Answers Bible Curriculum, Year 2, Q1, Lesson 10
1 Samuel 8:1-22
In this lesson, David Capoccia examines the Old Testament background for the coming kingship of Israel versus the Israelite people’s demand for a king in 1 Samuel 8. Whereas the expectation for the Israelite king is overwhelmingly positive in God’s promises to Israel, the Israelite’s demand for a king is nevertheless regarded by God as a sinful in that it rejects God himself as Israel’s ultimate king by 1) desiring to be like other nations and 2) desiring to have a king to judge and fight their battles.
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judge in Israel Eli Eli that’s right Eli who is also the high priest now why does God prophesy judgment on Eli because of his sons what’s wrong with his sons that’s right they were stealing part of the offerings they were priests but they were stealing part of the offerings that did not belong to them and they also sleeping with some of the women who were serving at the Tabernacle they very very wicked men but so what his sons are bad why judge Eli yeah robed okay he is the one who raised them but there are some parents who are faithful and nonetheless have Wicked children so should they really suffer for their children’s sins wasn’t well it really comes down to not even necessarily did he disciplin them when he was growing up but when they continued in their pattern of sin he did not rebuke them that’s what God calls him out for he did not rebuke them he honored his sons above me and even when he does rebuke them when we saw that in the text together it’s not a real rebuke it’s a shallow rebuke he ends up condoning their actions by taking part in the meat that they um that they stole from God’s Tabernacle so whatever he was doing on on the surface he was not doing in substance he he was not really rebuking his sons now God prophesies Devastation on Eli’s house and the removal of his line from the priesthood now how are these prophecies fulfilled how is his house devastated who oh go ahead who nearly annihilates his whole family well we know that the sign of this judgment was that his two sons would die in the same day and that’s pretty devastating we don’t know how many how many children those Sons had had at that point but that was a big blow to the family but even further down the line the household of Eli is eliminated down to just one person and who kills all the other family members that is King Saul remember King Saul when um I forget the name of the priest when that priest helps David David Saul goes and kills all the other family members and he kills that priest and there’s one surviving son who serves under David but then is removed from the priesthood and who removes him that’s Solomon remember when abiathar tries to inaugurate another King instead of Solomon and that that movement is put down Solomon says you deserve to die but instead I’m just going to dismiss you from the priesthood and the Bible even says that was fulfillment of what God had said to Eli yeah robar that’s right abiathar was the last one yeah shavid and then that’s exactly right yeah yeah so just to remind you the circumstances to repeat what you said Shay there was a priest who David ran to to get for get some provisions David’s on the run from Saul the priest doesn’t know that David just says I’m on a special Mission can you give me some provisions and he does and when Saul confronts the priest he says why did you help out my enemy the priest says who is like David he’s an innocent and faithful servant of yours why would you even try to destroy him I don’t feel bad about helping him why are you going after him and then Saul says kill this guy and nobody’s willing to and so this uh Foreigner who who was the one who actually ratted out the priest for helping David he’s the one who kills the priest and he and some of others of Saul’s followers they kill the city or they kill all his relatives the people living in the city of Knob so all of that is a fulfillment of the Judgment that God prophesied on Eli’s household because Eli was not a faithful judge nor a faithful priest and he was honoring his sons above God now whom does God raise up as a judge instead of Eli Samuel the god uses Samuel to bring Israel to repentance and deliver Israel from the Philistines who were the nation that was oppressing them at that time now whose house does God eventually raise up to replace Eli’s descendants in the priesthood not the house of Samuel the sons of zadok zadok is the other priest serving at the time of David with abiathar the last surviving descendant of Eli abar is removed and zadok and his descendants continue and the Bible continues to describe that they are the ones who continue before the Lord’s anointed Kings and they will even do so in the Millennium and they were a truly faithful priesthood God even comments in Ezekiel when all of Israel turned away these priests were those in the line of zadok were continuing to be faithful so what principle of God is on display in this judgment this casting down and raising up yeah Craig yes certainly his y but he acts according to a certain principle in casting down and raising up generally what’s that principle yeah Judy yeah he’s acting Faithfully to himself but we can be more specific yeah Rob that’s right it’s that God is opposed to the proud but gives grace to the humble or as he says directly to Eli those who honor me I will honor and those who despise me I will lightly esteem we see that principle again and again in 1 Samuel and indeed throughout the Bible may have even noticed in our scripture reading last week when talking about I think it was Hezekiah or maybe the King after him you see that same principle when he becomes arrogant and disobeys the Lord God curses but when he repents God relents of that curse or he or he um he does good to him we see that principle with Samuel and Eli and also Eli Eli’s sons and zadok we can be sure that we also this whole prophecy about Eli it shows us that we can be sure at the right time