Sunday morning, June 30, 1996
A Call to Obedience
1 Samuel 9-31
By P. G. Mathew, M.A., M.Div., Th.M.
Copyright © 1996 by P. G. Mathew
When God redeems his people, he calls them to a life of
obedience. What type of obedience does God require? Complete
obedience. But as modern evangelicals, many of us have lowered
the standard of God. We are very happy when we render
intermittent obedience to God and obey God once in a while. But
we must realize that intermittent obedience is not God's
standard.
Intermittent obedience was not my father's standard either. My
father would never accept sporadic, superficial obedience, so we
children never tried it. And although he required obedience
always, he would not praise us even when we regularly did what he
said to do. What type of obedience did my father praise? That of
a person who took responsibility and did something without being
told. If my father saw that type of obedience, he would promote
that person and give him or her authority.
God's requirement for obedience in everything is demonstrated in
the Scriptures in the life of Samuel. As a result of his
obedience, Samuel was placed in authority as the last and
greatest of the judges and he became Eli's successor to the
priesthood. When Samuel became old, his sons succeeded him. But
they were not good judges and the Bible says that they took
bribes, which ought to make us tremble as parents. The people of
Israel then demanded that a human king be appointed to rule over
them. God gave the people a king even though he knew that by this
demand the people of Israel were repudiating his rule over them.
Saul Becomes King
The king chosen by God to fulfill his people's demand was
Saul, the son of a very wealthy man, Kish, from the small tribe
of Benjamin. Saul met all the popular qualifications for a king.
He was wealthy, charismatic, and someone who stood about seven
feet tall, a head taller than all the people of Israel. He was
also a shrewd politician. I am sure the people of Israel rejoiced
at the prospect of having such a man as king and of being led
into battle by such a person.
God's standard is different from the popular standard. We are
told in 1 Samuel 16 the Lord does not consider one's appearance
or height or any of the things man looks at. "Man looks at
the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart" (1
Sam. 16:7). Saul was handsome, tall, and rich. He was a man who
could cause your heart to throb and flutter. But Saul's heart was
not right with God.
Let me make an application right here to you who are not yet
married. I know what you are looking for--someone who is tall,
blond, slender, athletic, blue-eyed, and tanned. The modern
Christian has no interest in the heart. There is a fluttering and
a rush, but whether an individual fears God and obeys him
implicitly--the divine qualification--is not what most people are
using as criteria for a spouse. Most people judge by outward
appearances.
In Saul, then, God gave his people a king to deliver them from
the overlordship of the Philistines. But as ruler of Israel, this
king had a duty quite different than that of earthly kings. As a
deputy, Israel's king must obey the word of Jehovah, Israel's
true king. So we are told that Samuel summoned all the people to
a place called Mizpah so that he could introduce Saul, the
king-designate, publicly, and explain the regulations of the
kingship.
The King Must Obey God
When Saul was introduced to the people, there was a rush. The
people's hearts were throbbing, and they shouted, "'Long
live the king!' Then Samuel explained to the people the
regulations of the kingship. He wrote them down on a scroll and
deposited it before the Lord" (1 Sam. 10:24-25).
What were the regulations for Israel's king? In Deuteronomy
17:14-20 we read:
When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you and have
taken possession of it and settled in it, and you say, "Let
us set a king over us like all the nations around us," be
sure to appoint over you the king the LORD your God chooses. He
must be from among your own brothers. Do not place a foreigner
over you, one who is not a brother Israelite. The king, moreover,
must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself or make the
people return to Egypt to get more of them, for the LORD has told
you, "You are not to go back that way again." He must
not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray. He must not
accumulate large amounts of silver and gold. When he takes the
throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a
copy of this law, taken from that of the priests, who are
Levites. It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days
of his life so that he may learn to revere the LORD his God and
follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees and
not consider himself better than his brothers and turn from the
law to the right or to the left. Then he and his descendants will
reign a long time over his kingdom in Israel.
A king was therefore required to render implicit, complete
obedience to the word of God, the King of kings and Lord of
lords.
