God's message: consistent from the start!

1 Samuel has long been one of my favorite books in the Bible. Some of the stories are well known, like Samuel's call and David v. Goliath, while others are less renowned. One of my favorite chapters in the book is chapter 15, because it brings a New Testament kind of lesson into the Old Testament context.

Samuel is the spiritual leader of Israel at this point, and Saul the political king. The chapter begins with God giving a command to Saul, "Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys" (1Sam 15:3, italics mine). The campaign continues but we see that Saul captures the Amalekite king, Agag, sparing his life and his men plundered the livestock, keeping the goats, sheep, fattened calves and "everything that was good" (v. 9). OOPS! That doesn't sound like the total annihilation that God asked for.

Samuel's next move was to confront Saul. God told him what had happened and, when he went to talk to Saul about it, Saul replied, "but I did obey the Lord" (v. 20). Bringing back the king was a common sign of dominance over another nation and, as for the animals, he argued that the men chose the best of the livestock for sacrificial purposes. That's holy enough, right?

Samuel's response is one Saul probably didn't expect. He said, "Does the Lord delight in burnt offereings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice and to heed is better than the fat of rams" (v. 22). The principle here is simple, bold and timeless. The very idea of sacrificial systems came about as a way to purify sinful people in the sight of the Lord. If we were to surrender ourselves to his will, there would be no need for sacrifice! Even in the Old Testament, God was setting a standard of total obedience. He is God; we are not. He gets to call the shots. It's when we get to a place of thinking that we know better that we get in trouble.

God's original plan did not involve him sacrificing his Son on the cross for our sins but rather a relationship with his creation that glorified his kingdom. The only proper response for such a "once and for all" sacrifice being made is for us to daily recognize our need for that sacrifice, bask in the cleansing that it brings and strive to grow in obedience to his will.