God Makes it Easier and Easier to Obey Him
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. 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. 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.’” And Saul defeated the Amalekites from Havilah as far as Shur, which is east of Egypt. And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive and devoted to destruction 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 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.
1 Samuel 15:1–3, 7–9 ESV Read More
When you start to read this, you might think “What is God thinking? Why did God tell him to do that?! Saul can’t follow directions!”
Take a look at the character and sentiment that God is showing here. He hasn’t struck Saul dead. He hasn’t covered him with sores and exiled him to Katmandu. As far as all of his subjects know, he is still king and is still leading the people.
The best interpreter of scripture is scripture. Romans 11:29 says God’s gifts and His call are irrevocable. Saul was made the king and for the rest of his life, he will fill that office. Even if it means fighting the enemies of Israel. Even if it means that he’s going to mess it all up over and over again. God is giving Saul chance after chance to learn and grow and turn back to letting God be king and Saul himself be the king’s servant.
God says to Saul: “I have noted what Amalek did…” God remembers every single thing and is going to bring judgment on the Amalekites generations later because of it. That’s a hint, Saul, that what you do could affect your grandchildren! (See Mephibosheth in 2 Samuel 4:4) Then instead of giving Saul some vague directions that could be misunderstood, He makes it very clear. Go into the land of the Amalekites and kill everything, even the kittens. Leave the land completely wiped out and don’t bring home any souvenirs.
God does the scorched-earth destruction several different times. There are multiple reasons every time, but in this case, I think one of them is to be abundantly clear to Saul. God is lowering the bar of leadership low enough that no discernment is needed here. Don’t pick and choose who to keep or what to bring home – destroy it all.
Saul follows suit and shows his true colors again. If he were out to obey God, it would have been a lot easier. Instead, he went to more trouble and picked who would live and what spoils to bring home. So many times God is helping us out by making obedience to Him easier than the sin. Every time there is a difficult step to take to get ourselves into sin, God is giving us another chance to repent.
A man goes to a ton of trouble to cheat on his wife, covering things up, weaving a stream of lies.
A kid lies to their parents and prepares a long list of alibis and excuses to cover up what they really did last Saturday.
A company moves money around to look less profitable to the employees needing raises while the CEO pockets more than ever.
It’s crazy but it’s true: obedience is often easier than sin.
The next time you are tempted to sin, remember Saul. It was cut and dry. Kill all the Amalekites, even the kittens. If you try to justify a way to come home with one cute kitty, you are being a king Saul.
The other way we can catch ourselves after the fact is if we try to cover our sin with piety. Don’t try to say it’s because you are so religious that you did this bad thing. That is all too easy to do, because Adam, our original earthly father, did it. “It’s that woman you gave me, God!” (See Genesis 3).
Saul picked out all of the undesirables and killed them off. He obeyed God through the filter of his own preferences. He kept the good stuff, calling it an offering to God.
Agag, the king of the Amalekites, was one key figure that was spared. He would later think that he had missed judgment. That’s the worst part of it all. If those that are led and represent God do it poorly, the onlooking world will understand God poorly too. Agag saw all of the things that Saul did and it looked just like the things that he would also do as a king: kill off the undesirables, keep the best for himself, rule over the conquered king.
Let us be different today, and follow God with a pure heart, without excuse or self-justification. He is giving us plenty of chances.
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