Bleating of Sheep, Lowing of Cattle

Samuel said [to Saul], “What then is this bleating of sheep in my ears? What is this lowing of cattle that I hear?” (1 Samuel 15:12, NIV 1984).

My Musings – The above verse has always caught my eye. Through Samuel, God had instructed Saul “this is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘I will punish the Amalekites for what they did to Israel when they waylaid them as they came up from Egypt. Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy everything 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 15:2-3, NIV 1984).

And Saul and his men set out to do just that. “Saul attacked the Amalekites all the way from Havilah to Shur, to the east of Egypt. He took Agag king of the Amalekites alive, and all his people he totally destroyed with the sword. But Saul and the army spared Agag 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.” (1 Samuel 15:7-9, NIV 1984).

When Samuel caught up with Saul, he was greeted with these words from the king. “The Lord bless you! I have carried out the Lord’s instructions.” (1 Samuel 15:13, NIV 1984). But this is not what Samuel had heard from the Lord. “I am grieved that I have made Saul king, because he has turned away from me and has not carried out my instructions.” (1 Samuel 15:11, NIV 1984). Who do think that Samuel was bound to believe? “What then is this bleating of sheep in my ears? What is this lowing of cattle that I hear?”

Saul’s response was not what one would expect from a responsible commander-in-chief. He passed the buck, claiming credit for what was done right, and blaming others for the right that was left undone. “The soldiers brought them from the Amalekites; they spared the best of the sheep and cattle to sacrifice to the Lord your God, but we totally destroyed the rest.” (1 Samuel 15:15, NIV 1984). “We” did most of what the Lord commanded, but “they” are responsible for the “bleating of sheep” and “lowing of cattle.”

Samuel was having none of it. “‘Stop!’ Samuel said to Saul. ‘Although you were once small in your own eyes, did you not become the head of the tribes of Israel? The Lord anointed you king over Israel. Why did you not obey the Lord? Why did you pounce on the plunder and do evil in the eyes of the Lord?'” (1 Samuel 15: 16, 17, 19, NIV 1984).

If there was ever a time for contrition, this was it. The time to rise to the occasion, for Saul to show his mettle. “‘But I did obey the Lord,’ Saul said. ‘I went on the mission the Lord assigned me. I completely destroyed the Amalekites and brought back Agag their king. The soldiers took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of what was devoted to God, in order to sacrifice them to the Lord your God at Gilgal.'” (1 Samuel 15:20-21, NIV 1984). Rationalization. Spinning the facts.

What comes next is one of the most profound passages in the Old Testament. “But Samuel replied: ‘Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams.'” (1 Samuel 15:22, NIV 1984). Things might have gone better for Saul had he immediately, graciously and humbly accepted Samuel’s rebuke, repented of his disobedience, asked for God’s forgiveness. He did, but too late for effect. Instead, “Samuel said to him, ‘The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to one of your neighbors—to one better than you.'” (1 Samuel 15:28, NIV 1984).

An inauspicious performance from the kingdom’s first king. Nothing but trouble would follow during his reign. “All the days of Saul there was bitter war with the Philistines.” (1 Samuel 14:52, NIV 1984).

My Advice – The Lord has “laid down precepts that are to be fully obeyed.” (Psalm 119:4, NIV 1984). But like Saul, we couldn’t “fully obey.” It would have been “better than sacrifice.” But that was not to be. What was to be, was sacrifice. But not just any sacrifice. “Because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Nor was God pleased with them” (Hebrews 10:4, 8, NIV 1984).

What was needed was a better sacrifice. So,” [Jesus] said, ‘Here I am, I have come to do your will.’ He sets aside the [unpleasing sacrifices] to establish the [better sacrifice]. And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” (Hebrews 10:9-10, NIV 1984). It is best for all of us to immediately, graciously and humbly accept that sacrifice, because “it is impossible for [any other sacrifice] to take away [our] sins.”