A Call to Obedience

When God redeems his people, he calls them to a life of obedience. What type of obedience does God require? Complete obedience. But as modern evangelicals, many of us have lowered the standard of God. We are very happy when we render intermittent obedience to God and obey God once in a while. But we must realize that intermittent obedience is not God’s standard.

Intermittent obedience was not my father’s standard either. My father would never accept sporadic, superficial obedience, so we children never tried it. And although he required obedience always, he would not praise us even when we regularly did what he said to do. What type of obedience did my father praise? That of a person who took responsibility and did something without being told. If my father saw that type of obedience, he would promote that person and give him or her authority.

God’s requirement for obedience in everything is demonstrated in the Scriptures in the life of Samuel. As a result of his obedience, Samuel was placed in authority as the last and greatest of the judges and he became Eli’s successor to the priesthood. When Samuel became old, his sons succeeded him. But they were not good judges and the Bible says that they took bribes, which ought to make us tremble as parents. The people of Israel then demanded that a human king be appointed to rule over them. God gave the people a king even though he knew that by this demand the people of Israel were repudiating his rule over them.

Saul Becomes King

The king chosen by God to fulfill his people’s demand was Saul, the son of a very wealthy man, Kish, from the small tribe of Benjamin. Saul met all the popular qualifications for a king. He was wealthy, charismatic, and someone who stood about seven feet tall, a head taller than all the people of Israel. He was also a shrewd politician. I am sure the people of Israel rejoiced at the prospect of having such a man as king and of being led into battle by such a person.

God’s standard is different from the popular standard. We are told in 1 Samuel 16 the Lord does not consider one’s appearance or height or any of the things man looks at. “Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” (1 Sam. 16:7). Saul was handsome, tall, and rich. He was a man who could cause your heart to throb and flutter. But Saul’s heart was not right with God.

Let me make an application right here to you who are not yet married. I know what you are looking for–someone who is tall, blond, slender, athletic, blue-eyed, and tanned. The modern Christian has no interest in the heart. There is a fluttering and a rush, but whether an individual fears God and obeys him implicitly–the divine qualification–is not what most people are using as criteria for a spouse. Most people judge by outward appearances.

In Saul, then, God gave his people a king to deliver them from the overlordship of the Philistines. But as ruler of Israel, this king had a duty quite different than that of earthly kings. As a deputy, Israel’s king must obey the word of Jehovah, Israel’s true king. So we are told that Samuel summoned all the people to a place called Mizpah so that he could introduce Saul, the king-designate, publicly, and explain the regulations of the kingship.

The King Must Obey God

When Saul was introduced to the people, there was a rush. The people’s hearts were throbbing, and they shouted, “‘Long live the king!’ Then Samuel explained to the people the regulations of the kingship. He wrote them down on a scroll and deposited it before the Lord” (1 Sam. 10:24-25).

What were the regulations for Israel’s king? In Deuteronomy 17:14-20 we read:

When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you and have taken possession of it and settled in it, and you say, “Let us set a king over us like all the nations around us,” be sure to appoint over you the king the LORD your God chooses. He must be from among your own brothers. Do not place a foreigner over you, one who is not a brother Israelite. The king, moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself or make the people return to Egypt to get more of them, for the LORD has told you, “You are not to go back that way again.” He must not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray. He must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold. When he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the priests, who are Levites. It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the LORD his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees and not consider himself better than his brothers and turn from the law to the right or to the left. Then he and his descendants will reign a long time over his kingdom in Israel.

A king was therefore required to render implicit, complete obedience to the word of God, the King of kings and Lord of lords.

God’s requirement of obedience to his word is not new. When God made Adam and Eve, he gave them also a word. In Genesis 2:15-17 we read, “The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it,” meaning man was a vicegerent, a deputy, for God. “And the LORD God commanded the man, ‘You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.'” That was a test, and when you read Genesis 3:1-5, you find that Adam failed the test. Through his disobedience he plunged all humanity into a cursed condition. In Genesis 3:23 we read, “So the Lord God banished him from the garden of Eden.” My God never gives us empty threats like some Christian parents give to their children. His promises are sure and his threats are sure.

