When God is Ignored


1 Samuel 15:1-15
1 And Samuel said to Saul, “The Lord sent me to anoint you king over his people Israel; now therefore listen to the words of the Lord.
2 Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘I have noted what Amalek did to Israel in opposing them on the way when they came up out of Egypt.
3 Now go and strike Amalek and devote to destruction all that they have. Do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’ ”
4 So Saul summoned the people and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand men on foot, and ten thousand men of Judah.
5 And Saul came to the city of Amalek and lay in wait in the valley.
6 Then Saul said to the Kenites, “Go, depart; go down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them. For you showed kindness to all the people of Israel when they came up out of Egypt.” So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites.
7 And Saul defeated the Amalekites from Havilah as far as Shur, which is east of Egypt.
8 And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive and devoted to destruction all the people with the edge of the sword.
9 But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep and of the oxen and of the fattened calves and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them. All that was despised and worthless they devoted to destruction.
10 The word of the Lord came to Samuel:
11 “I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following me and has not performed my commandments.” And Samuel was angry, and he cried to the Lord all night.
12 And Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning. And it was told Samuel, “Saul came to Carmel, and behold, he set up a monument for himself and turned and passed on and went down to Gilgal.”
13 And Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, “Blessed be you to the Lord. I have performed the commandment of the Lord.”
14 And Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears and the lowing of the oxen that I hear?”
15 Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites, for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen to sacrifice to the Lord your God, and the rest we have devoted to destruction.”

Why is it we consider God’s commands something merely to be considered rather than something to be followed? I was once at a Bible study where one of the participants told the group (with some authority in her voice) that the 10 Commandments were simply God’s suggestions as to how to have a good life. While that thought was not allowed to fester into a new truth, it was also quite shocking to have to deal with such a notion. Do we think so little of the omnipotent God of the Universe that we would consider His words just something to be considered rather than something to be followed with dedication? We would do well to think that through again.

Saul has become the perfect example of someone who hears what God says and then does whatever he wants anyway. God instructs Saul in the path He is to take and then Saul makes several changes to God’s plan. God commanded that everything about the Amalekites be destroyed. Everything means everything. Saul let his ego take over and instead of killing the Amalekite king, he takes him captive. And instead of destroying all of the livestock, Saul allows his people to keep the fat, healthy animals for themselves. After these breeches of God’s word, Saul then has the temerity to tell Samuel he has “performed the commands of the Lord.” Samuel’s response is one of the Scriptures greatest lines: “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears and the lowing of the oxen that I hear?” Isn’t that perfect?! Samuel doesn’t even have to look around to know that Saul is lying right to his face. Then Saul does one more thing that displays his complete lack of fitness to serve as king. He blames the people for his sin.

Saul’s story is a great example of what not to do. And it is easy to shake our heads in disappointment over his choices. But we must always turn these stories back upon ourselves and ask the tough questions. Where have I merely considered God’s way and then went my own? Which of God’s commands do I hold lightly or maybe not at all because it isn’t convenient for me to follow them? Each of us has something that we know is wrong in our lives, and yet we persist in that sin, hoping that we can blame someone else, or maybe God won’t notice. Either way, confession must be made over those times we ignored God and took His commands lightly.

I can never beat you up too badly though. We have One who never took God’s commands lightly or ignored God. We have the Savior, Jesus Christ who paid the price for our sinful decisions and actions. Even the sin of neglect is forgiven by God in the blood of Jesus. In our path of discipleship, let’s try and remember the price that He paid for our neglect and bring Him praise rather than excuses.

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