God’s word will come to pass either to vindicate and exalt his faithful ones or to judge and cast down the Arrogant disobedient any questions about what we covered last week okay well in today’s lesson we look at Israel’s demand for a king to rule over them was it evil for Israel to make such a demand the title of today’s lesson Israel rejects God as king certainly doesn’t make their request look very good but was it evil for Israel to request a human King to rule over them and if so why and more importantly can we fall into the same kind of sin today with our own desires and even requests of God here’s our outline for today’s class we’ll look at some well we’re first going to observe some pre Samuel scriptures that have to do with Israel’s monarchy second we’ll examine Israel’s demand for a king and God’s response we’ll take a look at how that event actually unfolded and then the end we’ll explore if and how we ourselves can be like Israel let’s pray and ask God to help us understand this word father I pray that you give me ability to explain clearly your word and accurately I pray father that however that you would do the work of sanctification that that you would grow your people that you would do what I cannot do Lord I want to be faithful as an explainer of your word but it’s you who have power so work please work now in your people in Jesus name amen okay when Israel requests of Samuel a human King in 1st Samuel 8 which is the passage that we’re going to be mainly looking at today it’s not as if their request is a complete surprise that it’s some completely out of the blue actually references to a coming human king in Israel appear in many of the early Old Testament books and I want to observe some of these together with you in the first part of our lesson first open your Bibles and turn to Genesis 49 Genesis 49 we’ll look at verses 8 to 10 just to briefly inform you on the context here we have Jacob in his old age prop prophesying about the future of his various sons of his 12 sons and in verses 8 to 10 he’s talking about Judah look at verse eight with me Judah your brothers shall praise you your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies your father’s Sons shall bow down to you Judah is a lion’s welp from the prey my son you have gone up he couches he lies down as a lion and as a lion Who Dares Rouse him up the scepter shall not depart from Judah nor the ruler staff from between his feet until Shiloh comes and to him shall be The Obedience of the peoples we’ll stop there this section about Judah contains some surprising prophecy notice verse 8 tells us that Jacob Jacob’s other Sons will bow down to Judah and praise him even though Judah is not the firstborn and verse 10 Jacob says the scepter and the ruler staff shall not depart from Judah what does the scepter represent Sovereign rule that of a king that is a symbol of monarchical rule it’s the king who has a scepter God declares through Jacob that the scepter that is the kingship will belong to Judah and then it says until Shiloh comes now this phrase is a little bit difficult until Shiloh comes can also be translated until he comes to sh Pho that is Judah or judah’s descendant or it could be translated until he comes to whom it belongs until someone comes to whom the scepter belongs the word Shiloh itself means tranquil so what exactly is this referring to we won’t spend too much time but certainly this is a reference to someone special from the line of Judah who will come and he will have The Obedience of the people he will be he will be king and have The Obedience of the people or peoples so we see this prophecy this very early prophecy about a king from Israel and specifically from Judah now turn over to numbers 24 look at two more references to the kingship numbers 24 this is another section of Prophecy this time from balum son of beor look at verse 7 where we read this numbers 24:7 bam is speaking about Israel water will flow from his buckets and his seed will be by many Waters and his King shall be higher than AAG and his kingdom shall be exalted here again is a reference to a king and a kingdom in Israel and this this prophecy says the kingdom will be exalted now is this a human king or is this referring to God himself because God is King well the king of Israel here is compared to AAG the text says the king of Israel will be higher than AAG but who or what is AAG does anyone know yeah Judy very good we’ll talk about that egag in just a second but there is a specific King named AAG that appears in 1 Samuel it’s true that the term AAG could be actually a title or maybe a dynastic name maybe it’s uh certain Kings often passed on the same name to their sons certain Canaanite Kings like the king of hotword ja jabin there are multiple Kings named jabin one appears I think in the Book of Joshua and another one appears in the Book of Judges and they rule in the same place so it could be a title or it could be just a name that the rulers all took for themselves or many of them did so AAG could be that kind of name but as Judy mentioned there is a specific King named AAG in 1st Samuel 15 and he is King of the amalekites amalekites they dwelt in southern Canaan they were one of the peoples of the land Saul is commanded to destroy the amalekites and he mostly does so but he leaves the king alive Samuel uh rebukes Saul for this Disobedience and he memorably hacks egag to Pieces so this word about the king of Israel be more being more exalted being higher than AAG May refer to that specific man but certainly AAG whether this is a term a position a dynastic name or specific person he must have been a pretty exalted ruler but God says that human king is not going to be as exalted as the king that I raise up in Israel now look down to verses 17 to 19 same chapter balum says something else verse 17 I see him but not now I Behold Him but not near a star shall come forth from Jacob a scepter shall rise from Israel and shall Crush through the forehead of Moab and tear down all the sons of sheth Edom