So through Samuel God rebuked Saul and the people for rejecting his rule and for desiring a human king in God’s place. Nevertheless, God said, I will give you a king–a rich, tall, handsome, charismatic king. But then God gave Saul and the people a warning: They were required to obey the word of God.

Saul’s First Test

God then tested Saul’s obedience. What was the first test? In 1 Samuel 10:8 Samuel gave a very clear instruction to Saul. First he said, “Go down ahead of me to Gilgal. I will surely come down to you.” Then, “[I will] sacrifice burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. . . you must wait seven days until I come to you and tell you what you are to do” in terms of fighting against the Philistines.

When you read that, there is no confusion. Sometimes I give counsel to people who come back later saying that they were confused. But there is no confusion in Samuel’s instructions. In Genesis 2 God instructed Adam, and there was no confusion there either. Confusion is in the human heart, not in the word of God. God’s words are clear. What did Samuel tell Saul? Go down to Gilgal. I will surely come to you. I will offer the sacrifices. Wait for seven days. I will tell you what to do. These instructions were very clear, weren’t they?

In chapter 13 we read that Saul did go to Gilgal to wait for Samuel. But when Samuel didn’t come right away, the soldiers with Saul began to run and hide. Why? They were scared and outnumbered. There were only about three thousand Israelite soldiers, and in 1 Samuel 13:5 we read, “The Philistines assembled to fight Israel with three thousand chariots, six thousand charioteers and soldiers as numerous as the sand on the seashore.”

This was a test designed by the King of kings and Lord of lords to see whether Saul would look to God alone. So Saul waited, but Samuel did not come. On the seventh day, Saul arrogated to himself the power of the priesthood. He reasoned that it was finally time for sacrifice, although Samuel had not come yet, and he offered it himself. As soon as he finished, Samuel arrived (1 Sam. 13:10).

The Problem with Saul

Saul had an explanation for his lack of obedience. We always have explanations too, don’t we? Look at this passage: “‘What have you done?’ asked Samuel. Saul replied, ‘When I saw that the men were scattering,'”meaning his own three thousand, “‘and that you did not come at the set time,'” which was not true “‘and that the Philistines were assembling at Micmash, I thought, “Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the Lord’s favor.” So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering'” (1 Sam. 13:11,12).

What was Saul’s problem? He was looking at everything except the word of the Lord. He saw everything around him except God. Don’t we also make decisions based on what we are seeing? I have heard such explanations many times: “Pastor, time is running out. We have to do something.” How many times have we made decisions based on circumstances? We think and feel compelled to act.

Remember Uzzah? We read about him in 2 Samuel 6. Why was he trying to steady the ark? He saw the oxen stumble and probably thought to himself, “I have to do something about this ark. I want to support God.” Don’t we do the same thing? We want to take care of God and uphold the prestige of his church, so we think we have to act. We have our reasons.

Yes, Saul was facing three thousand chariots, six thousand charioteers, and soldiers like the sand. That is a scary prospect unless one looks to God. But when you look to God, everything is all right. Why? God is the one who created the entire universe by the word of his power. But when you are unbelieving, you become fearful and do whatever you want. Then you justify your actions by saying, “I was trying to help God. I wanted to preserve his reputation and help the church.”

This tall, handsome, unbelieving Saul was full of justification for his actions. He was doing it for God. He was doing it for religion. He was acting as a king for God.

God’s Response

Was God impressed with Saul? Did he thank Saul for helping him out that way? Samuel told Saul, “You acted foolishly” (1 Sam. 13:13). This had been a test. Saul should have kept Samuel’s words in his mind. He should have meditated on them, listened to them, loved them and obeyed them, no matter what. He should have fully relied on Samuel’s word that he would surely come and offer sacrifices after seven days.

