Do You Need a King?
Notes
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Introduction
Introduction
Teen Story
Many of us have thought that way?
Have you ever seen that sign? Sometimes it is passed around the internet, and it captures teen life. Teens, and young people are just looking for freedom. They want to be free to do what they want when they want.
Kids
But as adults we know something that they don’t know. What we know that they don’t know is that in that perceived freedom that they experience when they are no longer under their parents guidance is actually not much freedom at all.
Let them govern themselves
As they are out from the rules of the household, they actually become enslaved to providing for themselves, and supporting themselves, and what was supposed to be freedom, turns about to be a lot of work.
We try to tell them. We have already lived life, we know what is going to happen, it is no mystery so we try and warn kids and teens about what will happen, but you know teens, they know better, they are not going to listen.
Let’s Pray
Review
Review
This morning we jump ahead a little bit to 1 Samuel chapter 8.
Let me refresh your memory of where we are. The Nation of Israel under the leadership of the corrupt priests Eli, and Hophni and Phinehas, went into battle with the Philistines, and took the ark of covenant with them. They did this in order to gain the favor of the Lord, but because the people were unfaithful, God did not fight the battle for them. The Israelites were on their own, and they lost. The Philistines captured the ark, and according to prophecy, the corrupt priests died.
In some lessons that we did not cover, the Philistines suffered plagues at the hand of the Lord, and returned the ark to Israel. Then in chapter 7 Israel repented, Samuel offered sacrifices, and the Lord defeated the Philistines.
Today we pick it up at first Samuel chapter 8.
1 Samuel 8:1-3
When Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as Israel’s leaders.
The name of his firstborn was Joel and the name of his second was Abijah, and they served at Beersheba.
But his sons did not follow his ways. They turned aside after dishonest gain and accepted bribes and perverted justice.
Remember Eli, the aging priest that was in charge when Samuel was born? He had corrupt sons, Hophni and Phinehas. Now, here we read that Samuel’s sons aren’t following in his ways. Samuels sons Joel and Abijah turned aside from following God, by accepting bribes, and dishonest gain. That phrase “turned aside” appears often in the Bible. The Bible tells us that there is this way, this path we should be following. We are either on the path, like in , “Our hearts had not turned back; our feet had not strayed from your path. or ,Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path. “
Or we turn aside, like , “All have turned away, all have become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.” Or, , We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; . Samuel’s sons, destined to be the next judges of Israel had turned aside. Given that Samuel is the righteous judge of Israel, it some ways we are surprised that his sons turned turned aside, yet those verses make it clear that the Bible says all have turned aside. It is just a matter if we turn back or not.
18 Our hearts had not turned back; our feet had not strayed from your path. or ,Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.
our feet had not strayed from your path. or ,Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.
3 All have turned away, all have become corrupt;
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah.
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.”
there is no one who does good,
each of us has turned to our own way;
נ Nun
not even one.
and the Lord has laid on him
The people seem to be on the right track. They see the problem coming. Samuel is getting up in age nearing retirement, and the young leaders are no good. They remember the awful trouble bad leaders got them into last time so they decide to short circuit that problem. They are not going to mess up again!
105 Your word is a lamp for my feet,
the iniquity of us all.
What if they even checked the scriptures. What if someone remembered . Right, at some point they are entitled to a king aren’t they?
a light on my path.
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, “Let us set a king over us like all the nations around us,”
be sure to appoint over you a king the Lord your God chooses. He must be from among your fellow Israelites. Do not place a foreigner over you, one who is not an Israelite.
So what is wrong with that? It all seems to be on track right? Not, exactly.
1 Sam 8.
But when they said, “Give us a king to lead us,” this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the Lord.
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.
1 Sam
But when they said, “Give us a king to lead us,” this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the Lord.
It displeased Samuel, Samuel was upset, so he prayed to the LORD, and the Lord answered Samuel. The Lord said that the people were not rejecting Samuel, but it was instead a rejection of God.
Why was asking for a king a rejection of God? There are three reasons.
Problem 1- “Like all other Nations”
Problem 1- “Like all other Nations”
The first is that they asked for a King like all the other nations. They did not want to be different any longer. They wanted to look like the world around them, and it is hard to live a life with the Lord as your King
It is hard to Live a life with the Lord as King
God called Israel to be a Holy people. A people set-apart for God, a kingdom of priests. A unique people in every way. Their whole life was different. Everything was dedicated to the Lord. What they ate, who they married, their sexual norms and their religion was different.
Their motivation is all wrong, and it is built out of a mistrust for the Lord. See God called them to be a Holy people. A people set-apart, a kingdom of priests. They were supposed to different, they were not supposed to be like the other nations.
Other nations had a god of wood and stone that they could see, a king they could see, relaxed sexual, and dietary rules.
They offered sacrifices to angry gods, to keep them happy. The sacrifices for Israel were based on repentance. The idea was to try and restore the fellowship with Yahweh, rather than trying to please an angry god wood and stone.
Israel could be on the path, or turn aside, and seems they want to turn aside.
The next problem with Israel’s request for a king, they ignored the warning of the Lord, and demanded a King now.
Problem 2-They ignored the warning
Problem 2-They ignored the warning
God, through the prophet, priest and judge Samuel gave them a stern warning about what would happen once they got the king they demanded.
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.
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.
He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers.
He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants.
He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants.
Your male and female servants and the best of your cattle and donkeys he will take for his own use.
He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves.
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.
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.
He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers.
He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants.
He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants.
Your male and female servants and the best of your cattle and donkeys he will take for his own use.
He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves.
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.”
But the people refused to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We want a king over us.
1 Sam 8.11-
In this warning we see that the King will take the very things that God gives the Israelites as their rights as His people.
