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Commentary on "Happy Are You, O Israel!"
Day 6: Thursday, July 28, 2011 - Worship and Obedience
OVERVIEW
Today's lesson tells the story of when God sent Saul to attack the Amalekites to destroy and kill everything that belonged to them. Instead, Saul spared the King Agag, along with the best sheep, cattle, calves and lambs. Then Saul proceeded to justify his disobedience, by placing the blame on his soldiers, stating they did so with the motivation to offer the best as sacrifices to God. This act of disobedience made God angry, causing Him to regret He ever made Saul king over Israel.
The point of the lesson is that our obedience is more important to God than our sacrifices. The lesson ends by stating, "Stubbornness, insisting on our own way, is idolatry because we have made a god of ourselves, our desires, and our opinions."
OBSERVATIONS
I can't help but wonder how the SDA insistence of sabbath keeping being singled out as the ultimate, necessary act of worship, which in turn keeps one from receiving the Mark of the Beast, is any different than Saul's act of disobedience! Especially when repeatedly throughout the New Testament we are told sabbath keeping is no longer mandatory. In fact we are told not to judge each other by the observance of holy days (Colossians 2:16-17; Galatians 4:9-11; Romans 14:5-6). Yet many SDAs continue to insist sabbath keeping is the ultimate act in which God will judge you, to determine whether or not you are a "true believer."
When the testimony of Scripture states we are saved by faith alone and we then turn an act such as sabbath keeping into such an important salvational offering to God, it is no different than Saul's actions.
God alone knows exactly, whose sabbath keeping motivation stems from a pure act of worship, as opposed to those who are doing it as an act of adding something other than Jesus as a necessary element to maintain their salvation.
SUMMARY
- God does desire our obedience.
- God also knows our heart motivation and is not fooled by the pretty packages we wrap our motivation up in to justify our behavior.
- When we continue to offer something to God, that He has so clearly commanded us not to do, it becomes an ultimate act of idolatry.
Copyright 2011 BibleStudiesForAdventists.com. All rights reserved. Revised July 19, 2011. This website is published by Life Assurance Ministries, Glendale, Arizona, USA, the publisher of Proclamation! Magazine. Contact email: BibleStudiesForAdventists@gmail.com.
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