We might use it

But 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. 1 Sam 15:9

Would we do that?

Think about it. Have you ever pulled something back out of trash because you thought you might be able to use it some day? Or maybe you just can't seem to throw anything of value away. I grew up in a family that saved Christmas wrapping paper to be used again. "Be careful when you open that!"

But this wasn't going to be wasted. Why?

"However, anything specially set apart for the Lord—whether a person, an animal, or family property—must never be sold or bought back. Anything devoted in this way has been set apart as holy, and it belongs to the Lord.
Lev 27:28

It was of no value already, it was set apart, it belonged to Him. But it seems like a waste. What do you mean? How can you say that it was of no value?

I think we need to be constantly reminded of how BIG God is and that His ways are not our ways. But, we're not the only ones to ever ask these types of questions. Jonah asked that question about a plant going to waste (at least in his opinion) and here is God's response:

But God said to Jonah, "Do you have a right to be angry about the vine?"
      "I do," he said. "I am angry enough to die."

But the LORD said, "You have been concerned about this vine, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. But Nineveh has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned about that great city?" Jonah 4:9-11

I think sometimes we forget how much our rebellion hurts God.

Here's the thing, Saul does not disobey God because he is so compassionate, so caring, so kind. He killed every Amalekite man, woman, and child, save one – the king. It was really self-serving.

Why?

He gets some popularity for allowing his men a good sacrificial meal with the Amalekite animals; it also means they do not have to sacrifice their own animals. Sparing Agag provides Saul with a trophy of his power, much like a stuffed and mounted animal.

Remember this is a lesson in obedience, so here's my question: are we keeping the best of material things and essentially giving God the leftovers?

Me, an idol?

Okay, get ready, we may be here awhile.

Then Saul attacked the Amalekites all the way from Havilah to Shur, to the east of Egypt. He took Agag king of the Amalekites alive, and all his people he totally destroyed with the sword. But Saul and the army spared Agag and the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves ^[a] and lambs—everything that was good. These they were unwilling to destroy completely, but everything that was despised and weak they totally destroyed. 1 Sam 15:7-9

God told them to go and destroy the whole nation, everything, but they didn't they saved the best.

Okay, I think we better slow down a bit, we have a tendency to rush over this or not read it at all.

Why would God tell them to destroy a whole nation?

He did this this to protect His people from idol worship, read this passage:

In those towns that the Lord your God is giving you as a special possession, destroy every living thing. You must completely destroy the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites, just as the Lord your God has commanded you. This will prevent the people of the land from teaching you to imitate their detestable customs in the worship of their gods, which would cause you to sin deeply against the Lord your God.
Deut 20:16-18

The subtitle over this passage in my Bible reads "Regulations concerning War", and if they would have followed them Israel would not have experienced the oppression, bloodshed and destruction that they did.

He set this in place to protect His children who do His will and bring glory to His name!

As I read this I was reminded of how much God hates sin and to what lengths He will go to protect us from it. It never hurts to have a reminder of just how holy He is.

Wow, chew on that a minute…

Ok, let's move ahead, "they spared the best".

Saul and his men knew this law (Deut 20:16-18), but chose not to carry it out, they violated a direct command, which showed disrespect and disregard for God and His ways.

At best, Saul's actions were only a partial obedience
to God's word. But partial obedience - only doing as much of God's word as we feel like doing and ignoring the rest - is really disobedience.

And disobedience is idolatry.

How?

To claim to follow God, and then live according to your own will is rebellious and stubborn. When we act this way, we worship
our wills and our ways, not God's. That is idolatry.

Jesus had something to say about this:

"Knowing the correct password—saying 'Master, Master,' for instance— isn't going to get you anywhere with me. What is required is serious obedience—doing what my Father wills. I can see it now—at the Final Judgment thousands strutting up to me and saying, 'Master, we preached the Message, we bashed the demons, our God-sponsored projects had everyone talking.' And do you know what I am going to say? 'You missed the boat. All you did was use me to make yourselves important. You don't impress me one bit. You're out of here.' Matthew 7:21-23 (MSG)

It was just this sort of claim that Saul made. He insisted he had obeyed the word of God.

