1 Samuel 15:22 And Samuel said, Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. 23 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, he hath also rejected thee from being king.
The prophet Samuel had just anointed Saul to be King over His people with the command to listen and obey the words from the Lord to him. The specific word was to utterly destroy Amalek, all with him, and all they had, sparing nothing. In the past Amalek had opposed God’s people’s entry into Canaan’s Land by attacking the weak, faint, and those lagging behind in the advance. God was saying in destroying Amalek that He hates what fights against His plan advancing in His people’s lives and what comes against their weaknesses and vulnerabilities.
Instead of fully obeying God, Saul partially obeys and spares the King Agag, the best of the sheep, oxen, fatlings, lambs, and all that was good. Substituting his way or plan for God’s way and plan, Saul was attempting to appear obedient yet not fully obey what God said. I guess he thought he had a better plan than God. Sometimes our disobedience is not in defiantly resisting God but partially obeying God by substituting our way for His. God’s ways are not our ways (Isaiah 55:8) and God’s way is always perfect (2 Samuel 22:31). Read the whole story in 1 Samuel 15 and you will see that partial obedience is disobedience and disobedience is marked by:
v. 13 It sets a person up to live a lie;
v. 15 It is marked by excuses;
v. 19. It leads to doing evil in the sight of the Lord;
v. 20 It brings deception;
v. 21 It shifts blame and doesn’t take responsibility;
v. 22 It also leads to making sacrifices in other areas to appease ones conscience for disobedience in other areas.
v. 23 We can know what God thinks of disobedience for He calls it:
Rebellion – It usurps the authority of God in our life.
Witchcraft – It opens our heart to satanic dominion and manipulation
Stubbornness – It is a refusal to yield to the will of God
Idolatry – We worship ourselves or our self willed opinions and thoughts above worship of God.
That doesn’t sound trivial, trite, or frivolous to me. Let’s not be so dismissive about our disobedience but instead put the weight upon it that God does.
DISOBEDIENCE IS NOT A TRIVIAL THING WITH GOD
Pastor John Rasicci is the founder and Pastor of Word of His Grace Church in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, where we are building people who are building the Church. Pastor's ministry mission is to help people discover God's dream for their Life, the Local Church, and the Last Days' Harvest. With a strong emphasis on the grace of God and with a prophetic voice, Pastor John preaches and teaches in churches, conferences, and crusades both locally and throughout the world. He has produced books, tapes, and other teaching materials to empower, enable, and equip Believers with the Word of God. Pastor John is married to his wife Candy who with their three children, Krista, Joanna, John Anthony, and two son-in-laws, Matt and Doug, serve together in the ministry. After graduating from Kent State University, Pastor John pursued a career in professional baseball before accepting the call to the ministry. He and his wife, Candy, received their ministry training from Rhema Bible Training Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
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