A Classic Example of Competitive Jealousy
Every believer wants to find success in the Christian life. But to be successful, you must understand how success is measured. For the Christian, success is not measured in the same way as the world measures it. Success, in God's eyes, is measured by three things: obedience, faithfulness and the attitudes of the heart. King Saul is a classic example of failure through the deception of competitive jealousy.
He Failed to Obey
Samuel also said unto Saul, The Lord sent me to anoint thee to be king over his people, over Israel: now therefore hearken thou unto the voice of the words of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way, when he came up from Egypt. Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass. ...
And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and of the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them; but every thing that was vile and refuse that they destroyed utterly (1 Sam. 15:1-3, 8-9).
"Now therefore hearken unto the words of the Lord." Hearken means to hear and to do. There is always the element of obedience implied in a Word from God. Saul did not hearken to the words of the Lord. He didn't do what he was told, because he was dominated by competitive jealousy.
The objective of the spirit of competitive jealousy is to keep you from reaching your potential in God. It does this by deceiving you. That is how it operates, to hinder you from achieving all that God has designed for you. It functions through deception. Deception is thinking that you are right when you are wrong. The instructions of the Lord were clear and precise, easy to follow; but Saul thought he knew better.
His Disobedience Exposed
Then came the Word of the Lord unto Samuel saying, It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king: for he is turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandments. And it grieved Samuel; and he cried unto the Lord all night. And when Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning, it was told Samuel, saying, Saul came to Carmel, and, behold, he set him up a place, and is gone about, and passed on, and gone down to Gilgal. And Samuel came to Saul: and Saul said unto him, Blessed be thou of the Lord: I have performed the commandment of the Lord. And Samuel said, What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear? And Saul said, They have brought them from the Amalekites: for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto the Lord thy God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed" (1 Sam. 15:10-15).
It is always refreshing to see God's sense of humor revealed in the Bible. You can almost see the prophet's facial expressions, as he puts a hand to his ear and asks the king in his most sarcastic voice, "If you have obeyed the Lord, then why do I hear the sounds of animals?" If Saul was to utterly destroy everything - sheep, oxen - everything; then just what was making those sounds?
Competitive jealousy puts you in a position where you are always trying to explain your own deception and cover your sin.
His Deception Was Deep
Then Samuel said unto Saul, Stay, and I will tell thee what the Lord hath said to me this night. And he said unto him, Say on. And Samuel said, When thou was little in thine own sight, was thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel, and the Lord anointed thee king over Israel? And the Lord sent thee on a journey, and said, Go and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they be consumed. Wherefore then didst thou not obey the voice of the Lord, but didst fly upon the spoil and didst evil in the sight of the Lord? And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the Lord, and have gone the way which the Lord sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. But the people took of the spoils, sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice unto the Lord thy God in Gilgal (1 Sam. 15:16-21).
The situation ceases to be funny as the deception of the king is made clear. He actually thinks he has carried out the commandment of the Lord. Tragically, King Saul thought he was being spiritual when he was only being religious. It was tradition to return from battle with the spoils of war. It was a sure sign of success. Victory in battle was proven by displaying the best of the enemy's property.
In this case, Saul was following the customs of his people. The Bible says that the traditions of men have made the Word of God of no effect. Saul acted religiously, but he did not obey God. The king's crime is further compounded by his attempt to shift the blame from himself to the people. He attempts to explain his deception, but the prophet would hear no excuses.
God's Preference
"And Samuel said, Hath 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 hearken than the fat of rams" (1 Sam. 15:22).
Samuel clears any confusion in the mind of King Saul by laying out the facts. Under normal conditions, the king might have been within his rights to keep the sheep and oxen as spoils of war, but in this instance to do so meant disobeying the voice of God. Given the choice between some old burnt offering and obedience, which one do you think God would prefer? Clearly God prefers obedience.
Partial obedience is no different than outright disobedience. Delayed obedience is disobedience. When God tells you to do something, you had better do it. If God says, "Join that church," and you say, "I'll do it next week," that is disobedience. When God tells you to do a certain thing, you cannot get away with only doing half of it. Partial or delayed obedience is no different than rebellion.
No Small Thing
"For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the Word of the Lord, he hath also rejected thee from being king" (1 Sam. 15:23).
The prophet put things in perspective as far as God is concerned. This was not simply a harmless mistake in judgment that could be easily dismissed. The reason God could not just sweep this incident under the rug, was that this action revealed the true motivations of King Saul's heart. His actions spoke clearly concerning his attitudes and motivating thoughts. This is a classic case of competitive jealousy.
Finally, Light! But Too Late
"And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned: for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord, and thy words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice" (1 Sam. 15:24).
Now, we get to the nitty-gritty of Saul's problem. The king admits that he feared the people and chose to obey their voice over the voice of God. Out of fear, he allowed the people to keep the spoils of the battle. Saul got his eyes off of what he was supposed to be doing - destroying the Amalekites - because he was looking at the wrong thing in comparison. He wanted approval from the people, and out of fear of their disapproval, refused to make them stop.
When God speaks, there can be no comparison with it. When God tells you to do something, you don't look around to check to see what the other folks are doing. "Why does God have me praying for four hours a day? Why doesn't Brother Jones have to pray too?"
Don't fall into that trap. When you start making comparisons, you are headed for trouble. Do what God told you to do. Saul didn't. As a result of his transgression, he lost his anointing to be king over Israel. It was too late for Saul to change his fate, but it is not too late for you. Learn from Saul's example. Take a long look at the man. He was deceived and was prohibited from fulfilling the potential that God had for his life.
Are You Hearkening?
Are you listening to and obeying the Word of the Lord? Are you doing what God has called you to do? Or are you delaying obedience because the thing God has told you to do seems small or insignificant to you?
Child of God, as far as the Lord is concerned, there are no small things when it comes to the issue of obedience. When God asks you to do something, He doesn't see it in terms of being great or small. He sees it as a vital question of obedience. But rest assured, those who are faithful in small things will be entrusted with much more (Luke 19:17).
Are you content, regardless of whether the call God has on your life is a public or private one? In other words, does it bother you that God is using you behind the scenes where nobody notices and nobody can see?
When you start comparing your private call with someone else's public, high profile call, you will find yourself moving out of your anointing and focusing on the things you can do publicly. You'll connive and scheme until what you are doing is noticed by others. When that happens you've stepped out of the will of God, out from under the anointing, out of His covering of grace. At that point, you are not achieving any of the things God has called you to do. You are not reaching your potential in Christ Jesus.
You had better learn to prefer to scrub floors in private and receive the crowns of glory, than to move into the spotlight and do something you're not called to do. Are you content with a private call? The Bible promises great blessings for those who serve in secret.
King Saul serves as a great example to us of what not to do. But we must not judge him without first applying the truths of his experience to our own lives. You don't have to suffer the loss of position or the humiliation that Saul did. You can learn from his example and save much pain. Guard yourself against the spirit of competitive jealousy. It's a dangerous poison that can contaminate even the purest in heart.
Excerpt permission granted by World Changers Ministries
