In the midst of a scathing indictment against King Saul’s presumption and arrogance, the prophet Samuel utters these famous words,
To obey is better than sacrifice,
and to heed is better than the fat of rams.
Saul’s great, heroic idea
Saul had heard the word of the Lord, but thought he had a better idea.
He was supposed to destroy the Amalekites completely, taking no plunder, but instead he spared the best of the sheep and cattle “to sacrifice to the Lord.”
This might seem like a noble gesture on Saul’s part, wanting to sacrifice to the Lord… so why does Samuel make such a big deal out of this? Why is obedience so much better than sacrifice?
Sacrifice means independence from God
Sacrifice in this sense is actually an attempt to gain independence from God.
If we sacrifice for him, then we have put him in our debt. If we sacrifice for God, he owes us something (so we think).
Sacrifice is a way of “buying” whatever we want to get from God (protection, deliverance, provision, favor), while at the same time remaining independent from him.
“God, look at all I’ve done for you! You owe me this, it’s only fair!” we say. We demand our goodies from God, but we retain our right to do what we want with our lives.
We just need to make sure we throw a few sacrifices God’s way every once in awhile to keep him at bay. This is the attitude of sacrifice that Saul personified.
Obedience is dependent trust in God
Obedience, however, is the response of someone who is in a relationship of trust with God. We trust God, we depend on him, we are interactive with him, but he takes the lead.
Obedience is better than sacrifice because we are letting God be God and staying in our proper place with him, the place of dependence and surrender to his goodness.
It’s like a woman once said to Tim Keller, upon realizing the gospel for the first time,
I know why I want my morality to save me. If I’m saved by my good works, then like a taxpayer, I have rights. I’ve paid into the system and God owes me a good and decent life. And there is a limit to what the Father can ask of me. But if I’m saved by sheer grace, then my life belongs entirely to the Father, he owes me nothing and there is no limit to what he can ask of me.”
It’s a theme repeated over and over throughout Scripture,
For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings” (Hosea 6:6).
“To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices” (Mark 12:33).
“Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:7-8).
“Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God” (Luke 11:42).
Obedience is better than sacrifice
The life of sacrifice is a life of demanding my rights and living as I wish. The life of obedience, though, is a response to God’s gracious invitation and is lived as an upward spiral of dependence and intimacy.
This is why Jesus didn’t say, “If you love me, sacrifice for me.” Instead he said, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.”
This kind of obedience (as a response to divine love) always leads to intimacy and dependence. This is why obedience is better than sacrifice.
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It is gratitude though that is the password into God's Presence.
Indeed! Gratitude is implicit in our response of trust to God's lovingkindness.
Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. That is real sacrifice through obedience. Obedience versus Sacrifice debate is silly because Samuel was speaking directly to Saul that to obey the Lord is way better than having to sacrifice a proxy to cover the sin. It has nothing to do with the fact that Jesus expects us, out of love and obedience, to sacrifice our lives and follow Him no matter the hardship.
Hi Chris – thanks for your comment.I do believe that Jesus expects us to deny ourselves, and take up our cross and follow him, but think it's unhelpful to think of this as “sacrifice,” because it fosters a belief that we are somehow helping God out. Ultimately we aren't heroes for sacrificing, because what we are receiving in the long run far outweighs what we give up.The secret is that taking up our cross is the same thing as taking on the easy yoke of Jesus. We deny ourselves because we believe God will give us our real self if we do so. Discipleship is about seeing the treasure in the field and selling everything to get it. That's not a “sacrifice,” it's receiving grace!So that's what I mean there about sacrifice and obedience.
Could taking up your cross and following Jesus be the same thing as crucifying the flesh. Putting off the old man(fake self/flesh)and putting on the new man(true self created in Christ Jesus)?
Yes I think those metaphors refer to the same act of consecration.
“The life of sacrifice is a life of demanding my rights and living as I wish.”
Sacrifice is not about trading or buying; it is not equal to shopping or opportunity cost. It is about willingly giving something of personal value without expecting anything in return. A life of sacrifice will see a person sacrificing their rights and desires (desires to live as they wish), in order to serve the Lord.
Romans 12:1 “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the compassions of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your intelligent service.”
Here, obedience and sacrifice are tied in together. Sacrifice does not imply debt.
@Jeremy Thanks for your comment. It’s probably semantics. Yes, true sacrifice is the kind Romans 12:1 talks about (which is actually obedience). But there is a type of “sacrifice” that causes us to think we’ve done something noble for God, as opposed to simply responded to his invitation to have life to the full.
That’s why I like Dallas Willard’s phrase that discipleship is actually a bargain. It’s the best deal any of us are ever going to get as humans. We sell everything, which looks like sacrifice, but it’s not, really, because there’s a treasure in the field we’re buying. The obedient life IS the abundant life. Taking up our cross is the same thing as the easy yoke.
