God Grants Request
Notes
Transcript
Will God ever grant a request that goes against His Will? Often we will ask God for something - often to meet a personal need or concern. But, are we asking in accordance to God’s Will, or are we asking from selfish wants and desires?
Israel had been ruled by judges, since being given the command by God in Deuteronomy 16:18
18 “You shall appoint judges and officers in all your towns that the Lord your God is giving you, according to your tribes, and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment.
These judges were to meet the needs of each tribe, ruling with the guidance of the Lord. The Israelites were given a promise for following the judges IF they did what God had commanded.
20 Justice, and only justice, you shall follow, that you may live and inherit the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
The promise was they would keep the inheritance of the land God had granted Israel. But what happens when we don’t do as God instructs? What happens when we stray away from God and focus on the things WE want? Our desire, our wants, our focus…instead of our eyes fully on and following God.
It only took 300-400 years (1100 - 1400 ish time frame) for God’s plan to grow tiring to the Israelites. Why? Possibly because Godly people had not been chosen to fill the roles God had said were to be filled with men who would judge with righteousness and without bias.
19 You shall not pervert justice. You shall not show partiality, and you shall not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and subverts the cause of the righteous.
If we think back, Moses was chosen by God to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. Joshua was chosen after Moses, and upon the death of Joshua, Judges were appointed. Up to this time, Israel was faithful to follow God.
31 Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua and had known all the work that the Lord did for Israel.
However…we find a change when Israel went to the appointment of Moses and Joshua and then the judges. When left to appoint their own judges, they forgot the promise they made:
16 Then the people answered, “Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods,
17 for it is the Lord our God who brought us and our fathers up from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, and who did those great signs in our sight and preserved us in all the way that we went, and among all the peoples through whom we passed.
18 And the Lord drove out before us all the peoples, the Amorites who lived in the land. Therefore we also will serve the Lord, for he is our God.”
This then leads to the decline of the nation, and a turning away from God.
6 In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.
It makes one wonder, why the change? What happened? One thing was the abandonment of the Lord. They turned away from God, followed foreign gods, and failed to stay true to the promise they made Him. This sets the tone leading into 1 Samuel, as the rule of judges is ending and the nation asks for a king. But the question is, was a king what God wanted for the nation?
Give Us A King
Give Us A King
1 When Samuel became old, he made his sons judges over Israel.
2 The name of his firstborn son was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; they were judges in Beersheba.
3 Yet his sons did not walk in his ways but turned aside after gain. They took bribes and perverted justice.
4 Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah
5 and said to him, “Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations.”
Why did the elders ask for a king to be appointed? Samuel was growing old, for one thing, and there was not maybe some concern over how much longer he would live. If he were to die with no established leadership in place, then would the nation fall back into a state of lawlessness? There was cause for concern, and they were demanding new leadership be put into place. The other concern was, Samuel’s sons were NOT Godly men, nor were the following God’s command of leading with righteous judgment. They were being described as accepting bribes and easily being persuaded to do what others wanted - perverting justice. Interestingly, Joel means “the Lord is God” and Abijah means “my father is the Lord” - but they were hypocritical to their names and the Godly upbringing. The did not follow in the steps of their earthly NOR their heavenly Father.
Because of the fear of returning into a state of depravity, the leaders asked that a king be appointed. But notice their rationale - “all the other surrounding nations has a king, so what can’t we???” They wanted a king because everyone else had one, NOT because God wanted them to have one. What was the problem with their request? They wanted to be like everyone else, and not like what God desired.
We run a high risk of failure when we try to be like the lost and dying world around us. When we focus on what is in the world, we run the risk of desiring things of the world more than the things of God. While we live IN the world, we cannot allow ourselves to become a part OF this world.
Rejecting God
Rejecting God
6 But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed to the Lord.
7 And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.
8 According to all the deeds that they have done, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you.
9 Now then, obey their voice; only you shall solemnly warn them and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.”
Samuel was not pleased with this request. Now, it makes me wonder why he was so upset? Was it because he knew his sons were corrupt and it was kind of facing his failure as a father? Was it because this was not what God intended and he was upset that he had taught them better and they were going against his teaching?
Regardless of what the reason was, one thing should be noted. When Samuel prayed, God told him to give them what they wanted. Let them have a king. But also it should be pointed out how God describes their request: “for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them”. So, WHO was Israels rightful king? God! The JUDGES had been put into place to carry out the King’s commands. Now, the people were rejecting God and asking for an appointed human king.
