For several months, I have hidden my head in the book of Samuel as though I’d never read it before. It did feel brand new, maybe because I was reading these accounts again in a much relatable Bible translation – NLT. I had so many questions to ask, so many observations I made…I couldn’t help but give in to the temptation to turn them into a cocktail series of questions, comments and whatever-more the journey comes along with. To set the ball rolling, I begin with the social and political context of the first book and a little background to set the tone for the subsequent episodes. Legooo!😎
Up until about 1000 years before Christ, Israel was ruled by judges. Israel’s history, which is beautifully rendered by Helen Pocock in the EasyEnglish commentary starts with the little family of Abraham, Sarah and their son Isaac reportedly around the year 2065BC. Isaac’s son Jacob moves to Egypt, northern Africa. In the popular story of God rescuing His people from Egypt some 430 years after, Moses is the one chosen to lead the people of Israel. When Moses dies, God gives them Joshua. When Joshua dies, God establishes a system of rulership by judges, yet all the while, God remained king over the Israelites. He ruled over them as King. And so while Israel’s political and economic prosperity depended on their faithfulness to God, priests remained a functional part of Israel’s leadership.
It should be interesting to note that while Israel did not have a human king, they had always had a king. God had always been their king, and when the people of old had tempted Gideon to become one after he led them against the Midianites, he was careful to say “I will not be your king, nor shall my son; the Lord is your King!” (Judges 8:22-23). So this request for a king…this seemingly innocent request for a king really was a statement to their existing king to say – dude, you and your supposed judge Samuel are not doing as good a job as we see the kings of our neighbouring nations do. It would explain why Samuel was so upset when they made their request. And rather sadly, the Lord did not fight it, because it appeared He would no longer fight this rebellious people, for He told Samuel (1 Samuel 8):
7 “Do everything they say to you,” the Lord replied, “for they are rejecting me, not you. They don’t want me to be their king any longer. 8 Ever since I brought them from Egypt they have continually abandoned me and followed other gods. And now they are giving you the same treatment. 9 Do as they ask, but solemnly warn them about the way a king will reign over them.
Samuel did just as he was told. He detailed the abuse that would follow the selection of a human king as the Lord had told him, in hopes that something in their minds would disassociate from this inordinate desire for a king:
11“This is how a king will reign over you,” Samuel said. “The king will draft your sons and assign them to his chariots and his charioteers, making them run before his chariots. 12Some will be generals and captains in his army, some will be forced to plow in his fields and harvest his crops, and some will make his weapons and chariot equipment.
13The king will take your daughters from you and force them to cook and bake and make perfumes for him. 14He will take away the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his own officials. 15 He will take a tenth of your grain and your grape harvest and distribute it among his officers and attendants. 16He will take your male and female slaves and demand the finest of your cattle and donkeys for his own use.
17He will demand a tenth of your flocks, and you will be his slaves. 18 When that day comes, you will beg for relief from this king you are demanding, but then the Lord will not help you.”
These weren’t exactly horrible things, on the face of it. Who wouldn’t want to be captain or general, if it were a consequence of having a king? The real problem was the selfishness of this man who would make everything about him. ‘He’ would take. For ‘his own…’ He would take the best of everything of theirs for his own use and for the use of his own officials.
He would force them to pay taxes – a tenth of their grain…that same tenth he knew was consecrated as holy and devoted to the Lord (Leviticus 27:30)…he would take the best of their all and still require that they pay an additional tenth. You’d think the people of Israel would scream ‘hell no, we don’t want!’
But nope! They refused to listen to Samuel. They insisted:
19b “Even so, we still want a king,” they said. 20 “We want to be like the nations around us. Our king will judge us and lead us into battle.” 21 So Samuel repeated to the Lord what the people had said, 22 and the Lord replied, “Do as they say, and give them a king.” Then Samuel agreed and sent the people home.
Pretty saddening, we can admit. And even sadder is the absence of assurance that any of us would do differently if we found ourselves in that generation. But I have even bigger questions running through my mind as I wrap this up and pave wave for the real questions in the subsequent episodes:
Peter writes to the believers in foreign lands during the time of the Dispersion (1 Peter 1):
20 God chose him [Jesus] as your ransom long before the world began, but now in these last days he has been revealed for your sake.
This Messiah we had always known to expect as a king, although his kingdom would not be of this world. He had always been known as the Son of David, in fulfilment of God’s promise to David that his kingdom would have no end. It makes me wonder – was the idea of kingship really one birthed by the Israelites’ discontentment?
In the absence of what seemed to have been a selfish request by a never-satisfied crop of people, how would the royalty and kingship and lordship of the Messiah (which later became one of the most crucial means of identification of the Messiah particularly among Jews) have been symbolised among men when it was time for the Messiah to become man?
Could it be that the real problem was the timing and motive of their request, rather than the request itself? Could the real hesitation be about the initiator of the establishment of royalty? Was the identity of Jesus as a king of a kingdom which had no end only an afterthought after the establishment of royalty which was initiated by the hardheartedness of the people of Israel? Could it be that God already intended to establish the same or similar institution but didn’t want to establish it at the whim of these hard-hearted men?
