Obedience & Sacrifice and Understanding the Word of God
For a long time, I pondered and asked God for revelation on what the following verse actually means:
“So Samuel said: “Has the LORD as great 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 NKJV)”
Reading single verses in isolation, without their context, is fraught with danger - too often we can misinterpret what is being said or put our own ‘spin on it’. When I encounter a verse that puzzles me in some way, I like to read the chapters surrounding it, to get a bigger picture of what is happening. And so, I read of Saul’s tumultuous life (from 1 Samuel 10-15) so that I could gain some clarity.
As a young adult, Saul was chosen and anointed by God as king (1 Samuel 10:1, 6, 9) and given instructions through a prophetic word spoken by Samuel (1 Samuel 10:8). From here-on in, he yo-yoed up and down: at times obeying God and relying on Him (1 Samuel 11:6-9, 11-13), then turning away to walk in his own strength and ability. Eventually God regretted making Saul king (due to his disobedience), and thus his leadership was stripped from him (1 Samuel 13:13-14; 15:10).
Some key events unfold
In Chapter 13, we read how Saul gave up on God when His timing didn’t match his expectations. He thought Samuel would return after seven days and they’d make a sacrifice together, yet he didn’t come (until later).
So, he took it upon himself to make a sacrifice anyway (in disobedience to what he’d been directed to do) and to place demands on God (rather self-serving!) (1 Samuel 13:8-9, 19). This reminds me of Abram and Sarai who took things into their own hands to have children when God appeared ‘late’ in their eyes.
This didn’t work out so well for them (Read their story in Genesis 16). Similarly, attempting to manipulate God, by bringing Him sacrifices, backfired on Saul when the kingdom was stripped from him:
Samuel rebuked him saying, “You have not kept the command [(in other words, walked in obedience)] 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…” (1 Samuel 13:13-14a).
By contrast, Noah’s love for and trust in the Lord led to him doing, “... everything just as God commanded him” (Genesis 6:22). This brought about an entirely different outcome than that which Saul experienced when he tried to do things according to his own understanding (See also Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV).
In Chapter 14 Saul abandoned his son, selfishly placing blame upon him, and speaking a curse of death over him (1 Samuel 14: 24, 37-44 and John 10:11). He deserted his people (the Israelites) causing them to go hungry (physically and spiritually), leaving them vulnerable to temptation (1 Samuel 14: 32).
Saul then tried to ‘make good’ of his sin, by building an altar to God (How often do we try to do this - maybe we serve at church, give additional finances to a ministry, do a ‘good deed’ or two - rather than bringing true repentance to Him?) (1 Samuel 14: 35) (See also Ps 51:16-17, Is 1:11-17 and Ephesians 2:8-9).
To add further to his sinfulness, Saul withdrew from the mission God had called him to (to defeat the Philistines), in response to his people losing faith in him (quite justifiably so, we might say!) (Saul relied on man’s opinion of him, rather than God’s instruction to him) (1 Samuel 14: 46).
Yet, in spite of Saul’s shortcomings, God brought blessing upon his people by allowing him to still defeat the Philistines (1 Samuel 14: 47-48) (Talk about experiencing God’s grace and unmerited favour - a kindness intended to lead the sinner to repentance! Romans 2:4) (see also 2 Timothy 2:13).
In Chapter 15 Saul was given another opportunity to obey the Lord (1 Samuel 15: 2). And again, he massively failed, choosing to keep rather than destroy all the enemy’s belongings (as God had commanded him to do) (1 Samuel 15:9).
He added one sin upon another: disobedience, lying, blaming others and pretending to have right motives (“We’ve kept these animals to sacrifice them to God”) (1 Samuel 15: 13, 15, 20). Sadly, it’s made clear just how far Saul had turned away from His heavenly Father, when he said that the sacrifices were to be made to Samuel’s God (rather than ‘my God’) (1 Samuel 15:21).
Which leads us to our focus verse (1 Samuel 15:22)...
Samuel reminded Saul that what God asked for was obedience. It has been this way. Right from the beginning, Adam was asked to heed the voice of God. He and Eve chose wrongly… and animals had to be sacrificed to provide coverings for their bodies (and symbolically, for their shame) (Genesis 2:16, 17, 25; 3:2, 21).
This paved the way for regular animal sacrifices in the Old Testament, to atone for the people’s sins (The reference to the ‘fat of rams’ speaks of an acceptable sacrifice made to the Lord by the High Priests. See: Gen 4:4, Ex 29: 13 and 44:15, 22, Lev 1, 3, 4, 6-10, 16-18, 1 Kings 8:64 and Is 43:24).
In the New Testament, Jesus spilled his blood as He became the ultimate sacrifice for us (Romans 3:23 and 5:8 and Heb 10:4-10).
Did you notice what I did? Had disobedience never occurred, sacrifice would never have been needed. Yet, because of love, Jesus obeyed God in dying on the cross for us (Phil 2:8, 2 Cor 5:21, Luke 24:46-47). God always requires obedience first and foremost, however sacrifice often follows (John 15:13, 1 John 3:16, Ephesians 5:2, John 15:13-14), bringing about good and ultimately glorifying the Father in heaven.