How did Saul act? Foolishly. In the Hebrew understanding, foolishly means without God. What about us? Do we figure everything into our circle of reality except God? Oh, we are very careful in our thought processes, making our strategies to deal with our situations. But what did God say? “You acted foolishly. You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time. But now your kingdom will not endure; the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him leader over his people, because you have not kept the Lord’s command” (1 Sam. 10:13-14). Saul did not cherish and obey Samuel’s words. He treated God’s words with contempt and threw them behind his back.

Saul’s Second Test

God gave Saul another opportunity to obey him. In 1 Samuel 15:1-3 we read, “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. 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.”‘” Because the Amalekites were first to attack God’s people after they left Egypt, as we read in Exodus 17, God purposed to wipe them out. Through Saul he would mete out divine judgment to the Amalekites.

Were God’s instructions clear? They were very clear. People come to me, saying, “I was confused. I didn’t know. I had no idea.” Let me tell you, the confusion is in us and not in the word. God’s word was very clear. God was meting out his judgment upon the Amalekites as a harbinger of the eternal judgment that he is going to pour out upon all people who disobey his word. There will be a great judgment, as we read in Hebrews 9:27, “Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment. . . .” There is a real judgment and a real hell, and this account gives a historical type of what will happen in the future.

This was Saul’s second opportunity to obey God. Praise God for second opportunities! God wants to see if we will obey him implicitly or not. To obey is better than the multitude of meetings. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t worship God in a church, but if we don’t obey God, our worship is meaningless and actually brings the judgment of God upon us.

Saul Fails Again

Did Saul obey God’s clear directive this time? Read 1 Samuel 15:9: “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.” Once again Saul adjusted God’s word.

How often we see this adjusting of God’s clear instruction! Everyone is busy reinterpreting the Scripture. Modernists look at the Bible and reinterpret it. Children reinterpret the words their parents give, which for them is the word of God, and do what they want. It seems almost every human being is busy adjusting, fudging and taking away the power and efficacy of the word of God.

How did Saul justify his actions? He told Samuel they wanted to sacrifice the best animals as a pleasing sacrifice to the Lord. Saul was trying to help God out by adjusting his instructions. And, of course, we do the same. Whenever we disobey, we are reinterpreting clear direction, but often we then justify our actions by saying we were trying to help out God or the church or the pastor.

Did God accept Saul’s justification? No. Saul was a liar, a thief, and an unbeliever. How could he help out the God who owns cattle on a thousand hills? Saul was a rebel. God gave him clear direction, but he was a wretched person whose heart was revealed in his response to God’s word.

“To Obey Is Better than Sacrifice”

Although Saul spared Agag and the Amalekite properties, he made an amazing statement to Samuel: “But I did obey the Lord” (1 Sam. 15:20). Of course, he reinterpreted Samuel’s instructions, adjusting them to match up with his own ideas, and then he acted according to the adjusted directions. “‘But I did obey the Lord,’ Saul said. ‘I went on the mission the Lord assigned me. I completely destroyed the Amalekites and brought back Agag their king. The soldiers took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of what was devoted to God, in order to sacrifice them to the Lord your God at Gilgal.'”

Notice, Saul condemned himself. He said he completely destroyed everything, but brought back Agag, the king of the Amalekites, as well as sheep and cattle, which had been devoted to God–but devoted to complete destruction. And he did this, he told Samuel, to sacrifice to the Lord “your” God, meaning Saul had no interest in God. He was trying to help out Samuel and Samuel’s God. He thought that Samuel and his God would be extremely pleased with him.

Was God pleased with Saul’s sacrifices? “Samuel replied: ‘Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has rejected you as king'” (1 Sam. 15:22-23).

