Anonymous writes "As disturbing as God’s order is Saul still follows all the parts we find horrible. He kills all the people except the king. He kills all the animals that are less than perfect, but keeps most of them. In other words Saul’s humanity did not well up against God’s command to commit genocide, his greed for a ransom and for the flocks of Amalek overcame God’s command. When Samuel confronts Saul he blames the people, saying that they forced him to preserve the animal, but that he was planning on sacrificing them to God. This leads to Samuel uttering one of the most profound thoughts in our relationship with God. “Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifice as much as in obedience?” Given that God appointed a new king right after this I think His position on the matter is rather clear. So very often we nurture our disobedience to God and try to sacrifice what He has not asked for to make up somehow for our rebellion. Problem is that a sacrifice is to be what God wants to receive not what we want to give and it is no substitute for obedience. Rather let us obey and when there is a need for sacrifice we will be ready because of our habit of obeying God.
Without Wax,
"
