Kingdom Dynamics for 2024
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· 1 viewAt the selection of Israel's first king we are given many things about how kings and kingdoms should function. In fact Samuel wrote a book about how royalty should behave. Keys for understanding how we should function in the Kingdom of God today.
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Kingdom Dynamics for 2024
Kingdom Dynamics for 2024
And have made us kings and priests to our God;
And we shall reign on the earth.”
and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Q
When Jesus was born in Bethlehem, wise men came from the east to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is he who is born king of the Jews” (Matthew 2:2).
Before his birth the angel had told Mary, “The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever” (Luke 1:32f.).
When Philip brought his brother Nathaniel to see Jesus at the beginning of his ministry, Nathaniel said, “Rabbi you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel” (John 1:49).
Jesus himself speaks of the kingdom of God as his kingdom (Matthew 13:41; 16:28; 19:28, etc.);
He rides like a king into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday (Matthew 21:5, 9);
He is charged by his enemies with forbidding tribute to Caesar because he is the true king (Luke 23:2);
He admits to Pilate that he is a king (John 18:37); and
He is crucified under the inscription, “The King of the Jews” (John 19:21).
The faith of the early church was that after the resurrection Jesus took his position on the throne (Acts 2:30, 36; Hebrews 1:13) and
Now rules as king until all enemies are put under his feet (1 Corinthians 15:25).
One day (and perhaps soon) he will be manifest to all the universe (including your next door neighbor) as Ruler over all kings (Revelation 1:5); and
Every tongue will acknowledge that he is King of kings and Lord of lords (Revelation 17:14); and
He will reign forever (Revelation 11:15).
From Judges to Kings According to Acts 2:30, God had sworn with an oath to David that he would put one of his descendants on his throne (cf. 2 Samuel 7:12, 13).
Jesus Christ fulfills that promise and will one day bring it to consummation when he bursts forth from the silence of heaven and makes his reign visible.
Since his reign will never end, Jesus brings to an end the succession of kings who ruled over God’s people.
But how did such a line of kings ever get started?
Almost a thousand years of Jewish history took place before the kingship was begun in Israel.
What happened to change Israel from a confederation of tribes to a unified kingdom?
The event is full of practical, theological lessons for us even today.
God had brought his people out of Egypt, through the wilderness, and into the promised land. But when Joshua and his generation died, the people did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals (Judges 2:11).
As a result God stopped fighting for Israel and fought against them (Judges 52:15).
For over 300 years, then, Israel’s life was a miserable roller coaster ride of sinking in sin and oppression, then crying to the Lord and being delivered by a “judge,” then falling back into sin (Judges 2:16–23).
The last of the judges was Samuel (1 Samuel 7:15).
He anointed Saul as the first king over all Israel (1 Samuel 10).
Saul was followed by David, and David by Solomon, and after Solomon the kingdom divided into the northern and southern kingdoms, until, after years of rejecting the word of the prophets, the northern kingdom was taken captive by the Assyrians in 721 BC, and the southern kingdom was taken captive by the Babylonians in 586 BC. The key to the origin of the kingship in Israel, therefore, is found in the period of Samuel, and specifically in the words of Samuel found in 1 Samuel 12:6–25.
What I would like to do, then, is work our way through the introduction to kingdom life in 1 Samuel with a view to how the kingship arose and what we can learn about the ways of God for our own lives.
Saul, the Young Man
Saul, the Young Man
In 1 Sam 9 we first read of a handsome young man named Saul. His father sent he and a servant to look for some lost donkeys. They were about to give up when the servant suggested they ask the man of God, Elijah, who was nearby. Bringing a gift they located the prophet and he inquired of the Lord.
Now the Lord had already told Elijah that at this time on this day, a man would be sent to him that he was to anoint to be commander over Israel.
When Elijah saw Saul, the Lord said this is the one.
Elijah says the donkeys have been found and invites him to stay and eat for tomorrow “I will tell you all that is in your heart”.
He speaks great things concerning Saul and his father’s house. Saul is humble and answers:
21 And Saul answered and said, “Am I not a Benjamite, of the smallest of the tribes of Israel, and my family the least of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin? Why then do you speak like this to me?”
Elijah had prepared a meal with about 30 people and set Saul in the place of honor. On the next day he speaks privately with Saul.
Anoints Him as commander
Your going to encounter two men who will tell you that the donkeys have been found and now your father is worried about you.
You will then “
3 Then you shall go on forward from there and come to the terebinth tree of Tabor. There three men going up to God at Bethel will meet you, one carrying three young goats, another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a skin of wine.
4 And they will greet you and give you two loaves of bread, which you shall receive from their hands.
1 Samuel 10:5 (NKJV)
5 After that you shall come to the hill of God where the Philistine garrison is. And it will happen, when you have come there to the city, that you will meet a group of prophets coming down from the high place with a stringed instrument, a tambourine, a flute, and a harp before them; and they will be prophesying.
6 Then the Spirit of the Lord will come upon you, and you will prophesy with them and be turned into another man.
6 Then the Spirit of the Lord will come upon you, and you will prophesy with them and be turned into another man.
7 And let it be, when these signs come to you, that you do as the occasion demands; for God is with you.
8 You shall go down before me to Gilgal; and surely I will come down to you to offer burnt offerings and make sacrifices of peace offerings. Seven days you shall wait, till I come to you and show you what you should do.”
Verses 9-10 record his meeting the group of prophets and how the Spirit of God came upon him and how he prophesied among them.
11 And it happened, when all who knew him formerly saw that he indeed prophesied among the prophets, that the people said to one another, “What is this that has come upon the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?”
12 Then a man from there answered and said, “But who is their father?” Therefore it became a proverb: “Is Saul also among the prophets?”
