1 Samuel 8-9 Israel wants a King

Today we are in our 5th sermon in our series called a Prophet and 2 Kings.

Last week we unpacked Samuel stepping into the role as the spiritual leader in Israel.

And Samuel’s first course of action as the new spiritual leader,

is to lead Israel into a time of repentance.

As Samuel is leading Israel away from false gods

and

leading them toward the one true God.

Their enemy,

the Philistines,

immediately march to attack them.

Israel was faced with the decision to continue to press into the things of God or retreat and scatter.

Israel choose to continue to pursue God and they begin to cry out to the Lord for help.

The Lord sent a mighty sound which brought confusion on the Philistines,

and Israel was than able to drive their enemies out of their land.

1 Samuel 7:13 (ESV)

13 So the Philistines were subdued and did not again enter the territory of Israel. And the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel.

How many know this morning that when the Lord brings victory,

it is lasting victory?…

All the days that Samuel was judge over Israel,

the hand of the Philistines were subdued by the Lord.

Turn with me…

1 Samuel 8:1–3 (ESV)

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.

Eli and Samuel’s Sons… Used their position for gain...

Difference… Eli went along with the evil practices, whereas Samuel did not)

[but here is the situation… perverting justice]

So here again we will see a man made solution to the problem...

1 Samuel 8:4–5 (ESV)

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.”

The elders of Israel could have easily said something like…

“Samuel could you bring correction to your sons and see if they turn from their ways of perverting justice” (southern part of Israel)

or

“Samuel, we know your sons are not like you and we know you have a school of prophets,

so lets appoint some different leaders from your school,

in order that we can continue in the same direction of a pursuit towards God.

But instead the elders… give us king like the other nations…

1 Samuel 8:6–9 (ESV)

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.”

Was a king wrong for Israel to have? Because a King was predicted... Read 2 passages...

Genesis 17:15–16 (ESV)

15 And God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name. 16 I will bless her, and moreover, I will give you a son by her. I will bless her, and she shall become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her.”

Deuteronomy 17:14 (ESV)

14 “When you come to the land that the Lord your God is giving you, and you possess it and dwell in it and then say, ‘I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are around me,’

Different interpretations....

1. God always wanted a king… (But Israel was still wrong here..)

2. God always knew Israel would one day ask for a king…

(my thoughts, God was to be their King)

1 Samuel 8:7 (ESV)

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.

The Lord tells Samuel to give them what the people want,

but warn them what will happen when they have a King.

So in verses 10-18 of chapter 8,

Samuel warns the people what will happen if they have a king.

Samuel tells them…

A king will draft your sons for his army and to plow his fields.

(which by the way those fields that are his will be the best fields that he took for himself from you)

A king will take your daughters to cook and perform other duties for him.

A king will take a tenth of your income and other possessions from you.

Samuel finishes his warning by saying...

“When that day comes, you will beg for relief from this king you are demanding, but then the Lord will not help you.” V18 NLT

After hearing this,

you would think people would be like...

good point… we will stick with God being our king…

But, have you ever wanted something so bad that you did not care about the consequences that involved having it… or may your kid is like that....

After Samuel’s warning…

1 Samuel 8:19–22a (ESV)

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.”

They were so focused on having a king that it did not matter what Samuel said,

they were going to still want a king. (Samuel could have said…)

The heart behind the people is they wanted to be like the nations around them,

instead of being set apart as God’s unique people… identity…

(This is a problem today too)

[churches look more like the world]

God allows us to choose… Israel wanted and king and a king they will get…

move into chapter 9

1 Samuel 9:1–2 (ESV)

1 There was a man of Benjamin whose name was Kish, the son of Abiel, son of Zeror, son of Becorath, son of Aphiah, a Benjaminite, a man of wealth. 2 And he had a son whose name was Saul, a handsome young man. There was not a man among the people of Israel more handsome than he. From his shoulders upward he was taller than any of the people.

This will be important later…

1 Samuel 9:3 (ESV)

3 Now the donkeys of Kish, Saul’s father, were lost. So Kish said to Saul his son, “Take one of the young men with you, and arise, go and look for the donkeys.”

Verses 4-13 we see Saul takes his young servant and they search for these donkeys that are lost.