God's requirement of obedience to his word is not new. When God
made Adam and Eve, he gave them also a word. In Genesis 2:15-17
we read, "The LORD God took the man and put him in the
Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it," meaning man
was a vicegerent, a deputy, for God. "And the LORD God
commanded the man, 'You are free to eat from any tree in the
garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of
good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.'"
That was a test, and when you read Genesis 3:1-5, you find that
Adam failed the test. Through his disobedience he plunged all
humanity into a cursed condition. In Genesis 3:23 we read,
"So the Lord God banished him from the garden of Eden."
My God never gives us empty threats like some Christian parents
give to their children. His promises are sure and his threats are
sure.
So through Samuel God rebuked Saul and the people for rejecting
his rule and for desiring a human king in God's place.
Nevertheless, God said, I will give you a king--a rich, tall,
handsome, charismatic king. But then God gave Saul and the people
a warning: They were required to obey the word of God.
Saul's First Test
God then tested Saul's obedience. What was the first test? In
1 Samuel 10:8 Samuel gave a very clear instruction to Saul. First
he said, "Go down ahead of me to Gilgal. I will surely come
down to you." Then, "[I will] sacrifice burnt offerings
and fellowship offerings. . . you must wait seven days until I
come to you and tell you what you are to do" in terms of
fighting against the Philistines.
When you read that, there is no confusion. Sometimes I give
counsel to people who come back later saying that they were
confused. But there is no confusion in Samuel's instructions. In
Genesis 2 God instructed Adam, and there was no confusion there
either. Confusion is in the human heart, not in the word of God.
God's words are clear. What did Samuel tell Saul? Go down to
Gilgal. I will surely come to you. I will offer the sacrifices.
Wait for seven days. I will tell you what to do. These
instructions were very clear, weren't they?
In chapter 13 we read that Saul did go to Gilgal to wait for
Samuel. But when Samuel didn't come right away, the soldiers with
Saul began to run and hide. Why? They were scared and
outnumbered. There were only about three thousand Israelite
soldiers, and in 1 Samuel 13:5 we read, "The Philistines
assembled to fight Israel with three thousand chariots, six
thousand charioteers and soldiers as numerous as the sand on the
seashore."
This was a test designed by the King of kings and Lord of lords
to see whether Saul would look to God alone. So Saul waited, but
Samuel did not come. On the seventh day, Saul arrogated to
himself the power of the priesthood. He reasoned that it was
finally time for sacrifice, although Samuel had not come yet, and
he offered it himself. As soon as he finished, Samuel arrived (1
Sam. 13:10).
The Problem with Saul
Saul had an explanation for his lack of obedience. We always
have explanations too, don't we? Look this passage: "'What
have you done?' asked Samuel. Saul replied, 'When I saw that the
men were scattering,'"meaning his own three thousand,
"'and that you did not come at the set time,'" which
was not true "'and that the Philistines were assembling at
Micmash, I thought, "Now the Philistines will come down
against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the Lord's
favor." So I felt compelled to offer the burnt
offering'" (1 Sam. 13:11,12).
What was Saul's problem? He was looking at everything except the
word of the Lord. He saw everything around him except God. Don't
we also make decisions based on what we are seeing? I have heard
such explanations many times: "Pastor, time is running out.
We have to do something." How many times have we made
decisions based on circumstances? We think and feel compelled to
act.
Remember Uzzah? We read about him in 2 Samuel 6. Why was he
trying to steady the ark? He saw the oxen stumble and probably
thought to himself, "I have to do something about this ark.
I want to support God." Don't we do the same thing? We want
to take care of God and uphold the prestige of his church, so we
think we have to act. We have our reasons.
Yes, Saul was facing three thousand chariots, six thousand
charioteers, and soldiers like the sand. That is a scary prospect
unless one looks to God. But when you look to God, everything is
all right. Why? God is the one who created the entire universe by
the word of his power. But when you are unbelieving, you become
fearful and do whatever you want. Then you justify your actions
by saying, "I was trying to help God. I wanted to preserve
his reputation and help the church."
This tall, handsome, unbelieving Saul was full of justification
for his actions. He was doing it for God. He was doing it for
religion. He was acting as a king for God.
