Obedience is Better Than Sacrifice

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Do you remember the very story of Saul found in 1 Samuel 15? As I was reading my Bible, I remembered just how serious it is that God demands obedience over offerings. Now nothing is wrong with offerings. Nothing is wrong with giving money to your church to help but the question is that whether or not your sacrifice is an abomination? It would be time to talk about the problem of prioritizing sacrifices over obedience.

Saul was now called to cast divine judgment upon the Amalekites. He was told to wipe out that wicked civilization entirely together with the cattle and sheep. But what did he do? We can later read in the same passage that he spared the best sheep and he tried to make excuses. He was trying to please the crowds instead of trying to please God. He loved the praises of men more than the praises of God. I guess that's why he brought King Agag of the Amalekites along with him - to make a boast of himself. He wanted the glory for himself! That's why later in his life - he would end up spending it trying to kill David who was gaining the popularity he once enjoyed before David came along.

Now is anything wrong with wanting to offer the best cattle and sheep to God? Certainly not. David and Solomon offered the best they could. The very problem is that what Saul wanted to offer to God was to be destroyed. God commanded even the cattle, ox and sheep to be destroyed right on the spot! In short, there was no reason to foolishly believe that it would be acceptable to God. When the golden calf was completely destroyed regardless how much gold was used in making that abominable idol! Such was not the case of Saul as he even dared to lie that he had done the LORD's bidding when he had not done it completely.

These are the very verses that still mean a lot and I love how pastors and Bible teachers assign this as a memory verse for the story of Saul in Amalek:
1 Samuel 15:22-23 
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.

It didn't matter how good the cattle and sheep brought back from Amalek were since they were already an abomination to God - they had to be destroyed! The problem is that Saul himself was only trying to be a people person than a person who is devoted to God regardless what people think. It shows that while sacrifices are indeed part of worship but obedience must come first. It must never be sacrifices over obedience. The worse part is where Saul's fake repentance was exposed. He cared more about being king than pleasing God. If he did care about pleasing God then he would have gladly given up the throne. Instead, he chose to follow his own selfishness in contrast to his son Jonathan who would rather do God's will than become the next king of Israel.

This is also very true today. We do remember the story of Cain and Abel. One offering was rejected and the other was rejected. We are told in Hebrews 11:4 that Abel by faith offered a much better sacrifice than Cain. We see that Abel valued God's commands. Cain could have brought his best offering but as said - any work performed in hopes of trying to please God will be in vain. It may be true for Saul when he thought that he could bribe God with the best fat and oxen. He thought he could gloat his status as king of Israel if he also brought Agag. Unfortunately, any offering done in the very spirit of disobedience and hostility isn't going to be acceptable.

Later on, we can read this passage from Isaiah 1 concerning burnt sacrifices and feast days under the Old Testament:
Isaiah 1:11-18 
To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto Me? saith the LORD: I Am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks, or of lambs, or of he goats. [12] When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts? [13] Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto Me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting. [14] Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them. [15] And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood. [16] Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; [17] Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. [18] Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.

The problem is that the people of the land weren't following His commands. It has been the same problem when people put sacrifices above obedience. Sure, you do need to make a sacrifice but is your sacrifice done out of a heart of obedience or one that only seeks to boast to God? God Himself already spoke that the feast days are but abominable because the hands of the people are full of blood. Any of these "good" works are but dead works. These are not acts of goodness that spring forth from a regenerate heart that seeks to please God. These are but good works in hopes that one can enter into God's presence without His Son the Lord Jesus Christ - good works that are but dead works in the sight of God (Isaiah 64:6, Hebrews 9:14). Many people today are morally good by secular standards but even that isn't enough to win Heaven. All they will get is less punishment in Hell but it's still an eternity of torment nonetheless!

This may also be comparable to the very sacrifice of Ahab. Who can remember the very story of Naboth's vineyard in 1 Kings 21? Ahab himself only feared God's judgment and not God Himself. You can imagine how his story progressed. First, he was seen penitent in sackcloth and ashes yet the very next chapter has him defying God's prophet. That sacrifice was only acceptable in the sense that God wasn't going to immediately destroy Ahab's household. However, judgment fell on Ahab especially when he chose to consult false prophets over one who genuinely warned him about his destruction. God ended up allowing the very event of false prophets misleading Ahab as judgment against his mockery of a sacrifice.

What is the difference between the good work of the Christian and the good work of the unbeliever? Unbelievers may do plenty of good works but these are but abomination. They may even give everything to the poor but that can't win them Heaven. The Christian good work is but a result of God's grace. It's the very cry that says, "There is nothing good in me, the good that I do is but the grace of God." It's all but wrought by grace and these lead the acceptable sacrifices.
Titus 2:11-14 
For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, [12] Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; [13] Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; [14] Who gave Himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. 

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