Substitute Sacrifices

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This sermon comes from 1 Samuel 15 regarding the story of Saul's battle against the Amalekites in which he spared the best of the animals to bring back and sacrifice to God. Samuel rebukes him by telling him that sacrifices cannot take the place of obedience to God's commands. The message suggests some of the ways people offer God something other than obedience to His Word.

Written Excerpts:

1 Samuel 15:22 ^(NKJV) So Samuel said: "Has 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 heed than the fat of rams.

Introduction:

Does anyone remember when you were a child or teenager your father/mother either asked you or told you to do something you didn’t really want to do? Rather than do what you were asked to do, you decided to do something else instead. Maybe you reasoned, this other job/task is much more pleasant and they really like that too, so it will be better anyway. I’ll be happier and they will be happy! Or, maybe one of your own children tried that approach a time or two.

So… How did that work out? If your parents were anything like mine, the other job, which I did instead of the one they told me to do, did not accomplish what I had hoped it would! In fact, the only thing my little scheme accomplished was to prolong the amount of time to get the original job done that I was told to do. If I had just done what I was told, I would have been done with it and on my “merry way” long before I was.

Well, that little illustration relates to the story in our Scripture lesson today.

Earlier in the chapter, the prophet Samuel told King Saul that God was ordering the total destruction of the Amalekites. Why? Because they had fought against the people of Israel when they were traveling from Egypt to Canaan. Even after the Israelites settled in Canaan, the people of Amalek repeatedly fought against the Israelites. (Recorded in the book of Judges.)

Exodus 17:14-16 ^(NKJV) Then the LORD said to Moses, "Write this for a memorial in the book and recount it in the hearing of Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven." ¹⁵ And Moses built an altar and called its name, The-LORD-Is-My-Banner; ¹⁶ for he said, "Because the LORD has sworn: the LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation."

Deuteronomy 25:17-19 ^(NKJV) "Remember what Amalek did to you on the way as you were coming out of Egypt, ¹⁸ how he met you on the way and attacked your rear ranks, all the stragglers at your rear, when you were tired and weary; and he did not fear God. ¹⁹ Therefore it shall be, when the LORD your God has given you rest from your enemies all around, in the land which the LORD your God is giving you to possess as an inheritance, that you will blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. You shall not forget.

When God says something is going to take place, it doesn’t always mean it will happen immediately. So now this is many years later and God is giving the orders to go to war against the people of Amalek and completely destroy them.

King Saul gets back from the big war campaign and meets up with Samuel. Saul says, “Blessed are you of the LORD! I have performed the commandment of the LORD.” ¹⁴ But Samuel said, "What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?" (1 Samuel 15:13-14)

Saul and the army were supposed to destroy everyone, including the animals. But Samuel can hear animals. Saul also spared the life of the wicked King Agag. Saul didn’t really give any excuse for sparing Agag’s life, but this is what he said concerning the animals:

1 Samuel 15: 21 ^(NKJV) … "But the people took of the plunder, sheep and oxen, the best of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice to the LORD your God in Gilgal."

So you see that Saul is essentially saying, “Well, the people thought that the best of the animals would make really good sacrifices for the Lord. So we just decided to bring those on back home and we’ll present an extra special sacrifice to the Lord!” Samuel’s reply to Saul can be paraphrased like this, “It is far better to obey the command of the Lord than to offer Him all kinds of sacrifices. God doesn’t approve of or even want your sacrifices if you haven’t obeyed Him.” The point of the story seems to be the fact that Saul thought that impressive sacrifices could cover up for the disobedience. Saul isn’t the last person to ever think that!

Today, I want to refer to some other Scriptures to describe the kinds of sacrifices people substitute for obedience to the Lord.

I.      Some people offer sacrifices of religious service as a substitute for obedience.

In Isaiah, after God says to the people of Israel, who has required all these sacrifices and offerings from you? Then He says in vv. 16-17:

Isaiah 1:16-17 ^(NKJV) "Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. Cease to do evil, ¹⁷ Learn to do good; Seek justice, Rebuke the oppressor; Defend the fatherless, Plead for the widow. 

Matthew 5:23-24 ^(NKJV) Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, ²⁴ leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.

In both of these contexts, God is reminding us that religious activity, even the kind that He requires or asks for, is not a substitute for obedience in the other areas of our lives. People who go to church on Sunday mornings to give God “the required two hours for this week” but they completely disregard God’s Word and His will through the other six days are a lot like these Israelites that Isaiah is describing.

II.    Some people offer the sacrifice of a good moral life as a substitute for obedience.

Rich young ruler.

Matthew 19:21 ^(NKJV) Jesus said to him, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me."

Jesus told this young ruler what he needed to do after the man had affirmed that he had obeyed all the commands Jesus quoted to him. Jesus wasn’t just adding one more command to the list for him to live by, but He was touching on the very thing that the young ruler had his heart, his affections and his trust in.

The Bible says that he went away sorrowful. He had been willing to keep doing all the things he already had been doing, but he wasn’t willing to obey the Lord and give up the one thing he trusted in.

III.   Some people offer the sacrifice of a nominal faith as a substitute for obedience.

James 2:17 ^(NKJV) Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

The Apostle James and other writers in the NT distinguish between a belief that is merely intellectual agreement vs. genuine faith that produces a lifestyle that confirms what we say we believe.

There are a lot of people who say they believe in God; a lot of people who say they believe in Jesus and the fact He died for our sins. They say they believe in His resurrection, but their belief has never had any real impact on the way they live their lives. It hasn’t translated into obedience to His will.

They tend to excuse ungodly behavior by saying such things as, “No one is perfect.” “We all sin.” That kind of “faith” is not a substitute for a genuine faith that produces obedience and devotion to God.

IV.   What kind of sacrifice does God want?

The Psalms tell us that God desires sacrifices that come from a broken, humble and contrite spirit. (Ps. 51:17)

God desires sacrifices of righteousness (Ps. 4:5). That is, sacrifices of right living accompanied with right attitudes; not hypocritical.

God desires sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving. Hebrews 13:15 ^(NKJV) Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.

Conclusion:

Several years ago, I was in my car listening to the radio, and I heard part of a sermon by Dr. Joseph Stowell, who was currently the president of Moody Bible Institute in Chicago.

He said, “God’s first commandment is: Love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, which obviously includes ‘obey Him.’

“We say, ‘Okay, God, I’ll love you and obey you.’

“So God says, ‘My second command is love your neighbor as yourself.’

“Immediately we respond, ‘But Lord, you don’t know what my neighbor is like! I’ll double my tithe. I’ll be a missionary. I’ll even volunteer for nursery duty!’”

Well, I’m afraid it is true of many Christians. We’re too much like King Saul. Rather than obey the word of God when He clearly reveals to us what He desires, we try to “appease” Him by offering bigger and better “sacrifices.”

Look at the NT Saul, who became the Apostle Paul. He, along with most all of the Pharisees and religious leaders, became more and more zealous with their legalism and rule-making, thinking they were doing a great service to God.

I urge every one of us today, to examine our hearts and lives to see if we too have been guilty of trying to avoid what God has told us He wants, and we’ve offered something else to Him instead.

The answer is in the closing hymn: Living for Jesus