So Saul summoned the people and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand men on foot, and ten thousand men of Judah. And Saul came to the city of Amalek and lay in wait in the valley. Then Saul said to the Kenites, “Go, depart; go down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them. For you showed kindness to all the people of Israel when they came up out of Egypt.” So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites. And Saul defeated the Amalekites from Havilah as far as Shur, which is east of Egypt. And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive and devoted to destruction 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 fattened calves and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them. All that was despised and worthless they devoted to destruction. (1 Samuel 15:4-9 ESV)
Saul has been given another opportunity to obey God. And he does, kind of. He totally destroys all the men, women and children, while letting the fat guy and the fat animals live. But notice Saul was not alone in this. He was most guilty as the leader who had received the instructions, but the people joined in NOT fully obeying God's command. It was just as Samuel had said: the king and the people would stand, or fall, together. What reasons do we give for not fully obeying? What do we value more than pleasing God with our obedience? How much obedience is enough to make us settle for less than all?
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