Partial obedience is disobedience
and disobedience is idolatry.

Don't miss the boat!

Give them a chance

For some reason at 4:00 am I started thinking about the Kenites (yesterday's post), yeah, I have no life outside of Christ.

How would this go in today's church?

Moses:
"We need a guide to show us the way to the Promiseland, so I've asked my brother-in-law Hobab, if his people would take us."

Church member #1: "Why do we have to go, we like it here?"

Church member#2: "How much are you going to have to pay them?"

#3: "Wait, that's your brother-in-law, you can't do that!"

#4: "Can't we find a Christian guide service?"

#5: "Has this been actually presented in the form of a formal motion?"

#3: "I'm still having a problem with the whole brother-in-law thing; we need to make sure we keep this a clean transaction!"

#5: Did we get 4 bids, and is this the cheapest one?"

#4: "I'd like to make an amendment to the motion, that the Kenites renounce their gypsy lifestyle and accept Christ before we use their services."

#5: "Can we vote? I have to grab a bite before my 1:00 tee time!"

#3: "Moses, is this your idea or did it go before a committee?"

#2: "I think we need to table this, I still don't think we need to move!"

400 years later, "Sorry, but you're going to be wiped out because the committee voted not to allow you to bless them!"

Okay, it was 4 am!

Add your own if you like.

He remembers

Then he said to the Kenites, "Go away, leave the Amalekites so that I do not destroy you along with them; for you showed kindness to all the Israelites when they came up out of Egypt." So the Kenites moved away from the Amalekites. 1 Sam 15:6

Notice that God never forgets when you have obeyed.

Some background

The Kenites were a Midianite tribe of blacksmiths, resembling "the gipsies of the Middle Ages".

In Exodus, Chapter 18, when the Israelites were coming out of the wilderness, Jethro, the priest of Midian and the father-in-law of Moses, met Moses, blessed him and thanked the Lord for what the Lord had done for the Israelites. In Numbers, Chapter 10, Moses asked Hobab, his Midianite brother-in-law, to lead the Israelites through the wilderness. These Kenites were nomads and knew that territory like the palm of their hand. They joined the Israelites and led them through the wilderness. Finally they settled with the tribe of Judah in the Promised Land. Although by this time they had been dwelling with the Amalekites, 400 years before they had made a choice. That choice was to follow God and be God's instrument.
God remembered that. Now, 400 years later, the Kenites are separated and spared during the slaughter of the Amalekites.

Notice that God never forgets when you have obeyed.

Notice that in the protection of the Kenites and the destruction of the Amalekites not only the fulfillment of a very specific promise of God, but also the fulfilling of God's covenant with Abraham (Genesis 12:1-3). In this covenant with Abraham, He promises to bless those who bless
Abraham and his descendants (Kenites), and to curse those who curse Abraham and his seed (Amalekites).

Notice that God never forgets
His promises!

I’m a little slow

I didn't think it would take me this long to get to the 15^th chapter of 1 Samuel! For the last month I've been reading through the book of 1 Samuel and blogging what I felt God revealed to me on that day.

Why is the 15^th chapter so significant?

Well, in April of 2006 was the first time that I really looked at the life of Saul in depth and God had me preach on the 15^th chapter, mainly I believe so that my own thinking would be changed. Then, as I was teaching this chapter in my small group a month ago and preparing for our series "Obey", I felt led to go through the whole book of 1 Samuel and journal or blog my thoughts daily. So, here we are 30+ days into it, OK, I'm a little slow!

"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. 1 Samuel 15:1

Samuel reminds Saul that he is to serve God not his own interest. Man, I could use that kind of reminder every day, although it would be hard to hear! We have a saying "live in such a way as to make Jesus famous", but we have to fight that daily drift of wanting to make our own self known and famous.

"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.' " 1 Sam 15:2-3

God's instruction won't always make sense to us.

Ever had God ask you to do something that didn't make sense to the rest of the world?