shall be a possession zir its enemies also will be a possession while Israel performs valiantly one from Jacob shall have dominion and will destroy the remnant from the city here again words about a coming King the scepter appears once again describing one coming from Jacob a human descendant of Jacob someone though who is not yet near someone in the distant future this King will crush Israel’s perennial enemies Edom and Moab and he will exercise Dominion so in Genesis and numbers we see these references to the king but Israel’s King a human king is not simply foretold God even gives specific commands regarding the coming human King turn now to Deuteronomy Deuteronomy 17 Deuteronomy 17 and we’re looking at verses 14 to 20 it says Moses speaking on God’s behalf to Israel look at verse 14 in Deuteronomy 17 when you enter the land which the Lord your God gives you and you possess it and live in it and you say I will set a king over me like all the nations who are around me you shall s surely set a king over you whom the Lord your God chooses one from among your countrymen you shall set as king over yourselves you may not put a foreigner over yourselves who is not your countrymen moreover he shall not multiply horses for himself nor shall he cause the people to return to Egypt to multiply horses since the Lord has said to you you shall never again return that way he shall not multiply wives for himself or else his heart will turn away nor shall he greatly increase silver and gold for himself now shall come about when he sits on the throne of his kingdom he shall write for himself a copy of this law on a scroll in the presence of the levitical priests it shall be with him and he shall read it all the days of his life that he may learn to fear the lord his God by carefully observing all the words of this law and these statutes that his heart may not be lifted up above his countrymen and that he may not turn aside from the Commandment to the right or to the left so that he and his sons may continue long in his kingdom and the midst of Israel all right this is fascinating observe God tells Israel that one day after they settle in Canaan they will say that they want a king like all their neighbors without saying whether this desire is right or wrong God set some parameters for their King what’s one of them he has to be chosen by God what else beite he had to be an Israelite not a foreigner what else you can’t take them back to Egypt not even to get horses very good what else he get not to multiply wives for himself what else couple more yeah go ahead AC silver he’s not to multiply greatly multiply silver and gold for himself what were you going to say Rob well certainly he is to fear the lord and what is he supposed to do to help him do that he used to create a copy of the law and read it all the time now I think we we covered most of the parameters here must be chosen by God must be an Israelite must not multiply horses for himself must not take the people back to Egypt must not multiply wives because those wise will turn him away from God must not greatly increase gold and silver for himself must write himself a copy of the law and read it all the time that he may fear the lord obey the Lord not have his heart lifted above his countrymen and that his Reign and the reign of his sons might be long now there’s no King in Moses’s time and not even in Joshua’s time yet the commands given regarding a human King are declared to Israel so in the pentiuk a number of references to the coming human King and then there’s what we’ve already seen in the Book of Judges which judge does Israel attempt to make King Gideon you remember when we talked about Gideon at the very end of it they’re like you’ve been awesome deliverer why don’t you be our King and have your sons be Kings over us and he says no the Lord is your king nevertheless Gideon and many judges after him act more and more like human Kings they gather for themselves power and wealth they multiply wives for themselves which is what most their neighbors did their kings and they arrang strategic marriages for their children one of Gideon’s own Sons wickedly tries to establish himself as a king in Israel but God destroys him after his kingdom um is inaugurated only for a few years there’s also as we’ve previously noted a pair of phrases that repeats itself throughout the latter half of the Book of Judges related to a King what is that pair of phrases that’s right it says every man did what was right in their their own eyes and What’s the phrase that often accompanies that statement there was no king in Israel in those days there’s a relation between those two concepts the phrases imply that if there’s no King and everyone does what is Right In their own eyes what happens when a king will come he’s going to put an end to this moral Anarchy he’s going to make sure that not everybody does what is right in their own eyes but they actually do what is right in God’s eyes so we see this another references more references to coming human kings in the Book of Judges and then there’s a statement that we saw at the beginning of 1 Samuel remember Hannah in her prayer to God in 1st Samuel chapter 2 the very end what does she declare regarding a king this is 1st Samuel 2:10 what does she say God will do that’s right he says God will give strength to his King God will honor and strengthen and establish his anointed king his king in Israel so we can see the idea of a coming human King was actually part of Israel’s early history the Israelites knew or could have known that a king and his descendants would come from Judah he would be exalted he would defeat Israel’s enemies he would need to abide by certain commands and parameters of behavior he was to direct Israel toward righteousness and away from moral Anarchy and not to use his kingship wrongly for his own fleshly and wicked ends as some began to do in the Book of Judges and this king would ultimately be established by God now many of these words they come from the pentet which is written