13 And when he had finished prophesying, he went to the high place.
14 Then Saul’s uncle said to him and his servant, “Where did you go?” So he said, “To look for the donkeys. When we saw that they were nowhere to be found, we went to Samuel.”
15 And Saul’s uncle said, “Tell me, please, what Samuel said to you.”
16 So Saul said to his uncle, “He told us plainly that the donkeys had been found.” But about the matter of the kingdom, he did not tell him what Samuel had said.
Then Samuel called the people together to the Lord and said, you have rejected the God who led you out of Egypt and asked for a king
19 But you have today rejected your God, who Himself saved you from all your adversities and your tribulations; and you have said to Him, ‘No, set a king over us!’ Now therefore, present yourselves before the Lord by your tribes and by your clans.”
He selects the tribe of Benjamin, the family of Matri, and finally Saul but Saul is nowhere to be found.
They inquired of the Lord and He answered, “There he is, hidden among the equipment.”
23 So they ran and brought him from there; and when he stood among the people, he was taller than any of the people from his shoulders upward.
24 And Samuel said to all the people, “Do you see him whom the Lord has chosen, that there is no one like him among all the people?” So all the people shouted and said, “Long live the king!”
25 Then Samuel explained to the people the behavior of royalty, and wrote it in a book and laid it up before the Lord. And Samuel sent all the people away, every man to his house.
Saul Saves Jabesh Gilead from the Ammonites.....
Right eye demanded
Cuts yoke of oxen in peices and sends them via messengers througout all the territory saying whoever does not go up with Saul and Samuel to battle will have this done to his oxen.
Fear falls on them and a great army is raised up who defeats the enemy.
12 Then the people said to Samuel, “Who is he who said, ‘Shall Saul reign over us?’ Bring the men, that we may put them to death.”
13 But Saul said, “Not a man shall be put to death this day, for today the Lord has accomplished salvation in Israel.”
In Chapter 12 Samuel speaks to all Israel.
I’m old
God has given you a king
I’ve walked before you from my childhood to this day.
3 Here I am. Witness against me before the Lord and before His anointed: Whose ox have I taken, or whose donkey have I taken, or whom have I cheated? Whom have I oppressed, or from whose hand have I received any bribe with which to blind my eyes? I will restore it to you.”
4 And they said, “You have not cheated us or oppressed us, nor have you taken anything from any man’s hand.”
5 Then he said to them, “The Lord is witness against you, and His anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything in my hand.” And they answered, “He is witness.”
Recounts the history of God’s help and deliverance....
1 Samuel 12:12 (NKJV)
12 And when you saw that Nahash king of the Ammonites came against you, you said to me, ‘No, but a king shall reign over us,’ when the Lord your God was your king.
13 Then the king answered the people roughly, and rejected the advice which the elders had given him;
14 and he spoke to them according to the advice of the young men, saying, “My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke; my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scourges!”
15 However, if you do not obey the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then the hand of the Lord will be against you, as it was against your fathers.
Sign from God:
16 “Now therefore, stand and see this great thing which the Lord will do before your eyes:
17 Is today not the wheat harvest? I will call to the Lord, and He will send thunder and rain, that you may perceive and see that your wickedness is great, which you have done in the sight of the Lord, in asking a king for yourselves.”
18 So Samuel called to the Lord, and the Lord sent thunder and rain that day; and all the people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel.
19 And all the people said to Samuel, “Pray for your servants to the Lord your God, that we may not die; for we have added to all our sins the evil of asking a king for ourselves.”
20 Then Samuel said to the people, “Do not fear. You have done all this wickedness; yet do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart.
21 And do not turn aside; for then you would go after empty things which cannot profit or deliver, for they are nothing.
22 For the Lord will not forsake His people, for His great name’s sake, because it has pleased the Lord to make you His people.
23 Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you; but I will teach you the good and the right way.
24 Only fear the Lord, and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for consider what great things He has done for you.
25 But if you still do wickedly, you shall be swept away, both you and your king.”
1 Saul reigned one year; and when he had reigned two years over Israel,
2 Saul chose for himself three thousand men of Israel. Two thousand were with Saul in Michmash and in the mountains of Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin. The rest of the people he sent away, every man to his tent.
3 And Jonathan attacked the garrison of the Philistines that was in Geba, and the Philistines heard of it. Then Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, “Let the Hebrews hear!”
4 Now all Israel heard it said that Saul had attacked a garrison of the Philistines, and that Israel had also become an abomination to the Philistines. And the people were called together to Saul at Gilgal.
5 Then the Philistines gathered together to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots and six thousand horsemen, and people as the sand which is on the seashore in multitude. And they came up and encamped in Michmash, to the east of Beth Aven.
6 When the men of Israel saw that they were in danger (for the people were distressed), then the people hid in caves, in thickets, in rocks, in holes, and in pits.
7 And some of the Hebrews crossed over the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. As for Saul, he was still in Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling.
8 Then he waited seven days, according to the time set by Samuel. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal; and the people were scattered from him.
9 So Saul said, “Bring a burnt offering and peace offerings here to me.” And he offered the burnt offering.
10 Now it happened, as soon as he had finished presenting the burnt offering, that Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him, that he might greet him.
11 And Samuel said, “What have you done?” Saul said, “When I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines gathered together at Michmash,
12 then I said, ‘The Philistines will now come down on me at Gilgal, and I have not made supplication to the Lord.’ Therefore I felt compelled, and offered a burnt offering.”
13 And Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the commandment of the Lord your God, which He commanded you. For now the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever.
14 But now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought for Himself a man after His own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be commander over His people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.”
15 Then Samuel arose and went up from Gilgal to Gibeah of Benjamin. And Saul numbered the people present with him, about six hundred men.