Saul was the first king of Israel, but there came a time when God rejected his leadership. What did Saul do that brought about this situation?
(1) He disobeyed God’s clear directions (1 Samuel 15.10).
(2) He built a monument that glorified himself (1 Samuel 15.12).
(3) He claimed that his half-measures were full obedience to God’s guidance (1 Samuel 15.13-16).
The prophet Samuel spoke to Saul and declared God’s decision in response to Saul’s behavior.
“Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices
as in obedience to the voice of the Lord?
Surely, to obey is better than sacrifice
and to heed than the fat of rams.
“For rebellion is no less a sin than divination,
and stubbornness is like iniquity and idolatry.
Because you have rejected the word of the Lord,
he has also rejected you from being king.” (1 Samuel 15.22-23)
We do well to evaluate our relationship with God in the light of Samuel’s message.
Do we attempt to substitute worship and prayer for following God’s directions?
Do we justify our half-measures by making comparisons with other people saying, “I know I’m not perfect, but I do better than other people?”
Do we realize that God places half-hearted obedience in the same category as rebellion, idolatry, and iniquity?
Gilgal’s History
Saul’s rebellion took place at Gilgal and formed the background of Hosea’s message to Israel.
Every evil of theirs began at Gilgal;
there I came to hate them.
Because of the wickedness of their deeds
I will drive them out of my house.
I will love them no more;
all their officials are rebels. (Hosea 9.15)
Just as God rejected Saul, Hosea announced the same for the nation. Just as Saul served God with half-measures, so did the nation.
They claimed to serve Jehovah but also were devoted to the Baals. The result was they were at best lukewarm toward Jehovah.
It is extremely important that God’s people faithfully obey him. Once we have experienced God’s call on our lives, half-measures and lukewarm devotion will not be tolerated.
Similar to God’s message to Saul and the Israelites, Jesus spoke to the lukewarm church in Laodicea.
“I know your works; you are neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were either cold or hot. So, because you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I am about to spit you out of my mouth” (Revelation 3.14-15).
Obedience not Sacrifice
I don’t see attending a worship service as a form of sacrifice unless it is enduring one of my boring sermons.
I estimate that I have attended 2,860 Sunday morning worship services in my lifetime. You’d think that preaching or listening to so many sermons would have had a life-changing impact on my life.
What if 2,860 Sunday morning experiences have only resulted in lukewarm, half-hearted devotion to the Savior who died and rose from the grave for me?
Like Saul and many modern worshipers, people who attempt to substitute worship or sacrifice for obedience need to pay attention to Hosea’s warning.
Ephraim is stricken,
their root is dried up,
they shall bear no fruit.
Even though they give birth,
I will kill the cherished offspring of their womb.
Because they have not listened to him,
my God will reject them;
they shall become wanderers among the nations. (Hosea 9.16-17)
How have Israel and modern Christians failed God? It is not by failing to engage in some form of worship, but by disobedience, not listening and obeying God’s directions.
Toni and I have driven to California on a few occasions. I use GPS to navigate the route. Sometimes the directions seem strange, especially when we encounter construction zones.
If I follow the directions even when they seem counter to my instincts, they take us to our destination.
God has given humans clear directions for life with the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20) and the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). If we follow these directions, we will arrive at the destination God has designed for us.
Half-hearted obedience is like deliberately taking wrong turns and expecting to arrive where we (and God) want us to go.
Possibly, we should return to the map God has given us and ask him to help us follow his directions.
YouTube Video
Rudy Ross and I discuss this passage on YouTube today. It is on the Bob Spradling channel.
Real Voices 