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January 1, 2012 |
| Obedience | ||
In John 14 verse 15 Jesus says "If you love me, keep my commands." Then in verse 21 he says, "Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me."
1 Samuel 15:22 Samuel says "To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams."
This lesson will compare two stories where one of the characters in the story had a problem with obedience. The first story begins with the first of mankind that are born – Cain and Abel. The story comes from Genesis 4.
1 Adam made love to his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. She said, "With the help of the LORD I have brought forth a man." 2 Later she gave birth to his brother Abel.
Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. 3 In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the LORD. 4 And Abel also brought an offering—fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering, 5 but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.
6 Then the LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? 7 If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it."
Why was Cain's offering unacceptable? He had not done what he knew was right and so presented an offering God did not want.
We don't know how he knew what was right, whether by God's verbal command or from the heart. But it is plain that he knew what was right. So Able's offering was acceptable because it was what God had commanded. But why was that offering acceptable? It contained the symbolism of the blood sacrifice for sin that Jesus would be. This symbolism would carry on into the Law of Moses.
Why do you think Cain is so angry? He could see the rejection of his offering as a rejection of his work in the fields and therefore of him.
He had interpreted God's request for a particular offering as only an example of an offering and that other offerings of the fruits of labor were equal.
He is the firstborn but he would always have to exchange his produce for Abel's lambs for sacrifices.
At that time mankind was eating only the "seed bearing plant and seed bearing fruit"1. Why is Abel raising sheep? Wool, skins, and bone for tool making. He would have had no use for the fat of his lambs. So he hadn't really given the fruits of his labor. But he had given the offering that God wanted.
Note how close their relationship is to God. They are on speaking terms.
God warns Cain that he is on the edge. If he does not correct this, sin will result. Apparently it goes uncorrected.
8 Now Cain said to his brother Abel, "Let's go out to the field." While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.
For the next story we jump far into the future to the time when Saul was king over Israel. The story comes from 1 Samuel 15. God has commanded Saul to completely destroy the Amalekites and everything they have2. At first this story will seem unconnected to the earlier story but wait …
13 When Samuel reached him, Saul said, "The LORD bless you! I have carried out the LORD's instructions."
14 But Samuel said, "What then is this bleating of sheep in my ears? What is this lowing of cattle that I hear?"
15 Saul answered, "The soldiers brought them from the Amalekites; they spared the best of the sheep and cattle to sacrifice to the LORD your God, but we totally destroyed the rest."
Unlike Cain in the earlier story, Saul is bringing God the kind of sacrifice God would want. Why is God not happy with him? He failed to obey the commands he was given.
Why do you think Saul says "your God" rather than "my God" or "our God"?
When Cain was told of his error he didn't correct it. What does Saul do when Samuel points out his error? He says that what he did was just as good as what God wanted – maybe even better.
16 "Enough!" Samuel said to Saul. "Let me tell you what the LORD said to me last night."
"Tell me," Saul replied.
17 Samuel said, "Although you were once small in your own eyes, did you not become the head of the tribes of Israel? The LORD anointed you king over Israel. 18 And he sent you on a mission, saying, ‘Go and completely destroy those wicked people, the Amalekites; wage war against them until you have wiped them out.' 19 Why did you not obey the LORD? Why did you pounce on the plunder and do evil in the eyes of the LORD?"
20 "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. 21 The soldiers took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of what was devoted to God, in order to sacrifice them to the LORD your God at Gilgal."
Once again Saul insists that he followed God's instructions … with a few improvements, personal touches you might say. Saul knows that he hasn't done exactly what he was told to do but he tries to defend what he has done. Instead of insistence what should Saul's attitude have been? Repentance and humility.
How would you sum up Saul's problem here? Ego. Samuel sums it up when he says "you were once small in your own eyes"
As we continue on in the scripture we see Samuel is about to deliver God's verdict. In doing so he will make some very important points.
22 But Samuel replied:
"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.
23 For rebellion is like the sin of divination,
and arrogance like the evil of idolatry.
We've all heard that God wants obedience from us more than he wants our sacrifices. When we obey him we become tools that he can use. Believing in God should begin a cascade of events in our lives. If we believe in him, we should want to know him. As we get to know him we should want to know what he expects from us. If we know what he expects of us we should obey.
Unfortunately some people don't follow through that chain of events. In the verses above Samuel addresses the reason for that, which is the problem we see with both Cain and Saul – rebellion and arrogance. In the NIV translation which is quoted here Samuel says rebellion and arrogance are like other sins. In other translations he says they are those sins.
Samuel says rebellion is in fact the sin of divination. To understand what he means we need to understand what he means by divination. Divination is consulting the spirit world for guidance. But God defines divination a little more broadly. God hates divination because he should be the only one we consult. Rebellion is doing something your own way; so Samuel's point is that rebellion is consulting yourself for guidance … not God.
In the cases of both Cain and Saul they consulted themselves for guidance and naturally got fallible human advice.
Samuel also says that arrogance is idolatry. In this case the idolatry referred to is self-worship. Both Cain and Saul thought highly enough of themselves that they felt justified in overriding God's command with their own ideas.
As we continue, Samuel is about to deliver God's judgment but in the process we will see more evidence of Saul's problem.
Because you have rejected the word of the LORD,
he has rejected you as king."
24 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. 25 Now I beg you, forgive my sin and come back with me, so that I may worship the LORD."
Note that God considers modifying his commands as equal to rejecting his commands. Mixing in our own ideas is completely wrong. We cannot understand the entirety of his plan and the things that we think are wise may actually interfere.
Saul also tries to shift some of the blame onto his men. But notice the deeper meaning of his words. That is, I was more afraid of my men than I was of God.
Also notice that Saul has just been told that he has been rejected by God for what he has done, but he still tries to get Samuel to go along with his plan for sacrificing the animals – the very plan that resulted in his rejection. Saul intends to continue on with his plan despite all that has happened.
1. Follow God's instructions to the letter. This includes the Bible and the directions of the Holy Spirit
2. Do not "reinterpret" (spin) passages in the Bible to mean something more acceptable
3. Do not add meanings to the Bible that aren't there; do not ignore or explain away one's that are there
4. When you go to read the Bible bring nothing of you. Be an empty book on which God can write
5. It isn't enough to hear God's word; if you love him you will act on it
1 Genesis 1:29
2 1 Samuel 15:3