1 Samuel 8 (Israel Demands a King)

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Do I Really Need the Church? (7/16/2023)

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Once again let's open to the Old Testament book of 1 Samuel. Today we're going to be doing a study in 1

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Samuel chapter 8. This is a very significant chapter which represents a turning point in Israel's history.

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This is the moment when Israel demands a king. So this is seen as a bad thing.

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As of this moment the nation was loosely, really a loosely connected confederation of tribes under the leadership of a judge, in this case

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Samuel. But Samuel is old and the children of Israel want a new system of government.

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They want to be like all the other nations so they demand a king. And you might ask what's wrong with that?

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Because Israel wasn't supposed to be like everyone else. They were supposed to be holy, set apart.

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They were to be different. So the Lord views this demand as Israel's overall rejection of him because really the

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Lord was to be their king. So this is not good. But by the end of the study hopefully you will see how

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God took this bad situation and used it for good. So let's begin reading 1

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Samuel chapter 8 starting in verse 1. Now it came to pass when

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Samuel was old that he made his sons judges over Israel. The name of his firstborn was

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Joab and the name of his second Abijah. They were judges in Beersheba.

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But his sons did not walk in his ways. They turned aside after dishonest gain, took bribes, and perverted justice.

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Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. Look you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways.

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Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations. But the thing displeased

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Samuel when they said give us a king to judge us. So Samuel prayed to the

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Lord and the Lord said to Samuel, Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you.

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For they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me that I should not reign over them.

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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.

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Now therefore, heed their voice. However, you shall solemnly forewarn them and show them the behavior of the king who will reign over them.

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Okay, so the people want a king, but do they really understand what they're asking for?

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We're going to see what that means in a moment. You want a king? Okay, here's what's gonna happen.

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But suffice to say that the kings, you know, kings tend to live like kings. Kings don't usually produce all that much of themselves.

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So if a king is going to live like a king in luxury, guess who's gonna pay for it? That's right, you are.

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So verse 1 begins, now it came to pass when Samuel was old that he made his sons judges over Israel.

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So this is a bad idea, right? The judges were supposed to be raised up by God, and to some extent earned this position based on their capability.

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You think of Gideon, right? Gideon was one of the greatest judges, but really he started out as a nobody.

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But he, along with the Lord's power, became a mighty man of valor. And if you remember,

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Israel, after, well, they wanted to make Gideon king, but he refused. But after his death, his sons became the rulers in Israel, and it ended up being a total disaster.

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And that's usually the way it goes. And sadly, we see that in his later years, that Samuel, who's probably about 60 years old, he's making similar mistakes to that of his predecessor,

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Eli. We talked about this, what, several weeks ago. Eli had two sons, remember?

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Hothnai and Phinehas. And Eli's sons were vile. They were corrupt, but they were vile, and God determined to kill them.

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It mentions here that Samuel has two sons, so we see that parallel, and that Samuel's sons were corrupt.

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Verse 2 says their names were Joel and Abijah. Now, in Samuel's defense, it doesn't seem like his sons were nearly as bad as Eli's.

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Eli's sons were absolute reprobates, and God judged Eli because he did not restrain them.

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We don't see that same type of thing with Samuel, but Samuel is making mistakes, and that kind of leads to this travesty of Israel asking for a king.

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But I think we have to say, for Samuel's sake, he was a good man.

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He loved God, and Samuel and the Lord are still on good terms.

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So Samuel is not nearly as bad as Eli, nothing like that.

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But still, this is not a good situation. He should not have made his corrupt sons judges in Israel.

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It says they took bribes and they perverted justice, and it was bad enough to where the entire nation knew about it.

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So when it comes to the prospect of Samuel's sons ruling over the nation, I mean, the people were rightly concerned.

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So they come to Samuel, and they have a valid point. Verse 4 says that they gathered together all the elders of Israel.

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These were the representatives for the people, the men of each city and tribe, you know, that the people looked up to, and they came to Samuel, and they confronted him, which was probably the right thing to do, but what they asked for as a solution was absolutely the wrong thing to do.

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Verse 5 says, or they said, make us a king to judge us.

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And here's the key. Here's why it's really a bad thing. Because their desire was to be like all the other nations.

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Make us a king to judge us that we may be like all the other nations.

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God's people are to be holy, sanctified, set -apart, just like God's people today are to be different from everyone else.