around 1410 BC but they record words and events from Far earlier as early as or some of the words from Abraham around 1900 BC the kingship doesn’t actually come the events in 1st Samuel 8 don’t actually happen till about 1,50 BC so these words regarding Israel’s coming human King they appear far in advance centuries before Israel would have a king nonetheless they are there now as you’ve heard these different words and looked at these passages together with me do the early Old Testament books treat the coming kingship as a generally positive negative or neutral development positive I mean not everything is completely positive but generally it’s positive positive he’s going to defeat his enemies he’s going to help establish righteousness this is going to be a good thing now this is important background for what unfolds starting in 1st Samuel 8 so now let’s turn there we’ve looked at the background from the early Old Testament books regarding Israel’s coming human King but now let’s look at Israel’s actual demand for a king and God’s response so 1st Samuel chapter 8 we’re going to read the entire chapter verses 1 to 22 starting in verse one and it came about when Samuel was old that he appointed his sons judges over Israel and the name of his firstborn was Joel and the name of his second abijah they were judging in be Sheba his sons however did not walk in his ways but turn aside after dishonest gain and took bribes and perverted Justice then all the Elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Rama and they said to him behold you have grown old and your sons do not walk on your ways now appoint a king for us to judge us like all the nations but the thing was displeasing in the sight of Samuel when they said give us a king to judge us and Samuel prayed to the Lord the Lord said to Samuel listen to the voice of the people in regard to all that they say to you for they have not rejected you but they have rejected me from being King over them like all the Deeds which they have done since the day that I brought them from the from Egypt even to this day and that they have forsaken me and served other gods so they are doing to you also now then listen to their voice however you shall solemnly warn them and tell them of the procedure of the king who will reign over them 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 50s 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 to 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 nevertheless the people refuse 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 are 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 a city all right as we always do when we attempt to understand a passage a scripture let’s start with basic observations Samuel is old and he attempts to appoint his sons as judges after him what’s the problem though they are not righteous judges they specifically take bribes they pervert Justice because of this the elders gather together and tell Samuel to appoint for them a king to rule over them and to judge them instead of regular judges this the Elders of Israel point out will make Israel like what the other nations they already have Kings we want one too what Samuel’s reaction he was displeased and what else does he do he prays he prays to God about it notice God’s response he tells Samuel to do as Israel requests but notes that in their request what is Israel really doing they are rejecting God as king perhaps Samuel thought that they were rejecting him as judge but God says they’re not really rejecting you they’re rejecting me God notes that this latest act fits in with Israel’s General pattern of behavior since leaving Egypt that is continual Rebellion against God God tells Samuel though to warn Israel about its coming King and to report to them what a kingship will require Samuel does so what specifically does Samuel warn the people that their King will do gives a number of warnings what’s one of them he’s going to take some of their people he going to take their sons their daughters their male servants and their female servants to be his workers and his Warriors what else will he do Magna take 10% of their fields that’s right he’s going to take some of their stuff he’s going to take a tenth a tithe essentially a tax the best of their produce a tenth of what comes from their agricultural work and a tenth of what comes from their animals Samuel ultimately says the people will become the king’s servants all the people will be the king’s servants they will be essentially giving up their freedom in order to have a King because of this what does God warn that his people will eventually do they will cry out to God because of their King because of their King’s oppression of them but God says when that happens he will not answer them he will give them what they want right now a king but there will be no going back the elders do not listen to Samuel they do not heed his warning they instead reiterate why they want a king not only so that they can be like all the nations but also so that the king can do what for them fight for them judge them and fight their battles fight their battles for them now this is a significant statement because who previously claimed that he would fight Israel’s battles for them God himself just to give you a couple references Exodus 14:14 Moses says the the Lord will fight for you while you keep silent Deuteronomy 1:30 the Lord your God who goes before you will himself fight on your behalf just as he did for you in Egypt before your eyes and Joshua 23:10 one of your men puts to flight a thousand for the Lord your God is he who fights for you just as he promised you Samuel repeats Israel’s final words to God and God confirms again that Samuel should appoint for Israel a king all right let’s ask some interpretive questions now since we’ve made observations how is the coming kingship presented here generally positive negative or neutral definitely negative even Israel’s request for a king is liken to heinous sin it is rejecting God when you request a king in this