Reading about the sins of ancient cultures in the Old Testament can be unsettling. While it is easy to understand (and even identify with) some of them, there are others that seem so outrageous that it’s difficult to comprehend. One example is divination. Ancient Mesopotamians created techniques to communicate to the gods to try so they might determine their will. For instance, they would look for omens based on phenomena in the skies. Another form of divination was to gut an animal and examine its freshly removed organs. And another included the study of a person’s physical characteristics to determine future events.
Idol worship is another ancient practice that most modern people struggle to sympathize with. A physical object was fashioned with the hope that a supernatural being would manifest itself in it. As a result, worshippers would bow in subjection and pray before the very thing they made with their own hands. Sacrifices were made to the idol including food and, in some cases, even children.
These sins are so blatantly antagonistic to God that it’s hard not to judge those that committed them. How can someone be so deceived that they make a practice of these kinds of heinous actions? While it is true that those behaviors are an affront to God, look at the comparison He makes between those and other sins that are, perhaps, less offensive to our sensibilities.
For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has also rejected you from being king. (1 Sam. 15:23)
Wow! God associated divination with rebellion and idolatry with presumption. The context of this comparison is a rebuke of King Saul by the prophet Samuel. It is a rebuke that ended with the promise to Saul that the kingdom would be taken from him and given to another because of his disobedience. In fact, Saul’s reign came to a violent and humiliating end.
What, then, was the “rebellion” and the “presumption” that earned such a severe pronouncement? It begins in 1 Samuel 13 where Saul is on the battlefield, preparing to engage the Philistine army. As instructed, he is waiting for counsel from God’s prophet. However, Samuel was delayed and when Saul saw that some soldiers were leaving, he became impatient. In his frustration he took matters into his own hands and offered the prophet’s sacrifice himself. A short time later Samuel arrived, and on learning what Saul did, he said, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the command of the Lord your God.” He then predicted that Saul would lose the kingdom.
1 Samuel 15 records another battle scene. Again Saul disobeyed by failing to keep the entirety of what God commanded him. When Samuel confronted the king about it, Saul claimed that the spoils gained in his disobedience were used as sacrifices to honor God. To which Samuel responded,
“Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has also rejected you from being king.” (1 Sam. 15:22–23)
There it is. The rebellion that was compared to divination was a partial obedience. It was good start with a selfish ending. The presumption that was compared to idolatry was a self-serving decision twisted to give the appearance of pleasing God.
You may not be tempted to stare into the heavens in search of an omen or to bow before a household sculpture project, but what of rebellion and presumption? Does your trust in God and His timing go the distance or do you see what’s happening around you and become impatient? If His response to your need is “delayed,” do you take matters into your own hands? That is a form of rebellion on par with divination.
Do you make decisions that you know do not please God, rationalizing them with a promise to bring some “good” out of it? That is a form of presumption on par with idolatry.
After Saul received the condemnation, he acknowledged, “I feared the people and obeyed their voice.” In each scene Saul was more concerned with the actions and attitudes of the world around him than his commitment to obeying God. That is a temptation you can relate to. Don’t let the pressures of the world or God’s seemingly “delayed” response bait you into sinful impatience or justifying a sinful decision by putting a godly spin on it. At those times remember the command to Joshua to fear the Lord and serve Him in sincerity and in faithfulness. At those times of increased pressure God is watching and waiting for you to choose this day whom you will serve. Stand firm and recite along with Joshua, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”