There was this song we used to sing as children in school days. It says, obey-obey, obey, obey, obedience is better than sacrifice!
I am thinking about whether or not we understood what we sang, but the good thing we learned was to obey our parents and elders. We did not consider that aspect of sacrifice.
In this message, we will examine the statement, Obedience is better than sacrifice, to understand the content, intent of the speaker, and implication of it.
Meanwhile, have you seen the message, I Desire Mercy, Not Sacrifice? You should give it a read!
Obedience Is Better Than Sacrifice Scripture
The statement, Obedience is better than sacrifice, was coined out of Prophet Samuel’s response to King Saul in 1 Samuel 15:22. The original statement says, ‘To obey is better than sacrifice.’
“And Samuel said, Hath 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 hearken than the fat of rams.” 1 Samuel 15:22 KJV.
The background of the statement depicts a return from war, where the people of Israel offered animal sacrifices to God of the spoils of the Amalekites. But it was done against the instructions given through Prophet Samuel.
In 1 Samuel 15:1–3, Samuel spoke the word of the Lord to Saul, then anointed king over the people of Israel. He told him about Amalek, and what he did to them on their way from Egypt.
Now, Amalek, or Amalekites, was a nation of nations who were known for often attacking the Israelites after they left Egypt. In the past, the prophets prophesied the destruction of the Amalekites from the surface of the earth due to their frequent attacks against Israel.
Prophet Samuel was the one who gave the command for the destruction to be executed under the leadership of King Saul. The instruction was to annihilate (utterly destroy) the Amalekites, but when Saul went, he compromised!
“Saul summoned the people, and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand footmen, and ten thousand men of Judah.
Saul came to the city of Amalek, and laid wait in the valley.
Saul said to the Kenites, ‘Go, depart, go down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them; for you showed kindness to all the children of Israel, when they came up out of Egypt.’ So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites.
Saul struck the Amalekites, from Havilah as you go to Shur, that is before Egypt.
He took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.
But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the cattle, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and wouldn’t utterly destroy them: but everything that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly.” 1 Samuel 15:4–9 WEB.
The narrative in verses 10 and 12 is that the Lord regretted making Saul king over Israel because he disobeyed the command, and that made Samuel angry and crying all night before the Lord.
The next morning, Samuel went to meet Saul, and on the way, he was told that Saul had come to a place called Carmel and made a monument for himself, then went to Gilgal.
“Samuel came to Saul; and Saul said to him, ‘You are blessed by Yahweh! I have performed the commandment of Yahweh.’
Samuel said, ‘Then what does this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the cattle which I hear mean?’
Saul said, ‘They have brought them from the Amalekites; for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the cattle, to sacrifice to Yahweh your God. We have utterly destroyed the rest.’
Then Samuel said to Saul, ‘Stay, and I will tell you what Yahweh has said to me last night.’ He said to him, ‘Say on.’
Samuel said, ‘Though you were little in your own sight, weren’t you made the head of the tribes of Israel? Yahweh anointed you king over Israel;
and Yahweh sent you on a journey, and said, Go, and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.
Why then didn’t you obey the voice of Yahweh, but took the plunder, and did that which was evil in the sight of Yahweh?’
Saul said to Samuel, ‘But I have obeyed the voice of Yahweh, and have gone the way which Yahweh sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.
But the people took of the plunder, sheep and cattle, the chief of the devoted things, to sacrifice to Yahweh your God in Gilgal.’” 1 Samuel 15:13–21 WEB.
At this point, let me highlight four things:
- The instruction was to utterly destroy the Amalekites, not to take the best of them and utterly destroy the rest.
- But Saul and the people took the King of Amalek, their best animals and goods, and destroyed the rest.
- He claimed that he had obeyed the commandment of the Lord by doing so.
- When Samuel confronted him about his disobedience, he insisted that he was in obedience to the commands, suggesting that the spoils they took were for sacrifice to the Lord.
According to the event, there was no necessity to sacrifice to the Lord, and the attitude of King Saul was a rebellion against the Lord.
“Samuel said, ‘Has Yahweh as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of Yahweh? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.
For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as idolatry and teraphim. Because you have rejected Yahweh’s word, he has also rejected you from being king.’
Saul said to Samuel, ‘I have sinned; for I have transgressed the commandment of Yahweh, and your words, because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice.
Now therefore, please pardon my sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship Yahweh.’” 1 Samuel 15:22–25 WEB.
Obedience Is Better Than Sacrifice Meaning
After Samuel made the comparison between offerings, sacrifices, and obeying the Lord, he cleared the air by pointing out that obedience is better than sacrifice.
He went on to address the disobedience of Saul in the light of rebellion and stubbornness, which he likened to the sin of witchcraft, idolatry, and teraphim.
However, Saul’s response (in repentance) and reason for disobedience were striking at that point. It reminded me of what Peter said before the council of priests after they were instructed against the will of God not to teach in the name of Jesus.
“But Peter and the apostles answered, We must obey God rather than men.” Acts 5:29 WEB.
That would lead us to consider what the statement, Obedience is better than sacrifice means from the portion it was derived.
First, I would say the main keywords in the statement are obedience and sacrifice. Obedience is the noun word for the verb obey, derived from the Latin word obedire, but obedience is obedientia.
Obedience means submission, compliance, and adherence to an authority, order, or instruction. It is the opposite of rebellion (disobedience). And from the passage, to obey is to listen, hear, and do as told.
Sacrifice, from the Latin word sacrificium, is an offering given to a deity. It is usually an animal, a person, or a possession. From the passage, the sacrifice refers to offering animals to God.
Obedience is better than sacrifice, which means hearing and doing God’s commands is more desirable than offering animals to God. In other words, God delights in people doing what He instructs them rather than seeing them offer animals.
In the Old Testament, wars and animal sacrifices were usual activities. For the Israelites, prophets held high positions as oracles, and when they won a war, they could offer animals to God as a way of Thanksgiving or to honor Him. Otherwise, they did so to appease God for their wrongdoings or to make a request.
It was not strange that when Saul went to war, he returned with the fat of Rams and the best animals of the Amalekites to offer to the Lord. But he did it against the instructions. To him, he was doing the right thing by bringing the best animals to sacrifice for the God of Samuel, as he said. But the Lord was not interested in it.
The statement that obedience is better than sacrifice could apply to other occasions. For instance, the preacher said:
“Guard your steps when you go to God’s house; for to draw near to listen is better than to give the sacrifice of fools, for they don’t know that they do evil.” Ecclesiastes 5:1 WEB.
The above potion presents a picture of an assembly where there are spoken words and offerings given. The preacher instructs that those who go there should be careful because doing so to listen or learn is better than going there to give an offering of fools. If you continue reading the preacher’s message, you will see the ones he called fools.
But moving on, the idea around ‘Obedience is better than sacrifice’ goes down to as little as being told to do something in a way and choosing to do it in another way to create an impression or please the order.
Why Obedience Is Better Than Sacrifice?
Obedience is better than sacrifice because obeying leads to acceptance before God and man, and sacrifice, if not obediently done, will lead to rejection. Samuel told Saul, “Because you have rejected Yahweh’s word, he has also rejected you from being king.”
What is the word of God to the world? What is He commanding us to do? Brother John said:
“This is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, even as he commanded.
He who keeps his commandments remains in him, and he in him. By this we know that he remains in us, by the Spirit which he gave us.” 1 John 3:23–24 WEB.