Was this God’s plan? Was this God’s divine will? Absolutely not. But, there had been enough concern over the current leadership that the leaders are demanding change. At least some within the nation had rejected Samuel and his sons leadership.
Remember the covenant promise given to Israel in Deuteronomy - follow God’s leadership, obey Him, remain in His righteousness and he would be their Savior. They were ready to break that covenant with God so they could be “like all the nations” and have a king. They forgot all God had done for them. Bringing them out of Egypt, providing for their needs, and delivering them from their enemies. They were rejecting God. How do we know this? They did not want what God wanted for them, but instead they wanted to be like the world.
As Christians, we must guard ourselves against following the world. Even when it makes “sense” to us, we must weigh it against what God says in Scripture, and what God desires for us as His children. We run the risk of going outside of God’s Will when we are willing to be like the world, choosing compromise, political correctness, applying our own thoughts to issues, instead of standing firmly and uncompromisingly on the Word of God. How easy is it for us to forget what God has done in our lives, the same way the nation of Israel forgot what God had done for them and risk falling into the same patterns?
They Want What They Want
They Want What They Want
19 But the people refused to obey 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, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.”
21 And when Samuel had heard all the words of the people, he repeated them in the ears of the Lord.
22 And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey their voice and make them a king.” Samuel then said to the men of Israel, “Go every man to his city.”
Even after Samuel warns against a king - he will take your sons for his warriors, he will take your daughters as domestic servants, he will take the best of your crop fields, he will tax you a tenth of your grain and vineyard yield, a tenth of your flocks, and basically you will be a servant to the king. Now you are a servant of almighty God who cares for you, but once a king is appointed there will be a change and you will take care of him.
It didn’t matter. They wanted what they wanted and defiantly demanded a king. Again, they refuse to listen to common sense and they refuse to be under the authority of God and God alone. They want a king, and they want it NOW! Notice why they wanted the king - so we can be like other nations, so we can be judged, and so he can fight our battles. They wanted someone to be their savior, deliverer, protector, and provider… Huh, doesn’t that sound familiar? WHAT had God been doing for the Israelites this whole time from their deliverance from Egypt, care during the wilderness (manna, quail, water, all they requested), had given them their promised land, and THIS is how they want to repay God??? By rejecting Him? They were willing to place their hope into some other human who was untested and unpredictable over putting their hope and trust into a proven, tested God who had never failed them.
God granted them their request. BUT, the big question is this; was it God’s Will that they have a king? No! But because they had grown stiff necked against God, and demanded to live life they way they wanted to live it…God allowed them to have a king.
Does anyone remember the song “Don’t know what you’ve got (until it’s gone)”? Israels pattern was again being seen, go against God…but then there would come God’s judgment, repentance, and a restoration when they return back to God.
There is something we can learn from the Israelites. Be careful what you ask for, seek God in everything, and make requests for God’s Will (remember the Lord’s Prayer?)
Matthew 6:10 (ESV)
10 Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Does it make sense now why Jesus included a suggestion to ask for God’s will be done? We cannot allow ourselves to become stiff-necked and rebel against God in the same manner.
Yet that is exactly what is happening in today’s churches. We are being told we are “intolerant”. We are being told we are “old fashioned” or “outdated” and should modernize - get with the times. We are being told we should be more “accepting”. What we seem to NOT be told is to hold fast to what God asks of us, as Christians, or we run the risk of becoming like “all the other nations”. We compromise God. We may even reject God in our effort to normalize with the rest of the world. We cannot afford to do that.
Conclusion
Conclusion
What does God want for us today? Individually, and as a nation?
Are we fulfilling God’s desires?
Or, are we trying to compromise with the world and become like the world?
We run the risk of becoming worldly as we align ourselves with current movements. We cannot, and should not, allow that kind of compromise as it will lead to a rejection of God’s authority in our lives.
33 but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.
When we compromise and it leads to rejection, we in essence deny what God has told us in scripture. By denying God before man (even allowing these compromises!), Jesus says “I will also deny you before the Father”. To me that’s a pretty stern warning. And like the nation of Israel, we have a decision to make as to follow God…or rely on ourselves. We see what pattern Israel follows, we read about the punishment they received for turning their backs on God, but we also can see the restoration that occurs when they repent.
Today, that same repentance leads to restoration...