God's Response
Was God impressed with Saul? Did he thank Saul for helping him
out that way? Samuel told Saul, "You acted foolishly"
(1 Sam. 13:13). This had been a test. Saul should have kept
Samuel's words in his mind. He should have meditated on them,
listened to them, loved them and obeyed them, no matter what. He
should have fully relied on Samuel's word that he would surely
come and offer sacrifices after seven days.
How did Saul act? Foolishly. In the Hebrew understanding,
foolishly means without God. What about us? Do we figure
everything into our circle of reality except God? Oh, we are very
careful in our thought processes, making our strategies to deal
with our situations. But what did God say? "You acted
foolishly. You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave
you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over
Israel for all time. But now your kingdom will not endure; the
Lord has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him
leader over his people, because you have not kept the Lord's
command" (1 Sam. 10:13-14). Saul did not cherish and obey
Samuel's words. He treated God's words with contempt and threw
them behind his back.
Saul's Second Test
God gave Saul another opportunity to obey him. In 1 Samuel
15:1-3 we read, "Samuel said to Saul, 'I am the one the LORD
sent to anoint you king over his people Israel; so listen now to
the message from the LORD. This is what the LORD Almighty says:
"I will punish the Amalekites for what they did to Israel
when they waylaid them as they came up from Egypt. Now go, attack
the Amalekites and totally destroy everything that belongs to
them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and
infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys."'"
Because the Amalekites were first to attack God's people after
they left Egypt, as we read in Exodus 17, God purposed to wipe
them out. Through Saul he would mete out divine judgment to the
Amalekites.
Were God's instructions clear? They were very clear. People come
to me, saying, "I was confused. I didn't know. I had no
idea." Let me tell you, the confusion is in us and not in
the word. God's word was very clear. God was meting out his
judgment upon the Amalekites as a harbinger of the eternal
judgment that he is going to pour out upon all people who disobey
his word. There will be a great judgment, as we read in Hebrews
9:27, "Just as man is destined to die once, and after that
to face judgment. . . ." There is a real judgment and a real
hell, and this account gives a historical type of what will
happen in the future.
This was Saul's second opportunity to obey God. Praise God for
second opportunities! God wants to see if we will obey him
implicitly or not. To obey is better than the multitude of
meetings. That doesn't mean we shouldn't worship God in a church,
but if we don't obey God, our worship is meaningless and actually
brings the judgment of God upon us.
Saul Fails Again
Did Saul obey God's clear directive this time? Read 1 Samuel
15:9: "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." Once again Saul adjusted God's word.
How often we see this adjusting of God's clear instruction!
Everyone is busy reinterpreting the Scripture. Modernists look at
the Bible and reinterpret it. Children reinterpret the words
their parents give, which for them is the word of God, and do
what they want. It seems almost every human being is busy
adjusting, fudging and taking away the power and efficacy of the
word of God.
How did Saul justify his actions? He told Samuel they wanted to
sacrifice the best animals as a pleasing sacrifice to the Lord.
Saul was trying to help God out by adjusting his instructions.
And, of course, we do the same. Whenever we disobey, we are
reinterpreting clear direction, but often we then justify our
actions by saying we were trying to help out God or the church or
the pastor.
Did God accept Saul's justification? No. Saul was a liar, a
thief, and an unbeliever. How could he help out the God who owns
cattle on a thousand hills? Saul was a rebel. God gave him clear
direction, but he was a wretched person whose heart was revealed
in his response to God's word.
"To Obey Is Better than Sacrifice"
Although Saul spared Agag and the Amalekite properties, he
made an amazing statement to Samuel: "But I did obey the
Lord" (1 Sam. 15:20). Of course, he reinterpreted Samuel's
instructions, adjusting them to match up with his own ideas, and
then he acted according to the adjusted directions. "'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. 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.'"
Notice, Saul condemned himself. He said he completely destroyed
everything, but brought back Agag, the king of the Amalekites, as
well as sheep and cattle, which had been devoted to God--but
devoted to complete destruction. And he did this, he told Samuel,
to sacrifice to the Lord "your" God, meaning Saul had
no interest in God. He was trying to help out Samuel and Samuel's
God. He thought that Samuel and his God would be extremely
pleased with him.
Was God pleased with Saul's sacrifices? "Samuel replied:
'Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings 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. For
rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the
evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord,
he has rejected you as king'" (1 Sam. 15:22-23).
