Israel demands a King 1 Samuel 8
The nation of Israel have got to a place in their history where they desire a King. These people appear to be unable to self regulate or self govern. They also see that Samuel’s two sons are not what their father was, that is they were not spiritually aware like Samuel. They also looked around them and saw other nations ruled by Kings and royalty, so demand a king.
Israel’s choice to have a king would change the way they were governed by God through judges, admittedly not very good ones at times, to governance by royalty.
If we go back in the history of this nation, a nation of people who had been brought out of slavery into freedom, who had been given the opportunity to inhabit a land flowing with ‘milk and honey’ in order to show and declare a righteous God, a living God who cares for people. They were a people who had been set apart to show that through good and upright living, with the guidance of Spiritual leadership, it was possible to prosper and live in peace, that is to find contentment. Yes I know, I hear you say, “there was lots of killing and bloodshed involved in this so called quest for peace” Yes there was and still is because in order for us to live in a place of inner peace and contentment there will always be conflict, because life is first and foremost spiritual and battles are fundamentally battles of soul and spirit. They are battles for power. So when Israel demands a King they are saying we can no longer govern ourselves, we need someone who can make life more tangible and have more meaning, in essence someone to rule over us and make choices for us because we can’t do it ourselves.
As human beings we understand structures and boundaries, the tragedy is that when it comes to spirituality our structures and boundaries become a hindrance to us knowing God because we apply our man made rules and laws to a God who is without limits and without time and space. God has no limits we set the limits.
Israel’s demand for a king was the beginning of the end for their nation. A nation that ultimately lowered it’s expectations to that of all the other nations around them and so entered a world of conflict, a world that said “this is my land and this is my country, this is what I am fighting for”. The truth is that this is God’s land and we have been entrusted to be good stewards of it and not to abuse it or is inhabitants. When a nation demands a King that nation defines itself, what it is and what it does and unless regulated by the spiritual morality that was laid down to God’s people all those years ago and unless that moral spiritual code is governed and exercised by Godly people then life will be difficult and nations will fight nations because they are defending their cause and not God’s cause, a Godly cause that said “I have seen, I have heard, I have come down, I will bring up” Exodus 3:7-8.
God is interested in setting us free from our slavery and the boundaries of human control not so that we can be anarchists or freedom fighters in a religious cause because we think it is what God wants, He sets us free in order that we are free to worship Him in Spirit and in Truth. Jesus said, “The truth will set you free” John 8:31-36. Life is worship, it is a gift from an awesome, powerful creator, a creator who’s very nature is to create in order for the created to enter into a place of worship. Everything brings praise, worship and glory to this wonderful creator.
God allowed the people of Israel to have their own way despite Samuel’s warnings of what this kingship would demand of them 1 Samuel 8:10-22. In that day Israel turned from the guidance and care of the sovereignty of God to the rule and power of mankind, a power that is ultimately corrupt and is flawed.
It is recorded in 1 Samuel 8:19 that “the people refused to obey” in other words they rebelled from knowing the creator, their saviour, and abdicated authority to an earthly king who ultimately allowed power to corrupt him and eventually selling himself out to the evil one that is always seeking to destroy the work of God. The peoples rebellion was a decision that changed the nation forever.
I wonder where we stand in all this? Do we entrust our lives to a living, sovereign God or do we rebel and demand a king to rule over us, essentially abdicating our responsibility of engaging with God and allowing a ‘king’ to act on our behalf?
There is only one King, a risen ascended King who will ride out of heaven on a white horse with the words “KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS” written on his robe and thigh. It is this King who will redeem and restore His creation back to Himself and rule forever. Revelation 19:11-16.
In Joshua’s farewell speech to the tribes of Israel he declares “choose you this day whom you will serve … as for me and my house we will serve the Lord” Joshua 24:15.
Do we serve the KING OF KINGS or do we allow another king to rule over us?
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