Israel Demands a King!

Israel Demands a King! By Mark Mayberry 8/31/2014 DISILLUSIONMENT The desire for change is often rooted in disillusionment. The sons of Samuel were not faithful, but turned aside after dishonest gain, taking bribes and perverting justice (1 Sam. 8:1 5). 1 Samuel 8:1 5 (NASB95) 1 And it came about when Samuel was old that he appointed his sons judges over Israel. 2 Now the name of his firstborn was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; they were judging in Beersheba. 3 His sons, however, did not walk in his ways, but turned aside after dishonest gain and took bribes and perverted justice. 4 Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah; 5 and they said to him, Behold, you have grown old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint a king for us to judge us like all the nations. Sin among God s people gives the enemy an occasion to blaspheme (2 Sam. 12:13 14; Rom. 2:17 24). 2 Samuel 12:13 14 (NASB95) 13 Then David said to Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord. And Nathan said to David, The Lord also has taken away your sin; you shall not die. 14 However, because by this deed you have given occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child also that is born to you shall surely die. Romans 2:17 24 (NASB95) 17 But if you bear the name Jew and rely upon the Law and boast in God, 18 and know His will and approve the things that are essential, being instructed out of the Law, 19 and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, 20 a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of the immature, having in the Law the embodiment of knowledge and of the truth, 21 you, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that one shall not steal, do you steal? 22 You who say that one should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? 23 You who boast in the Law, through your breaking the Law, do you dishonor God? 24 For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you, just as it is written. This is true, not only regarding spiritual leaders, but disciples in general (1 Tim. 5:14 15; 6:1 2). 1 Timothy 5:14 15 (NASB95) 14 Therefore, I want younger widows to get married, bear children, keep house, and give the enemy no occasion for reproach; 15 for some have already turned aside to follow Satan. 1 Timothy 6:1 2 (NASB95) 1 All who are under the yoke as slaves are to regard their own masters as worthy of all honor so that the name of God and our doctrine will not be spoken against. 2 Those who have believers as their masters must not be disrespectful to them because

they are brethren, but must serve them all the more, because those who partake of the benefit are believers and beloved. Teach and preach these principles. Let us, therefore, strive to set a proper example (1 Tim. 4:11 16; Titus 2:6 8). 1 Timothy 4:11 16 (NASB95) 11 Prescribe and teach these things. 12 Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity, show yourself an example of those who believe. 13 Until I come, give attention to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and teaching. 14 Do not neglect the spiritual gift within you, which was bestowed on you through prophetic utterance with the laying on of hands by the presbytery. 15 Take pains with these things; be absorbed in them, so that your progress will be evident to all. 16 Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; persevere in these things, for as you do this you will ensure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you. Titus 2:6 8 (NASB95) 6 Likewise urge the young men to be sensible; 7 in all things show yourself to be an example of good deeds, with purity in doctrine, dignified, 8 sound in speech which is beyond reproach, so that the opponent will be put to shame, having nothing bad to say about us. CONFORMITY The desire for change is often rooted in a spirit of conformity: Israel wanted a king to be like the surrounding nations (1 Sam. 8:4 8, 19 22). 1 Samuel 8:4 8 (NASB95) 4 Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah; 5 and they said to him, Behold, you have grown old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint a king for us to judge us like all the nations. 6 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. 7 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. 8 Like all the deeds which they have done since the day that I brought them up from Egypt even to this day in that they have forsaken Me and served other gods so they are doing to you also. 1 Samuel 8:19 22 (NASB95) 19 Nevertheless, the people refused to listen to the voice of Samuel, and they said, No, but there shall be a king over us, 20 that we also may be like all the nations, that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles. 21 Now after Samuel had heard all the words of the people, he repeated them in the Lord s hearing. 22 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 his city. Foreshadowing the establishment of a monarchy, Moses emphasized the necessity of trusting in God and relying upon His word (Deut. 17:14 20). Deuteronomy 17:14 20 (NASB95) 14 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, 15 you shall 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 countryman. 16 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. 17 He shall not multiply wives for himself, or else his heart will turn away; nor shall he greatly increase silver and gold for himself. 18 Now it 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. 19 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, 20 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 the left, so that he and his sons may continue long in his kingdom in the midst of Israel. Unfortunately, Israel s desire for a king reflected a spirit of compromise and concession, not only regarding prevailing political forms, but also popular idolatrous practices (Ezek. 20:30 32). Ezekiel 20:30 32 (NASB95) 30 Therefore, say to the house of Israel, Thus says the Lord God, Will you defile yourselves after the manner of your fathers and play the harlot after their detestable things? 31 When you offer your gifts, when you cause your sons to pass through the fire, you are defiling yourselves with all your idols to this day. And shall I be inquired of by you, O house of Israel? As I live, declares the Lord God, I will not be inquired of by you. 32 What comes into your mind will not come about, when you say: We will be like the nations, like the tribes of the lands, serving wood and stone. The people of God should be distinctive, set apart from the corruptions of the world (Exod. 19:5 6; Num. 23:9 10; 2 Cor. 6:14 18; 1 Pet. 2:9 12). Exodus 19:5 6 (NASB95) 5 Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; 6 and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel. Numbers 23:9 10 (NASB95) 9 As I see him from the top of the rocks, And I look at him from the hills; Behold, a people who dwells apart, And will not be reckoned among the nations. 10 Who can count the dust of Jacob, Or number the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the upright, And let my end be like his! 2 Corinthians 6:14 18 (NASB95) 14 Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? 15 Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? 16 Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, I will dwell in them and walk among them; And I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 17 Therefore, come out from their midst and be separate, says the Lord. And do not touch what is unclean; And I will welcome you. 18 And I will be a father to you, And you shall be sons and daughters to Me, Says the Lord Almighty. 1 Peter 2:9 12 (NASB95) 9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has