Saul thought God would be pleased with his actions, but God labeled it rebellion. What is rebellion? It is the attitude: Not thy will but mine be done. What did Jesus Christ pray in the garden of Gethsemane? Not my will but thine be done. Saul’s actions revealed the rebellion in his heart.

What did Saul’s rebellion reap? “Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has rejected you as king.” You see, this intermittent, superficial obedience will not be accepted by the King of kings and Lord of lords as obedience. No, to him such obedience is rejection. God requires implicit, total, and complete obedience down to the last detail.

Saul Judged and Executed

God judged Saul for his rebellion. The first judgment Saul experienced was the withdrawing of God’s word from him. You see, there was a time the word of the Lord had come to Saul, but he treated it with contempt, fudging, adjusting, reinterpreting, and emptying it of its efficacy. So the first part of God’s judgment on Saul was that he no longer heard the word of the Lord. “Then Samuel left for Ramah, but Saul went up to his home in Gibeah of Saul. Until the day Samuel died, he did not go to see Saul again” (1 Sam. 15:34-35). The word of the Lord was gone.

The second judgment was the departure of the Spirit of the Lord from Saul (1 Sam. 16:14). Can you imagine the condition of a man who reads the word and comes to the church, but he is not hearing or seeing? That means the Holy Spirit is not working in him. It is gone.

In 1 Samuel 28 the Philistines attacked again, and Saul panicked, not knowing what to do. He wanted a word from God, but there was no prophet. There was a famine of the word and the Holy Spirit was gone from him. He “inquired of the Lord, but the Lord did not answer him by dreams or Urim or prophets” (1 Sam. 28:6). Total abandonment! Saul had not wanted to read and study the word of God and do what it said. Now he was starved and abandoned. Nothing was happening in his life. He was totally cast away into the wilderness of human ideas and human philosophies. God was not speaking to him.

Saul sought a word from a witch. How many evangelicals are abandoning their churches and going into all kinds of cults! Why are they doing that? They did not respond to the word of God and they are abandoned by God! Cults are flourishing all over this country and around the world because people did not value the word of the Lord.

God spoke supernaturally to Saul through the witch. Look at verses 16 through 20: “Samuel said, ‘Why do you consult me now that the Lord has turned away from you and become your enemy? The Lord has done what he predicted through me.” Saul should have paid great attention to the word of God when it came to him through Samuel many times. “‘The Lord has torn the kingdom out of your hands and given it to one of your neighbors–to David. Because you did not obey the Lord to carry out his fierce wrath against the Amalekites, the Lord has done this to you today. The Lord will hand over both Israel and you to the Philistines, and tomorrow you and your sons will be with me. The Lord will also hand over the army of Israel to the Philistines.'”

What was the third judgment? Saul and his sons would be destroyed by the Philistines. There is a price we pay for neglecting the word of God and treating it with contempt. First, the word is withdrawn from us; second, the Spirit of God departs; and third, we are destroyed. Read 1 Samuel 31:1-6. It demonstrates that God is serious and real, and his word is powerful. “Now the Philistines fought against Israel; the Israelites fled before them, and many fell slain on Mount Gilboa. The Philistines pressed hard after Saul and his sons, and they killed his sons Jonathan, Abinadab and Malki-Shua. The fighting grew fierce around Saul, and when the archers overtook him, they wounded him critically. Saul said to his armor-bearer, ‘Draw your sword and run me through or these uncircumcised fellows will come and run me through and abuse me.’ But his armor-bearer was terrified and would not do it; so Saul took his own sword and fell on it. So Saul and his three sons and his armor-bearer and all his men died together that same day.”

Saul was abandoned by God because he abandoned the word of the Lord. Everyone was against him, and he finally preferred death to life. He committed suicide on Mount Gilboa, and even now that mountain stands as a reminder of a man who abandoned the word of God and brought such destruction to his entire family as well as to himself.

