You Get What You Ask For 1 Samuel 8

The Recap

This year we are working our way through 1 Samuel – We finished the 1st part of the series in April where we saw how God provided a Leader for his people – His name was Samuel and he took on the role of prophet priest and judge.

We left chapter 7 where everything seemed to be in good shape. Samuel was the leader Israel needed and through him Israel had great security.

1 Samuel 7:13-17 Tells us

· The Philistines were subdued - the hand of the LORD was against the Philistines.

· Land the Philistines had captured from Israel was restored to her,

· There was peace between Israel and the Amorites.

But even with the best of leaders problems will eventually arise. Even the greatest human leader will get old and his leadership will end in death.

This was the problem that Israel has as we pick up the story again. There is an approaching leadership crisis with Samuel getting older.

This was a problem that never escaped Samuels’s attention. It seems Samuel tried to alleviate the problem.

1 Samuel 8:1-2 When Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as judges for Israel. 2 The name of his firstborn was Joel and the name of his second was Abijah, and they served at Beersheba.

I think as we read this it’s meant to ring alarm bells for us. You might remember the last leader before Samuel also had 2 Sons (that was Eli, who had Hophni and Phinehas), Do you remember what a disaster that was? His Sons were corrupt and this just brought disaster upon disaster on Israel

Well there is reason to have the alarm bells ringing

1 Samuel 8:3 But his sons did not walk in his ways. They turned aside after dishonest gain and accepted bribes and perverted justice.

Now this little story sets the scene for what follows in the main story. The point that is made in this ‘setting of the scene’, is that it is pretty clear that – The best leader can have the worst sons. Hereditary leadership doesn’t work.

With this point being made – the scene is set for the elders of Israel to enter.

Now you might remember these were the ‘bright sparks’ that came up with the idea earlier in the story to take the ark of the covenant into battle.

Remember that... (chp 4) Israel was getting flogged by the Philistines because God was punishing them – and these guys (these elders) thought they could twist God’s arm by bringing down the ark into the battle. The ‘up-shot’ of that account is that not only was Israel beaten, and the ark of the covenant was taken.

This is what the elders said

1 Samuel 8:5 5 "You are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have."

Did you pick up what they asked for?

Asking for a king was not a problem:

When God confirmed his cov with Abraham, he stated plainly

Genesis 17:6 I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you.

On his death bed as Jacob blesses his sons - he appears to be referring to the coming Davidic line of royalty coming from the tribe of Judah

Genesis 49:10 10 The sceptre will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs and the obedience of the nations is his.

This proposal for a king was anticipated also in the law of Moses.

Back then – centuries before Samuel – The law stated

Deuteronomy 17:14 When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you and have taken possession of it and settled in it, and you say, "I will set a king over us like all the nations around us,"

Moses went on to say that they may have a king, but on certain, very specific, conditions, which amounted to the fact that the arrangement would not be ‘like the other nations.

We will miss the point if we get distracted by the king bit. There is no problem asking for a king. This is no more clearly seen than from our vantage point in history. The coming of the king; the Messiah; the Christ demonstrate how kingship was very instrumental in God’s plan from the beginning.

NO – what the issue is – is the type of king they ask for – they ask for a king like all the other nations. The type of king they ask for is the type they had been warned against in Deuteronomy.

What was so appealing about the kings of the other nations? Why did they want one like them?

2 features may have impressed.

1. One man rule the large grp.

2. Kingship was hereditory

A king could offer a strong, stable, and predictable center of political authority for a nation that otherwise had to depend on an unseen God to unite them.

They wanted something tangible; something real; something stable; something that seemed reliable. After all look where they have come from. There is no more trouble with Philistine – the nation is growing.

They needed to protect it as much as they could. They needed to make sure that nothing got in the way.

1 Samuel 8:6 But when they said, "Give us a king to lead us," this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the LORD.

Listen to how the LORD answers Samuels prayer.

1 Samuel 8:7-9 7 And the LORD told him: "Listen to all that the people are saying to you;

Maybe Samuel is told to listen to all they are saying because he only reports half of what they are saying. He was concerned because they wanted to replace the judge with a king. But what is more disturbing is the type of king they wanted – a king like all the nations which is not mentioned in verse 6.

See God goes on to say…

it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. 8 As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. 9Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will do."

