1 Samuel 8:4-7 (NKJV) 4 Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah, 5 and said to him, “Look, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.” 6 But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” So Samuel prayed to the LORD. 7 And the LORD said to Samuel, “Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them.
We had a wonderful time of ministry, worship and fellowship here at Living Word this past week. Many came to our little town from as far away as Puerto Rico and Louisiana. Dr. B. J. Pruitt allowed us to host his “Unity Through Fellowship” conference this year and we will continue in years to come. It was a tremendous blessing to see pastors and church leaders receiving from the Lord and making connections around the table that will become lifelong relationships. Next year the conference will be February 25-27. I would like to invite you to put it on your calendar and pray about joining us. We need one another!
We had some powerful messages by Dr. Eldon Wilson and Dr. B.J. Pruitt. I want to share some thoughts from them this week. In today’s scripture, we read about a period in Israel’s history when they made a choice to leave God’s way and be like the world.
Up to that point, God had raised up anointed leaders for Israel, as they were needed. Some of them had their problems. I am sure that the people remembered the corrupt sons of Eli the priest and wondered if Samuels’s sons would be the same. What they forgot was that God did not allow Eli’s sons to continue in their evil leadership of Israel. He replaced them with Samuel, one of the greatest and purest people in Old Testament history. He would have done the same with Samuel’s sons if they had not obeyed God and walked in his ways.
When the people chose to have a king instead of allowing God to choose their leaders, they guaranteed that the thing they feared would happen. Once they had a king, familial succession chose their leaders. God could and did change that at times, but it usually took civil war to do it. God’s ways often seem less secure than the ways of man. Israel found out that they are not.
I have heard arguments that it really was the will of God for Israel to have a king. After all, David was the king and he was a man after God’s own heart. However, David did not become the ruler of Israel by kingly succession. He became the ruler of Israel in the same way that the judges did. God made him the ruler of Israel. Later in life, it was the fact that he was a king that got him in trouble. He took another man’s wife and had him murdered to cover up his adultery. Would the man who wrote the psalms have done such a thing if he had not been king? I will leave you to your own conclusions on that but I doubt he would have.
As we follow Israel’s history, we see that their kings caused far more sin than righteousness. We see that virtually every period of apostasy in Israel’s life was cause or aided by a king. Israel was divided into two nations because of kings. The final thing that tells me it was not the perfect will of God for Israel to have a king is verse 7 above. God told Samuel that Israel had rejected Him from being their king in favor of the world’s system.
We have no way of knowing what Israel’s history would have looked like if they had not cried out for a king. I do not think this was surprise to God. God was ready when they asked for a king because he knew they would. Israel’s history played out just as God intended despite the fact that they rejected his perfect will and chose something less. I do wonder what their personal history would have been like if they had allowed God to be their king.
Would the northern 10 tribes have separated from the southern 2 tribes to form their own kingdom? Would the evil king Ahab and the even more evil queen Jezebel have gained control over God’s people if God was raising up judges instead of the people raising up kings? Would Israel have endured captivity for 70 years or would a Judge been anointed to deliver them? We know that captivity was a result of Israel’s sinfulness and the kings did little but promote sinful behavior.
I believe God knows the choices we make and moves the history of the earth along according to his plan no matter what we do. God will have his way in the earth. If one generation of Israelites would not go into the Promised Land, God could wait for the next generation. The will of God is going to happen in our day as well. The question is not the destiny of the world the question is our destiny and our wellbeing.
What was the real problem with Israel’s request? I alluded to the story of Eli earlier. Eli was one of the judges of Israel. Judges were God appointed leaders that he brought on the scene when they were needed. They would rule for a while and then they would fade away until there was the need for another Judge. As you read the book of Judges, you see that they only got in trouble when they stayed on past the crisis God raised them up to deal with.
It really seems to me that the perfect will of God was for Israel not to have a national leader unless they needed one. When the need passed, they were left to their own relationship with God. The decision as to whom and how long was God’s. Although this is very spiritual, it is hard on the flesh. They never knew who the leader would be and they had no control over how he came to power. They wanted to have something more stable. They wanted to be like the world.
The problem for them and for us is what Jesus prayed in John 17. It applied to them and it applies to us. Jesus said we are not of the world just as he was not of the world. Israel did not become a nation like all the other nations. They were not of the world and were not to be ruled like the world. They did what we sometimes do. They chose the world’s system over God’s and they lived to regret the consequences.
It is the same with us. We look at the world and say, “I know I am a Christian, but does that mean I can’t enjoy life?” No, it does not. It does mean that you cannot not make the same choices as the world and you cannot do anything that goes against God’s will, God’s way or God’s Word. When we choose to be like the world, we will suffer. Israel did not really suffer so much under Saul. They prospered under David and even under Solomon. From Solomon on it was downhill with only a few periods of righteousness. That slide ended in captivity.
Choosing to live God’s way is not always easy. It is always hard on the flesh. We have to walk by faith when our sight tells us we are on the wrong track. We have to walk in love when the world cries that we need to look out for ourselves. We have to cultivate a life of holiness and self-control when so many voices point us toward excess and self-indulgence.
The flesh says, “Look at everyone else. You don’t want to be different. That preacher is preaching something too hard. God does not want us to be that way. We can reach the world more effectively if we are like them.” The arguments are endless but the bible is clear. We are not of the world and we can only enjoy the blessing of God by doing things God’s way. The world will get to where God wants it to go no matter what no matter what but we can only be a part of his will and purpose if we choose God’s way over the way of a king.
Leave a Reply