Israel Demands a King from Samuel Samuel part 4 Last time, we saw how the Lord punished the Philistines for taking the ark of the covenant from Israel. They were plagued with diseases and rodents that they had to consult their priests and magicians on what to do with the holy box. They were advised to put the holy box in a wagon pulled by cows which were not driven by anyone. They even picked cows which had just given birth and returned the calves in their pens. Then they told the Philistines to watch what happened which they claim will tell them who made everything happen, whether it was the Lord who made them suffer or it was just bad luck. 1Sa 6:9 (CEV) Watch to see if the chest goes on up the road to the Israelite town of Beth-Shemesh. If it goes back to its own country, you will know that it was the LORD who made us suffer so badly. But if the chest doesn't go back to its own country, then the LORD had nothing to do with the disease that hit us it was simply bad luck. The cows went straight to the town of Beth-Shemesh, telling us clearly that there is no such thing as bad luck or good luck. Whatever happens to us is done by the Lord. 1Sa 6:19 (CEV) Some of the men of Beth-Shemesh looked inside the sacred chest, and the LORD God killed seventy of them. This made the people of Beth-Shemesh very sad, 1Sa 6:20 and they started saying, "No other God is like the LORD! Who can go near him and still live? We'll have to send the chest away from here. But where can we send it?" 1Sa 6:21 They sent messengers to tell the people of Kiriath-Jearim, "The Philistines have sent back the sacred chest. Why don't you take it and keep it there with you?" The word of God causes death to our old man. Whether it is the unbelieving Philistines or the disobedient Israelites, God does not play favorites when it comes to obeying His commands. Rev 6:16 (KJV) And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: Rev 6:17 For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand? This is not what most Christian churches teach today. What they teach is that God s people will escape the wrath of God through something called the rapture, and we will not go through the lake of fire. This is a lie. The truth is we enter the kingdom of God through
much tribulation or suffering His anger towards our old man. Let s continue Samuel s story: 1Sa 7:1 The men of Kiriath Jearim came and took the LORD'S Holy Box up the hill to the house of Abinadab the priest. They performed a special ceremony to prepare Abinadab's son, Eleazar, to guard the LORD'S Holy Box. 1Sa 7:2 The Box stayed there at Kiriath Jearim for a long time. Twenty years passed while the Holy Box was in Kiriath Jearim, and the Israelites began to follow the LORD again. The Israelites continued their rebellious ways for 20 long years, until they began to follow the Lord again. 1Sa 7:3 (ERV) Samuel told the Israelites, "If you are really coming back to the LORD with all your heart, you must throw away your foreign gods and your idols of Ashtoreth. You must give yourselves fully to the LORD and serve only him. Then he will save you from the Philistines." 1Sa 7:4 So the Israelites threw away their statues of Baal and Ashtoreth. The Israelites served only the LORD. Baal and Ashtoreth are both idols of fertility. The Canaanites worshiped these false gods and attributed their bountiful harvests to these gods. Remember when Joshua and Caleb spied on the land and they reported that the land is so fertile that a bunch of grapes required two men to carry it. It must have been really attractive to the Israelites to adopt these practices because of the plentiful produce they were enjoying. In the same way, we tend to forget about God when everything is going well in our lives. Usually, only when we go through trials that we remember to call on Him. 1Sa 7:5 (CEV) Then Samuel said, "Tell everyone in Israel to meet together at Mizpah, and I will pray to the LORD for you." 1Sa 7:6 The Israelites met together at Mizpah with Samuel as their leader. They drew water from the well and poured it out as an offering to the LORD. On that same day they went without eating to show their sorrow, and they confessed they had been unfaithful to the LORD. Fasting is a symbol of abstaining from our sins. We should not think that such rituals including circumcision or water baptism will please God. What makes Him happy is when He sees His children obeying His commands. 1Sa 7:7 (ERV) When the Philistines heard that the Israelites were meeting at Mizpah, they went to fight them. The Israelites were frightened when they heard the Philistines were coming
1Sa 7:8 and said to Samuel, "Don't stop praying to the LORD our God for us. Ask him to save us from the Philistines." 1Sa 7:9 Samuel took a baby lamb and offered it as a whole burnt offering to the LORD. He prayed to the LORD for Israel, and the LORD answered his prayer. 1Sa 7:10 The Philistines came closer and closer to fight the Israelites while Samuel offered the sacrifice. But then, the LORD caused a loud clap of thunder to hit near the Philistines. The thunder scared the Philistines, and they became confused, so the Israelites defeated them in battle. 1Sa 7:11 The men of Israel ran out of Mizpah and chased the Philistines all the way to Beth Car. They killed Philistine soldiers all along the way. 1Sa 7:12 After this Samuel set up a special stone to help people remember what God did. Samuel put the stone between Mizpah and Shen and named the stone "Stone of Help." Samuel said, "The LORD helped us all the way to this place." 1Sa 7:13 The Philistines were defeated and did not enter the land of Israel again. The LORD was against the Philistines during the rest of Samuel's life. 1Sa 7:14 The Philistines had taken some cities from Israel, but the Israelites won them back. They recovered those cities throughout the Philistine area, from Ekron to Gath. There was also peace between Israel and the Amorites. 1Sa 7:15 Samuel led Israel all his life. 1Sa 7:16 He went from place to place judging the Israelites. Every year he traveled around the country. He went to Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah and he judged the Israelites in all these places. 1Sa 7:17 But Samuel always went back to his home in Ramah. There he built an altar to the LORD and judged Israel. Samuel remained a faithful servant of God, even traveling from city to city to judge the Israelites. Being judged is not a bad thing because that is how we are saved. But the world view it as a negative thing because they don t accept the ways of God. Judgment day will come to everyone in their time. 1Sa 8:1 (BBE) Now when Samuel was old, he made his sons judges over Israel. 1Sa 8:2 The name of his first son was Joel and the name of his second Abijah: they were judges in Beer-sheba.
