8 When Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as Israel’s leaders. 2 The name of his firstborn was Joel and the name of his second was Abijah, and they served at Beersheba. 3 But his sons did not follow his ways. They turned aside after dishonest gain and accepted bribes and perverted justice. 4 So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. 5 They said to him, “You are old, and your sons do not follow your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have.”
A little context is needed here. Samuel, the prophet that has been leading Israel, is in fact becoming old but it is not merely his age that is in question. It isn’t even solely about his sons. It is more about the idea of God’s law intersecting with man’s law.
Samuel is considered the final judge of Israel. But what’s a judge? It isn’t a black-cloaked, gavel pounding magistrate, but a leader, who rose from Israel, to bring Israel back into alignment with God.
In the book of Judges, the Israelites storm the Promised Land. This is the land of Israel, the land God has promised them. Going back even a little further, to the book of Exodus, Israel was enslaved in Egypt for 430 years before God raised up Moses to rescue them and procure Israel for them. Once they were allowed to enter the Promised Land, they were to take it by force, driving the Canaanites out. Once the Canaanites were entirely gone, the Israelites were to live in a land where God and His people would share an intimacy unrivaled by the surrounding lands.
But this did not happen. The Israelites did not listen to God. They allowed the Canaanites to stay for a variety of reasons. They enslaved them. They made pacts with them. They let the people of Canaan remain among them and these people, as forewarned by God, corrupted the purity of the Jewish people over time.
The Israelites, therefore, had a propensity to wander away from God. We see this throughout the book of Judges. But God had a plan for his people to return. Knowing they would wander and entangle themselves in the very snares God warned them about, God devised a four part plan to help them:
1. When Israel wandered away 2. God allowed an outside force to oppress them 3. Over time, Israel would come to their senses and cry out for repentance 4. God would send a savior ( a Judge)
The judges were men (or women) from Israel who would rise up, battle the outside force and kick them out of the country. In doing so, the judge led Israel back into an alignment with God, that would last the measure of that judge’s life. This was the way God set up the system with Israel, one that would allow for Israel’s waywardness, then their understanding, which led to their repentance and restoration, back to God. Samuel is the last of these judges and the Israelites are seeing that he’s getting too old. They want to exact change, they want to secure their future. So they come up with a plan: to enshrine their own king. Why? Wait for it: to be like other nations.
The Israelites have forgotten the very system that had cared for them over the last 350 years. The system that God devised had nothing to do with progeny. It wasn’t a kingship in any way. The people of Israel simply weren’t trusting in the power of God to save them. They wanted to do it their own way.
6 But when they said, “Give us a king to lead us,” this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the Lord. 7 And the Lord told him: “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. 8 As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. 9 Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will claim as his rights.”
Samuel is not happy with this. Why? Because he will be losing power? Because his sons won’t reign? No, Samuel is displeased because he understands how God works. He has an eternal mindset. He trusts God. And he sees the distrust of the people in this request. So what does he do? He goes to God. Prayer is Samuel’s first resource. He knows that he must be connected to the source of truth in order to understand God’s intention, not man’s.
God allows the people to choose a king. But he assures Samuel of one thing: the people aren’t rejecting Samuel but rejecting God himself. They have forgotten to trust, obey and listen. Instead, they want to do it their way. They’ve forgotten about the very provision that began even before the Israelites were captive in Egypt.
God allows this to happen, but not without a warning about the future king.
10 Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking him for a king. 11 He said, “This is what the king who will reign over you will claim as his rights: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots. 12 Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. 13 He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. 14 He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants. 15 He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants. 16 Your male and female servants and the best of your cattle and donkeys he will take for his own use. 17 He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves. 18 When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, but the Lord will not answer you in that day.”
This future king is Saul, and as we’ll see, he does do all of these things. But the bigger point is this: the people wanted to choose a king for ungodly reasons. They believed their troubles would be solved by having a person on the throne and a right of succession. But this ungodly request, this untrusting request, will only bring a number of different problems to Israel. The warning is delivered so that the people may consider the ramifications and perhaps turn back to God.
19 But the people refused to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We want a king over us. 20 Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles.” 21 When Samuel heard all that the people said, he repeated it before the Lord. 22 The Lord answered, “Listen to them and give them a king.” Then Samuel said to the Israelites, “Everyone go back to your own town.”
The people do not heed the warning. They want to do it their way. They have refused God’s way. But what does God do? He allows them the request. Why would God do this? Why wouldn’t he demand they listen and obey? Because God can’t force us to love Him. He allows us to sin, to reject and refuse Him, all in an effort for us to one day come around and accept Him.
When we reject God and His truth, we open up a doorway for sin and corruption to enter. As we will see, Israelis not exempt to this.