Click here to read 1 Samuel 8.
Samuel is an interesting character. He is a mild-mannered prophet who has no problem removing the head of enemy kings. He is someone you can go to in order to hear from God, and also someone who will make sure the job gets done. (Stay with me this series).
Samuel is the last of the judges in Israel. Remember the judges were raised up by God to order and administer justice in Israel and to help protect the people from their enemies. (Samson, Deborah, Gideon, are examples of the judges I’m sure you know their stories) Some of my favorite stories come from the book of Judges.
When we read the Bible, we have to understand there are different kinds of literature within this book. In fact, the Bible we have is actually a library of books. The Old Testament is broken up this way:
Torah (law)
History
Poetry
Wisdom
Major Prophets
Minor Prophets
The books of 1 and 2 Samuel are part of the historical writings. What this means is we get to see how the history of Israel pans out, even watching the beginnings of their monarchy unfold. Now, the period of the judges lasted around 200 years.
It may seem as if the people of Israel did not have a set leader during this time, but the reality is, Israel was set up as a theocracy (meaning ruled by God), which was different than the rest of the nations. In fact, the entire way of life for Israel was set up to be different from the rest of the nations. They were to point the rest of the world to God because God had set them apart and made them holy (see Exodus 19).
This is the kind of life we, as followers of Jesus, are to live today.
But something begins to happen when we live a life different from everybody else. We can begin to think their way of life is better than ours because they can do things we can’t.
(It’s always amazing to watch us think we’re missing out on doing things that are actually not good for us, isn’t it?) But this is what we do, and we’ll end up neglecting what we have just because we think something else is better.
So here’s the story.
Samuel was called by God, we talked about that last week. We also showed that God is always working even when we can’t see it. God always has a plan. Keep that in mind as we keep talking.
Samuel has been leading the people of Israel for several years, and gets to a point he knows his time is ending, so he makes his sons the new leaders after him. But his sons were not like Samuel and veered from the path of God. The people of Israel did not like that.
One day, some of the leaders (maybe not a representation of the entire nation of Israel), came to Samuel and said they do not like his sons and do not want to be led by them. Instead, the people of Israel wanted a king…so they could have what the other nations had.
Some things to consider: 1) Do we always know what it is really want or need? 2) Do we always know what it is we are really asking for?
It really does seem like what other people have is better than what we have. Why is this? Because we get insecure with the identity God has given us. This is why followers of Jesus Christ end up bending to the culture—so we don’t have to stand out from others and make statements of what is wrong. Insecurity does a huge disservice to us, to our life, to the life God has given us. Insecurity in our identity will lead us to become jealous and covet what we perceive others have.
We’ve all heard that phrase “the grass is greener on the other side.” What we don’t always know is the effort, work, sacrifice, certain lifestyle that was put into that work. After all, no matter what side of the fence the grass is on, it still needs to be watered and cut and cared for.
This is what Samuel is trying to tell the people of Israel when they asked for a king. He was telling them everything they will be getting into if they went that route and chose to live as everyone else.
Remember Israel was set up as a theocracy, so their asking for a king, in reality, was not rejecting Samuel or his sons, it was a rejection of the sole reign and rule of God. This is why Samuel was upset and “sad” when the elders of Israel asked for a king to lead them.
As a parent, we know there are things that are not good for our kids, but they have to learn their lessons the hard way, sometimes. It is not easy to watch mistakes happen, but this is also part of the growing up process.
Yes, the people of Israel asked for this new way to be led, new way to live in this world. What does God do? He responds.
This is something to always know will happen. God will respond to the requests we make. You may be sitting here thinking “well yeah.” But when we think about how God responds, our society seems to think God will act out in some kind of vengeful way. But pay attention to how God responds.
God responds with grace.
He knows the people have chosen to live differently from their calling in this world. He knows they have a desire to be like everyone else. So in an act of grace, God gives them the request, but makes sure they know what it is they are asking for.
Before anyone here thinks I’m saying God will give us all of our requests, we have to understand that everything God does is an attempt to bring us back to himself. This is where it can get hard to hear. Sometimes God may allow things to happen to us for the purpose of leading us back into his fold and his way of living. The Apostle Paul, in his first letter to the Corinthians, gives an example of this when he writes, “hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of his flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord.”
We come to God with many requests, each day. We plead with God to act and to reveal himself. We may or may not see, or experience, our requests, but we can be assured God has and will respond to what we’re asking him for. The answer may be yes, no, or not yet (meaning do what we’ve been told to do before we get the next answer).
This event did not take God by surprise. God responded even before the people thought about making the request for a king. Here’s what I mean by God has responded.
The people of Israel asked for a king because they wanted to be like everyone else. What they may have forgotten is God has already given provision for Israel to have a king. In Moses’ final sermon (Deuteronomy), God laid out for how the king and monarchy was supposed to run:
- God chooses the king (must be from among the people of Israel)
- Will not accumulate more stuff than needed (especially for military)
- Must stay in the land the Lord provides
- Must not have too many wives or too much money (or will be led astray)
- The king writes his own copy of the law and read it daily
- The king will not consider himself better than anyone else
God made these provisions, but the people still wanted to be like everyone else, so they entered into a new way of life, serving a human rather than solely God. Even though this was not God’s plan for his people, God still provided a way for them to live, and to return to knowing, loving, obeying, and worshipping him and him alone.
I know each one of you is going through something today. I know life is not always easy. But I also know that God has heard every one of your prayers and requests and has even worked out a plan for you to know the answer. Always find a way to praise God no matter the answer. Why? Because everything God does is to lead you into his graces and love and forgiveness.
The people of Israel, because of many circumstances, will have to face evil kings, bad enemies, exile, but they are still God’s people.
How do we know God responds to his people with grace today? Just look at Jesus the Christ. Jesus is how God has provided for us to come back to him. Following the true King, Jesus, will lead us to a life of promise, of hope, of love, of joy, of peace. That is the life God is calling us to.
Our life may or will not always be easy, but we can always count on the response of God – “Come to me, all who are weary.” The response of God is always calling his children home, so they know what a holy life is like.