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So when God's people say, we just want to be like the world, this is a bad sign.

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So whether you call this envy or covetousness or just being conformed to the world, unfortunately, this is very common.

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God has one plan for his people, but man is often not content with what he has.

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So he wants more. He wants what other people have. Now Israel, remember when

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Joshua led them into the land of Canaan, they would have seen all the heathen nations, which are really little more than city -states, but they had a king.

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And something about having a king, the Israelites, they found that desirable.

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You know, a few verses come to mind about their temptation to want a king, their desire to be like everyone else.

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James 1 verse 14 says, but each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.

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Israel was certainly led away from God by the kings. You know this later in their history, when the

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North and South divide, you have the nation of Judah to the South and the kingdom of Israel to the

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North. The North was completely apostate. Why? Because they had bad leadership.

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You know, people are sheep. People follow the leader. So if a nation has corrupt leaders, bad rulers, the people, that, you know, that trickles down to the people.

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And that's what happened. The Northern kingdom of Israel, all the kings were wicked. So God destroyed the

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Northern nation of Israel and used the Assyrians to do it. So that was a disaster.

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And even the way it started out, okay, some good things happened, right? God raised up Saul.

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Saul will be the first king. And then David, some good things did come out of it because God always works it out for good to those who love him.

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But really Israel having a king, for the most part, this is a disaster.

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This is a, this is a act of disobedience for them to ask for this. Another verse that comes to mind, just how they wanted to be like all the other nations.

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Romans 12 verse two says, and do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

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That's what we see here. Israel, by asking for a king, it shows that they were, and they wanted to be conformed to this world.

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You see the world wants to be led by men, not God, or maybe today the world wants to be led by women.

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I don't know, but Israel was to be a nation that was supposed to have God as their king led by God.

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So whatever earthly rulers there were, they were to be God's servants.

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I mean, really every king in this entire, in this entire world, every king, every governor, every ruler should be a servant of God.

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They don't quite see it that way, do they? But certainly in Israel, the judges, the rulers that were to be

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God's servants, their job was to do whatever God said. Why? Because God was their king.

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So when Israel asked for a king, verse six says, the thing displeased

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Samuel. Well, I bet it did. And Samuel naturally feels rejected.

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Bible says he is old. He still has some good years left, but you know, he's at that point in his life where he's, he's getting up there in age.

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He's thinking about the future. So his solution was to appoint his sons wrong, wrong move.

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And the people right, rightfully so I think are not happy about it. So Samuel makes a mistake and he's getting critiqued and let's face it.

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That never feels good. Nobody likes being critiqued. So Samuel, what does he do?

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He turns to the Lord to get a word. And really, I think this is one of the main differences between Eli and Samuel.

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God wasn't talking to Eli except through intermediaries. God was, however, speaking directly to Samuel.

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Even at this point in his life, after making this terrible choice, God is still speaking to Samuel.

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And that says a lot. So while Samuel wasn't perfect, he was still right with God. And don't you know, you don't have to be perfect to be right with God.

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Otherwise nobody would be right with God. Eli, however, crossed the line.

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Samuel did not. So the Lord prays or Samuel prays to the

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Lord and God gives him a clear answer. Samuel, this is what

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God says, Samuel, do what they say for they have not rejected you.

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They have rejected me that I, the Lord should not reign over them.

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And then the Lord goes on to say that this is nothing new, right? The children of Israel, they remember they did this when

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I led them out of Egypt. Remember the golden calf. Remember how they turned away from me back then.

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Remember how they worshiped Baal of Peor. Remember like this is, this is nothing new.

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It's the same old thing. And we learn a few things from this statement. Number one, there's nothing new under the sun.

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I mean, that's always true. That's like the application for everything. Like that's one takeaway, no matter what it is, that nothing new under the sun, whatever's happening back then it's happening now.

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But we learned that when the people reject God's man, right?

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Because in a way they are rejecting Samuel and his leadership. But we learn when people reject

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God's man, they're not really rejecting him. They're rejecting the God he represents.

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So that's the first takeaway I want to look at. And then number two, God often gives people what they ask for as a form of punishment.

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So first thing first, when people reject

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God's man, they are not really rejecting him. They are rejecting the

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God he represents. Now this type of thing admittedly can be abused, right? It's not always true in the sense that there are people who claim to be

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God's man, right? The anointed of God, the man of God, you have cult leaders who can manipulate people with this.

