1 Samuel 8:
When Samuel became old, he made his sons judges over Israel… 4 Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah 5 and said to him, “Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations.”
7 And the Lord said to Samuel, “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.
Heed the words of the Lord God: “… for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.”
Is it possible that we are a rebellious people who refuse to be governed, ruled even by the Lord God?
Many centuries later after the fall of the Kingdom of Israel, the Lord instructs through the Prophet Ezekiel:
Ezekiel 2: “Son of man, I am sending you to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against Me; they and their fathers have transgressed against Me to this very day. For they are impudent and stubborn children. I am sending you to them, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD.’
“As for them, whether they hear or whether they refuse—for they are a rebellious house—yet they will know that a prophet has been among them.”
Saul will be anointed by the Prophet Samuel as Israel’s first king; however the Lord God makes clear that Israel has rejected the LORD as their King, even before this first appointment of a man over a rebellious people.
There was a man of Benjamin whose name was Kish, the son of Abiel, son of Zeror, son of Becorath, son of Aphiah, a Benjaminite, a man of wealth. 2 And he had a son whose name was Saul, a handsome young man. There was not a man among the people of Israel more handsome than he. From his shoulders upward he was taller than any of the people.
(How the people love to elect a handsome and wealthy man to lead them.)
15 Now the day before Saul came, the Lord had revealed to Samuel: 16 “Tomorrow about this time I will send to you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you shall anoint him to be prince over my people Israel. He shall save my people from the hand of the Philistines. For I have seen my people, because their cry has come to me.”
17 When Samuel saw Saul, the Lord told him, “Here is the man of whom I spoke to you! He it is who shall restrain my people.”
Samuel proceeds to anoint Saul as a ‘nagiyd’ [a leader, ruler, captain or prince] of the people. Note the attitude of the LORD. GOD remains King of Israel; yet the anointed King of Israel is called a prince.
If the people will not be accountable to God Almighty, why would they bow down to an earthly king?
Saul, King of Israel, is now responsible to God’s chosen people, Israel. Saul is first and foremost accountable to the Lord God, who speaks through His Prophet Samuel.
11 And the Lord sent Jerubbaal and Barak and Jephthah and Samuel and delivered you out of the hand of your enemies on every side, and you lived in safety. 12 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.
13 And now behold the king whom you have chosen, for whom you have asked; behold, the Lord has set a king over you. 14 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.
15 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.
You are probably familiar with the appearance of King Saul as a crazy man needing to be soothed by the harp of David. Most everyone knows Saul’s jealousy, after David kills Goliath and the people praise David. You probably realize that Saul later pursues David hoping to kill him. You likely know that Saul’s own son Jonathan, biological heir to the throne, befriends and protects David (God’s anointed heir).
A New Testament context and contemporary caution:
Revelation 2:5 Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works… 3:2 Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God… 3:11 Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown… 3:16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth…
Revelation 3:19 KJV As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.
22 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
Saul will NOT listen to the LORD and the Hebrew people who had desired a King are a rebellious people like you and me.
Let the church hear what the Lord shows us of our own rebellion in Saul, the first King of Israel.
First Samuel Thirteen may be one of the best illustrations of poor leadership and a powerless people who failed to listen to God.
The Hebrew people had been led to victories in the promised land by GOD. Joshua and the Judges had followed the Lord’s leading in defeating Canaan and the other nations who dwelt in the promised land.
Saul abandoned the Lord and sought to defeat their enemies without hearing GOD.
Don’t we tend to do the same in times of desperation that demand a decision? Neither do you or I wait to hear from the Lord in certain situations when our enemies seem to be upon us.
Yet is the Lord not for us, rather than against us? And is the Lord not merciful and just? Have we not known the Almighty King of Kings?
In our prayerless times when we have not heard from the Lord, we are no better than Saul.
To be continued…
Israel had won their land from Canaan; however like most countries other lands bordered theirs. Philistia bordered Israel to the west along the coast of the Great Sea (Mediterranean). East of the Jordan Ammon bordered Israel. The Moabites and Amalakites bordered Israel to the South. And the Canaanites lived among the Hebrew people in certain areas and retained some towns of their own.