way you are rejecting God can’t get much more evil than that but how can this be we just saw that the previous scriptures painted the coming kingship in such a positive light is the Bible schizophrenic is God we’ll talk about that in just a second is God Moody did God change his mind what’s going on here I will to help us understand let’s see if there’s anything about how Israel goes about obtaining this kingship that stands out to us as evil was it what they asked for or was it how they asked it well let’s consider their method they do not actually approach God about this issue to find out whether appointing a human king would be right and appropriate in their situation I mean after all appointing a king would be a momentous shift in their society so wouldn’t you want to check with God about that God is their ruler after all yet they do not seek the Lord’s will in this they do not say you know find out from God whether this would be the right thing to do please do this for us Samuel they simply tell Samuel your sons obviously aren’t good judges so give us a king Israel Demands a king of Samuel and do not consult God’s approval or God’s timing and this is evil but secondly consider the motivations of the Israelites for their King the Israelite Elders revealed two reasons why they want a king that we may be like all the nations and that this King might rule over us and fight our battles let’s consider each of these reasons the first that we may be like all the nations how often is righteous action going to be produced by seeking to be like those who don’t know God almost never probably never if you want to find out what righteousness is you don’t say let’s just do what the other nations do the other nations don’t have a covenant with Yahweh they serve false gods and they commit abominable Deeds so why would Israel want to be like them or why do you think they think the other nations have a good thing we’re missing out the other nations have something that we are missing that’ be good for us they suppose the Israelites suppose that they are missing out on something beneficial look at how wise their ruling system is they have Kings to rule over them look at how powerful their kings are and how great the king’s armies are look at what they’re able to accomplish with their kings nice and centralized we obviously are lagging behind and missing out besides if everyone’s doing it it can’t be bad right they know what’s up we need to get ourselves a king Israel is essentially discontent lusting after what the other nations have and distrusting God’s present provision this is sinful motivation furthermore they say we want this King to rule over us and fight our battles as we’ve noted God promised to fight God was the one who promised to fight Israel’s battles on Israel’s behalf and God proved time and time again that no human king or human Army could handle God’s power but what’s Difficult about relying on God for military Victory what’s hard about that yes Steve it almost pars like of Faith because you know if you have a human in front of you says okay these are our game plans you know and then they can strategize but with God it’s going to be totally unfaith exactly yeah that’s the hard part when God’s your king when God fights your battles it requires you to have faith in him and also requires you to be obedient to him because remember he said as long as you’re obedient to me I’ll I’ll destroy all your enemies but when you turn from me I’ll let you be defeated this was a high cost having God as king and as milit AR Commander meant obedience Israel had to love and obey God this meant giving up idols and various sins it also meant exercising uncomfortable faith I mean think back to the types of Victories that we’ve seen so far in our study God LED Israel to the brink of disaster at the Dead Sea before he rescued Israel and annihilated the Egyptians that was that definitely required Faith very uncomfortable situation and think of Gideon God reduced Gideon’s arm to a measly 300 people before he had them face an army of 120,000 that was uncomfortable Faith or that required uncomfortable faith and even in 1 Samuel 7 right before this chapter God allowed vast armies of Philistines to gather against Israel and right before the Philistines are about to commence their attack God answers Samuel’s prayer Samuel’s praying God please Deliver Us and it’s right at that almost last moment God answers he supernaturally Thunders against the Philistines they flee and Israel strikes them down in a great Slaughter God often forced Israel to exercise Faith he put them into situations where Deliverance seemed impossible before he acted and glorified himself Israel is tired of this wouldn’t it be nice if we had a king and a mighty Army that we could see we could look at all those thousands of soldiers marching out and our King tall strong and regall looking and we could feel what what would they feel it’ feel secure it’d finally feel comfortable and secure because God’s deliverances they make us uncomfortable but if we had a king then we could dwell securely and really we wouldn’t have to worry so much about obeying the Lord or crying out to him or exercising faith in him because the king the human King will take care of us he will bring order to our society and he will fight our battles so this is subtle but it is not something that God misses he calls out Israel on their wickedness he knows what’s in their hearts God Says by asking for a king what they’re really saying is that they’d rather have nothing to do with me they’d rather trust in power that they can see seeming power that they can see that doesn’t require any change of their lifestyle or of exercising Faith rather than a power that they can’t see that requires faith and obedience yeah Roy yeah you’re totally right Roy I I think we mentioned this a little bit last week or maybe a couple weeks before but you’re right even when Messiah comes who is to be the ultimate king of Israel it’s not the king that they want because he’s not what