called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; 10 for you once were not a people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 11 Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul. 12 Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation. The loss of such distinctiveness results in the loss of divine favor (Num. 25:1 9; Deut. 4:1 4; 1 Kings 18:17 18; Hos. 13:9 11). Numbers 25:1 9 (NASB95) 1 While Israel remained at Shittim, the people began to play the harlot with the daughters of Moab. 2 For they invited the people to the sacrifices of their gods, and the people ate and bowed down to their gods. 3 So Israel joined themselves to Baal of Peor, and the Lord was angry against Israel. 4 The Lord said to Moses, Take all the leaders of the people and execute them in broad daylight before the Lord, so that the fierce anger of the Lord may turn away from Israel. 5 So Moses said to the judges of Israel, Each of you slay his men who have joined themselves to Baal of Peor. 6 Then behold, one of the sons of Israel came and brought to his relatives a Midianite woman, in the sight of Moses and in the sight of all the congregation of the sons of Israel, while they were weeping at the doorway of the tent of meeting. 7 When Phinehas the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he arose from the midst of the congregation and took a spear in his hand, 8 and he went after the man of Israel into the tent and pierced both of them through, the man of Israel and the woman, through the body. So the plague on the sons of Israel was checked. 9 Those who died by the plague were 24,000. Deuteronomy 4:1 4 (NASB95) 1 Now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the judgments which I am teaching you to perform, so that you may live and go in and take possession of the land which the Lord, the God of your fathers, is giving you. 2 You shall not add to the word which I am commanding you, nor take away from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you. 3 Your eyes have seen what the Lord has done in the case of Baal-peor, for all the men who followed Baal-peor, the Lord your God has destroyed them from among you. 4 But you who held fast to the Lord your God are alive today, every one of you. 1 Kings 18:17 18 (NASB95) 17 When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, Is this you, you troubler of Israel? 18 He said, I have not troubled Israel, but you and your father s house have, because you have forsaken the commandments of the Lord and you have followed the Baals. Hosea 13:9 11 (NASB95) 9 It is your destruction, O Israel, That you are against Me, against your help. 10 Where now is your king That he may save you in all your cities, And your judges of whom you requested, Give me a king and princes? 11 I gave you a king in My anger And took him away in My wrath. SHORTSIGHTEDNESS The desire for change is often rooted in short-sightedness (1 Sam. 8:10 22).

1 Samuel 8:10 22 (NASB95) 10 So Samuel spoke all the words of the Lord to the people who had asked of him a king. 11 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. 12 He will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and of fifties, and some to do his plowing and to reap his harvest and to make his weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. 13 He will also take your daughters for perfumers and cooks and bakers. 14 He will take the best of your fields and your vineyards and your olive groves and give them to his servants. 15 He will take a tenth of your seed and of your vineyards and give to his officers and to his servants. 16 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. 17 He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his servants. 18 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. 19 Nevertheless, the people refused to listen to the voice of Samuel, and they said, No, but there shall be a king over us, 20 that we also may be like all the nations, that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles. 21 Now after Samuel had heard all the words of the people, he repeated them in the Lord s hearing. 22 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 his city. In contrast, Jesus exhorted His disciples to Count the cost! (Luke 14:25 33). Luke 14:25 33 (NASB95) 25 Now large crowds were going along with Him; and He turned and said to them, 26 If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. 27 Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. 28 For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? 29 Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him, 30 saying, This man began to build and was not able to finish. 31 Or what king, when he sets out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and consider whether he is strong enough with ten thousand men to encounter the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32 Or else, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. 33 So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions. Let us look, not on the things which are seen, but on the things which are not seen, focusing upon the things which are eternal (2 Cor. 4:16 18). 2 Corinthians 4:16 18 (NASB95) 16 Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. 17 For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, 18 while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. Individually, may we be like Moses, who chose the path of obedience, considering the reproach of Christ greater riches than earthly pleasure or possessions, because he looked to the reward (Heb. 11:24 26).

Hebrews 11:24 26 (NASB95) 24 By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh s daughter, 25 choosing rather to endure ill-treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, 26 considering the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he was looking to the reward. Collectively, may we stand firm and remain faithful to the pattern revealed in the New Testament (2 Thess. 2:13 15; 2 Tim. 1:13 14). 2 Thessalonians 2:13 15 (NASB95) 13 But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth. 14 It was for this He called you through our gospel, that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15 So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter from us. 2 Timothy 1:13 14 (NASB95) 13 Retain the standard of sound words which you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. 14 Guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you.