Obedience to God is far more important than most Christians realize.
Proverbs 16:12: “For the throne is established in righteousness.”
Israel’s first king sadly lost his throne because of unrighteousness. His unrighteousness was revealed in the two tests God gave him in regard to defeating Israel’s enemies.
TEST NO. 1 * 1 Samuel 13:8-14:
God, through the prophet, Samuel, told Saul that he was not to take any action against the Philistines who vastly outnumbered his small army of 3,000. The Philistines, on the other hand had “30,000 chariots and 6,000 horsemen, and people as the sand which is on the sea shore in multitude.” All these came and drew the battle against Saul’s pitiful 3,000 man army.
The first thing King Saul had to do was to wait for the prophet Samuel to arrive and offer a burnt sacrifice to the Lord, plus peace offerings. After seven days of waiting for Samuel to arrive and great pressure mounting, Saul committed his first act of unrighteousness. He disobeyed the word of the Lord. Through impatience, he offered the sacrifice himself! This act of disobedience began the de-establishment of his throne. It was sad, and understandable from human reasoning. But our human reasoning is no excuse for disobedience from God’s sovereign point of view, no matter how extreme the pressure.
The greater the pressure, the greater opportunity for God to show Himself strong on the behalf of those whose heart is perfect toward Him.
Despite Saul’s disobedience, God gave Israel an amazing victory over the Philistines through his son, Jonathan. Praise God for his amazing grace.
Sadly, Saul did not learn from this experience. Even though God put to flight the Philistines, He never realized the importance of being completely obedient to God. Therefore, his kingdom continued to become weaker.
To be continued.
Be encouraged.
Colin Campbell