WWUTT 304 Both You and Your King?

Samuel’s Warning to Israel and the Kingship They Requested

In his farewell address to Israel, Samuel said, Consider what great things God has done for you, but if you still do wickedly you will be swept away, both you and your king. And that is a warning we need to heed even today, when we understand the text.

This is When We Understand The Text, a daily Bible commentary to help encourage your time in the Word. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday we feature New Testament Study, an Old Testament book on Thursday, and our Q &A on Friday.

Now here's your teacher, Pastor Gabe. Thank you, Becky.

Israel’s Demand for a King and God’s Warning in 1 Samuel 8

And in our Old Testament Study, we've been going through the book of 1 Samuel. So open up your Bible there if you would. Today we will be looking at chapters 10, 11, and 12. But first a little bit of recap.

Last week we looked at how Israel had demanded of Samuel a king. Samuel was a judge over Israel, and he had appointed his sons as judges. But his sons began conning people out of money. Israel remembered what happened when Eli's sons had become wicked.

They started losing in battle. God afflicted them. They lost the Ark of the Covenant to the Philistines. And so they didn't want to put up with this anymore. They demanded of Israel that they be given a king who would fight their battles for them, and also make them a great success, just like they had witnessed among the pagan kings around them.

Samuel took that personally, but God said to Samuel in chapter 8, verse 7, 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.

Now there are people that will take that statement and some of this exchange between God and Samuel in 1 Samuel 8 out of context. They will say that it's a wicked thing to have a king. Israel was never supposed to have a king.

God was supposed to be their king. But that's not necessarily the case. God had said to Abraham and Sarah that many kings would come from their line. And Moses also gave instructions for kings in Deuteronomy chapter 17.

So Israel was supposed to have a king. When they took over the land of Canaan, when they were instructed to continue to drive out the pagan people that were around them, they should have placed a king over them early, but they did not.

Instead, what we see in the book of Judges, it's said twice there that the people of Israel did what they saw fit because there was no king over them to rule. So they should have appointed a king early.

At this point, they are thinking with the mind of men and not with the mind of God. What a king is supposed to represent is the throne of heaven. On earth, an earthly example of God who is reigning on his throne in heaven.

But instead they are thinking with the mind of man, wanting a king for themselves who was just like all the other pagan kings, would make them a great success, would win for them in battle, and on and on their expectations went.

Samuel even gave them a list of warnings about appointing a king over them, particularly in the mindset that they were in. And those warnings are given in chapter 8 verses 10 through 18. But the people ignored those warnings.

They ignored the warnings and they said, no, we want a king appointed over us. So Samuel gave them the king that they wanted. God appointed this king and said to Samuel, here's where you will find the king.

And that's what we read about in chapter 9 when Samuel encounters Saul. And that's where we're going to pick up the story here. But it's not as though Saul was a king after God's own heart. That would be David, but not Saul.

God gave Israel the king that was a reflection of their hearts. And so for a time, Saul would do exactly what Israel expected their king to do for them. But then Saul would fall out of God's favor, and he would start becoming the king for Israel, exactly as Samuel warned Israel their king would be like.

Saul Is Anointed and Chosen by Lot in 1 Samuel 10

And so we pick up the story there, Samuel anointing Saul the next king of Israel, the first king of Israel, in 1 Samuel 10, beginning in verse 1. Then Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it on his head and kissed him and said, Has not the Lord anointed you to be prince over his people Israel?

And you shall reign over the people of the Lord, and you will save them from the hand of their surrounding enemies. And this shall be the sign to you that the Lord has anointed you to be prince over his heritage.

When you depart from me today, you will meet two men by Rachel's tomb in the territory of Benjamin at Zelzah. And they will say to you, The donkeys that you went to seek are found, and now your father has ceased to care about the donkeys and is anxious about you, saying, What shall I do about my son?

Then you shall go on from there farther and come to the oak of Tabor. Three men going up to God at Bethel will meet you there, one carrying three young goats, another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a skin of wine.

And they will greet you and give you two loaves of bread, which you shall accept from their hand. After that you shall come to Gibeath Elohim, where there is a garrison of the Philistines. And there, as soon as you come to the city, you will meet a group of prophets coming down from the high place with harp, tambourine, flute, and lyre before them prophesying.

Then the Spirit of the Lord will rush upon you, and you will prophesy with them and be turned into another man. Now when these signs meet you, do what your hand finds to do, for God is with you. Then go down before me to Gilgal, and behold, I am coming down to you to offer burnt offerings and to sacrifice peace offerings.

