

Partial Obedience is Disobedience

When Saul returned and met Samuel, he told him, “I have carried out the command of the Lord” (1 Samuel 15:13). But Samuel questioned him, “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?” (1 Samuel 15:14). If Saul “carried out the command of the Lord,” there would be no animals making the noises that Samuel heard. But Saul did, for the most part, do what the Lord commanded. All that he spared was the king and the best of the animals. Most of Amalek was destroyed. What was God’s attitude toward Saul’s partial obedience? We see the Lord’s attitude revealed in Samuel’s question to Saul: “Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord, but rushed upon the spoil and did what was evil in the sight of the Lord?” (1 Samuel 15:19). Anything less than complete obedience was “evil in the sight of the Lord.” When we look in the New Testament, we see that we are to “observe all that [Christ] commanded” (Matthew 28:20). We need to take this seriously. Instead of having a casual attitude toward obeying the Lord as Saul did, we need to be “careful to engage in good deeds” (Titus 3:8).

Worship Does Not Excuse Disobedience

After Samuel confronted Saul regarding his sin, Saul tried to justify his actions. He first shifted the blame to the people, then explained that the whole reason these animals were spared was to “sacrifice to the Lord” (1 Samuel 15:21). The human mind may reason that it was a commendable thing for Saul to bring these animals back to sacrifice. After all, worshipping God is important. However, God’s attitude was different. Samuel told Saul, “Has the Lord as much 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” (1 Samuel 15:22). Were the Israelites expected to worship and offer sacrifices to God? Yes, but God’s commands needed to be obeyed. Saul could not be disobedient and defend himself by saying he was worshipping God. God expects obedience. Many today worship God and are very religious. It is good that we worship. But if we think that our disobedience before God is discounted simply because we worship Him, we are mistaken. Does God expect us to worship Him today? Yes, but He also expects us to keep His commandments (John 14:15).

Following the Majority Will Lead to Sin

After Saul was able to see that he could not defend his disobedience, he admitted, “I have sinned; I have indeed transgressed the command of the Lord.” The reason Saul sinned was because he “feared the people and listened to their voice” (1 Samuel 15:24). He went along with the crowd. He followed after what was popular and right according to the majority. When he did this he sinned. Jesus warned about following the majority. He said “many” will follow the way “that leads to destruction” (Matthew 7:13). In contrast, “few” will travel down the narrow way “that leads to life” (Matthew 7:14). We need to be less concerned about popular opinion or what many people we know are doing. We need to be concerned with what God has instructed us in His word. This will never be popular. This will never be the attitude of the majority of people in this world. But we need to follow after God, not the majority.

Conclusion

This story of Saul serves as an example to us showing how we are to obey God. While God’s law has changed since the days of Saul, God’s attitude regarding disobedience has not. We see that from the New Testament passages we referenced that teach the same principles we saw in 1 Samuel 15. Let us learn from Saul’s mistakes and not fail in the same way he did.


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