seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
1 Samuel 8:1 When Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as Israel’s leaders. 2 The name of his firstborn was Joel and the name of his second was Abijah, and they served at Beersheba. 3 But his sons did not follow his ways. They turned aside after dishonest gain and accepted bribes and perverted justice.
4 So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. 5 They said to him, “You are old, and your sons do not follow your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have.”
6 But when they said, “Give us a king to lead us,” this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the Lord. 7 And the Lord told him: “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. 8 As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. 9 Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will claim as his rights.”
10 Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking him for a king. 11 He said, “This is what the king who will reign over you will claim as his rights: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots. 12 Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. 13 He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. 14 He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants. 15 He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants. 16 Your male and female servants and the best of your cattle and donkeys he will take for his own use. 17 He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves. 18 When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, but the Lord will not answer you in that day.”
19 But the people refused to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We want a king over us. 20 Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles.”
21 When Samuel heard all that the people said, he repeated it before the Lord. 22 The Lord answered, “Listen to them and give them a king.”
Then Samuel said to the Israelites, “Everyone go back to your own town.”
Here's the link to the commentary I use.Make for us a king: There was a difference between a king and a judge. A judge was a leader raised up by God, usually to meet a specific need in a time of crisis. When the crisis was over usually the judge went back to doing what he did before. A king not only held his office as king as long as he lived, he also passed his throne down to his descendants.
The thing displeased Samuel: No doubt, Samuel was stung by the rejection of his sons. But more than that, Samuel saw the ungodly motive behind the elders’ request for a king.
They have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them: God had a purpose in not giving Israel a king up to that point. It was because He did not want them to put an ungodly trust in the king instead of the LORD. Now, Israel rejects God’s plan and declares they do not want the LORD God to reign over them.
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 gives fair warning. Most kings are takers, not givers and they come to be served, not to serve. If Israel wants a king they must realize he will be a taker not a giver, and they will be his servants.
I was thinking. Yesterday the Bible says the Philistines attacked Israel because they heard that Israel was getting right with God again. The Philistines thought the Israelites would be weak. That bugged me all day long... so now I can explain it. Back when the Israelites were getting ready to cross into the Promised Land, the Israelites "got right with God" and since none of the babies born during the trip had been circumcised, there were a lot of uncircumcised men in the census. So, the Israelites had to stop, get circumcised, and heal. That's why the Philistines thought the Israelites were weak. The Philistines mistakenly thought that getting right with God required them to cut their dicks and with healing dicks they would be unable to fight! OK then...
Now on to today's lesson.
Check out verse 5. Samuel was getting "too old" to do the job. His sons were bums, like Eli's sons, they started to think more about what the people could do for them... instead of what the people could do for God.
In other words, they stopped worshipping God and started worshipping their own wallets. They got greedy.
The Temple was getting corrupted again.
The people figured if they got a King, then Israel would be like everyone else.
God and Samuel warned them that having a King would enslave them. God and Samuel warned them that the King would take away their rights [verses 17 & 18].
God was their king. They weren't happy with having God as their king. They wanted to have a human king. They wanted a leader they could see. They wanted to be like the other humans in the world.
Samuel tried to warn them.... but they were persistent....
"Better the devil you know"