the Israelites are looking for even right here someone to fight our battles for us someone to Deliver Us from the enemy and someone who can make us secure in such a way that we don’t have to worry about obeying or trusting in God some might argue that a human King was always an evil concept and that God merely had plans to redeem that evil that evil arrangement for good purposes but I would argue based on the analysis that we uh just looked at here that it’s rather the method and the reasoning for Israel’s request rather than the request itself that’s evil it was always God’s good design to give Israel a human King but not so that Israel could stop paying attention to God or just pursue their fleshly lusts or put their security in something other than God rather God’s King was to act as an agent of justice and righteousness in the land and lead the people not just the people of Israel but also the surrounding Nations toward God and not away from him but Israel was not interested in such a king and never is and just as Roy pointed out even in Jesus own day they’re not interested in the type of King that God desired for them someone to lead them back to the Lord that’s why they put Jesus to death so no the Bible’s not reversing course when it comes to the kingship a human King in God’s timing and in God’s way is a great blessing but Israel is Seeking a king in its own timing in its own way and in its and for its own fleshly reasons therefore their request is tantamount to rejecting God but God tells Samuel to do as Israel requests give them what they want that’s strange I mean if evil is in their hearts why not simply refuse why not even destroy them why Grant what they ask what do you think yeah Rob they ask is juding them will destroy yeah partially it’s a judgment right and that’s why God even warns him about this King you think that having a human King for your human reasons is going to be such a great benefit but you forget the other side of it that you’re essentially asking for a tyrant when you have a king that’s not concerned about me or concerned about driving you to me then he’s going to abuse you he’s going to be judgment on you I’ll give you what you want you’re asking for something evil and so you will reap the consequences of that evil it’s partially judgment but not only judgment why else does God grant the request yeah Danny true yeah even though Israel desires a king for its own reasons for its own evil reasons God remember has already covenanted with Israel he set his love on Israel and he says I desire to do you good that’s even the reason why I’m bringing you a human King eventually and you will not thwart my desire to do good I will give you a king after my own heart I will be faithful to myself and I will cause this King to lead you back to me so there are a number of reasons going on here for Why God grants their request I’ve grouped them into three it’s partially judgment as Rob mentioned God is going to judge them through their King what they supposed would bring them happiness security and deliverance would instead become a source of hardship and oppression as really all lusts and Idols do right we’ll talk about application a little bit later but anything you’re like if I just had this thing make me happy and secure no it becomes a source of Oppression to you it becomes cursed God would cause many of Israel’s Kings to be evil and oppressive tyrants but it’s also just God being faithful he prompts the king he’s going to give him a king Israel saw that Israel s a king for its own evil purposes does not change God’s promise God was still going to fulfill his promise and why well it’s because he had good purposes in mind the whole time God chose to set his love on Israel because of God’s covenant with Abraham one second sh I’ll get to your question or comment God had determined to do good to Israel nothing was going to stop God from doing that good he would give Israel a good human king a king after his own heart a king that would establish justice and direct the people to God and we’ve already alluded to it but which early Israelite King embodies this determined good from God toward Israel not none other than King David while Solomon was the most glorious king of Israel in terms of majesty and pomp there was no king who had a better heart than David despite certain failures and sins David becomes the standard of righteousness by which all subsequent kings are measured if you want to know a king was a good king or not you ask this question was this King like David or did he depart from David’s ways David was not an oppressor of Israel he was a blessing to Israel just like God always meant for his human Kings to be but David was just the prototype by relying on God he conquered Israel’s enemies and he established justice but a greater David was coming in the line of Judah Jesus God’s son the God man God’s son himself was going to come as a human in the line of Judah not simply to establish a restored Kingdom to Israel but to be a light to the whole world for repentance as both God and man both priest and King Jesus could act as the perfect mediator and ruler in every sense as the perfect King Jesus will not only Smite God’s enemies and rule in glory but more amazingly he will die for his people all those who trust in him by faith alone and he will save them from their sins There’s No Greater King than this coming King from the line of David and the line of Judah the Messiah for the sake of God’s purposes in the Messiah God grants evils or isel’s evil motivated request because God was determined to be kind and merciful to the world so this combination of God’s good purposes and Israel’s evil fleshly motivations explains why 1 Samuel and the Old Testament in general has some mixed feelings over the kingship one sense it’s a really great thing in another sense we look at what Israel is doing and wow it’s a really evil thing but even what comes afterwards suddenly reverts back to positive as we see the first king of Israel being inaugurated it’s