In all my reading I found it interesting to note though, that the idea of making a select group of people ‘better’ or ‘more deserving’ than some in a way that they needed to be served or worshipped was man’s very own idea. Yet years on even in our democracies, we cry foul when they exert the authority we handed to them.
You’re welcome…not only to my Bible study but to my mind.😊 In posts past, I have sought to provide answers. It just may be time to take a seat and listen to you for a break, or at least attempt to reason together with you as you read.
I’m happy to receive your perspectives as we make progress in this series. Drop a comment, send an email (lampedfeet@gmail.com) or send me a text if you will. Until the next set of #MusingsFromTheText, stay studying!
Love,
Rad!❤
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Reading this, Mark 10:42-43 comes to mind. And with reference to many other parables where Jesus talks about servants given rulership over cities, it seems God’s idea about leadership is by “equal proportion” – and not handing over authority to a select group of people ‘better’ or ‘more deserving’ than some in a way that they needed to be served or worshipped – as you rightly mentioned.
This is going to be an interesting and eye-opening series. More Grace, Rad!❤
You should hear how many mmm mmm mmm I’ve done reading this comment!😂 I love this, honestly! The next episode will be a compilation of the feedback I’ve got…extremely interesting ones so far! This will definitely be part! Thank you Proph! I’m excited!🤩💖
Great.. Suuuuuuss
Thank you Stephhhh!
Dear Rad
Thanks for the love note. Please let them come often. We need such godly stimuli for our spiritual intellect.
This writing tells a lot of what we have brought on ourselves by the leadership we have sort other than the leadership of God.
I am particularly intrigued by your thoughts about the rule of the Messiah. The questions you pose are interesting. I believe the Messiah’s kingship was eternally established and predates and outlives man’s institutions. But maybe what God told the Israelites about how much a king will take from them, was for our instruction of how much the Messiah will take from us as our SAVIOUR king.
He will definitely put on us a great BURDEN! – his burden is yet light.
Doctoooooor!! It’s interesting to hear your thoughts! I think you’ll like the next post! Stay tuned!
Dear Rad
Thanks for the love note. Please let them come often. We need such godly stimuli for our spiritual intellect.
This writing tells a lot of what we have brought on ourselves by the leadership we have sort other than the leadership of God.
I am particularly intrigued by your thoughts about the rule of the Messiah. The questions you pose are interesting. I believe the Messiah’s kingship was eternally established and predates and outlives man’s institutions. But maybe what God told the Israelites about how much a king will take from them, was for our instruction of how much the Messiah will take from us as our SAVIOUR king.
He will definitely put on us a great BURDEN! – his burden is yet light.
Doctoooooor!! It’s interesting to hear your thoughts! I think you’ll like the next post! Stay tuned!
Hmm very interesting and intriguing series, RAD.
First off, I will like to thank you for the enlightenment you’ve brought to the Book of Samuel..
I hardly get them, I just read through like one of the bible stories, but the way you write, could help any baby Christian understand the word and would want to know more.
So on the matter own Israel wanting their own King and not God as King;
I believe God always had the best intention for us, no matter where we find ourselves. The lesson we can receive from the Israelites, God and their Kingship is that, God actually wanted to rid Israel from themselves, to trust totally in Him, then when we do, He gives us our heart desires, in the best way ever. (Our Own King – Himself, it could be through any man, His Choice)
Even in our failures, he some what paves a way for us to come back.- (tho he said he wouldn’t.. Lol.) Just look at how they, asked for a King in Saul. He allowed it.. But still was preparing a David, for us, a Ruler, a man after His Heart, a Ruler He knew he could use for our very best, who was somewhat of a shadow/ type of the final Ruler, Lord or King he prepared for us before the world begun, Jesus, the Messiah.
God is just a MasterMind, a Wonder and a Marvelous Creator, the one and only true King.
Awesome thoughts Linny! Bless your heart❤
Hmm very interesting and intriguing series, RAD.
First off, I will like to thank you for the enlightenment you’ve brought to the Book of Samuel..
I hardly get them, I just read through like one of the bible stories, but the way you write, could help any baby Christian understand the word and would want to know more.
So on the matter own Israel wanting their own King and not God as King;
I believe God always had the best intention for us, no matter where we find ourselves. The lesson we can receive from the Israelites, God and their Kingship is that, God actually wanted to rid Israel from themselves, to trust totally in Him, then when we do, He gives us our heart desires, in the best way ever. (Our Own King – Himself, it could be through any man, His Choice)
Even in our failures, he some what paves a way for us to come back.- (tho he said he wouldn’t.. Lol.) Just look at how they, asked for a King in Saul. He allowed it.. But still was preparing a David, for us, a Ruler, a man after His Heart, a Ruler He knew he could use for our very best, who was somewhat of a shadow/ type of the final Ruler, Lord or King he prepared for us before the world begun, Jesus, the Messiah.
God is just a MasterMind, a Wonder and a Marvelous Creator, the one and only true King.
Awesome thoughts Linny! Bless your heart❤