God wants Samuel to warn them because if they persist in wanting a king like all the other nations, their request would be granted, up to a point, and they will suffer the consequences of their rebellion. Now, it’s up to a point because God will not allow the people’s rebellious request fully. He will not forsake his people even though they reject him (1 Sam12:22).

Now, as mediator between the LORD and his people – Once God spoke to Samuel – Sam goes and tells the people what he said.

1 Samuel 8:11-18 11 He said, "This is what the king who will reign over you will do:

Or I think the ESV is a better translation of the Hebrew

1 Samuel 8:11 11 He said, "These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you:

The ‘ways’ or another way again of translating that word is ‘justices’. This is how a king will provide justice for you. This will be what life will be about.

It will be about him taking.

He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots. 12 Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plough his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. 13He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. 14He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants. 15 He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants. 16Your menservants and maidservants and the best of your cattle and donkeys he will take for his own use. 17 He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves.

If they insisted on rejecting the divine king who redeemed them from slavery in Egypt, they would find themselves in slavery again. Slavery to a king that takes.

18 When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, and the LORD will not answer you in that day."

Or again the ESV captures the Hebrew better.

1 Samuel 8:18 And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the LORD will not answer you in that day."

Sadly – the request for a king in verse 5 now turns to a demand for a king.

1 Samuel 8:19-20 19 But the people refused to listen to Samuel. "No!" they said. "We want a king over us. (the Hebrew is stronger – there shall be a king over us) 20 Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles."

The sad thing about the people not listening to Samuels’s voice is that now Samuel will listen to their voice.

1 Samuel 8:21-22 21When Samuel heard all that the people said, he repeated it before the LORD. 22 The LORD answered, "Listen to them and give them a king."

In coming weeks we will see who they chose as king and how they chose him. But for now it may be good to reflect on this extraordinary moment in history where God’s people demanded a king like all the other nations.

The lesson we learn from this comes a little more into focus when we view the event from another vantage point in history.

On the day I have in mind, a man stood before the great pagan political power of that day – the Roman governor Pontius Pilate. Pilate put a question to this man: “Are you the king of the Jews?” He replied, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world” (John 18:36).

Do you see what he was saying? I am not a king like all the other nations.

The good news – the gospel of the NT is that there is a king worth having, but he is a king that is all together different from the king that was demanded from the elders in 1 Sam 8.

This king’s justice is different from the justice of the kings of the world –

For Jesus is a King that does not take, he gives

Romans 3:21-26 But now the justice of God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 The justice of God through the faithfulness of Jesus the King to all who believe. There is no difference, 23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by King Jesus. 25 God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished-- 26 he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.

Here is a king to judge us – who brings a different security, a different peace, and a very different justice.

Why would you choose any other, than him to follow? Why would you put your trust in another?

We have a king – a good king that gives us security. Who makes our future sure. And he is a giving king; a gracious and merciful king.

This is the king we want – isn’t it.

Is it?

But the question comes is he a practical king for the here and now. Can you identify a little bit with the Israelite elders. I mean they didn’t want to get rid of their religion. They liked God – he was a part of him. But when it comes to serious things, like national security, really... what can he do?

What can our king do about my kid’s education.

After all I look around at other people and I see all the things their kids are doing. I see the schools they are sending their kids to. I hear what they are saying. They are saying that they want their kid to have the best education – so they can do the best degree, so they can have the best job and have a big house is a suburb that’s not dangerous.

I mean what’s Jesus going to do about all that. I need to get involved. I need to do whatever it takes to see my kids don’t miss out.

That’s just the kids – then there’s the house; the extension; the investment; the retirement plan; the holidays; the trip. I look around and it really does seem that to live in this world there is a lot of pressure. I don’t want to be rich. I’m happy with being happily comfortable.

Friends... I’m not sure how entrapped you are with all these pressures. We rub shoulders with people every day who talk and walk as slaves. Our king has a different justice to the justice of this world.

The world will take and take – it will always say you don’t have enough – get more.

Our king frees us from such slavery. He offers us contentment. Our king is a practical king. He has even demonstrated how to live the best life free from slavery. But more than giving us an example, he has redeemed us from an empty life. This is where you will find peace for today. It is where your kids will find peace and contentment.

Living lives that honour him

He is our good king – and he is not like any other.