Read 1
Samuel 7-9 & Luke
13:1-21
To discover:
As you read consider Israel’s
motives in wanting a king.
To ponder:
The ark is taken to Kiriath Jearim
where it remains for twenty years. The people “mourn” and “seek” the LORD. But
true repentance is proved by deeds (Acts 26v20). So Samuel says “if” they are
returning to God “with all their heart” then they must rid themselves of their
foreign gods and serve God “only.” Then he promises, God will deliver them from
the Philistines. Well they do, and God does. They assemble at Mizpah where Samuel
promises to intercede for them. They fast, confess their sin, and “pour out
water before the LORD” – possibly symbolising the washing away of guilt (Lam
2v19).
Perhaps
assuming they have assembled for battle, the Philistines come against them. They
ask Samuel to continue interceding with God for their rescue. He also offers a
burnt offering, stressing their renewed devotion to the LORD, and God throws
the Philistines into a panic with mere thunder so Israel
can “slaughter” and so “subdue” them.
Until
Christ returns there is always the possibility of restoration and deliverance
when Christians sin and find themselves then ruled by evil. The pattern is
astonishingly similar: They must rid themselves of their sin, commit themselves
to serving God alone, confess their wrongdoing, perhaps fast, be baptised as a
sign of their guilt being washed away, and look to Christ to intercede with the
Father for their salvation (Heb 7v25), and to his sacrifice to atone for
atonement.
We
read then of the peace that was maintained during Samuel’s lifetime, the
restoration of land from the Philistines, and how he travelled Israel
judging the people. However, when old he appointed his sons as judges, but they
proved corrupt. So the elders asked him to appoint a king. We have already seen
that God always intended Israel
to have a king, and that this was necessary if she were to remain faithful.
However Samuel is provoked, perhaps because this was a slight on his
leadership. Yet the LORD is provoked too, because it was a rejection of his.
The reason is because Israel
wanted a king “like other nations,” when she were supposed to be “set-apart”
from those nations. The people did not want a spiritual leader to administer
the reign of God and point them to him as the one to fight for them. They
wanted a merely political leader to reign and fight for them himself (8v20).
God
tells Samuel to “listen to them” but “warn them” too. He therefore explains how
such a king will take their children, crops and servants to serve him, and even
enslave them in the end. But the people repeat their request, and so the LORD
tells Samuel to “give them a king.”
It’s
an example of how we can desire right things for the wrong reasons. We revere
church leaders who are dynamic, telegenic and able to draw a crowd, rather than
those that are godly, prayerful and able to teach the scriptures. We can even
seek Christ because we want to be religious like others, without actually
wanting him to bring us under God’s rule.
Saul
is therefore just the man Israel
wants: An “impressive” man, “without equal” and “a head taller” than any
others. It’s all about appearance. The story of how he is led to Samuel,
affirms God’s guidance of events by providence and prophecy. His appointment is
God’s doing in response to the “cry” of his people. Saul will therefore “deliver”
Israel from the
Philistines and “govern” them. And he is not without character. When Samuel
affirms “all the desire of Israel”
has turned to him and his family, Saul, no doubt unaware quite what was meant,
responds with humility (9v21). However hearing he is from Benjamin, we might
wonder if he is the sort of king Israel
need, as it is from Judah
that her kings were due to come (Gen 49v10).
Praying it home:
Praise God that he is so
persistently ready for sinners to return to him. Pray our motives in seeking
Christ and good church leaders would be in order to be brought more fully under
God’s rule.
Thinking further:
None today.
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