1 Samuel 8:1-22 - Be Careful What You Ask For

1 Samuel 8:1-22

Israel Demands a King

1 Now it came to pass when Samuel was old that he made his sons judges over Israel. 2 The name of his firstborn was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; they were judges in Beersheba. 3 But his sons did not walk in his ways; they turned aside after dishonest gain, took bribes, and perverted justice.

4 Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah, 5 and said to him, “Look, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.”

6 But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” So Samuel prayed to the LORD. 7 And the LORD said to Samuel, “Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them. 8 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. 9 Now therefore, heed their voice. However, you shall solemnly forewarn them, and show them the behavior of the king who will reign over them.”

10 So Samuel told all the words of the LORD to the people who asked him for a king. 11 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 and to be his horsemen, and some will run before his chariots. 12 He will appoint captains over his thousands and captains over his fifties, will set some to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and some to make his weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. 13 He will take your daughters to be perfumers, cooks, and bakers. 14 And he will take the best of your fields, your vineyards, and your olive groves, and give them to his servants. 15 He will take a tenth of your grain and your vintage, and give it to his officers and servants. 16 And he will take your male servants, your female servants, your finest young men, and your donkeys, and put them to his work. 17 He will take a tenth of your sheep. And you will be his servants. 18 And you will cry out in that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, and the LORD will not hear you in that day.”

19 Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, “No, but we will have a king over us, 20 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.”

21 And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he repeated them in the hearing of the LORD. 22 So the LORD said to Samuel, “Heed their voice, and make them a king.”

And Samuel said to the men of Israel, “Every man go to his city.”

The lesson here from Israel demanding a king to be like the worldly nations around them with supposedly better standing in the world was this: be very careful what you ask for, or you may get it with all the unintended consequences.  This is a clear warning for western nations today, for even though there never has been nor will be any theocracy like Israel, and no ‘Christian nation’ state either, the temptation is to make one resembling Israel as a reverse of the problem faced in this passage.  Here they wanted worldliness in leadership by replacing the judges and prophets under the sovereign rule of the LORD with a chosen man, while now we want to replace the heavenly sovereign King of kings with self-made prophets as leaders to conflate political power with God’s.  This too is a huge mistake that leads to unintended consequences of unbiblical power in the hands of a man who would be king.  The founders of this country realized this error and set guide rails in place to keep church and state separate that the leaders would remain under the sovereign rule of God in whom they and we trust.  Samuel helped create the situation to make this happen by appointing his ungodly sons as judges and the people became so sick of their actions of greed, bribery, and perversion of justice that they demanded a king to replace them instead of with proper judges under the rule of God.  By requesting this, the people had not rejected Samuel as their judge, but the LORD and His rule over them.  The people failed to consider how far the LORD had brought them out of the bondage of Egypt and through the parted sea, the wilderness, the victory over their enemies, and their inheritance realized at last.  They even turned from His grace to worship dead and lifeless idols instead of serving the One who ruled over them (Exodus 20:33-34, Psalm 103:4, Jeremiah 31:3) in sovereign love and compassion.  They would be given the king they asked for even though they did not consider the consequences.  Samuel explained these to them as directed by God so they would be without excuse as they would reap the whirlwind of their bad choice.  Basically, if they appointed a king in place of God, he would take tribute from the citizens and make them his servants with echoes of the rigor they experienced under the Pharaoh in their bondage of Egypt which they had been delivered from.  The people still ignored the fair warning and disobeyed good advice in order to be like the other nations and rule over them and fight their battles in place of their theocratic King who had done so from the beginning of their calling.  They would be governed by such a man in place of God as they asked for, along with the consequences of putting their nation and king over the LORD of all the nations (1 Timothy 6:15-16, Revelation 1:5, 17:14) and every king.  May we be wise and learn from this not to repeat this worldly mistake and not put our trust and adoration in an earthly king over the heavenly King of kings.  If you do, remember this lesson that you be careful what you wish as it may be given to you along with the unintended and unforeseen consequences.  Amen.