‘Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices
    as much as in obeying 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.’ (1 Samuel 15:22-23)

The Hebrew word that is translated ‘to obey’ is שָׁמַע ‘to hear’.  When God speaks, all must not simply hear, but listen and take heed.   The same imperative proceeds what Jesus defines as the Greatest Commandment:

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.  (Deuteronomy 6:4)

To hear God is to know his will – as the prophet Moses continues, ‘these words that I command you today shall be on your heart’ (ibid 6:5).  In the illustration of Saul, what is seen is that when God speaks, He expects obedience.  To know God’s will and to disregard it is enough to ensure God’s rejection.

Thus, Samuel delivers the rejection of Saul and God’s reasons for doing so.  The King of Israel was without excuse as the prophet had previously relayed divine warning and concise instructions, at Saul’s accession:

… Samuel said to Saul, ‘the Lord sent me to anoint you king over his people Israel; now therefore listen to the words of the Lord. Thus says the Lord of hosts, “I have noted what Amalek did to Israel in opposing them on the way when they came up out of Egypt. Now go and strike Amalek and devote to destruction all that they have. Do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.”’  (Ibid 15:1-3)

And what was the exact nature of his transgression? 

… Saul and the army spared Agag (King of the Amelekites) and the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves and lambs – everything that was good. These they were unwilling to destroy completely, but everything that was despised and weak they totally destroyed. (ibid 15:9)

Saul begs for forgiveness:

Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice. Now therefore, please pardon my sin and return with me that I may worship the Lord.” (Ibid 15:24-25)

But Samuel knows that God would have none of it, not least because his weak excuse amounted to that as king, and a king anointed withal, he feared his subjects over his God.  Samuel is withering in his brevity:

‘You have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you as king over Israel!’ (ibid 15:26)

The apostle Paul reminds the church of Rome, that the Hebrew Scriptures concerning former times are given for present instruction (Romans 15:4).  The trials and tribulations of the prophets, kings, judges, all those anointed before the advent of Christ are recorded so that all those, also anointed by being reborn by that same Spirit (John 3:7), can understand God’s justice and mercy.  From the example of Saul then, all can note that obedience to God’s will is not simply highly valued, but essential, for the lack thereof is nothing less than false worship, that is idolatry.  This is best seen by closer examination.

Firstly, it shows that none may ‘interpret’ God’s commands by taking them in the ‘spirit’ of their intent, but must obey them to the letter.  Today, this is seen by many as legalism and yet Jesus was clear to give us a definition of legalism, quoting Isaiah:

‘“These people honour me with their lips,
    but their hearts are far from me.
They worship me in vain;
    their teachings are merely human rules.”

You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.’

And he continued, ‘You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions! (Mark 7:7-9).

Secondly, obedience to God is the essential property of a godly person, as Jesus reiterates many times.  The only relationship God will entertain is one in which his will is done and none other’s.

When a person is made righteous through faith, this is an act of God.  Faith itself is a gift (Ephesians 2:8-9) and the object of that faith, Jesus, who is Lord and God is by revelation (Matthew 16:17), yet another act of God.  Thus, any are called and justified is an act of God, this is unconditional – it has to be so, because before justification all are enemies of God (Romans 5:10); however, once justified further blessings are conditional.

Take forgiveness, as Jesus emphasizes:

… if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. (Matthew 6:14)

In the same teaching, Jesus has stated all ‘love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven’, ibid 5:44-45a; ‘so that you may be’ is the bar he sets, ‘if you would be’ have a restored relationship with your Creator.

Any can be as Saul, interpreting and modifying the Word of God, but if anyone does so, they risk the very same response that Saul received.  Through Samuel, God gave him no reassurance of forgiveness, rather He cast Saul aside.  This might seem harsh, until consideration is given to what lies behind any disobedience. 

This is third lesson behind the woeful tale of Saul.

When Saul puts aside divine instruction, he set his own standard of justice and mercy over God’s.  Scripture does not say what motivated to spare Agog, perhaps Saul thought his standard of mercy was higher, or more likely he could derive benefit.  That is the implication for why Saul kept the best of flock and herds.

In this way, disobedience is rebellion against God’s right to prosecute his will, and this is far more serious than one act of ‘simple’ disobedience.  Through Samuel, God makes this plain to Saul rebelled, and this is synonymous with the blasphemy of divination and idolatry.

The book known as ‘Hebrews’ examines disobedience through lens of rebellion, drawing upon the refusal of the Israelites to enter Canaan

‘… who were those who heard and yet rebelled? Was it not all those who left Egypt led by Moses? And with whom was he provoked for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient?  (Hebrews 3:16-18)

The same author holds up Jesus as the model of obedience:

…when Christ came into the world, he said:

‘Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,
    but a body you prepared for me;

 with burnt offerings and sin offerings
    you were not pleased.
Then I said, “Here I am – it is written about me in the scroll –
    I have come to do your will, my God.”’

First, he said, ‘Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them’– though they were offered in accordance with the law. Then he said, ‘Here I am, I have come to do your will.’ (Hebrew 10:5-9)

In quoting Isaiah, the writer of Hebrews points to Jesus as the perfect sacrifice, but note that obedience is the cornerstone of his ministry.  

Jesus has authority over everything and yet he too must be subservient to the Heavenly Father that sent him:

For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. (John 6:38) 

Jesus model unlike Saul’s, shows God’s authority is paramount: there can be no hope of salvation without doing so; rebellion leads to death while obedience leads to life.  It is by faith that all are saved; yet ‘faith without works is dead’ (James 2:26).  And what are ‘works’, if not acts of obedience?