This weekend I was on a trip with 50+ parents and kids from my sons sports team. I’m still recovering! On the first night of the trip a number of the dads were sitting having a drink while the kids were running around the camp site. Its worth mentioning the guys know that I am a pastor, or a minister as it would be more commonly known here. As the drinks flowed one of the dads was joking about me joining in with the drinking. He was saying that I could easily get away with it. No one from my church was there, I wasn’t at home, so I should just go for it. I smiled at the thought that the only reason I didn’t get drank was because people were watching me. My response to the banter was “my boss is always watching!” I think it was the right response as it was met with laughter and a fist bump
This isn’t a post about alcohol and in truth I have no issue with having a drink, within moderation of course! I just don’t like the stuff! Its more a taste choice than a spiritual one for me. But, it did get me thinking about obedience and our behaviour before God so it was interesting when reading about Saul and Samuel in the Bible today that the topic came up.
Saul was the king of Israel and Samuel was Gods prophet who advised and guided Saul. In this moment Saul was given an instruction from God through Samuel which we can read below.
Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy all that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys 1 Samuel 15:3
Saul goes to the battle and defeats the Amalekites as he was instructed. However, we start to see that not everything was as it should be.
But Saul and the army spared Agag and the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves and lambs—everything that was good. These they were unwilling to destroy completely, but everything that was despised and weak they totally destroyed. 1 Samuel 15:9
As we can see Saul didn’t follow the Lords instruction completely. He kept the stuff that would be useful to him and his men. We hear that his disobedience displeases the Lord and He regretted ever making Saul king. The next day Samuel goes to find Saul.
When Samuel reached him, Saul said, “The LORD bless you! I have carried out the LORD’s instructions.”1 Samuel 15:13
I’m not sure what Saul’s been drinking here. Anyway, Samuel goes on to tell him what the Lord told him the night before and then asked Saul why he didn’t obey God on his last mission.
But I did obey the LORD,” Saul said. “I went on the mission the LORD assigned me. I completely destroyed the Amalekites and brought back Agag their king 1 Samuel 15:20
Its hard to know (yet) if Saul truly believed this or whether he was trying to pull the wool over Samuel’s eyes – either way he gets a frosty reception from Samuel
…..Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. 1 Samuel 15:22
Finally Saul relents.
Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned. I violated the LORD’s command and your instructions. I was afraid of the men and so I gave in to them 1 Samuel 15:24
Now we hear the source of Saul’s disobedience – pressure from the men around him led him to disobey. I can understand the pressure. Those men worked hard and would have sacrificed a lot in the battle. They would have wanted to keep some of the spoils, what harm would it do? Saul would have been in an awkward situation. I wonder if Saul fully understood what his disobedience would cost him? There is definitely a lesson to be learnt here for those of us who follow Jesus and it is about the importance of obedience in the small moments.
In some ways what Saul does here seems quite minor compared to other things he had done. In some ways we might even argue that what David (the new king God chooses) did later in his reign seems worse than this. We knew that Saul’s kingship had already been rejected because he had offered sacrifices instead of waiting for Samuel. But when we look closely at this instance Saul’s disobedience is something many of us are guilty of.
He was trying to put himself in control ahead of God.
The kings of Israel were not supposed to act like other kings. They weren’t to gather plunder and parade their spoils like other kings, unless they were instructed otherwise. The wars they fought were on the behalf of the Lord, they weren’t fighting to assert the strength of their own kingdom.
Saul ignored this. If he was prepared to ignore this then it was clear that he didn’t fully see God as the true king. God knew the damage this could cause.
In the same way followers of Jesus aren’t meant to act like everyone else. Because we understand and acknowledge that we are image bearers of the Lord and represent Him everywhere we go, our behaviours and obedience must line up with this. We are not our own. We don’t obey because we are scared of the consequences, we obey because we love and trust the Lord. His way is the only way. And that is a really good thing!
So maybe we should take some time and look at where our obedience could step up. Where are we ignoring our call to be image beavers and have chosen to live out a secondary life instead?