a very optimistic looking situation you a question sh um so I was shocked when you read that part in Deuteronomy how God had told them what a king should be like and then I think I remember when he when Samuel anointed sa King then it says like he took him and showed him like the things of the law that’s right I’m presuming that he would have showed him that part right yeah but it’s just likeone noty of those yeah it’s true I’ll repeat some of your comment Shay when Saul is inaugurated as the first king we won’t read the passage but SU it in just a moment Samuel is sure to educate Saul on what the law says about Kings assuredly going to that passage in Deuteronomy and other places saying this is the way that you are to rule this is the way that God has directed you to act as king but you’re also right to observe that most of the Kings perhaps all of them do not obey all of the provisions given in Deuteronomy 17 I mean the most notorious disobey of those commands is probably who Solomon multiplies gold and silver for himself multiplies wives goes and gets horses goes down to Egypt does lots of things that the law specifically forbids even David who probably fulfilled most of those things nonetheless multiplied wives for himself so you’re right Israel never perfectly even and its Kings never perfectly adhere to those set of rules but the Messiah would and the Messiah would uh fulfill God’s good purposes as a human King better than any anyone before him but anyways we see why there’s a little bit of a mixed some mixed feelings about the kingship but it really was a good thing it’s just that Israel sought it for evil purposes so what does God do he’s told Samuel to grant them a king what happens next I’ll just summarize the next couple chapters 1 Samuel 9 to 11 God raises up Saul a tall kingly looking Benjamine and he’s going to be Israel’s first king God tells Samuel to anoint Saul with the Holy oil from the Tabernacle which designated Saul as God’s chosen God’s holy God’s set aart King text says God changes Saul’s heart and God’s spirit comes upon Saul and empowers Saul for all the responsibilities of kingship though at his coronation Saul first tries to hide himself in the baggage so that no one can find him he’s eventually found and proclaimed King and this new kingdom starts on a pretty good footing when the ammonites rise up to attack an Israelite City Saul in Reliance on God and by the empowerment of God’s spirit delivers Israel he fights Israel’s battle he defeats the ammonites but even the Kings of Israel are not immune to the Divine principle that we’ve already seen and talked about those who honor me I will honor but those who despise me will be lightly esteemed it’s not long in 1 Samuel till we see that Saul turns away from God and the kingship quickly becomes a curse to Israel and to Saul himself but we’ll talk about that next week how God ultimately rejects Saul as king and raises up someone else but as for today we see that Israel because of its method and motivations wickedly asked God for a king but God for the sake of his own love and for his good purposes grants Israel’s request as we close let’s consider some application some questions to help us apply God’s word because God’s word is always to change us to do the work of sanctification here’s a question in what areas can Christians like Israel look to worldly wisdom look to be like the world instead of looking to God’s word what’s one area yeah certainly and um how we think about money yeah we um we can we can look to it for security we’ll talk about more about that in just a second how else can we look to worldly wisdom psychology what was that psychology yeah we can look to what they say about uh The Human Condition that’s not really a sin problem it’s a self-confidence problem where it’s something that happen in his childhood or something like that what else science science in general we can reinterpret various provisions of the Bible or the Miracles of the Bible certainly Origins as you know we’ talked about a lot in the Sunday school class the world tells us in its wisdom no reasonable person believes the supernatural parts of the Bible here’s what really happened according to science what were you going to say think Steve just one step back this is really a matter of Hol because you know Israel said let us be like the rest of the Nations I mean Holiness is not you know I keep I say this a lot it’s not like the Halo above your side a c it’s you act a certain way you’re different right really separate yeah to say you’re be like Nations is really ack of Hol but yet God commands the old new because I different yeah follows OB to matter H and that justes everything from you know sexual immorality to abortion yeah yeah yeah yeah totally right Steve I repeat some of your comments there that really what Israel was asking for was to not be holy we want to be like the other nations but to be holy means to be set apart God says you’re not to be like the other nations and in almost every way I’m going to make you different than the other nations and that’s really true for us too there’s sometimes a great effort to show that we’re just like everybody else um we need to we need to show that we’re not that different and yeah we don’t make ourselves obtuse but let’s not forget to be a Christian is to be different from the world and when we look to the world for our pattern of behavior or for wisdom we’re going to compromise the word of God certainly when it comes to moral Behavior I think as you mentioned Steve abortion um sexual sexuality the world says things totally different from what the word of God says or even when it comes to how the church should run or what it should be certain good ideas come from the world you know Church would be just a lot more efficient if we had one leader instead of a whole bunch of leaders a plurality of leadership I mean that’s the ancient wisdom from the early church right you remember in our church history Sunday school Ignatius and some of the others who were saying