Focus: The Evidence Says Otherwise

Text: 1Sam.15:10-14

God gave Saul orders to fight Amalek and decimate them completely. God instructs, "Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass" (1Sam.15:3).

That's the instruction. God's rejection of Amalek is total. He sees nothing good about Amalek and nothing belonging to it is good or useful enough to be spared. But Saul thought otherwise and acted contrariwise. Upon his return from the battle, God says to Samuel, "It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king: for he is turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandments." Then Samuel comes to Saul to confront him, and Saul says, "Blessed be thou of the LORD: I have performed the commandment of the LORD." We have two conflicting reports. God says one thing, and Saul says another. The question now is: who then is lying, God or Saul? Who is telling the truth, God or Saul? But Paul says, "Let God be true, but every man a liar…" (Rom.3:4). It's obvious that one of them is lying, and the liar is certainly not God. Then comes the evidence. Samuel hears the bleating of the sheep and the lowing of the oxen, a clear evidence that Saul is the liar. Samuel then asks Saul, "What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?" The animals are telling on Saul. They are saying essentially and repeatedly, 'Saul is lying. We are living proofs of his lies. We are witnesses to the fact that he has not kept to God's instructions.' Saul is telling a lie like he is telling the truth. "I have done as the Lord had required." But the animals are a glaring evidence against Saul. He is not such a careful or smart sinner, who knows how to remove or bury all the evidence. The evidence is really stacked against him. The animals give him away.

Something is giving you away. Your life of disobedience to God is telling on you. It speaks so loudly that nothing you say really corresponds.

Is the flesh having the better part of you? When will you stop making God a liar - a liar that He is not? When we say what God is not saying, we make Him a liar. It's an act of faith to agree with God, even if what God says is against us.

When it becomes obvious that Saul is lying, he says, "THEY have brought them from the Amalekites: for the PEOPLE spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed." O God, save us from the lies and deception of the flesh! The flesh worships God on its own terms and regards what God has rejected as the best. The flesh approves and sacrifices what God condemns. The flesh always passes the buck to others - "They…" "The people…" But the instruction to completely destroy Amalek was given to Saul directly, specifically and personally. We must learn to be truthful to God, ourselves, and others. Let's stop worshipping God as we want, but as He wants. Worship to God must be done the way He requires it - in spirit and in truth. Let's return sincerity and integrity back to the place of worship. Let's stop lying to and deceiving ourselves and others. Let's be totally obedient to God. Partial obedience is unacceptable to God. Let's be totally sold out for God.

Amalek is anything and everything of the flesh and of the world in us. We must condemn the flesh completely. It cannot please or serve God perfectly. In fact, the flesh is God's enemy. The flesh will always show evidence that our heart and tongue are not in agreement. The flesh always leaves traces to our incomplete obedience. Every time we go low spiritually or do wrong, someone will hear the sheep bleating and the oxen lowing. There's always proof to show that something is not right with us. The flesh is loud and noisy. It hides, even for long, but not forever. O, Lord, save us!

by Bishop Moses E. Peter