He will take your sons and they will run in front of Chariots, God gives the people sons as a blessing, yet the King will claim them for himself.
God will fight the battles, yet the king will take the sons for Israel to fight the battles. He will take of tenth of the grain, and the tenth of the flocks the tenth belongs to the Lord.
Israel will be enslaved to the King.
But the people demanded a king anyway
But the people refused to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We want a king over us.
1 sam 8.
The Lord said they would have a king, the Lord had David on the horizon as part of plan, the man after god’s own heart would one become king of Israel, but now, the people did not want to wait for the Lord, they did not want to heed the warning, they wanted a king now.
It is a lot like the story of Abraham. Abraham was promised to be the father of the nation, but he couldn’t see it, him and Sarah were old so instead of waiting on the Lord for the blessing he took matters into own hands and had a child with Hagar. This situation will turn out about the same for Israel as well.
Lastly, they did not trust the Lord to fight their battles either.
They did not trust the Lord to fight their battles either.
Problem 3-They Did not trust the Lord to fight their battles
Problem 3-They Did not trust the Lord to fight their battles
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.”
1 Sam 8:
They wanted a king to lead them, and to go out before them and fight their battles. They did not want God to fight their battles, they wanted a government to do it.
We tend to remember the bad things and not the good things. Perhaps they remembered the time they lost the ark, but they should have remembered the time when the Lord did defeat the Philistines for them back in Chapter 7.
To get you caught up, the story goes like this. In Chapter 4, the Philistines captured the ark, and the sons of Eli Hophni and Phinehas were killed on the battlefield. Eli, when he hears the news falls over dead in shock, thus fulfilling the prophecy. So from that perspective, it looks like the Lord wasn’t fighting for them. But remember the only reason, the Lord withdrew from them was the unfaithfulness of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas.
The Lord then supernaturally damages the Philistines god Dagon, and curses them with plagues of rats and tumors. The Philistines return the ark safely to Israel. then we come to chapter 7. In chapter 7, the people repent of their sins. They turn back to the Lord. They fast, they confess they turn back to the Lord, and the Lord rescues them.
They forgot. Somehow, they have short memories. Just a chapter ago, the Lord saved them, now they want a king to fight the battles.
It is probably the bad things that stuckMaybe they were still stinging over losing the ark? A few chapters back they paraded the ark out into battle, and becasue of thier unfaithfulness, God did not fight for them and they lost the ark.
We forget the blessings, and worry about what might happen , and the bad things that can happen.
Then the Lord turns them over to the way they have chosen.
When Samuel heard all that the people said, he repeated it before the Lord.
The Lord answered, “Listen to them and give them a king.” Then Samuel said to the Israelites, “Everyone go back to your own town.”
Boils down to trust
DOn’t trust in his knowledge
The Lord Turns them over
The Lord Turns them over
don’t trust in His ability
The Lord lets them go
The Lord lets them go
No matter what, they want what want. They want to be like other nations, not set apart, they want the Lord to do what he said would do, now never mind the warning, and they didn’t want to have to have to depend on God, when they could trust in a Human king.
Unfortunately this isn’t a story we can just leave there in the Old Testament, this is a story that is repeated over and over again.
Don’t trust in his timing
Pilate then went back inside the palace, summoned Jesus and asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”
“Is that your own idea,” Jesus asked, “or did others talk to you about me?”
“Am I a Jew?” Pilate replied. “Your own people and chief priests handed you over to me. What is it you have done?”
Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.”
“You are a king, then!” said Pilate. Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”
Pilate said, “Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law.” “But we have no right to execute anyone,” they objected.
This took place to fulfill what Jesus had said about the kind of death he was going to die.
Pilate then went back inside the palace, summoned Jesus and asked him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”
“Is that your own idea,” Jesus asked, “or did others talk to you about me?”
“Am I a Jew?” Pilate replied. “Your own people and chief priests handed you over to me. What is it you have done?”
John 18-
Demanding
David would do none of these things-didn’t heed the warning
Jesus is king, and we are commanded to follow him. We are commanded to turn from our own path, and follow after him. And this is hard. It is challenging, it is difficult. We have to give up things that we desire, and we have to look like a holy people, a people set-apart. We have to die to self, and this will not be easy.
Do you remember the warning God gave the Israelites about what the king would do once he came to power? All those things that the King would claim as his rights are actually God’s rights.
Jesus becasue it is hard
God warns us. In Romans 6.16
Do you remember the warning God gave the Israelites about what the king would do once he came to power? All those things that the King would claim as his rights are actually God’s rights.
Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?
When we go our own way, when we turn from the path of righteousness , God allows us to go our own way. We become slaves to this world. We work for food that spoils, we forfeit our children over the king of this world. The more we earn the more we spend, and we are caught in this enslavement to the world.
But Jesus offers us a better way, do you see it. When we turn from wanting our own king, when we completely turn to Jesus Christ and submit to Him to be our King we are no longer enslaved to sin.
So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
Trust in his timing
And
trust in Jesus ability
You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.
RO
Trust in Jesus knows best
The Lord Jesus Christ no longer
Will be hard
RO 6.19-
RO 19-2
When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness.
I am using an example from everyday life because of your human limitations. Just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness.
When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness.
What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death!
But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.
But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.
You become set apart, a Kingdom of Priests, holy unto the Lord.
But brothers and Sisters this is hard. The world will want you reject Jesus as King. The world will tell you that if you are not receiving the promises of God now, you must demand them from God, or take matters into your hands and achieve them yourself.
Sometimes you will have to wait on God, Sometimes you will not look like the rest of the world, and sometimes you will have to fight your sin tooth and nail, but remember
The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.