Ways of God then vs now

Scripture verse that caught my attention today: 1 Samuel 15:22 And Samuel said,
“Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,
as in obeying the voice of the LORD?
Surely, to obey is better than sacrifice,
and to heed than the fat of rams.

Observation: This verse is popular, but its context is somewhat cringe-worthy. Saul was told “go and attack Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have; do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’” He did kill the people and most of the animals, but spared the best animals (to use for a sacrifice to the Lord) and the king (who was later killed), thus prompting Samuel to offer the words cited above. Saul’s exceptions to the Lord’s command were considered an act of disobedience and became the beginning of the end of Saul’s kingship.

Application: There are many reasons why I’m glad I live in this day and age and not back then, and the seeming lack of these kind of commands from the Lord these days is one of them. What would I do if I received a command from the Lord to go attack all the people of my local town and not spare any person or animal? Honestly, I couldn’t do it.

To be fair, the command to attack the Amalekites was to be an act of revenge for how they had previously wronged the Israelites. And the command was also in a completely different social context than we have today, one is which such attacks would not seem so obscure. Nevertheless, in those days God was understood to be extremely particular about complete obedience and allegiance. God also wanted them to rely on ‘him’ and not to rely on themselves (Saul probably considered the animals he kept to be a form of provision which God considered a personal assault).

These days the ways of following God/Jesus are, thankfully, much less brutal though no less difficult. Complete allegiance is, frankly, impossible as a mere mortal. Fortunately, the crucified and risen one was sent to make up for our lack.

Prayer: Lord, your ways are so often not our ways. But help us to at least consider your ways in the world in which we live. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

(readings today included: 1 Samuel 15-16, 1 Chronicles 5, Matthew 1)