1Sa 8:3 And his sons did not go in his ways, but moved by the love of money took rewards, and were not upright in judging. Like Eli, Samuel was also cursed to have sons who loved money more than they love God. Many leaders of religion today are like the sons of Eli and Samuel, they live in luxury through the money being collected from their members. 1Sa 8:4 (ERV) So all the elders of Israel met together and went to Ramah to meet with Samuel. 1Sa 8:5 The elders said to Samuel, "You're old, and your sons don't live right. They are not like you. Now, give us a king to rule us like all the other nations." 1Sa 8:6 So the elders asked for a king to lead them. Samuel thought this was a bad idea, so he prayed to the LORD. 1Sa 8:7 The LORD told Samuel, "Do what the people tell you. They have not rejected you. They have rejected me. They don't want me to be their king. Instead for demanding for Samuel s son to repent, or to ask God to give them another righteous judge to lead them like Samuel, the elders asked for a king instead. Their reasoning is that this king will at least lead them to fight against the nations surrounding Israel. But the Lord sees their true motive which is rebelling against Him. They have rejected me. They don t want me to be their king. How do we do this kind of rebellion today? It is when we pick a person or a group of people and give them dominion over our faith. We believe everything they say. We don t bother to check the Bible if what they teach us is really biblical. We don t dare question them even though we see clearly that they are going against the teachings of God. 1Sa 8:8 (BBE) As they have done from the first, from the day when I took them out of Egypt till this day, turning away from me and worshipping other gods, so now they are acting in the same way to you. 1Sa 8:9 Give ear now to their voice: but make a serious protest to them, and give them a picture of the sort of king who will be their ruler. 1Sa 8:10 (ERV) Those people asked for a king. So Samuel told them everything the LORD said. 1Sa 8:11 Samuel said, "If you have a king ruling over you, this is what he will do: He will take away your sons and force them to serve him. He will force them to be soldiers they must fight from his chariots and become horse soldiers in his army. Your sons will become guards running in front of the king's chariot.
1Sa 8:12 "A king will force your sons to become soldiers. He will choose which of your sons will be officers over 1000 men and which will be officers over 50 men. "A king will force some of your sons to plow his fields and gather his harvest. He will force some of your sons to make weapons for war and to make things for his chariots. Many churches today have hierarchy or rankings. They value the opinion of one over another. They separate clergy and laity. Clergy are those who have religious duties like the priests of the Catholic church and laity are those considered ordinary members. There should not be such separation in God s people. Although there are those appointed as teachers and elders, everyone must be knowledgeable in the words of God. There shouldn t be any hierarchies, no one should be seen as above over another member. Eph 5:21 (KJV) Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God. 2Co 1:24 (KJV) Not for that we have dominion over your faith, but are helpers of your joy: for by faith ye stand. The only ranking that should be seen in God s church is the headship of Christ over all the members. There s not one more important member over another, just as every part of our body is important and serves a function. Every member working for the good of the whole body and to please the Lord. This is not what happens in today s churches and Samuel warns Israel that their sons and daughters will be forced to serve the king rather than serve the Lord. 1Sa 8:13 (ERV) "A king will take your daughters and force some of them to make perfume for him and some to cook and bake for him. 1Sa 8:14 "A king will take your best fields, vineyards, and olive groves. He will take them from you and give them to his officers. 1Sa 8:15 He will take one-tenth of your grain and grapes, and he will give them to his officers and servants. 1Sa 8:16 "A king will take your men and women servants. He will take your best cattle and your donkeys. He will use them all for his own work. 1Sa 8:17 He will take one-tenth of your flocks. "And you yourselves will become slaves of this king. 1Sa 8:18 When that time comes, you will cry because of the king you chose. But the LORD won't answer you at that time." In spirit, this king is our old man who takes our time and resources to serve our selfish desires. We live in a world that is becoming less and less interested in the things of God and more and more involved in accumulating wealth or gaining status or power.
1Sa 8:19 (ERV) But the people would not listen to Samuel. They said, "No, we want a king to rule over us. 1Sa 8:20 Then we will be the same as all the other nations. Our king will lead us. He will go before us and fight our battles." This is nothing but the people wanting to call the shots instead of following the leaders God has chosen for them. 1Sa 8:21 Samuel listened to the people and then repeated their words to the LORD. 1Sa 8:22 The LORD answered, "Listen to them and give them a king." Then Samuel told the Israelites, "You will have a king. Now go home." These all happened to Israel for our learning. This is to teach us and warn us that we will reap the punishment of our rebellion. Isa 66:4 I also will choose their delusions, and will bring their fears upon them; because when I called, none did answer; when I spake, they did not hear: but they did evil before mine eyes, and chose that in which I delighted not.