Should we obey if God commanded today what He asked of Abraham or Saul?
A viewer asks, as an ought-claim, whether we should do everything God commands, and whether we would carry out what God commanded Saul in 1 Samuel 15 or Abraham in Genesis 22, and whether God is cruel for asking, assuming we are certain it is God and not the devil.
Answer
Yes, if it were truly God, we should obey, but such commands were very rare and it is unlikely God would ask that today; I would not expect to be told to go to a city and kill every man, woman, and child, because we do not live in those days. God did it to Abraham because He had to find the right man to base the whole coming of Christ upon, so Abraham had to prove, with all God's graces working in him, that he was worthy. And Abraham had shown a lack of faith several times: twice calling Sarah his sister out of fear, taking Hagar when he doubted the promise, and laughing along with Sarah at God's word in Genesis 17. So this man deserved one ultimate test that would reach the core of his being, the offering of the very son God had promised. Hebrews 11:19 tells us Abraham reasoned that if he killed Isaac, God would raise him from the dead, since God had to keep His word about Isaac's descendants. That test brought out the best of Abraham, and God, who is in a sense in a court of law before us as witnesses, needed the intention verified by the deed, not merely known in His own mind.