To Be Like the Others
Notes
Transcript
1 When Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as Israel’s leaders. 2 The name of his firstborn was Joel and the name of his second was Abijah, and they served at Beersheba. 3 But his sons did not follow his ways. They turned aside after dishonest gain and accepted bribes and perverted justice.
4 So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. 5 They said to him, “You are old, and your sons do not follow your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have.”
6 But when they said, “Give us a king to lead us,” this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the Lord. 7 And the Lord told him: “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; 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. 9 Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will claim as his rights.”
10 Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking him for a king. 11 He said, “This is what the king who will reign over you will claim as his rights: 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 plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. 13 He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. 14 He 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. 16 Your male and female servants 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. 18 When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, but the Lord will not answer you in that day.”
19 But the people refused to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We want 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.”
21 When 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.”
Then Samuel said to the Israelites, “Everyone go back to your own town.”
They wanted a King so they could be like everyone else...
They wanted a King so they could be like everyone else...
4 So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. 5 They said to him, “You are old, and your sons do not follow your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have.”
Samuel gave them warnings that the king would tax them , make them serve him, go to war for his benefit, etc… But, they wanted to be like everyone else...
19 But the people refused to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We want 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.”
They were modeling everyone else BECAUSE they had already rejected God!
They were modeling everyone else BECAUSE they had already rejected God!
Their behavior of wanting to be like everyone else was a SYMPTOM of the problem.
The problem was that they had already REJECTED God as their King...
6 But when they said, “Give us a king to lead us,” this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the Lord. 7 And the Lord told him: “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; 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.
The people already had a reprobate mind, and they weren’t the first generation to have this mind. God had been rejected as the King for YEARS! They were simply putting words to what they were already practicing.
They were warned, and granted a king...
How did that work our for you?
How did that work our for you?
It didn’t work out too well...
Saul was rejected by God because he failed to listen to God
David… well he was far from perfect, but God DID make promises to David that one of his sons would remain on his throne. The transition from David to Solomon was not the most peaceful. Adonijah, David’s oldest living son, tried to declare himself as king before David died - even though David had declared that Solomon would be king.
However, after Solomon died the kingdom split into north and south. The northern kingdom of Israel had it’s capital in Tirzah and then Samaria. The southern kingdom of Judah had its capital in Jerusalem.
The Kingdom divided because Rehoboam, son of Solomon, issued HEAVY taxes on the people. The tribes of Judah and Benjamin, in the south, received Rehoboam as king, but the 10 northern tribes now became the Kingdom of Israel and Jeroboam, who served Solomon, became their king (1 Kings 12).
God declared that this would happen after Solomon died in 1 Kings 11.
29 About that time Jeroboam was going out of Jerusalem, and Ahijah the prophet of Shiloh met him on the way, wearing a new cloak. The two of them were alone out in the country, 30 and Ahijah took hold of the new cloak he was wearing and tore it into twelve pieces. 31 Then he said to Jeroboam, “Take ten pieces for yourself, for this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘See, I am going to tear the kingdom out of Solomon’s hand and give you ten tribes. 32 But for the sake of my servant David and the city of Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, he will have one tribe. 33 I will do this because they have forsaken me and worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Molek the god of the Ammonites, and have not walked in obedience to me, nor done what is right in my eyes, nor kept my decrees and laws as David, Solomon’s father, did.
34 “ ‘But I will not take the whole kingdom out of Solomon’s hand; I have made him ruler all the days of his life for the sake of David my servant, whom I chose and who obeyed my commands and decrees. 35 I will take the kingdom from his son’s hands and give you ten tribes. 36 I will give one tribe to his son so that David my servant may always have a lamp before me in Jerusalem, the city where I chose to put my Name. 37 However, as for you, I will take you, and you will rule over all that your heart desires; you will be king over Israel. 38 If you do whatever I command you and walk in obedience to me and do what is right in my eyes by obeying my decrees and commands, as David my servant did, I will be with you. I will build you a dynasty as enduring as the one I built for David and will give Israel to you. 39 I will humble David’s descendants because of this, but not forever.’ ”
The THEOLOGICAL reason for this was NOT because of taxes, but because the people REFUSED to worship and acknowledge God!
And, this behavior continued for GENERATIONS!
Yes, occasionally, there would be a king in the north or the south, who would acknowledge God, but it was VERY RARE!
Most of the time, the kings bowed to other gods and the led the people in worship of other gods.
When disaster, or trouble, or war was inevitable, the kings would make alliances and treaties with the nations that surround them - but RARELY look to God for help!
Ultimately, the kings continued to lead the people away from God...
6 In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and deported the Israelites to Assyria. He settled them in Halah, in Gozan on the Habor River and in the towns of the Medes.
7 All this took place because the Israelites had sinned against the Lord their God, who had brought them up out of Egypt from under the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. They worshiped other gods 8 and followed the practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before them, as well as the practices that the kings of Israel had introduced. 9 The Israelites secretly did things against the Lord their God that were not right. From watchtower to fortified city they built themselves high places in all their towns. 10 They set up sacred stones and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every spreading tree. 11 At every high place they burned incense, as the nations whom the Lord had driven out before them had done. They did wicked things that aroused the Lord’s anger. 12 They worshiped idols, though the Lord had said, “You shall not do this.” 13 The Lord warned Israel and Judah through all his prophets and seers: “Turn from your evil ways. Observe my commands and decrees, in accordance with the entire Law that I commanded your ancestors to obey and that I delivered to you through my servants the prophets.”
