Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy all that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys. –1 Samuel 15:3, NIV
God instructed Saul to DESTROY EVERYTHING: not one living human or animal being was to be spared. Everything was to perish on their hands. This was their punishment for messing with God’s people- and God Himself. And Israel was more than ready to wage holy war.
So, then, why was Saul so much of a cabezón to actually care what God said? Has he forgotten why God anointed him to become king? Saul himself was the best man suited for the job –although he failed God’s missions quite a few times, he couldn’t fail this one…But he did, and it cost him big time.
While Saul did attack the Amalekites as instructed, he did spare the king AND his sheep and cattle. Foolishness, indeed! (Remember Achan? This nincompoop hid a bit of the treasure plundered from Jericho- which was intended for the Lord’s tabernacle-, and as a result, Israel lost to Ai.)
“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 15:23). These were the words that God used to strike Saul off His royal position-and His grace. (Remember Achan? When Israel lost to Ai, they realized someone bluntly disobeyed to Gods’ commands. After they discovered Achan, they had to burn him and his family to plunge the evil from their land.)
Is there anything that we have to wage war to? Beyond TV, movies, music, Internet, dresses, fads, modas, and whatever things we quarrel with? Is disobedience crippling our sanity and our frienship with the Lord and the peoples? Have we forgotten that we don’t fight against flesh or blood, but with the powers of darkness?
Are we right enough to follow His way?