Justifiable Disobedience

Samuel also said unto Saul, The Lord sent me to anoint thee to be king over his people, over Israel: now therefore hearken thou unto the voice of the words of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way, when he came up from Egypt. Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass. And Saul gathered the people together, and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand footmen, and ten thousand men of Judah. And Saul came to a city of Amalek, and laid wait in the valley. And Saul said unto the Kenites, Go, depart, get you down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them: for ye shewed kindness to all the children of Israel, when they came up out of Egypt. So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites. And Saul smote the Amalekites from Havilah until thou comest to Shur, that is over against Egypt. And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them: but every thing that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly.

Saul felt like his disobedience was justifiable

We often feel that our disobedience is justifiable

Isn’t preserve lives a good thing?

Saul preserved the life of Agag (king of the Amalakites)

Isn’t sacrifice a good thing?

Saul saved the best of the flock to be an acceptable (in his mind) sacrifice to the Lord

We don’t get to decide what is acceptable

We don’t get to substitute obedience with sacrifice

{PRAY}

Three Steps to Disobedience

Rebellion

refusing to hearken to the voice of the words of the Lord

Hardness of Heart

refusing correction

Spiritual Blindness

refusing to acknowledge your error

1 Samuel 15:1 KJV 1900

Samuel also said unto Saul, The Lord sent me to anoint thee to be king over his people, over Israel: now therefore hearken thou unto the voice of the words of the Lord.

Saul was anointed (dedicated to service)

ANOINT'ED, n. The Messiah, or Son of God, consecrated to the great office of Redeemer; called the Lord's anointed. Cyrus is also called the Lord's anointed. Isa 45.

CONSECRATED, pp. Made sacred by ceremonies or solemn rites; separated from a common to a sacred use; devoted or dedicated to the service and worship of God; made venerable.

Your Calling

If you are saved today, the Lord has anointed you and consecrated you to service.

1 Corinthians 6:11 KJV 1900

And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.

the only way to live up to your calling is to hearken to the voice of the words of the Lord.

Who was Amalek?

Amalek - grandson of Esau

Am'alek (dweller in a valley). A son of Eliphaz, by his concubine, Timnah, grandson of Esau, and chieftain ("duke," Authorized Version) of Edom. Genesis 36:12; 16; 1 Chronicles 1:36. (B.C. about 1700)."

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Hasting's Bible Dictionary

Esau was hated because he despised his birthright

Genesis 25:34 KJV 1900

Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentiles; and he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way: thus Esau despised his birthright.

Malachi 1:3 KJV 1900

And I hated Esau, And laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness.

Hebrews 12:16 KJV 1900

Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.

Three elements to Esau’s birthright

Genesis 25:31 The “birthright” had three elements:

(1) priestly rights

Until the establishment of the Aaronic priesthood the head of the family exercised priestly rights.

(2) Edenic promise

The Abrahamic family held the Edenic promise of the Satan-Bruiser (Gen. 3:15)—Abel, Seth, Shem, Abraham, Isaac, Esau.

(3) Abrahamic promise of the Earth-Blesser

Esau, as the firstborn, was in the direct line of the Abrahamic promise of the Earth-Blesser

(Gen 12:3)

This birthright Esau sold for a momentary fleshly gratification.

Saul also abandoned his post for momentary fleshly gratification

If we aren’t careful, we too, will fall

Rebellion

1 Samuel 15:9 KJV 1900

But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them: but every thing that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly.

Galatians 5:17 KJV 1900

For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

Isaiah 63:10 KJV 1900

But they rebelled, and vexed his holy Spirit: Therefore he was turned to be their enemy, and he fought against them.

Saul spared Agag

Saul spared the best of the flocks

at first glance, the Lord’s orders seem severe

until you understand how the Amalekites greeted Israel when they left Egypt:

Reason for the Lord’s command to Saul

Exodus 17:8 KJV 1900

Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel in Rephidim.

Exodus 17:14–16 KJV 1900

And the Lord said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovah-nissi: For he said, Because the Lord hath sworn that the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.

The Lord said that Saul hath not performed my commandments:

1 Samuel 15:11 KJV 1900

It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king: for he is turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandments. And it grieved Samuel; and he cried unto the Lord all night.

Saul said I have performed the commandment of the Lord

1 Samuel 15:13 KJV 1900

And Samuel came to Saul: and Saul said unto him, Blessed be thou of the Lord: I have performed the commandment of the Lord.

Saul felt justified in his partial obedience

selective obedience is rebellion

Tom Constable’s Expository Notes on the Bible 5. Yahweh’s final rejection of Saul ch. 15

God views incomplete obedience as disobedience (v. 19

Hardness of heart

1 Samuel 15:20 KJV 1900

And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the Lord, and have gone the way which the Lord sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.

Zechariah 7:12 KJV 1900

Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, And the words which the Lord of hosts hath sent in his spirit by the former prophets: Therefore came a great wrath from the Lord of hosts.

Rather than confessing his sin Saul sought to justify his disobedience

1 Samuel 15:14–15 KJV 1900

And Samuel said, What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear? And Saul said, They have brought them from the Amalekites: for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto the Lord thy God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.

Sound familiar?

Genesis 3:12 KJV 1900

And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.

Exodus 32:22–23 KJV 1900

And Aaron said, Let not the anger of my lord wax hot: thou knowest the people, that they are set on mischief. For they said unto me, Make us gods, which shall go before us: for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.

Saul believed that his partial obedience was for a worthy purpose.

they were planning to sacrifice the flocks to the Lord

sacrifice must cost you something (sacrificing these flocks would not have cost Saul anything)

2 Samuel 24:22–25 KJV 1900

And Araunah said unto David, Let my lord the king take and offer up what seemeth good unto him: behold, here be oxen for burnt sacrifice, and threshing instruments and other instruments of the oxen for wood. All these things did Araunah, as a king, give unto the king. And Araunah said unto the king, The Lord thy God accept thee. And the king said unto Araunah, Nay; but I will surely buy it of thee at a price: neither will I offer burnt offerings unto the Lord my God of that which doth cost me nothing. So David bought the threshingfloor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver. And David built there an altar unto the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the Lord was intreated for the land, and the plague was stayed from Israel.

Spiritual blindness

1 Samuel 15:22–23 KJV 1900

And Samuel said, Hath 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 hearken than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, He hath also rejected thee from being king.

1 Corinthians 2:14 KJV 1900

But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

Saul persisted in calling his actions obedience

1 Samuel 15:20 KJV 1900

And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the Lord, and have gone the way which the Lord sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.

Saul tried laying the responsibility on others

1 Samuel 15:21 KJV 1900

But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the Lord thy God in Gilgal.

As king, Saul was resonible

1 Samuel 15:17 KJV 1900

And Samuel said, When thou wast little in thine own sight, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel, and the Lord anointed thee king over Israel?

God desires reality over ritual

Sacrificing is good, but obedience is better, because obedience involves sacrificing ourselves

1 Samuel 15:22–23 KJV 1900

We can’t compensate for our lack of obedience with a sacrifice

Sacrifice must be offered to God on his terms

not ours

What has the Lord commanded you to sacrifice?

Romans 12:1 KJV 1900

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.