Obedience is better than sacrifice (Prov 21:3), yet both remain necessary as we live with fallen natures which require redemption through the blood of Jesus.
Obedience can be defined as, ‘compliance with an order, request, or law or submission to another's authority’ (The Oxford Languages dictionary https://languages.oup.com/google-dictionary-en/). The Pharisees followed rules (and made many sacrifices - see Matthew 23:23), but were not truly submitted and yielded to God (see Matthew 23, John 14:23, 1 John 5:2-3 and Luke 22:42).
Similarly, slaves obey in a dutiful sense, yet are not truly aligned with the heart of the master as a friend would be (See John 15:15). Godly obedience starts with the attitude or motivation of the heart, long before the action takes place.
D. L. Moody once said, “There will be no peace in any soul until it is willing to obey the voice of God”. Those who are obedient to the Father will live long and prosperous lives, eating all the good things of the land, and they shall be His treasured possession (Deuteronomy 5:33, Ex 19:5, Isaiah 1:19 and Psalm 128:1-2).
Sacrifice can be defined as, ‘an act of giving up something valued for the sake of something else regarded as more important or worth.’ True sacrifice requires surrender (a dying to self) (Gal 5:24) to the One who is all-worthy.
It is often costly and inconvenient, yet also priceless and so worthwhile. This week, I had a phone call at a most unsuitable time, to take in a foster child who needed a safe place to be. I had deadlines to meet, a teething baby needing my attention, very little ‘child friendly’ food in the house, sewing spread out across my dining table etc.
Yet, this little girl was frightened and hurting, and God needed me to be her refuge for the night, throwing aside the inconvenience and embracing her with His love. A telltale sign of true sacrifice is that the cost and disruption to our lives is far outweighed by the heavenly gain as we share Jesus with another.
Sacrifice stemming from obedience, lays down personal comfort to courageously be the hands and feet of Jesus for someone in need - it’s never about us. This offering requires a willingness to respond to the call, and a reliance upon the Lord for strength when we ourselves are weak (Isaiah 40:29, 2 Corinthians 12:9).
For me, I’ve felt called to care for children (James 1:27). God might call you to something different. Nevertheless, as Jesus-followers, loving, honouring and bringing glory to our Father is to be our motivation.
Takeaways from Saul’s life
Obey first and foremost (Mark 12:33, Jeremiah 7:22-23), trusting God’s ways and His timing (Note: Partial obedience, as Saul practised, is in fact disobedience).
Check your heart motive before you offer a sacrifice - are you being led by love and truth or fear, pride and selfishness? (Micah 6:6-8, Amos 5:22-24, Matt 9:13)
Don’t be double-minded, we can’t serve both Christ and the devil. Saul allowed earthly riches/possessions to become a stronghold in his life, and it distanced him from God (1 Samuel 15:9). Not all that glitters is gold (sometimes it’s a trap)!
Ask yourself, ‘Is this God’s idea or mine?’ Are you actions for His glory or are you attempting to manipulate a situation, person or even the Lord for your own gain?
Remember, we reap what we sow (Gal 6:8). Obedience brings rewards, disobedience brings destruction (Saul lost what God had intended to establish through him - his kingdom). As 1 Samuel 15:23 (NIV version) tells us, rebellion and arrogance are like the sins of divination and idolatry - they are a rejection of the Lord - if we reject God, He must reject us - the ultimate loss we could ever face.
Also, don’t be disheartened if you see someone living unrighteously yet appearing to be blessed. Perhaps God is using this for another’s good, just as He gave Saul success over the Philistines to bring freedom for the Israelites.
Lessons from the Old and New Testament
If you glance back throughout this post, you’ll notice that whilst Saul’s story is from the Old Testament, I’ve also referenced scriptures from the New.
Some people say that the Old has ‘passed away’ because it was when humans made blood sacrifices, and so now that Jesus has paid that price, the Old Testament isn’t relevant. If you’ve heard this, I want to encourage you to not forsake reading both the Old and the New Testaments - they are both so profitable for us (2 Timothy 3:16-17)!
While the Old Testament tells stories of particular people’s lives, the New often speaks more directly to the issues. This is a bit like reading a children’s picture book - the story might tell of the hare and the tortoise, while the coda (at the end) will explain the moral of the story (‘Slow and steady wins the race’).
So, when you read the Bible for yourself, think about the stories lived out by real people, just like you and I, and consider the biblical principles we can learn from them.
If you’d like to engage with scripture and see the connections in a very tangible way, read 1 chapter from Genesis, 1 chapter from Psalms and 1 chapter from Matthew each day (and continue on from those points, a chapter a day from the three sections). You’ll be amazed at how you see the gospel woven throughout the Word!
Want to learn more about obedience and sacrifice? Take time to observe the faith of your role models and speak with them around obedience and sacrifice. What can you glean from them? And what can you share from your experiences to help another?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Alison loves Jesus and is passionate about her relationship with Him. She desires to encourage singles to live purposefully and to find their hope in Christ. Alison resides in sunny Queensland, Australia, and enjoys travel, going on adventures, spending time with family and friends, taking in the beauty of the world and reading good books. For more of her writing go to www.girlgrowing.com where she writes about her journey as a girl growing in faith, love, hope and grace.