“To Obey is Better than Sacrifice”

Once the Israelites desired a king, Saul was chosen by the Lord to rule over them. He was handpicked by God, which means that he had great potential. However, Saul has two acts of disobedience that brought him low. Saul offered a burnt offering without the proper authority. Saul kept the livestock of the Amalekites for sacrifices instead of killing them as he was commanded by the Lord. “It is the nature and disposition of almost all men, as soon as they get a little authority, as they suppose, they will immediately begin to exercise unrighteous dominion” D&C 121:39. This is where Saul fell. He had been the king for two years and stretched himself out of his authority.

D&C 121:34-36, 41-42  gives us council of how to avoid the mistakes of Saul. We have to remember that the powers of heaven can only be handled by the righteous and that we cannot set our hearts on the things of this world, nor can we aspire to the honors of men. Also we must remember that no authority should be kept simply because of the priesthood. Authority and influence should be built upon persuasion, long-suffering, gentleness, meekness, love, kindness, and pure knowledge, without guile or hypocrisy.  

Reflecting on Saul’s decision to offer sacrifices improperly, Samul stated that “To obey is better than sacrifice” (1 Samuel 15:22). If a sacrifice is given, but unrighteously, it does not benefit the person who gave the sacrifice. It would have been better for Saul to have led the army into battle without offering a sacrifice than to break a commandment to offer the sacrifice. Also it would have been better for Saul to have given no sacrifice after fighting the Amalekites than to have used their animals in the sacrifice. Heavenly Father wants us to be righteous. That is what we sacrifice today. We sacrifice ourselves, our unrighteousness, so that we can follow Him.

Saul started out with great promise, but was brought low again because of his disobedience to the commandments of the Lord. It would have been better for him to obey the Lord than to give sacrifice to Him. Today, how many times to we mess up when we seek to offer a sacrifice to the Lord? How many times do we drive too fast to get to church on time? How many times do we only obey the Lord part way?

Choose You This Day Whom Ye Will Serve

Joshua 10:12-14 reads:   

13 And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. Is not this written in the book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day.

 14 And there was no day like that before it or after it that the Lord hearkened unto the voice of a man: for the Lord fought for Israel.

Did the Sun really stand still? No, the Sun moved as it always does, it just looked like it stopped moving because the Earth had stopped in order to lengthen out the day. The Lord can command the Earth to do as He wishes because He created it.

What were Israel’s successes?

·         Joshua uses an ambush, takes Ai, and slays its inhabitants

·         He builds an altar in Mount Ebal

·         Israel defeats the Amorites and their allies

·         Joshua and Israel conquer the whole land

·         The tabernacle of the congregation is set up at Shiloh

·         Built an altar of testimony by the Jordan to show they are the Lord’s people

What were Israel’s failures?

·         Israel is defeated by the people of Ai

·         Joshua complains to the Lord

·         Achan and his household are destroyed because he disobeyed the Lord by taking the spoils of Jericho.

·         The Gibeonites by craft obtain a league with Israel

·         Some inhabitants are not expelled

·         Some Canaanites continue to dwell among the Ephraimites.

What was the major theme of Joshua’s final address to his people? I believe that it is found in Joshua 24:15 “Choose ye this day whom ye will serve.” Joshua wants to people to actively choose whom they will serve, not just go with the flow, do whatever, or even just see what their friends are doing, but actually choosing for themselves and being responsible for their choice. (2 Nephi 10:23) How many times do we forget that we have chosen whom we will serve? How many times do we find ourselves going with the crowd because it is easier than standing up? Will you dare to stand alone?

“As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord”

Obedience Brings Blessings; Disobedience Brings Curses

Moses was commanded to build the Ark of the Covenant and keep the tablets inside where they would be kept safe (Deuteronomy 10:1-5 ). The Lord did not want them to be destroyed or desecrated by man.  Note the Joseph Smith Translation in verse 2, The Lord rewrote the commandments that were on the tablet Moses cracked, but they still had the words of the covenant of the priesthood. The Lord did not command these words to be put in the ark because they needed these laws and would be responsible for keeping them.

Reading D&C 84:14-27 shows us that the children of Israel denied themselves of blessings through their disobedience in the wilderness, including having the Holy Priesthood (Melchizedek) taken away from them. In the Lord’s mercy He left the lesser priesthood (Aaronic) so that they could repent, be baptized, and receive a remission of their sins.

The Great Commandment was given to the Israelites in Deuteronomy 11:1, 13-14, 22 and Deuteronomy 30:6, 16, 19-20. Christ gave a very similar commandment to the Jews in Matthew 22:36-40. The Great Commandment is to Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. The second is to love thy neighbor as thyself. All of the Laws depend on these two commandments, if you follow these, you follow all the commandments, if you break one of the others, you break one of these.