Seven days you shall wait until I come to you and show you what you shall do. When he turned back to leave Samuel, God gave him another heart, and all these signs came to pass that day. When they came to Gibeah, behold, a group of prophets met him, and the Spirit of God rushed upon him, and he prophesied among them.

And when all who knew him previously saw how he prophesied with the prophets, the people said to one another, What has come over the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets? And a man of the place answered, And who is their father?

Therefore it became a proverb, Is Saul also among the prophets? When he had finished prophesying, he came to the high place. You might think of that as being like a campaign message or a campaign slogan.

Is Saul among the prophets? As he was being anointed king of Israel. Verse 14, Saul's uncle said to him and to his servant, Where did you go? And he said, To seek the donkeys. And when he saw that they were not to be found, he went to Samuel.

And Saul's uncle said, Please tell me what Samuel said to you. And Saul said to his uncle, He told us plainly that the donkeys had been found, but about the matter of the kingdom of which Samuel had spoken, he did not tell him anything.

Because see, even though Saul had been transformed into another man and it was evident that the Lord was with him in this anointing of Saul as being the next king over Israel, there was still a part of Saul's human heart that was reluctant to becoming king.

He really didn't want to become king. And we're going to see that as we go on here. So verse 17, Now Samuel called the people together to the Lord at Mizpah. And he said to the people of Israel, Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, I brought up Israel out of Egypt, and I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all the kingdoms that were oppressing you.

But today you have rejected your God, who saves you from all your calamities and your distresses. And you have said to him, Set a king over us. Now therefore present yourselves before the Lord by your tribes and by your thousands.

Then Samuel brought all the tribes of Israel near, and the tribe of Benjamin was taken by Lot. He brought the tribe of Benjamin near by its clans, and the clan of the Matrites was taken by Lot. And Saul, the son of Kish, was taken by Lot.

But when they sought him, he could not be found. So they inquired again of the Lord, Is there a man still to come? And the Lord said, Behold, he has hidden himself among the baggage. Then they ran and took him from there, and when he stood among the people, he was taller than any of the people from his shoulders upward.

Tall guy, as tall as seven feet, as we talked about last week. And Samuel said to the people, Do you see him whom the Lord has chosen? There is none like him among all the people. And all the people shouted, Long live the king!

Then Samuel told the people the rights and duties of the kingship, and he wrote them in a book and laid it up before the Lord. Then Samuel sent all the people away, each one to his own home. And it's likely what Samuel wrote down was very similar to what we read in Deuteronomy 17 concerning the stipulations that kings of Israel were expected to follow.

Verse 26, Saul also went to his home at Gibeah, and with him went men of valor whose hearts God had touched. But some worthless fellows said, How can this man save us? And they despised him, and brought him no present, but he held his peace.

I'm going to come back to that point here in just a moment. We've got that going on in our nation right now, as a matter of fact, with Trump having been elected president of the United States just yesterday.

And now there are protests going on in the United States of people saying, He's not my president. So we have these anti-Trumpers who are wishing to say that President Trump doesn't count because they didn't vote for him and they don't think that he is going to be their president.

So anyway, I'm going to come back to that point here because we see that same thing happening in Israel here. Now notice, again, I mentioned that Saul was reluctant to become king. He didn't want to take on the responsibilities of king.

And so when it was time to name him their king to show that this was the man who was chosen by God, Samuel had already anointed him. And then we see by Lot that Saul is indeed chosen according to the hand of God.

We read in the book of Proverbs that the lot falls into the lap, but it's every decision is from the Lord. So you see that playing out here in Israel. How the lot was cast for the tribe of Benjamin and then it was the clan of the Matrites and then the lot was cast for Saul, the son of Kish.

So as these lots are being cast, it keeps falling down upon Saul as being that one who is chosen to be king over Israel. And Saul didn't want to be, so he's hiding. And God says, yeah, there he is. He's hiding among the baggage.

So he's brought out before the people of Israel and it is seen that Saul is a really tall guy. So this is continuing to play into the hearts of Israel who have hearts that are not for God, but they have this desire for a king that is going to accomplish for them what they witnessed the pagan kings doing for the pagan nations.

And so Saul is a really tall guy. And so surely this must be a conqueror because he's really tall. He's taller than everybody else in Israel. So yeah, surely this is the guy that we're going to follow into battle and who is going to deliver our enemies into our hands.

And for a time that's going to work, but the Lord's favor is not going to remain with him because Saul will not be obedient to the Lord. So let's continue. Let's continue from there. First Samuel chapter 11.