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I think of the charismatic televangelists who have abused this in the past. You know, they say things like touch, not the

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Lord's anointed, and they're referring to themselves. So any critique of the pastor is a critique of God.

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No, no, no. But Samuel was the man of God and he was worthy of critique.

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That's true. When he was wrong, he's worthy of critique. But here's the thing with that said, if a pastor, this is true as Samuel, and this is still true with faithful ministers today.

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If a pastor is being faithful to the word of God, not perfect, nobody's perfect except the

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Lord himself. But when a pastor is being faithful in ministering the word and shepherding the flock, if a person stands in opposition to that faithful ministry, make no mistake about it, they are actually opposing

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God because it's not really about him. It's not really about the man. You know, this really isn't about Samuel.

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On the surface, it looks like they're rejecting him and his sons. But in reality, God says, so they're rejecting the

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Lord. And just as way of modern application, you know, many Bible believing pastors have found themselves in churches where the people rejected them, where the people did not want the gospel.

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They did not want the whole counsel of God preached. What they wanted was carnality, compromise, if not something worse.

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When that happens, the bottom line, they're not rejecting that man of God. They're rejecting

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God himself. So don't take it personally. And that's kind of what God is saying to Samuel, Samuel, don't take this personally.

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They have rejected me. Now, as for the second point, they asked for a king and the

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Lord said, okay, fine. If that's what you want, that's what you'll get.

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And here's what's going to come along with it. So God will often do this as a form of punishment.

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He will give people what they ask for. Now, if a faithful person does the wrong thing and they ask

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God for the wrong thing, you know, sometimes God is gracious. And I think, you know, this God is often gracious with us when we pray for something and he says no, because that's not his best or he has something better or,

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Hey, we're just way off and asking for this. And God says no. And he's doing us a favor. So when a faithful person asked for the wrong thing,

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God is gracious to say no. Sometimes when God says no, it's good.

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But sometimes when God says yes, that's also good. But sometimes when God says yes, it's bad because when someone is straying from the

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Lord as a way to chastise them, God will give people what they want. Just a modern example of this.

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Uh, maybe someone is saved and I only use this as an example because I've seen it play out more than once, but let's say somebody is saved, but they're not really walking with the

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Lord. They know better, but they're drifting. And then they meet someone and they might pray to God and say, you know, if I could just date this person, or if I could just marry this person,

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Lord, I love this person so much. If I could just marry them, it would make me so happy.

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And God might be in heaven thinking, yeah, but they're not a believer. What are you doing as a Christian?

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You should not date or get married to a non Christian, but that's what they desire.

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And that's what they pray. And that's what they ask God, Lord, I want this person.

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And the Lord might say, okay, but you're going to pay for it later on.

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You'll be sorry. And that's sort of what's happening here. Lord, we want a

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King and God sees their disobedience. And okay, I'm going to give it to you. I'm going to say yes.

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And that's my form of punishment. Or another modern example, maybe somebody's not happy with their church.

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Maybe they're just sick and tired of hearing sermons from the Bible. You know, they want something fresh.

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They're sick of the hymns. They want some trendy music. You know, they want the electric guitars and the drums.

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So Lord lead me to a church that is more like all the other churches with the purple lights and the lasers and the smoke machine, where I can hear a motivational speaker that gives me something more like a

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TED talk than a sermon, because sermons, Lord sermons are boring. I've heard enough sermons. Give me a church.

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That's like, like the world, like everyone else. And God says, okay, if worldliness is what you desire, then that is what you'll get.

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So 10 years from now, when your spirit is dried up like a prune and you're still drinking milk out of a sippy cup, because you can't handle the meat of the word and you're on the brink of deconstructing your faith, just remember you asked for that.

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That's what God will do. If you start straying and you ask the

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Lord for something harmful, he might just say yes. So Israel asked for a king.

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It was not in the will of God, not in the perfect will of God, certainly. And God gave them what they asked for back to the text.

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This is what the Lord tells Samuel. He says, heed their voice, do what they say.

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However, verse nine says, you shall solemnly forewarn them and show them the behavior of the king who will rule over them.

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So Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who asked him for a king.

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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 to be his horsemen.