Saul thought God would be pleased with his actions, but God
labeled it rebellion. What is rebellion? It is the attitude: Not
thy will but mine be done. What did Jesus Christ pray in the
garden of Gethsemane? Not my will but thine be done. Saul's
actions revealed the rebellion in his heart.
What did Saul's rebellion reap? "Because you have rejected
the word of the Lord, he has rejected you as king." You see,
this intermittent, superficial obedience will not be accepted by
the King of kings and Lord of lords as obedience. No, to him such
obedience is rejection. God requires implicit, total, and
complete obedience down to the last detail.
Saul Judged and Executed
God judged Saul for his rebellion. The first judgment Saul
experienced was the withdrawing of God's word from him. You see,
there was a time the word of the Lord had come to Saul, but he
treated it with contempt, fudging, adjusting, reinterpreting, and
emptying it of its efficacy. So the first part of God's judgment
on Saul was that he no longer heard the word of the Lord.
"Then Samuel left for Ramah, but Saul went up to his home in
Gibeah of Saul. Until the day Samuel died, he did not go to see
Saul again" (1 Sam. 15:34-35). The word of the Lord was
gone.
The second judgment was the departure of the Spirit of the Lord
from Saul (1 Sam. 16:14). Can you imagine the condition of a man
who reads the word and comes to the church, but he is not hearing
or seeing? That means the Holy Spirit is not working in him. It
is gone.
In 1 Samuel 28 the Philistines attacked again, and Saul panicked,
not knowing what to do. He wanted a word from God, but there was
no prophet. There was a famine of the word and the Holy Spirit
was gone from him. He "inquired of the Lord, but the Lord
did not answer him by dreams or Urim or prophets" (1 Sam.
28:6). Total abandonment! Saul had not wanted to read and study
the word of God and do what it said. Now he was starved and
abandoned. Nothing was happening in his life. He was totally cast
away into the wilderness of human ideas and human philosophies.
God was not speaking to him.
Saul sought a word from a witch. How many evangelicals are
abandoning their churches and going into all kinds of cults! Why
are they doing that? They did not respond to the word of God and
they are abandoned by God! Cults are flourishing all over this
country and around the world because people did not value the
word of the Lord.
God spoke supernaturally to Saul through the witch. Look at
verses 16 through 20: "Samuel said, 'Why do you consult me
now that the Lord has turned away from you and become your enemy?
The Lord has done what he predicted through me." Saul should
have paid great attention to the word of God when it came to him
through Samuel many times. "'The Lord has torn the kingdom
out of your hands and given it to one of your neighbors--to
David. Because you did not obey the Lord to carry out his fierce
wrath against the Amalekites, the Lord has done this to you
today. The Lord will hand over both Israel and you to the
Philistines, and tomorrow you and your sons will be with me. The
Lord will also hand over the army of Israel to the
Philistines.'"
What was the third judgment? Saul and his sons would be destroyed
by the Philistines. There is a price we pay for neglecting the
word of God and treating it with contempt. First, the word is
withdrawn from us; second, the Spirit of God departs; and third,
we are destroyed. Read 1 Samuel 31:1-6. It demonstrates that God
is serious and real, and his word is powerful. "Now the
Philistines fought against Israel; the Israelites fled before
them, and many fell slain on Mount Gilboa. The Philistines
pressed hard after Saul and his sons, and they killed his sons
Jonathan, Abinadab and Malki-Shua. The fighting grew fierce
around Saul, and when the archers overtook him, they wounded him
critically. Saul said to his armor-bearer, 'Draw your sword and
run me through or these uncircumcised fellows will come and run
me through and abuse me.' But his armor-bearer was terrified and
would not do it; so Saul took his own sword and fell on it. So
Saul and his three sons and his armor-bearer and all his men died
together that same day."
Saul was abandoned by God because he abandoned the word of the
Lord. Everyone was against him, and he finally preferred death to
life. He committed suicide on Mount Gilboa, and even now that
mountain stands as a reminder of a man who abandoned the word of
God and brought such destruction to his entire family as well as
to himself.
The Obedient King
There was a king who obeyed God's word. In Psalm 40 we read of
the real King, Christ Jesus, from whom we can learn about
obedience. Remember what Samuel said in 1 Samuel 15:22-23?
