In a previous article I talked about how God never intended for Israel to have prophets, how this was Israel’s own idea when they asked Moses to go up to Mt. Sinai, listen to the law, and return to personally relay all that God had told him. This was because it was freaking them out when God Himself spoke directly with His thunderous voice. And so, as a result, Moses became the first in a series of prophets or spokes-people for God.
Today, we will examine another sad yet interesting truth: Not only was it God’s original purpose to govern Israel without prophets, it was also His original purpose to rule Israel without kings!
True, He used human judges. Generally these were heroes who rose to Israel’s defense during a time of crisis. Some judges proved to be better than others and certainly bad judges could be removed. Nevertheless, God did not want Israel to have a permanent king in the place of a temporary judge. There was to be no kingly dynasty because God Himself would rule as their king.
Israel would have none of this. Failing to appreciate the unique relationship made available through the one and only God of the universe, they nevertheless opted to be like all other nations. And other nations had kings!
4 Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah, 5 and said to him, “… Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.”
6 But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” So Samuel prayed to the Lord. 7 And the Lord said to Samuel, “Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them. 8 According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt, even to this day—with which they have forsaken Me and served other gods—so they are doing to you also. 9 Now therefore, heed their voice. However, you shall solemnly forewarn them, and show them the behavior of the king who will reign over them.”
10 So Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who asked him for a king. 11 And he said, “This will be the behavior of the king who will reign over you: He will take your sons and appoint them for his own chariots and to be his horsemen, and some will run before his chariots. 12 He will appoint captains over his thousands and captains over his fifties, will set some to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and some to make his weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. 13 He will take your daughters to be perfumers, cooks, and bakers. 14 And he will take the best of your fields, your vineyards, and your olive groves, and give them to his servants. 15 He will take a tenth of your grain and your vintage, and give it to his officers and servants. 16 And he will take your male servants, your female servants, your finest young men,[a] and your donkeys, and put them to his work. 17 He will take a tenth of your sheep. And you will be his servants. 18 And you will cry out in that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, and the Lord will not hear you in that day.”
19 Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, “No, but we will have 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 Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he repeated them in the hearing of the Lord. 22 So the Lord said to Samuel, “Heed their voice, and make them a king” (1Samuael 8:4-21)
This unusual twist of events actually teaches much about God and His relationship to our prayers.
The first observation is sobering. The second (believe it or not) embodies a marvelous hope!
1) As Christians, we tend to think of life choices in two categories: Something is either a sin or not a sin. Apparently there is a third category; things that are less than ideal, different than what God would prefer, but not necessarily a sin.
Israel was already quite familiar with sin. Some of her sins are even mentioned in this passage such as idol worship. Having a king was not as bad as worshiping a false deity, but neither was God wild about their request. Nevertheless, God would not have involved Himself in the process of king selection if this was a sin because (obviously) God Himself does not participate in sin. Although later on, the Israelites did look back, realizing that ignoring Samuel’s advice was a sinful action on their part (1 Samuel 12:17), the phenomenon of kingship in its own rite was not in and of itself sinful. In fact, back when Moses was still alive, God predicted that the people would someday ask for a king and laid down certain ground rules (Deuteronomy 17). Again, God does not establish evil institutions.
This narrative has tremendous implications toward our prayer lives. While encouraged to bring our petitions and requests before God, we need to also spend some time listening to His desire and purpose of our lives. If not, God could answer our prayers in a manner that gives us what we wanted, even though He Himself would have preferred something different.
Why would God allow this? Well, in Israel’s case, it was to teach them that they needed no king, that He was already their king, and to think twice before asking for something God had already told them they’d be better off without.
Although nothing was inherently wrong with having a king, any honest 20-20 hindsight shows how Israel’s history would have gone more smoothly without one.
Be that as it may, God honored their request. Through Samuel the prophet, (acting under God’s direction) a man named Saul was chosen as king.
Saul’s reign started out good but later derailed when he disobeyed some of God’s specific instructions during battle.
And so, God sent Samuel out to anoint another man as Saul’s replacement. This simple shepherd, David, eventually became a mighty king. Also flawed, David nevertheless was a man after God’s own heart. He is still known today as the greatest king Israel ever had. And yet, one greater than David was promised. From David’s seed, the ultimate king, the final king, the eternal king of Israel will someday rule (Jeremiah 23).
This person visited Israel once before in 33AD, this person known as the Messiah or Christ. Israel rejected Jesus, failing to understand that before Messiah can rule as king He must first die for Israel’s sins and not only Israel’s but the sins of the entire world. After this, He would return and rule Israel someday in the future (Isaiah 53).
Although miraculously born of a virgin and without a physical human father, Jesus was still the blood descendent of David since His mother Mary was related to David (Luke 3).
This leads us to our second observation, a rather obvious one but also a fantastic truth to behold!
2) Jesus will someday rule Israel. And who is Jesus? God Himself! God incarnate! God in the form of a man! (John 1:1, John 8:58)
Why didn’t God want Israel to have a king? Because He was already their king! He still did as they asked and provided a whole lineage of kings, one of whom would be the final ruler. This final ruler, Jesus, is God by identity.
Israel gets her way. God gets His way.
Israel gets her king and Israel finally gets the only king God wanted her to have, Himself.
The love and wonder of God is so powerfully displayed here. God may give us something we want, something that in and of itself is not a sin, but less than His ideal design for our lives. In time, we find ourselves wondering why we ever made such a tunnel vision request. We learn to be careful what to wish for, and yet when all is said and done, God still gets us to where He wanted us to be. We might have been better off if we’d cooperated with His shortcut, but He also does quite well with the scenic route.
And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28 ).
NOTE: For evidence that Luke was providing Mary’s genealogy and not Joseph’s see my other article A Paradox Solved By the Virgin Birth.
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