B. Samuel speaks to the people of Israel about their desire for a king.
1. (1 Sam 8:10-18) Samuel warns the nation about the responsibilities of having a king
So Samuel spoke all the words of the LORD to the people who had asked of him a king. He said, "This will be the procedure of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and place them for himself in his chariots and among his horsemen and they will run before his chariots. He will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and of fifties, and some to do his plowing and to reap his harvest and to make his weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. He will also take your daughters for perfumers and cooks and bakers. He will take the best of your fields and your vineyards and your olive groves and give them to his servants. He will take a tenth of your seed and of your vineyards and give to his officers and his servants. He will also take your male servants and your female servants and your best young men and your donkeys and use them for his work. He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his servants. Then you will cry out in that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the LORD will not answer you in that day."
This will be the procedure of the king who will reign over you: God wanted Israel to know there would be problems connected with having a king. If they wanted a king to rule them, they would find the yoke exceedingly heavy. Israel wanted a tangible king ruling them. They thought this would solve all their problems. However, they failed to analyze the situation. With a king comes heavy tribute, and many folks forced into the king's service.
He will take...He will take...He will take...He will take...He will take...He will take...And you will be his servants: The LORD, through the Prophet Samuel, is warning Israel about the heavy toll a king will exact from them. Most kings are takes and not givers. They come to be served and not to serve. If Israel wants a king, they must realize the king will be a taker, and they will be his servants.
Thankfully, not every king is a taker. The King of Kings is a giving king. As Jesus tells His disciples, "The Son of man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many" (Matthew 20:28). The Apostle Paul continues this same thought in his letter to the Philippians: "Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard Himself equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taken the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross" (Philippians 2:5-8).
He will take your male servants and female servants and your best young men and your donkeys and use them for his work: The Greek Septuagint version reads, "your best oxen" instead of "your best young men" which requires only the change of one letter of a similar sound in Hebrew. It is very likely "your best young men" is a copyist error. Verse 16 would then follow a natural couplet: menservants and maidservants, oxen and donkeys.
You will cry out..but the LORD will not answer you: After giving Israel a long, long list of the heavy yoke which will be placed upon them when they set their own king to rule over them, God lets Israel know that if they call out to Him in a day of trouble, He will not hear their pleas. This passage reminds me of the first chapter of the Book of Proverbs: "Because I called and you refused, I stretched out my hand and no one paid attention; and you neglected all my counsel and did not want my reproof; I will also laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your dread comes, when your dread comes like a storm and your calamity comes like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you. Then they will call on me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently but they will not find me, because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the LORD" (Proverbs 1:24-29).
2. (1 Sam 8:19-22) Israel demands a king despite God's warning
Nevertheless, the people refused to listen to the voice of Samuel, and they said, "No, but there shall be a king over us, that we also may be like all the nations, that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles." Now after Samuel had heard all the words of the people, he repeated them in the LORD'S hearing. The LORD said to Samuel, "Listen to their voice and appoint them a king." So Samuel said to the men of Israel, "Go every man to his city."
No, but there shall be a king over us: Israel demands a king, and God gives Israel exactly what they want--a tall, good looking man named Saul. Later, after Israel's chosen king fails God will anoint His king, David. God had ultimately wanted for Israel to become a monarchy. Perhaps if Israel had not forsaken the LORD here, David would have been Israel's first king. Oh the tremendous trouble this would have saved Israel and especially poor David!
May be like all the nations: Israel, Israel! Why are you so blind!? God loves you, and has chosen you to be His special people. He delivered you from Pharaoh in Egypt, performing ten incredible plagues. He then parted the Red Sea and provided food and drink while you meandered through the desert for forty years. He defeated enemy after enemy for you. And now you want to abandon all this and be like everyone else!? Oy! God has placed you on a pedestal and given you the best of everything. Now, you want to give this all up to have a man, who is apt to swell with pride and lead the nation astray, lead you!? Yes, this is what Israel demanded. And sadly, Samuel could see the foolishness Israel was about to embark on.
That our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles: Wow! After the incredible victory God had just delivered Israel in 1 Samuel chapter 7--the victory where God defeated the Philistines with His voice thundering from heaven--Israel has already forgotten! Then there are the multitude of other times in which God went out to fight for Israel. But Israel seems to have amnesia. They want a tangible person sitting on the throne, directing their ways. It is very hard to trust in things we cannot see. How often are we like the Israelites--putting our faith in something we can see or touch instead of in the LORD God? "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not see" (Hebrews 11:1). "For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man sees, why does he yet hope for" (Romans 8:24)?
He repeated them in the LORD'S hearing: Like as before in verse 6, Samuel comes before the LORD to pray. During this private time, Samuel is able to lay out all the demands of the elders of Israel. God utters the same directions He gave to Samuel in verses 7 and 9.
Listen to their voice and make them a king: God gives His consent for the third time. Israel wants a king; God is willing to oblige their request. Israel is rejecting God's rule; yet, they cannot escape it because God will appoint them their king. God will never step off His throne even if we ask Him to. We can resist God, but we will only hurt ourselves. It is best to allow God to rule our heart and minds. Life is so much easier when God is directing our steps!
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