Saul and his servant can’t find the donkey’s,

so Saul says lets be done with this search because at this point my dad will be more worried about us than those donkeys that are lost.

But the servants responds is,

hey the Prophet Samuel is around this area so lets see if he can tell us where to go to get these donkeys back.

1 Samuel 9:14–20 (ESV)

14 So they went up to the city. As they were entering the city, they saw Samuel coming out toward them on his way up to the high place.

15 Now the day before Saul came, the Lord had revealed to Samuel: 16 “Tomorrow about this time I will send to you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him to be prince over my people Israel. He shall save my people from the hand of the Philistines. For I have seen my people, because their cry has come to me.” 17 When Samuel saw Saul, the Lord told him, “Here is the man of whom I spoke to you! He it is who shall restrain my people.” 18 Then Saul approached Samuel in the gate and said, “Tell me where is the house of the seer?” 19 Samuel answered Saul, “I am the seer. Go up before me to the high place, for today you shall eat with me, and in the morning I will let you go and will tell you all that is on your mind. 20 As for your donkeys that were lost three days ago, do not set your mind on them, for they have been found. And for whom is all that is desirable in Israel? Is it not for you and for all your father’s house?”

Samuel is a true Prophet of the Lord

and

the Lord has already revealed to Samuel that Saul would be coming.

And the Lord tells Samuel that when I show you this man from Benjamin tomorrow,

you are to anoint him to be King for the Lord said that He has heard the cry from Israel.

Interesting…

1 Samuel 9:17 (ESV)

17 When Samuel saw Saul, the Lord told him, “Here is the man of whom I spoke to you! He it is who shall restrain my people.”

Some translations V17 “rule my people” NLT “govern my people” NIV

The Hebrew word for restrain is pronounced mounsoow

meaning is to hold back, restrain, keep a firm hold on,

In the majority of the 46 times this Hebrew word is used,

it suggest’s and means something negative.

It seems that the Lord was predicting to Samuel,

that Saul is going to ultimately restrain or hold back the people of Israel.

But remember the people of Israel have already been warned what a king will mean for them,

so at this point it does not matter what is said they want a king.

God gives Israel this king who on the outside,

fits the bill of being a great king. (tall and hansom)

But we get a good picture of what is happening on the inside of this man named Saul.

1 Samuel 9:21 (ESV)

21 Saul answered, “Am I not a Benjaminite, from the least of the tribes of Israel? And is not my clan the humblest of all the clans of the tribe of Benjamin? Why then have you spoken to me in this way?”

1 Samuel 9:21 (NLT)

21 Saul replied, “But I’m only from the tribe of Benjamin, the smallest tribe in Israel, and my family is the least important of all the families of that tribe! Why are you talking like this to me?”

What he says is partly true and partly false....

(Good politician) [even the baptist where thinking of getting a bottle of booze out after that debate]

The true thing Saul said was that Benjamin is the smallest tribe in Israel.

(This is true)

[Towards the end of Judges, 19-20, the tribe of Benjamin is almost wiped out]

The false thing Saul said was that his “family is the least important of all families in the tribe”

(False)

beginning of chapter 9

1 Samuel 9:1 (ESV)

1 There was a man of Benjamin whose name was Kish, the son of Abiel, son of Zeror, son of Becorath, son of Aphiah, a Benjaminite, a man of wealth.

You are not going to be the least important family

in a small tribe when you are a family of wealth.

The author is giving us insight on the person of Saul...

on the outside, Saul was tall and hansom,looked like a great king...

But on the inside was an insecure man who believed lies about himself.

(insecurity when not dealt with can bring destruction)

Insecurity breeds jealousy

Jealousy breeds misunderstanding

Saul’s insecurity will play out throughout his time as king.

Close with this...

Theme lie… Root of the problem

Samuel’s sons (perverted justice)

Israel King

Saul about himself

1 Corinthians 11:23–28 NLT

23 For I pass on to you what I received from the Lord himself. On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread 24 and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and said, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way, he took the cup of wine after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood. Do this in remembrance of me as often as you drink it.” 26 For every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are announcing the Lord’s death until he comes again. 27 So anyone who eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord unworthily is guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. 28 That is why you should examine yourself before eating the bread and drinking the cup.