"To obey is better than sacrifice. . ." In Psalm 40:6
we read, "Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but my
ears you have pierced; burnt offerings and sin offerings you did
not require. Then I said, 'Here I am, I have come--it is written
about me in the scroll. I desire to do your will, O my God; your
law is within my heart'" (Ps. 40:6-8). These words refer to
Jesus Christ, as we read in Hebrews 10:5-8. What God desires is
obedience to him from the heart.
What did King Jesus Christ always do? He obeyed God's word, and
through his obedience he brought us free salvation. We are saved
by grace, not works, but there was someone who had to obey
God--Jesus Christ, the very Son of God. He said, "Not my
will but thine be done," and every time he said so, he set
his face toward Jerusalem where he would offer himself, once for
all, as a sufficient sacrifice for our sins. It is because of
Christ's obedience that we are saved.
Saved for Obedience
If we are God's people, what should we do? Can we neglect,
fudge or reinterpret God's word now that we have believed in the
Lord? We say we are evangelicals. Can we render intermittent
obedience or subscribe to antinomianism now that we are people of
God?
The answer is no. If we are Christians, we obey God. In 1 Peter
1:1,2 we read, "To God's elect, strangers in the world,
scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and
Bithynia, who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of
God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for
obedience to Jesus Christ. . ."
For what are we saved? Obedience to Jesus Christ, says Peter.
Paul writes about this also in his great treatise of the gospel,
the book of Romans: "Through him and for his name's sake we
received grace and apostleship to call people from all the
Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith" (Romans
1:5).
There is an idea that is very prevalent and popular today that if
you are a Christian and obey God once in a while, God will be
very excited. Do you think God will be thrilled if once in a
while you show up in the church and put a dime in the offering?
Look at Romans 16:26. In the concluding paragraph of Paul's great
treatise it says, "Now to him who is able to establish you
by my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to
the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages but now
revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the
command of the eternal God so that all nations might
believe and obey him , to the only wise God, be glory
forever through Jesus Christ. Amen" (italics added).
If you are born of God, what will you do? Believe and obey. Yes,
we are saved by grace, but those who are saved demonstrate that
they are people of the God whom they worship and adore by
submitting themselves to him and obeying him implicitly and
always.
A Call to Obedience
Have you been fudging, adjusting, and reinterpreting God's
word? Did the Spirit of God come to you to tell you to do
something according to the Bible? Have there been times when the
Spirit spoke to you, but now nothing happens? Was there a time
when the word of God gripped you and shook you, but now nothing
happens, despite your going to meeting after meeting? If so, I
wonder whether the word is gone. There may be no dream, no Urim,
no prophet left to teach us because we did not value the word of
God.
If the word of God still affects you when you hear it, may you
say, "Praise be to God!" When the Holy Spirit speaks to
you, may you say, "Thank you, Lord" and run to do what
he is telling you. Why? Because if you do not, the time will come
when you will be abandoned into the wilderness of human ideas,
human psychology, and human philosophies with which we will then
begin to govern ourselves and our families. We will begin to look
upon our monies and position and feel pretty good about our
lives. We will think everything is okay as long as we are
educated and able to make money. People may come and tell us
about Jesus Christ, and what he has done on the cross. They may
tell us that we are going to die tomorrow. But will we take
notice? Or will we be happy with our lives, getting our rush from
television and things? If we are, what a tragedy that will be!
Do you see signs of abandonment in your life? If so, it is time
to recognize them and say, "O God, speak to me; your servant
heareth. Lord, give me a word. Give me a hunger and thirst for
you and your truth which has come down to us in a book. O Holy
Spirit, come upon me mightily that I may know what your will is,
and more than that, help me to love it and do it in your power.
Help me to do it now. O God, forgive all my justification and
nonsense that I have used--even the argument that I am trying to
help you. Deliver me from this introspection that sees only my
own needs and desires. Help me to see that I am saved to serve
God."
May God have mercy on us and help us to turn to him! May we
cherish and embrace his word, hold fast to his statutes, and run
to obey them every time.
Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of International Bible Society.
"NIV" and "New International Version" are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark office by International Bible Society.
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