Any Ba or Moo in Your Life?

O. T. #604  "Any Ba or Moo in Your Life?"
September 29, 2015
1 Samuel 15
But Samuel said, "What then is this bleating of sheep in my ears? What is this lowing of cattle that I hear?"  1 Samuel 15:14

LET IT GLOW

It would be a good thing to exam our hearts every now and then. Is there sin in my life? Is there evidence that we disobeyed God's instructions to us, as Saul did? How serious is the consequence of such? Saul lost something very valuable to him as a result. Let us learn this lesson by another's mistakes and not our own, dear ones.

God decided to take Saul's kingdom away from him due to his disobedience in offering a burnt offering in the place of Samuel the priest and prophet. We read about Saul's impatience, his pride as he almost killed his son Jonathan over a minute matter. Now we see the pathetic disobedience of Saul.

God gave Saul an opportunity to redeem himself with obedience. The judgment was to be a complete and total annihilation of anything that breathed.
This specific instruction for Saul's army to totally kill all the Amalekites and their animals. The total wipe out of the Amalekite people is foretold in Exodus 17:8-16; Deut. 25:17-19; Numbers 24:20; Judges 6:3-5. These nomadic people of the desert and descendants of Esau, became a marked people when they attacked Israel in the wilderness after leaving Egypt. (MacArthur)

What happened is Amalek attacked Israel's people at the rear, those who were feeble and weary, old and sickly as they traveled through the wilderness to their Promised Land. How heartless is that! Those people could not defend themselves. The Lord told Moses to write in a book and tell Joshua that He would completely blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven. God's judgment was upon these people. Our Father takes care of His beloved children.

Returning to Saul, he and his 210,000 men army went to battle with the Amalekites and defeated them. It might seem that Saul was successful, but not so. He had his marching orders, but failed to completely obey them.
What about us, do we completely obey God or incompletely obey?

LET IT GROW

What did Saul and his army do, according to verse 9?

• He took Agag, king of the Amalekites, alive, instead of killing him along with all of the Amalekites, which were destroyed with a sword. 
• He allowed the people to capture the best of the sheep, oxen, fat cattle, and the lambs, and all that was good. 
• They were unwilling to destroy completely, but everything that was despised and weak they totally destroyed.  

The Lord saw all that was happening, so He had a talk with His servant Samuel. God sent Samuel to Saul with the confrontation of his disobedience. Then Saul began talking to Samuel, "I have carried out the LORD's instructions."

1. First, Saul disobeys God's command.
2. Then he lies to God's prophet Samuel about the situation.
3. Next, Samuel asked Saul, What then is this bleating of sheep in my ears? What is this lowing of cattle that I hear?

         In other words, what is that I hear? The evidence is convicting the guilty-Saul.
         If Saul actually did carry out the LORD's instructions completely, then there would be no bas
         or moos to be heard. Do we have any bas or moos in our life, something that is evidence against
         us that we disobeyed God?
      4. Saul plays the blame-game when caught in an act of disobedience. He blames the soldiers that
          took the sheep and cattle.  
      5. Finally, Saul made an excuse for them, saying they took the best sheep and cattle in order to
          sacrifice them to the LORD your God at Gilgal.

Come on guy. The evidence is against you standing right there with ba-ba and moo-moo. give me a break. Fess up like a man. Saul didn't due to his pride again. Really, as though he could deceive the man of the God who sees and knows all. (I want to say, "How stupid can you get, Saul?" but I won't.)

Hang on friends, I know this is lengthy, but we are not through yet. Today has a surprise ending.

Verses 22 and 23, NIV say:
But Samuel replied: "Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as I 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."

     6. Finally, Saul confesses that he sinned and violated the LORD's command and Samuel's
         instructions. He added that he was afraid of the people and gave into them (another excuse). In
         addition, Saul asks Samuel to forgive his sin and come back with him so he could worship the
         LORD.

     7. Samuel refused to go back with Saul because Saul rejected the word of the LORD and the
         LORD rejected Saul as king over Israel.

     8. It doesn't end there. Saul was begging Samuel, bowing down and catching hold of the hem of
         his robe as Samuel was leaving.
  
      9. Samuel said to Saul, "The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given
          it to one of your neighbors-to one better than you." (Reference to David)

     10. Verse 29 says, "He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change His mind, for He is
            not a man, that He should change His mind."

Today's chapter is filled with a lot of wisdom and instructions for us to sit up and take notice. It would be to our advantage to heed them, also.

LET IT GO

Instead of giving sacrifices in its place, obey God.

Heed His Word.

Put away rebellion and arrogance.

Obey God's Words and instructions to me.