Saul Delivers Jabesh-Gilead from the Ammonites

Then Nahash the Ammonite went up and besieged Jabesh Gilead. And all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, make a treaty with us and we will serve you. But Nahash the Ammonite said to them, on this condition, I will make a treaty with you that I gouge out all your eyes and thus bring disgrace on all Israel.

How's that for a treaty? Yeah, sure. Let's make a treaty. Let me gouge out all your right eyes. Now, one of the things that that would have done is it would have prevented those men from being good soldiers, good effective soldiers, because as they held up their shields in front of them with their left hands, they would have been looking past their shields with their right eyes.

So since their right eyes were gouged out, it made them ineffective soldiers. And that's what Nahash had in mind, that Israel would not be able to come up against him in battle because their soldiers would be ineffective.

They would lack depth perception and not be able to look past their shields the way that they would defend themselves in battle. So verse three, the elders of Jabesh said to him, give us seven days respite that we may send messengers through all the territory of Israel.

Then if there is no one to save us, we will give ourselves up to you. And when the messengers came to Gibeah of Saul, they reported the matter in the ears of the people, and all the people wept aloud.

Now behold, Saul was coming from the field behind the oxen. And Saul said, what is wrong with the people that they are weeping? So they told him the news of the men of Jabesh. And the Spirit of God rushed upon Saul when he heard these words, and his anger was greatly kindled.

He took a yoke of oxen and cut them in pieces and sent them throughout all the territory of Israel by the hand of the messengers, saying, whoever does not come out after Saul and Samuel, so shall it be done to his oxen.

Then the dread of the Lord fell upon the people and they came out as one man. When he mustered them at Bezek, the people of Israel were 300 ,000 and the men of Judah, 30 ,000. And they said to the messengers who had come, thus shall you say to the men of Jabesh-Gilead, tomorrow by the time the sun is hot, you shall have salvation.

When the people came and told the men of Jabesh, they were glad. Therefore the men of Jabesh said, tomorrow we will give ourselves up to you and you may do to us whatever seems good to you. And the next day Saul put the people in three companies and they came into the midst of the camp in the morning watch and struck down the Ammonites until the heat of the day.

And those who survived were scattered so that no two of them were left together. Now all things considered, this military campaign was organized rather quickly because all the people there at Jabesh said that, hey, give us seven days.

We'll see if somebody will come and fight for us. And if not, then they would give themselves up to Nahash. So they managed to arrange all of this in seven days. The news that got back to Saul, Saul arranging 300 ,000 people that would fight in this battle.

So that was a pretty efficient, effective military campaign that was put together in such a short time. Verse 12, then the people said to Samuel, who is it that said, shall Saul reign over us? Bring the men that we may put them to death.

But Saul said, not a man shall be put to death this day for today the Lord has worked salvation in Israel. Then Samuel said to the people, come, let us go to Gilgal and there renew the kingdom. So all the people went to Gilgal and there they made Saul king before the Lord in Gilgal.

There they sacrifice peace offerings before the Lord and there Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly. So this was a very nice grace that Saul showed these people who were reluctant to accept him as king.

The people of Israel said, hey, where are those guys who said that Saul is not going to be our king? Let's gather them up and put them to death. But then Saul as king was very gracious. And he said, not a man shall be put to death this day for today the Lord has worked salvation in Israel.

Trump, Protest, and the Danger of Revenge

So right now what we have going on in the United States is a group of people, largely millennials, who refuse to accept Trump as their president. And they have taken to the streets and it is by the thousands.

I have seen some of the videos online of people marching in New York City that are protesting Trump as president of the United States. Trump has honestly been rather gracious. And so has Hillary Clinton and so has Barack Obama saying after the election yesterday, after the results were announced that people needed to be unified.

We needed to come together and be a unified people and accept the results of this election. The voice of the people in the United States had spoken. And so Trump's response to this has also been very gracious.

He responded very graciously to Hillary Clinton when she called him and conceded the race to Trump. But I want to say something here. Part of this protest is Trump's fault. It's not entirely his fault.

These people are going to have to answer for their actions. They will answer before the King of Kings and Lord of Lords on the Day of Judgment if they do not repent of their sins and obey God. But Trump has contributed to this unrest that is going on in the United States right now when in one of the presidential debates he said that he might not accept the outcome of the election.

Should Hillary become elected president of the United States, Trump might be willing to call foul and say that there was some underhanded things going on and that there was some voter fraud happening under Hillary's nose and probably at her permission.

And so because Trump has said that, he has fostered in the hearts of those who did not want to accept him as president this desire to rise up in angst. And so some of this unrest that is going on right now is partly his fault.