The Obedient King

There was a king who obeyed God’s word. In Psalm 40 we read of the real King, Christ Jesus, from whom we can learn about obedience. Remember what Samuel said in 1 Samuel 15:22-23? “To obey is better than sacrifice. . .” In Psalm 40:6 we read, “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but my ears you have pierced; burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not require. Then I said, ‘Here I am, I have come–it is written about me in the scroll. I desire to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart'” (Ps. 40:6-8). These words refer to Jesus Christ, as we read in Hebrews 10:5-8. What God desires is obedience to him from the heart.

What did King Jesus Christ always do? He obeyed God’s word, and through his obedience he brought us free salvation. We are saved by grace, not works, but there was someone who had to obey God–Jesus Christ, the very Son of God. He said, “Not my will but thine be done,” and every time he said so, he set his face toward Jerusalem where he would offer himself, once for all, as a sufficient sacrifice for our sins. It is because of Christ’s obedience that we are saved.

Saved for Obedience

If we are God’s people, what should we do? Can we neglect, fudge or reinterpret God’s word now that we have believed in the Lord? We say we are evangelicals. Can we render intermittent obedience or subscribe to antinomianism now that we are people of God?

The answer is no. If we are Christians, we obey God. In 1 Peter 1:1,2 we read, “To God’s elect, strangers in the world, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ. . .”

For what are we saved? Obedience to Jesus Christ, says Peter. Paul writes about this also in his great treatise of the gospel, the book of Romans: “Through him and for his name’s sake we received grace and apostleship to call people from all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith” (Romans 1:5).

There is an idea that is very prevalent and popular today that if you are a Christian and obey God once in a while, God will be very excited. Do you think God will be thrilled if once in a while you show up in the church and put a dime in the offering?

Look at Romans 16:26. In the concluding paragraph of Paul’s great treatise it says, “Now to him who is able to establish you by my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery hidden for long ages but now revealed and made known through the prophetic writings by the command of the eternal God so that all nations might believe and obey him , to the only wise God, be glory forever through Jesus Christ. Amen” (italics added).

If you are born of God, what will you do? Believe and obey. Yes, we are saved by grace, but those who are saved demonstrate that they are people of the God whom they worship and adore by submitting themselves to him and obeying him implicitly and always.

A Call to Obedience

Have you been fudging, adjusting, and reinterpreting God’s word? Did the Spirit of God come to you to tell you to do something according to the Bible? Have there been times when the Spirit spoke to you, but now nothing happens? Was there a time when the word of God gripped you and shook you, but now nothing happens, despite your going to meeting after meeting? If so, I wonder whether the word is gone. There may be no dream, no Urim, no prophet left to teach us because we did not value the word of God.

If the word of God still affects you when you hear it, may you say, “Praise be to God!” When the Holy Spirit speaks to you, may you say, “Thank you, Lord” and run to do what he is telling you. Why? Because if you do not, the time will come when you will be abandoned into the wilderness of human ideas, human psychology, and human philosophies with which we will then begin to govern ourselves and our families. We will begin to look upon our monies and position and feel pretty good about our lives. We will think everything is okay as long as we are educated and able to make money. People may come and tell us about Jesus Christ, and what he has done on the cross. They may tell us that we are going to die tomorrow. But will we take notice? Or will we be happy with our lives, getting our rush from television and things? If we are, what a tragedy that will be!

Do you see signs of abandonment in your life? If so, it is time to recognize them and say, “O God, speak to me; your servant heareth. Lord, give me a word. Give me a hunger and thirst for you and your truth which has come down to us in a book. O Holy Spirit, come upon me mightily that I may know what your will is, and more than that, help me to love it and do it in your power. Help me to do it now. O God, forgive all my justification and nonsense that I have used–even the argument that I am trying to help you. Deliver me from this introspection that sees only my own needs and desires. Help me to see that I am saved to serve God.”

May God have mercy on us and help us to turn to him! May we cherish and embrace his word, hold fast to his statutes, and run to obey them every time.