1 SAMUEL 8:1-22                                              THE ISRAELITES REQUEST A KING                                                                Day 12

Israel demanded a king. Why would they do that? The immediate cause was that in Samuel’s old age he had appointed his sons as judges. These boys were not like their father. They took bribes and abused their position.

A deeper reason may be that they were tired of the insecurities of the period of having judges – a deliverer raised up when they were under the heel of some foreign power, but anarchy until the next judge would be called after they had again fallen into distress. To overcome this, apparently they felt that a king would provide a permanent, strong government and give them someone to “fight our battles for us.”

Additionally, they wanted to be like the other nations. The problem with this was that God had formed Israel to show to the other nations a better way to live. As Moses had said in his farewell after reminding them he had taught them the statutes of the LORD:

Keep them and do them, for that will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who when they hear all these staatutes, will say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.” (Deuteronomy 4:6 – see also day 10 comments.)

By wanting to become like the other nations, Israel was forgetting their role in the STORY.

Samuel was not pleased at this request, but when he prayed to the LORD, he was told, “They have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.” Nevertheless, the LORD said to give them what they asked for, but to warn them of what it would mean. So Samuel pointed out that the king would:

·         Set up a standing army by taking their sons to be his charioteers, horsemen and infantry.

·         Require others to be officers, as well as laborers in the fields and in making arms for the army.

·         Take their daughters to work for his establishment as “perfumers and cooks and bakers.”

·         Requisition the best of their fields, vineyards, and orchards.

·         Levy a tithe (tax) on their grain and vineyards for the support of his officers.

·         Impound their male and female servants as well as the strongest of their young men and beasts of burden for his work.

·         Demand a tithe of their flocks.

In doing all these things, the king would make them slaves. This would lead them to cry out against their king as they had cried out against Pharaoh in Egypt and their oppressors in the days of the judges. In other words, having a king would institutionalize oppression; it would not cure it.

They were oppressed when they turned away from God. The cure for their oppression was not a permanent government with a Department of Defense. It was a change of heart so they would habitually walk in the ways of the LORD God. Anything else would fall short, for they would be living without God’s protection.

After Samuel’s warning, though, they insisted:

The people refused to obey 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, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.”

So Samuel gave them a king. God gave them what they demanded – but sent leanness into their souls (cf. Psa 106: 15). This alternative to real, redemptive repentance gave a tragic turn to the STORY.