FBC Morning Light (3/30/2024)

Good Saturday morning, people of faith. We're going to be looking at 1 Samuel chapters 7 through 11 this morning. And just to set the background here, back earlier in the book of 1 Samuel, the Philistines captured the ark and then had all kinds of troubles because they had the ark, and then returned the ark.

And we pick things up in chapter 7 just after the ark has been returned. And what I'm going to do this morning is just going to walk through a little bit from each chapter, and then we're going to jump back to chapter 8 after I do that.

Samuel Judges Israel and the Philistines Are Defeated

So in chapter 7, we see some details of Samuel as he is judging Israel. He had brought everyone together and the Philistines heard about it, and they came and attacked, and they defeated the Philistines, and so they had had peace at that time.

And they talk a little bit about Samuel going to various cities on a circuit to judge the people, as he was considered, as he's often considered to be the last judge of the nation of Israel. In chapter 8, the people demand to have a king, and this is a change from what it has been in the past for the nation of Israel.

Samuel doesn't want them to have a king, the people want to have a king, Samuel inquires of the Lord, and eventually they are to have a king. So who is it that's going to be king? And in chapter 9, Saul a Benjaminite is chosen to be the king, and in chapter 10, he is anointed as that king.

And then in chapter 11, we have the first major act of Saul as king, and the people of Jabesh Gilead are under threat from the Ammonites, and Saul gathers together the people from every tribe, and they go and defeat these Ammonites, and the city or the village or city of Jabesh Gilead has been is saved by God through the hand of Saul.

Why Israel Wanted a King

And ironically enough, this is considered by most to be the last good act of Saul in his entire reign. So the question comes up, why would the people want a king in the first place? Well, there's oftentimes, there's different ways you could look at that.

The Samuel was fearful that they wanted to be just like the countries around them, the other nations around them, but I think there's something a little different going on, not just that, that that was certainly an issue, but rewind the clock just a little bit and go back to Samuel's predecessor in Eli.

And Eli was a an okay high priest, and he had two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, and they were not good characters, and they did much evil, threatening people, taking advantage of the women, not taking care of the sacrifices correctly, and when there's corruption like that, people tend to get very frustrated because they know this is not what the Lord has appointed to have happen.

Corrupt Leadership, Dishonest Gain, and Perverted Justice

So Samuel, in chapter 8 verse 1, it says, now it came to pass when Samuel was old that he made his sons judges over Israel. The name of his firstborn was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah. They were judges in Beersheba.

But his sons did not walk in his ways. They turned aside after dishonest gain, took bribes, and perverted justice. When there is a situation in society where there's chaos or disorder, people are much more prone to choose a leader that will lead them out of that chaos.

You can look at this throughout history. The Roman Empire did this sort of thing, and I think that this is kind of the human side of what was going on within the nation of Israel here. The leadership of the nation was corrupt.

It was not doing what they were supposed to do. They were taking bribes, they were going after dishonest gain, and they had perverted justice. I would suggest to you that all throughout this world, that this is a common thread of nations throughout this world now.

How many times do our politicians get elected to become rich by perverting justice and going after dishonest gain and taking bribes? The stories of these things are tragic, and as a nation, we need to repent of this behavior.

Repentance and Prayer for National Leaders

May it be that this day that somehow the Lord works to bring about change within the hearts of our leaders of this country. Let's pray. Lord, you are Lord, and we are not. I ask that you would move and work to change my heart, the heart of our people, the heart of our nation, the heart of our leaders, that they might bow the knee before you, knowing that you are God.

It's in your son's name, Jesus, we pray. Amen. Have an excellent day, people of faith.