A couple hundred ish years later… The southern kingdom, Judah, was exiled by the Babylonians.
This was after they became vassals of Egypt, and then Babylon, paying taxes/tribute simply to exist.
Eventually, Nebuchadnezzar captured Jehoiachin and set Jehoiachin’s uncle in place of king (the uncle’s name had been Mattaniah, but Nebuchadnezzar changed his name to Zedekiah).
In 2 Kings 24:20 we read...
20 It was because of the Lord’s anger that all this happened to Jerusalem and Judah, and in the end he thrust them from his presence.
Now Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon.
After Zedekiah rebelled, Nebuchadnezzar besieged the city of Jerusalem for almost 2 years. Eventually Zedekiah was captured when he tried to flee. His sons were killed before his eyes and then his own eyes were gouged out and he was put in shackles and taken to Babylon.
The important buildings in the city were burned down. The temple was burned, DEMOLISHED, and its furnishings and items were destroyed and removed.
Everyone but the poorest of the poor were deported to Babylon, while the poor stayed in Jerusalem so that they could work the land - the vineyards and the fields...
15 The Lord, the God of their ancestors, sent word to them through his messengers again and again, because he had pity on his people and on his dwelling place. 16 But they mocked God’s messengers, despised his words and scoffed at his prophets until the wrath of the Lord was aroused against his people and there was no remedy. 17 He brought up against them the king of the Babylonians, who killed their young men with the sword in the sanctuary, and did not spare young men or young women, the elderly or the infirm. God gave them all into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar. 18 He carried to Babylon all the articles from the temple of God, both large and small, and the treasures of the Lord’s temple and the treasures of the king and his officials. 19 They set fire to God’s temple and broke down the wall of Jerusalem; they burned all the palaces and destroyed everything of value there.
What a HUGE price to pay for ingnoring and rejecting God!
What a HUGE price to pay for ingnoring and rejecting God!
Today, our story hasn’t changed...
We have continued to reject God! We go our own way, thinking that we know what is best. We want to look like EVERYONE else… and we are being plagued because of our own rebellion against God.
18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.
21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.
24 Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25 They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.
26 Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. 27 In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.
28 Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. 29 They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31 they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. 32 Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.
The point of that list is NOT to single out one sin as greater than any other - and it isn’t an exhaustive list of sinfulness. The point is to SHOW that we have ALL turned from God. We have ALL adopted sinfulness. We have ALL applauded the works of evil. WE ARE NO DIFFERENT THAN THE KINGS OF ISRAEL AND JUDAH!
We have turned our back’s on God
But God has NOT forgotten us! God has NOT abandoned us.
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Although we are reprobate and deserve death, God has provided a remedy through his Son, Jesus Christ.
Although we have ignored God and rejected God as our leader and King, God is willing to accept up if we would only repent of our evil and turn to God.
If we accept God’s grace, forgiveness, and mercy bestowed upon us through Jesus Christ and allow this grace to change us - then God can turn this mess we are in around!
But, we must repent and allow the Spirit to change us.
1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Our problem is the same problem. We have rejected God and want to be like EVERYONE else.
But, God calls us to be DIFFERENT. God calls us to stand out amidst the crowd. God calls us to REFLECT, MODEL, and IMITATE HIM in our world.
The problem with people is they conform to molds and patterns that they weren’t created to conform to.
The people of God went astray when they rejected God and tried to make their culture their god. They rejected ethics and accepted morals.
Yet, don’t point your finger at them for we have done the SAME THING! We have rejected God, we desire to be like everyone else, we throw out ethics and God’s desires and accept what is morally “ok.”
NO WONDER OUR WORLD IS FALLING APART!
Maybe we need to hear, and obey, the words of the prophets again...
10 “Son of man, say to the Israelites, ‘This is what you are saying: “Our offenses and sins weigh us down, and we are wasting away because of them. How then can we live?” ’ 11 Say to them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, people of Israel?’
1 “Come, let us return to the Lord.
He has torn us to pieces
but he will heal us;
he has injured us
but he will bind up our wounds.
1 Return, Israel, to the Lord your God.
Your sins have been your downfall!
2 Take words with you
and return to the Lord.
Say to him:
“Forgive all our sins
and receive us graciously,
that we may offer the fruit of our lips.
3 Assyria cannot save us;
we will not mount warhorses.
We will never again say ‘Our gods’
to what our own hands have made,
for in you the fatherless find compassion.”
4 “I will heal their waywardness
and love them freely,
for my anger has turned away from them.
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
1 As God’s co-workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain. 2 For he says,
“In the time of my favor I heard you,
and in the day of salvation I helped you.”
I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.
May we repent and turn to God in Christ. May God grant the forgiveness He has promised and may we allow God, by the power of His Spirit, to transform us into a holy people who do not conform any longer!
3 He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the Lord will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness,
We KNOW the refining work is done when the Refiner can see HIS reflection in us...
Benediction
Benediction
23 May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.