Wonderful Blog. You’ve truly allowed God to open up more understanding of this VERY popular scripture. God bless you. MDB
MissyDB Very glad to hear that!
this is GREAT…Put in laymen’s terms so that I can understand and carry the word forward..Love it.
tmechele Glad it was helpful!
amen
Yep. Not a good idea trying to game God. What was it the prophet Jeremiah said? Great post.
Found this. Thought it worth passing along.
Thought this worth sharing. Check it.
The Prophets preached OBEDIENCE!
The Priests preached SACRIFICE!
Jesus was a Prophet & the Priests murdered him! (John
11:45-57)
They sacrificed him to Moloch, as they still do in the Mass!
Sanhedrin 64a teaches the Jews how to offer Human Sacrifices
TODAY!
If you Google:
TO DIE FOR THE PEOPLE:
A KABBALISTIC REINTERPRETATION OF THE CRUCIFIXION OF JESUS
by Reb Yakov Leib HaKohain, Founder & Spiritual Director
DONMEH WEST
As Originally Published In
The Priest: A Journal of Catholic Theology
April, 1996
The reality is: Jesus was promoted to godhood & his
message dumped!
He warned. “Beware the leaven of the Pharisees aka Oral
Tradition, aka The Traditions of the Elders (of Zion) aka The Jewish Babylonian Talmud.
How many “Christians” have studied the LEAVEN OF
THE PHARISEES? They are as ignorant as Mohammedans, but think they are wise. If
you don’t understand what Jesus is saying in Matthew 15; 19 & 23, then you
know nothing about the Argument between Jesus & Talmudic Judaism.
REMEMBER: The Best form of Theology is Parasitology!
And the best book on it today is “Parasite Rex” by
Carl Zimmer.
The Message of Jesus of Nazareth has been hijacked by
Pharisees, Priests & Protestants!
When you study the nature of a parasite, you will then be
able to understand how the HUMAN PARASITES work & how they can get people
to do their bidding.
Its a mind-boggling study!
But be warned:
Cognitive dissonance will be a major problem!
But REMEMBER: The Truth WILL set you free.
silverstein.larry03@gmail.com
Oh Yeah!
MOHAMMED’S MOTHER WAS JEWISH!
THIS MAKES HIM A JEW
MOHAMMED BASED HIS QURAN ON THE JEWISH TORAH/TALMUD
ISLAM: A SECT OF TALMUDIC JUDAISM?
The Mother of Mohammed, Amina was of Jewish birth. Von
Hammer.
beautiful thank you for sharing
@Ben Sternke Gracious answers to objections, Ben. Nicely done! I would have been wrongly angry at both of them for missing the point. But you were kind in your responses to Jeremy and Chris showing us all how to do it. Blessings!
Words to live by!
Wow! I have gotten a better understanding of this verse through this blog. Nice job, may God bless and keep u.
This is nice thanks for enlightening us more
BUT IN ANOTHER CONTEXT IS SEE OBEDIENCE AS A SACRIFICE.
I THINK THE ISSUE OF SACRIFICE CAN BE VIEWED IN DIFFERENT ASPECTS BUT WE USUALLY FAIL BECAUSE OF THE HEART BEHIND OUR SACRIFICE.
Sure, Elijah. However, I do think that the way we normally think about “sacrifice” isn’t very helpful – it keeps us “in charge” and makes us the hero. Whenever we make a true sacrifice (with the right heart), we are actually choosing to give our lives to something greater than what we are sacrificing.
wonderful piece Ben, God bless you.
Many years ago , an evangelist said to me, “My dear sister, you can come to church and do all kinds of things. God does not want your sacrifices, he wants your obediance. You need to be sincere and fast.” I was shocked yet fasted 7 days and at the end concluded that I was to love my neighbour as myself, which as I began to understand, was to put their need before mine. I am still in awe/puzzled by her words yet hope I am now going in the right direction. I have also, since then been been actually praising and worshiping God much more. Do you have anything worth sharing about the words I were given?
Love your neighbor as you love yourself is absolutely correct, but higher priority is to love (by obedience) God the Father, with the whole heart, soul strength and mind.
Who is your neighbor ? Jesus answers, the term neighbor includes your competitor (story of the Samaritan and the robbed & injured Jew) and even your enemies (lend to them without any expectation of repayment !)
Going back to the obedience vs sacrifice debate, there is the so-called ‘Old Testament’ account of God asking Abraham to sacrificing son Isaac up on a distant mountain, if I remember correctly. Abraham. Abraham made all the preparatory rituals for the sacrifice of his only and beloved son Isaac. But at the last moment, God said STOP.
Can one imply that God desires obedience and not sacrifice ?