we just need to have one Bishop everybody support him it’ll make the church more united and efficient seemed like a good idea result in a lot of um terrible things in the church’s history that’s not what the Bible says to do many other things the gospel parenting they all become affected by the world’s wisdom and they make us like the world and they cause us to be cursed by God another question related to the first to what can we like Israel look for security instead of and in place of God yeah Dwayne yeah the government the police or the military these things will keep us safe and we get panicked when suddenly the government’s going to change oh no if so and so gets elected president that’s it we’re ruined well is the government your security or is is God you’re going to say Diana our jobs right our income as long as I got this job I’ll be fine uh oh I lost my job oh that’s it I’m not going to be able to survive anymore or if I don’t get this certain job I’m just not going to be secure we mentioned earlier money in general possessions savings oh you know until we get a certain amount of savings we just can’t be comfortable are we looking to the to money is our security what else your health yeah as long as I’m well as long as I’m being taken care of by the doctors we’ve got this great Advanced Health Care system in the United States I’ll be okay own experi yeah our own yeah our experiences education this is what’s going to enable me to get through every situation we can look to so many different things for security family friends even marriage oh until I get that I’m not going to be able to be secure or comfortable we can look to weapons our own personal strength security systems oh I don’t know if I can I don’t know if it will be safe for us um to oh I don’t know if we can be secure going in this place or being in this neighborhood but if we had a weapon then we’ll be secure or we can even look to our good works for security we can we can embrace the system of karma sometimes suggested by the world as long as I do good things I know that everything is going to go well for me I know that I’ll be prosperous and we can do this even with salvation of course we can say I don’t know if I’m going to go to to heaven but as long as I do more good than bad I can be secure of course that’s a that’s a lie it’s not what the scriptures declare so there are various things that we can look to for security instead of God do we find ourselves Desiring and praying for these things thinking that if we just get these then we can finally feel secure are we essentially telling God God please give me this thing because then I’ll feel happy and secure and without it with just you taking care of me God I can’t feel safe I can’t feel like you’ll provide for me have we not yet realized that any feeling or SEC of security from the things of the world is a losery God can remove it at any time or he can turn it into a curse he is the only King he’s the only security do you feel secure perhaps you you say oh I don’t feel insecure do you feel secure because or do you feel secure without God do you have a relative ease and prosperous circumstances so you don’t really think about God that’s certainly what Israel wanted maybe you have that have you raised up for yourself a substitute for God’s kingship ignoring that God’s curse and God’s judgment in due time accompanies such a choice maybe you do feel secure but it’s a false security let’s not forget the teaching of Jesus in The Sermon on the Mount he ends it by saying he who hears my words and does them applies them he’s like a man who builds his house on the rock when the floods come that is God’s judgment the house will not be shaken but he who builds his house in the sand and anything else for his salvation or his security other than God other than Christ when the flood comes that house will fall and great will be its fall final comments or questions yeah Carol you know it’s getting harder day but when you put yourself in Jesus shes how would you feel going to the Cross he did it for he did it for everybody not just just everybody that’s true Carol and that’s one of the reasons why we acknowledge that God’s plan for a human King to be a blessing to Israel was such a good thing because he was sending his own son as king he was rejected by his people because he was not the kind of King that they wanted but really he was the greatest kind of King ever because he loved his people even to the point of being willing to die for them and we we can imagine a little bit like that’s like as you were saying Carol to put our self in Jesus shoes but we can never really um fully comprehend it because that is such great love and the scriptures say greater love has no man than this that he lays down his life for his friends I mean the king did that for his rebellious subjects other questions or comments okay we have our memory verse don’t forget 1st Samuel 167 very um relevant for what we’ve been talking about contrast between Saul and those who externally look like deliverers even David’s Brothers God says no don’t look at the outward appearance don’t look to externals for your security or for your deliverance because I look at the heart and I’m really the one who has the power I raise up those that entrust themselves to me and I provide for them let’s close in prayer father we thank you for your word we pray that you would cause this word cause your people to meditate on this word and to apply it so that they don’t deceive themselves by thinking that they are secure and what the world provides or in anything in the world it’s not wrong to have these things to make use of them that’s good stewardship but father we are never to look to those things for deliverance or security it’s only you you desire God for us to have faith in you that is the Blessed Way it’s uncomfortable for the flesh but that is the Blessed Way and the only way of Salvation so God we entrust ourselves to you you continue to instruct us and bless us in today’s service in Jesus name amen