1Sa 15:7 And Saul attacked the Amalekites, from Havilah all the way to Shur, which is east of Egypt.
1Sa 15:8 He also took Agag king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.
1Sa 15:9 But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were unwilling to utterly destroy them. But everything despised and worthless, that they utterly destroyed.
1Sa 15:7 And Saul attacked the Amalekites, from Havilah all the way to Shur, which is east of Egypt.
1Sa 15:8 He also took Agag king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.
1Sa 15:9 But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were unwilling to utterly destroy them. But everything despised and worthless, that they utterly destroyed.
1Sa 15:13 Then Samuel went to Saul, and Saul said to him, "Blessed are you of the LORD! I have performed the commandment of the LORD."
1Sa 15:14 But Samuel said, "What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?"
1Sa 15:15 And Saul said, "They have brought them from the Amalekites; for the people spared the best of the sheep and the oxen, to sacrifice to the LORD your God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed."
There is a story I have heard of a mother who was trying to teach her kids discernment. They were complaining that some things were ok to take part in or watch because they only were a little offensive or they had some redeeming value.
To illustrate the compromise in their thinking, the mom baked a pan of brownies and offered them to her children. As they were eagerly eyeing this surprise treat she dropped an off-handed comment:
"They are great brownies, I only put a little dog poo in them."
The children were shocked and betrayed! They screamed in repulsion and dropped the brownies back on their plates. "What? Why did you put poo in the brownies?"
The mom calmly explained that she was short of some ingredients and the poo seemed like the right consistency. "It's only a tiny bit--it won't hurt you. In fact, it could be good for your immune system to be exposed to it. Don't you think?"
The children continued to complain their horror--"Mom, it is NOT good for you. And even a little bit makes it GROSS!"
"But it's only a little bit!" the mom protested. "Isn't that what you said to me about what you are watching?--it's only a little bit violent, only a little bit blaspheming God, only a little bit suggestive. Does a little bit matter?
The kids were silent as mom took out her Bible and read, " Ga 5:7 You ran well. Who hindered you from obeying the truth?
Ga 5:8 This persuasion does not come from Him who calls you.
Ga 5:9 A little leaven leavens the whole lump. The kids walked away with a good object lesson on how a little bit of compromise can ruin a good walk with the Lord.
Saul could have benefited from such an illustration. He was clearly commanded to obliterate the Amalekites, but his human reasoning and the popular opinion of his men got the better of him. He saved only one Amalekite, the king, as a trophy perhaps of his power. And he saved the best of the livestock perhaps because it seemed too extreme not to take any spoils of such a successful battle. Often the question, "What could it hurt?" when asked in contrast to God's command results in tragedy.
Saul was either so blinded by his own reasoning or boldly lying to Samuel when he later claimed that
he completely obeyed God. We can fall into the same blindness or brazenness when we allow compromise to infiltrate our lives.
Like finding poo in a brownie, it is hard to separate the good intentions from the disobedience.
