Not Quite Right

1 Samuel 15:1-35
1And 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. 2Thus 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. 3Now 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.’” 4So Saul summoned the people and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand men on foot, and ten thousand men of Judah. 5And Saul came to the city of Amalek and lay in wait in the valley. 6Then 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. 7And Saul defeated the Amalekites from Havilah as far as Shur, which is east of Egypt. 8And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive and devoted to destruction all the people with the edge of the sword. 9But 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.

Probably 25 years ago, I heard a father tell of disciplining his rather precocious 7-year-old son. This boy knew how to challenge the system better than most children. He had done something considered punishable by his father, who put a small carpet square onto the hardwood floor of the kitchen and told his son not to move off of that square for the next 10 minutes. It was a “time-out”. And for 10 minutes, this boy did not move off of that square. But – he scooted that square all over the kitchen, procuring for himself a drink from the refrigerator, an apple from the counter, and a book from the desk. When the father returned 10 minutes later, there sat his son, enjoying a glass of milk, eating an apple, and reading a book. He almost got it right – but not quite.

King Saul is instructed by Samuel how to go about defeating an old enemy of Israel. He is told to wipe them out. “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. The instructions couldn’t be any clearer. Destroy Amalek. Saul was given this charge because the same instruction had been given to Israel when they first claimed The Promised Land and they had failed to do so.

The preface to Saul’s instruction recalls the incident of Amalek’s attack on Israel in Exodus 17:8–13. Moses prophesied that God would have victory over Amalek in every generation and later instructed the Israelites that, after God gave them rest in the land, they were to blot out Amalek’s memory (Deuteronomy 25:17–19). The Israelites had not done that, and so Amalek had continued to oppress them. Now Yahweh commands Saul to be his instrument to carry out his instructions through Moses.
Steinmann, A. E. ©2016. 1 Samuel. (p. 293). Saint Louis, MO: CPH.

Saul does not do what God (through Samuel) told him to do. Instead, he keeps Agag, the Amalekite king alive and all of the best animals are spared. Saul and his army take plunder where God said to leave destruction. It’s rather blatant disobedience, while shrouded in the appearance of doing what they were told.

Massaging a command from God so that it looks like we’re living in obedience when we’re actually doing things our own way is still complete disobedience. God does not look kindly upon Saul for his choices and He doesn’t look away from our manipulations either. Sin is still sin in the eyes of God, no matter how much we try to make it look good. This story of Saul’s defection will play out in a way that Saul won’t like at all, for God will not be mocked.

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