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And some will run before his chariots. He will appoint captains over his thousands and captains over his fifties and will set some to plow his ground and reap his harvest and some to make his weapons of war and equipment for his chariots.

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Like, you know, you're, you're going to become his servants, right? You want to, you should be serving

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God, but by asking for this, you're going to be serving a man. It's like you're, you're going to be enslaved almost first 13.

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He will take your daughters to be perfumers, cooks and bakers. So instead of making meals for their husbands, they're going to be making meals for another man, the king, and he will take the best of your fields, your vineyards and your olive groves and give them to his servants.

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So he's going to take your stuff and give it to other people, you know, redistribute the wealth and the wealth is taken from the middle class and given to the rich.

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Well, that sounds familiar verse 15, and he will take a 10th of your grain and your vintage and give it to his officers and servants.

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Just one quick comment. Well, what Samuel saying, or what's the

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Lord telling the people through Samuel, you're going to have to pay a tax to the king.

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He is going to require 10 % of everything. And just notice how 10%, an extra 10 % is set forth as being like extreme.

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I mean, we would be fortunate today if the federal government only took 10%.

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I mean, for us, I mean, the federal government takes more than the state we live in more than our town.

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So let's make application with this just to warn people because it's really not that different.

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We may not use the word king for our leaders, but they certainly live like a king. The Lord is warning

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Israel, but I think the application is he's warning all people. When you desire a large centralized government, that's going to have all this extra power.

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You think it's going to work out in your favor, but I assure you it won't. And what's the worst part about it?

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The king or this centralized leadership, it is going to usurp

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God's authority. And isn't that exactly what's happening today? So this is the warning to Israel.

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Samuel says, if you want a king, here's what he's going to demand from you. Here's what he's going to do.

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Verse 16, he will take your male servants, your female servants, your finest young men and your donkeys and put them to his work.

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He will take a 10th of your sheep and you will be his servants.

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And you will cry out in that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves.

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And the Lord will not hear you in that day. In other words, you made your bed.

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Now you're going to have to lie in it. Nevertheless, even after being warned, verse 19, the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel.

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And of course, really they're disobeying the voice of God. And they said, no, we will have a king over us 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.

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You know, this is one of the saddest things. God didn't, didn't we just read this in one of the previous chapter,

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God was to fight their battles. Jehovah wanted to fight for his people, but they rejected the

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Lord. And they said, no, we want a man to fight our battles. It's so sad. They're not trusting in the

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Lord. They're trusting in men. They're trusting in chariots. They're trusting in.

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And when you look at some of the Kings that reigned, I mean, these men were absolutely corrupt and wicked.

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Verse 21, and Samuel heard all the words of the people. And he repeated them in the hearing of the

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Lord saying, Lord, this is what they're saying. And I, you know,

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God certainly knew what was coming. And Samuel, Samuel saw the handwriting on the wall, but the people wouldn't listen.

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And I'm sure he was very grieved over that. And you know, the first King Saul, when

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Saul is appointed, I mean, if you've read the Bible, you know how, how you know, how grieved

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Samuel is over the behavior of Saul. And yet God worked it out in some ways, right?

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Saul was the Lord's anointed. And I said at the beginning that the Lord is going to use all of this for good, as bad as this is.

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And it is bad. God is going to use it for good. I know it doesn't seem like it here.

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I mean, how is that even going to happen? Well, it's going to happen like this. The Lord will take this and he will use it to soon raise up a man, a

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King, a good King, a man after God's own heart.

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And of course that man is David, the Lord's anointed. And David really becomes that old

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Testament type of Christ, the King. And from David's line, the

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Messiah, the King of Kings will be born. But before that happens, many difficult days are ahead, but there will be bright spots for those who love

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God. Just like in our time, you know, overall things right now are pretty dark, corrupt rulers, people turning away from God, trusting in men, same thing's happening today.

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So while things are dark, what's the encouragement? Sometimes the darkness causes the gospel light to shine that much brighter.

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You know, when things are going bad, sometimes that's when God is setting the stage to do something good.

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So be encouraged. Whatever the majority is doing, rejecting the Lord, being conformed to this world.

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Just remember, God still has a plan. And in the end, His will will be done.

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The chapter closes with these words. So the Lord said to Samuel, heed their voice and make them a

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King. And Samuel said to the men of Israel, every man go to his city.