I have, and each time I believe it was a testing of my faith to see if I would be obedient.

But here is the interesting thing that I noticed this morning, God actually told him why,
"for what they did to Israel when they waylaid them as they came up from Egypt." Saul was actually getting a chance to fulfill prophecy.

The Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim. Moses said to Joshua, "Choose some of our men and go out to fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hands."

So Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses had ordered, and Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill. As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. When Moses' hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up—one on one side, one on the other—so that his hands remained steady till sunset. So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword.

 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Write this on a scroll as something to be remembered and make sure that Joshua hears it, because I will completely blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven."

 Moses built an altar and called it The LORD is my Banner. He said, "For hands were lifted up to the throne of the LORD. The LORD will be at war against the Amalekites from generation to generation."
Exodus 17:8-16

God was fulfilling His promise and He was asking a disobedient king named Saul to do it. If He asked Saul to carry out His plan, don't you think He might ask you also?

What may seem strange to you might be a chance to fulfill what God has planned from the beginning!

Will you have the courage to obey?

“I swear” – round 2

Then Saul said to the leaders, "Something's wrong! I want all my army commanders to come here. We must find out what sin was committed today. I vow by the name of the Lord who rescued Israel that the sinner will surely die, even if it is my own son Jonathan!" 1 Sam 14:38-39

Not again! What's the old saying "doing the same thing again and again but expecting different results, is insanity", well Saul is proving it!

As a leader you have to be extremely careful about making hasty vows, because if you cannot keep them you lose integrity.

"This is what the LORD commands: When a man makes a vow to the LORD or takes an oath to obligate himself by a pledge, he must not break his word but must do everything he said." Num 30:1-2

If you make a vow, it should be binding and the right thing to do is fulfill it, no matter how costly it becomes.

What vows are you not keeping?

When we make ridiculous statements that we have no intentions of keeping, it sure is hard to admit
we were wrong. I think it takes more courage to admit we were wrong than it does to fulfill whatever ridiculous oath we've sworn.

"Or suppose you make a foolish vow of any kind, whether its purpose is for good or for bad. When you realize its foolishness, you must admit your guilt." Lev 5:4

Need to admit any?

Saul was ready to kill his own son because he was more concerned about his image; to admit he acted foolishly would be an embarrassment to a king.

What a contrast between Saul and his son Jonathan. Jonathan admitted what he had done and didn't make any excuses for it. He was prepared to die. He did not argue whether the oath had any validity or point to the victory he had just won. He was prepared to be the scapegoat for his father's stupidity. He was willing to lay his life down for his father's sin, could this be the reason God allowed the people's plea to prevail?

Wow, sure sounds familiar to someone else?

Jesus was willing to die for my stupidity and because of His plea I have life!

First things first

"You have broken faith," he said. "Roll a large stone over here at once." … Then Saul built an altar to the LORD; it was the first time he had done this. 1 Samuel 14:33, 35

Saul builds his first altar, but only as a last resort, which wasn't unusual for Saul. He consistently approached God after everything else failed.

Sound familiar?

Oh God, help me…my marriage is falling apart…I have no money…my kids have done something stupid…I can't find a job…feel free to add your own ________________________. I've been there, done that, got the… haven't you? In fact, we teach the best time to reach people for the Kingdom is when they are in transition or tension.

Building an altar should have been his first act as king, not treating God as an afterthought.

Saul's first altar was also public, not personal and private. I believe that before a public declaration in our ministry there should be the personal altar, one where we offer ourselves as "living sacrifices" to Him.

I know in my own life that has to be a daily occurrence, otherwise I drift and have a hard time "denying myself".

Okay, it's not how you start, its how you finish. So Saul didn't start off by building an altar, not many of us do, but he had other chances. He could have built one after offering sacrifices illegally (13:9-13) to show his repentance, but he didn't.

"Saul, the clue phone is ringing and it's for you!"

What about you, do you hear the ringing?

Someone call me and remind me to offer myself daily to Him who died for me!

"If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me."
Matthew 16:24