1/31/23 - 1 Samuel 15:10-23

1 Samuel 15:10-23

Observation:

10-11: During Samuel's prayer, the Lord has told Samuel His regret on annoiting Saul as king of Israel as Saul has disobyed the Lord's instruction.

12: Samuel was informed Saul set up a monument at Carmel and afterwards went to Gilgal.

13-23: Samuel reaches Saul and accuses Saul of his disobedience to the Lord's instructions. Saul attempts to explain himself by stating he destroyed everything however he kept the best sheep and cattle so that he may sacrifice them to "the Lord your God". Samuel did not want to hear it and reiterate to Saul the Lord's instruction followed by questioning Saul's disobedience. Saul's rebuttal was that he strongly felt he did follow and obey the Lord's instruction and whatever he and the soldiers kept was to be offered up as sacrifices to the Lord. Samuel replies with a question on which is better, sacrifices or obedience followed by further explaining the concept of sin. At the end Samuel states to Saul on how the Lord has rejecting Saul as king. 

Interpretation:

Verse 1-9 explains the people of Amalek must be punished and through Samuel, the Lord has instructed Saul to wipe the entire populus of Amalek down to their entire lifestock (this includes cattle, sheep, camels and donkeys). Even the women and children to be laid waste; therefore, this shows the true urgency behind the Lord's command. So Saul goes out prepares his army and attacks the Amalekites and Saul clearly disobeys God by not only sparing Agag (king of the Amalekites) but Saul also spares the "best" livestock in cattle, sheep and lamb according to the scripture. It was common practice that the armies were allowed to plunder whatever they conquered as this was often known as their "reward" or "payment". Here it's clearly sinning against God as God's judgement on the Amalekites was to completely wipe them out and not obtain any prize/benefits from the war. This clearly showed the Israelites lack of obedience and did not completely grasp God's intent in His judgement.

God then comes to Samuel and opens up to Samuel by stating how He "greatly regret" having Saul be the king of Israel; this shows us a glimpse into how Saul broke God's heart. Samuel went to Saul and he called out Saul by unleashing and voicing out God's anger towards Saul. Samuel rebukes Saul's disobedience by explaining to Saul that "partial obedience" is still complete disobedience. Samuel further explains to Saul of his criminalistic sin and how what Saul self-deceived himself by thinking keeping the "best" livestock and offering it up to the Lord was simply not enough. We can see the poor relationship that Saul had with God when Saul kept replying back to Samuel with "the Lord your God". Samuel eventually heard enough of Saul's feeble excuses and informs to him on how the Lord rejects Saul as king. Samuel defends this claim by stating to Saul on how the Lord sent Saul out on a mission giving clear instructions on "utterly destroying" yet Saul kept trying to himself that he did do that eventually blaiming the people taking the plunder and not blaming himself. Verse 22-23, Samuel sets up God's judgment on Saul by first explaining to Saul that "to obey is better than sacrifice" and breaking it down further by stating a stubborn heart that rejects the Lord is the same as someone who rejects God by idolistic or worldly practices. And because of how Saul rejects God through idolatry and disobeying the Lord's commands, in turn God rejects Saul.

Personal Reflection:

When God calls on us to do something we better do it to the exact detail that God has commanded. Here it could be interpreted on how the Lord commands us to entirely wipe the entire sin that is affecting our lives and our relationship with God with nothing being left behind. Yet often times, we tend to deceive ourselves by justifying the exact core of the sin. There's quite a bit to unfold here. First is the absolute disobedience between Saul and God when the Lord instructed Saul to do something and Saul failed to do exactly what was asked of him. Second is the lackof relationship between Saul and God where you can see Saul stating to Samuel "your God' as if the Lord God is not truly Saul's God while only belonging to Samuel. And lastly the frail, unapolegetic excuses Saul was providing to Samuel when Saul was being called out for his epic sin. During high school, I had a close friend of mine call me out for the things that I was doing and admittingly that was harming a sister-in-Christ reputation. Long-story short, we were dating and at some point into the relationship, I decided to end it as it became overbearing and I was not mature enough to handle the relationship. However, afterwards, with our friends asking on why I ended the relationship, my response was quite cruel and gave the wrong impression about the innocent ex-girlfriend. What was even worse was that during our relationship, while deep in my prayers, God provided clear instructions for me to stop dating her. I kept delaying it giving God lame excuses that it's not the right time or trying to prove to God that I can make it work. I can tell over time when I was dating the girl, my relationship with God deteriorated over time. Eventually our relationship did not last and looking back, even though we were both considered as strong Christians, the relationship failed. Obviously, God was not the central part of the relationship but moreover it was simply humans trying to make the relationship work and not allowing God to be the ones to guide us. And just when things couldn't have gotten worse, it didn't help when I would gossip and slander the girl when I should have kept things quiet and solely between us and not informing to the world that I was not to be blamed. One day, my close friend who knew both me and the ex-girlfriend, came to me and flat out called me out and told me to stop. At first, being extremely shocked, I did not know what my friend was referring to but after some thought I knew right then and there, God was not only speaking to me through my friend, but He was giving me another chance and instructing me to stop, seek forgiveness and repent. There are times throughout my life and even up to now when I know God is speaking to me and instructing me to do certain things. The biggest instruction as of late was being guided to attend DC (Disciple Church) even when I put it off many times but every time through my aunt, God would tell me to go to DC. It's funny when I pray to God asking which church to attend that would be best for me and for my family, God would tell me the answer but I would reason with God letting Him know that I have other churches in mind thinking as if God's answers are not good enough. 

Application:

The Lord has instructed me to serve in a church and that I will do. The entire message from this passage is simply to obey to fullest extent and not thinking partial obedience is full obedience. I want to commit myself to wherever God is leading me and I pray that whatever direction I am being lead I do not become hindered along the way. Satan is around the corner and he'll do everything he can to disrupt my relationship with God whether it's physical, mental, emotional and/or spiritual. For instance, the past 2 weeks I've been physically ill where it was difficult for me to do things even my work, taking care of children, my QT and anything in general. But overall to sum things up, I need to remind myself that God expects full obedience and that's better than anything else I can do at this point.