But Trump is also a man who is constantly out to get revenge. He has done this his entire business career. He has talked about it over the course of presidential debates, whether it was the GOP debates or even the debates between him and Hillary.

And we're going to see this play out even over the course of his presidency. Right now, Trump is being very gracious, but I do not think it's going to last. And the reason why I don't is because the history of revenge that Trump has displayed.

In his 2007 book, Think Big, Donald Trump said the following, When people wrong you, go after those people because it is a good feeling and because other people will see you doing it. I always get even.

In 2011, to the National Achievers Congress in Sydney, Australia, Donald Trump said, Get even with people. If they get you, get them back ten times as hard. I really believe it. The very next year, same conference, he said it again.

One of the things you should do in terms of success, if somebody hits you, you've got to hit them back five times harder than they ever thought possible. You've got to get even. Get even. This is the refrain of revenge that has marked Donald Trump's business career, and I believe that it is going to mark his time in politics as well as President of the United States.

So while he's being very gracious at the present, I don't think it's the kind of attitude that we're going to continue to see from Donald Trump, although we should pray that he indeed would repent of his sins and that he would listen to the godly counsel that he does have around him.

And there are some godly men who are around Donald Trump, and I pray that he would listen to those individuals, but we will probably see a continued division happen even over the course of his presidency.

I do not think that Donald Trump being elected President of the United States is God's grace. I think it is God's judgment, and we will see how evident that is as time goes on. I pray for the Lord's blessing upon this nation.

I really do. I pray for repentant hearts, people that would turn away from evil and turn to the Lord and follow in his righteousness and obey the commands of Christ. I pray that would be the case, and I pray that I'm wrong in what I see happening in the future of our country with Trump as President of the United States.

But based on his history and what we've seen in his past, this is what we can expect in his future. Now here we are in 1 Samuel 12, and we're going to hear Samuel proclaim the gospel in his farewell address.

Now, being a farewell address, that doesn't mean Samuel is about to die because he'll go on to anoint David as king in chapter 16. But this is Samuel stepping down as judge over Israel. They have a king now.

They don't need Samuel as judge, although he will continue to be their prophet. So here's the gospel as we have Samuel deliver it in 1 Samuel 12. Samuel said to all of Israel, Behold, I have obeyed your voice in all that you have said to me and have made a king over you.

And now, behold, the king walks before you, and I am old and gray. And behold, my sons are with you. I have walked before you from my youth until this day. Here I am. Testify against me before the Lord and before his anointed.

Whose ox have I taken? Or whose donkey have I taken? Or whom have I defrauded? Whom have I oppressed? Or from whose hand have I taken a bribe to blind my eyes with it? Testify against me and I will restore it to you.

They said, You have not defrauded us or oppressed us or taken anything from any man's hand. And he said to them, The Lord is witness against you and his anointed is witness this day that you have not found anything in my hand.

And they said, He is witness. And Samuel said to the people, The Lord is witness who appointed Moses and Aaron and brought your fathers up out of the land of Egypt. Now therefore stand still that I may plead with you before the Lord concerning all the righteous deeds of the Lord that he performed for you and for your fathers.

When Jacob went into Egypt and the Egyptians oppressed them, then your fathers cried out to the Lord and the Lord sent Moses and Aaron who brought your fathers out of Egypt and made them dwell in this place.

But they forgot the Lord their God and they sold them into the hand of Sisera, commander of the army of Hazor and into the hand of the Philistines and into the hand of the king of Moab. And they fought against them and they cried out to the Lord and said, We have sinned because we have forsaken the Lord and have served the Baals and the Ashtoreth.

But now deliver us out of the hand of our enemies that we may serve you. And the Lord sent Jerubabbel and Barak and Jephthah and Samuel and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side and you lived in safety.

And when you saw that Nahash, the king of the Ammonites came against you, you said to me, No, but a king shall reign over us when the Lord your God was your king. And now behold the king whom you have chosen for whom you have asked.

Behold, the Lord has set a king over you. And remember, this is a king after their hearts, not a king after God's heart. If you will fear the Lord and serve him and obey his voice and not rebel against the commandment of the Lord, and if both you and the king who reigns over you will follow the Lord your God, it will be well.

But if you will not obey the voice of the Lord but rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then the hand of the Lord will be against you and your king. Now therefore, stand still and see this great thing that the Lord will do before your eyes.

Is it not wheat harvest today? I will call upon the Lord that he may send thunder and rain and you shall know and see that your wickedness is great, which you have done in the sight of the Lord in asking for yourselves a king.