The most important commandment is to Love God. Why would you follow any of the other commandments if you do not love the being who gave them to you? If you don’t love Him, then you probably don’t believe that you will be able to return to Him again someday and become like Him. If you won’t return to Him or have a day of judgment, then you may as well do whatever you want to in this life, because it is the only life and after that you’re dead.

But how can we be commanded to love? It is an emotion, it is the one thing that dictators and tyrants cannot command, but can God? The answer is that He can require it for us to return to Him, but we already loved Him in the pre-earth life, we just have to remember that love and to love Him still.

It is a commandment given over and over again that we must love the Lord, that we must remember Him and what He has done for us, that we must not forget Him. Our Heavenly Father wants us to return to Him, and the only way we will be able to is by remembering Him and what He has done for us in the past, and what He is willing to do for us in the future so that we will do what He asks of us. D&C 130:20-21 reminds us that the blessings that we receive here on Earth are due to obedience to an eternal law.

Let’s look at Deuteronomy 28:1-14, in these verses are a list of the blessings of obedience.

·         The Lord shall set thee on high above all nations of the Earth

·         Blessed in

o   the city

o   the field

o   Blessed in the fruit of the body

o   the fruit of the ground

o   the fruit of the cattle

o   basket and store

o   when come in and go out

o   All that you set your hand to

o   The land you live in

·         The Lord shall cause thine enemies to be smitten when they come out against you

·         The Lord shall establish an holy people unto himself

·         The people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the Lord

Disobeying the commandments of the Lord Deuteronomy 28:15-65:

·         Cursed in

o   City

o   Field

o   Basket and store

o   Fruit of thy body

o   Fruit of land

o   Increase in kine, and flocks

o   When come in and go out

·         Cursing, vexation, and rebuke on all you set your hand to

·         Pestilence

·         Consumption, fever, inflammation, burning, sword, blasting, mildew

·         Serve your enemies

·         Fear the name “THE LORD THY GOD”

Don’t these lists look similar? In what you are blessed for obedience, so are you cursed for disobedience. Helaman 12:3 states that unless the Lord chastens his people with may afflictions they will not remember Him. We are given the consequences for disobedience, but the Lord does not desire to curse His children. Moses 1:39 shows us that the Lord’s work and glory is to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. He wants us to come back to Him and that is what He works for every day.

The Brazen Serpent

In Numbers 21:4-9 we read about the fiery serpents that plagued the Israelites when they murmured in the wilderness and spoke against God and against Moses, the prophet.  These serpents were deadly, and the people finally realized that they had sinned and the serpents were their call to repentance. They asked Moses to pray to the Lord to take away the serpents. The Lord provided a way for the people to be healed from the serpents so that they could learn instead of just taking the problem away. Moses took a brass serpent and put it on a pole, so that anyone who was bitten by a serpent could look to be healed. There were people who did not believe that looking at this serpent could save them from the bite of the very real serpent. Because it was so easy, they did not look and died. (1 Nephi 17:41)

 

The Lord wanted to teach His people about Christ. The brass serpent was a type of Christ. All the Israelites had to do was look up and see the serpent on top of the pole and believe that they would be saved and they would be. Today, we have to believe that Christ will be able to heal us before we will be healed. We have to put our trust in Him. By relying on the Savior to be healed, we allow Him to mend our broken hearts, ease our pains and afflictions, He can ease our guilt and sorrows. Many people try to heal themselves without the help of the Savior. They do everything that they can on their own and still are not healed. In the world, many people try to drown out their pain with alcohol or other addictions, including TV and other technology. 

We are very much like the Israelites, because it seems so easy to look to Christ and believe in Him, we don't always looked to be saved. We try to do it on our own, rely on science and our own ability, when we cannot make it without His help. One thing that can help heal us is service. Losing yourself by helping someone else can make your problems seem smaller, as well as bringing you closer to those you serve. 

I was angry for so long, mad at someone who I perceived as being in the wrong and hurting me. This anger festered in me for years until I was able to take my hurt and my pain to my Father in Heaven. Finally I was able to give up my anger and give it to Christ and let His love fill my heart instead. It has enabled me to forgive my friend and to work on rebuilding my relationship with them. Had I turned to the Savior sooner, I would have been able to give up my pain and not have wasted years in anger. By relying on the Savior, you can truly find peace. This is not just a temporary peace, it is a lasting peace. He truly can heal you.

Where Can I turn for Peace

1. Where can I turn for peace?

Where is my solace

When other sources cease to make me whole?

When with a wounded heart, anger, or malice,

I draw myself apart,

Searching my soul?

2. Where, when my aching grows,

Where, when I languish,

Where, in my need to know, where can I run?

Where is the quiet hand to calm my anguish?

Who, who can understand?

He, only One.

3. He answers privately,

Reaches my reaching

In my Gethsemane, Savior and Friend.

Gentle the peace he finds for my beseeching.

Constant he is and kind,

Love without end.