1 Sam.8-9/Proverbs 9:1-18

READ: 1 Sam.8-9/Proverbs 9:1-18

REFLECT:

A significant amount of time passes by and now Samuel is old. Samuel made his sons judges over Israel. But there is a problem. His sons were not like him. His children did not follow in his ways. His sons turned away from the Lord, seeking money, taking bribes, and perverting justice. This is an important declaration. Remember that we have seen in the book of 1 Samuel that the author seems to be pointing to Samuel as the great rescuer of Israel. Samuel had been contrasted to Eli and his sons. Samuel was born to a barren woman. Samuel lived in the presence of the Lord. Samuel followed the Lord and did not seek his own way like Eli and his sons. Further, a prophecy was given in 1 Samuel 2:35 that God would raise up for himself a faithful priest who would do what was in God’s heart and mind. His dynasty would not end and he will serve before the Lord’s anointed. 

Everything seemed to be pointing to Samuel and his lineage. But now we see that Samuel’s lineage was not going to be the hope for Israel. Further, Samuel was never declared to be the priest of God. He was the prophet of God and he was judge over Israel. The text is making it clear to us that Samuel was not the answer. In fact, Israel now understood that Samuel was not the answer.

The elders of Israel came to Samuel as recorded in verses 4-5. They told Samuel that he was old and could not be relied upon any longer. His sons were a problem and did not walk in the ways of the Lord like Samuel does. So Israel has an answer. They had a solution to the problem. They wanted Samuel to appoint a king to judge them like how other nations had a king. 

Think about what is happening here and how different it is from what we saw in chapter 7. In chapter 7 when the people were troubled they came to Samuel and asked him to plead to the Lord on their behalf regarding the Philistine problem. But the elders did not do that this time. They did not come to Samuel and tell him that there was a problem with Samuel’s sons so plead to the Lord for an answer about who would lead them. Rather, the people had their own solution. The people were going to tell Samuel, which was ultimately telling God, what their answer was (from their own desires and their own wisdom). The elders did not seek what God’s answer would be. They had their own response and they were telling it to God - "We want a king".

The second problem about this request is that they desired for a king because they wanted to be like the other nations. Now it is important to note that God anticipated that the people would demand a king and even made provision for it in Deuteronomy 17:14-20. But God did not want the people to have a king who would act like the other kings of the nations. The king was to act on behalf of God and completely trust in God. The problem is that Israel did not need the kind of king the people were looking for. Remember that the book of Deuteronomy declared to Israel that if they would obey the Lord, God would repel their enemies (Deuteronomy 28). Obedience and repentance would solve their problems. But the problem is that they wanted to be like the nations. God had called Israel to be high above the nations (Deuteronomy 26:19), not like them. God wanted Israel to stand out and be different. But Israel did not want to be different. Israel did not want to stand out.

Samuel understood these problems and prayed to God about what the people were demanding. Listen to verse 7. The people had not rejected Samuel, but had rejected God from being king over them. God’s message to Samuel is that Samuel would not take this personally. This is not really an issue with Samuel. The first three verses made it sound like the problem was Samuel and his sons. But that is not really the problem. The problem was that the people did not want God to be their king. Rejecting Samuel is a picture of the people’s rejection of God. Rejecting God’s prophet and judge is rejecting God himself. But God would allow this decision. God told Samuel to obey the voice of the people and warned them about this decision (8:9). God does not stop our foolishness or sinfulness. He warns us and tells us that we are not getting what we think we are getting.

Verse 10 is important. Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people. Samuel told them that they were rejecting God. Then he told them what the king they wanted would do to them. That king would take their children as slaves and workers for him (8:11-13). The king they wanted would take their best fields for himself (8:14). The king they wanted would take taxes from them, taking a tenth of their grains and giving it to his officers and servants (8:15). The king they wanted would take their best servants and best animals and put them to work for himself (8:16-17). The king they wanted would enslave them (8:17). The king they wanted would distress them so that they would cry out to the Lord because of this king, but the Lord would not answer them (8:18). In short, Samuel told the people that they did not understand what they were asking for. 

RELATE:

We need to hear this message. We do not want what we think we want. We think that our wisdom will lead to exactly what we want. God is constantly telling that our wisdom will lead to our destruction and not our joy and happiness. God tells us what we are pursuing is going to hurt us, not help us. The scriptures are filled with pictures and declarations from God that the direction we are going in this life is disaster, not rescue or satisfaction.

Even after Samuel gives all of these warnings, the people refused to listen to Samuel. They did not care about the warnings because they so desperately wanted to be like the nations. The people not only wanted a king to be like the nations, but they wanted a king to go out and fight their battles for them. God was the one who would fight their battles. We just observed God doing this for Israel in chapter 7. We see God doing this in the whole book of Joshua. The people wanted a king who would fight for them like the nations have. God was not enough for the people. The people did not think they were rejecting God but this was exactly what they did. So the people stubbornly plowed forward against all of the warnings. The people rejected God’s words and demanded a king to be like the nations.

So what do we learn from Israel’s failures? First, we should consider that being like the world is not going to make our life better. Going with the crowds is not the answer for our life. We are easily tempted to think that if we could just act more like the world, share the values of the world, and think like the world then our lives would be better. But God tells us that our lives will not be better but worse. You do not want to follow your desires. You do not want to listen to your heart. You do not want to put your hope in this world. God is our king. God is our help. God is our only Saviour. We must listen to God who calls us to look to Him and not look like the world or turn to the world for help. Worldliness is a rejection of God as king.

Finally, we need to see the picture of God’s king. The king that the people will want will only hurt them. But think about the king that God will ultimately give to us in Jesus. Jesus is the king who takes nothing but gives everything. Jesus is the complete opposite of the picture presented by God regarding the earthly kings Israel would experience. Jesus is the king you need. Jesus is the king who will give you everything that you truly need. Think about Jesus as our king. Jesus takes nothing from you. He asks you to give from the heart. But he does not take. Not only does Jesus not take but asks you to give, he asks you to give only after he has given to you. God does not say, “Give to me and then I will give to you.” God always gives first, takes nothing, and then asks us to follow Him. 

REST:

Our King Jesus is the king we need. What we do not need is another physical leader. What we do not need is to conform to the world. What we do not need is to look to the world for answers. What we need is to listen to God who gave us the king we need so that we can enjoy this life and the life to come.

TAN TEE KHOON

(Content adapted and used with permission from West Palm Beach Church of Christ Bible Study Notes on 1 & 2 Samuel)