So Samuel called upon the Lord and the Lord sent thunder and rain that day and all the people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel. The significance of this miracle is that during harvest time, that's when it was least likely to rain.

So here Samuel called thunder and rain against the people of Israel and they could see the power of God being displayed before them. Verse 19,. And all the people said to Samuel, Pray for your servants to the Lord your God that we may not die for we have added to all our sins this evil to ask for ourselves a king.

And Samuel said to the people, Do not be afraid for you have done all this evil. Yet do not turn aside from following the Lord but serve the Lord with all your heart. And do not turn aside after empty things that cannot profit or deliver for they are empty.

For the Lord will not forsake his people for his great name's sake because it has pleased the Lord to make you a people for himself. Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you and I will instruct you in the good and in the right way.

Only fear the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart for consider what great things he has done for you. But if you still do wickedly, you shall be swept away, both you and your king. How relevant is that chapter?

1 Samuel chapter 12 to what's going on here in the United States today. We have a president that has been appointed over us who is a wicked man. All of the things that he has done in his life, the continued unrepentance that he is living in right now, the things that he could potentially be doing wickedly in our country in the future.

But we should pray for that man. And Samuel said here, May I not do wickedness in the eyes of God by ceasing to pray for you, but may I be praying for the people of God. And so we should be doing the same, praying for the people here in the United States, praying for the churches in the United States that they would take a bold stand for righteousness, preaching the truth of God's word and standing under the authority of the word of God, not pronouncing their authority over God's word, but knowing that it is God's word that is authoritative.

May we submit to this and preach it from our pulpits and encourage the people to live in righteousness. And may these people rise up and encourage our president and our elected leaders the same way. And may our elected leaders repent of their sins and seek the Lord with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength and lead this people in godly wisdom.

May revival sweep this land, but understand that if it does not, if we still do wickedly, we will be swept away, both us and our king. Samuel reminded Israel about how graciously God had dealt with them from the moment that he had called them out of Egypt and delivered them from the hands of those who had enslaved them.

Oftentimes when we look at the story of Exodus, we think of it as like a Western. So in the old Westerns, the good guys wearing the light colored hat and the bad guys wearing the black hat, right? So that's the way that we read Exodus.

The Egyptians are the black hat guys and the Israelites are the white hat guys. But the reality is that all had sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. It's not that Israel had done anything great.

It's that God was great. God chose a people for himself and he chose Israel, Abraham's descendants, because God is faithful to his promises and the promises that he gave to Abraham. So Israel was dealt graciously with and they were delivered from Egypt.

And then when their enemies rose up against them, God gave them judges that would deliver them from the hands of their enemies. And so here God was dealing graciously with Israel again. They had sinned against the Lord and yet God was not wiping them out.

He was giving them what they were asking for, a king. But God was expecting them and their king to obey the Lord. And if they did not, he would wipe them out in their wickedness. It is grace that had brought them this far.

And it was by grace that God was not wiping them out on this inauguration day when their new king was being appointed. So I pray that that would be the case for this nation as well, that we would remember the blessings that God has given to us.

And this nation has been a very blessed nation over the course of its existence. May we as Christians remember the grace that God has given to us through Jesus Christ, our Lord, which we talked about heavily in yesterday's devotional.

So I hope that you'll go back and listen to it as we were in 1 Peter 1. We'll continue our study of 1 Peter on Monday. May we remember that we are sinners. We are sinners who are deserving of the wrath of God.

But God, who is full of love and mercy and grace, does not leave us dead in our sins and subject to his wrath, but send his son Jesus to die for our sins so that all who believe in Christ will be rescued from the wrath of God and be given entrance and even inheritance in the kingdom of God.

Praise God for his love and his mercy. Let us pray. God, I pray that your hand of mercy would be upon this nation. You have shown us mercy over these decades that we have fallen more and more into sexual immorality and murder and violence and just a whole litany of other selfish and idolatrous sins that we have pursued.

And yet we continue to thrive as a nation. I pray that revival would indeed sweep this land, that we would repent of our sins and seek God as king, and that we would see the warning that has been given to us here in 1 Samuel 12, that if we do not, God will destroy us in our wickedness.

May we as the church rise up and proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ to a lost and dying world. And it's in the name of Jesus that we pray. Amen.

Thank you for listening to When We Understand The Text with Pastor Gabe Hughes. If you'd like to support this ministry, visit our website www .wutt .com and click on the Give tab in the top right corner of the page.

Join us again tomorrow as we continue our Bible study When We Understand The Text.